Soul of Ice

Chapter Fifteen

"We all know that freeing everyone from enslavement will not happen unless blood is shed. Which is why we will need weapons." The four males were clearly bored and didn't bother commenting at all. It was evident that Riviera was only saying all this for her sake.

The wind wraith pointed a finger at a huge oblong shape near the middle of the map that was labeled "ballroom". "This is where we will be on the night of the Firelight Ball." She moved her finger to point at an unlabeled box nearer to her. "This is the armory. We have to arrive here, grab whatever weapons we can hide, and return back to the ballroom before the end of the night." Astra raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hide weapons where? Under our skirts?" She snorted, but Riviera and the others were much more serious.

"We'll be taking mostly knives and swords. Swords, knives, and daggers can all be strapped onto the length of our legs." Well then. Assuming she joined in on this charade, she'd have to be careful not to skewer herself.

"Once the ball has concluded, we'll be returning here. We'll drop off and hide our weapons. That's phase one of our plan. Assuming phase one succeeds, we'll proceed with planning out phase two."

Astra perused over the map, wondering where the location of the underground barracks were. Her eyes stopped on that tiny box that was the armory. What was the likelihood that they were right under it? Not very high, but who knew?

"There are a lot of variables in that plan," Astra pointed out. "Wouldn't the guards search us? Won't we have to change back into these clothes?" She gestured at the gray uniform they all wear. "There'll be guards around and in the armory; the king and whoever the captain of the guard is wouldn't be so stupid as to leave weapons out in the open for anyone to take. Even if we do manage to steal some swords and daggers, there must be a record of all the weapons in the armory." She let that part sink in before she continued. "Sooner or later, someone will catch us."

"Not unless we get everyone out first."

Astra shook her head. "This plan has too many holes. We'll die first. And then no one will get out."

"If you're such a smartass," Riviera shot, "why don't you fix this plan then?"

"I said I would assist this operation assuming your plan is worth my time. This plan won't save anyone, and I won't risk my life chasing after a fantasy."

"Only because you're selfish," Riviera snarled. "You're willing to take the easy, safe way out as long as you save yourself. Don't even try to hide it. Tonight wasn't the only night you've been out prowling. You're trying to find the exit out of here. You wouldn't have said anything even if you did find it."

The accusation hit hard, but she shoved the feelings down, pretended she didn't care, buried them just like she'd done with her past. As Xernes always said, feelings fell men and kingdoms alike. "I am tired of saving people who don't want to be saved." Astra pointed at the closed door, towards the rooms where wraiths slept. "I only considered joining your little group for the children like Timothy. I'm selfish for a good reason. If I'm dead, who's going to be left to save everyone?"

"You don't want to save anyone," Riviera spat before she swept out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Astra didn't even flinch at the sound. If the guards came down to investigate, she'll just lie. She'd always been good at that anyway.

Astra looked over the males in the room. They were silent, even Rousel, whose smile now had a damper on it, though he still looked amused. They were waiting, she realized, for her decision.

She didn't care to prove Riviera wrong, not when the female was already right about her anyway. She considered the silence in the room, then asked, "How do I get to the top of the rankings board as quickly as possible?"

•

They left behind Jesper to explain the in and outs of the ranking board to her, since he was the person most familiar with it after Riviera. Astra wanted to point out that from what she'd seen from their interactions so far, Jesper was mute. Except she didn't want to be rude when Jesper had been one of the kinder ragtag revolutionaries.

The fire wraith pointed at his eyes with his fingers, before pointing at his brother. Rousel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fine, I won't throw fireballs at the guards this time without you there." Jesper made a huffing motion, though there was no actual sound, but gave him a faint smile before he and Iker left through the door.

Once the door had clicked closed, Jesper patted the empty spot next to him and looked at Astra expectantly before she slid onto the table to sit to the left of him. Did he have a tongue? Again, it felt rude to say that out loud. How was she supposed to gain anything from sitting with someone she couldn't communicate with?

Jesper grabbed the sheet of paper that denoted everyone's ranks and showed it to her, before tracing a diagonal line over it with his finger. Then another diagonal line over it from the other direction. An X.

Astra cocked her head, unsure what he was trying to tell her. "Disregard it?"

He shook his head and pointed a finger at her before tapping his head, then circled his finger around the information on the paper.

"I... know the ranking?" Next to her, Jesper was still calm and collected—no doubt he'd had plenty of experience trying to get people to understand him.

He held out his hand palm down and rocked it a bit in the more or less gesture. Jesper paused, then pointed at her again, then her head, and then her name near the bottom at the list. After a moment, he dragged his finger from her name up to the top of the list.

"I... already know how to get up there?" Jesper broke into a smile, and Astra wondered if he didn't want to explain the process, or maybe he actually knew that she knew exactly how to rise in the ranks after so many days of watching others. If it was the latter, then she'd have to remember that being mute didn't mean he wasn't perceptive.

Jesper pointed at her head again, then pointed at her chest, where her heart would be.

Skeptically, she translated his motions. "Believe in myself." He nodded again, then made a heart with his hands. He pointed the heart at himself, and then toward the door. "Believe in all of you." Jesper outstretched his arms before pushing that heart at her. "And you'll believe in me." Bullshit. She had half a mind to get up and leave.

Jesper placed a hand on her right arm, as if he knew her intent. His hand was rough, covered with calluses. With his other hand, he snapped his fingers. The floating fireballs that were lighting up the room drifted in front of them, where they arranged themselves into a single word. Try. There weren't enough fireballs to create more than one word at a time. Slowly, painstakingly, Jesper formed words out of the fireballs until a full sentence had made itself clear to Astra.

Try for the people without homes.