The Uprising (The Julianna Rae Chronicles) (8 page)

Was it stagnated like most water in the area? With the rivers nearby she held onto what little hope she had left. Bas called again and Caden yelled
at the top of his voice.

Just leave me the fuck alone!

Her scream inside her mind worked.             

She swung a leg over the wire fence loosely str
inging its perimeter, and entered the thick trees. They left her alone, they didn’t follow, and finally,
finally,
she had a moment to herself.

*    *    *

The pier poked from the ground, stretching across the water to allow a toe dip on a warm evening. It was down from there that she made a small fire, beneath a low hanging tree branch. With her pants hanging over them, drying from the quick stone scrub she’d done with the flat rock she still held, she stretched her steps carefully along the pier’s rotting frame. The soft breeze licked at her bare legs. The moon’s reflection wavered along the water’s ripples. She bent one knee and dipped her toes in the water. It was bearable, with its slight bite nipping at her skin.

The fire blazed behind her. The bloodied singlet she wore needed a wash too. The pier was l
eft to its company as she stole to the lake’s edge, where her pants hung. With the smooth rock, she undressed from her singlet, and scrubbed at the blood stains. She twisted the singlet out and repeated the process, over, and over, until the water ran clear, and she was happy her clothes were clean. Her wet bra and knickers slapped over the closest branch. She dropped the stone beside the water’s edge, standing naked and alone, to admire the silence and the starry night beneath the full moon.

The bright night turned black. The big round disc, full and bright, was covered with
a passing cloud. The breeze’s warmth would dry her clothes before she finished her swim. The night was comfortable.

At last.

Her mind exhaled.

Her body trembled.

The cool water lapped gently at her naked body. Her feet sunk into the thick mud and she toed it cautiously for anything lurking. When the bottom dipped out, she swam for the middle. She bobbed her head back a few times to wet her hair, keeping her eyes clear to gaze above the surface. When she soaked the last of the blood and dirt away, she treaded the water and listened to the trees dance along with nature.

The clouds parted way for the moon, and the stars were a thick blanket of sparkling white. She measured the distance with her fingers outstretched, closing in to an inch to hide them again, playing with the notion of grasping their brightness in her hand, and then letting them go. She estimated from the thickness of the stars, that the night was into its twentieth hour. She considered the power Caden held in the palm of his hand, as she released another star.

And Taris.
             

Her head snapped toward the shore at the sound of crunching pebble, waiting for a soldier to approach. She cursed herself for the jinx
– of thinking his name, as she lowered her breasts into the water, paddling quietly, and sinking until her eyes rested above the line. The moonlight lit the clearing well. She waited for the crunch of broken twigs to stop, and the gravel of the shore line to reach underfoot.

Caden halted with his Glock swinging loosely in his hand. He tucked it under his shirt, and she swam closer, keeping her nakedness in the depths, for cover.

He crouched over the fire with his hands out to catch its warmth.

‘Maybe I was wrong earlier,’ she said.

His hands curled around a flame. It struggled to escape from his clutches.  He let it go.

‘
Though you keeping something like being my watcher secret, was wrong,’ she said. ‘You should’ve told me earlier.’

He gave her a fleeting glance before hooking her dry knickers onto his finger. He playfully twirled them once before ending his tease. They landed over the branch.

‘Yelling at Bastiaan was the wrong thing to do as well,’ she said. ‘Heat of the moment. I’m sorry.’

He cleared his throat. ‘No. You called it the way you saw it. Maybe keep it between ourselves next time, not in front of everyone. If you’re pissed at me, keep it with me.’

‘It wasn’t intended for everyone,’ she said.

He was eyeing the water lining her breasts and she sank deeper into the lake as her self-consciousness took over.

‘Being your watcher doesn’t make me your enemy. You saw that last night,’ he stood. ‘How cold’s the water?’

‘Cold enough.’ She said and watched as he unbuttoned his shirt. The Glock pressed into his skin when he leant over the water. ‘Don’t think you’re joining me.’

‘Don’t think I’m not.’ He slipped his black shirt over his arms and dunked it into the water. The stone she used for her own clothes was dragged along his. Caden wrung it before hanging it beside her bra. His belt swung over the branch next, and then his pants.

She backstroked out and caught his glance. The water exposed her until she sunk down again. The soft lapping of the ripples against her skin tickled under her arms.

‘You looking for some action, or can a man get some privacy? Either way, I’m happy to abide.’

She swam to the middle of the lake, diving shallowly under the water, kicking lightly until her lungs felt the pressure of an early suffocation. When she returned to the surface he was swimming lazily toward her.

‘You’re useless with my orders.’

She swam, closing their gap where she treaded the water. Her shoulders tipped out. She slowed her legs and arms, sinking down, while he admired her from his distance. His eyes wandered across what was barely visible.

‘I’ve taken orders all my life, and always from men,’ She followed him swimming around her, creating a lapping effect against her body. ‘I promised myself no more, and you’re no exception. Watcher or Commander, I really don’t care,’ she said.

‘Since Taris?’ he continued swimming the circle. She stayed, choosing not to watch his every move, keeping her eyes forward. He eventually returned in front of her and stopped. ‘You didn’t answer,’ he waited.

Julianna shrugged. ‘Since Taz, since Uncle Douglas Cathan, since a lot of things.’

‘Why do you do that?’ he asked. He swam back a few strokes and she followed.

‘Do what?’

‘Call him Taz, like you’re old friends?’

She shrugged, ‘Does it matter if I don’t have an answer?’

‘No, curious. But I think you still have a thing for him.’

She pointed a finger casually. ‘Now, master watcher, you just crossed a line,’ she warned.

‘Tell someone who cares, sweetheart.’ He went under the water and she waited for his return to debate the last comment.
When he eventually surfaced, he was behind her, startling her. He apologized, but with a sincerity she didn’t trust.

‘What’s your story, then?’ she asked.

Caden swam to her. ‘You know mine. Old Council, treason charges, the camp, the Rebellion…now here, with you.’ He closed their space. ‘After a very,
very,
long twenty-four hours.’ He smirked and gave her a wink. ‘
Alone
.’

She paddled away from him. ‘I’m being serious.’

He smiled and swam to the shallow waters where he stood on the murky bottom. ‘I’m done being serious today. Need some time off.’

Julianna followed him in. The water was numbing her skin and making her bottom lip quiver. Her feet found the ground beside him and their toes touched.

‘You were head of the Council once,’ she said. She waited for the defining answer. She wanted to hear it from
his
mouth, not the others.

Caden’s eyes narrowed. ‘Hmmm, once,’ his eyebrow cocked. ‘Never left it.’ He waved his arm around to encompass his surroundings. ‘This gig is much more interesting. You’re a great sniper, too. Thought I should mention that.’

‘Taz
taught me all I know about the sniper rifle. Maybe you should know that.’ She dipped further into the water from the wind. ‘Last I heard you lost your illustrious position to your cousin, and then the Council came to an abrupt end.’ She watched his expression remain, the smirk never leaving him while he nodded. ‘You knew me in the cells last year. You knew I was Peter Rae’s daughter.’

‘Are you looking for an explanation to something you already know?’ He looked up from the water and his brow furrowed. ‘I knew who you were, once I heard your name. Notorious for the trouble you caused. Biggest trouble maker in the family.
’

She sniggered. ‘Now you’re making light of a serious situation.’

‘Like I said, need some time off from serious,’ he admired the starry sky. ‘I’ll be serious tomorrow if you like. Promise.’

She shook her head. ‘Maybe I need some time off too,’ she said quietly. ‘My bad. Forget I asked.’

He leaned over. ‘You did good back there. What happened – all of it. It takes nerves to confront even the smallest noc, let alone one with a rifle.’

His dizzying pull reached from him to her, she was puzzled.
He wasn’t reading her, or whispering, but his expression had changed to one she didn’t understand.

‘Daniel has the couch. Dev’ cried herself
to sleep in Bastiaan’s arms again…’ he rolled his eyes. He held two fingers for her to see. ‘Two beds, one sofa.’

The water held the heat from her cheeks and the butterflies started in her lower belly. ‘I’m sure you’re used to the floor by now. Can you turn around please? I’m cold.’

He baulked at the suggestion. ‘Modesty in an Exotic Dancer?’

‘I’ve never given a private dance yet,’ she said, and he gave her a cheeky wink. ‘I dance for the Rebellion. Club Star’s just a rouse to hide who I am, you know that.’

He turned for her. ‘Teasing, sweetheart. Lighten up.’

Julianna left the water for the wind whipping against her smooth skin. The pebbles under her wet feet felt sharp near the fire. She leaned her naked body into the warmth to grab her knickers.

‘You know he hates you dancing.’

Julianna fumbled with
them as they fought the pull along her wet legs. Her clothes were warm from the fire as they clung over her dampness. She felt Caden’s clothes hanging on the branch. ‘Your clothes aren’t dry.’

He walked unashamed from the water reaching for the shirt she held. She turned awkwardly towards the woods, extending her arm behind her, waiting for his grab, wishing it was his pants instead.

‘You know I’m talking about your father,’ he took his shirt. ‘He hates you dancing in those places. Rebellion or not, it’s not really an excuse is it? You like taking your clothes off for strangers’

‘
Says he who stands naked behind me, unashamed. Besides, I don’t take my clothes off – and maybe he should stop me if it bothers him.’ she said quietly, glancing back and quickly returning from his nakedness to stare at the trees.

‘Well, he tried when he sent me.’ He slipped his pants over his wet legs, and she could hear his zip and his belt being buckled. ‘He worries about his little girl out in the Rebellion. It’s why he appointed me to you.’

‘So he’s the one responsible for you being my watcher? And when do I get a say in it all?

‘Kills him he can’t be closer,’ he hesitated. ‘Kills him you’re so
reckless.
’

She spun around. ‘Kills me too. Kills me that I’ve been searching this whole damn time
– and you know who he is, and where he is – and I’ve been looking since we escaped the camp…’ she stepped into his space, mindful to keep her hands down. She wanted to point, to emphasize every word, to let Caden Madison know just how angry she was, but she held on.

‘
This week my mother appears in Sector One, and you tell me daddy dearest is alive. So next time, when you two have a friendly talk, tell him from me, that I don’t need his concern,
or
a watcher to look out for me, and if you so much as hint at initiation, and training, and abilities again, I’ll smash you from where I stand. I’m a norm, not a watcher.’

‘Temperamental little thing
too, aren’t you?’ he smirked. ‘Just from one little comment.’ He held his fingers to emphasize the
little
part.

‘Does Isis know?’

‘That I’m your appointed? Yes he does. He’s very agreeable to it. Let’s just say everything your father decides, Isis is right there with him. They’re good friends, they know each other well.’

She left him standing beside the water to finish dressing alone. She didn’t notice the time it took to reach the farm house, or the wrong turn she misjudged.
She was too angry – he couldn’t expect to have all hugs and kisses upon the topic could he? The thought drove her mad; and with it her pace quickened up the stairs to the farm house door.

The torn wire screen hung in its frame,
holding the bugs away from the candles flickering through the ripped curtains. Daniel stirred on the worn out sofa. The slamming door startled him, and she found herself staring down the muzzle of his pointed gun.

‘Christ Julianna, wake the dead next time.’ He muttered and lowered the weapon. The dusty sofa he had turned into his bed looked inviting. He pointed a finger to a door across from them. ‘Your room. I can take the floor and he can take this if you like,’ he yawned.