Always in his room to avoid raising suspicions, we went through candle after candle, burning them down to stubs.
For us to be ready for whatever the White would pull next, we wanted to start the training immediately after the commander’s funeral. Among others, we needed medical training, and that was
in addition to one-on-one combat training for the inevitable all-out war.
There was a knock on the door. It was unusual at this time in the night, nevertheless the boy answered.
“May I come in?” the bodiless voice asked.
The boy consented and brought in the visitor. There was a steady click, as the visitor walked into the room. I strained my eyes to see who it was, but I couldn’t see by the light of the
single candle that was left burning. Once the visitor moved up into the candle’s glow, I saw that it was none other than Nalin.
Although he was still on crutches, he looked better than he had when I had last seen him; his bruises had faded to a lighter color and his minor wounds had closed. He still wore some bandages
around his ribs but, all in all, he looked much better.
“What are you doing up?” I asked after I looked behind him to make sure that the door was closed.
He grinned. “I think I could ask the same of you two.”
“Please, take a seat,” the boy offered, dragging up a chair.
“Oh, no. I’m not staying long,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you that I know about the real ascendency plans.”
The boy didn’t try to refute the claim. “How do you know?” he asked simply.
“The commander told me.”
The boy looked visibly shocked. “Before she died?”
“How else?” Nalin asked with his trademark grin.
“So you know that I’m to be the new leader,” the boy said, testing out how much Nalin knew of our plans.
“Well, to the people you are.” Nalin looked at me pointedly. So the commander did tell him everything.
“Why did she tell you?” The boy’s question was blunt.
“She saw a sketch of mine,” Nalin replied, all the while looking at me. “I can’t imagine how it got into her hands, but she commissioned me to start on a map for the
battle.”
“That would be helpful,” the boy said, no doubt thinking of the unreadable map the commander had shown us earlier. “Have you done this sort of work before?”
“Before he passed on, my grandfather was the cause’s cartographer. He taught me some of the skills.”
“He was killed by the White as well?” I found myself asking.
“Nope. He died of natural causes,” Nalin said simply and he didn’t seem the least bit sorry about it. In a world where everyone was being killed, I guessed dying of natural
causes was actually a happy thing.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” the boy said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “When can you discuss the details of the map?”
“Whenever,” he shrugged. “It’s not like I have a life beyond these things,” he added, tapping his crutches.
“Tomorrow, first thing then?”
“That would be perfect,” Nalin replied. “I’m guessing you want this finished as fast as possible.”
“You’re right. But first, we need to straighten out the mess we’re in right now. It’s just ...”
“A messy situation?” Nalin offered with a smile on his face even through these darker times. “You don’t have to explain the situation to me. I’m living through
it.”
The boy walked Nalin to the door. When he turned back, he was grinning slightly. “I like that boy,” he said, before turning back to the work at hand.
We worked until morning discussing the exact medical procedures that we thought should be standardized and we left agreeing to have the generals look at our list for mandatory combat
training.
The commander’s funeral service was that morning and we had agreed to have both a public and a private segment to it. I stepped outside to see the crowds lining up. All the people of the
Red cause had publicly seen the commander, but few of them actually knew
For us to be ready for whatever the White would pull next, we wanted to start the training immediately after the commander’s funeral. Among others, we needed medical training, and that was
in addition to one-on-one combat training for the inevitable all-out war.
There was a knock on the door. It was unusual at this time in the night, nevertheless the boy answered.
“May I come in?” the bodiless voice asked.
The boy consented and brought in the visitor. There was a steady click, as the visitor walked into the room. I strained my eyes to see who it was, but I couldn’t see by the light of the
single candle that was left burning. Once the visitor moved up into the candle’s glow, I saw that it was none other than Nalin.
Although he was still on crutches, he looked better than he had when I had last seen him; his bruises had faded to a lighter color and his minor wounds had closed. He still wore some bandages
around his ribs but, all in all, he looked much better.
“What are you doing up?” I asked after I looked behind him to make sure that the door was closed.
He grinned. “I think I could ask the same of you two.”
“Please, take a seat,” the boy offered, dragging up a chair.
“Oh, no. I’m not staying long,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you that I know about the real ascendency plans.”
The boy didn’t try to refute the claim. “How do you know?” he asked simply.
“The commander told me.”
The boy looked visibly shocked. “Before she died?”
“How else?” Nalin asked with his trademark grin.
“So you know that I’m to be the new leader,” the boy said, testing out how much Nalin knew of our plans.
“Well, to the people you are.” Nalin looked at me pointedly. So the commander did tell him everything.
“Why did she tell you?” The boy’s question was blunt.
“She saw a sketch of mine,” Nalin replied, all the while looking at me. “I can’t imagine how it got into her hands, but she commissioned me to start on a map for the
battle.”
“That would be helpful,” the boy said, no doubt thinking of the unreadable map the commander had shown us earlier. “Have you done this sort of work before?”
“Before he passed on, my grandfather was the cause’s cartographer. He taught me some of the skills.”
“He was killed by the White as well?” I found myself asking.
“Nope. He died of natural causes,” Nalin said simply and he didn’t seem the least bit sorry about it. In a world where everyone was being killed, I guessed dying of natural
causes was actually a happy thing.
“I’m sorry to hear it,” the boy said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “When can you discuss the details of the map?”
“Whenever,” he shrugged. “It’s not like I have a life beyond these things,” he added, tapping his crutches.
“Tomorrow, first thing then?”
“That would be perfect,” Nalin replied. “I’m guessing you want this finished as fast as possible.”
“You’re right. But first, we need to straighten out the mess we’re in right now. It’s just ...”
“A messy situation?” Nalin offered with a smile on his face even through these darker times. “You don’t have to explain the situation to me. I’m living through
it.”
The boy walked Nalin to the door. When he turned back, he was grinning slightly. “I like that boy,” he said, before turning back to the work at hand.
We worked until morning discussing the exact medical procedures that we thought should be standardized and we left agreeing to have the generals look at our list for mandatory combat
training.
The commander’s funeral service was that morning and we had agreed to have both a public and a private segment to it. I stepped outside to see the crowds lining up. All the people of the
Red cause had publicly seen the commander, but few of them actually knew
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