Hunted

Sixteen: The Angel and The Warlord

James laughed. "Bravo," he smiled, applauding her gently. "You would put any warlord to shame I'm sure".

"Never doubt it," she nodded. "Speaking of warlords," she continued without a moment's hesitation, "I've been thinking a lot about what we're planning on doing in fact". She suddenly became serious, fixing her pale brown-eyed gaze on him.

"So have I - not in the same contexts I'm sure," he said, when he saw her expression, "but I have some concerns". Iseult clicked her tongue in disapproval, her expression becoming stony. "No - don't start looking at me like that. I am not reneging on my agreement to help," he said quickly. "I know we don't have a choice - I don't have a choice, but we can't just launch an attack without thinking about it".

"What do you suggest?" she asked in firm voice.

"When do you plan to attack?" he asked casually.

"When things are ready," she said, in an easy tone. He watched her waiting for further explanations. "When I know we can win. When I know where our strengths are and where his weaknesses lie".

"And if we fight and we win. How do you plan for us to get off the island?" he asked.

She seemed to mull this over, contemplating his question carefully. He wondered if it was something she had not given thought to, if she had been so focused on the battle that the aftermath was of little consequence. Yet the whole point of even fighting had to be that they would find their way to freedom, that he would have the chance to find Charlotte again.

"The only way off the island is when the ship with the patrons arrive," she said thoughtfully.

"And they are not coming back until after the winter storms - that's in little less than four months' time," he added.

"That's a long time to wait," Iseult exhaled, her pale brown eyes searching him for an answer. He refused to offer one, trying to keep his expression blank. "It would only take one mistake, one stupid comment and our rebellion would be finished before it ever started".

"Yet if we act too soon, the ship will never return and we will never find a way to get off this island. We don't have the resources here to build a ship large enough to accommodate us all," he pointed out.

Iseult clicked her tongue once more, thinking deeply on James' argument. "We can only wait then - it's a long time, but we need the ship here. We will attack when the patrons return. We can use the time to make sure we are strong enough to destroy this place completely".

"We also have the problem of the younger students - we need to protect them first. The children in the hospital, the students still in the transition period - they need to be protected. Elmhirst will use them against us if he thinks it will benefit him, and you know how volatile they are, how little control they have - it's not optional," he said, trying to sound confident.

"Okay - what do you propose we do with them?" she asked, giving him the job of solving the problem he pointed out. He grinned, he wasn't as naïve to think she would hand him all the answers, nor was he willing to relinquish all control to her, that just seemed a little bit rash. She was built to create war, not to protect the civilians involved. He knew that the person of Iseult was wonderfully kind, wonderfully sweet, but he also knew that her alteration, any of their alterations, blinded them to the true world in a sense, it could take over. Charlotte understand that too well; he understood it too well. He clenched and unclenched his right fist, stretching his tendons as he banished the thoughts of the destruction his alteration had created, of the harm he had caused her.

"There is a massive bunker beneath the school," he said after a moment, flexing his fingers thoughtfully.

"A bunker?" Iseult frowned, doubt marring her perfect features for a moment.