Ascension (25 page)

“
Heath told
me,
”
she said, pointing at him with her
fork but keeping her eyes locked on mine, while Heath put up his
hands in front of him in defense against Jean
’
s accusatory
fork.

Heath looked at
me with his hands still up in surrender and explained,
“
She came to the barn looking for you. Brussel
told her you went to find me, so she appeared knocking on my door
threatening me to tell her where you were.
”

“
How could you
lie to me?
”
Jean said, the hurt evident
in her voice and on her face.

“
Jean, you
don
’
t
understand-
“

“
What
don’
t I understand, you b-
“
Val stood up in a flurry, covering
Shawna
’
s ears,
pointedly announcing to Heath and Mr. Harris that breakfast was
over.

Mr. Harris, who
had remained impassive the entire time, suddenly looked
exasperated.
“Can
’
t a man just eat his breakfast in peace?
I
’
ve got too
much to do today to listen to you girls-
“

“
Mr. Harris!”
Val
barked sharply, and he stood up, pushed his chair in with a huff,
and stomped out of the kitchen. Heath, Val, and Shawna followed in
a much less dramatic procession, leaving Jean and I alone in the
kitchen. I sighed, knowing an explanation was needed, not having
any place start. After attempting to arrange my thoughts, I broke
the tense silence.

“
Jean, I
don’
t know what it is you think
I
’
ve been up
to, but I
’
m
almost positive that it isn
’
t what
’
s really going
on.
”

“
I know exactly
what
’
s going
on. You could never accept that Nethers are lower here, for some
reason thinking that you were better than the rest of us, so you
decided to kiss up to Mathelda and become another puppet in her
group. Once you caught the Prince
’
s attention, you suddenly felt
like you were one of them, an Ahrenian. You even became friends
with that horrendous Princess Lena. We
…I…
wasn
’
t
good enough for you. You wanted the castle life, the money, the
power. Well, guess what, you might
’
ve had it, but after your little
stunt in which you disappeared for a few days,
Mathelda
’
s put
a price on your back and has got a harsh beating waiting for
you.
”

The way she said
it, with so much anger and pain, shocked me. It made me realize
just how dumb I was, to ignore Jean and the others who really made
me feel at home the first few weeks I was here. After considering
what she said, I asked,
“
If you hate me
so much, why did you come looking for me?
”

“
Because
I
’
m an idiot,
and for some reason I was worried about you,
”
she replied in a quiet voice.

I sighed, trying
to figure out what I could do to fix what I had almost
broken.
“No, I
’
m the idiot. You
’
re right, I did completely
ignore you, but not for the reasons you think. Jean,
”
I sighed, preparing myself to reveal my secret
for the second time in a less than 24 hours. At this rate, it
won
’
t be a
secret anymore.
“
The reason the Prince
and I have been meeting up has nothing to do with what you, or
Mathelda, for that matter, thinks. The Prince, Croxley, and I are
planning a revolution. We are trying to free all Nethers from the
King
’s abusive exploitation.
”
I continued to explain our plan, about how we
were going to visit the different colonies and work together to
stage an embargo around the city, forcing the King to release us
from his control.
“
At least,
that
’
s what we
were planning to do, until Princess Lena came to the palace. Since
then, I haven
’
t
been able to speak to Prince Erik alone, and Croxley was sent out
on some errand, so I decided to go and find Heath for some help.
But really, now that I think about it, I know I
should
’
ve come
to you first.
”

Jean just looked
at me for a long time, until finally she slapped my arm,
exclaiming,
“
Well duh! I
can
’
t believe
you didn
’
t tell
me!
”

“
I wanted to,
believe me, but Croxley and Eric didn
’
t want to risk
anything-
“

“
Eric? You mean
the Prince?
”
She gave me a meaningful
look.
“
Oh no, don’
t tell me that you
’
ve…
you can’
t have actually
…
you like him,
don
’
t
you?
”

Startled by where
the conversation had suddenly turned to, it took me a few moments
to formulate a coherent answer, and even then, it ended up coming
out as a spluttering of
“
Me? No, the
Prince, he and I
…
we
just
…
I mean, he
’
s a Prince! And Lena…and, no!”
Jean smiled at me suggestively, waggling her eyebrows. I
laughed and decided that it was time to be honest, both to her and
myself.
“
Yeah, I guess I do like him.
I
’
ve never
really let myself think about it that much, but
…
when I do, I can
’
t help but smile. But,
it
’
s not like
anything can happen. He
’
s royalty, and even if we do
manage to free everyone, I
’
m still just a girl from Cethin.
He is the Prince of Ahrenia.
”

“
Don
’
t you mean the King?
”
Jean asked.

“
What do you
mean, the King?
”

“
Well, you said
you were starting a revolution
…
there
’
s
no way you can be successful if you keep the King alive.
He
’
d never let
us live freely.
”

“
Prince Eric
isn
’
t going to
kill his father.
”

“
Why not? His
father hears one word about this plan and he
wouldn
’
t
hesitate to kill the Prince.
”

“
No, our plan is
going to work, and nobody is going to die. You
’
ll see.
”

She gave me a
skeptical look, then nodded as if resigning to some inner
decision.
“
Alright, alright. So tell me,
how can I help?
”

“
Well, first, I
need to get back to the castle,
”
I told
her, and she flung her hands up in exasperation.

“
Are you kidding?
I wasn
’
t just
trying to scare you when I said that Mathelda had something
terrible waiting for you. If you go back to the castle, you
won
’
t be able
to leave the quarters for a long time.
“

“
But I need to
talk to the Prince somehow! Or maybe Croxley. I wish I knew where
he was!
”

“
Hmmm…”
Jean said
as she scooped some of her until-then forgotten breakfast into her
mouth. Her thoughtful
“hmms”
turned into
hums of pleasure as she ate more and more, and I decided to eat
some of my plate as well while we mulled it over.

“
I can try and
sneak you in. I have a few friends among the guards who might be
able to tell me where the Prince is, and I can try and get you to
him without letting anyone else find out
”

“
I
don’
t want you to get yourself in
trouble, Jean.
”

“
Don
’
t worry about it.
I
’
ve gotten
myself in and out of trouble plenty of times. I can handle it. If I
remember correctly, I
’
ve also gotten you out of a few situations as
well.
”

“
That
’
s
true. That bread is still the best tasting bread
I
’
ve
had,
”
I told her, reminiscing back to my
first days in the city with Croxley, and the shock of the
prejudice, mistreatment, and injustice against Nethers. I never
could have imagined back then what the future held for
me.

“
We might be able
to get a few of the other girls in on the plan as well,
“
Jean said, and I mulled it over in my head. It
was risky telling too many people, but I figured that at this
point, the more help, the better.

Jean and I
continued to plan out our slip into the castle, but our responses
took on longer and longer pauses as we became engulfed in our food,
hunger overcoming us. Heath, Val, and Mr. Harris must have been
listening in, because as soon the tension eased and we began
eating, they came in and resumed their spots at the table, Mr.
Harris eating with such gusto that we all couldn
’
t help but
laugh.

Chapter
24

Jean and I decided that the best
time to sneak into the castle was just past sunrise, as the night
guards were at their most tired and about to be switched. Right as
they swapped guard, we would run in through the servant entrance
and hopefully avoid Mathelda and any of her posse. We left Val and
Mr. Harris early in the morning, and I told Heath that I would give
Brussel a message as soon as we found out what the next step
was.

“
I
’
ll send Shawna along to pick up
the message. I can
’
t show my face around the city anymore, and I
‘
spect the guards are soon gonna show up at my
house to boot me out soon,
”
Heath had
mentioned when I explained the plan. I still felt guilty for
Heath
’
s
situation, but there wasn
’
t much I could do except keep
moving forward.

We arrived at the
castle a bit before dawn, giving us some time before sunrise to
find the best opportunity to sneak in. We hid in front of the
servant entrance, watching the guards as they made their rounds,
their feet dragging and their eyelids drooping from the long night.
When a guard appeared that I didn
’
t recognize, Jean and I both
eased out of our hiding spot a bit down the road and walked
steadily past the guard, hoping that he didn
’
t recognize either of us and
wouldn
’
t bother
us much. We managed to make it past him and into the tunnels, where
there were only a few other guards posted, but they were too busy
talking with each other to notice us slip by. I thanked my good
luck and gently squeezed Jean
’
s hand as she pulled me quickly
back to her room.

“
I
haven
’
t been
assigned a new roommate since you left, so you can hide here while
I figure out a way to reach the Prince,
”
she told me, sitting on the edge of her bed while I sat on
mine.

“
Lena isn
’
t much of an early riser, so we
have a better chance of reaching the Prince alone. You might be
able to find him in the garden. If he is there, tell him to wait
for me by the morning glories,
”
I said,
thinking back to our walk through the garden.

“
Alright,
”
she replied, standing up and heading towards the
exit.
“
I should check in for
breakfast-hopefully Mathelda didn
’
t notice me missing yesterday.
I
’
ll talk to
some of the girls and send them your way so you can fill them in on
your plan. I
’
ll
try and pick some out of each colony so that you can learn a little
bit more about where they are and if their leaders are willing to
join us.
”

“
Thank you, Jean. I can
’
t tell you how much it means to
me. Oh, and be careful!
”

“
Yeah, yeah. Wish
me luck!
”
And with that she left, leaving
me alone in my old room.