“Girl named Cara. I basically had to propose to her. It's been talked about ever since we were children. She's nice enough, I guess, but I'd rather fight any day. She's holding me back and-” here his voice lowered “-to tell the truth, I hate her for it.” Nathan was surprised. Aaron didn't seem that kind of person to hold hate and anger inside him, but there it was.
“If I was free of her, I'd go in a heartbeat. Oh, by the way, I just thought of something that might help you. There's a council held every five years where the leaders of the continents meet with the queen to discuss things. If you're careful, you could strike at all of them in one shot. What do you think?”
The thought of it filled Nathan with excitement. He nodded. Deep inside he felt a twinge of uncomfortableness at the thought of killing all those people, but he firmly squelched it at the thought of avenging Hunter and helping the entire world recover from the sickness that held it.
“If you ever have a chance to break free and join me, there'll always be a place for you in my band,” he promised Aaron and held out his hand to seal the promise. Aaron took the offered hand and shook it solidly.
“I'll see what I can do. And the next council meeting will take place in the next eighteen months or so, so you'll have to work fast. They don't start over every time a new queen comes, they just keep going from when the whole system started.”
Nathan nodded. “I should go find Lily and let her know I'll be leaving day after tomorrow.”
Nathan found Lily sitting with some of the other girls. She had her back to him so he went up to her and touched her shoulder. She turned around. “Hey, Lily, I need to talk to you for a minute. It's important.”
She scrambled up from her sitting position and followed him as he walked over to a private corner of the room. “I have to leave day after tomorrow.” He winced a little, knowing that she would kick up a huge fuss over this, especially as she'd been so adamant about having him stay, as well as her.
It came as he expected. “What? Why?”
He outlined the rough sketch of his revolutionary plans, speaking in a hushed tone. Somehow it seemed to add to the urgency, besides keeping their plans a secret. He saw eagerness in her face as he told of the plans, and he knew what she was thinking. No. She couldn't come along. It would be far too dangerous and here she could live her life in peace and relative safety, among girls her own age. Much as he wanted her with him, he couldn't allow it.
“I'm coming too,” she said, her voice excited.
He shook his head. “You can't.”
“Why not? We've dropped of Helen, there isn't any physical treasure that we can find, and now we have nothing else to do here. It's simple as that.” She folded her arms in front of her and glared at him, daring him to challenge her. He sighed inwardly. This wasn't going to be easy.
“Listen,” he said, his voice as patient as he could make it, “I thought you wanted to stay here. Learn more about their strange beliefs and make some friends among the girls. I'm sure you have already. Why would you want to leave them?”
She huffed angrily. “I don't care about staying here if I can help my family and overthrow the government. It's probably better than anything they have to offer, anyway.”
“It's too dangerous, Lily. You wouldn't stand a chance?”
“Oh, and you would?”
He bypassed that question, not wanting to think of it at the moment. “And here you can live in peace and safety with girls your own age and-”
“And find myself a good husband?” she spat out. “You just want to get rid of me.”
“I wasn't even thinking about you getting married.” But now that she'd said it, the idea rankled uncomfortably in Nathan. He'd just found Lily but time didn't matter. He didn't want her to make that kind of decision, and if she stayed here, she very well might. However, the thought of danger outweighed any personal wishes on his part, so he said very firmly, “You're not going and that's final.”
“You can't stop me from coming,” she said. “I can do what I please and what I want to do is help my family.” Her tone was triumphant and Nathan knew she thought she had him cornered. But he'd taken the precaution of talking to Aaron about how this might come up later and Aaron had said he'd speak to the other men and tell them in vague terms about the the dangerousness of the mission. They wouldn't physically keep Lily from going, but they'd try their best in other ways.
He said nothing to her triumphant words which obviously put a seed of doubt in her mind. “I'm leaving in a couple days,” he said, “and I don't want to leave this way.” It was at those words that her angry, icy facade broke down a little. Only a little, but enough to show Nathan that she would care if he never came back. His heart thrilled a little at that, but he didn't let it show. She was probably just thinking of him as a good friend.
She said nothing and walked away, her fast, hard steps showing she was still angry but would stay. Of that Nathan was confident.
Two days later Nathan left for the Outside world.
Lily had never been more furious in her entire life.
How dare Nathan tell her what she could and couldn't do to help her family. It wasn't his family, so he couldn't understand what she was going through, but he didn't even try. And she was angry at herself for weakening when he said that he didn't want to leave with her angry. She couldn't afford to get herself involved in a romantic attachment with anyone, but especially not Nathan. He was her stepping stone to greater things and to fall in love with him, or even become particularly friendly would probably kill her mission before it even really started.
Esther ran up to her, breathless from running, so Lily guessed she had come quite a distance. Esther looked as though she were someone who could run quite a ways without even breaking a sweat. She came up to Lily. “Here, this is for you. One of the young men found it at the tunnel entrance. It has your name on it, clear as anything. Hurry up and open it – we hardly ever get anything left outside the tunnel entrance. Never, really. I wonder how whoever it was who wrote the letter knew you were here...” She turned a little pale at that question and ran off again, presumably to find some of the elders, or even just Benjamin. He seemed to be the leader, even though all his commands were just suggestions or requests.
Lily studied the envelope that had been given to her. It was large, well above the average size for an envelope and black as a starless night. Which was rather ironic, given that the letter's seal – how odd; no one sealed letters anymore – had a coiled up snake and seven stars arranged around the snake. The wax itself was a sullen black. Lily carefully pried the envelope open, not wanting to ruin the seal. It might be useful later.
She pulled out the letter and unfolded it. The paper was a dark grey and the ink was black which made reading extremely difficult. It seemed as though the author of the letter didn't want any white or bright colours for his correspondence. She held it up to the light and was finally able to decipher it. It was a simple note telling her to go outside the tunnel where a helicopter would be waiting to take her to the world ruler's palace. There were no further instructions or details.
She would have scoffed away this letter as a prank, except it was official looking, the seal was vaguely familiar, and the Nonexistents didn't seem like people who played practical jokes on other people. At least it wouldn't hurt to go outside and see what it was all about. She started toward the door to the tunnel and all eyes went to her. She hated the system Nathan had apparently set up but had found that they didn't actually do anything forceful to keep her away, just stared. That was worse, in some ways.
No matter. She was off to see the queen. Perhaps the queen wanted her to be one of her attendants, or Warrior Women. Both positions would provide ample opportunity for revolt and anarchy if she played her cards right and no Nonexistent was going to keep her from going, no matter how much quiet, somewhat reproachful looks they gave her. This was probably the last time she'd see them, and even though she would miss Esther and some of the other
girls, she didn't really mind leaving. Benjamin's teachings over the past few days had stirred up confusing feelings in her and she didn't like the feeling of being helpless. Best to let it all go.
It took her only a few minutes to get outside again. She took deep breaths of the fresh air and marvelled that she had forgotten so soon how wonderful it was. Or perhaps it was nothing out of the ordinary, but being inside for so long had taught her to love it. Either way, she was enjoying it greatly. The air was chill but there was no wind for which she was grateful. It would have made it much, much colder.
Just as she thought about how there was no wind, a fresh, brisk blast started up, but not from natural causes. A helicopter was starting to circle around the field she was standing in. The wind created by the choppers ruffled the grass until it looked like a sea of green, with waves pounding out just like they did in the blue sea. Her dress whipped around her legs and hair got in her eyes and mouth. She watched it slowly make a descent and then touch down, seemingly as softly as a bird alighting on a nest. The pilot, a capable looking young woman beckoned to her to come and Lily approached the great thing cautiously. She ducked into the front seat beside the pilot and sank into the comforting leather.
Then she was blindfolded.
It all happened so fast that she didn't even scream. One minute she could see, the next a black, thick strip of cloth covered her eyes and she could not. The pilot's voice came through a little listening device in her ear. Both her ears, actually. “Sorry about that, but it's orders.”
Lily tried talking and found that the pilot could hear her, although she couldn't hear herself talk, really. She wondered if it was the same for the pilot. “I didn't know the queen was so secretive.” That was all she had to say about it. Oddly enough, she didn't really feel all that scared, although she felt she should have. After all, she was in a strange place, with someone she didn't know, and she was blindfolded. But she wasn't all that scared.
“Oh, it's not the queen,” the pilot said.
Now this worried Lily. Her mind, always wary for a trick, started working with rapidity. Perhaps she was being kidnapped or captured for helping Nathan escape, or to tell the location of the Nonexistents. That must be it. She broke out in a sweat at the thought. She didn't want to betray Esther and the others, but she knew her loyalty wasn't deep enough to withstand torture.
“No, we're going to Lord Lord Abbadon's palace.”
“Lord who?”
“Abbadon. You'll learn more about him when you get there. I can't say any more.” The pilot lapsed into silence that stayed there for the rest of the rather lengthy trip. The only thing Lily could hear was the pilot's breathing which got very annoying but she realized that her breath must be echoing the pilot's headphones as well, so she took it quietly.
:::::
Lord Abbadon's palace – whoever he was – was quite small compared to the one at the Capitol, and absolutely freezing. That wasn't surprising, as snow was everywhere. The ground, the trees, and the few crude huts we'd flown over before we got to the palace. There were no living places anywhere near the palace though and the wind whistled around so desolately that Lily was sure the pilot had brought her to the farthest, loneliest regions of the world.
She shivered as her boots crunched the snow under her feet. They were inside, but some of the snow had clung to her boots. Either way, it still felt like she was walking outside. The temperature hadn't changed in the least. If anything, it was colder. And the atmosphere was extremely oppressive; it was a struggle even to breath freely in the so-called palace. So-called because it was hardly like a palace. Stark black walls and black marble floors and black curtains did nothing for the atmosphere.
The escort she was walking with had not spoken before, but now she started giving out the rules and regulations for the meeting Lily was apparently going to. “You will stand on the first row of tiles in the room and not go any farther. You will only speak when spoken to, no matter how long that may take. You will be respectful and refer to Lord Abbadon as 'my Lord Abbadon' at all times. You will bow and back out of the room once Lord Abbadon says the meeting is over. You will not see him at any time. Displease him and you will die. Please him and you will probably still die anyway.”
The escort said all of this in a chilling monotone and Lily felt sufficiently chilled. Why hadn't she just forgotten the whole thing and stayed with the Nonexistents? They reached the door to the room where Lord Abbadon apparently stayed. The escort opened it for Lily and then stepped back. When Lily entered the room, being careful to stay on the first row of tiles, the door closed behind her with a groan. She shivered again.
The room was very dim, but she managed to distinguish a figure through the gauzy black material at the end of the room. She was about to ask who it was, even though she knew, but then remembered the escort's instructions and bit her tongue. Lord Abbadon seemed to want to let her stew for a while, for he said nothing for several minutes.
Then, “You are Lily.” It was a statement, not a question, but she responded nevertheless.
“Yes, my Lord Abbadon.”
“Good, good.” His voice was low and deep and rich and Lily found it had a hypnotic effect on her. She mentally shook her head to keep from falling under its spell. She had a feeling that if she wanted to make it out of here alive, she had to keep all her wits about her. Such as they were.
“I hear you wanted to become queen at one time,” he remarked.
“Yes, my Lord Abbadon.” This seemed the stock response, even though there was so much more she wanted to say. Like how she still wanted to be queen, despite her ugliness, and she would do anything to get there. Anything.
“You still want to be queen,” he said. Another statement that could have been a question, had he not seemed to be able to read her mind. She was about to nod, when she remembered to speak-answer. She gave her usual response. “Well,” he said, making his voice even more mellow than it had been, “I can make you queen. Queen of the whole world.”
She was too surprised to speak for a moment and then she wondered what she should say. Luckily, he saved her from that trouble. “Would you like that?” She said yes. Even though she couldn't see him, she could sense he was satisfied so she risked a question of her own making up.
“How would you be able to do that, my Lord Abbadon?”
He made no answer for a moment, then, “Weren't you told not to ask any questions?” His voice was neutral. How she wished she could see his face, because then reading his emotions would be much, much easier. A tingle of fear went up her spine. Would she die now that she had spoken out of turn. Well, if she was going to die, better to go out with a bang.
“I was told not to speak unless spoken to, yes, but I want to now things that you aren't telling me right now.” She tensed, expecting a thunderbolt or dagger to strike her down any second.
The next sound she heard was laughter coming from behind the gauze. It was low, deep, and rich, just like Lord Abbadon's speaking voice. She didn't know what scared her more – his laugh, or his silence. There's was something evil about both, not to mention his normal talking. “You have spirit,” he finally said, “good quality for a queen.” He paused for a moment and when he spoke again, his voice had changed to something dark and ominous. “But don't cross me again.”
“Yes, Lord Abbadon.” She breathed an inward sigh of relief. It looked as though she'd escaped this time.
“In answer to your little question, I will give you a question of my own. Who do you think rules this world? The whole world.”
“The-the queen?” Lily said. She wasn't sure of anything, but that was all she could think of.
He gave another laugh. “No. It is I. I hold all the power in my hands. I could strike the queen from her throne at this moment just as easily as I could kill you right now. I control the queen, the continents, and the entire world. No one....no one has as much power as I do.” His voice was full of delight as he spoke, but it sent a chill through Lily. S
he did want to be queen, more than anything else in the world, but if she accepted his offer, what would she be getting herself into?
“You see,” he continued, “I don't want to be hidden away anymore. I want a queen I can work with to better the world. Just the two of us. It will be perfect. You will take the throne, I will advise you, and no one will be the wiser. You will accept.” His voice was hard and commanding now. This Lord Abbadon was a force to be reckoned with and Lily knew she would accept. He knew it too.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I will accept.”
“Excellent.” His voice had changed back to the soft, deep tones that had such a hypnotizing effect. “I'll arrange for Warrior Women to bring about the revolt in just a couple of days. It will be different than usual, but nobody will remember after it happens. You'll fight the current queen, but you will win. I'll make sure of that. Follow my instructions and everything will be perfect.”
She nodded, sure now that he could see her. He seemed to see and know everything.
“Disobey them, and you will pay the consequences. Go now. You'll be shown to a room. Stay there until you receive a message giving you further instructions.”
Remembering the escort's commands, Lily bowed and backed out of the room. She was trembling all over but once outside the room, her heart thrilled within her. The dream was coming true and all she had to do was wait.
:::::
Nathan was surprised to find that only one of the horse's had broken away from where they'd left them. He didn't know which it had been; they all looked alike, but he was glad of the transportation. He didn't want to leave the other two, as they were too valuable, so he untied the reins, got on his horse of choice and grabbed the other two's reins. He couldn't hold his own horse's reins this way, but he was able to guide her with pressure from his legs.
He set off in a gallop across the flat, acrid desert. It was hard to keep a hold of all the horses' reins without falling off, but somehow he did it. He galloped faster and harder then they had on the way there and all in all the journey took only three days. His pulse quickened as he caught sight of the Capitol city. It sat like a jewel on the hill, but he was not impressed anymore. It was too cruel inside for him to admire it as he once had. He was here to destroy it.
Vengeance Is Mine Page 13