Bluewing (25 page)

I remained on the steps of the Assembly Hall while Adam bound up my injured arm.

“It only grazed you,” he said, dabbing the wound with brandy and then binding it with a clean rag. “Does it hurt?”

“Like fire,” I muttered, giving him a shaky smile.

He helped me up and gave me a gulp of the brandy for the pain, and then together we climbed the steps to meet the Mayor. He’d sunk down onto the top stair.

“I can’t believe I did that,” he murmured, looking up at me. His face was ashen. “Incredible. Look at them. I’d never seen one before, and now—” He gestured at the Watchers by the gate. Their now-golden eyes were watchful as they tracked his movements. “When Jullia Dyer came to me telling me that Bluewing had a serum that would inoculate us against the Watchers and allow us to use them in the liberation, I thought she was mad,” the Mayor said. “But it worked.” He gazed down at his hand, where a single trickle of blood marred his skin. He fingered it with reverence. “It worked,” he repeated.

Adam and I said nothing, but we understood his relief. We’d spent many sleepless nights agonizing over the possibility that something would go wrong, that our desperate gamble would fail.

“What now?” The Mayor asked. “Will you stay or go? Are you even from the Frost, either of you?”

Adam reached up and pulled off his mask.

The Mayor jerked in astonishment. “Adam Brewer—but you were arrested...you were in an Aeralian prison...”

“Bluewing brought me back,” he said, with a faint smile.

The Mayor’s eyes slid to me. I undid my mask as well. I heard ripples of surprise from the other Blackcoats in the square behind me.

“Lia Weaver.” The Mayor shook his head. “We thought you were dead.”

“Not dead,” I said. “Not yet.”

Adam and I withdrew to speak privately.

“How long do we keep the Watchers here?” I asked him.

“We’ll march the Farthers across the river before nightfall. We’ll need the Watchers to remain until then.”

We stood shoulder to shoulder, he and I, and my heart swelled as I looked at my village, with its wind-weathered stone and broken streets of cobblestone and the sea of cloaks that milled before us. Iceliss.

It was good to be home again.

AFTER THE FARTHER soldiers had been carted across the river in their own wagons and deposited on the far shore with only potatoes to feed them on their journey to Aeralis, we watched them flee, pale and shaken, sneaking glances back at us and the monsters with glowing eyes that lurked behind us. I knew this was a story those soldiers would tell their grandchildren one day—how they saw the fabled beasts come from the forest, and how their eyes were the color of blood and scarlet, and how the monsters did not attack the Frost dwellers.

And I knew a legend would be born from it, a legend that might keep us safe again.

“It’s not over quite yet,” Adam reminded me as we took the path toward the now-useless Cages that stood in the snow, a grim testament to the scarring of our world by the Aeralian occupation. “Korr will be back, wanting payment for his part in this. Are you going to give it to him?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t trust him...but Ann does, and he did do what he promised. What does the Trio think?”

“I will contact them tonight with the news of our victory, and Korr’s bargain. I will defer to their judgment on the matter, and so should you.”

The oath I’d sworn to the Thorns seemed too long ago now, faded and irrelevant in light of everything we’d struggled to accomplish since. I stopped and turned to him. “Will they join him? Will the Thorns support his fight against the dictator?”

“Perhaps,” Adam said, in his cryptic way.

When I gave him a look, he only smiled.

The Watchers did not follow us when we reached the Cages. They turned away from the stream of people and headed for the trees. Among them I saw a scrape of pale blue and a flutter of light brown hair. Ivy.

Part of me wanted to call her back, but I didn’t.

I thought of Jonn. He’d refused to accompany us, and I understood. Seeing the Watchers was still too painful for him. We’d left him to wait in my family’s farmhouse alone. And Gabe... I hadn’t seen him since the victory in the square, or Claire for that matter. Neither of them had accompanied us to see the Farthers across the river.

Music trickled through the darkness, growing stronger as we reached the village and entered the streets. Night was falling, and people had lit bonfires in the middle of the cobblestoned roads. Men and women danced, and children ran and laughed and clapped their hands. Everything was bathed in firelight, transforming the sad shell of our village into something infused with magic. Someone threw a log on one of the fires, and a flood of sparks flew into the darkening sky. An emotion I couldn’t name swelled in me, squeezing my throat.

Ann found me amid the throng of reveling villagers. “I’ve been looking for you,” she shouted over the music and laughter. “My father wants to speak with you. With both of you,” she said, nodding at Adam.

~

“I am stepping down as Mayor,” he announced to the small circle of people who’d gathered inside the Assembly Hall. “It will be announced tomorrow, but I wanted you to know tonight.”

The flicker of candlelight danced over the faces of his audience, revealing expressions of shock, dismay, and relief. Even I was surprised. He was willingly abdicating? How would this change the system, the village, everything?

“How is such a thing possible? You are Mayor,” someone protested. “It is your position, your name.”

“And I’ve been a horrible one. The people have no faith in me anymore, and I don’t blame them for it. So perhaps it’s time for a new Mayor.”

A new Mayor. Whispers fluttered in the silence that followed that statement. I met Adam’s eyes, and words passed unspoken between us. The right choice could redefine everything about our way of life here. And the wrong choice...well.

I supposed we’d find out what everyone thought about this tomorrow.

~

I went alone on horseback to fetch my brother. The sight of the farm made my eyes prickle as I reached the top of the hill, and I dismounted and stood for a moment, just taking it in. It had only been a few months since we’d fled from this place, but the time between felt like years. So much had changed. So much was gone, and what was left had been rearranged and reassembled into something new and strange.

I went inside and found Jonn at his old table, his elbows braced on the wood and his head in his hands. He didn’t look up as I entered.

“Is it done?” His voice was muffled.

“It’s done. They’re all gone across the river, and I don’t think they’re coming back.”

He sighed, and I heard a million words of sorrow and longing in the sound.

“Come with me, brother. Let’s go back to the village. They’re celebrating.”

He shook his head. “I’m going to stay here.”

“You’re not. You’re coming back with me.”

He didn’t reply.

He’d made a fire, and I went to extinguish the coals. Something was burning amid the logs—a box. I crouched down and squinted to see it better. “Jonn, this is the package I brought you from Borde.”

“Yes,” he muttered.

“You’re burning it?”

“I don’t need it now.”

Curiosity stirred in me. I leaned forward, but I couldn’t see what had been inside. Flames had consumed everything but the metal container, which glowed with heat.

“Jonn...” After all I’d gone through to get it, he was simply burning it?

“Forget it,” he snapped, and I fell silent. Did this have something to do with Everiss?

“Let’s go,” I said.

“No. Leave me here. I want to be alone.”

He made a wheezing sound that might have been a sob, and then he was silent. I waited by the fire. After a long while, he slumped forward in sheer exhaustion, asleep.

I struggled to get him onto the horse alone, and I took him with me back to Iceliss. He didn’t stir the entire way there.

~

The villagers gathered in the Assembly Hall the next morning at the Mayor’s request. Curious murmurs thickened the air, and nervous energy twisted in my stomach. I sat with Ann on one side of me and a pale-looking Jonn on the other. I hadn’t seen Adam since the night before. I still hadn’t seen Gabe, either. I twisted in my seat, looking for them among the throng behind us.

The Mayor stepped onto the dais at the front of the hall and held up his hands for order. He looked so different from his former self. The skin hung from his bones and the places beneath his eyes were hollow now. His hair was grayer.

“Please,” he said loudly, and his voice carried through the room.

The talking quieted, and every villager leaned forward in his or her seat. Faces were knit with a mixture of happiness and suspicion, confusion and anger. The last several times he’d addressed us in this hall, it had not gone well.

“Today, I stand before you a broken man,” the Mayor began. “I almost lost my beloved daughter. I did lose my pride, my morals, and your trust.”

The room waited. I held my breath.

“So, for the crimes I have committed against this village and my people, I am resigning my position as Mayor.”

Voices erupted in confused chatter, and he held up his hands again for silence.

“What’s going to happen to the village?” someone shouted.

“The council of Elders will choose the new—”

“Why not let the people choose?” a voice called out from the back.

I turned in my seat along with the entire hall to see Gabe standing in the doorway, outlined by light, his hair blown by wind and his cheeks reddened from the cold. My heart thudded.

“I...” the Mayor began.

“Yes, why not?” This time it was my sister who spoke up. She jumped from her seat to face the room.

“Ivy,” I said in a harsh whisper. “What are you doing?”

Gabe strode down the center aisle until he’d reached the front of the room. “Where were the Elders when the Farthers took over this village? Where were they when we were all starving?”

“Excuse me,” the Mayor managed. “But who are you?”

“My name is Gabe, and I’m a member of the group that liberated this village yesterday. And no, it isn’t my village, but I can see your problems all the same. You have too much secrecy. Too much unbalanced power. More than half this village has no say, no vote, and all because of their family name.”

Ann leaped from her seat and approached the dais. “Gabe has a good point,” she said. “Besides, half the Elders are dead or imprisoned. Raine ground our old system to bits beneath his boots, and maybe this time, when we’re putting everything back together, we should build it a new way.”

“How?” someone asked from the back. Heads nodded.

“We’ll have an election,” she said. “We’ll choose a new Mayor, all of us.” Her gaze rested on me, and I shook my head vigorously. Her gaze slid on to rest beside me.

“I nominate Jonn Weaver for the position of Mayor of Iceliss. He planned most of the revolution yesterday. He’s a hard worker, a loyal brother, and a good friend.”

Jonn’s expression was unreadable, but I could see shock in the way his eyes widened ever so slightly. He lowered his head as the air around him ignited with whispers.

Gabe left the front of the room. As he passed us, he leaned down and murmured in my ear, “I would like to speak with you before I leave.”

Before I leave.

The words struck me through the heart like an arrow. I rose to my feet and followed him out of the hall, but when I’d reached the outside, he’d already vanished.

Adam found me standing on the steps, staring at the sky.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked.

“The forest,” he said. “Contacting the Trio.” He went to the door of the Assembly Hall and listened. “They’re deliberating about a new Mayor,” he said. “I don’t think you want to miss it.”

“I don’t,” I said, turning to go back inside.

But he stopped me with a gentle hand. “Gabe?” he asked.

“He’s leaving.”

Adam’s expression was a question. “And you?”

Pain splintered in my chest. I’d thought about this, and I’d come to a decision. Adam’s eyes were watchful as they met mine. He waited for me to speak.

I slipped my hand into his. “Let’s go back inside.”

~

Deliberations lasted for most of the day, and by the time the sun set, we had six nominations for a new Mayor, and tenuous discussions about how to go about setting up a method of choosing him or her. I continued to look for Gabe, but he was nowhere to be found. Adam sensed my distress. He put a hand over mine, and that calmed me a little.

When darkness had gathered, I left the hall again and went out onto the steps. Stars glittered overhead, and the night air was like ice. My breath made a cloud as I exhaled. To my left, a shadow stirred from beside the wall, and I realized it was Gabe. He wore a cloak and carried a sack over one shoulder.

“I’ve been looking for you—” I began.

“Come with me.” He stepped toward me until he was only inches away. His eyes held mine, and the intensity in his gaze burned me to my core.

“Come where? Why are you going?”

“Oh, don’t pretend I can stay here. The Farthers are gone, Lia. You and the others have been welcomed back with open arms. I’m an outsider now, just as I was before.”

“The other fugitives—”

“Most of the others are going with me, too.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Come with me,” he repeated.

“You’re returning to Aeralis?”

“Not just that,” he said. “I’m joining my brother. We’re going to overthrow the Aeralian dictator. We’re going to take back our nation.”

Join Korr? “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Only then did I notice Claire, leaning against the wall of the Assembly Hall, her arms crossed beneath her cloak. She said nothing.

“He helped us, didn’t he? He didn’t betray us. He came here to look for me.”

“But it’s Korr.”

Gabe didn’t respond to that. “I want you to come with me,” he said again. “You’ve proven yourself capable when it comes to revolutions. We could use you.”