Page 38 of Chaos and Destiny
Nodding, I walked back through the crowd to my place in the back along the wall. I was greeted with a few pats as I settled in. If I continued to prove myself useful, knowledgeable, I hoped they would accept me more readily. I hadn’t fit in my entire life, and it had never mattered until now. Joining the rebellion was a risk for me, but it was also a risk to all the other fae who disappeared into the tunnels each time there was a meeting.
They had a system. Rebels would pass each other and give hand signals or send symbols to indicate when the meetings would be. It was always days out, so word could be spread cautiously. Then, the fae would descend into the tunnels in small groups for a full day leading up to the meeting so that no large group would be detected.
To my knowledge, the tunnels were no longer accessible from inside the castle. Several other access points had been forgotten ages ago, and the rebels used that to their advantage. Although the cavern was not directly below the castle but just to the west, it still felt as if we were meeting right under the king’s nose. The other rebels seemed fine with that, but I knew it was a dangerous game.
After the meeting was over, I weaved in and out of the gathered fae toward the front to speak with Rook. He stood with a huge male with black raven wings that contrasted his stark white hair.
“Temir, this is Rhogan.”
The male placed his fist to his chest, and I did the same. “Good to meet you, Temir,” he said in a gruff but kind voice.
“Likewise.”
Rook got right to the point. “I need to send you on a mission. Can you get away from the castle for a week?”
“No. I push it even coming to the meetings. The king keeps me close at hand.”
“I see,” he said, the dejection clear.
“What’s going on? Maybe I can help in another way?”
“There’s a potential magical fae hiding near Narth, but he won’t talk to anyone. We thought if we sent another magical fae, we could convince him. We were going to send Oravan, but he doesn’t want to leave his family, being so new to the rebellion.”
“I’m not sure I’m the right fit anyway. If he recognizes me, he isn’t going to listen.”
“I trust that you can do this, Temir. If you traveled with Rhogan, he would help. He knows the family of the fae.”
“I might have a way to get there, but I’d have to travel alone. Can I send word and have you meet me?” I asked the winged male.
“If you travel alone, I can fly and get there faster. I will need a little over a day to get there though, so you’ll have to let me know ahead of time.”
“I will do my best.”
“That’s all we ask,” Rook said, turning away from us to talk to someone else.
“Think we can do it?” Rhogan asked me.
“Convince the fae to come?”
“No. The whole thing. Do you think the rebellion can overthrow the king?”
I thought about that for a moment. I realized I had never questioned the end goal of the rebellion aside from fighting for something better and helping protect the lesser fae. “It’s hard to say. I hope we can.”
“I’ll tell ya something. I never put hope in anything. I’m an all-in kind of male. I’ll die for this rebellion if I have to.”
I considered that, crossing my arms over my chest.Would I?“How long have you been a rebel, Rhogan?”
He shifted his feet, adjusting those heavy wings. “I was one of the first in the north. Rook and a few others joined up. One of them asked me to join, and then we found the access point to the tunnels and started recruiting. And here we are. I think the tables will turn soon though. The rebellion can’t continue to only recruit. We are going to have to move against the king eventually.”
“Don’t you think there is an advantage to remaining hidden for now? He has no idea the rebellion exists.”
“As far as you know he doesn’t.” He watched me carefully.
I bit my tongue. “What do you think the first strike from the rebellion should be?”
“I’d love to set the barn on fire and send a really clear message about who we are.”
I thought of River and fear gripped me. “There are innocent fae who live in that barn. Would you condemn them to send your message?”
