“And you’re still wearing male garb,” Emily said. “Why?”
“Because...” Aiden let out a breath. “Very few people, even hardcore Levellers, take women seriously. They don’t... they don’t expect much from us. I was the only woman nominated to the council and...”
“They don’t know it,” Emily finished.
“Yeah.” Aiden stood and started to pace the room. “There’s a bunch of them who pay lip service to the rights of women, as well as the rights of men, but they don’t do much about it. Not really. Politically, they say, it will be difficult. The council isn’t strong enough to impose itself on everyone.”
She shrugged. “Unless you’re a sorceress, your rights will always be secondary to a man’s.”
“That’ll change,” Emily said.
“That’s what they say,” Aiden said. “But I don’t know if we have time.”
Emily winced, inwardly. “What happened to your family?”
“They fled the city when the riots began,” Aiden said. “I imagine they think I’m dead.”
“Did they know?” Emily cocked her head. “About you, I mean?”
“That I wore male clothes and pretended to be a man?” Aiden shook her head. “My father would have been horrified. He was determined to find me a suitable husband. I suppose I should be grateful. If he’d lowered his aim a little, he would probably have had me married off by now. And I would have donned my outfit one last time and vanished into the city. I had enough money salted away to hide for a good long time.”
She met Emily’s eyes. “Are things better for women, in Cockatrice?”
“I think so,” Emily said. “I gave them rights and... there have been bumps along the way, but things are getting better.”
“And the only reason you were able to do that is because you’re a sorceress,” Aiden pointed out. “Would you have done anything like as well if you were a powerless mundane?”
“Perhaps not,” Emily conceded. The question hit too close to home. “How did you get involved with the council?”
“Jair was always involved,” Aiden said. “He brought me along... invited me to write for the underground broadsheets. A lot of my work involved spreading the word. I already had a great deal of credibility, although there was no way to keep others from copying my style, so becoming part of the international movement in the final months before the revolution seemed a good idea.”
“I’m sure it was,” Emily said. She wasn’t sure she’d get a straight answer to the next question, but she had to ask. “How planned was the revolution?”
“Officially, the revolution was planned in every detail,” Aiden said. “We were certainly working to pressure the government. Some of us - the ones who were openly agitating for change - were demanding reforms, rather than outright revolution. They saw the threat of a violent uprising as an important part of their strategy. Others thought we wouldn’t have a hope in hell of actually convincing the government to make changes. They were the ones who dreamed up schemes like digging a tunnel under the castle, sticking hundreds of barrels of gunpowder in the tunnel and lighting a match. And they started putting together cells of fighters...
“And then a riot turned into a rebellion and it caught us all by surprise.”
Emily had to smile. “And the council took control?”
“Yes.” Aiden smiled back. “We were the only ones left.”
“What now?” Emily met her eyes. “What do you, and the others, want?”
Aiden shook her head. “It depends on who you ask,” she said. “Some of us will be open to a compromise, if the Crown Prince meets us halfway. Others... want to reshape the kingdom completely, then go on to carry the green flag of rebellion right across the Allied Lands. They say it’s the only way to be safe. There isn’t a monarch who’ll be happy leaving us alone to build a new world. Is there?”
“Probably not,” Emily conceded.
Aiden sat down. “It’s funny, you know? I stepped outside society’s rules in a bid for freedom. And yet, because of the disguise, I found myself trapped by a different set of expectations. People expect more from me and yet...”
She snorted. “I was asked to show you around the city,” she said. “Coming?”
“Yes,” Emily said. “What do you think is going to happen?”
“My father was extremely rich,” Aiden said. “He could buy a house like this one” - she waved a hand at the wall - “but it wasn’t for sale to him, not for any price. He could buy a hundred noblemen with pocket change, yet they would never lower themselves to take his filthy money. They looked down on him, Lady Emily; they mocked him for trying to join them. And their daughters were worse. One of them...”
She shuddered. “The aristocracy is too stupid to realize it needs to change,” she added, after a moment. “And we have had enough of being treated like... animals. Men like my father and Jair, men with ambition and cleverness and bitter resentment, aren’t going to tolerate it any longer. Why should they? Why should they swallow their pride for a moment longer?”
Her eyes met Emily’s. “I think there’s no going back,” she said. “I think there’s going to be blood.”
Chapter Fifteen
THE AIR OUTSIDE WAS SURPRISINGLY WARM, after the cool of the house. Emily pulled her cloak around her - Aiden had suggested that she didn’t wear anything that marked her as either an aristocrat or a sorceress - as she stepped onto the street and looked around. A couple of spies were leaning against a wall on the other side of the street, doing an unconvincing impression of idle layabouts. Emily was fairly sure there were other watching eyes. The long row of expensive homes provided plenty of vantage points for more discreet observers.
She glanced at Aiden, feeling a flicker of admiration for
