The Kingdom Thief

Chapter 21

"Absolutely not, it's too risky".

I can't stop the scowl that grows on my face at Alan's decision. Sensing that I am about to say something that could quite possibly get us kicked out, Kane speaks up before I can.

"Commander, please rethink this. If we could just-"

"Just what Kane? Get yourselves killed?" Alan interrupts, shaking his head. "You four are too important to lose".

I can't stop myself. "So when somebody actually comes up to you with a real plan you just turn your back on it because it's too risky?" I scoff. "How crazy I must be for thinking this is a revolution".

"This is a revolution girl so don't you dare belittle what I've formed here" Alan says back, his voice rougher than I have ever heard.

"And in revolutions people get hurt. That's just a fact. And we are willing to put ourselves in danger for the possibility that we can stir some fight in the people. We can't fight this battle alone!".

"And you also can't fight it if the boy you want to put back on the throne is killed before the revolution even happens" Alan snaps back, tilting his head over to where Mason is standing next to me.

I let out a small laugh. "I would have thought you would jump at the idea of putting Mason in danger".

Alan stills and steps forward so that he is towering over me, as if after everything I've been through, I could be intimidated by a 40 year old man that smelled like pine. "What are you implying there girl?" he asks.

I feel a hand squeeze mine and immediately know it is Kane, pulling me from my frustration back to sense and reality. If I pushed Alan too far he would no doubt kick us out and then where would we go?

Yet again, Kane is the thing stopping me from making a foolish decision.

I swallow hard. "I don't mean to imply anything commander" I step away from him. "I just hope you'll sleep on our idea".

Alan frowns at me. "I will but I doubt my decision will change" and with that he turns and leaves the planning room we are in.

"Well" Reeves speaks up. "That went better than I thought it would".

"The spineless imbecile!" I fume, turning towards the three boys that are looking at me. "We spend all night coming up with a pretty solid plan that could actually work and he puts it down without a second glance! It's not fair! We don't even need him!".

"Then let's do it anyway" Mason states. "It's not like we need any of his resources except the hologram. What exactly could he have given us? Permission?".

"Mason's right" Kane states. "We have everything we need here. Jack will be in the belows at noon today to give a televised speech. If we leave now we'll get there by then".

"The only problem is the hologram" I say back. "We need it and Alan will be watching us closely. There is no way we'll be able to take a hologram now".

"Man" Reeves sighs. "If only there was someone smart enough in this group to snag one of them before we asked for permission". At that, he holds up a hologram machine and uses it to scratch his head. "Oh well".

I grin at the red headed boy in front of me. "You genius" I beam.

"Did you guys honestly think I needed that many snack breaks while we were planning this out?" he asks. "Like my brother always told me, it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission".

"We should get going then" Kane says. "Our window of opportunity will close soon if we don't start moving".

I nod. "All right, lets go" and like that, we leave the room and head for the entrance hall.