Sonam was very careful of where his camp moved now. They remained on the main island because it was the largest and therefore had more places to hide. They avoided going near Kotun; Imperials would expect him to show up there. Sonam expected them to be near the village, and had thus contacted extended family to help Bulan and the children to move to the coast of the small island closest to the continent. Should things get any more dangerous, the three of them could just take the ferry to Lucis and make their way to Insomnia. They had more extended family there that would take them in.
All of the camps now avoided entering villages and towns until it was absolutely necessary, knowing that Imperials would be searching for them there. Sonam's camp made it a whole month before visiting a town. He had a new rule for Andromeda: she could only go into town with the others if there was Scourge there. Tshering was in charge of finding victims.
The camp moved constantly, not even setting up near villages anymore. They still attacked the minor transports they came across as they moved, but Sonam had yet to plan the next big attack after their huge victory.
There was no official response from Niflheim, as if they were attempting to sweep the incident under the rug. Instead, they increased their forces in Galahd: a lot of airships had been spotted flying over the islands, causing a stir among the locals. Sonam became more vigilant of the news, but with so much inactivity, the Lucians didn't have anything more to report on. Galahd did not appear on the front page again.
It was only two weeks after their last stop that the camp visited a village for more supplies and news. This time, Andromeda was allowed to go as well. There were Scourge victims.
She couldn't wander like the others did: a sick house was assigned to one home, where all of the Scourge victims were gathered for her to heal. Tshering assisted her, although by now her language skills were adequate. Most of her conversations were held in Galahdian now. It still helped to have a native nearby to keep the victims calm. He had a more gentle touch than she did, and Sonam didn't want Andromeda alone at all these days.
There were a few people with Scourge, which was a lot for any one village. It seemed strange, but not improbable. It was likely that there was just a lot of daemon activity nearby and these victims had dealt with it. Andromeda cleansed them all and set the corrupted crystals on a windowsill that received direct sunlight. She and Tshering then ensured that the victims rested on the spare cots. It was a draining experience for both parties. They all sported a new scar where the Scourge had been—there was no hiding that they had been infected.
As soon as there was some quiet in the house, Hira came in noisily. She stood in the doorway as she looked around, particularly at the cured patients that looked at her at the disturbance.
"Have you seen Sonam?" She asked, still oogling. She had never witnessed Andromeda's healing before.
"Not since we came in," The other woman answered. "Why?"
"Scouts saw a big dark vehicle coming towards the village on the road. They don't know who it is. It doesn't look Imperial," Hira reported. "Pull your masks up."
"Check a few houses up. Sonam might be visiting any of the Elders here," Tshering said.
Hira disappeared at that, closing the door again. No one would rest now at news of that. Even Andromeda was more curious than she should be about it.
"It'll be here soon. We should check it out," She said, pulling up the scarf around her neck to cover her nose and everything below.
"Sonam wanted you to stay here until he sends someone to take you back to camp," Tshering reminded her.
"You're here," She pointed out. "I'm tired of being hidden away like this. If it is the Nifs, we might not get any warning from the others before they come knocking on all of the doors. They won't be happy to see what I've done here."
He sighed, then pulled his bandanna up around his face. "Alright, let's go." He looked back to everyone else and ordered them to stay put.
They left the house and carefully made their way to the center of the village, where the store was, like in every village they have been to. It was the only place that a big vehicle could park.
Just as they had guessed, the big black armored vehicle was parked out front, guarded by two people in dark uniforms. They presumably weren't the only occupants of the vehicle; the others must have gone into the store. Many locals had made an appearance, stopping whatever they had been doing to watch what was happening. They didn't often get outsiders, and it was an obvious sign of trouble. It was easy to tell who was a rebel among them: rebels had their faces covered by scarves and bandannas, like Andromeda and Tshering.
He seemed to know one of the houses nearby, and he led her to take cover behind some slapped-together picket fence. It was falling apart, which gave them a good view of the store across the road.
As two people in similar dark uniforms finally emerged from the building, Andromeda held her breath. For a moment, she thought it was Hank and Harper, the two spies that had taken her in after she escaped Niflheim. It would make sense that they would appear now, after the mess Andromeda had made. Yet they wouldn't take her back out in the open like this.
She almost stood up from her hiding place to confront them, but the longer she looked, she realized that she did not recognize these two people at all. The woman was the shorter of the two, with shoulder-length dusty brown hair—it might just be graying, but it was hard to tell from this distance. The other was a man wearing glasses. His dark hair was receding. There was nothing more to tell from him.
They weren't Hank and Harper, and they weren't Imperials. Imperials always made a show of it with an entourage and elaborate coats whenever they came to town. These two, and the two guards, were dressed for espionage; they were trying to downplay their presence as much as possible, and yet get a very specific attention of someone.
The man and woman exchanged short words with the two guards, then made their way up the road. They did not acknowledge the painfully obvious gawkers.
Tshering and Andromeda tried to keep up, picking their way through peoples' yards and keep some distance. They might not be Imperials, but it would not be good to be caught by these spies. The two outsiders were at least three small front yards ahead of them.
It wasn't very long before Sonam appeared coming down the road, flanked by Klahan and Hira. The three of them were guarded, probably surprised that these outsiders had made it to town already and were actively searching it for someone.
Both parties came to a stop in the road once they were within a couple of meters of each other. Andromeda and Tshering couldn't get close enough to hear what was said—not unless they wanted to blow their cover. Sonam would not be pleased to see them sneaking around like this. Their leader ushered the two outsiders to a house a little further up the road, letting them take the lead. He didn't trust to turn his back to them; it was some sort of grand gesture that they willingly did so to him.
Andromeda frowned, assuming she and Tshering wouldn't find out any more of the outsiders. He watched a little longer, having a better view. After a long moment, he stepped out of their hiding spot and waved her on. "This way."
He had seen the house they had gone into. He and Andromeda walked out in the open on the road, both to get there faster and because they assumed no one was watching. It was easy to spot which house it was as they got closer: Hira was left guarding the front door.
She spotted the two approaching, but they gestured for her to be quiet as they snuck into the yard. Hira turned away, pretending to not have seen them.
Tshering led Andromeda around to the side of the house, where they crouched low to the ground below the windows. A couple had been left open. They went to kneel below the one that they could best hear voices from. It was in the room Sonam had taken the outsiders. It was strange that no one had thought to close the windows, but given the time of year, the heat inside would stifle them before they would be able to finish their talk. Most houses in Galahd did not have air conditioning.
"You were wise to find me here in a village," Sonam remarked from inside. "You must have noticed that a lot of locals aren't fond of outsiders. We certainly wouldn't have gotten any privacy at camp."
Andromeda and Tshering stiffened where they were beneath the window, but he gave no other hint that he knew they were there. Nor did anyone else acknowledge them, either. It was a shock to hear Sonam speak in the common language—she rarely heard it these days.
"King Regis has been watching the conflict here closely," The woman spoke formally. "He would like to express his admiration of your efforts against Niflheim."
It was not as much a surprise to hear these outsiders speaking common as it was to discover they were Lucians. That they had chosen to appear now meant that they were finally looking into what was really happening in Galahd—and probably looking for Andromeda. They had covered up her appearance on international news, but they hadn't let it go at that.
"I hope you didn't come all the way just to tell me that," Sonam said. His tone was strange; he sounded uncertain, as if it dawned on him that he had the direct attention of a faraway king. Galahd didn't have a single ruler. If the king wanted to speak with anyone, it should have been the Elders. He was bypassing them entirely.
"I assure you that we did not come empty-handed," An unfamiliar man's voice spoke up. "His Majesty is in full support of rebellion efforts, as he always has been."
Someone gave a loud scoff in the room. Sonam wasn't the type to scoff so openly in someone's face; it must have been Klahan, remaining at his side rather than guarding any back door.
"We've brought some supplies for you. It's the first installment of aid, with many more to come," The man continued as if Klahan had been silent. "As a token of alliance from King Regis. He also extends an invitation to speak with him personally in Insomnia."
It went silent in the room for a moment as Sonam considered what they had said. It was what he had been looking for, and had been so dependent on years ago during the first rebellion. It hadn't amounted to much then, from what Andromeda had been told. An alliance would come with strings attached; she knew this, and it came as no surprise that the Lucians had decided to come now.
Klahan was the first to speak again, switching to Galahdian so only Sonam understood: "They offer aid to later reconquer Galahd."
It was a sentiment of his, and many others, that was well-known among the rebels. For once in her life, Andromeda was grateful for Klahan.
"Thank you, and please express my gratitude to your king, but my hands are a little too tied up here at the moment to leave the islands," Sonam spoke evenly. "You two are not the sort the king would send along with aid. I've never seen you before all those years ago. I will accept what supplies you have brought since you've come all this way to deliver them, but we will require no further assistance. Galahdians are doing this for themselves."
The room became quiet again. Andromeda supposed the Lucians were surprised by the rejection—who were these islanders to deny the help of a much larger nation? Sonam's words indicated that he knew these two were really in Galahd to spy for the king. He only subtly outed them. He couldn't take their help, but he would be foolish to make enemies of them.
"We understand," The man finally said.
"If you don't mind my asking, what makes this attempt different from the last?" The woman asked. "This second rebellion had a rough start, and was nearly lost. Now suddenly it's experiencing a resurgence and more victories than before. What are you doing differently this time?"
Either they had been paying attention the whole time, or these two spies had done their homework before setting foot in the islands. It implied just how much they knew and observed.
"It's mostly the new generation coming up—the ones that had just been kids when Niflheim attacked," Sonam said. "It's made them more resistant than their elders, I guess. And more cutthroat and rash, but their hearts are in the right place. Having a few victories under their belts just makes them fight harder. If this time around doesn't work, it never will. Keep your recruiters away. I can't compete with what you offer in the Kingsglaive."
The last part was meant to deflect and lighten the mood a little, and it worked. The Lucians would not get what they came for, but they remained cordial.
"We are not here to take away from your cause," The man assured. "Perhaps you should see the supplies we have brought with us."
"Let's take a look," Sonam agreed.
There was shuffling and footsteps as the four left the house through the front door. Tshering and Andromeda scurried to hide behind the house. They waited and watched the group go back towards the center of the village. Once they were far enough ahead, the two left their hiding spot and trailed behind the group, taking cover behind houses all the while. They didn't have to keep them in sight since they knew where they were going.
"They're spies," Andromeda mentioned quietly to Tshering. It really went without saying, though.
"I think Sonam's already figured that out," He agreed. "But they don't seem to be here to undermine us. Not yet, anyway."
She frowned. "I don't care for their snooping. It's sloppy."
"I don't think they're here as enemies, so they won't use the usual spy tactics," He mused. "They're going to leave empty-handed, without even the information they were looking for."
They became quiet again as they continued to follow the group of five back through the village to the store again. Tshering and Andromeda stuck to their original path to hide from sight.
A large ring of people surrounded the dark vehicle and its two guards, wearing masks over their faces. Most of the villagers had gone away to hide in houses or the store. The guards and rebels alike watched each other intently, but no one made a move.
As they got close, Sonam called everyone off, assuring it was alright. The woman gave an order to the guards, and they opened the back of the vehicle and pulled out a large crate.
Tshering and Andromeda returned to their first hiding spot across from the store. Everyone had their backs turned to them as they stood in front of the crate. It was impossible to see what was inside when it was opened. It was nearly silent in the village as the onlookers strained to hear every word said.
"It's meager for our only contribution," The woman said.
"It's more than enough," Sonam replied. "We appreciate the gesture."
They continued to go over what aid was within the crate. Andromeda looked up to see the sun approaching the horizon.
"I need to get to camp," She told Tshering quietly. "I can't stay here if they're around."
He nodded. Presuming that they've seen all there would be to see from this, and that the others will tell them what would happen (if anything), they left their hiding place to go back up the road and out of sight.
Andromeda made for the sickhouse first. She thought she would have enough time to run in and grab her crystals, whether they were cleansed or not. When they were nearly there, Tshering casually bumped into her side. She understood that it was not a romantic gesture when he did not take her hand.
"Don't look, but I think we're being followed," He mentioned close to her ear.
It was very tempting to look, but she kept her eyes forward as they kept walking. "Do you think the Lucians knew we were there the entire time?"
"Probably. They're actual spies. We're just a couple of locals." Tshering turned his head slightly, trying hard to make it seem like he wasn't looking. "I think it's just the one person."
"Can you distract them?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I'm going to go around a corner. You stay put there while I keep running," Andromeda explained.
As she expressed her plan, another Lucian in a black uniform somehow appeared ahead of them on the road. It was definitely a set-up—they were looking for these two specifically, and nearly had them pinched.
Andromeda chose a corner and made a sharp turn around it. Then she began running. Tshering kept up with her. She never looked back, but assumed that the two Lucians were chasing after them. Now they certainly had their attention.
After passing several houses, she turned another corner and yelled back, "Stop now!"
She no longer heard Tshering's footsteps behind her as she continued on ahead. She could only hope he would be able to stop the Lucians long enough that they lost sight of her. She turned another two corners to be sure as she made her way back towards the heart of the village. She took notice of the large roof of a barn and went in that direction, weaving around corners the whole way. There was the occasional local around, but no other Lucians.
The massive door was left open, and no one seemed to be around to stop her from going in. It was loaded with hay. Andromeda paused for a couple of seconds to take in the interior. She couldn't be certain her serpentine tactic had lost the Lucians, nor that Tshering had managed to distract them for long.
She approached a loosely-organized pile of hay bales and pulled a couple off. Once she had made a decent-sized hole in the middle of the pile, she laid down in it and pulled the couple of bales back over top of herself, precariously balancing them on top of the other bales around her. There was a small hole left for air.
As soon as she settled into place, she heard boots on the concrete floor. They scuffled around inside the barn as the person checked all of the corners. Andromeda couldn't tell whether it was a Lucian, or the barn's owner who would be upset to find someone hiding in their building like this. She did her best to remain perfectly still and unnoticeable, breathing shallowly as she tried to catch her breath.
She never heard the person leave, so she continued to remain still. Soon after, more pairs of boots stepped onto the concrete. Andromeda guessed it was two people.
"I thought the woman came this way, but I checked the whole area and she's nowhere to be found," A woman spoke—not the same one that had met with Sonam.
"She must be close," A new man agreed. They must have been the guards, or two spies that hadn't yet been revealed.
It was quiet for a moment before the third one spoke. He was the man from before, the one with glasses. "Report back to Elshett. I'll give the area another look, but I believe she's gone."
Two pairs of boots stepped out of the barn, and presumably made their way back to the store. It was quiet again, for a few more moments. Andromeda considered whether she had misheard how many had left, but didn't dare move. At least one Lucian had said he would remain nearby.
"We mean no harm," The man spoke up suddenly. "We just want to speak with you."
She froze where she was. Did he truly know that she was somewhere in the barn, or was he simply speak out only in hope she was somewhere in the barn? Andromeda conflicted on what to do. She was sorely tempted to use chaos to throw a hay bale at the man, to disable him long enough that she could get a head start. Yet there would be no way to control the damage it would cause, and it was unthinkable to summon chaos in the middle of a village. Sonam would kill her.
The only other option was to stay hidden until the Lucian went away. Staying hidden like this, though, seemed so childish when the man mostly assumed she was there.
He continued to wait in silence, which only confirmed that he knew she was there. Andromeda tried to get a good look at him through the small air hole. Her eyes were already adjusted enough to the dark to notice him standing a couple of meters away in front of the hay pile—he knew exactly where she was.
"My partner and I will be in town all night if you want to talk," The man added.
He waited a moment more, then finally walked away, leaving the barn. He must have assumed Andromeda would know where to find him.
She waited a few more moments in hiding. When she was certain he was gone, she pushed the hay away from herself and stood up. Once her feet hit concrete, she ran out of the barn, not even bothering to try and hide.
She never saw Lucians this time as she ran through the village. She avoided the center entirely. The sun was setting as she left the village and entered the jungle. There was no time to go pick up her crystals now. She didn't care that she would probably encounter daemons before reaching camp.
Andromeda stumbled occasionally once it was dark, but continued to run straight for camp. Lucians would have a better chance of navigating the flora than the Imperials. She looked back a couple of times, which played into her stumbling, but it was too dark to really see if anyone was pursuing her. She could only hope that no one had spotted her as she had left the village, and that the Lucians wouldn't leave its boundaries now that it was night.
It was probably twenty minutes of running before she spotted the light coming from the camp. As she got closer, she was spotted by the watch. They called out, assuming there was danger if she was running to them while it was dark. Andromeda didn't give them an answer as she ran past them and into camp. It was only once she was among the light that she slowed down.
There was a commotion by the weapons tent. Most of the camp seemed to be gathered there. She approached.
As she got closer, she realized that everyone was looking at the supplies the Lucians had delivered. It was mostly weapons. Sonam was there as well, going over their stock and comparing the Lucian weapons to the stolen Imperial ones.
He looked up as Andromeda approached. He stepped away from the group as he cast a look back at them. "Don't sneak off with any of it," He warned, then turned to Andromeda. "You disobeyed my order. You were supposed to stay in the sick house until told otherwise."
"I'm sorry," She bowed her head slightly. "I wanted to see for myself what the Lucians were doing in the village."
"Hira told me you and Tshering were eavesdropping, so you must have figured it out too," Sonam said.
"Spying."
"You're right."
"We left once we saw the crate, but two Lucians started following us," Andromeda explained. "I hid in the barn, but that man knew I was there. He said they want to talk with me."
Sonam crossed his arms. "Did you say anything to them?"
"No." She shook her head. Under Sonam's protection, she had no right to speak to outsiders about Galahdian matters—nor did she have the right to attack them and make enemies.
"We'll leave in the morning. We've already overstayed." He looked back at the crowd around the crate. "Hopefully this will be the last time we see those Lucians around here."
Sonam had his camp go to the furthermost island to the east, which was the opposite direction the Lucians would have gone when they returned to the continent. As there was no further sight of them, it was presumed that they had kept their word and left, and no one was left behind in Galahd.
The base on the easternmost island had been repaired and fortified since the last battle. Word came from other camps that the other two bases were in similar situations. It was expected from the amount of forces everyone had seen come to the islands. Still Sonam did not have any plan for a major attack.
He abated the restlessness among the warriors with roadside skirmishes. He led a small band of them against an Imperial transport their scouts had spotted just a little too close to camp for comfort. They often attacked any Imperial transports if they could, though, with little excuse.
Andromeda participated, but she did not use the chaos. Sonam had forbidden it for the time being, at the same time he had told her she wouldn't be allowed to go to villages unless absolutely necessary.
Most of the group was most excited to try out the new weapons from Insomnia, but she gladly stuck to her kukri. She wanted nothing to do with the gifts from King Regis, as if merely touching them would be a sign of her cooperating with his wishes. She would rather not acknowledge the Lucians knew of her at all, although she knew that they would never forget about her. She didn't intend to quiet down in Galahd, either.
Galahdians were very good at hiding and taking cover. Andromeda had picked up some things from them, but she preferred to be low to the ground, rather than up in the trees. Like humans, MTs didn't often look down. Her favorite tactic was to jump up and take them from behind. The automatons couldn't fight much before being disabled. They weren't programmed to deal with surprise attacks as well as humans did.
Once the MTs were destroyed and the rebels pillaged through their supply cache, they left the only human official in charge of the transport bound and gagged. They assumed that he had already called for help and it would be there shortly. That, or someone would come looking when their delivery did not arrive on time.
The skirmish had been far enough away from their camp that they had to seek shelter on a haven for the night. It was just as well; Imperials would attempt to follow them unless they disappeared behind the haven's magic.
Once food had been killed and cooked up, everyone relaxed around the fire. They made jokes about the dumb reactions Imperials have had towards them, and compared the loot of the day to what they already had. Ammunition was the most important supply.
Conversation eventually turned into storytelling, as it always did when Galahdians gathered around a campfire. They loved stories.
Andromeda was comfortable with Galahdian now. She had heard a few of the more popular stories repeatedly by now: first in the common tongue, and a couple of times in Galahdian. She rarely needed a translation. Occasionally she heard a word she didn't recognize, but she no longer worried about it, focusing on what she did understand. It helped her to figure out what she didn't yet know.
It became late as they sat around sharing stories. As another came to an end, it fell quiet for a moment as they waited for someone else to speak up with yet another one.
Dechen, apparently from a family known for stories, shook his head. "We all know these stories, and all of their different endings. They're in our blood," He looked across the fire to Andromeda. "What about a story from Tenebrae? How it fell. Give us something new. You've sat through enough of these without contributing."
There were murmurs of agreement from the others in the circle. Their attention shifted to her, which made her uncomfortable despite having grown comfortable with these people. Despite all they had been through, she was still reluctant to share anything. Even after everything, it always came back to Tenebrae. Sometimes she considered herself lucky to forget she was from there. It was a personal story: no one else had shared a personal story, but some mythical legend they all knew.
"I don't remember much," She finally told them. "It's been years, and I was unconscious for a lot of it, or heavily sedated afterwards. You're better off reading about it in a book or something."
"We don't want to listen to some Lucian or Imperial tell us what happened at the castle," Klahan said. "You were there, as a native."
"I wasn't anywhere near Fenestala Manor," She countered. She had no other argument against it.
This small admission was assumed to be the beginning of her story; everyone settled down again to listen. They did have a point: she had to contribute something. This story was all she did have to herself.
"I lived with my grandmother and aunt north of the mountains. We were in a remote area the outside world knows almost nothing about," Andromeda began. "My parents were resistance fighters, and they were always off fighting Niflheim. They kept the Empire south of the mountains as best as they could, even if Niflheim had control of the whole country.
"My mother had been a part of the resistance since she was sixteen. It was the youngest age they allowed, because that's what's considered an adult in Tenebrae. I had actually planned to run away to a rebel village at the coast when I turned fourteen, and just tell them I was sixteen so I could join the fight two years early."
Her secret plan amused her listeners. Andromeda found it a little foolish now as well—no way it would have worked like she had thought when she was twelve. She had learned so much in ten years.
"My father was a southerner. He was once a part of the Tenebraen military, but he was against Imperial control and so he quit that to join the fight in the north," She went on, admitting a hard truth of her life in Tenebrae. She didn't quite like that half of her heritage was southerner; they were compliant with the Empire, and weaker for it.
She personally hadn't let herself think back on her life in Tenebrae in a very long time. It felt like something made-up—she had lived very different lives since then. She realized how long it had been, and how long her parents had been gone. It hurt to think about. It was why she did not think back on it like this. But her audience wouldn't allow her to stop now.
"I was twelve when Niflheim attacked," Andromeda continued. "I had only been worried about my First Hunt, but my parents always put it off and no one else capable was around. They were all off fighting. Our village was mostly defenseless. There was no warning. My mother came home suddenly, probably to get everyone out, but it was too late. Niflheim dropped bombs on our village."
Aside from the crackling flames, it was dead quiet as everyone listened to her every word. They looked over her bare arms and upper chest in a new light, realizing where those scars had come from. The crackling of the fire reminded her too much of that day.
"My grandmother's cottage collapsed on all of us. After that, my memory gets a little spotty," Andromeda said. "I remember waking up in a field hospital. My aunt hadn't been home during the attacks, so she survived and became my guardian. There were Imperial doctors there to help survivors, but a lot of them didn't make it. The troop dug a massive hole and dumped all of the bodies in there, including all of the fighters from the front. I missed all of that, but I was able to visit the grave for a little while.
"The survivors that did live lived in tents while the Imperials told them how to rebuild. The general questioned a lot of them, too," She added. She recalled her discovery that that general had fondled her aunt, but kept that part to herself. That was far too personal. "After he spoke with my aunt, she found a way out of Tenebrae. The men along the way were cruel like the Imperials. I slept through most of the journey until we made it to Lucis. We entered Insomnia with nothing. And that's the end of the story."
The simple ending brought an abrupt end to the flow of the story, and everyone around the fire were startled by such a sudden, rather boring ending. Personal stories were not as exciting as myths and legends. Andromeda did not add any flourish to her story.
"Is that how you got your magic?" Hira asked. She understood that what had happened in Tenebrae had to be the cause of it.
Andromeda considered her answer. "It's complicated. It didn't show itself until I had been in Insomnia for four years—you know about that—but I definitely didn't get it from there."
"I'm surprised that the Tenebraens would suffer all of that, and not want to fight back," Klahan noted with a slight sour tone.
"They don't have the drive for independence like Galahdians do. I guess four hundred years of Imperial rule will do that to a people. They don't know any different," She reasoned. "I did visit Tenebrae shortly nearly two years ago, and all of the locals thought poorly of resistance."
"They were probably afraid," Tshering pointed out once again, sitting beside her.
"In their fear, they do nothing," She replied. "You all fight back, and you don't need anyone's support to do it."
Some gave a loud cheer at that. They knew she was speaking of the Lucians.
"You're right about that. Independence is best won without owing a debt to any other nation," Sonam agreed once everyone settled down again. "As it is, Tenebraens lack solid leadership. All it takes to inspire a revolution is someone who is willing to take that lead."
Andromeda understood that his point was directed at her, and she didn't like it.
"By winning independence, Galahdians can show the world it's possible," She commented.
Another cheer sounded their agreement with her. She and Sonam made eye contact in the din. She had to wonder just what he was really planning for her. She had a feeling it went against her will.