The High Priestess of Shadows

Chapter 5

Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.

"About which part?" he asked. "The outfit, the acting, the resistance or the key?"

"All of the above," she said still not quite believing what she was seeing. This must be part of the dream not what was really going on. In reality she was in a cold, dark dungeon, not about to be released by some boy she had only just met.

"I'm serious. But when I release you you can't try to run. There are guards everywhere and you'll get caught without my help." He inserted the key into the lock and released her then handed her the dress. "Change quickly. You need to be back here by sunrise."

"Wait. I'm not doing this without you explaining what the hell's going on. I have no idea what this resistance thing is and I want an explanation. Now." Lilly crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at him.

"The resistance is a group of Knights who don't share the same beliefs as everyone else here. We believe that being a witch or not doesn't matter and everyone is equal. All the members are the children of Knights who never conformed to the Knights vision of a perfect society with them as its leaders. They want to take away everyone's rights and become supreme rulers so everyone would be the same like they believe everyone should. We are trying to sabotage them but we need help. That's why we need the witches but the only ones alive are either in hiding or prisoners here. You are the only High Priestess left alive. We need you to lead."

"How do I know this isn't some kind of trap?" Lilly asked. She wanted to believe him about the resistance but at the same time she prayed to the Goddess that it wasn't true and the witches were still alive.

"You're already a prisoner here, why would we need to come up with some elaborate plot when you're at the mercy of the Knights?" He had a point. It was highly unlikely that they would feel the need to lure her into some trap when they already had her.

"I'll believe you for now," she said taking the brown and white dress and headscarf from him. He turned away to give her some privacy while she pulled off her black robe and put on the servant uniform. " But if you betray me I will kill you."

"Noted," Will said. "Now if you're done changing we can go." They stepped out into the torchlit hallway and Will turned right and started walking. They were silent until Will pulled her into a cell with a broken down door.

"What are we doing here?" Lilly whispered but he put his finger to his lips indicating that she should be quiet. He led her to the far wall and pushed several pieces of brick and wood aside to reveal a passage. It was dark and smelt musty like no one had been there for a long time.

He pushed her inside and then replaced the camouflage when he was standing next to her. "There are secret passages running all over the fortress that no one knows about. The rebels found them a few years ago and we've been using them to get messages around and occasionally to spy."

"If we're going through secret passages why do I have to wear a servant uniform?" she asked tugging at the itchy material.

"We have to go up to my room and we can't take the tunnels directly there. If you wore that robe you would be too conspicuous," he said ducking under a fallen ceiling beam that Lilly had walked right under.

"We're here," Will said. "Make sure your head stays covered. Having red hair makes you stick out a lot and they'll be able to tell your a witch especially because you have green eyes as well," he turned to look back at her. "You're a textbook image of what a witch should look like, you know. That's going to make disguising you do much harder for us."

"Enough about how I'm a walking stereotype. Let's go meet you rebels," she tugged the headscarf down one last time and followed him out of the tunnel.

They came out into a more brightly lit hallway with several paintings hanging on the white walls. Will walked quickly down the hall with Lilly being careful to stay a little behind like a real servant would. She kept her head down as she followed him through the massive building. Every Knight they saw gave her no more than a fleeting glance then continued on their way.

They stopped in front of a heavy oak door and Will inserted a key into the lock. It opened into a sitting room with several large windows and plush chairs. There was a cheery fire going in the fireplace. Two other doors led out of the room one, she guessed, was a bedroom and the other was most likely a kitchen or study. Lilly counted ten people sitting in the room with their backs to the door pouring over maps and what looked like schedules.

"We're here," Will announced and they all turned to look at them. "This is the High Priestess that I told you about." He took her hand and led get to one of the couches to sit. "Lilly, these are the leaders of the rebellion."Most of them were men and but they had three women with them.

"Sophie?" she asked looking at her old friend sitting there with the other rebels.

"Hey Lilly. Remember when I said that I couldn't leave?" she asked and Lilly nodded. "This is why," she gestured at the papers on the table in front of them, " there are plans in place and I need to help see them through."

"You know each other?" a thin boy with mousy brown hair asked.

"She's my friend," Sophie replied. "You can trust her."

Everyone else shared looks before turning to Lilly. "Welcome to the rebellion High Priestess."