Dancing with Shadows

by Bridie Henderson

  They watched as Colt and Dax ushered Liam inside, his face a few shades lighter than pale and followed closely after. The silence that met them was deafening. His Mother and father had been busy in the kitchen, sorting bandages, dressings and herbs for their return. Shay had been hovering there with them, pointing out things that were needed for her grandfather to relay. Aaron, Diana, the homely looking lady called Beth, and her small male friend, John, were pouring over the map in the sitting room, looking at different strategies for entering the fortress.

  “Can we have everyone in the sitting room,” he said, poking his head in the kitchen as he passed. He saw his Father nudging his mother as she batted him away, focused on a gadget in front of her as he continued down the corridor rolling his eyes. Some things never change. A few minutes later and they were all assembled in the sitting room, even his mother, though she looked mightily inconvenienced by it.

  “This is Liam. He was a soldier for the King.”

  “Was?”

  “Yes. Past tense. He has a story to tell. When the story is told we will all decide whether he gets to accompany us on our mission,” Quinn said.

  “Wait a minute, you’re suggesting we take him with us? He works for the king!” Diana said. The female rebel had divulged very little about herself over the past few hours but from what Slade could tell, she was capable. A sharp, analytical mind that considered all variables lay beneath icy blue eyes and mousy brown hair. She was tall, almost six foot, but lean and slender. She would have been willowy were it not for the obvious muscle beneath her shirt.

  “I appreciate your concerns, Diana. At best, he could be an ally but at worst, a liability. The stakes are high. Liam claims to have information about the best ways to enter the King’s fortress. I think we should hear his story and make a decision based on that,” Quinn offered, addressing the room with a confidence he was certain she didn’t know she possessed.

  “I second that,” he stepped forward, showing his support.

  “Say his story is convincing, how do we know it’s truthful?” Diana protested, still clearly discomfited by the idea.

  “We don’t. How do any of us know we can trust each other? As I said, I will vouch for him. The rest is a group decision. All of our lives are at stake here.”

  “Well, kid… what’s your story?” James, Slade’s father, asked, cutting off any further discussion on the matter. At least for now.

  Liam took a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks and looked up from his feet, showing his youthfulness in his eyes.

  “I… I was born in Auton, just outside of Union City. It’s a small village. Small people. Small-minded I mean. The King’s scouts would come by to recruit new soldiers every few months or so, every time the rebellion decimated their ranks enough for them to have concerns about it. I always managed to avoid it. I have no love of fighting so I made myself useful as a woodworker. It meant I could stay out of sight for the most part, hide in the forest whenever the Kings men came by and have a good reason for it if I was seen. They don’t exactly keep a census, you know, and my size would have been a red flag for them. Everything was fine, for years, myself and others who would have been seen as useful were able to stay hidden. There was peace. Everything changed last year. A brother and sister were passing through town. Joanna and Alex. Alex was a botanist. He studied the applications and properties of plants and fauna for their medical uses and such. We had an outbreak of Fellora poisoning shortly thereafter and they both decided to stay and help. I… I fell in love, we worked so closely together. He searching for plants and I, with my own duties… When the others in town found out that I… that I had fallen for a man, that we had been… physical, they were enraged. Not all of them, but enough. We were targeted and the king’s soldiers were called. The night I became a soldier I was lynched… I still remember the burn of the rope around my throat, feeling as though my lungs were about to implode… the worst part was watching Alex suffer beneath me. He was chained down to the floor by his wrists and they whipped him bloody with a silver chain… and all for loving me.” Liam closed his eyes, swallowing hard as a tear rolled down his smooth cheek, falling to create a darkened circular mark on his blue uniform. “Joanna fought back, trying to get to her brother. As the King’s soldiers arrived, she managed to wrestle the chain away from the leader of our village, but to do so she revealed her gifts. She was able to manipulate the earth… Alex used to say it made his research so much faster,” a faint, bitter smile fell over his face before his lip began to quiver. Slade almost put his hand out to stop the boy. No one should have to relive their worst memory like this and he had the sense it would only get worse, but Liam began again before he could decide, “The soldiers killed her. One shot to the heart with a silver bullet. Just like that, she was dead… Alex… he screamed her name, again and again and I… I could do nothing. It was too much. I broke the chains around my wrists and I was able to climb out of the noose around my neck. I tried to protect him but they already had a blade to his throat. I have no gifts, I had no way to save him except to offer my service in return for his life. The Commander who had killed Joanna claimed that my size and strength could be useful but they would not release Alex… he was condemned for loving me. All I could do was make sure that he wasn’t killed right then but, it didn’t matter, he still lost his freedom. I hoped that I would be able to help him escape but I was never given access to the prisoner vaults… as far as I know he is still there. All I have been able to think of the past eight months is the look in his eyes when I agreed to fight for the men that murdered his sister and stole his freedom.”

  A stony silence followed as Liam’s voice petered out.

  “That’s a sad tale, son,” Slade heard his Father murmur. Always a compassionate man, Slade hadn’t expected anything else.

  “Yeah, it’s full of woe but I don’t see how it means we should trust him,” Diana muttered, crossing her arms, somewhat defensively. She needn’t have. Whilst he trusted Quinn’s judgement he was certain there was more to this young man’s story they had yet to hear.

  “Go on, Liam,” Quinn murmured, nodding encouragingly.

  “I have been working on a plan to get Alex out for some time. I have scouted every route into the fortress, especially those closest to the prisoner vaults. I know which routes have the least protection, where they will take us and how to get through the barriers.”

  “If you know all that, why haven’t you acted on it?” Diana asked, suspicion still evident on her face. Looking around the room, Slade was quickly assured that she was not the only one. His Mother had an assessing look on her face, as though she was trying to measure the kid from where she sat and knowing her that was exactly what she was doing. Aaron and Colt were both stone-faced, neither giving anything away. Only Dax, his Father, Beth and John looked open to considering the possibility of accepting this kid. Slade wasn’t sure where he stood except behind Quinn, so, he thought, I guess I choose to trust the kid. Even if I will be watching him closely.

  “The rebellion seized a stronghold in Careth last month,” Liam paused as Dax nodded in confirmation whilst both Diana and Colt sat forward in sudden interest. “I had been caught messing with the tunnel entrance near the gutter system of the fortress the day before. I made something up about seeing a rebel run down that way and just checking it out but I don’t think my commanding officer believed me. I was sent out with my unit the next day to retake Careth. I think they were hoping I’d be killed in the fray and save them a job. I tried to stay out of the fighting, firing off a round or two into the ground rather than at any one in particular. I was round the side of the outpost and there was this little… covering,” Liam gestured with his hands to show the size and Slade could tell there was something about this story that was getting to the three rebellion fighters in the room. Liam continued, “I thought I’d hide under it and tell them I got hit over the head or something. Didn’t have to kill anyone I didn’t want to then. I lifted the cloth and there were th
ese… children. I’ve never seen anyone so small before. A boy and a girl… tiny they were. The tallest was barely above my waist. They were so frightened. I… I couldn’t bear the thought of them getting hurt… or worse, so I told them I wasn’t going to hurt them. They didn’t believe me, why should they? Without thinking, I just grabbed them. I put my hands over their mouths and ran… we made it through the tree line and into the forest. I gave them my water bottle, some food and told them to run. By the time I made it back to the outpost, everything was over. So many dead… I thought I was in the clear but I’d been seen running into the forest with the children. I told them I couldn’t kill a child and I was told I needed to be hardened up. I was whipped and beaten for failing in my duty and I have been on every mission to tackle the rebellion since. The soldier, back in the cell, he is my commander. He commands me to kill someone and if I refuse, I am tortured. It is the way most soldiers are broken in the King’s army. Some are cruel, they relish the fight, but most of them, just want the pain to end.”

  “The boy and the girl. What did they look like?” Diana asked softly.

  “Blonde, brown eyes. The girl wore a pink dress and had a straw doll with her. She… she gave it to me when I left them. In return, I gave her a little wooden whistle… my… my father made it for me.”

  “By the Gods… but what are the chances?” Diana murmured, looking over to Colt and Dax, her eyes wide.

  “Someone want to clue me in?” Aaron muttered, his patience wearing thin. He was more of an action man than a ‘let’s sit and talk about it’ man.

  “You remember Meg?” Colt asked his eyebrow raised, but other than that, his face showed no emotion. “Her husband was a rebellion commander out of Careth. They were both there when it was attacked. Meg was passing through on her way to Monkshood. Her children were with her, Aiden and Poppy. It was them who told us the outpost had been attacked when they arrived at the Monkshood base the next day. They also had the most unbelievable story about a Union Soldier who saved their lives and helped them escape.”

  Liam’s face lit up, his eyes wide with a beaming smile, “They made it! They’re alright?”

  “They were… the rebellion base was attacked last week. We don’t know who made it out but many were killed in the raid…” Diana murmured, a tear rolling down her cheek. The way she said it made Slade think there was something desperately personal about the attack… more than just the loss to the rebellion.

  “No… no… that’s… that can’t be. I… I saved them so they could be killed a few weeks later? They… but they were so small,” Liam reached into his pocket and other than Colt’s knee jerk reaction of reaching for his weapon, no-one moved to stop him. Pulling back the lining of his pocket, Liam reached inside and retrieved a small, tattered and somewhat beaten looking straw doll wearing a green dress, its straw hair sticking out at odd angles. His tears fell freely as he looked upon it. There was a look in his eyes that Slade could identify with, the look of a man who’s Gods had abandoned him, the look of a man who has lost all faith, the look of a man who has been broken by the world around him. Empathy overtook him as he reached out and placed his hand on Liam’s shoulder. He didn’t look up, he just continued to stare at the doll as his tears continued to fall.

  “I told her… I promised her I’d find her one day and give it back… it was the only way to get her to leave… I should have gone with them…”

  “You did what you could, son.” James murmured. Slade closed his eyes at those familiar words, remembering their first conversation after Cammy and, as he had thought then, Shay had been killed. They had stung then, just as he was sure they were stinging Liam now.

  “It wasn’t enough,” Liam growled, looking up having seemingly aging ten years before their very eyes.

  “You could not have known, Liam. We cannot change the past but we can help others under the King’s control. We can get them out and give them a chance at freedom,” Slade murmured, knowing it was the only thought that had kept him from sinking into the bottom of an ale barrel after Shay had told him the truth.

  “Yes… will you let me help you?” he looked up, his cheeks pink and tear streaked as he closed his hand, the doll held tightly within it.

  “Are there any objections?” Quinn asked the group, her eyebrows raised expectantly as she looked form one person to the other, daring them to disagree.

  “I will agree to him joining us but I have a condition,” Colt murmured, looking directly at Liam, his eyes unblinking. “The first time he is caught in a lie, I get to kill him.”

  “Does that sound reasonable to everybody?” Quinn asked with a slight shrug, her gaze falling at Liam. He simply nodded, unfazed by Colt’s demand. Perhaps it was that, that finally decided Diana because she too nodded her consent. Tough crowd, Slade thought, squeezing Liam’s shoulder once more before releasing him. The kid barely seemed to notice, his eyes falling once more to the doll in his hand.

  Chapter 19

  “Are you certain that is the best way in?” Quinn asked, looking over the map, her forehead wrinkled in concentration.

  “It’s the safest way. I didn’t say it was the best,” Liam mumbled, chewing on his lip nervously as he looked from her to Slade to Colt. “Last time I was there, there were no guards in between these sections,” he pointed at the hand drawn map. “Shift change is at sun down and sun up. The best shot we have is to get through the pipe just before shift change. We’ll run into less resistance. The pipes are huge, I could climb through them easy. You’d probably be able to walk,” he added, looking up at her. She speared him with a look as both Slade and Colt snorted beside her. Assholes.

  “Are they lined?” Colt asked, a rare smile on his face.

  “No. Too much corrosion. But, the room we’ll come out in is,” he pointed again, “if we follow down these corridors it will lead us to a cross roads. This corridor leads to the medical wing, where your daughter is,” he murmured looking up at Slade with sympathy in his eyes. Slade balled his fists, almost imperceptibly, as he nodded. “This one,” Liam pointed, turning back to the map, “leads to the prisoner vaults.”

  “I’ve checked what I could and he is right, those corridors lead where he says,” Shay popped into view a few minutes later having been sent on a mission of her own. Whilst Quinn trusted her own judgement and the light she had seen inside of the young soldier, it paid to take extra precautions. “There’s more. Your sister will arrive in Union City at sun down. The King was talking to some of his men about preparing for the guest of honour.”

  “R- Right. Sun down,” suddenly everything she had thought was within their grasp seemed impossible. Excusing herself from the plan making, she made her way upstairs, not making eye contact with anyone. Not even Slade. Once in the bedroom she closed the door, leaned against it and slid herself down, her hands shaking. She couldn’t sit still down there for long and within a minute she was up, restless energy flowing through her. Stepping into the small bathroom attached to the bedroom she eyed herself in the mirror. She looked much the same as she had just days before but she was not the same girl. So much, too much, had changed. Running the tap and splashing cold water on her face did not help to ease her panic. It was just there, a torturous and entity sneering at her from the edges of her subconscious. By the Gods… how the hells were they going to pull this off? A dark shape poking from beneath her shirt caught her eye and she frowned as she leaned closer to the mirror.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Shit! Don’t do that!” she whirled around, eyes wide, where Slade leant against the door frame with a smirk on his face.

  “Sorry,” there was a humorous glint in his eyes and she had the suspicion he didn’t really mean it. “It’s grown, hasn’t it?” he asked, more serious now.

  Pulling her shirt down a little at the front, exposing her new markings to him, she nodded. With a bemused nod, he pulled off his own shirt and stood beside her in the mirror.

  “Looking pretty similar,” he muttere
d, “course, I can’t really tell.” He gave her a dirty smile and, though she rolled her eyes, she pulled her own shirt off without being able to suppress her own grin.

  “Whoa,” it was all she could say to the sight that beheld her. The vine like pattern had indeed grown, snaking over her chest, angling down from each shoulder in a v-like pattern where they joined together between her breasts and continued in a downward trajectory. Slade’s broad chest also sported the same pattern, however his vines looked a little different to hers. Hers were no longer just black but also had grey undertones and every so often, as her eyes followed the vines, they would burst out from themselves, like… like…

  “Flames,” Slade murmured, running his finger over one. She nodded surreptitiously as she studied his markings more closely. His pattern was solid black, contrasting beautifully against his tanned skin. Instead of flames, his markings sported small jagged lines erupting from the main pattern like lightning bolts.

  “What does it mean?” she asked, hoping for a little reassurance but he could only shake his head. He didn’t know either.

  “You said my Mother had some ideas?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go ask her.” she hastily threw her shirt back on and hurried after him as his long legs carried him from the room, her moment of weakness pushed aside for the time being. Later, she thought, there will be time to fall apart later.

  “Mum?” Slade swept into the kitchen where his Mother was still studying her diagram of the Kings machine. She had been muttering to herself, writing notes on her parchment when Slade strode through the door, making her jump and inadvertently draw a line through her writing.

  “By the Gods, don’t do that!” she scolded, fussing with her paperwork in barely concealed irritation.

  “Sorry…” he muttered, thoroughly berated and bringing a smirk to Quinn’s lips. She ducked her head to hide it as he turned to look at her in bemusement. Clearing his throat, he tried again, “Mum, can you-.”