Broken Birth

Chapter Fifteen: Rallying and Rabble

"People of Norta!" Farley yells in a ringing voice. "Thank you for making your way to Archeon today." I gulp. I hadn't expected this many people to show up.

I had been in charge of recording a video, a video to call them to arms, to bring forth the Reds, Newbloods, and the Silvers, since I was supposed to be the middle-ground. I guess I did my job well. 

"Are we rolling?" I ask nervously.

"Soon...okay ready? Three, two, one..." Cameron points to me.

"People of Norta," I begin my voice shaking. I panic for a few seconds, unsure of what to say, but then I close my eyes and pretend the Barrow family were watching it. That the Calore brothers were watching it. "People of Norta. I know you're afraid. Because so am I."

"This is a frightening time, and a dark one too," Farley continues. "As you all know, Norta is under attack from her enemies. We are about to enter a new war."

There are yells from the gathered civilians. "Lakelanders!" a Red man jeers. 

"Yes, but no!" Farley says. "You see, though the enemy does not wish for you to know this...the Lakelands are currently in the midst of a civil war, just as much as we are."

After more discussion of this news, a Silver woman pipes up, nervously. "Is it...just Reds? Or Silvers too?" Some glare at her, but others, including Reds and Newbloods, think this is a fair question.

"Yes," Farley says with a proud grin. "Silvers too. Quite a few actually, and two in particular, who hold quite a lot of power."

"I'm talking to you today to talk about war," I say, my voice sad but determined. "And not the ruse the Kings of Norta and Lakelands almost co-engineered to keep Reds and some Silvers too dying in the millions, but a real, honest to goodness war. Two of them to be precise. And you will be quite surprised at who the real enemy is."

"May I introduce to you...?" Farley turns back to a curtain in the back of the wooden block they're using as a podium. Surrounded by Lakelander protectors and Scarlet Guard, Princesses Iris and Calla Lily walk on. 

The crowd erupts. From Reds, Newbloods, and Silvers alike there come furious screeches of "The enemy!" and "Traitors!" and "Murderers!" Iris doesn't even flinch, but little Lily curls in on herself at the harsh words. Iris and Farley, noticing, open their mouths but before they can say anything someone else does.

"Oy!" A Red woman clutching two little hands at her sides says. "Look at her. She's just a kid." Everyone looks at the mother, then back at Lily, and they visibly soften. They remember their childhoods too. 

I dictate the powerful ending that I wrote, just me, to rally the rabble to our side. "I ask you to meet us in the Archeon square tomorrow. Come if you can and if you can't, spread the word after. Join us to discover the real truths of these events. Join us to fight back for what Norta ought to be. Join us to rise up, together and stronger before, and we will destroy the tyranny that has oppressed us for far too long!" My hands spark up, and I watch them flicker and spark before I turn back to the camera. "Alone, I am strong. But together?" I glare into the camera, lightning burning in my veins. "We can take down an empire."

"Well, then, what do y'all have to say? Why aren't you with the queen?" a techie says from the crowd, and Cameron's eyes lock onto him. 

Iris clears her throat. "We're here because we've seen Red oppression in the Lakelands too. We've seen what Silver supremacy can do. And we have the power to stop it. We are members of the Lakelands branch of the Scarlet Guard." Whispers break out rapidly, but Iris pushes forward, slightly louder than before. "We have 10,000 Lakelander Guard members, and a thousand loyal troops pledged to me and my sister. Combined with General Farley's forces of roughly 8000, we have maybe 20,000 to take on my mother and her allies. But it's not enough." She pauses here, looking around the assembled people. "We need more. We need you."

The people look confused now, but they're starting to get set faces. 

"We can't do it alone," Calla Lily says in a brave little voice, but I hear her voice tremor. The audience softens, Red, Silver, and Newblood, and I step forward for my part. 

"Join us!" I begin in a ringing chant. 

The crowd murmurs my name and my lethal nickname "the lightning girl."

"Help us fight to end the divide between our peoples!" Maven speaks up this time and people stare at him with shock, but with hope. Because if the ex-Silver King is on our side, with foreign Silver princesses, two hardened Reds who will fight for their freedom, and one ridiculously bold Newblood, then they stand a chance. We stand a chance. 

Maven and I hold hands, and the crowd gives one, big, giant gasp. We raise them in the air and say two simple lines. 

"Strength and power," I call.

"Rise, red as the dawn," Maven states.