Knife of Rebellion: Battles of Eyenwar, Book 1

Chapter 26- Plan of Attack

"We have spies at our disposal?"

"That's what Garen tells me. Even more shocking- Monika is the spy master." Mirabel continues.

Apparently, she has been getting quite a lot accomplished without me, including renewing the former peace treaty. Behind closed doors, Mirabel and Garen agreed that their marriage was still the best thing for both countries. Torrain would still want open trade routes and Torranian blood on the throne after our support in the war. Garen will still need the money and political support of Torrain if all goes well. Hostile takeovers are not usually well received by foreign diplomats. It even serves their personal interests; Mirabel still wants to see the world and Garen is saved from Lady Ragna, who is pushing for an arrangement between her oldest daughter and the new king.

"Well," I managed, "that is one less thing to worry about."

We sit silently in the steaming water of the underground bathhouse. For the first time that I ever remember, Mirabel asked me to spar with her this morning. She did pretty well, considering she was out of practice. She still had a solid stance, and she's fast, which means I didn't have to teach her any of the ground work. I'm confident she could hold her own in a skirmish if it ever came to that. Now that we've finished our work out, it's nice to wash off the sweat and grime.

"Monika took it upon herself to organize one when her mother first included her in the rebellion. She never told anybody until now." Mirabel continues.

"Why now?" I wonder aloud.

"Because," Mirabel smiles devilishly, "yesterday she finally found out where all the drafted soldiers were sent."

I nearly jumped out of the water and strangled her.

"Why wasn't that the first thing you said?" I choked out, trying, and failing, to keep myself from yelling at her.

She jumps out of the water before I lose my cool, "What fun would that be?"

She wraps herself in a drying blanket and enters the changing room, trailing infuriating giggles behind her.

I let my head sink the rest of the way underwater before I scream. When I break the surface again I scramble out of the pool after her. Smooth stalagmites serve as places to throw towels and clothing, so I quickly dry off and shimmy into my trousers and tunic.

I take one last look around to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. It's a little hard to tell in the faint light of the glowing water, but I'm quite sure I've got all the knives I carried in with me. Even with this luminous water, I think they would really do with a torch or two in here. Although I must admit, it's quite pretty.

If nothing else good comes from this wretched journey, at least I got to experience this.

I don't stay to appreciate it long. Answers are waiting for me. I was there the night those boys were taken away. I heard the screams and sobs of scared boys and families torn apart. If I could fix all that pain, then I would.

I found Monika and Garen in the war room, poring over letters.

"You found them?" I sidle up to them so I can see what they are looking at. Garen shifts to give me a little more room.

"Yes, they're on the move. According to my intel, they are headed here, to the coast." Monika answers, pointing at a spot on the map decorated with pictures of sea caves.

I look at the letter closest to me. The handwriting is utterly uninteresting. everything is written in the Universal language. The scrip is neither curly enough to be a woman's nor scraggly enough to be a man's.