Revolution (Chronicles of Charanthe #2)

  *

  It was a couple of weeks later that Sebastien, who’d been living on the mainland for a few weeks, returned with a very unusual message. He went to Eleanor first, and found her and Lauren sparring in one of the practice rooms.

  “What are you doing back so soon?” Eleanor asked, sheathing her knives.

  He looked across at Lauren, who had sat down to wipe the sweat from her face and hands. “Who’s this? Can I talk?”

  “It’s fine. What’s up?”

  “You’re not going to like this,” he said. “I got a message – a proposal. The Taraskan lords want to involve themselves in the war.”

  Eleanor frowned. “Here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How, exactly?” Lauren asked.

  “Their letter suggests that they’re sympathetic to our cause, and they offer to bring their ships to oppose the Imperial navy. At a cost, of course.”

  “We’ll never deal with those bastards,” Eleanor said. “Surely they know that.”

  “I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

  “Next time, don’t even bother to bring their stupid messages here. You’re not their messenger.”

  “You know I have to take this to the council.”

  “No, it’s fine, just burn the letter and forget about it. No need to waste everyone’s time.”

  “I have to,” he said. “Something big like this, there has to be a vote.”

  Eleanor sighed. “Fine, give it to me, I’ll deal with it.”

  Sebastien shuffled uncomfortably. “Are you sure I shouldn’t take it myself?”

  “Look, I’m going to call the council, okay? Don’t you even trust me any more?”

  “Sorry.” He handed the paper across. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just know how much you hate them. It’s totally understandable.”

  Eleanor pocketed the letter and toyed briefly with the idea of burning it anyway, but it wouldn’t gain her anything. Sebastien would just tell the others.

  “Can you go and check on Bella?” she said to Lauren. “I’d better deal with this.”

  Once the council were assembled Ragal called the meeting to order, rapping sharply on the table.

  “We really only have one thing to discuss today,” he said. “An offer of assistance from a rather unexpected quarter – the lords of Taraska. Eleanor, can you outline the terms of the arrangement they’re offering?”

  “I don’t care what the terms are,” Eleanor said. “Why waste time even considering their terms? We know we can’t trust them.”

  “The revolution is losing ground,” Don said. “We’re clinging on to the rebel districts, but we’re certainly not growing the way that we were. It’s time for drastic action.”

  “We need something to tip the balance in our favour,” Bill agreed. “And this might just be it.”

  “You’re not doing yourself any favours by refusing to even listen,” Laban said quietly. “Hear them out, and then make your argument.”

  Eleanor nodded, though she knew there could be nothing in the letter that would change her mind.

  “This came via Sebastien, through some convoluted line of messengers from the King of Taraska,” she said, holding the paper aloft. “It reads: To the honourable men of the southern lands, it being understood that we stand in common cause against the tyranny of the Empire, Taraska having long opposed the imposition that the Imperial regime has made on its citizens...”

  “Get on with it,” Gerald said shortly. “We don’t really need to hear all this nonsense.”

  “It really is nonsense,” Eleanor said. “Opposing tyranny, indeed.”

  Daniel looked at her. “With ships from Taraska we could–”

  “Slave ships,” she interrupted. “Don’t forget that.”

  “We can’t afford to be picky,” Bill said. “With their ships we can control the ports, interrupt transit of the Empire’s supply boats, stop food getting through to the outlying islands.”

  “It was you who first drew our attention to the importance of the supply chain, Eleanor,” Don said. “You can’t deny this is a good way to do it.”

  “I was talking about starving the Empress out of her palace, not depriving the islands of their food supply. Anyway, wait until you hear the rest: they want the right to plunder any Imperial ships, payment in food for their oarsmen, and the new government to pay a percentage of all the Empire’s produce in tax to Taraska. Indefinitely.”

  It was Don’s turn to look troubled, now. “That’s a high price,” he said.

  “Too high,” Gerald agreed. “Can we negotiate?”

  “If it ends the war quickly, it might be worth it,” Daniel said. “We could always change our minds about the taxes, later.”

  “And invite them to turn their armies on us?” Don asked. “Better not to get involved in that sort of double-dealing.”

  “Maybe we should think about commandeering a few ships of our own, though,” Eleanor said. “Who’s heading to Almont next?”

  “I think Andreas will be,” Don said. “Why?”

  “Tell him to find the First Revolutionary Guards – they’re probably still concentrating on the northeast gate – and tell Violet we need her.”

  “Violet?”

  “Don’t let the pretty name fool you, she’s the toughest sailor I know. If anyone can build a navy for us, she can.”

  “Meanwhile we must press harder on the Empress and her family,” Daniel said. “Nothing would inspire the revolutionaries more than a few royal bodies.”

  Eleanor wanted to say something, but Taraska was more important. If she started arguing too hard against a systematic erasure of the Imperial family, they might decide to reconsider the question of forming that stupid and dangerous alliance. So she kept her mouth shut as the meeting proceeded to draw up a list of targets from the Imperial family.

  “What about that child Eleanor hid away?” Daniel said, looking straight at her, just as it had seemed everyone had run out of suggestions.

  “I don’t think we’ll find him again,” she said. “I didn’t even catch his name.”

  “Then how were you planning to reunite them?”

  Eleanor wished she’d paid more attention to what she’d told Daniel at the time, but now there was nothing for it but to persist with the lie. “That was never part of the deal. I promised I’d keep him alive, that’s all.”

  Daniel looked skeptical, but he didn’t say anything more about it until the council dispersed and he managed to catch her alone.

  “They would want their son back,” he said. “Did you already tell them where he is hidden?”

  “I told them nothing,” she said, truthfully. “That was the safest thing.”

  “And if the Empress sends the Shadows to torture you, you would not be able to tell her how to find the one heir we will not have killed?”

  “The Empress doesn’t even know there’s a child to look for.”

  She turned on her heel and left him standing alone in the corridor. He didn’t believe her, but he didn’t have the evidence to call her out in front of the council, so it didn’t really matter.

  “How was the meeting?” Lauren asked when Eleanor arrived to pick up Isabelle.

  “Lucky escape,” Eleanor said. “If Taraska’s price wasn’t so high, a lot of them would’ve wanted to go for it.”

  “You can’t let them.”

  “No.”

  As she carried Isabelle back to her room, Eleanor wondered at that. How could Lauren understand so much better than the others? And why couldn’t at least Daniel take her at her word when she said it was a bad idea?