“What’s the good news?” Zoe asked.
She was right; we needed to focus on that. I might not like what we’d learned so far, but perhaps there was something we could do.
“I found four of my contacts in the city,” Husani said. “They’re going to get whoever they can from my people to join the meeting with the rebels.”
“But is there going to be a rebellion?” I asked.
“Many people will be there,” Kaius said. “Whether or not they decide to help again will be up to them.”
Nikon added, “I’m happy to say we were able to change many minds, especially when they’ve seen how following the Reding and Vading hasn’t done them any good. People are still being taken and killed, imprisoned or enslaved, though they’ve stopped their rebellious activities. They’re ready to fight, in order to make that stop.”
Thank the sands. “When is the meeting going to be held?”
“One week from today,” Kaius said.
“That will give my people time to gather with us.”
Ugh. That was too far away, though the reason made sense. I didn’t want to wait that long. “What do we do in the meantime?”
No answer, except for a hoot from Tewy.
“Well?” I asked.
“I hate to say it, but we’re stuck in this basement,” Nikon said. “We’re all tired of it, but there’s so much strife out there, it’s not safe for us to go out with more than two at a time. Three if we’re pushing things.”
“Especially me,” I said.
“Unfortunately, that’s true.” His voice was soft.
“It’s fine. I understand it. I just don’t like it.”
“No one should like how the blind are treated,” Zoe said, voice sharp. “It’s awful, but we’ll figure out how to make changes, no matter what it takes.”
I sombered. “There’s a likelihood that lives are going to be lost.”
“Some things are worth losing your life for,” Kaius said with conviction.
Though I’d gotten to know him better, there was so much of him I still didn’t understand.
The week went by more slowly than any other week I’d ever had in my life. It dragged, leaving me feeling wasted away, though Nikon didn’t let me rest much. He’d make the others go to the edges of the room, and we’d do whatever we could to train, before he’d then turn me over to teach Zoe and Kaius what I knew. They weren’t as talented as me, but they were improving, if talk of fewer bruises was an indication. They didn’t have magical fighting sticks on their side, so they might not progress to my skill level.
Husani practiced fighting against Nikon a few times. By their grunts and quickly shuffling feet, it had to be quite the workout. Zoe told me more about their fights, telling me that while they weren’t evenly matched, Husani was better than she expected.
When the day came for the rebellion meeting, my stomach was pummeled with emotions like grains of sand in a sandstorm. There was so much that could go wrong in the meeting. Though so much could go right, too. That needed to be focused on and not the negative.
“I’ll go first,” Nikon said. “Cass, you follow, and Husani, you take the rear. I told Hupsheta we’ll be gone for a while, though I didn’t tell her when or where we’re going. She said she’d hold the room for us, though.”
“Do that many people need this small a hiding place?” I asked.
“It’s actually big, compared to others,” he said. “And yes, according to her, hiding places are needed more and more.”
“She hasn’t upped her price, has she?” I didn’t like how much worry crept into my voice, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“No.” The word was tight, though. “Let’s go.”
I followed his soft footsteps over to the rectangle in the wall. He shuffled against it, and I waited until the sound of his movements had gone some distance before following after him. From all the grunting he’d been doing, I’d thought it’d be a difficult crawl, but the tunnel was fine. More spacious than I’d expected. Best yet, I hadn’t run into any spider webs.
I continued to crawl my way through. My arms were aching by the time Nikon called back, “We’re about halfway through.”
I held in a groan. He had it worse than me, yet he wasn’t complaining. The least I could do was the same. I was going to be a filthy mess when I got out of this tunnel, though. It was nothing but dirt walls. Made me worry that it was going to come down on my head, but it held. Maybe someone used magic when they built it, to help it stay up. There were sand grains beneath my palms. Plus the hot, stuffy air was trying to suffocate me.
Nikon stopped shuffling forward. I continued until I reached his sandaled feet, and then waited. The others huffed for breath behind me, but Nikon was surprisingly silent. If I couldn’t feel him, I would’ve thought he’d abandoned us. Of course, there was nowhere to go, and more important, he would never do something like that.
Several long moments later, there was a grunt ahead of me, followed by the brushing of cloth. Nikon moved on ahead, and I did too, until I came to a wall and blessedly fresh air coming from above.
I climbed out, taking my cane in one hand to feel around the area as the others came up. The river swished by, not too far away, the sounds making me shudder instead of the usual excitement. That water was tainted to me. Even if they’d tried to do something positive with the water, it felt wrong.
Nikon said, “We still have some distance to go. We didn’t want to hold the meeting close to where we came out.”
“Are there trees around?” I asked, as I heard the others join us.
“Not directly around the hole, but the rest is thick with vegetation. We’ll have to push our way out without leaving a trail. We don’t want others to find it. Hold on a moment. I’m going to close the escape hatch, and then I’ll give you my arm.”
Metal shifted against dirt. Nikon returned and gave me his arm as promised. Together, we headed away from the tunnel we’d crawled through. Zoe must have struggled with it with her claustrophobia. I hoped it wasn’t too bad for her.
When we got to the foliage, Nikon helped me through. The sweet song of birds singing filled the air. Tewy sat still on my shoulder. What was he thinking? Feeling? If he was anything like me, he was grateful to be out in Eppla once again instead of stuck in the basement hideout.
We’d gone quite some distance when the sound of voices trickled to me.
“The only thing you can see around here is sand and plants by the oasis,” Nikon said. “Almost there, and about a dozen people are already waiting.”
“Did you tell them about me?” I asked.
“I didn’t specify anything.”
So I was going into this blind, in two senses of the word. Who knew what to expect from rebels that may or may not want my presence there? I’d deal with whatever came, though it might not be for the best.
I gripped both my cane and Nikon’s arm more tightly. I didn’t want to let either of them go. They were my protection in a world that didn’t want me. As we grew closer, the voices faded until there was nothing left but the distant chirps of birds and a soft brush of wind.
“Thank you all for coming,” Kaius said from ahead of me. “We will begin in a short time, once everyone has arrived.”
The talking resumed, but quieter. I could almost feel them staring at me. Maybe it was my imagination running away with me, but the whispers felt directed at me. I stiffened when I heard the word blind muttered.
So they were discussing me.
I had no problem going with Nikon when he moved with me to the side and said, “Let’s sit here.”
Being as graceful as I could manage, I sat. This was awkward, but I’d prove I was as worthwhile as they were. Except, which side were they on?
I leaned toward Nikon and whispered, “Marauders or rebellion members?”
“Rebellion members.” His words didn’t bring me comfort. If anyone was going to turn me in, it’d be citizens of Sirya who’d already been through so much and wanted a way out of the hard place they’d been shoved in.
“There are more people headed this way,” Nikon said. “They’re marauders, from the sheer number of them and the direction they’re coming from—away from the city.”
I strained to hear them. Moments later, I was rewarded with the shifting of sand that grew louder as the people came closer. Nikon was correct; it sounded like a lot of them.
Tewy tugged on my hair, finally done with what had captured his attention after exiting the tunnel. I reached up, pulled him off my shoulder, and placed him in my lap. He yammered away.
Despite not being able to understand him, I listened to him as time passed. Nikon wasn’t touching me, but was close enough I could almost feel him. Zoe and Kaius’s voices came through the air, reminding me that they were more accustomed to this than I. They knew what they were doing. They could handle this group.
“We should start,” Zoe said from my right, startling me. “More people may come, but this is a good-size group.”
“Agreed,” Nikon said.
Zoe brushed a hand across my shoulder and whispered, “I’m going to go talk. I’ll be back after this is over, and we’ll figure out a plan. We won’t let this city—this country—continue to rot away under the Reding and Vading’s rule.”
I sat straighter. She was correct. We’d make this work, no matter what it took. And if we did, we might find my parents in the process. After all, if we took down the Reding and Vading, we were certain to gain more information about what the rulers had done to those like my parents.
Antonia was the Vading, though. The thought made me sad for a brief moment. She might have been crueler than I knew, but she had taken care of me for a long time.
“If we can have your attention”—Zoe’s voice was farther away now but raised—“we’d like to get started.” The crowd quieted. “Thank you all for coming today. It’s not easy. Those from Sirya, you probably noticed we have greater numbers and unfamiliar faces among us. The marauders have joined us and are willing to help with the cause.”
“Who are you to tell us to work with the marauders?” a man called out, voice angry.
A woman added, “That’s right. I don’t want to work with their scum. You have no authority to ask this of us.”
“We have the choice to do so.” Zoe’s voice was firm, but the cries of the crowd continued.
Surprisingly, the marauders didn’t protest; they sat quietly. The rebels, though, sounded furious.
“Silence,” Kaius yelled, from where Zoe had been speaking. It was a command the people listened to. Once quiet returned, he said, “I am the Jackal. That’s who I am, to ask this of you.”
My mouth dropped open. This quiet, unassuming man was the Jackal? Shock coursed through me, stunning me to the point of silence. How could this be? We’d been through so much together. I didn’t know the people I was living with.