Every Day in May (grand prize winner) ✔

May 22nd

Jeffers' situation is unique—to have one of the longest standing members of the Dissent on visibly friendly terms with the Leader is quite unprecedented.  Understandably, the Leader is strict about checking the backgrounds of his forces, particularly those meant to be positioned closest to him.  Graden wouldn't dare try to implant anyone else into the Tower Guard; a Dissenter without the stellar background that Jeffers has would never successfully convince the Regime of true Loyalty to the Leader.

Jeffers is our only soldier-spy, but he's not the only Dissenter in the Tower.  A young woman who calls herself Ellie has worked for your mother for over a year.  In fact, she was there serving tea towards the end of my weekly visits with Francesca, though at the time I couldn't possibly have guessed she was a spy—your mother, however, was harder to fool. 

A few days after your mother told me never to come back to the Tower, I was attending a Dissent meeting at the factory.  I spotted Ellie towards the back of the crowd; her face turned as red as her hair when our eyes locked.  After the meeting, she confessed to me that she believed I must hate her for spying on Francesca.  That couldn't have been further from the truth. I begged her to be your mother's friend, to comfort her in my absence and to keep her safe from your father's abuse.

By the next meeting, Ellie had news for me. 

"Francesca knows!" I couldn't tell from her expression whether this scared or pleased her. "She's known practically since I started working for her."

"What?" If Ellie was that easy to figure out, she wasn't much of a spy, but then again, your mother had proven herself to be incredibly astute.  "Are you sure?"

"She told me so herself. But it's okay, Merryn—she's on our side."

Francesca passes information to Ellie whenever she feels it might benefit the Dissent.  Graden is grateful for this, yet he still refuses to divulge much of his plans to her.  She's my beloved Francesca, yes, but she's also the leader's wife.  The less she knows the safer he believes we all will be. (Can you imagine how he'd react if he knew half of the things I'm telling you, Theo?)

Graden harbors a sense of loyalty toward Francesca, both for my sake and our mother's; everything the Dissent is planning is being timed to coincide with her welfare.  He thought about asking her to leave the Tower and join us, but I told him there was no way she'd do that.  Plus, it might appear as though the Dissent had kidnapped her.  Just think how your father would use this to his advantage. 

"The Dissent, those malicious terrorists, have taken my precious wife.  My grief is unbearable—but this I know: we must bring them to justice."

Who would disagree with him?

Your father doesn't care what happens to your mother, but he must realize she'd make an excellent pawn in his war against the Dissent.  She doesn't have to run away to Graden's factory, however; staying right where she is can help him achieve his aim just as easily. He can make her disappear whenever he chooses and the blame for her absence can lie wherever he places it. 

Even with our protective measures, your mother's future is as precarious as your own.  That's why we're acting soon, Theo.  Very soon.  The reason I've been risking my life to get these letters to you, the reason I've been writing down Dissent secrets that could get many of us killed is because time is of the essence. Graden calls this "the eve of battle."  He's finalizing his plans.

You and I need to figure out how we're going to fit into them.