I've decided there is nothing better after a night in a dungeon that waking up in your own bed. It's an amazing feeling, even if the bed isn't a particularly soft one.
I stretched, not wanting to get up but knowing that I would have to, Sarasai and I were due to report to the Rogue, and I was sure that at least one of the group would come to question me about my time in the cells.
Reluctantly, I headed down stairs with Blackie at my heels.
"Morning, lass." The landlady said from beside the hearth. The inn was empty, so I had no way of avoiding the questioning that I was sure was coming.
"I have something for ye." She said cryptically, before disappearing into a side room.
That was not what I was expecting. Usually when a lodger was locked up, they would be kicked out of an inn. Apparently, the landlady had some sort of an interest in me.
That made a lot of sense, actually. I usually avoided her conversations, but she obviously had something to do with the rebel network and the rise in magic users in Tortall. She was peculiar, but was most likely a key part of the rebellion.
"Here." She said, appearing in front of me and making me jump.
She thrust a stack of papers in my hands, and I stared down at them blankly.
"What is it?" I asked rather slowly, confused.
"They were in that parcel ye gave me when ye arrived. Those papers tell ye who ye are." She said, sounding much like a riddle, before she shuffled off to the kitchen, leaving me alone to ponder the papers.
I looked down, recognizing the image on the first as a family tree. I looked closer, and saw a name about halfway down: Alanna of Tortall.
I stared at the page in disbelief.
'Those papers tell ye who ye are', she had said. Was this a family tree that proved I was a noble?
Was this the key to becoming who I am supposed to be?
I quickly ran up to my room and shoved the papers under a loose floorboard, the safest place I could think of.
I would have to ward it with some kind of magic as well, but I had no idea how to do that, so I left the room, heading off to the Dancing Dove for the Rogue's meeting.
"WHAT DID YOU TWO DO?" The Goddess screeched, and Alanna and Jon cowered in front of her, Jon wincing at the volume of her voice.
The Goddess, for the most part, was calm and gentle. However, if someone interfered with her plan, she was liable to-
"I come back from talking to my brother, and SHE'D ESCAPED FROM THE CELLS! We needed her to stay there! Why on earth would you do that!" She exclaimed, the air around her crackling with her anger, a thunderstorm brewing far below as a result.
"And, furthermore, Jonthair implemented new laws! That makes it IMPOSSIBLE for Jasson to rule! I reiterate, WHAT DID YOU DO?" She said, glaring down at them both, her arms crossed over her chest.
Alanna answered first, stepping forward slightly, her chin thrust forward in a show of confidence.
"Jon suggested that we had to do something about the situation, so I helped out with the break out." She said simply, not looking at Jonathon who looked crestfallen.
"I have no idea what he did whilst I did that, though." She said, and both sets of female eyes turned to Jon curiously.
Jon sighed before replying, looking resigned.
"I tried to convince Jonthair to step down." He said, looking at the crowd.
It was rare for Jon to look so rejected, which made Alanna realise that he truly regretted his actions, so she refrained from yelling.
The Goddess, however, did not.
"YOU DID WHAT?" She screamed, and both legends winced again, the wind picking up around them as the Goddess' anger was enraged.
"I tried, and failed. That's why he's decided that he is the only person who can approve whether or not Jasson is fit to rule." Jon said, clearly wanting to leave the situation and let the Goddess cool off.
"Yes, THAT IS WHY OUR PLAN IS RUINED! AND THE FUTURE OF MAGIC!" The Goddess exclaimed, the air around her now tinged red, Alanna and Jon both watching her warily.
"It is all because of your rash actions that everything is ruined, Jonathon of Conte." The Goddess said, before disappearing in a whirl of wind that greatly resembled a tornado, knocking both Alanna and Jon to their feet.
"That did not go well." Alanna said unnecessarily, staring at the spot where the Goddess had disappeared.
"Really?" Jon replied sarcastically, taking his temper out on Alanna.
"Oh, shut it, Jon. It was your idea, do not take it out on me." She said, walking away quickly from the fuming King.
"Where do you think she went?" Jon said as she walked away, gesturing to the spot where the Goddess had stood.
"Probably to consult Mithros." Alanna muttered, before disappearing from sight.
"What d'ye think this is all 'bout?" Sarasai asked me, tossing an apple from hand to hand as we entered the Court of the Rogue.
I shrugged by way of response, taking my place (leaning against the wall) next to Yates, Hamrath and Sesha.
"I don't see why I have to be 'ere!" Sesha hissed at Hamrath.
"Why didn't ye just come alone?" She grumbled as Hamrath shot her a scathing look and Yates shushed her.
Sarasai and I exchanged a look at Sesha's antics. I'd come to realise that childish, selfish tantrums were a strong characteristic of hers.
"QUIET!" Someone yelled from up the front of the room, and instantly all the mindless chatter about bread prices, removing stains and gossip died down, leaving a heavy silence as we all waited for the Rogue to speak.
The Rogue nodded to his bodyguards, who then stepped down from their places on his right and left, before standing next to the wall. It was only with them out of the way that the Rogue left his throne and addressed us.
"Corus has gone to the dogs. We have less freedom than we did before the Golden Age, slavery is rife, and Tortall is ruled by an incompetent and corrupt government. It is time for a rebellion."
He slowly scanned the room, taking in each and every one of us.
"Some of you come here for different reasons. I know many of you fight for other causes than this," he said, looking pointedly to the Sarain mages group to my right, "but we can all see the injustice here. We may be selfish thieves, but we do this, not for ourselves, but for our community."
"Tonight, we attack the Market of Sorrows. Slavery is out-dated, and should have stayed taboo. Hopefully, after today, it will be."
Everyone in the room stood up slightly taller at the mention of an attack, all listening intently.
"Meet here when the clock chimes eight tonight. From there, I will give you the details of the attack. We will attack at approximately eleven."
He surveyed us all again, before dismissing us with a wave of his hand. The instant he sat down, chatter broke out again, though this time it was excited, full of anticipation about tonight's events.
"This'll be interesting." I said to Sarasai, who nodded, her mouth full of apple.
"Oh, aye, very interestin'." Sesha chimed in from behind us, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I came 'ere to help revive magic. I don't see what destroyin' a market does for me cause." She said huffily, and I stared at her.
"All injustices are linked. One strike at the regents is what we need to start it off, after tonight, magic will be brought back." I said confidently, though I had absolutely no idea how to do that.
"What would ye know?" She said scathingly.
I opened my mouth to reply, but Hamrath beat me to it.
"It doesn't matter how much experience you have, but instead about how much heart you have." Hamrath said, staring down at Sesha, who huffed and stalked off.
"Alenne," Hamrath said, turning to me, "my underground mage network knows how to handle these kinds of situations, and we can teach you how to help, as you seem willing." He said, his eyes sparkling mischievously.
"You want me to join you?" I asked, looking sideways at him as we walked to the exit.
"If you'd like." He replied, looking at me expectantly.
"I'm in." I said, shaking his hand before heading off with Sarasai.
"I didn't know ye were a mage." She said bluntly.
I gaped at her, belatedly remembering that I had never actually revealed my gifts to anyone except Jasson. The Rogue, the landlady, Yates, Hamrath and Sesha had all guessed.
"Oh. Well, I am." I said, rather lamely.
"Makes sense." She replied, grinning wickedly at me before swiping another apple from a stall.
"You have a fetish for apples, don't you?" I asked, rolling my eyes as we headed through the Lower City.
"'Course." She said.
"I'm gonna go work." She said, patting her purse, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Want to come?" She offered.
"I'm right." I said, shaking my head at her 'work', or, in normal terms, pickpocketing.
I watched her weave through the crowd, before a thin, grubby hand came out of nowhere, grabbed my arm and dragged me into a dingy alleyway.
"Graf." I said, shocked to see the boy who had disappeared shortly after we broke him out of the cells.
"Where did you go?" I asked him, looking him up and down.
He was covered in dirt, suggesting he hadn't found an inn or suchlike to sleep in, but was grinning widely, so he seemed to be happy.
"Around." He said, leaning against the rough stone wall behind him, releasing my arm.
"I was in th' meetin'." He said. "Snuck in." He grinned wickedly at me, in a way very similar to what Sarasai had done just moments earlier.
"You snuck in to the Court of the Rogue?" I said, my eyes widening.
He shrugged.
"So?" He asked, looking as if this sort of thing, meetings in alleyways and impending rebellions, were an everyday occurrence for him.
"What do you want?" I asked, realising that he must have dragged me in here for some purpose.
"Well, I wanted to make sure ye'd pass on details 'bout later." He said, standing up straight and taking a step closer to me.
"I also wanted to get somethin' straight." He said, looking me directly in the eye.
"I want to help." He said, and I just stared back, his face only inches from mine.
"With what?" I asked, rather stupidly, my voice breathless, my heart beating rather fast at his proximity.
"Rebellion." He said shortly, before leaning in even closer, our foreheads were touching.
"Why?" I managed to choke out.
He grinned at that.
"I thought t'was obvious." He said.
He leaned in quickly, brushing my lips with his own, before darting backwards, down the alley and out of sight before I had even reacted.
I stared after him, completely confused.
He was an odd cove, that one.
I headed out slowly, shaking my head to clear it. I headed towards the inn, intent on reading over the papers the landlady had given me in the few hours before the meeting.
"Jonathon has ruined us all." The Goddess said, turning to face her brother.
Mithros, wielding a white spear, turned to face the Mother Goddess, his face impassive.
"How?" He asked simply.
The Goddess hesitated, knowing that the news would anger her brother. As a God with power over war, Mithros' emotions could have, and often did, have disastrous consequences.
"Jonthair has implemented rules that make it impossible for Jasson to rule whilst Jonthair is alive." She said, carefully watching her brother's features for the explosion she was sure would come.
She was waiting in vain, however. His face remained calm as he replied.
"There is a simple solution. Jasson must overcome his uncle, so that he may take his place and fulfil his destiny." The God said simply, smiling slightly.
The Goddess, however, was not so reassured with these plans.
Jonthair of Conte may be ruthless, and Jonathon of Conte was remembered as a great warrior. Jasson of Conte, however, possessed neither of his relative's qualities, and the Goddess thought that the task of killing his uncle might be too heavy a burden.
After all, Jonathon hadn't killed his Uncle, Roger. That had been left to Alanna.
It was then that the Goddess began planning to train Alenne, just as she had with Alanna all those centuries ago. It appeared that, yet again, it was the task of a small, red-headed girl to rid the world of a cruel Uncle who stood in the way of progress.
As the palace clock chimed eight times, all faces in the room turned to face the Rogue. Scanning the room, I could see a mixture of emotions.
Sarasai next to me was full of excitement, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Sesha, in contrast, was leaning against the wall, a bored expression on her face, looking completely drained of energy.
Yates and Hamrath both had an expression of rapt attention on their faces, looking every inch the part of eager and loyal rebels.
I saw Graf at the back of the room, who, upon catching my eye, winked. I blushed at this, looking to the dusty floor.
As soon as the meeting was over, I knew I had to straighten things out with Graf. I was not the sort of mot who did those kinds of things, and he had to know that.
I turned my face to the front to distract myself from Graf, listening to the Rogue's instructions.
"Our runners, Sarasai and Alenne, you will be lookouts at the back entrance to the market." The Rogue said, nodding to Sarasai and myself.
"Two of our Sarain friends, Yates and Sesha, lookouts at the front entrance." He said, and Yates nodded in understanding, Sesha, however, remained impassive.
"Everyone else, in the action. We need to be in and out as quickly as possible, there's no need for anyone to spend the night in the cages." The Rogue smiled wryly at this, and a small chuckle trickled across the room.
"Lookouts, I want you in place by nine. Everyone else, return home to gather the necessities, before meeting here at ten for an eleventh hour strike."
Lastly, our objective: release the slaves. You know why."
With that, the Rogue stepped back, and we were dismissed. Excited chatter immediately started up, but Sarasai, Yates, Sesha and myself moved through it all, moving to take our places as lookouts.
The atmosphere was now thick with tension and apprehension. All around us men and women were becoming soldiers, rebels. We were no longer simply thieves, we were fighting for our freedom, for fairness.
We were halfway down the alleyway next to the Dancing Dove when Graf appeared.
"Graf!" I exclaimed, startled at his sudden appearance. I'd momentarily forgotten my resolution to make my lack of feelings completely clear.
"About earlier, that was a mistake-" I started, but he cut me off.
"And ye never want it t'happen again?" He said over me, grinning mischievously again.
"Got it." He said, turning from me to Sarasai beside me.
It was only then that I realised that Sarasai, previously full of energy, had frozen. She was staring at Graf, her eyes wide and her mouth open.
"Graf." She whispered, looking faint.
Graf smiled at the sound of his name on her lips.
"Sarasai." He said in reply, though his was confident and loud.
We all looked questioningly at the two of them, it was clear they had met before from Sarasai's reaction to recognizing him.
"She's me sister." He said by way of explanation.
We all looked from one to the other, even more confused.
I guess this explained why Graf's mischievous grin had so reminded me of Sarasai's.
