Aster’s cheeks warmed. Usually she rolled her eyes at Sam’s ridiculous showmanship, but it was exactly what she needed to hear right now.
“The food line is almost finished,” Sam said. “They’ll be ready to hear you speak soon.”
Aster clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to let out some of the tension that had built up inside her.
“All right, thanks, Sam,” she said, exhaling. She made her way to the podium, looking out over the crowd. The last few people were taking their plates back to their tables, and Eli himself was returning to sit with the rest of her friends. Aster swallowed, ringing the bell to bring the room to attention. The babble slowly quieted as everyone turned their faces towards her.
This is it, she thought, and offered up a rare prayer to the dead.
“Evening, friends, and thank you all for being here,” she began. “I wish we were gathering under better circumstances. But now that we’re all here, I can’t help noticing what a fine thing it is to see so many of us like this—talking freely, eating well, and ready to fight for our future.”
There were murmurs of agreement and a few scattered cheers. Aster gripped the edges of the podium to steady herself and continued.
“At the start of all this, all I wanted was to see an end to McClennon’s empire. There’s no such thing as a ‘good’ landmaster, but the McClennons have always been the worst of them, and as far as I was concerned, that new welcome house proved it. My friends and I were willing to do anything to bring Jerrod down.”
“You sold out!” someone shouted then. One of the Northrock dustbloods. “You claimed you kidnapped his nephew, but you’re actually working with him! And now you expect us to as well?”
Aster set her jaw. She wasn’t doing this again. “Derrick McClennon can no longer be called a landmaster. He gave up his position to be with us and has been using his wealth and knowledge to help us. This meeting never could have happened without him.”
“This meeting wouldn’t have even been necessary if you hadn’t kidnapped him!” shouted someone from the Nine’s table. “Now the landmasters are all riled up and coming to take our daughters. You should’ve left well enough alone. Things are worse than ever.”
Aster flushed, guilt stabbing her. But then Sam stood to defend her.
“You speak as if things were somehow acceptable before,” he said, “but they weren’t. You know that—all of us know that. All of us were working, in our own way, to change that. And any significant change any one of us would have made would have resulted in a backlash like this—remember how the War of the Nations led to the recruitment of dustbloods into the military? The landmasters’ response is just proof that these women have managed to do some real damage.”
Aster nodded at him gratefully. “And I won’t deny that I’ve made mistakes. I’ve hurt people I love, disappointed people I admire … but that’s why I’ve brought you all here. I want to make it right. The decisions my friends and I have been making affect all of you—and so all of you should have a say in what, if anything, we do next.”
“Well, obviously we have to do something,” Aggie shouted out from the Lady Ghosts’ table. “We can’t let this new policy go unanswered.”
“I agree,” Cora said. “The landmasters have to know they can’t get away with this. What do you need from us, Aster?”
Aster felt a warm rush of gratitude. Maybe this would be all right after all. She wet her lips, excitedly beginning to lay out her plans.
“Well, Derrick was a relatively small target—he’s important to powerful people, but he’s not that powerful himself.” She glanced at Derrick. “No offense, McClennon.”
“None taken,” he chirped.
“So, I think it’s time to start going after some bigger fish,” Aster continued. “These landmasters—both the ones in government and the ones in industry—they’re criminals. The wealth they’ve stolen from us, the violence they use to keep us in line … So it’s time we treat them like the criminals they are. Let’s take them prisoner.”
There was scattered applause, but also murmurs of doubt.
“Who?” someone called out.
And then, from further back: “How?”
Aster had been ready for this, though. “Derrick will provide us the ‘who.’ He knows the names of the most powerful men in the Landmasters’ Guild. Take out half a dozen of the right people, and we could bring the whole government to its knees in a matter of weeks.” She looked around. “The ‘how’ is more of a challenge, though. These men are scattered all over the Scab, and after the stunt we pulled with Derrick, they’re on higher alert than ever. No one’s going to be out in the open unless they have to be, and when they are, they’re all going to have extra security on them.” She thought of McClennon hiring Zee’s sister and swallowed back her regret. “It’s the riskiest part of this plan, which is why my friends and I will be handling it ourselves. We have some experience in hunting down rich men. But we’ll also need your help to make sure the remaining members of government feel the pressure to give in to our demands. We have to make it impossible for the landmasters to keep running their businesses until they make changes to the way things are done. I heard word of some dustbloods burning a Sweet Thistle field a couple weeks back—that’s exactly the kind of action we need. Imagine something like that on a grand scale. With their leaders taken prisoner and their businesses in shambles, they’ll have no choice but to listen to us.”
Excitement rippled through the room—but uncertainty, too, Aster could tell. And not just from the Lady Ghosts, whose uneasy looks Aster had expected. One of the Scorpion captains crossed his meaty arms in defiance. The Northrock dustblood who had accused her of being a sellout still looked unconvinced.
Sam spoke up over the rising noise. “Listen, we all know that if we’re going to do this, we have to be ready for the backlash. They’re going to send out raveners to keep the peace, and those raveners won’t bother making a distinction between the people in this room and the people we’re trying to protect,” Sam said. “So I think our first order of business has to be arming those people so they can defend themselves. The dustblood families who work the fields we burn are going to be extremely vulnerable. The Scorpions can assist with this—we have a connection to a Ferronite smuggler, and he can get advanced voltric weapons to us here in the Scab.” He glanced at Derrick. “Now that we finally have the shine for it.”
“We’ll want to provide them food and clothing, too,” Eli said, his soft voice still carrying clearly. “A landmaster provides folks with everything they need—we have to expect they aren’t going to want to do it anymore. They’ll try to starve out the common folks. We can’t let them.”
Sam nodded. “I’ll hold a separate meeting with the other Scorpion captains to see what assistance, if any, their camps can provide. These have been thin times, for all of us, but as I said, we have McClennon’s shine now. If we all combine our efforts, we can drive the raveners from the farms and mines, destroy the fields and tunnels, and prepare dustblood families to survive the days ahead.”
There were shouts of agreement and scattered cheers. The apprehension in the room seemed to be easing.
Cora stood next. “It’s a different game up north,” she said. “We work in factories, not fields. But my crew and I have been talking about organizing strikes for some time now, and it sounds like there’s no better time for it. We can look into tearing up a railway or two, as well. If the trains aren’t running, it’ll be that much harder for the landmasters to flee the Scab—or to call in reinforcements.”
“That’s good thinking,” Aster said, embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of it herself. But then, that had been the whole reason for bringing everyone together. “The landmasters won’t be expecting any resistance outside of the Scab, either. They’ll be overwhelmed. Anything you need, Cora—we’ll make sure you have it.”
The crowd cheered again. They were with her now, and Aster’s spirits soared at the sound of t
hem.
But then, from the Lady Ghosts’ table, Aggie spoke up: “This is all well and good, Aster,” she said, “but Priscilla’ll still have questions for us—not the least of which is how the hell we’re going to coordinate all this. An operation this big, all these people all over the country … we’re going to have to be in constant communication. It’s only a matter of time before that communication gets intercepted. How are we supposed to avoid our plans falling into the wrong hands?”
“The tunnels—” Sam began.
“Aren’t going to be fast enough, not for this,” Aggie interrupted, fixing him with a stare. “It takes your runners a couple days just to reach the nearest Scorpion camp underground, and we’re way the hell up by the border of Ferron. That’s going to take time we won’t have.”
“I may have a solution for that,” Sid rumbled, standing and looking back at the allies he’d summoned. “When the old Empire invaded Arketta, they made it illegal to speak any of the languages of the Nine Nations, but we have kept them alive in secret—if we can provide ciphers to translate them for you all, you can use those languages to communicate. Send your messages aboveground, and even if the law intercepts one, they’ll never know what we’re saying. We can help keep everyone fed, as well. We all have family in agriculture—the fairbloods depend on us for that, still, all these centuries later. We control who eats, and what.”
Aster looked at Sid in surprise. She had not been sure of the Nine’s support at all, especially after the doubt that had seized her last night. They must have discussed amongst themselves long after she retired for the night.
“I’m just the go-between—I can’t speak for all the Nine Nations, or even for my own,” Sid went on, addressing the whole room now, “but I can say this show of strength and solidarity is greater than any I could’ve expected. I never thought I’d find myself joining another fight, but for the sake of our sisters, our daughters … for everyone who’s about to be affected by this new law … I can promise you all you’ll have my help. And when—not if, Aster, but when—Arketta sends its armymen to stop us, there are more than a few of us here who might be able to tell you what to expect from them.”
“Thank you, Sidney,” Aster said with an exhale, hoping he felt her gratitude from across the room. She looked over to the Lady Ghosts’ table, where Aggie seemed to be holding conference with the other Ladies. They were the only ones who had not yet committed.
Aggie turned to Aster a moment later and nodded. “You’ve persuaded me, Aster, but Priscilla will never agree to something like this—you know that. But I promise to take this back to her and argue on your behalf. She knows we need to take action against McClennon, and if nothing else, we will do what we have always done: write to our sympathizers in the government, raise money to help our women, and borderjump who we can out of Arketta entirely.”
“And that is necessary work, work that has saved countless lives, including my own,” Aster acknowledged, relieved they were not going to argue against her. “There is more than one way to fight the landmasters … but in order for this all to work, we have to at least be agreed on what it is we’re fighting for. When my friends and I began this thing, it was just to help other Good Luck Girls—but that’s not enough. I know that now. The welcome houses are a symptom. The Reckoning is the disease. They labeled our ancestors criminals, but what was their crime? To be too poor to pay the Empire’s taxes. To fight back against its invading armies. To live outside its rigid ideals. And when the Empire fell, the landmasters took its place. Our suffering became their currency. They grew rich off it. And they say it’s all justified because we’re criminals.” Aster swallowed. “Are there dustbloods out there who deserve that distinction? Are there murderers and rapists, people who hurt children, people who are needlessly cruel and take advantage of the weak? Of course there are. But no more than there are among the fairbloods—and among the fairbloods, those people are called landmasters, and they are considered great. So it is time for a new Reckoning. These criminals must be brought to justice. They can’t give back the lives they’ve taken, the years they’ve stolen, or the damage they’ve done. But they can give back the land. They can give back their wealth. Either they pay with their pockets, or they pay with their lives. The time for bargaining is over. So I ask you all now, and don’t hold back—what are your demands?”
There were raucous cheers, and people began to shout out. Derrick, taking notes, hurried to write down every suggestion. Soon they had a complete list, ready to be sent to all the major papers:
TO JERROD MCCLENNON AND THE LANDMASTERS’ GUILD:
YOU ARE NOT MEN OF STONE AND STEEL, BUT MEN OF FINE SILK AND STAINED GLASS. YOUR STRENGTH COMES FROM US, AND YOU KNOW IT. THESE ARE OUR NEW DEMANDS:
YOU WILL CEASE BUSINESS AT ALL WELCOME HOUSES IMMEDIATELY
YOU WILL FORGIVE ALL OUTSTANDING DUSTBLOOD DEBTS AND PAY FOR OUR STOLEN LABOR
YOU WILL PROVIDE DUSTBLOODS FULL CITIZENSHIP AND EQUAL RIGHTS
YOU WILL RETURN THE LAND TO THE PEOPLE
YOU WILL OUTLAW THE HIRING OF RAVENERS
YOU CALL US LIARS, BUT YOU ARE NOT AS TRUSTWORTHY AS YOU WOULD HAVE THE PEOPLE BELIEVE. YOU TOLD THE PUBLIC WE WERE CAPTURED AND KILLED BY YOUR MEN, BUT WE ARE STILL HERE, AND WE WILL NOT GIVE UP SO EASILY. ATONE FOR YOUR CRIMES, OR BE PUNISHED FOR THEM.
SIGNED,
THE RECKONERS
ASTER
CLEMENTINE
TANSY
MALLOW
RAVEN
VIOLET
21
The first landmasters on Derrick’s list were Colin and Anthony Harker, twins. Anthony worked in government, while Colin ran the family’s agriculture business—everything from Sweet Thistle and sugar cane to cotton and tobacco. They each had several children of their own, Derrick explained, but unlike Derrick himself, they weren’t yet old enough to hold any power. They were not Aster’s concern.
“You sure we shouldn’t round up them kids while we’re at it, though?” Mallow asked in a half-hushed tone as they leaned over Derrick’s journal. “I mean, we wouldn’t actually do anything to them, of course, but … if we’re really trying light a fire under their parents’ asses…”
“No,” Aster said firmly. “Using children is what the landmasters do. We have to show the people that we want a different world. If those children grow up to commit the same crimes, then we’ll deal with them then. But not before.”
Derrick looked relieved, though he said nothing. “Well, Colin Harker is here in the Scab, in an estate outside Pinecrest. We can go after him anytime. Anthony Harker lives in the capital, but he comes back at the end of every month to meet with his brother.”
Tansy was doing the math in her head. “So you’re saying if we want to get them both, we’ll have to wait…”
“Two more weeks,” Derrick said.
Aster let out a huff of frustration. They couldn’t make a public demand for immediate action and then do nothing for two weeks.
“Isn’t there anyone else we can go after in the meantime?” Aster asked.
“Well, the Harkers are the second most powerful landmaster family after my own,” Derrick said. “It would be best to take care of them first, if you ask me. But if time is of the essence…” He flipped through his journal. “Leonard Sullivan’s estate is the closest to our current location. Their family doesn’t have much political power—Sullivan’s the only son his parents had, so he doesn’t have a brother in government—but they are quite wealthy.”
Aster’s spine stiffened at the sound of that name. Sullivan.
The railroad baron Lizzy worked for.
The landmaster Aster’s family was indebted to.
“How do we get to him?” she said darkly.
“It’d be better if we lured him out,” Derrick replied. “The Sullivan estate is built into a mountainside—it’s hard going getting up there, and we’d be at a disadvantage if it came to a fight. But a big enough disaster at one of his camps will force hi
m to come out of hiding and deal with it. We could lay a trap.”
“Sam has me going undercover to some of the nearby mining camps this week anyway, to pass out weapons and supplies,” Eli jumped in, catching Aster’s eye. “You could come with me. We could set up the trap together.”
Derrick looked annoyed that Eli had interrupted him. He huffed and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “The two of you alone are hardly going to be enough to take on Leonard Sullivan and his raveners,” he said pointedly.
“You think we need you?” Eli asked, flicking his gaze to over to Derrick.
“Leaving aside the fact that, yes, it would seem you do need my help even to plan all this, I’ll remind you that I studied hand-and-foot combat for six years, so I’m not as useless in the field as you seem to think—”
“Oh, is that so? Did they teach you the foot-in-ass maneuver? Because if not, I’d be glad to demonstrate—”
Their bickering grew unintelligible. Raven rolled her eyes. Tansy hid a snicker. Zee just looked bewildered. Aster and Violet turned to each other, a wordless conversation passing between them. Aster knew this pointless posturing was for her own sake, but she had no time for it anymore.
“Enough!” she barked, and they both fell silent. “Derrick, just … tell us which camps we can target.”
Derrick sighed and rolled out the map. “So, Sullivan’s land includes the following tenant camps and farms—”
“Why are we even talking about this? We already know where we have to go,” Eli interrupted, pointing to a mining camp a day’s ride away. Shade Hollow. Aster’s heart hitched in her chest. It was the camp where she’d grown up.
“Aster,” Eli said. “Let’s go see your family.”
* * *
Aster and Clementine rode together, hidden in the back of the wagon full of supplies bound for the tenant mining camp while Eli drove them down the Bone Road. The rest of their group were camping deep in the woods near Shade Hollow, awaiting Aster’s signal to begin the ambush. On one thing, at least, Derrick and Eli had agreed: using dynamite to cause a cave-in during the night was the simplest way to get Sullivan’s attention. He would have to be on the scene before sunset the next day.
The Sisters of Reckoning Page 22