Brynleigh Pasternack
Brynleigh set down her bag lightly on the table in the backroom of Cherry’s Bed and Breakfast. She was glad that she was going there for a different reason that time, not just to tell her her son was dead.
She sat down and waited for the chitter chatter of the other members to quiet down before the meeting would start. She knew this was an important one, but not for what reason. None of them were ever told what was going to happen before a meeting. They had all agreed to those terms in order to try and protect the Revolution. So, they were just told a time; they all already knew the place.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Rachel, the thirty four year old leader of the Revolution, tapped a small fork against a glass cup before setting it down on a table. She flipped her long red hair over her shoulder before speaking again, staring at all of them with the intensity of her hazel eyes.
“I know that a lot has happened recentl-” Rachel was cut off.
“You mean like Tyler dying!?” Lyla, Tyler’s fiance, screamed at her in rage. Emotions bubbled in her eyes.
Everyone was dead silent. A pin could drop halfway across the world, and they all would probably hear it. It was tense as no one spoke up to the question, not even to remind her to be quiet. They didn’t all know each other, but they had all known Tyler. Every single one of them had.
He was the only one who used his real name there. They all had family, friends, and lives to protect. Even as workers for the Revolution. Brynleigh had always used the name Kiki to hide her real identity. But Tyler had always said that he never wanted to hide what he did. That might’ve been why he was such an easy target for the King’s guards, but no one mentioned that. It would’ve been disrespectful in their minds.
He had been the one person that everyone looked up to. When they thought about the cause they were fighting for, they thought about Tyler. He had been there practically his whole life, and he had never once given up on the mission that he set out on. He held everyone’s respect. Even Brynleigh, who hadn’t known him that well.
She couldn’t imagine what Lyla was going through, especially as they had a baby on the way in six or seven months.
Brynleigh looked down at the floor, not having the courage to look the pregnant woman in the eyes once she began looking around the room. She noticed everyone else beginning to do the same, inspecting the old wood that they held their feet on for however long everyone had been going to those meetings.
“That is one of the things I wanted to discuss tonight.” Rachel said, her eyes on the far wall away from her.
“His death is not a thing!” Lyla roared.
“If you can not be quiet, then I will have to remove you.” Rachel said.
“What?” Lyla responded, this time an actual whisper of disbelief.
Brynleigh glanced between the two out of the corner of her eye, wondering if she should butt in so that they could move on, but she decided not to. She waited as the two stared at each other with bated breath. After a little while, Rachel began to speak again. Much more slowly this time.
“I’m sending out a new mission that will be extremely dangerous.” No one spoke up. “All of you in this room will have some type of role to play in this, but one of you will take up the lead role…Ruthy…I’m sorry.” Rachel’s eyes bored into Brynleigh’s, her own eyes widening as she questioned what she would have to do.
“We were really just talking about Tyler dying young for this cause, and now you’re sending out someone even younger?” Lyla asked, moving to take a protective step in front of Brynleigh.
“Last time I checked, you don’t know her age.” That was true. She didn’t. They were meant to know as few details about each other as possible in order to properly conceal their identities. Brynleigh was aware that it was obvious that she was a couple years younger than Tyler had been, just from looks alone.
“Is that really the point here?” William, another member, spoke up.
Rachel didn’t bother to give him a single glance, only continuing to look at Brynleigh. She didn’t say anything, but they all knew what she was thinking. Only she herself could accept the mission, and she would have to do so without knowing what it was or what dangers awaited her during it.
She thought of her brothers, especially Badger. She was doing all of this for her. They would lose her income from her job, most likely, but she also wouldn’t be there to eat or use any water or fire. Still, it would put much more pressure on Bruce. But, wouldn’t it all be worth it if they were safe from the monarchy in a couple of years. If Orien would be safer walking and sleeping on those streets.
She pondered over her options, of which she only had two, for another three minutes before she slowly nodded her head and said, “I’ll take on the mission.”
Everyone had left the room, even Cherry. The only people left there were Brynleigh and Rachel. She watched everyone leave and was about to speak. But one person poked her head back in the room once more.
“Ruthy,” Lyla said, “I know I don’t know you very well, but please be safe.” She put a hand on her stomach. “When I think about you leaving to do whatever it is you’re doing, I just think about what I would think or do if this little one was supposed to do that. I can’t imagine how worried your paBadgerts would be if they knew you were gonna do this.” Little did she know that neither of her parents would know if she was dead or alive either way. And her mom wouldn’t really care.
Still, she just smiled and nodded before pushing her out of the room.
Brynleigh looked back behind her at the other woman, and she felt terrified. Her bones felt like they were rocking and banging against each other as she tried to breathe deeply into her lungs. Her heart pounded, and blood rushed through her ears, making her believe that she might not even hear when Rachel would begin talking just because of how monstrously loud her own body was being.
“Ruthy…Ruthy?” She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her name spoken.
“Yes, Rachel?” She asked, straightening to her full height of 5’7 in order to try and appear more confident.
“I would understand if you stepped down once you hear what this mission will be. If I were in your position, I’m not sure that I wouldn’t.” She said cautiously, never breaking eye contact.
She just nodded, not wanting to show any of her fear to the older woman. Even though she was one hundred percent sure that it showed just as obviously through her eyes and shaking hands.
“You’ll need to infiltrate the castle.” Well, that was certainly what she expected to be said there.
“...and assassinate the King.” Rachel said.
♚♛♚
Brynleigh shoved her clothes into her bag, not particularly caring which ones she grabbed. She knew that once she got to the castle she would be provided with any necessities that she needed, and she had a separate smaller bag for the food and water she would take with her for the journey.
She knew that neither of her brothers would be home, and she also knew that that was a good thing. It was best for them not to see her leave. They would just end up asking too many questions. Questions that she knew she couldn’t answer because if she did, then they might get hurt.
She looked at her old room once she was done. She had shared this room with her siblings for her entire life. She had never once thought that she would be leaving it. Especially not in the way that she was right then. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath so that she didn’t cry.
As she looked around, she saw everything in such a different way. A bittersweet and nostalgic light shone on every object and wall. She grasped the feeling despite the pain it brought her, only because she wasn’t sure when she would be able to feel it again. If she would be able to feel it again.
She pulled the strap of her bag around her shoulders and walked out of the room, not sparing it another glance. Not even a quick look over her shoulder. She knew that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to leave, but there was no option for her other than leaving. That was a fact, no matter how much she hated it.
She went into the kitchen and grabbed as little food as possible, not wanting to leave her brothers with nothing. She wasn’t even sure it would last the three days she would spend traveling to Rilasen, the capital of Jakal. But that didn’t really matter to her. She would rather be hungry on her journey than know her brothers were hungry at her old home.
She thought about everything that she was leaving behind, as there was little else that seemed to have enough importance to occupy her mind at that point. Who would make sure that Orien ate? What if Lyla gave birth to a fatherless child and had no one to help her? She thought that it might be selfish of her to leave all of those people and those responsibilities behind, but she couldn’t.
She repeated her mantra that had been going through her head since she started working in the Revolution, knowing the risks. It will all be worth it when they’re safe later on down the road. Whenever that was.
She tried to get her mind off of the hard thoughts, so she started thinking about the one other thing that she could: What would her life be like as a servant?
(I kinda feel bad for Lyla. She's going through a lot right now, lol.
Also, there's gonna be a lot of emotions in Brynleighs part of the story the entire time. Cyrus's emotional parts will come later on, lol.
For the sequel of this book, because I'm probably going to do a sequel, I think I might call it 'Assasinated'. Mostly to play off of the title of this book. I just don't think I'll be able to fit everything that I want to happen in this book, especially considering that this is a whole other world that I have to build.
Hope you enjoyed! Bye!)