-I jolt awake with a gasp. My spine stiffens and anxiety fills my heart. Liza. So that is the girl's name. Funny how I was ready to endure the king's dungeon for her without even knowing her name. Yup. I have serious mental issues.
"Kat? Are you okay?" Sam asks me. I put a hand to my heart and try to catch my breath. I really shouldn't be this nervous. It was just a dream though. Maybe. It just seems so realistic. And for some reason, Liza fits the girl. And if it was just a dream, what about the first time I saw the girl in my dreams. Not two days later, I met her in real life. What's to say that the girl didn't actually see Erion.
Oh, no. Erion. He seemed so concerned for me, and the way he suddenly calmed at the end of my dream, well, if I hadn't just met him a few days ago, I would say that he is planning on breaking into the royal dungeons to try to get me out. But Erion isn't that foolish, is he? I really hope not. Because planning an assault on the castle, that's just suicide.
I snap out of my thoughts when Sam starts to shake me. "Kat! Kat, listen to me! Are you okay?" he asks, punctuating each word with a harsh jerk of my shoulders.
"Yes. I'm fine. But I'd really like to get moving on the whole 'find the rebels' thing, if that's okay," I say. Sam looks at me suspiciously.
"Any reason in particular?" he asks. If I tell him I dreamed that my half brother that I only met a few days ago might lead an attack on the castle because some girl I'd helped escape that he doesn't eveb know told him I was in the dungeons and that I somehow know that that attack would lead to his death and many more, he would definitely think I've gone crazy.
"Um, I just feel like we'd better hurry up." Sam rolls his eyes, but, to my relief, turns and mutters a few words to the other men on watch. Within a minute, they are going around the camp, rousing each individual one by one. I bounce on the balls of my feet. This is going far too slowly. Without thinking twice, and before I can change my mind, I scramble up the tree I fell asleep on.
"Wake up!" I scream as loud as I can. My voice comes out far louder than I would have thought possible. It does the job, though. In a few seconds, every man and woman is on their feet. I jump down out of the tree, landing nimbly on my toes, not making a sound. Sam gives me a dirty look, but no one else seems to notice just who did the shouting.
"Everyone," Sam says calmly, "we are going to be leaving soon to find the rebel camp. Our rescuer was with them before she was captured, and she believes that there will be a place for us there." There are a few murmurs at the word "she," clearly not everyone was aware who their savior is. I take Sam's last words to be an opening for me.
"Correction. We are leaving now to find the rebels. You can come or not, but if you want to accompany me, I'm going now," I say. I don't look at Sam for any longer than I have to, honestly afraid that he is going to murder me with his eyes. I turn and stride into the forest, not waiting to see if anyone follows me.
Okay, I'll admit it. We've been walking for hours, and I have absolutely no clue where we are. I though it would be easier, but all these people staring at me are making me anxious. I hoped that the rebels would find us, like they had found me, but since they apparently only capture people on roads, and I am far too wary of the king to lead this huge group of fugitives on a main road, I haven't had any such luck.
The vision hits me suddenly, with no warning whatsoever. I'm leading a group of escapees one moment, and the next, I'm smack in the middle of the rebel camp. I don't see anyone, but I don't let that bother me. No, I don't particularly care why the vison camp is empty, because I know exactly how to find it.
When I am back in my own skin, I am still standing exactly where I was before. Well that wasn't so bad. Nothing like the dreams, where it felt like I am actually in them. This time, I was fully aware that I was in a vision. Not to mention the fact I didn't pass out this time.
"You sure you know where you're going, Kat?" Sam asks dubiously. I smile. He clearly doubts my navigation abilities.
"Yep. We'll get there before sundown," I say confidently. Sam looks at the sun, now low in the sky, and narrows his eyes at me.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," I say brightly, then continue on with a newly found spring in my step. I hear Sam sigh, but I can sense his presence behind me, still dutifully following me. Although I'm pretty sure that's because he's just as lost as I was, not because he feels any sort of loyalty to me. But he follows, which says something, I guess.
We arrive at the camp before sunset, just like I predicted. Sam shakes his head disbelievingly when we get there, and I have to work very hard to resist the urge to stick my tongue out at him. I tell myself that that would be entirely inappropriate, and not in the least funny. I smile to myself and am about to go and rub my success in Sam's face when Mateo runs up to me and wraps his arms around my thighs. I laugh and scoop him up into my arms. Nia follows seconds after him, and I swing her up, too. She lets out a shriek of delight, but I notice that Mateo's face is still set in a worried mask. I set both of them down and get eye level with Mateo.
"What's wrong, Mateo?" I ask him. Because he is clearly bothered by something. I just hope that it isn't too serious. When he doesn't respond, I start to get frantic. "Mateo," I say urgently, "where are your mommy and your uncle Erion?" He stares at me for another long moment before replying.
"Gone," he says vaguely. I resist the urge to scream at him. As it is, I manage to control my voice so I merely sound like I am annoyed, not like I am ready to smack him.
"Gone where, Mateo?" I say impatiently. As if sensing my annoyance, Sam grabs my shoulders and pulls me back a little bit.
"The castle," he says slowly, and my heart drops out of my chest. Oh my gosh. He actually did it. Erion actually decided to launch an attack on the castle. I completely collapse, and the only reason I don't hit the ground is because Sam's hands are still on my shoulders.
"Mateo, are there any people left here, besides the children?" Sam asks, far more calmly than I could have managed in this situation. He shifts me to one arm, since my muscles still aren't quite ready to respond yet.
"A few people stayed behind," Mateo says in the same detached tone he used earlier.
"Where are they?" I ask, regaining control of myself. There must be a better source of information in this village than a child.
Mateo just points, and I stand up quickly, but then dip back down and kiss Mateo quickly on the top of his dark curls. I sprint in the direction he pointed me, and I hear several pairs of feet behind me. Not the whole group though. As I run, I look for any sign of someone. I need to find someone who can give me real answers. When I turn my head to look at one of the huts, I crash into something, or someone, to be more accurate.
Anya curses as I scramble to get off of her. "Watch where you're going!" she yells at me. I'm pretty sure I hear her call me some nasty names under her breath. But I don't have time for the ridiculous hatred she has of me.
"Anya! Thank the lord! What happened? Where is everybody?" Anya eyes me suspicously.
"You really don't know?" she asks.
"Do you think I'd be asking you if I knew?" I scream at her. My words seem to have some kind of affect on her.
"This girl, Liza, I think her name is, showed up and told Erion you sent her. And that you were in the king's dungeons. Clearly, she shouldn't have been trusted." I'm too worried about the sucidal launch on the castle to try and correct her. I'll deal with that later. "So since Erion was oh so worried about you, he decided that now is the perfect time to try and attack the castle. With little to no planning, I might add." The way she says all of this makes it seem like my fault. Which I guess it sort of is, but it's not like I told Erion to come after me.
"How long ago did they leave?" I demand. I might still have a chance at stopping them.
"They left just before sunrise." At that, I let out a few choice words. With a full day of travel, they'd probably be at the castle before midnight.
"Who all went?" I ask.
"Practically everyone. Everybody wanted to go help the precious little princess," she says, rolling her eyes. I open my mouth, about to ask why she didn't go when she speaks again. "But Erion didn't let anyone under twenty go," she continues, and I can tell she is mad about being left behind. Wait, everyone over twenty? That means Erion, Karoline, Hale, and possibly even Liza had gone on this sucide mission. I slump my shoulders in defeat.
Everyone I care about is out there, trying to rescue me. If any of them die, it will be my fault. I can't let any of them get hurt.
"I'm going after them," I declare. Anya's eyebrows shoot up her forehead, and Sam looks like someone just slapped him across the face.
"Are you insane?" Sam screams at me, squeezing my shoulders so hard I feel like they might be crushed.
"No. This is my fault. It's my responsibility to fix it. Before anyone gets hurt. I can't let that happen because of me," I say to Sam, and when I feel his grip on my shoulders loosen, I twist out of his grasp and turn to face Anya, pleading her with my eyes to help me.
"I'm in," she says simply. Sam glares at her, but I smile brightly. For once, she actually returns my grin. Although her smile looks more like she's happy for the chance to fight than the opportunity to save her friends and family. I turn to Sam, ready to push past him, but he steps in front of me.
"Well if you two are going to go get yourselves killed, I guess I'd better make sure you have backup." I stop trying to get in front of Sam, and instead just stare at him.
"Are you sure?" I ask. As much as I would love his help, and subsequently the other prisoners' help, I don't want to force anyone. He just sighs.
"Well I can't let two little girls go running off to their deaths all alone, now can I?" Despite my usual aversion to being called a little girl, I hug him gratefully. Unfortunately, his words don't seem to have an effect on Anya, as she really hares it when anyone patronizes her. She just hmphs and storms off to her hut, presumably to gather her weapons.
"Well, princess, if you want your soldiers to have any hope at all, you should probably get them armed," Anya calls over her shoulder. I hate the emphasis she puts on princess, and I feel a strong, cold, gust of anger course through me. Suddenly, Anya is pushed backward by some unseen force, and lands at my feet.
I move my mouth, trying to apologize, but the words won't come out. I know instinctively that I did this, I feel the same rush I did just after I melted the dungeon door. Anya glads up at me as she rises to her feet, brushing herself off.
"What the hell did you do?" Anya screams in my face. I flinch away, and she just steps even closer.
"I don't know! I have no idea what I'm doing, ever! Half the things J do are instinct, not consolidate thought! I don't know how to control my- myself," I manage to catch myself before I can say my powers. No one should know about these powers. If they are abused, they could make their controller the most powerful person in the world. Anya is still glaring at me, but she looks slightly less murderous now.
"Well, if you want to get to the castle in time to actually do any fighting, we'd better go now," Anya says. I can tell that she hasn't quite forgiven me, but is still ready to fight with me. Without wasting another minute, we set about the arduous and lengthy task of preparing for battle.