Luna of Rogues

Part 15 - Preparations

Weekly updates will now be officially Monday and Friday nights. It just occurred to me that you probably don't recognise most of the names in this book, like Llewellyn, which is very welsh. And the castle: Lle o Dristwch, does actually have a meaning. Rhys is the welsh version of Reece. Rhodric is Roderick.

After Davies died, I didn't break down like Sophie did. I couldn't afford to, not if I wanted to save others from the same fate. I wouldn't allow myself to mourn my friend until his death was avenged, so I threw myself straight back into the preparations.

I decided that if Rhys wasn't here by tonight, I'd go ahead and kick-start the rebellion, anyway, if only to stop Brandon taking any more lives. To be honest, I wasn't even sure the rogues would wait until this evening. They were angry, impatient and scared.

Tom found me when I was soaking the catapult ammunition with wolfsbane, enough to incapacitate, but not kill its targets. He was the first person I'd seen all day who looked even remotely calm and not on the verge of shifting.

There had been scuffles between Brandon's men and mine. Everyone was on edge, and it showed. One rogue boy had been beaten so badly the medics weren't sure if he would ever walk again.

"You've got to stop beating yourself up," he told me, getting straight to the point. "This is war now — people will get hurt and you can't save all of them."

"I can try," I muttered, forgetting for a moment what I'd been taught about respecting elders.

"Davies knew the risks. He got caught, and that's on him," Tom explained. "So forget it. Grieving won't help you now. We need you, of all people, focused."

"And that's what I don't understand. Why me?" I asked. It was something that had been bothering me for quite some time, especially since Davies. "You could do a better job. Anyone could do a better job."

"I don't see anyone else stepping up. Do you?" He grimaced. "Not all of us have the courage to lead. Or the support to do anything more than share our experience. I've always been an advisor, nothing more. We — the elders, that is — advised Rhodric. We would be honoured if we could do the same for you."

I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I just smiled sadly. "Well. Thank you. Got any advice about the whole Brandon situation?"

"Use your inside man for spying. No more than that. It's the best way to keep cover. And built up as many defences as you can before attacking. I'm talking ditches, stakes — the works. The idea of recording howling was good. It won't work twice on Brandon, but I'll bet you can come up with something even better." Tom soon excused himself to find Maggie, leaving me to think things through.

Ideas...

I was drawing a blank until I realised that our very nature can be used against us. Wolves' abilities can be exploited as well as utilized. For one thing, our hearing is a little too good. We also don't have hands in our animal form, which leaves us vulnerable to basic traps.

Despite Tom's suggestion, I didn't dare entrench the castle. That would be like shouting our intentions to the world. Instead, I dug out some footfall traps. Their jagged teeth were rusted to bluntness, but it would work just the same.

Then, on a whim, I rang up a hardware store and made an unusual request. Not only did I pay for the item I needed, but also personal delivery to an oddly specific woodland spot. They were sceptical until I got to three figures. Which was extortion, but it was worth it.

My next step (and don't you dare try this at home, kids) was to make a bomb. All I needed was foil, sugar, cold packs from the first-aid tent, string, candles and empty drinking cans. Those things would make a smoke bomb. Not harmful, but very annoying.