Page 15 of Ash and Roses
“Nothing,” I say before Jade can answer. I’ve had enough of this. The secrets, the silence, the wary stares as if I’m their enemy. “But that needs to change right now.” I let my eyes touch each of them briefly, moving from one end of the room to the other.
One of the smaller men shakes his head and draws a sword. “I’m sorry, Princess. You’ve seen too much.”
I snatch a dull-looking knife off the crate beside me and jump to my feet as the man takes a step towards me, sword raised. There are snickers from the crowd, as if the idea of me with a knife in my hand is funny—and perhaps it is. I’ve never trained with a weapon, but how hard can it be? The snickers cease when Jade takes an easy stance beside me. They’re afraid of him, despite lacking a weapon of his own.
“Enough!” a voice booms before flesh can meet metal. “The damage is done. Lower your weapons.” I look to the tunnel opposite the one we’d entered through as Merrick emerges. “You too, Princess.”
“My name is Abby,” I say, utterly fed up with everyone referring to me by my title.
He ignores me and focuses his attention on Jade. “We voted to leaveAbbyout of this.”
“That vote took place without me.”
“It’s not my fault your new schedule doesn’t line up with ours.” He disapproves of Jade’s Guardianship, and I can’t say I blame him. “I see Teagan filled you in.”
I look at her and realize for the first time that she’s comfortable here among these people. “Teagan?”
She offers me a sympathetic look. “Abby is here now. She’s the reason we all live. She’s in this, whether you like it or not.”
Petra scoffs. “Lady of the Marked or not, how do we know she won’t go running to her father?”
Against my instincts, I turn my back on the crowd and unfasten the back of my dress, allowing the fabric to loosen and reveal the scars visible there—both new and old. Without the fabric barrier, they sting in the hot air of the tunnel, but I ignore it. “Because I’m one of you,” I say, before turning back to Merrick. “I thought you were dead.”
He laughs once. “The forest isn’t as bad as our beloved king thinks.”
“Is this where you tell me you’re in league with the wolves?” Of course, that’s a rhetorical question, borne of sarcasm and annoyance, but he seems to take it seriously.
“Wolves only kill when they’re hungry. Humans kill when they feel like it.”
“Are you going to kill me, then?” Jade shifts beside me. He’d relaxed some, but that question brings him back on edge.
Merrick waves a flippant hand. “It seems you’re not our enemy.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “My sister is a seer. Whatever you have planned, she’ll see it coming.”
“We know.” He looks to Teagan. She’s been a spy, but for how long?
She takes my hand in hers. “I couldn’t tell you, but I would have never let them hurt you.”
“No one would have dared,” Jade adds, although clearly some would have tried if Merrick hadn’t intervened. He must be their leader, or the closest thing they have to one. The Marked aren’t meant to organize like this. As far as I knew, they only gathered for the Lunar Hunt, just as everyone else in Lunae. They aren’t slaves, but they live in poverty without jobs or stable homes. Now that I think about it, I can’t say for certain how they live. The palace walls have always kept me prisoner, and the only time I was allowed out was for an execution or the hunt itself. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Marked would band together, rely on each other. I’m not sure if even the Guardians would notice. Marked are ghosts. The living dead. They exist only to be seen, but does anyone actually bother to look?
“Are you hungry?” Merrick asks, moving to the crackling fire, where an entire boar is roasting on a spit. There’s more than enough food for everyone here, and then some.
Only one word escapes the space between my lips. “How?”
That question is many in one. How did they get a boar and bring it here? How did they do it with no one knowing? Is this a common thing? If it is, they eat far better than the rest of Lunae—royalty included. As far as I knew, the only food we had came from the hunt. If hunting regularly was possible, why the stars aren’t we doing it? Can we feed everyone this way? How many lives would be spared?
He winks. “My brief exile in the forest gave me the chance to do some hunting. I’m used to having to sneak out of the town, so it was a delightful change.” He pulls a knife from his pants and slices through the meat with ease. He puts the slice—bigger than any meal I’ve had in weeks—on a metal plate and holds it out to me. I take it, and the next thing I know, we’re all eating around the fire as if the earlier confrontation had never happened. Some of them may still be unhappy about my presence in this secret place, but they’re not showing it now.
When my belly is sated and the pain of hunger has vanished, I set the plate down. “So, this is the start of the rebellion?”
A few people snicker, and I catch the rolling of eyes from a few others. “More like the end of one,” Merrick answers.
“What’s your plan? Storm the palace?” I’m not sure if they trust me enough to tell me anything, but I’m curious. It’s hard to think of the palace separately from myself. This is the longest I’ve been away from it on my own accord. In the depths of this tunnel, there’s no telling what time it is, but for all I know, dawn could be just around the corner. What would happen if I didn’t return?
“As you said, your sister would see that coming.”
That’s not really an answer, but at least he seems to have given it some thought. Arabella would see that. The instant people decided to riot, she would know. That’s how her visions have always worked. She only sees what’s certain to pass beyond a doubt, and only what will affect her or someone she loves. So long as there’s still debate or question, things can be hidden from her. “So what, then?”