Rebel Song (26 page)

“But that would mean telling them about me—”

“NO! You absolutely cannot tell anyone that isn’t necessary. You don’t know whom you can trust. Too many would sell you both out for the right price.” She took a deep breath. “But it does mean they can know about me.”

“Brita, no,” Elyra shook her head. “Do you know what that could do to your career? To your life?”

“Yes, I know the risks. But I also know what will happen to it if nothing changes. If Pantone wins, neither of us comes out of this fully intact. My career will be over anyway. Maybe even my life. We have to fight. I want the Cause to know they have a friend on this side. I will risk the consequences of doing what’s right. The days of dreaming about the future are over, Elyra. The future is now.”

“Okay,” Elyra nodded, finding courage somewhere in her depths. “If Pantone wants war then he’s got one. We will win this. Or we’ll at least go down swinging.” Brita grinned.

“Now, that’s more like it.”

CHAPTER 36

With her boots in hand, Elyra returned to her sitting room from an afternoon of riding. She screamed with fright, dropping her armload, when she saw Markus standing by the window.

“Sants, Markus! You nearly startled me to death. What are you doing in here? How did you get in?”

“Raj let me in to wait for you,” he said stone-faced. She scowled.

“I’ll have to have a chat with him about the privacy of my personal rooms.” She retrieved her things from the floor.

“I’m sorry, but I needed to see you.”

She rolled her eyes and hung her bag and sun hat on an intricately engraved rack in the entry, and tossed her boots into the corner.

“Markus, I am not in the mood for this right now.” She walked over to the refreshment stand and poured a glass of cold cucumber water from a pitcher. She sat on the settee and leaned back, exhausted. “I just want to be left alone.”

“I’m not much in the mood for this either, El. But I have something quite serious that I need to discuss with you.”

“So serious that you sneak into my private chambers uninvited?”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

“Fine, what is it?”

Markus walked to the door and shut and locked it.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Elyra sat up and glared at him.

“This is a matter of utmost discretion. You will thank me for it.” He walked over to the settee opposite her and sat. “I was given some disturbing information today.”

Elyra’s stomach clenched and the familiar anxiety swept over her. She already knew before he told her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a medium-sized brown envelope and handed it to her. She stared at the packet, too anxious to move.

“What is this?” She barely managed a whisper.

“I think you know.”

She gingerly unfastened the latch that held the envelope closed and lifted out a series of poor-quality photographs. Her heart dropped into her gut, taking her breath with it. She recognized the first one as the blackmail Pantone had waved around. Slowly she flipped through them, each one capturing a private moment, or so she thought, between her and Rogan—one of them laughing in the square, one of her climbing onto his bike with a sly look of someone who has stolen the moment, one of a stolen kiss in the beach cove.
They were watching me even there.
All those perfect moments sullied by Pantone’s betrayal. She lowered the photographs and looked at Markus, trembling.

“He promised he wouldn’t tell, that rat,” she barely managed to choke out. 

Markus stared at her back, hard and cold.

“Did you really think he would keep your secret El? This is Pantone we’re talking about.”

“Who is he paying to follow me?” Her fear was hardening to anger.

“It doesn’t matter.”

She glared.

“Of course it matters! It’s my life!”

“You are focusing on the wrong thing here. What matters is the story these photos tell—what this means for you. For us.”

“There is no
us
. You need to realize that.”

“And is it because of him?” His voice climbed. “Is he the reason that you and I aren’t together?” He attempted to grab the photos and she swiped them away.

“It’s none of your business,” She stood angrily. “NONE of your business! You have no say over what I do.”

“Who is he?”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters.”

She stared down at the photograph of them laughing in the square.
How had she been so stupid?

“He’s someone important to me,” she said with longing for the simple days in the beginning. “You would never understand.”

“He’s the one from the hunger drive, isn’t he? Pantone tells me he’s some rebel, some traitor’s son hell bent on revenge. What were you thinking? How could you just flaunt yourselves in public like that?” His tone was laced with both disbelief and disappointment. She didn’t respond. “Do you realize what will happen if this gets out? You could lose everything.” She didn’t respond again. “Will you answer me?”

She shot him a furious glare.

“And say what? That you know nothing?”

“Make me understand what you were thinking.”

“There is nothing I can say to you to make you understand.”

“Do you love him?”

She averted her eyes from him.

“I won’t dignify that question with a response.”

“It’s a simple question, Elyra.”

“My feelings don’t change the situation, so why bother talking about them? Pantone is going to do whatever he wants with these.”

“Do you love him?” He repeated slowly. She stayed silent. “Answer me!”

“Yes! I love him. Are you satisfied?”

Markus stared at her—rage, hurt and humiliation stewing in his face. He reached out to take her hand, but she ripped it away from him.

“Don’t touch me.” She rose from the settee. “In fact, get out. This conversation is over.”

“Elyra, please. Be reasonable. Open your eyes. You can’t expect anything to come of this thing with him. Don’t throw away your life.”

“Don’t you dare presume to tell me what I want or expect in
my
life,” she nearly screamed, her anger bubbling over. “I want you to get something through your thick head. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the picture or not. I will never feel the same way about you. You need to just accept that.”

“Well I don’t accept it. This lawless thug—not even smart enough to know when he’s been betrayed—has poisoned your mind with radical ideals. Do you honestly think Pantone will let him live? He will track him down and slit his throat—right before he hangs you.”

Before she could stop herself, her hand struck his cheek.  His head jerked but he didn’t lose his temper. He only stared at her.

“Get out,” she said again calmly. “I mean it.”

Markus straightened up and ran a hand through his sandy hair.

“I hope you know what you’re doing. Because when he’s gotten what he wants from you and leaves you to rot, I won’t be there to save you.”

She turned her head toward the window without responding. He nodded and moved toward the door. Before he exited, they turned and their eyes met. He gave her a longing look with a hint of pity. Then he turned and left. Enraged, Elyra flung her arm across her vanity, sending jars of lotions and creams and makeup shattering to the floor. She began to sob so violently she nearly choked on her own breath and collapsed to the floor in a pile of pain.
This couldn’t be happening.
This just couldn’t be happening.

CHAPTER 37

The room was like a beehive as people worked busily in the corners organizing knives and assembling packages, their hushed voices buzzing through the air in a low hum. The words of her note scrolled over and over through his mind.

“Rogan, things are worse. Much worse. He has cashed in his bargaining chip. You have to run. Have to hide. I do not doubt they will come for you. Do not let them find you. Trust no one—I think you’ve been betrayed.”

What did it mean? Betrayed by whom? He had no way to reach her. Her private number had been disconnected and he didn’t dare try going to the palace. Panic festered inside him.

“We have to follow them,” Alec said. “If they have the guts to do it, then so can we.” Cable glared at Alec, still furious. When Alec had returned two nights prior, sneaking through the hidden door in the back, he was a shell. His face was pale, his brown hair was overgrown and ratted, and his thin frame suggested he hadn’t had a full belly in weeks. They’d all been relieved to see him, but Cable was having difficulty forgiving his recklessness.

“Your guts have caused us enough problems Alec,” Cable hissed. “For once let’s be rational here. Taking over a weakened northern fortress is not the same thing as storming the capitol building.”

News that five hundred rebels had taken over San Mal had ignited everyone’s excitement. It was a bold move, but a rash one. The northern leader, Wente, hadn’t told any of the other factions what he’d planned to do. Rogan wasn’t sure what difference it would have made, but he was still angry he had kept it from them. Maybe they could have launched a simultaneous attack. Instead, they were left with two choices: take action immediately, before Pantone had time to rally their forces and launch a counter attack, or sink back further in the shadows, well out of sight until the royal army had once again let down its guard. And if what El said was true about the King’s health, Pantone was on the loose.

“Cable’s right. Everyone is going to be on guard after what happened at San Mal,” Ben said. “And thanks to Alec’s lovely little stunt, they’ve upped security around all important buildings.” He snarled at Alec.

“But if we attack immediately, we could take them off guard…they won’t suspect us to be so daring,” Alec continued. Ben shot Rogan a hard glare.

When he’d received Elyra’s note, Rogan confessed everything to Ben about the King’s stroke and Pantone’s incriminating photos. Ben was naturally panicked, but Rogan assured him she wouldn’t speak a word about the Cause. Ben had his own deadly secrets after all. Maybe she wasn’t a princess, but Brita Falcon was not someone to take lightly. They had both put everyone in danger and he needed to face it. It was time for them both to tell Cable. They had to believe they could trust him. They were brothers now, knee deep in this together. He was going to be livid at Ben. He was going to be speechless at Rogan.

Rogan’s nerves were singed. His palms were dripping and his heart was racing. Waves of nausea lapped in his stomach. He felt faint, but he forced slow breaths in and out of his lungs until he had steadied himself. He looked at Ben, who gave him a decisive nod. Cable looked at them curiously.

“Alec,” Cable said. “Go get Iris. I need to talk to her.” Alec gave him a questioning look and hesitated. “
Now,”
Cable snapped.

Alec scowled but followed orders. Cable turned back to Rogan.

“Rogan, are you okay? You look sick.”

Rogan rubbed his chin and stared Cable hard in the eyes.

“No, not really,” Rogan started. “Look, I’ve done something that you need to know about.”

“Okay,” Cable said hesitantly, flicking his eyes to Ben and back to Rogan.

Rogan took another deep breath and tried to speak but he choked on his words.

“Actually, we both have,” Ben interjected, throwing himself in the line of fire first. Cable’s eyes narrowed.

“And?” Cable pushed.

“The information I’ve been getting has been coming from someone closer to the source than I’ve let on,” Ben blurted out.

“How close?” Ben took a deep breath.

“From the Minister of Public Works. Brita Falcon.”

Cable’s eyes widened.

“
What?
How?” Cable sputtered. Ben sighed.

“It’s a long story. We…we’re involved,” he offered then added quickly, “But you have to know that she is one hundred percent on our side.”

“What? How can you possibly know that?”

“Trust me, Cable. She knows exactly what’s coming and she’s prepared to fight for us. Why else would she risk leaking me information? And she wanted me to tell you about her. She wanted you to know we have friends on the inside.”

Cable shook his head in disbelief.

“I…I don’t even know what to say to this,” Cable said. “This is really serious. You’re
involved
? Like, you’re sleeping with her?”

Ben pursed his lips, shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah. Pretty much,” Ben admitted.

“You…I will deal with this later,” Cable pointed a hard finger at Ben. He then turned to Rogan, his face a portrait of shock and confusion.

“Rogan. And what’s going on with you? What did
you
do?”

Rogan took a deep breath.

“There’s a girl,” he began.

“Another girl?” Cable rolled his eyes. “Why is it always about girls with you two? Can’t you get your damn hormones under control?”

“A girl,” Rogan repeated. “Who’s important to both me and to the future of Arelanda.” He began to relax as he spoke.

Cable nodded impatiently, his nerves clearly already rattled.

“A girl you’re involved with?”

Rogan took a breath.

“A girl I’m in love with. A girl I would die for.” 

“You may get your chance,” Ben said halfway under his breath.

Cable looked at him quizzically.

“I had no idea you were seeing anyone,” Cable said. “What does this have to do with me? She another government spy?”

“You have to know that I would never do anything to hurt this cause, and neither would she. She believes in us,” Rogan went on ignoring the question.

Cable raised an eyebrow.

“All right. So, who is she? What’s this all about?”

Rogan took another breath and opened his mouth to speak.

The lights overhead flickered and buzzed eerily, interrupting Rogan’s confession. A crash rippled through the room and the thunder of heavy footsteps echoed down the corridors of the cannery basement. The room rumbled like a stampede was headed straight for them. A blur of voices trickled down the halls. A familiar voice shouted over the rumble; the voice that haunted his dreams.