I nearly laugh. Time. That is something none of us have enough of.
“It’s all so recent,” I say, as if to myself while I ponder the reality that our world—this realm—hasn’t been functioning as long as I believed. If my father was the first Rebel leader, then Karm hasn’t existed long. How did King Hart wipe out the old customs so thoroughly?
I answer my own question as I think back on all the punishments, the tales of monsters and starvation and the impossibility of survival Outside. King Hart is far more ruthless and meticulous than I ever thought possible.
Devlan places his hand on the tree above my head, so close I could move just a fraction and lean against him instead. “After your mother was killed during a mission,” he says, “your father was distraught. Story is, he promised your mother that, if anything ever happened to her, he’d retire and raise you away from the rebellion.” He pauses, his fingers scrape at the bark. “After she died, he truly wanted to do nothing but give you a life that, if only for a short while, you could live happily.”
My mind catches up to his words, and I turn and face him. “My mother was Taken,” I argue. “I watched the Force drag her, screaming obscenities, from our home.”
“It was a ruse.” He lowers his face so that I can see his eyes in the glowing campfire. “She was a plant for the Rebels. Although she was discovered, her death wasn’t in vain. Because of her we now know the Force has a testing procedure for the Virus.”
A tear escapes down my cheek. I turn my back to him again and I let it fall. Everything in my life has been a lie. “So, my mother didn’t want me brought into this. But my father gave me the dagger,” I counter. “Why would he give it to me if he promised to keep me away? He must have known at some point I’d discover the truth.”
Devlan moves in front of me, his eyes finding mine. “I don’t know, but that dagger gives you our protection, so I’m sure he had his reason. And the ring? It’s a symbol of what we fight for. A reminder of all that has been and continues to be taken away. It’s what I fight for.”
My breath shudders out, fogging as it passes my lips. One thing occurs to me. “Then, my mother wasn’t Taken. She wasn’t mad.”
He shakes his head slowly. “She wasn’t. She fought hard…for you.”
His words wrap around me, comforting and solid, like the strength the dagger gives me. My mother wasn’t mad. My father endured cruelty at the hands of the Force to raise me. Yet I’m the orphan of two Rebels, who is to marry the son of the king they fought against.
I close my eyes and shake my head at the bitter irony. “At least my father won’t have to watch me marry King Hart’s son,” I say. “I suppose there are some small—” My words stop short when I open my eyes and see Devlan’s rigid features.
His brows pull together. “There’s something else I brought you here to see.”
His words slam against my chest like a mallet, and I press my hand to my heart. “Just tell me, Devlan.” I pull air into my lungs. “I don’t think I can take another shock right now.”
“Please, just come.” His eyes beckon me to trust him.
I do. Somehow, since the first day he told me to keep strong, I have trusted his guidance, whether I knew it or not. I follow him back to the campground as he leads me toward a tent in the far back. It’s strange that here he no longer keeps up his knightly duties following me.
A realization occurs to me. What if I continue to refuse to join them? Their original plan was to off me and use Sebastian’s grief as a way to get Devlan close to the prince. They will have no need of me. I can’t just wander back inside Court harboring this kind of knowledge. I shiver.
Devlan said he’d have never allowed that plan to go through. I wonder how much sway he truly has here. And Fallon? Who is she? Would she really see killing one small girl as being that big of a deal in comparison to the war she’s waging?
Devlan’s suspiciousness when he asked if I’d fallen for Sebastian slams into me. He was feeling out my loyalties. I wrap my arms around myself and stare at his back. He’s been slowly grooming me to be the one to get close to Sebastian. But if I was falling for the prince, that would be the fatal flaw in his plan. He wouldn’t be able to trust that I could go through with it and keep the truth from someone I love.
I know this, because I would question the exact same thing.
All these worries swirl inside my head as I try to figure a way out of this limbo and the many pressing dangers. I walk as if in slow motion toward a large brown tent. Somehow, I have to convince Devlan that I’m not the one for the job, but also maintain that I won’t reveal their secrets to Sebastian.
I can keep that promise; I plan to be far away from the castle, Sebastian, and this whole scheme the first chance I get to escape.
Devlan stops before a huge brown tent, and I take a breath, bracing myself for his newest surprise when he pulls back the flaps.
My jaw drops.
Monitors are everywhere—flashing blue and green screens. Wires drip from the top of the tent and run along the dirt-packed ground. People walk back and forth, and some are seated in front of the screens, hitting keys on boards before them. Towers, like ones I’ve seen in old magazines my father showed me, sit in the corners, blinking green and blue lights.
I look at Devlan. “What is all this?”
He cocks his head. “It’s Mordred
. Our headquarters.” He walks to one of the desks and seats himself in front of a large monitor. A small smile curls my lips as I connect the name of King Arthur’s enemy in the fabled tale to their headquarters. The enemy who inflicted Arthur’s fatal wound. “It’s where we hack into the Force’s network, gain intel, and view Outside.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Hack?” I quickly forget wanting to know what the word means as Devlan clicks his monitor on. I look at the screen. “Is that outside of Karm?”
“Yes.” He taps the keyboard, and the screen bleeps in and out. With a flicker, it displays a dark land as it pans, revealing a dry and dusty landscape. “This is right outside the barrier. Nothing much to see as it’s night, but nothing much to see anyway during the day. It’s all dead land. But see the barrier?” He points to the edge of the screen.