We stumble blindly down the stairs. The steps seem to go on for forever, until a flicker of light pierces the darkness. The tiny pinprick of light gives us a sudden burst of motivation, and soon we are half falling down the steps. Miraculously, the two of us stand unscathed at the bottom, a large wooden door in front of us.
I knock, the sound resounding through the silence. A girl opens it. I can't make out her face in the dark, but she feels familiar somehow. She leads us down a narrow passageway, and yes, it is still dark. Can't they put some light down here? Candles, anything?
She fiddles with the lock on another door, and it swings open to reveal a huge room, full of people and light. I squint as my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. There's a large round table, yet few people sit at it. Most are drifting and socializing, a stark contrast to the entrance.
The girl turns to face us and it's her. Cassia. "Fancy seeing you here," I say evenly, attempting to mask my surprise. "I may have forgotten to mention that I would be here yesterday. Sorry." She smirks, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
I survey the table. There are no whispers or strange looks, so it appears no one has recognized me. I'm almost relieved. A girl about our age walks up beside Cass, and she introduces herself as Elane. "We'll show you your seats," she says brightly. Cass smiles at her, and motions for us to follow her. I lace my fingers through Eliza's and we follow Cass and Elane through the crowd. We come to a stop, and there they are. Two seats, reserved for us. "We probably won't see you until after the meeting. I'll see you two at dinner!" Elane says to us. She's a little shorter than Cass, with silky black hair that hangs down her back, and is wearing a light pink dress that falls slightly off her shoulders. She's pretty. Dreadfully so. They retreat into the sea of people who haven't sat down yet and get lost in all of the new faces. Eliza and I glance at each other, and apparently there's some unspoken agreement because we both decide to sit down. "I never thought it'd be this busy. There must be over a hundred people here." "This is a bigger meeting than usual. Typically, there aren't more than fifty," she replies, sounding distracted. She's gazing wistfully across the room at Cass and Elane, who have taken their seats across the large expanse of table. "Are you alright?" She paints on a bright smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Oh, um, yeah. I’m fine." I am about to question her further when a woman tells everyone to take their seats, and that the meeting is going to begin soon. After a few moments, the hectic atmosphere has calmed down a little, and everyone has been seated. Not everyone could sit at the table, so some have pulled chairs to the back of the room, against the wall. "Are we ready to begin?" I hear the same woman ask the room. A heavy silence covers us, and we wait for her to speak.
***
"Her parents are tyrants, and the rulers of our country! How can we trust her? She might be a spy!" Ever since the lady, whom I now know as Sheila, announced my presence, there have been various shouting matches. The man currently doubting my allegiance has stood up from his chair and points his finger in my face. I slouch down in my chair, and Eliza takes my hand. "I didn't know it would be like this, Eira," she whispers. So far, though, Sheila has been expertly deflecting the accusations. "The Montagues are a family of nobles and have continued to feign loyalty to the crown over the past seventy years. Do you no longer trust Elizabeth or her family?" "Her entire family is against the crown. The Princess has been raised to follow in her parents' footsteps! We need assurances!" And that's when it hit me. In a sudden burst of courage, I stand up to face him, and say, "Fine. You want assurances?" I take a deep breath and continue. "I have no loyalty to my family. To prove this, when we invade the palace, our objective will not just be to capture." My gaze sweeps the room as my heart hardens. My next words taste strange in my mouth, but they feel right. “It’ll be to kill.” The room falls silent, deathly silent, as they register my words. I’m frozen, barely able to register them myself, but knowing them to be true all the same. I feel almost satisfied at the look on the man’s face, but then I think of Eliza and the feeling dissipates. I can’t even bear to look at her, and I dread to think what she thinks of me in this moment. Sheila is the first of us to recover. She turns a cold stare to the man. “Was that satisfactory?” The man nods sheepishly, sinking into his chair. Sheila looks at me now, her expression warmer. "Well, you’ve answered my next question." I nod to her and take my seat. "However, there is still a question of when. It should be soon, I think," she says brusquely, changing the topic back to the issue on hand. It takes me a moment to realize she’s addressing me. "I also think that sooner would be better than later. But we'll need a plan and a good one at that. Do you have contact with every known rebel in the palace?" "In a way. Why, what were you thinking?" I smile at her and begin, a plan formulating in my head. "Invasion shouldn't be a problem, with the number of rebels on site already. Our main problem is that we don't know who exactly is on our side. So what if we used uniforms? Maids would wear a handkerchief hanging out of their left pocket. Guards would wear one feather on their hats instead of two. Something like that." Sheila ponders this. After a few minutes, she says, "This could work. Thank you." We plan over the next two hours and decide on a date. Two months from now. Sheila ends the meeting, and Eliza and I leave with the rest of the attendees. The dark steps are even harder to ascend when you're climbing them with so many people, but we manage. While the others leave the farm immediately, we go inside the house. We only brought two guards this time, and they have been spending all this time with the Erin family. We walk in to see them helping Mrs. Erin with dinner, and they give us a little wave from the kitchen. Mrs. Erin says to "sit wherever you want, lovelies." So we do. We end up in the front room, sitting on comfy chairs. A girl watches us from the stairway, and I wave her over. She walks toward us shyly and I smile at her. "What's your name?" I ask. "Beatrice. And you're the princess, aren't you?" "Yes. I'm Eira, and that's Eliza." I gesture towards Eliza. "Hello, Eliza!" And just like that, she's no longer interested in me. Eliza has that effect on people. After a few moments, the guards exit the kitchen, and we leave for the McKinsleys’. On the wagon, all I could about is the date of our invasion. In two months, we'll all be free. Two months. That's it. I can do this.
The tiny pinprick of light gives us a sudden burst of motivation, and soon we are half falling down the steps. Miraculously, the two of us stand unscathed at the bottom, a large wooden door in front of us.
I knock, the sound resounding through the silence. A girl opens it. I can't make out her face in the dark, but she feels familiar somehow. She leads us down a narrow passageway, and yes, it is still dark. Can't they put some light down here? Candles, anything?
She fiddles with the lock on another door, and it swings open to reveal a huge room, full of people and light. I squint as my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness. There's a large round table, yet few people sit at it. Most are drifting and socializing, a stark contrast to the entrance.
The girl turns to face us and it's her. Cassia.
"Fancy seeing you here," I say evenly, attempting to mask my surprise.
"I may have forgotten to mention that I would be here yesterday. Sorry." She smirks, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
I survey the table. There are no whispers or strange looks, so it appears no one has recognized me. I'm almost relieved.
A girl about our age walks up beside Cass, and she introduces herself as Elane.
"We'll show you your seats," she says brightly.
Cass smiles at her, and motions for us to follow her.
I lace my fingers through Eliza's and we follow Cass and Elane through the crowd.
We come to a stop, and there they are. Two seats, reserved for us.
"We probably won't see you until after the meeting. I'll see you two at dinner!" Elane says to us. She's a little shorter than Cass, with silky black hair that hangs down her back, and is wearing a light pink dress that falls slightly off her shoulders.
She's pretty. Dreadfully so.
They retreat into the sea of people who haven't sat down yet and get lost in all of the new faces.
Eliza and I glance at each other, and apparently there's some unspoken agreement because we both decide to sit down.
"I never thought it'd be this busy. There must be over a hundred people here."
"This is a bigger meeting than usual. Typically, there aren't more than fifty," she replies, sounding distracted.
She's gazing wistfully across the room at Cass and Elane, who have taken their seats across the large expanse of table.
"Are you alright?"
She paints on a bright smile that doesn't reach her eyes.
"Oh, um, yeah. I’m fine."
I am about to question her further when a woman tells everyone to take their seats, and that the meeting is going to begin soon.
After a few moments, the hectic atmosphere has calmed down a little, and everyone has been seated. Not everyone could sit at the table, so some have pulled chairs to the back of the room, against the wall.
"Are we ready to begin?" I hear the same woman ask the room. A heavy silence covers us, and we wait for her to speak.
***
"Her parents are tyrants, and the rulers of our country! How can we trust her? She might be a spy!"
Ever since the lady, whom I now know as Sheila, announced my presence, there have been various shouting matches.
The man currently doubting my allegiance has stood up from his chair and points his finger in my face. I slouch down in my chair, and Eliza takes my hand.
"I didn't know it would be like this, Eira," she whispers.
So far, though, Sheila has been expertly deflecting the accusations.
"The Montagues are a family of nobles and have continued to feign loyalty to the crown over the past seventy years. Do you no longer trust Elizabeth or her family?"
"Her entire family is against the crown. The Princess has been raised to follow in her parents' footsteps! We need assurances!"
And that's when it hit me.
In a sudden burst of courage, I stand up to face him, and say, "Fine. You want assurances?"
I take a deep breath and continue. "I have no loyalty to my family. To prove this, when we invade the palace, our objective will not just be to capture."
My gaze sweeps the room as my heart hardens. My next words taste strange in my mouth, but they feel right.
“It’ll be to kill.”
The room falls silent, deathly silent, as they register my words. I’m frozen, barely able to register them myself, but knowing them to be true all the same. I feel almost satisfied at the look on the man’s face, but then I think of Eliza and the feeling dissipates. I can’t even bear to look at her, and I dread to think what she thinks of me in this moment.
Sheila is the first of us to recover. She turns a cold stare to the man. “Was that satisfactory?”
The man nods sheepishly, sinking into his chair.
Sheila looks at me now, her expression warmer. "Well, you’ve answered my next question."
I nod to her and take my seat.
"However, there is still a question of when. It should be soon, I think," she says brusquely, changing the topic back to the issue on hand.
It takes me a moment to realize she’s addressing me. "I also think that sooner would be better than later. But we'll need a plan and a good one at that. Do you have contact with every known rebel in the palace?"
"In a way. Why, what were you thinking?"
I smile at her and begin, a plan formulating in my head.
"Invasion shouldn't be a problem, with the number of rebels on site already. Our main problem is that we don't know who exactly is on our side. So what if we used uniforms? Maids would wear a handkerchief hanging out of their left pocket. Guards would wear one feather on their hats instead of two. Something like that."
Sheila ponders this. After a few minutes, she says, "This could work. Thank you."
We plan over the next two hours and decide on a date. Two months from now.
Sheila ends the meeting, and Eliza and I leave with the rest of the attendees.
The dark steps are even harder to ascend when you're climbing them with so many people, but we manage. While the others leave the farm immediately, we go inside the house. We only brought two guards this time, and they have been spending all this time with the Erin family. We walk in to see them helping Mrs. Erin with dinner, and they give us a little wave from the kitchen. Mrs. Erin says to "sit wherever you want, lovelies."
So we do. We end up in the front room, sitting on comfy chairs. A girl watches us from the stairway, and I wave her over. She walks toward us shyly and I smile at her.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Beatrice. And you're the princess, aren't you?"
"Yes. I'm Eira, and that's Eliza." I gesture towards Eliza.
"Hello, Eliza!" And just like that, she's no longer interested in me. Eliza has that effect on people.
After a few moments, the guards exit the kitchen, and we leave for the McKinsleys’.
On the wagon, all I could about is the date of our invasion. In two months, we'll all be free.
Two months. That's it.
I can do this.