A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

74: Breaking Free

Leur

40 years ago

Finding the rebel base wasn't hard. They never did make much of an effort to conceal themselves. Not to mention, I had figured out where they were hiding long ago.

I just hadn't told anyone.

Most of the rebel factions were violent, especially in the westernmost regions of Astra. They did not care who they harmed in the process, women, children- it didn't matter. They took their frustrations with their territory's leadership out on innocent civilians, and Acantha enjoyed having a reason to pick a fight.

In Adhira, the rebels were different. They abhorred the actions of the others, denounced them as believers of the prophecy all together. They rarely picked battles, unless they were going after Cylos, me, or one of the council members. Most of the time, they just wanted to be left alone to live separately from the Solarean king's rule. I've had an understanding with Minka, the leader of the Adrian rebels, for well over 300 years now. If I didn't bother her, she didn't bother me. She had tried to have me killed nearly once a year when I was first crowned as General, and then gave up once she realized it would be a lot harder to do than she thought.

Like two sides of the same coin, Minka wasn't easy to track down or kill either. Which is why I didn't pick battles with her often. Every once in a while, they'd stage an attack and I would pretend to care. Enough to keep Cylos off my back, at the minimum. Most of the time, my armies were sent down to Astra to aid in their resurgences.

Anil did not have enough rebels to even form a faction, so Xian just offered aid with his naval legions. Acantha, who led the winged calvary of the Belt of Stars, wanted any reason to come to Adhira, any reason to call me down to her. Sometimes, I wondered if she was jealous that I led the infantry- if that was what her issue was with me.

Or if it was because Cylos had passed a law 150 years ago that seemed Adhira first in line for the throne, not Astra. Acantha wasn't privy to the fact that I had forced him to do it- but she hadn't taken it well.

I'd never wanted power. I was born into it, but I was more than content to sit on the sidelines and let Rhys take the throne. And maybe if things had gone the way they should, it could have been enough. Maybe if I'd never been sent to Hybern, if the war had never happened, I would have been content with that life. Maybe if that day in the woods had never happened, if I hadn't found out what it felt like to be truly powerless, I would have gone down that path.

But it had. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't change any of it. I couldn't get back to being that girl, the innocent girl who didn't know horror and depravity, a spoiled princess who just wanted to be a warrior. She had died long ago, and something else had replaced her.

Perhaps it was a bad plan. Perhaps I was in way too far over my head. Perhaps this was a horrible idea, but I didn't have anything left. I'd run out of ideas, run out of spells and magic to study, run out of worlds to explore looking for any way out of this bargain, for any power that could overcome this deal I had made. I was out of options, and quickly running out of time.

I only had 40 years until Tamlin's curse was up. It seemed like a long time, but it truly wasn't. To do what I needed to do, it may as well have been five minutes. And I'd be damned if I allowed Tamlin, if I allowed Rhys, if I allowed my home and family to suffer when it was well within my power to take Amarantha out.

Which was why I didn't bother to fight my way into the rebel base, didn't bother with a battle or anything of the like. I just winnowed straight inside, and watched from the shadows until I figured out where I needed to be. It was a large village nestled in a valley in towards the center of Adhira, surrounded by 10 foot walls made of spiked logs and wards impressive enough, but not nearly strong enough to keep me from locating them. If we were going to do this, I would need to ensure that wards similar to the ones around Velaris were erected around this place. Children played in the streets, running through the market square and stealing gumdrops and fruit from the vendors there. On the outskirts, thousands of soldiers trained for battle. Even in the brisk autumn air, there was an air of warmth around this place. Cobblestone streets and ancient churches on every corner.