It is hours later when Helena finally finishes with her ridiculously long meeting.I understand the reason for it, of course, but that doesn"t make me any happier about standing in a crowded room for so long.
I watch as people go off to start training, some in fighting, others in stealth, a bunch in first aid and some other things I stopped paying attention to.
I am about to head to my own room when Helena calls my name.
"Larcen and I need to speak to you. You as well, Riel."
She looks from Adrian to Arabella and finally to Kent before sighing.
"You guys can come as well, I guess."
She doesn"t wait for a response.
Instead she heads for the war room expecting us to follow.
When we arrive, my eyes alight on all too familiar doc.u.ments.
Before I can say anything, however, she starts speaking.
"The King knows."
Riel"s confused expression is a mirror of my own.
Why does she feel the need to speak in cryptic phrases?
"Knows what?"
"That is the question, isn"t it? By attempting to arrest Arabella and by virtue of that Kent, he was trying to flush someone out. Ausset a.s.sumed it was me, but the timing of it doesn"t make sense. The next obvious choice would be either you or Sonia."
"But that doesn"t make sense either. Everyone thinks they"re dead."
It"s Arabella who voices this.
"Not everyone. There are plenty of people here who know they"re alive."
It"s Larcen who makes the statement.
"No way, Dad! No one here would betray us like that!"
"They wouldn"t have to."
The moment the words leave Helena"s mouth I know she"s right.
"Eri."
All it would have taken is a burst of strong emotion and one stray thought from anyone and she"d know.
Even I had relaxed my guard, allowing myself to think of things that I shouldn"t.
"Yes, Eri - the telepath. We don"t know how much she was able to pick up but at the very least they don"t seem to know about this place or they would have destroyed it already."
"It"s only a matter of time before it happens."
Kent sounds worried.
"Exactly. Time isn"t on our side."
"So what are we going to do?"
Adrian bites his lip as he asks.
"We"re going to attack before they can."
I can"t help but feel that Larcen responds more to put Adrian at ease than anything else.
"When?"
Kent"s tone is all business.
"A week from now."
"A week?! Do we even have a plan?"
I"m not sure if the shock I"m feeling is secondhand or my own.
"We have the beginnings of one. For safety, people will only be told the parts of the plan that pertain to them."
I couldn"t fault that reasoning.
"Now, there is still the matter of your roles in the battle. I"m not going to force anyone to take part. If you wish to leave for a safer area you may."
Larcen looks at me as he voices this.
He"s obviously remembering my earlier vehemence about not fighting.
"I"ve already died for this cause. I"m going to see it through."
Riel sounds so sombre as he says it.
Larcen nods approvingly.
"If you intend to fight then you should join the others for training."
"Count me in too."
Arabella"s words catch Riel off guard.
"I guess you could help with first aid?"
She glares at Riel"s offer.
"Like h.e.l.l. I"m going to fight."
Even Helena looks troubled at this.
"Do you know how?"
Kent looks at Helena sharply at that question.
"I may not have been formally trained but I know enough to protect myself."
"Very well then. You"ll join the others for training."
"You can"t be serious!"
Both Helena and Arabella glare at Riel.
"The King tried to have me arrested on trumped up charges. He tried to have Sonia killed. All of these people are suffering because of him. I"m not going to just take that lying down. I am going to fight."
"Ara… It"s too dangerous."
"Oh? It"s too dangerous for me but it"s fine for you? Please, tell me how that works."
Her words leave Riel with no reb.u.t.tal.
Instead he rounds on Helena.
"If anything happens to her..."
His voice is low and menacing.
I have to admit he can be very intimidating in protective brother mode.
Not that Helena seems fazed by it in the slightest.
"Yes, yes I"ve heard it all before."
Riel opens his mouth to say something but Larcen cuts him off.
"Now that that"s settled, what about you, Sonia? Will you lend your aid?"
"It"s in my best interest to do so. My abilities are yours to command."
I direct the last part to Helena who let"s out a slow breath.
I still can"t feel anything from her, but…
I can"t shake the feeling that she"s disappointed.
"Kent."
There"s an edge of something in her voice.
"If my liege pledges her aid to this cause then so do I. This p.a.w.n is yours to move, Helena."
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Those words should be rea.s.suring to her and yet...
If anything she looks even more troubled.
She chews on her lower lip for a moment, looking impossibly young.
It"s then that Adrian speaks.
"I may not be able to fight, but I"ll do my best to keep everyone healed."
Larcen"s face contorts in something like pain at those words.
He walks over to his son and kneels before him.
"Adrian… Your gift is powerful and I know you want to help but you"re still just a child - my child. This battle is no place for you."
His words are halting and stiff, but the emotion in them nearly chokes me.
"But, Dad, this battle is my battle too. You can"t ask me to just sit it out and let people die when I could help them."
It"s strange to see Adrian stand up to his father.
"As a healer you"ll be a prime target. I may be a s.h.i.tty father but I"m still your father. You will listen to me."
His voice is sharp and commanding but Adrian stands his ground.
"You"re not a s.h.i.tty father. Everything you"ve done has been to protect me and I"m grateful for it, but… everyone I care about is fighting this battle to make the kingdom a better place for people like me."
"I promised your mother that I would keep you safe."
Larcen"s voice cracks a little towards the end.
"I want to help to make sure what happened to mum never happens to anyone ever again. I know that our chances of winning are small, but without a healer they"re even smaller and I don"t want to live the rest of my life afraid of people finding out what I am. I don"t want to survive knowing that everyone I care about gave their lives while I sat back and did nothing when I could have helped."
Adrian has a point.
I, like Larcen, want to keep him safe but if we lose then he won"t be safe.
He"ll have to spend the rest of his life hiding from the King who wants nothing more than to use him as an instrument of war.
… like Helena did.