The City of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 11

"Well, let's hear it," I said to Meredith as I stood outside her cell. "I'm ready to listen."

"What changed your mind?" she replied.

"I'm not the prisoner here. You said you were thinking of rebelling against House Drakon. How to propose to do that? From where I'm standing, you're just a prisoner with no power."

"But Reginald doesn't know that."

Meredith had a point. Reginald didn't know that Meredith attack had failed. Afterall, her ruse had bought us time to coordinate with other resistance groups and to prepare for penultimate assault on Toronto. Beyond that, what else could she offer to us?

"What are you suggesting? You already bought us time."

"It wouldn't make a difference in the end, Audrey. Whether you have two more days, two more week, or even two more months. You will not succeed."

"Just watch us!" I shouted back at Meredith, feeling myself getting upset. Was she trying to deliberately provoke me?

"No need to raise your voice, Audrey," Meredith replied. "As much as think otherwise, I do want you guys to win. And I have a suggestion on how to best maximize our current situation."

"Ok, let's hear it." I said with a look of caution and skepticism clearly visible on my face.

"We'll do a trojan horse plan. We will disguise your army as mine, and I will report directly to Reginald. We will get close, and assassinate him. In the chaos of his death, your other allies can launch an all-out attack across the city. Without Reginald in charge, his forces will be confused and easily defeated. Some of his forces, particularly his human soldiers may even defect over our side."

"Our side, Meredith? You're on our side?" I replied, still suspicious of her intentions. "This is all too convenient. So...all we just have to do is trust your word, let you go, and escort you directly back to Reginald. That's totally not suspicious at all."

"I know how it looks," Meredith pleaded. Looking into her cell, I could see clearly see her face. Her expression seemed genuine. But what if it wasn't? Vampires are good at tempting humans with kind words and a pretty face - it's how most of the planet fell to them. But...if we were to trust her, this could be a devastating blow against Reginald. We'd have a winning strategy that could feasibly work.

"And your motivation for playing your part in this...trojan horse plan is entirely genuine?"

"Yes. Like I told you. If you don't trust that I'm doing for you paladins, I'm doing this for Valeria. This just what we need to break free of House Drakon."

I looked over at the cell next to Meredith's: Ashella's. Even if Meredith were to help us, Ashella would be the wild card. "What about Ashella? Is she going to help us as well?"

"Don't worry about her," Meredith replied, glancing over at the concrete wall separating their cells. "She'll cooperate if she knows what's good for her."

She turned back to face me with those piercing yellow eyes. Those yellow eyes. A clear reminder that despite how beautiful Meredith was, she was still a vampire; a potentially dangerous one at that. I was torn inside. Torn between wanting to trust her, and not believing a word she said. But in the end, I knew what she said made sense. We were out of options. We were just running down the clock to an uncertain future.

I walked up closer to the cell and looked inside. If not for the bars, our faces would be so close to each other. Close enough to...no. I can't think about that right now. Why did I have that thought? Mustering up all the will I could, I said, "I'll trust you, Meredith. I'll relay what you told me to the others."