Ascension (33 page)

“
Diplomacy would
never work.
”
This time is was
Conor
’
s mother,
Julianne, who spoke up.
“
An entire
civilization of people were subjected to live as slaves
underground. What makes you think anyone on the surface cares about
what happens to us down here?
”

“
I believe
that
’
s where I
come in.
”
Every head turned to look at
Erik. As he walked to the center of the room, he introduced
himself.
“
As Prince of Ahrenia, I can
vouch for a handful of people, myself included, who want nothing
more than to see your freedom. I agree,
”
he said, turning to look at Broderick,
“
diplomacy has to be our first goal. But I speak truthfully
when I say that my father will not so much as give you a second
glance if you approach him as you are now. In order to get his
attention, we need to band up, work with the other colonies so that
together, your voice can be heard.
”

“
How many are you
asking from us? We can
’
t afford to send too many, for if you
haven
’
t
noticed, we are already running low on supplies. If we lose any
more hands
…
well, it won
’
t matter if we are granted
audience because we will all be dead,
”
a
younger woman, one who had just joined the council a few months
before I left, spoke up timidly.

“
I understand you
are hard-pressed. But to truly have any chance, we would need as
many men and woman as we can get. In the next few weeks while we
are rounding everyone else together, we can work to gather supplies
so that the young and elderly can have something to survive off of
while the stronger ones are gone.
”

“
What about these
other colonies? How do we truly know they exist?
”
Serrus challenged.

Before Erik could
respond, a quiet but strong voice spoke out.
“Don
’
t trouble the boy. They
exist.
”
The voice belonged to old
Maguire, an elderly man who had been on the council since before
anyone could remember. He doesn
’
t often enter the dialogue,
rather he observes with a keen eye, heavily considering both
arguments before voicing his opinion. But when he did speak, his
words were not taken lightly.

“
Back when I was a
young boy, my grandmother had told me stories about the Great
Purge. She spoke of how her family was divided, how her and her
mother were separated from her father and brother. She hoped that
they had been allowed to remain on the surface, over the
alternative of being killed as punishment for resisting. Years
later, after her mother passed away, she overheard some guards
speaking about a father and son who had been put to death after
trying to escape from the colony. Confused, as no such attempts had
been made in Cethin, she listened to snippets of conversations for
days until she managed to put the whole story together.

What she found
out was that her father and brother had been sent to a different
colony during the Great Purge, and after they realized that the
rest of the family hadn
’
t made it with them, they
plotted an escape plan. Other families that had been split up
wanted to join them, and soon guards found out about the attempt
and identified the son and father as the leaders of what they saw
as a rebellion, putting them to death in order to quell any future
attempts. Although it pained her to know of her
family
’
s
demise, she finally had some closure. She guessed that there were
more than just those two colonies, but by that time she had a
family of her own and didn
’
t want to endanger them by
sneaking around for more information. That didn
’
t stop her from telling her
children and grandchildren the story, giving them a promise of hope
in exchange for the promise to never tell another soul. Now, I
won
’
t put
complete faith in you, Prince Erik, but I will put complete faith
in my grandmother.
”
Maguire folded his
hands in his lap, apparently finished with his
contribution.

“
I guess that
settles that. But we still don
’
t have a plan,
”
my father said.

“
Well, we were
hoping that Cethin would serve as the waypoint for the other
colonists, perhaps allowing us your quarters to house everyone
until we are ready to enter the city.
”

Everyone started
speaking at once, and questions like
“
how
can we support all the other Nethers if we don
’
t even have enough resources for
ourselves,
” “
what are we going to do
about the guards,
”
and
“
how do we even know this is going to
work?
”

“
Everyone calm
down!
”
My father pounded his fist on his
chair
’
s armrest
to get everyone
’
s attention. With everyone
’
s feathers ruffled, it took a
few moments for the voices to settle.
“
Now, from what I gather, your Highness, you intend on
having Cethin house all of the volunteers from the other colonies,
and once we have all assembled, we are to follow your escort into
the city?
”

“
Yes. And if the
King ignores our requests, then we will set up an embargo around
the city. Add this to the fact that, with all of the colonies no
longer running, supplies will quickly run out in the city and they
would have no choice but to listen to our
requests.
”

“
Your highness,
we can
’
t afford
to lose good men. If the King responds with forces and attacks our
men, what then?
”
Julianne, who knew the
sting of losing a husband, looked deeply concerned about the notion
of other families feeling the same grief.

“
I can make no
promises,
”
Erik conceded, his eyes never
leaving hers.
“
But I will do everything
in my power to prevent something such as that from occurring. As we
speak, guards from the other colonies are being sent to work in the
southern border on a project that should keep them busy long enough
for us to enact our plan. We have nearly everything set up. We are
only waiting on your confirmation.
”
Following this, chatter spread throughout the room, and I
stood in the corner, trying to gauge in which direction the
conversation was going. From what I could hear, the council still
sounded apprehensive, and I was growing antsy just standing and
listening.

Finally, my
father held up his hand to call for silence, announcing,
“
We will admit that you present a strong
argument. We have for many years been trying to revolt ourselves,
but the scale of which you mention is much larger than we had ever
imagined. We will discuss it and let you know our decision within
the fortnight.
”

I
couldn
’
t take
it anymore. Although I had no place to speak, I walked into the
center of the room next to Erik. My father made eye contact with
me, his eyes bright with warning, reminding me just how out of
place I was, but I ignored their flame and spoke in a compelling
voice.
“
Respectfully, council, we do not
have the time to sit and converse. The King is-
“
I was interrupted by Serrus.

“
Who is this girl
and why does she think she has the right to speak in this
council?
”
He leaned forward to inspect
me, recognition widening his eyes.
“
Anso, is this not your spoiled daughter who thinks herself
too good to work the mines like the rest of us? Who, until
recently, had been living on the surface, leaving us behind to
labor until our hands bleed?
”
He turned
to look back at me.
“
Why
don
’
t you just
return to your little den and leave the discussion to the adults?
Honestly, child, what makes you think you know anything about the
situation?
”

My eyes stung, but I stood firm.
“I
’
ll acknowledge,
sir, that I have been raised in seclusion, not out of vanity, but
out of protection. However, I took it upon myself to break this
seclusion when I presented myself for evaluation and was sent to
work on the surface. For months I was ridiculed, used, abused, and
had to endure more than you can imagine. But I was also aware,
observing the court, planning and plotting, so that when I
returned, I would be able to free my people. So I have come back
with a plan for you.
”
I challenged
Serrus, holding his stare.
“
Now, if I
may, I would like to have your audience.
”

Julianne spoke
for me, saying,
“
I know this girl. She
isn
’
t just a
delicate flower, she has thorns and can stand on her own. I believe
we should listen to what she has to say.
”

“
Thank you, Julianne.”
She smiled encouragingly, and I continued.
“
I understand that we are asking a lot of
you,
“
I looked around the room, catching
everyone
’
s
attention,
“
but we do not have time for
the normal discussion, debate, and voting process. Before I left
Ahrenia, I had heard some soldiers speaking of a project the King
has in mind, a project that will require many hands to be taken
from the colonies. According to them, a huge expedition is underway
in which the King
’
s soldiers are going to raid the colonies in order to get
more laborers.
”
I paused to let this sink
in, watching as members of the council make eye contact with each
other across the room. I went on, warning
“
This means that we only have a short gap between when the
guards leave and the soldiers come. And when they do come,
you
’
ll have
wished that our guards were still here. I can promise you, the
soldiers will destroy the little that we have, taking the
able-bodied and leaving only the sick and the weak behind to fend
for themselves. If we can reach Stonewall before the King sends out
his troops, we can prevent more than just this from happening. We
can make sure that nothing like this will ever happen
again.
”

I stopped
speaking, my heart pounding loudly in my chest from my impassioned
speech, and I watched the faces around me for any sign of reaction.
I was greeted with none, and I stood, forlorn, looking at my father
in desperation.
“
Father, please. You know
this is what is best for the people.
”

“
Faradene, while
your words may speak true, you are not a councilman. Therefore,
your words are off the record and have no weight here.
”
I opened my mouth to protest again, but closed
it, not knowing what to say. He spoke the truth.
“
Because this is a special situation, however,
we will consider your addition. Now, if you please, we will
continue our discussion in private. We ask that you and Prince Erik
leave and wait for our decision.
”
I
nodded, knowing that this was the best I could hope for. Before I
could leave, my father motioned me to where he was sitting. He put
his hand on my shoulder, speaking quietly,
“
And Faradene, thank you. I couldn
’
t be more proud of
you.
”

I repeated those words over in my
head as we walked out of the council room and back through the
corridors to the den. My father is proud of me.

Chapter
30

After the
meeting, Erik and I returned to the den. We sat at the table, not
saying much to each other. The only noise in the room came from
nervous fingers rapping on the table and the crackling of the fire.
When we had first returned, Conor and my mother swarmed us with
questions regarding the meeting, but we weren
’
t really sure what had happened
ourselves, so didn
’
t have much to report. After a while, Conor grew tired of
helping my mother weave, so she took him back to his den to go to
sleep.

Sometime after
she had left, Erik
’
s hand crept across the table and took my hand in his,
pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at him and smiled.
“
You did a good job,
”
I told him.

“
We
’
ll have to wait and see,
”
he replied.

I nodded, and resumed my daydreams.
My mind had been drifting though our plans, thinking of the next
step and who would be playing in our dangerous game. My wanderings
brought me to Heath, Mr. Harris, and eventually Croxley.