The Rugged Edge

Chapter 31: Heightening Wonderment

Lion prowls anew,
nameless in the brush.
A look there,
a smile here,
what could it portend?

. . . . .

Quinnie was sitting on a log in front of the fire. When she turned and saw Geraint and I coming through the trees, her whole countenance seemed to perk up and cheer. She rose with utter gaiety and ran to us.

"You're back!" she said, and threw her arms around her brother.

"I'd hoped you'd notice," said Geraint playfully. "Vereniva was such a bore without you."

"No, it wasn't," said Quinnie. "You enjoyed it fine."

How she knew, I would never tell.

"Ise!" she continued to exclaim, and she hugged me. I didn't think I'd been hugged since I was a baby. It made me laugh.

"How did you enjoy it?" she asked.

"Oh, perfectly well!" I said. "It was absolutely beautiful."

Geraint held out a little bag to his sister. "This is for you. I got it in Vilia."

Quinnie smiled gratefully and pulled out a handful of little brown seeds from the bag. "Oh! Seeds! What do they grow?"

"Chrysanthemums," said Geraint. "They grow bright yellow, and I thought you'd like them."

"Oh, yes!" said Quinnie. "They'll be beautiful. I'm sure Ma knows all about them and can tell me how to grow them." She smiled with such sincere content that I had to smile, too. "What was your favorite part, Ise?" she asked me.

"Oh... It would have to be the garden," I said.

"Of course," said Quinnie, nodding. "Was it as green as Geraint says?"

"Yes!" I said. "So, so green."

"Did you learn anything to tell Rufus about?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," I said. "He may already know a lot about what we learned. But we can tell him anyway."

Geraint and I hurried off to find the rebellion leader's tent.

. . .

There was Rufus, inside of his thin tarp, sitting in front of his map. It was full of markers, as always, but Rufus seemed frustrated. He sat with his forehead resting on his palm, looking almost angry. When we entered, he looked up.

"Geraint!" he said. "Eloise! Any news from your trip?"

"Not much," said Geraint as we both sat down on a pair of rickety, wooden stools. "At least not that we know of. What we learned is unlikely to be of any use to us."

"Ah," said Rufus, clearly disappointed and almost disapproving. "I see. Such as?"

"The Duke of Shermanel visited," said Geraint. "For a day. He was not pleased to see Collum there, and Collum didn't seem quite happy with the situation, either. But we got a chance to talk to him. He said he was great friends with King William when they were boys, and he knew Bessy. He said he disliked Collum and what he had done to Rokenmeine. But he didn't tell us anything that can be of value to us."

"I see," said Rufus. "I did not know that." He didn't elaborate, but his eyes adopted a strange look, as if he were the lion again, hungry for something unknown. I glanced at Geraint, who simply continued in his report.

"However, we seem to have made progress with the people in the villages, especially in Vilia," he said. "Eloise was able to give them what we believe is hope: that she is not like Collum, and that she may be able to bring them something like joy when she is queen."

Rufus's eyes became wild again, this time with an anger, and I wondered why. Did it have anything to do with Geraint mentioning me being queen? What did he still have against that?

"I'm not sure if they understand that Collum has broken the law," Geraint continued. "The Duke of Shermanel told us that he was the one to lead the complaints when he named himself king. Collum didn't share anything much with the people, and he never has. But hopefully we began this achievement without Collum being too concerned with it."

Rufus nodded. "I see. Well done. Is that all?"

"Yes, I think so," said Geraint.

"Have either of you learned anything to help with the map?" Rufus gestured to the map laid out before him.

"No," said Geraint.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," said Rufus, that frustrating look from when we entered returning. He motioned towards the tent entrance.

. . .

We went out and sat near the fire to eat dinner with the rest of the rebellion. When we were finished, Quinnie and I went to help wash the plates and Geraint followed.

"Rufus... he got that strange look again," I said.

"I know," said Geraint. "And I don't understand. First, with our information about the Duke. He seemed pleased about that, somehow, and I don't know why. How does that help him?"

"I don't know," I said. "They couldn't know each other, could they?"

"I doubt it," said Geraint. "Unless Rufus worked in Shermanel. Is that likely?"

"I don't know," I said. "Do either of you know what he did before he joined the rebellion?"

"No," said Quinnie. "But we could ask someone, like Bessy, or maybe even Elbert might know."

"And the second time," said Geraint thoughtfully. "The second time he looked like a 'lion', as you say, Ise."

"Right after you mentioned me being the queen," I answered. "What does he have against that anymore?"

"I don't know. I've asked him before whom he wanted to place in Collum's place," said Geraint. "And he hasn't answered."

"I did the same, with the same result," I said.

"Maybe he wanted to be king," said Quinnie.

We were quiet. This was, of course, likely. He'd always said his intentions with the rebellion were to take Collum out. We wondered when he might have started to think of being king himself. Could it be from the very beginning, or only recently?

"He's been talking about sending another spy or two, for one night only," said Quinnie. "Asking for volunteers, out of the people he thought could do it. What would that be for? Doesn't he have enough spies, with you two?"

"I know why," said Geraint. "He doesn't think we can complete his map. He's sending someone to look around again. I wonder how that will go."

We were quiet.