Raven Rebellion

by K Hanson

  “Clearly. But anyway, how did you get into this life?”

  Nereyda shrugged. “It’s what I’ve always done. My parents set me adrift in a barrel—I don’t know why—and I was picked up by the Storm Raven. I’ve been there ever since, and it’s all I know.”

  “And you’ve never thought about leaving and finding a more, well, legitimate life?”

  “Is this about trying to straighten me out?”

  “No, only curious.”

  “Leaving’s never really occurred to me. Leaving the Storm Raven would be like abandoning my family. Unless I took them along and helped them find their own happiness, I don’t think I could do anything else.”

  “How did you become captain so young?”

  “When Captain Nogre died, I got us out of a bad spot. I was the best choice, and the crew voted to make me captain after that.”

  “You don’t exactly have any problems with confidence, do you?”

  “That’s not a problem if I know what I’m doing, which I generally do.”

  “What about when things go wrong, though? Like when your crew was captured or when Elvar died?”

  Nereyda frowned as she set her drink down and shuffled over to stare out the window, crossing her arms. “I try not to think about that.”

  She heard Devrim put his own drink on the table, then his footsteps as he came up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t turn to look at him but didn’t pull away, either. His pine scent comforted her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean to pick at that wound.”

  “It’s not your fault. And you’re not wrong to ask. I think I just don’t like to think about it because I don’t really have anyone in the crew that I can share my fears with. I love them, but they need me to be a captain. And for that, I need to be sure of myself.”

  “I don’t know if it helps, but I don’t know what I’m doing with this rebellion. I’m making it up as I go along. I’m used to running a factory where I can plan everything out. This is new territory for me.”

  Nereyda turned to him, leaving his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. This is where I live my life.” She gave him a slim smile.

  “Good, then it looks like I picked the right general.”

  “Why lead this rebellion if you don’t know what you’re doing?”

  The embers reflected in his dark eyes as he fixed her with a determined gaze. “Because I might be the only one who can. Some of the people I grew up with are still stuck working in the factories, barely earning enough to feed their families. I was lucky, and I hate to leave them behind.”

  “They’re your crew.” She reached up and touched the side of his face. “I get it.”

  “You get me, I think.”

  Nereyda’s heart quickened as she pulled him toward her and placed her lips on his, nibbling slightly on his lower lip before he pulled back.

  “I’m not sure I should be getting involved with someone working under me,” said Devrim. He turned his face away and lightly held Nereyda back with the hand he still had on her shoulder.

  However, he didn’t resist as she sidestepped and pulled his chin toward her again. “Are you saying it’s against the rules? You know that will just encourage me.”

  He flashed a tempting grin. “I’m counting on that.”

  Nereyda kissed him again, then brushed her lips alongside his neck up to his ear. “And who said I’d need to be under you?” she asked with a purr in her voice.

  “Tempting. Maybe I can persuade you to stay the night?”

  She gasped as he nibbled at the base of her neck. It was almost enough to make Nereyda give in. “You are very persuasive, but I think I’ll make you wait a bit,” she said as she slipped away from him, running her fingers down his arm.

  Devrim caught her wrist in his hand, then his light caresses and rough callouses performed a duet across the top of her hand. “You shy?”

  “Absolutely not. I’m not afraid of having a night of fun. But I don’t usually see those guys again. You, though, I think I’ll be seeing a lot. Don’t want to complicate things too quickly.” She gently tugged her hand from his grasp.

  “If that’s what you want, I can be patient.”

  “Good. Trust me, I’ll make it worth the wait when it does happen.”

  “So you’re saying it will?”

  “As long as you don’t screw anything up.” She winked at him. “But I suppose I should head back and call it a night. We still have our meeting about Trabizan in the morning?”

  “Yes.” He picked up the wine bottle and waved it at her. “Want another drink before you go?”

  “So you can keep seducing me?” She winked again. “After we take Trabizan, we’ll make time for another evening together. We’ll see what happens then. Have a good night, my lord.” She swayed her hips as she glided out of the room, feeling his gaze follow her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Are you ready?” asked Devrim.

  “After Antalia, this should be easy,” said Nereyda.

  They stood on top of a hill, overlooking Trabizan and the stone bridge that led to it. The rebel army stood behind them at the bottom of the hill, a patchwork of the green uniforms of soldiers, the mixed black and gray of the pirates and Islanders, and the smattering of colors worn by the volunteers from Antalia.

  “Looks like you were right,” Nereyda continued. “Only a single regiment is stationed in the city right now. They haven’t reinforced at all.”

  “Hopefully, we won’t need to fight. They can see our army here. You shouldn’t have a problem convincing them to surrender the town to us.”

  “I hope you’re right. Might as well head down.” Nereyda took a step forward, then halted as Devrim gently gripped her shoulder.

  “Be careful,” he said as he gave her a squeeze.

  Nereyda smiled to herself as she slipped from his touch and hiked down the hill toward the edge of the city. Imperial soldiers were taking positions, despite being outnumbered by the rebels. The Empire still hadn’t figured out how to react to the rebellion that had erupted.

  The gravel crunched under her feet as she followed the road toward the large crossroads town ahead of her. From behind a low wall that wrapped around the edge of the city, a squad of soldiers trained their rifles on her as she approached and crossed the bridge. Before they got too antsy, she raised her hands above her head and kept them visible. Nereyda stopped about twenty feet away, still on the bridge, and raised her voice. “I’ve come to parley with the commander of your garrison. I represent the Free Cambisian People.”

  “That is not a recognized nation,” shouted one of the guards. “Our commander is only required to give an audience to officials representing recognized governments.”

  Nereyda had expected this. “Would you prefer that I signal my friends to attack? Are you ready to die today? You know you won’t win.”

  He frowned and glanced at the army at her back. “Fine. Stay here while we convey your message. Perhaps he’ll spare a minute.” He nodded to the soldier next to him, who strapped his rifle over his shoulder, then jogged into town.

  “Can I lower my hands? Or do you expect me to keep them raised for the whole time I wait?”

  “You can lower your hands, but if I even think you’re going for your weapons, I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

  “Fine by me.” Nereyda sat down on the bridge wall and crossed her legs. “Nice day for a fight, don’t you think?” she asked.

  The soldier scowled at her but didn’t respond.

  “Of course, it’d be an even better day for a nice walk. I hear the road east from here is quite lovely this time of year. I think you and your comrades would enjoy a stroll in that direction.”

  “We’re not going to just leave town and let you have it.”

  “We’ll see.”

  The guard who had left returned with a man in an officer’s uniform. A scar cut down the side of his square jaw. “This is Captain Nurullah. He’s
in charge of the garrison in Trabizan.”

  “Oh, so you’re a captain, too? It’s nice to be speaking with someone of equal rank. I didn’t think you’d actually come out. Did you see our army and get scared?”

  He avoided eye contact and instead peered over her shoulder at the army gathered beyond. “We’ll hold our ground as long as we can. And I’m not here to negotiate with you. I needed to see you for myself.” His attention turned to her as he looked down his arrow-like nose and sized her up.

  “And now that you’ve seen me in all my glory, what do you think?”

  “I think that I don’t owe you any more of my time.” He turned to one of the other soldiers. “Get the civilians out of their homes and line them up between us and the enemy. We’ll see how far these rebels are willing to go.” He gave Nereyda a sneer, then turned back toward town.

  “In that case,” she said with a raised voice, “I demand to face a chosen champion so that I can earn recognition in the Empire’s eyes for the purposes of these negotiations.”

  “Are you really serious about facing our champion?”

  “Of course. You think I came all this way with my friends to just turn around and leave?”

  He had a dark laugh. “Very well. Our champion has been preparing for battle anyway, so he should be ready.” He waved over a nearby soldier. “Run and let him know.”

  The soldier nodded and ran off.

  “Where should we fight?” asked Nereyda. “Here?”

  “No, it’ll be in the center of the town, so that people can see what happens to someone like you.”

  “Are you sure you want everyone to see this? It could be pretty embarrassing when he loses.”

  “Even if you win, that merely grants you an audience and free passage to leave without being arrested as a rebel. It doesn’t mean that we will surrender or even listen to you.”

  Nereyda shrugged. “Let’s get this over with, then.”

  “Follow me,” said Nurullah. He pivoted and marched off without waiting to see if Nereyda came along.

  The captain led her from the bridge and into the main square of the town. As she swaggered through the streets and projected an attitude of confidence, Nereyda recognized the inn where she had faked the death of a prostitute and framed an Imperial guard captain for it. It would be an amusing memory if it didn’t also remind her of Brynja’s betrayal.

  A raised platform stood in the middle of the square.

  A man in shining blue armor sat near the edge of the stage, sharpening the blade of a greatsword. His helmet sat next to him. He looked up as Nereyda approached. “You’re the one who challenged me?”

  “That’s right.”

  The man chuckled to himself. “And here I thought today was going to be boring.” He slowly rose to his feet. He fitted his helmet over his head, then hefted his sword up to rest against his shoulder. He gestured to the stairs that led up onto the stage. “After you.”

  Nereyda accepted his invitation and hopped onto the platform, but didn’t take her eyes off of the knight as he stomped up the stairs behind her. When she reached the center of the stage, she turned to face him, drawing her cutlass.

  Around them, soldiers filtered into the square to watch the fight.

  With her opponent towering above her, Nereyda circled around him on the platform.

  He spat to the side without taking his eyes off of her. “You can start whenever you work up the guts.”

  Nereyda studied his armor. Aside from the narrow gaps at the joints, there weren’t many vulnerable spots for her to stick her sword. Still, she might be able to wear him out.

  She lunged and thrust her blade toward a gap near his hip.

  He merely turned his torso so that the blow kissed off of his armor, then swung his sword across.

  Nereyda ducked and rolled back out of reach. She struck at his left shoulder, and he batted her blade out of the way.

  With surprising speed for wielding such a large sword, he brought it back around with a swipe that nearly sliced across Nereyda’s chest.

  As she sidestepped around him, he lunged and caught her sword with his own. Before Nereyda could yank it free, he backhanded her across the face.

  She reeled back, dropping her cutlass.

  As he swung his sword down toward Nereyda for a killing blow, she threw her hand out, and a wall of wind rushed out from her hand. The surge of air tossed the knight off of the platform, his armor rattling with the blast. A few loose boards and a handful of nails sprayed through the air as the wind rushed across the stage. The crowd of soldiers kept silent as the knight lay still for a moment. He groaned as he sat up, leaving his sword laying on the ground.

  Nereyda wiped the sweat off her forehead and turned to look at the captain, whose eyes were wide. “I knocked him off, so I’m the winner, right? Can we talk about how you’re going to leave the city, now?”

  “You,” said Nurullah. “I should have recognized you from the poster.” He rushed over to a building and pulled a piece of paper from the wall, then shoved it toward her. “You’re her, aren’t you? I should have seen it at first, but now that you cheated with that foul sorcery, I know who you are.”

  Around the platform, the soldiers shifted uneasily. Some reached toward their rifle straps or rested their hands on the swords on their hips.

  Nereyda took the poster from him. A sketch of her own face stared back at her, complete with her purple eyes. She didn’t know how the sketch could be so accurate. Underneath her picture, she read,

  An Inquisition has been called to find and apprehend the gift thief known as Nereyda. She has been known to manipulate the elements to stir up trouble in the Cambisian Empire and has been declared an enemy of the church and of the Empire. If seen, inform the nearest Imperial garrison or temple as to her whereabouts.

  “What’s this about?” she asked. “What’s a gift thief?”

  “You’ve stolen the power of the gods and are using it for evil. Nereyda, you are under arrest. Champion, grab her for me.”

  The large man shoved himself up off the ground and picked up his sword, climbed back onto the platform, then stomped toward her. With each step, the wooden platform vibrated under Nereyda’s feet.

  “You don’t want to do this,” she said as she tossed the poster to the ground. “I can do more than blow wind at you.”

  He continued, stepping across the platform.

  Nereyda held up her left hand and created sparks between her fingertips. “You really don’t want to do this.”

  Still, he didn’t stop.

  Before he could reach her, Nereyda held out her hand and sent a bolt of lightning into the armored man. Thunder boomed around the square. He screamed as the electricity coursed through his metal suit. He collapsed onto the ground, and his screams stopped. Looking back at the captain, Nereyda said, “I warned him. If anyone else wants to try, they’re welcome to see what they can do. But even if you do take me or kill me, my friends are moving on the city now. You won’t last the rest of the day, especially after I take out everyone standing in this square. So, Captain, are you going to surrender Trabizan and live to fight another day, or are you going to see your command wiped out?”

  The Imperial captain scowled at Nereyda for a long moment. “Fine. The city is yours. You can tell your rebel friends that we will leave it to you. But your tour of terror won’t last forever.”

  Nereyda watched as he started ordering his troops to prepare to leave the city, then turned to return to the rebel forces. As she left the platform, she snatched up and studied the poster again on the way through the town. In the windows and doors on either side of the road, people peeked out, their faces etched with fear, rather than relief at being liberated.

  She picked up the pace to leave behind the accusing stares.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Back in Antalia, Nereyda huffed as she stormed into Devrim’s office. “I don’t get it. Antalia was happy to see me sink those ships with lightning. But Trabizan is
scared of me? Why do they believe the lies that the Inquisition is spreading?”

  Devrim strode from his desk and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Most of the Empire’s citizens are raised in a rather small bubble. They don’t understand anything that’s different or anything that challenges their worldview. It’s easier to condemn something that you don’t understand than it is to learn to understand it.”

  “What are we going to do about it, though? My powers aren’t going away, and I doubt that this Inquisition will suddenly shut up and leave us alone.”

  “No, I don’t expect that it will. However, as more people see you and get to know you, they will realize that you’re not here to kill everybody and that you’re not some sort of demon. They’ll hopefully start to question what the church and Empire are spreading about you. In some ways, I think these people are also scared of the change that our revolution represents. They’re so used to living in a cage that the thought of being let out of it scares them. And when that freedom comes from someone who shoots lightning from her fingers, it becomes even scarier. Once they see that life under our leadership is better than life under the Emperor, that fear will go away.”

  “So what do I do until then?”

  “Just keep being you and don’t let this Inquisition get to you. Plus, I have something that might help you take your mind off of things for a short time. There is a gathering of nobles coming up, arranged by one of our allies, and I would like you to come with me. The host has invited supporters and potential supporters, and I want them to meet my favorite general.”

  Nereyda arched an eyebrow. “Favorite general, huh? Is this a professional outing or are you asking me on a date?”

  Devrim shrugged. “Can it be both?”

  She flashed a smile. “I suppose. What kind of gathering is this?”

  “It’s a ball at Lord Volkan of Mardin’s estate. He’s one of our most dedicated supporters, as well as one of the wealthiest.”

  “Just so I understand you, you want me to go hang out with a bunch of stuffy nobles? I’m not sure if you’ve paid attention, but I’m not exactly the refined-lady type of person.”