“And this is Sergeant Oskar,” Althorn concluded. “I believe you’ve met.”
“I remember you from the war,” Oskar said. He was a short fireplug of a man, wearing a tunic with a yellow sash. “You were magnificent.”
Emily blushed. She didn’t remember Oskar, but that wasn’t surprising. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Oskar said. “If it wasn’t for you, I would never have had my chance to serve.”
“And I would never have had so much to write about,” Aiden said. “I hope we’ll have a chance to talk later.”
“Me too,” Emily said. She vaguely recalled hearing something about Aiden, although she hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time. “I look forward to your insights.”
“Please, be seated,” Althorn said. “Wine?”
“The king left us a giant cellar to empty,” Oskar said. “We have accepted his challenge.”
“Just water or juice, please,” Emily said. “I need to keep a clear head.”
Althorn nodded and started to pour drinks, then hand them out. Emily took her glass of water and checked it quickly, making sure it was safe to drink before she took a sip. Althorn sat next to her, regarding her with warm and friendly eyes. She couldn’t help responding favorably, even though she knew it might be a trap. Althorn couldn’t have become a rebel leader, perhaps the leader, if he wasn’t very good at manipulating people. He might be trying to manipulate her, too.
“We are glad the White Council has seen fit to take us seriously,” Jair said. “What are your orders from the council?”
“To try to bring you and the royalists to the table,” Emily said. “And to try to convince you to compromise.”
“One does not compromise with princes,” Jair informed her. “They cannot be trusted to look after their own interests, let alone the kingdom’s.”
Althorn held up a hand. “We can discuss that matter later, when we’ve had a chance to sit down and consider the future,” he said. “This meeting is purely for introductory purposes.”
Emily nodded. They’d probably already discussed what terms they intended to offer and accept, but her arrival - and the king’s execution - had lent the matter a new urgency. She allowed her eyes to wander the room, trying to gauge their feelings. Aiden was smiling broadly, a little too broadly, but the others were hiding their thoughts very well. Emily sighed inwardly. She had a feeling the rebels weren’t actually in agreement. If they’d come up with a proposal they could all accept, they’d have presented it to her as soon as she arrived.
She sat back in her chair and listened as the discussion flowed around the room. It was strikingly like listening to a group of friends rather than a council. She had the impression that the majority of the councilors had known each other for years, save perhaps for Oskar and Aiden. The former was a farmboy-turned-soldier, if she was any judge; the latter was decidedly odd. It felt as though Aiden were playing a role, although Emily couldn’t put it into words. His mannerisms were decidedly a little too pat.
“Everyone has a different account of what actually happened, when the revolution began,” she said, when there was a lull in the conversation. “What did happen?”
Aiden grinned at Jair. “I told you we should have invested in more printing presses.”
“And our papers are banned outside the kingdom anyway,” Jair reminded him. “Right now, no one in Red Rose is going to be reading our broadsheets.”
“No,” Oskar agreed. “They’re readying themselves to invade.”
“Probably,” Althorn agreed.
He looked at Emily. “We’re Levellers,” he said. “Many of us... we worked together for reform, over the last five years. The king was not responsive. A number of us were arrested and executed. We started planning an uprising, but it wasn’t easy to gather weapons and supplies until we made contact with the broader Leveller movement. They helped us obtain weapons.”
Emily nodded, keeping her doubts to herself. The Levellers had never been that well organized, not outside Zangaria. Alassa tolerated them... she had no choice. Trying to break the Levellers would trigger another civil war, one she might lose. Emily frowned inwardly. Had someone in Zangaria started exporting weapons? Or was someone else trying to make sure Alassa - and Emily herself - got the blame? Or was she overthinking it?
“The end of the war brought us no relief,” Althorn continued. “The king had told us, time and time again, that we had to prepare for invasion. The threat was gone, yet the taxes remained. And then food started running out. We were starving. A bread riot turned into a rebellion when the soldiers refused to fire on the women, giving us a chance to get everyone on the streets. And we took the city.”
Emily could fill in the blanks. The Levellers had been the only organized force in the city, after the king’s forces had dissolved. They could have taken control, led the population against the palace and the castle and... and executed the king. By the time anyone else got organized, it would be too late. She thought she knew, now, why the king had been executed so quickly. People who might have had second thoughts about supporting the rebellion could hardly change their minds now...
Too neat, she thought. Someone helped them. But who? And why?
She studied the group, thoughtfully. Storm was a magician, but not a very powerful one. She guessed he was an alchemist or perhaps an enchanter, although it was hard to be sure. Did he have the power to manipulate the others? Emily wasn’t sure. Aiden had the faint hint of a glamor around him, so weak it might have been nothing more than Emily’s imagination. And yet, she was sure there was something off about him. The others... they didn’t seem to have magic. Althorn’s charisma owed nothing to inborn power...
It doesn’t have to be
