Page 94 of If The Crown Fits
“My men know the entrance to the prison cells. They’ll free the prisoners to cause more chaos,” Cai added.
“All in, we only have to fight Lance and the royal guards, with most of the servants being replaced already by our men. What will you do with Lance, kill him?” I asked my uncle.
“Would you prefer the honour instead?” he grinned.
“I would prefer to see him rot in a cell for the rest of his life. Death would be too much of a mercy.”
“What about Princess Eloisa?” Cai asked. “She hasn’t been seen for a long time now. Not even one of my spies could track her down.”
“Then she’s probably no longer in the kingdom,” Uncle Arthur replied. I hadn’t thought about that. Hadn’t thought about the princess for quite some time. But it would make sense for Eloisa to leave temporarily with all the growing tension in the kingdom. Or for all we knew, she’d gone to visit some distantcousin or friend somewhere far away. What this could mean for us, however, I didn’t know.
“So we take over the palace, which will give us power in Levernia, and with the royal family out of the picture and the support of the council, things should fall into place?”
“Then a new era in the kingdom of Everness begins,” Uncle replied with a smile. “We give the people time to adjust. We make peace with the aristocrats. We employ a council of leaders consisting of the people. We lower the tax rate. The list goes on.”
“It seems ideal,” Cai said, almost suspiciously.
“Yes, well, that is what we are fighting for, is it not?”
We left my uncle’s cabin soon after. I was heading for my own when Cai took my wrist. “Can we go for a walk? I need to talk to you.”
I followed him until we were alone in the forest.
“I need to ask you an important question,” he said, and I looked at him queryingly. He sighed. “You said that before all this, you were going to take the necklace and leave.”
“Yes,” I said, almost hesitantly.
“If you had left, would you have been done with thieving for good?”
I thought about it. “Probably not for good. I was just going to cross the border to Norrandale and start a new life there. With the money I could have got for pieces of the necklace, I could have done more than just survive for a while. My uncle had talked about this rebellion for as long as I can remember, but it was only recently that things started falling into place, and I don’t know... I was scared of dying, scared of losing the only people I ever really knew. So I decided running would be better, even if it was the more cowardly thing to do.”
Cai stepped in front of me and we stopped walking. “I want you to leave. Tomorrow morning before first light, you’re going to cross to Norrandale.”
“Lance has the border on lockdown, and I don’t know the way.” I reminded him of the obvious.
“I’m sending Brutus and Conner with you. They’ll help you get there safely. Now listen carefully, you’re going to find my friend, Thatcher, and give him this letter with my seal.” He handed me a piece of paper. “He will make sure you stay safe.”
“What about you?”
“I made a promise that I would contribute my forces one way or another. And I don’t break my promises. Besides, it’s the best way to see how things play out. What this is going to mean for Norrandale.”
“What if the people find out? They would see this as an attack from Norrandale and not an uprising of the peasants.”
“My men and I know how to stay undetected. I’ll help your uncle where I’m needed with strategy — no more.”
I wasn’t entirely convinced.
“You’re getting your second chance, Lara. I suggest you take it.”
I found Ray on my way back to the cabin. “Don’t you think you can at least try to persuade Uncle to change his mind?”
Ray blinked slowly as if not comprehending what I had just said. “Why would I do that? Why would you even suggest I do that?”
“Ray, please, I can’t watch any of you get hurt tomorrow, or even worse, die.”
He stared at me in almost pure disbelief. “Lara, we’ve had to steal and lie and practically starve in a fight for survival for most of our lives. And we’re not the only ones. This rebellion should have happened years ago. But we finally have our chance.”
I grabbed his wrist. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning. You can come with me. We can live that life we used to talk about as children.”
