Lies & Harmony Trilogy

Chapter Twelve: Passions 01

I don’t recognize the place we are approaching.

     I should know it. The landscape isn’t so different from the majority of the terrain I’ve travelled by foot. The dirt is yellow, and there are broken trees in the distance. It’s the barren landscape I have grown accustomed to when in Seraphin, and I already miss the picturesque grandeur of the twenty-third sector.

     Still, this was not the landscape I expected.

     “Where are we?” I ask Tabitha. “Why aren’t we at the place where the other boats are, the one near the forest?”

     “Mallory and Kasie aren’t here to formally return it,” Tabitha tells me. “And the workers probably know we rigged it after we disappeared off their radar. They also know our faces—for obvious reasons.” I’m the escaped ‘patient’, Rush is the escaped citizen, and Tabitha is a ‘high ranking’ of the RC—the group that opposes the government.

     I think about what Rush told me about Brendan, the prince of Seraphin. I find myself wondering what he is like, how he acts, how he talks, and what his voice sounds like. Rush tells me not to bother—that the longer I live, the more likely I’ll hear one of his speeches.

     “Everyone thinks they’re so inspiration,” Rush said. “But have they even noticed the way his eyes dart around frantically when he pauses? It’s like he’s waiting for some stupid prompter to give him the right words.” Every time Rush said something about him, he would look at me for agreement. I could only nod and offer him a smile since I haven’t seen Brendan before.

     When Rush talked about Brendan, he became another person entirely. Maybe the hate for Brendan sprouts from the fact that Brendan is superior to Rush. That is a plausible explanation. Rush doesn’t seem to like it when people act like he is the inferior. It must not cope with his emotions.

     Pulling my wandering thoughts away from Rush, I wonder why I don’t dislike him for being the way he is like I should.

     “Where are we going after this? Is it the main RC base?” Rush asks eagerly. “How many people are in the RC? When do you think you can take down the governor?”

     Tabitha answers the questions without hesitation. Maybe talking keeps her mind off the failed mission. When I saw her in the morning, her eyes were clear and her facial expression casual. If Tabitha hates any of us for being the ones to make it back she certainly doesn’t show it. Neither does she show any distrust towards Rush.

     “We’re going to a former main base. The RC doesn’t really have a main base anymore. We’re scattered around Seraphin to keep the suspicion down and make us more accessible by the citizens. We’ve got about ten thousand people, but that’s not a lot compared to the population of Seraphin. We’re really not much.” My eyes bulge at the numbers. There are only one thousand patients at the hospital, and I thought that was already a lot of people. “And the government?” Tabitha gives a bitter laugh that ends with a noise sounding suspiciously like a sob. “If the Flame, the real Flame were still alive I would say in a matter of weeks. Now? Possibly past my lifetime will we ever grow powerful enough.” Tabitha sighs. “Maybe I’m being pessimistic, but I think the RC will fall apart before my lifetime is even over.” She looks up at the blue sky, gripping the metallic railing, looking like she’s about to throw up after admitting that. “It seems like all my ideas go awry. First the RC, now losing half of us to the officials. If they aren’t killed on the spot, they’re going to be tortured until they’re begging to die.”

     Gordon would say something light-hearted right now and put his arms across her shoulders. He would tell Tabitha to stop being silly and make her smile again. Tabitha knows that too because her eyes blur over with tears she promptly wipes away.