Puddles

Chapter 16: Holding Back

The dark, cloaked figure stepped in from the rain and calmly handed his coat to a manservant. As the tall man stepped into the light, one feature of his fair face was evident, even if not fully explicable. There was a certain higher way of thinking, a greater intelligence and authority than anyone within twenty feet of him. His hair was certainly fairer also, more so than any in that cave.

Dodging servants and turning myriads of corners he came to the only room in that cave with a door: the meeting room. Just as he stepped up to the table a deep voice rumbled from the the head.

"Where have you been, Commander? Surely no 'trifling business in town' is worth an hour of precious time we do not have?"

Tinian answered with a suavity quite alike to his calm gait. "Unless of course that business brings information this cause has desired. I would not feed your hopes with the promise of news were I not in possession of it. All the same, I am deeply saddened for any progress that might have occurred had I been present." A cool response, and instantly answered with exclamations of joy and relief. This should indicate to anyone and everyone how desperate this poor, oppressed people are for aid. And what brought the Commander there was no small news indeed.

"Through various connections I have found a way into some of the king's inmost secrets. If they speak the truth, then what I tell you will not bring great joy, but it does prepare us."

"Well, out with it, Tinian! What do you know?"

A great many things, the Commander's eyes seemed to say, then he continued out loud. "At this moment the king knows where we hide. Somehow he has discovered our new base and he intends to snuff it out in in two days."

The room errupted. "Two days?"

"That's not enough time!"

"Where will we go next?"

"We don't have a Plan C, Commander."

"My friends, please, calm yourselves. Frayed nerves never did our cause justice. At least the clang of spears precedes the army. Any ideas, Captain?"

The entire meeting Jayla Sinar sat deep in thought, her mind elsewhere. Now she snapped out of her daze and looked straight at Tinian, then down at the small ring in her hand as she stroked it gently. It was from a dear friend, one she had hoped to see before this situation would encompass her nation. Though she turned her attention back to the meeting, her fingers gripped the silver circle firmly. "I can't say I have any new hiding places in mind."

"I do recall a forgotten, run-down sort of place, an old fortress, I believe-"

"Let's go!"

"Right away!"

"What town, Commander?"

"-beyond Westmark."

The silence creeped into the room and slowly stilled the murmers. Or maybe it was the calm hand held up to appease the council. But Tinian somehow always had a way of taking care of doubt, in more ways than one, I later found out.

The Captain spoke again, this time a little louder. "I can't say I see the safety in that decision, Commander. We've spent years familiarizing ourselves with Westmark, so that eventually, when the day came, we would know enough to turn over this government successively and effectively. If we leave now we sacrifice all the these long years. Do we simply start over, go through another thirty years or so to get back to where we are?"

But Tinian continued to address the members of the council. "This is our one chance, my friends. After all these years, have we finally come through the storm to watch hope flit on by?"

"Tinian, are you even listening to what I'm saying? Maybe this is just the push we needed, a sign to move on with the next step in the plan!"

Now Tinian turned to her, but his eyes seemed unfocused. "Captain, the enemy is only days away from our door. Our finest scouts have risked life and limb to uncover this precious information. What I am suggesting is to leave before our entire plan is ruined."

"You and those precious scouts!" Captain Sinar stood up with the abrupt scrape of a chair across the floor emphasizing her impatience. "Are they really all you say they are? If they're really so good, why is our only 'uncovered information' a warning to leave? And so soon after they've captured Osan?"

"Do not mention that name in this room!" Tinian glanced briefly at the empty chair at the head of the table. "His presence is still too strongly missed." A brief and well timed pause. "But your accusation is unfair. Our sources are doing all they can to help our cause-"

"Maybe this isn't about the scouts!"

"It obviously isn't! Jayla, whatever your trying-"

"Perhaps this is about you," she interrupted again, to the great shock of members trembling at the heated argument, "Scouts can't get much information when their leader holds them back can they?"

"Captain, what are you implying...?"

"Do you really want us to win this war, Tinian? You and Woodgrey weren't exactly on friendly terms when they took him, were you? And that is the better question, isn't it: did they take Osan? Or was he given?"

"Captain, please calm down. You obviously need rest. Guards, please escort our Captain here to her quarters and-"

"I am calm, Tinian, and you know it! You're the flustered one; since when do I need to be escorted to my room? Did I finally hit a sore spot, Commander?"

"Gentlemen, thank you."

"It'll take more than deceitful advice to bring Runnin to its knees, Tinian. You'll have to try harder than that."

As the guards footsteps and Jayla's outraged shouts about lies receded down the halls, the meeting continued as if nothing had happened.

"Osan Woodgrey said that our best advantage-"

"Don't!-please, Lieutenant, do not mention that name just yet. His absence is still an open wound among us."

"Of course, Sir. I meant only to say that he repeatedly told us that staying in Westmark under the enemy's nose kept us in contact with their secrets and and plans."

"You speak truthfully and of course, wisely, sir. But after the said capture of our dear leader, we can only wait so long asking ourselves, 'Who next?' Yet in another land we may be safe enough from the enemy to grow and strengthen ourselves while still staying close by inhabiting nearby territory. Tell me, members of the Council: how would you like no more taxes, no more stealing our children to do their dirty work, no more codes? We have names, and we deserve to let them be!"

Shouts of approval reverberated off the thick walls of the council room. The Commander seemed to have won over most of the council to his side. Except, of course, the missing Jayla Sinar.

Some people are just too smart for their own good.