Fateless

Chapter Ten: When I am King

~Uni's POV~

Sighing, I pushed some eggs around my plate, not particularly hungry. Dawn glanced at me from further down the nearly empty table, concern in his eyes. Not wanting to worry him, I tried for a smile. Dawn didn't seem to buy it as his frown only deepened. I rubbed my face, deciding to blame everything on lack of sleep if he chose to question me about it later.

Technically it wasn't a complete lie. Part of the reason I probably looked like shit was because of the late night meeting Jon had pulled us all into. However, the main thing that was troubling me was what he had said. Jon's words had lodged in the front of my mind and kept me up long after everyone had left my room. It just didn't make sense. Why would there be a prisoner in the west wing? Does the king know about this?

Curious, I glanced at the head of the table. There, my father sat tall, looking every part of a perfect king. With one hand he was shuffling through some papers, mumbling notes to a scribe who frantically jotted down his words. With his other, he would occasionally grab something from his plate and take a small bite, somehow managing to still command respect even with the few crumbs that lay on the front of his shirt.

Catching my gaze, he smiled. "Is everything alright, Uni? You look exhausted."

I quickly glanced away, hoping that my face wouldn't give away my thoughts. "Oh, of course, everything's fine, I suppose I just didn't quite get enough sleep last night, how are you?"

Father sighed, surprising me with a tired expression of his own. "Seer knows I've been better, but I'm managing. There's just so much going on...." he trailed off as something on the paper caught his attention. I nodded and allowed myself to fiddle with my silverware in order to release some of the nervous energy suddenly racing through my hands.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, to start, the party from Nihl Dragdan has moved their visit up and is arriving a week earlier than expected. On top of preparations for the welcome festival, I must be ready for the discussions of a peace treaty. And, as if that wasn't enough, there have been more and more complaints about disruptions in the town."

I tilted my head and finally looked back up at my father. This was the first I was hearing of any trouble. "What sorts of disruptions?"

My father shrugged. "Oh, it's probably nothing very serious, just a rebel group that has been gaining popularity recently, calling themselves 'the Wanderers' or something like that."

I froze. "The... Wanderers?" I had to force the words out of my mouth as my mind raced back to the masked man from town. Wasn't that what he had said? I looked up at Dawn, seeing if the word had struck him too. His eyes were wide, fork hovering over his plate in surprise, confirming my suspicions. Upon hearing my tone, father looked up, placing the cracker he was holding back down.

"Yes... have you heard about them before? You look as though you've seen a ghost."

Again, I had to force a smile. "No, no, I just misheard you, thought you said... something else." I kept my eyes focused on my father, but I could practically feel Dawn's eye roll at my less-than-perfect cover up. I knew that the smart thing would probably be to avoid any further discussion of the topic as it could possibly lead me to revealing my 'unapproved adventures' outside the castle, but my curiosity won over my common sense. Funny how often that seemed to happen. "So," I said in the most casual voice I could muster, "you said it's a rebel group of some sorts? What exactly are they... rebelling against?"

Father sighed, too focused on his work to pick up my unsubtle sudden interest. "They are against the assignment situation, against the Seer as a whole, really. Usually this wouldn't be a problem, I mean there have always been those who didn't approve of the Seer's wisdom, ever since they were brought into this world. The issue is that the folks are actually gathering together, which could become a threat depending on the amount of support they gain."