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The ride back to Geidy’s capitol was rather short and uneventful. The captured Light Bearer adults rode in one of the buses with Dave to go to the prison, and the ex-Light Bearer children rode in one of the hummer-limos that came to pick us up. They were headed into a holding cell until their fate was decided. Martin and I rode in the back of another hummer-limo with Hillarie, Mari, Cathy, and part of the team, and the rest of the team rode in the third hummer-limo. The royal children rode in the fourth hummer-limo with Simon and Quinn to keep control. The two men looked rather harassed when we arrived at the capitol.
There was a crowd of people waiting for us as we walked down the path, Martin and I leading, and we entered the throne room in a stately manner. There were gasps of awe and as I saw the relieved looks, I turned and gestured to the children, sweeping my arm towards their families.
All decorum vanished as the children rushed forward eagerly, shrieking in joy. Corin hugged Hillarie fiercely. Florinda swept Mari gratefully in her arms. I watched with a soft smile. “This is why,” I told Martin softly. “If for no other reason, this is why it’s worth the risk.”
Martin looked like he understood, and I saw the others experiencing the same feeling as they watched the families reunited with their loved ones. I stopped watching that though, looking around for a sign of something out of place. I found it halfway through my search, in Geidy’s group of people. I knew then, as I watched him, that he was the leader of the Light Bearers and felt my gaze go cold.
Martin must have felt something because he took one look at my face and moved in front of me. “Joan?”
“It’s him,” I said tightly. “The leader of the Light Bearers. It’s him, and I know it.”
Martin searched my face. “I’ll back you up, Joan.”
I felt a brief surge of gratitude. “Thank you.”
He nodded and moved back to my side. Across the hall, a guard moved by Dave and whispered in his ear. His face went grim, and he looked to me, nodded once.
“Joan Ilion,” King Irvin of Geidy said, his teenage son by his side. “We owe you gratitude beyond measure for rescuing our son.”
“We also owe you for saving our daughter,” King Olean said. Queen Brenda looked near tears.
One by one, each country thanked me for rescuing their loved ones. Demetri said, “Joan, I may not have had any family to lose, but I had friends to lose. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for rescuing the Lendians from almost certain war and destruction.”
I curtseyed to the applause.
“Lady Ilion,” Queen Florinda said, smiling at me. “You have again saved Valeria, and this time you have also saved the many countries and lives that would have been given to fight the Light Bearers. You have saved the lives of the royal families and the future of our countries. It is an honor to know you and to have you as our Champion.”
The room burst into longer applause as I walked forward and curtseyed to Alan and Florinda. Mari walked in front of me and shook her head, then she went in a curtsey to me, a deep one, showing her deep gratitude. Then, one by one, each of the rescued hostages went into a bow or curtsey to me. I was absolutely stunned, and almost fell over when the crowd went down on one knee and each of the kings and queens also bowed or curtseyed, as if we were equals. All anger melted away for that moment, as I stood in shock and awe and gratitude. I suddenly felt near tears and instantly pushed that emotion back; I was not going to cry in front of all the royalty of the English Region.
“Tomorrow, we celebrate!” King Irvin announced suddenly. “A ball, in honor of Joan Ilion and those that helped rescue our children.”
I saw Mari giggle and caught smothered laughter from those behind me, but I kept my face composed during the short burst of applause that followed this statement and the royalty took their seats.
“Champion Ilion,” King Alan said, as I was his subject. “Please tell us how you came to find our daughter and rescue her.”
I gave a brief account of how I’d spoken to the Light Bearers and made my plans to go, of Martin and the others catching up to me and offering their assistance, of the road to the guardhouse that was full of traps, making sure that the help by the others was highlighted, of meeting the Light Bearers in the guardhouse by Otter’s Cove and going through the gate. Dave had already told me that I was to tell about Geidy’s gate, so long as I did not reveal where the entrance to the gate was. Next, I told about rescuing the hostages, leaving Gina’s part out of it, and ended my tale without mentioning Cathy.
Quinn stepped forward. “For those who do not know Joan, they do not know how modest she is.”
“Quinn,” I growled under my breath.
Quinn continued, ignoring me. “There is quite a bit that she left out because she does not think it is relevant, but I believe you should know the danger she put herself in for us all. It was her plan, both times, that allowed capture without injures, and a rescue without attracting the attention of the Flip Side authorities. Even after our future rulers were rescued, her sister, Cathy, was trapped underneath the crumbling house. Joan alone braved the descent to rescue her sister, and remained two hours in that pit until we were able to help free Cathy.”
“It is true,” Simon said, stepping next to Quinn. “Joan led us to the Flip Side and back, and she was the only one among us to sustain a noteworthy injury.” Quinn shot Simon a sour glance and I suppressed a smile.
“It was an honor to follow Joan, Your Highness,” Dave said from his position next to the throne, walking to stand next to the other three who had spoken for me. “We could not have done it without her.”
My face was flaming hot by this point, and I wished desperately they would stop. Martin stood beside me and took my hand. “She would say that she could not have done it without us to help, but we also could not have done it without her, Your Highness.”
“It seems you went above and beyond the call of duty, and then some,” King Alan said. “Not just Joan, but all of you, and the only thing that you could have done more would have been to find the leader of the Light Bearers.”
“Actually, Your Highness, we might be able to do that as well,” I said, relieved they were going to stop singing my praises.
Whispers circulated around the room and a murmur grew until King Olean cut it off. “How is this, Lady Ilion?”
“Your Highnesses, I would ask that you just hear me out,” I said, knowing some of them weren’t going to like what I was going to say. “I do not make this accusation lightly.”
“We will listen,” Queen Isabelle said. The room became deathly silent.
I took a deep breath and let it out silently. “I first became suspicious on my way to Linson, when we were attacked by a Light Bearer named Delilah, the same Light Bearer who helped me find where the hostages were being taken. Quinn Haskell confiscated a round, wooden token, one I’d seen before. It was the same medallion that Olson’s people had carried during their rebellion, with an eye on one side and a torch on the other.”
“We are familiar with this symbol,” the king from Unti said. “We also found it among the Light Bearers we caught.”
“And what did you do with these medallions, Your Highness?”
“We burned them, of course.”
“And I thought that’s what everyone would have done, but these were the old medallions. The same person carved most of these out, as Simon verified, but they were still popping up,” I said. “So the only way these medallions would keep being circulated is if they weren’t all being destroyed.”
“Keep going,” King Irvin said, his voice hard.
“So the leader had to have access to these medallions, or at least have someone who had access to these medallions,” I reasoned out. “But that didn’t make any difference, until we were on our way after the Light Bearers. The road we took was supposedly blocked off years ago, for miles, but the entire stretch was cleared, and had been for a long time. Apparently the townspeople cleared the road on their own, although the map did not show it. That made me think. To hide a road, you would have to be someone pretty influential. I asked Captain Parkton, and he told me the list of people who would have access to making changes to the maps. That meant that someone had access to Geidy’s maps, and so I started to think that maybe the leader was a Geidyian.”
This caused a stir, but King Irvin cut them off. “Continue, Joan,” he said, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. I knew he wasn’t angry at me, but that the traitor might be one of his trusted people and he had missed it.
“My theory was confirmed as we traveled down the road, as there were several traps along the way that only a pro could have spotted. Dave, Captain Parkton, said that these traps were the ones that Geidyians used against their enemies in war, and something that only a person with military background or experience would know. Then I learned that almost no one knew that Geidy had a gate. The Light Bearers knew, but none of the other countries knew, and none of the Geidyians other than a specific few knew the gate existed and where it was.”
“What are you saying?” Commander Nelson demanded.
“I’m saying that somehow the Light Bearers knew about the gate, and only one of those specific few could have told, and told where.”
“And who would those few be?” the Chief Secretary demanded.
“You would be one of them, sir, and so would the Commander, Captain Parkton, the king and queen of Geidy of course, and the head of transportation would have known, at least, that was the list that Captain Parkton gave me.”
There were murmurs at this and the chief secretary looked offended by the accusation. I continued before he could interrupt again. “But that’s not all. There were more issues that had to be resolved for the Light Bearers to have kidnapped the children’s party and escaped so cleanly with them. I have a few questions, for the Commander.”
“Ask your questions,” the Commander snapped.
“How did the fact that such a formerly popular road be unnoticed and left off the map for so long?” I demanded.
“I have many things to attend to. Such things would have to go to through the Head of Transportation first.”
“But the people that lived nearby have said that they sent letters to you specifically. Letters that told of suspicious activity on a road that was supposed to be blocked off and closed.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that. He could almost see the net closing in on him.
Anger snapped in my eyes, returning full force. “And the guards who were formerly at the guardhouse, once their rotation ended they went home; they weren’t killed. The next rotation was reassigned, and no one ever took their place. You gave the order for the rotation to be reassigned, and you would have been in charge of placing more guards at the gate. I hardly think that such an important job would have slipped your mind for so long.” Now I was clearly furious. “An interesting little bit of information was that apparently, if there is no royalty to take the throne, you step up until the next royal line is chosen, which can take years. So, eliminate the four children standing in your way, and even if the Light Bearers fail, all you have to do is wait until the king and queen die and then take their place. You got ambitious, being only one step away from ruling an entire country.”
“And do you think I want to be one with nature?” he asked scornfully, his last defense as everyone stared at him, the pieces clicking into place in their mind.
“It served your purpose,” I snapped back instantly. “You recruited people who wanted to serve a cause, and who would serve it to their deaths.” My tone was slightly acidic. “Funny how a group dedicated to the cause of protecting nature would use wooden medallions, don’t you think? It would only make sense if the leader wasn’t really dedicated to the cause.”
“You have no proof!” he shouted. “Nothing!”
“We didn’t,” Dave spoke up, his voice crackling with ice. “Not until Joan shared her suspicions with me and I sent people looking into your room. That was when we found the plans and the bribes paid to you so you would incite unrest in our country.”
I turned to Geidy’s shaman. “You said there were those who refused to be read. Nelson was one of them, wasn’t he?”
“He was,” Maxwell said, eyes glinting in anger. He strode forward and grabbed Nelson’s hand. The shaman let go an instant later. “Greed, fury, guilt,” Maxwell said, voice ringing. “Hatred towards all of us, and a selfish desire for power. The need for fame.” His voice showed his disgust. “It’s him.”
Nelson shoved the shaman and ran towards the exit to the right of the throne. There were children in his path, and I knew he would have no qualms about taking another hostage. I’d pulled my knife out when a single shot rang out.
Nelson fell to the ground, blood spurting from his leg, but he was a professional and he instantly reacted, drawing his own weapon. I didn’t stop to see who had fired; I threw my knife, slicing off the top of his first two fingers. Nelson screamed in agony, unable to grip the gun he’d held. It slid away from him, covered in his own blood. Almost instantly, he was surrounded by Geidyian guards.
King Irvin and Queen Isabelle were issuing orders as I looked around for the person who had fired the gun. Cathy stood, gun in hand, her eyes deadly and cold. I approached cautiously. “Cathy?”
“He wanted me dead,” she whispered. “He wanted me dead, and all of us dead, and he almost won. I hate him!” The gun in her hand shook. It hadn’t been loaded when I’d given it to her. Apparently she’d found bullets. I was going to have a talk with whoever had given them to her.
“It’s okay to hate him,” I said, kneeling down to face her. “I hate him too, but what are you going to do now? Are you going to shoot him again? Are you going to kill him?”
Cathy didn’t answer, her eyes still ice cold and furious.
“Cathy, if you shoot him again, his death goes on your hands. Do you want that? Do you want to kill someone? Because it’s not good what happens later. You can’t stop thinking about them, and you regret what you’ve done. And I know that not everyone feels that way, but I know you would because you care. You stopped him, and you can hate him all you want. But now you have to make a choice. Are you going to be like him and kill out of hatred, or are you going to let him get justice another way?”
Cathy’s eyes filled with tears.
“He hurt a lot of people, sis. You shouldn’t let him take away your feeling of self-worth or your compassion and humanity. You don’t want to be angry forever.”
She finally looked at me. “I was so scared,” she whimpered, tears spilling down her face. “I was scared and alone and I didn’t know if you’d ever find me and I didn’t want to die.”
The gun dropped to the floor and I swept her in my arms. “I know,” I whispered as she sobbed, arms locked around my neck. “I know, sweetie.”
She hiccupped and coughed, still gasping and crying. “Shh,” I murmured. “I’m right here, Cathy. You’re going to be okay. I promise.”