Rhian

There’d been no word from Michael, and none from Gus either. I still had no wolves, and the kids were getting restless. I had to enact a plan—something to stop them going back to being less than average. After visiting the tree house the other day, I came up with an idea. The trouble was, I needed Adeline no matter which way I spun it around in my head. Lucky for me, she was still wide open to being my favourite friend.

Adeline Blanchett liked dueling. I suddenly became interested in dueling.

“The rules are really quite simple. You may attack, you may defend, and you may not leave the field of play. You’ll be fighting with your left hand, yes?”

I would be, seeing as I was left-handed. It was kind of her to notice.

"There will be no acrobatics, no rolling, no flipping.”

“Do what I’d do if I had a death wish—got it.”

For the fight, she handed me a rapier. It was heavier than I was used to.

“The rules are designed to be fair.”

“Would you be worried if they weren’t?” I asked.

Truth, I was stalling. I needed a bit more time to make acquaintance with the blade.

Adeline laughed, and it was annoying. Her posture was perfect—too perfect. She held her weapon like she’d known it her whole life. “Yes, but our aim today is not to kill. After all, that would be too easy for you, wouldn’t it?”

I’m not above giving credit where it’s due, and that was on point. Also, it presented an opportunity to see where the lass stood on a certain topic.

“Are you implying I haven't got any morals?”

“I’ve yet to decide.”

Leaving it at that for now, we dueled. I’ve never been so bored in my goddess-be-damned life. I’m not saying we weren’t properly matched. The lass had skills. Parry this, counter that. Jab, jab a bit too close to my eyes. She wasn’t used to fighting someone a Strachan’s size. I could tell. It was boring, but I played along, and I caught an opening when she was distracted. It would have gone straight through the squishy middle had I let it. She should have done something about her big hair—it was a windy day. For the record, it wasn’t as though we were standing in an empty field, but the other Partisans hustling and bustling around us couldn’t be bothered with our antics. We kept on, and on, and on until it felt like forever. I took a few points, and so did she.

“I think you do,” she said.

“What?” Swing, clang.

“Have morals. You saved my mother’s life at the risk of your own.”

Swish, duck. “So?”

“So?” Adeline paused the fight and set her weapon down. “Did you know that there are many of us here at Palisade who consider you a hero? Why do you think I was so excited to meet you—why I consider myself so lucky to get to know you? Heroes cannot exist without compassion or honour—without ethics to guide them.”

I remember trying to swallow a strange lump rising in my throat. It didn’t work. “I was just doing my job, lass. What’s got to be done isn’t always in line with our imagined sense of morality. It hardly ever is.”

Adeline shook her curly, red head. “Heroes are not heroes for doing what’s necessary without consideration. Heroes are heroes for doing what’s necessary while staying true to their supposed imagined sense of morality. I don’t need to tell you that my mother isn’t a nice lady, Enforcer Rhian. While I don’t know exactly what happened that day in Delphia, you could have accidentally been a few minutes late. You could have forgotten to do what you needed to do. None would have been the wiser.”

The event she was referring to wasn't even that long ago, and it was also the first time I met Strauss face-to-face in person. The whole thing was a disaster. Maybe I'll write a book about it later.

“You’re missing the point. Heroes are for pretty stories. Nineteen Partisans died while your lunatic mother stayed around to enslave us. Wanna talk morals? I’d have seen them all live instead of her. Your definition of honour is my dishonour.”

“But we are not slaves. It’s our purpose to serve—an eternal dedication to the people of Auditoria. The Assembly exists only to maintain order. Our legends will live on to inspire the world with courage and—”

I’m fast and I’m not boasting. Strachan Partisans are like goddess-be-damned kitty cats. One dash forward and I took out the back of her knee with the pommel of my weapon. The lass lost her footing, so I pushed her to the ground and pressed my boot to her back.

So much for fair, but she needed to understand something important. She needed to know the reason why silence sounded so goddess-be-damned loud, and why most of us couldn't sleep at night because of it. It wasn't personal. I liked her.

“Ever hear those stories out of the mouth of someone who’s lived them?”

The Squeaky Lass squeaked out a quiet, “No.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I couldn’t see her face to know if she was angry, but I was annoyed, and when I was annoyed, I tended to say a lot of words in a little bit of time.

“Right. If you had, they wouldn’t sound a thing like the shite you’ve been fed. Throw in some fancy words and an inspiring message and suddenly someone’s personal nightmare is a thousand-verse poem being recited on the streets for a half-note or a quick lay later.” I lifted my foot from her back.

Big shocker—she didn’t look angry when she stood. Just a bit dirty and a lot surprised. Another big shocker—I still had her unblinking attention.

“You want your heroes to piss rainbows? Go read a book about it. You wanna see what really happens on the glittery road to justice and honour, and blah, blah, blah—then I’ll be more than happy to show you.”

She took about a minute to consider, and then she nodded. “Yes, please.”

It wasn’t exactly how I imagined things going that day, but it would do.

Most of the the time, no plan is the best plan. Sometimes.

----------------------------------------

Professional tip: the key to a speedy break-in is the key.

Adeline said her mother wouldn’t miss it, and I believed her. That woman had an entire territory plotting to blow her to bits and she never knew it. They were her own goddess-be-damned people, too, and they weren’t even all that smart about hiding it.

Neither of us had been inside the asylum before, but I had a point to prove and a plan to adjust as necessary. For the first little while, we wandered the bright white corridors trying to look like we knew where we were going.

“Enforcer Rhian, what do you think it means to be devoured?”

Whatever it was, it was a popular topic. Every few cells, someone had something to say about it. “Why don’t you ask one of them?”

“An excellent idea,” she practically shouted. “I’m here to learn, after all.”

“That’s the spirit,” I said. “Just keep your voice down.”

The asylum was square, and it was only two floors high and one floor deep. There were Strachan in cells next to Amali. There were Delphi Partisans all mixed up near the Celestian ones. It was a lot like solitary—right down to the silver-plated cages keeping the inmates trapped and powerless. Silver had that effect on us.

I expected we’d run into workers at some point. I didn’t know when, didn’t know where, but when a lanky Celestian turned around the bend, I bolted around the opposite corner. Adeline didn’t have the same reflex, but we’d talked about what to do in this situation.

“Partisan Blanchett, state your purpose.”

“I’m here to conduct a psychological profile for Councilwoman Kelly.”

“Clearance papers?”

“Just the key.” Adeline probably held the key up for good measure. “She insisted I return it by dusk and off she went like a busy little butterfly.”

Councilwoman Kelly was a notorious flake. It was a likely story. Also, there was no real reason for the worker to question Councilwoman Blanchett’s daughter, or any sensible reason to think Adeline stole the key and broke into the asylum for fun.

“This is acceptable,” the Celestian said.

“Actually, if you have a moment to spare, I have a few questions.”

I didn’t expect that. The worker did have a moment to spare, and the two wandered off in a direction that wasn’t mine. I used the opportunity to carry on exploring.

The cages looked like the ones in solitaire. Springing the place would be easy once I had the key, and I planned to ask Adeline to borrow it again in a few days. First, I had to have a look around. I had to find the inmates who were done being fucked on by the Assembly and were up for one last fight.

“Psst,” said someone, somewhere.

I couldn’t be bothered looking. There were a lot of people making strange noises, and chatting them up wasn’t my aim at the minute.

“Psst, Sinclair,” that someone said again.

That time, I was curious enough to oblige.

The man trying to get my attention was a Strachan, and this one didn’t seem especially witless in comparison. He wasn’t talking about being devoured, and he hadn’t plucked out any of his own eyebrows. He looked about sixty, sick, and tired. I stopped in front of his cell.

“Oi, Random Man. How do you know who I am?”

“You’re Rhydian’s girl. It’s uncanny.”

“Is it actually uncanny, seeing as he’s my father? I mean—what’s this actually about?”

Random Man chuckled.

“What, is he dead? Right behind me?” I looked around and whatnot. “I’m not supposed to be here so make it quick.”

“If Rhydian Sinclair is dead, at least he died a free man. A good man.”

“How do I know you’re not in here for making up stories about people’s fathers?”

Random Man started laughing again. He fit right in with the other ones crazy enough to sound happy. Meanwhile, I wasn’t surprised when the Squeaky Lass scurried up beside me. I’d heard her heels and smelled her metallic arse about a league away. At the time, I didn't know the full extent as to why she always smelled like copper and iron. Figured it was all that fucking around with fire-weapons.

“While this has been highly educational and terribly sad, I think we should go.”

Random Man shot Adeline a look that spoke a thousand words. He didn’t seem to like her interrupting. Frankly, I didn’t either. I wanted to hear what he had to say.

“It was their plan—your father’s and Rick’s. They made it out, but I was caught by the powers-that-be. Then they had the bollocks to tell me they killed Strauss and Laine. Those hypocritical bastards haven’t even got it in them to do me the same justice.”

I wondered where Strauss fit into the equation, but I’d have to wait to find out.

“Are you saying you wish to die?” Adeline asked.

“Damnit,” Random Man shouted randomly. Spooked a drop of piss out of the poor girl by the looks of things. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Haven’t felt the wind in nearly fifteen years. The day I was locked up was the day it should have ended.”

Adeline’s eyes basically fell out of her head. “You’re not permitted outdoors?”

“Take a minute to think about what would happen if we were.”

Adeline would take a lot of minutes to think about it, but for now, she was right. With all the talking, the other inmates were starting to get too excited. It was time to go.

Later that day, seven Partisans flew the loony tree.

I didn’t even have to do it myself.