Rebellion - 2 (Patreon)

It wasn't even a full day before we reached Crowford, and yet, as we flew overhead, it was clear enough that they were already preparing for what was to come. A rough palisade was being erected around the town and manor house, the gardens peeled back to make space for more training grounds.

Some of the changes would have been those meant for the town's use as a supply depot for the siege, a place for the materials of the Ember Hills to congregate before moving on to the wall, but most had to be more recent.

"He left mother's maze..." Lorna murmured ahead of me, and indeed amongst the uprooting of so much that I'd come to know the Crowley's hedge maze still stood. Even as the earth around it was rent bare and a target range established it was left untouched. "How could anyone think Father would remarry? He'd never."

"We know," Vivi said firmly, reaching around me to squeeze Lorna's arm. "We know, Lor."

I nodded into her back. It was easy to tell but her tension, the way she kept looking around, she felt bemused and appalled by the way her home had changed.

It wasn't so pleasant for me either, Crowford had been my home for years. I knew those people down there, that would now be dragged into this civil war because the king didn't understand Darius enough. Because Calia got discovered and misled him because we were stupid enough to let her come here...

The moment we landed Rodger was there to escort us into the manor, taking us straight to Darius in his study. There was a tension to the place that I had last felt when Godfrey came; the nervous energy of the staff was palpable.

Rodger knocked on the door to the study. "The young miss, Lady Vivianne, and Witch Arevin, My Lord." He said.

"Enter," Darius replied, and we were inside. He stood at the window, looking out over the gardens, with a letter held lightly in his hands clasped behind him. A feeling of guilt wound tightly in my chest; he had every right to say that he told us so. Gilneas was going to burn, and our actions, though I had... faintly protested them, were the spark that would set it ablaze.

I considered the rebellion inevitable, outright necessary if Gilneas was to be part of the wider world. But it was different being directly involved in its causation.

Turning he idly tossed the letter on his desk, allowing it to fall open where we could see. The words were written impeccably, with the familiar strokes of one of my pens. And they were damning. Treason, sedition, conspiring with a foreign power.

Calling for his immediate surrender and submission to the king's judgement for trying to secure a foreign throne for himself, and conspiring with a prophet to undermine the kingdom's stability.

His eye was dark and tired rather than angry. Yet though he voiced no blame, the letter was a clear enough indication of who he considered at fault here; and rightly so. I couldn't deny that. Nor could Vivi, as she began trembling, her eyes wide with shock as understanding set it.

"Daughter, Gwyneth, Vivianne. Tell me of the situation at the wall – I have heard rumours during my hunt for the princesses, but merely that. Rumours. I am told that a great wolf god appeared to smite a demon and rescue the wall, and the very forests themselves rose up to defend our nation?"

"Fox," I immediately corrected, "Lord Renard, the Silver Tongue, Ancient Guardian and Wild God. The Fox for whom the Aderic Speaks and one of the three beings we witches hold sacred." I slipped my hand into Vivi's, trying to reassure her. We would make this right; the rebellion was inevitable with Genn being who he was. "It was also more trapping the demon than a smiting..."

Darius nodded simply in acknowledgement, then abruptly he walked around his desk and embraced Lorna tightly. Pulling her against his chest and resting his head against hers. "I am glad you are safe, Lorna." He said, his voice so tired and weary. "You fought a great foe. I am proud, so proud; would that I could have been there to see you shine."

"I'm glad too, Father." She replied, returning the embrace. I felt deeply like we shouldn't be here for this moment, and yet, was also transfixed and unwilling to move lest I disturb them. "When you didn't arrive on time... I feared they had ambushed you."

He shook his head. "No, merely chasing your wayward princesses." Letting out a deep sigh he slowly relinquished his embrace. "We have much to speak of. Sit – this is no time for grievances or blame. The rebellion has begun and we must now make it succeed; continue your report, Gwyneth, I need to understand the disposition of the men and whom they will believe themselves thankful for after the battle."

Nodding, I moved to take a seat on one of the settees, pulling Vivi along with me. "It was the work of Detheroc, one of the dreadlords I mentioned in the past..."

-oOoOo-

Despite the ongoing changes at Crowford, my home was far enough away that it was unaffected by them. There was cleaning that needed to be done after more than a month of neglect, fires that needed stoking, but warmth and life came back quickly; though some of the modifications Frazzle had made to my workshop would need explanation.

Why she had replaced the drive shaft with a series of gears wasn't entirely clear to me, it wasn't like she had changed the ratios. That was all handled at the wheel or by each machine.

Then there were the absences of things that should be so familiar. Tricks would be fine, making her own way out from whatever mess was going on back at the wall, but Trix? My apprentice... she hadn't come to the funeral, she'd still been on healing duty at the gate. Would she be a target because of me?

Though I was home, it didn't feel like one. Too much effort was needed to set things to rights, and too many of the faces I found so essential were missing. Would Heather ever come here to teach again, or would she sever ties for good?

I blew out bubbles in my bath before I pulled myself up. A long soak might have been overdue, but it wasn't helping. "Can't let it get to me; this isn't over yet." I had a responsibility to Trix, I had to find out what happened to her.

But she wasn't the only one I was responsible for. My garden, dormant for the winter, still provided me with enough awareness to feel Vivi as she danced at the water's edge, but more importantly in this moment, the gaggle of youngsters and the pair of adults who were lingering just outside the gate.

Word of my return must have made it through the villages overnight; it was time to face the rest of my students and...

And tell them that Richard... was gone.

Slapping my cheeks and shaking the water off I rushed through putting my hair up and making myself presentable; there was no time to enjoy the process like I normally would. Nor was Vivi in a fit state to join and help me like I might've fantasised last night as I held her tightly. She needed to come to terms with her part in things, with leaving her brother behind, but I knew where that path lay with me from experience,

Better to forge ahead than try and process it here and now, or else I'd get nothing done. So, a scant few minutes later, I opened the door and walked outside into the icy air with still wet hair.

While the adults, my student Eustace and Merrie's mother, noticed me quickly enough, the children were all enraptured by Vivi's dance.

I couldn't really blame them, Vivi's dance was as beautiful as ever to see, to feel as she drew the river's flow and the elemental magic it carried into her movements. But I could tell her steps were troubled by emotions as turbulent as the waters she walked upon.

"You think she could teach me?" Trent asked in a hushed whisper. "Always wanted a sword... She's so pretty too."

As Howard Porter, not Mistmantle, nodded his agreement – and Triss did too, amusingly – I cleared my throat. "And taken," I said with an amused grin, enjoying the way the kids spun around and blurted out their greetings quickly and respectfully. "Triss, the bath's still warm if you need it. I can speak to you after."

The girl was deeply flushed, but more from cold than whatever appreciation she had for my girlfriend. Her teeth were chattering as she answered. "I c-can st-tay."

I frowned faintly but nodded anyway. "Alright then; Frazzle isn't here, nor's Heather, and I'm afraid I'm not likely to have all that much time for lessons again soon," I said, licking my lips as I tried to speak what needed to tell them, to find the words that had to be said. "I'm sorry, things–"

"Is it true we have to fight the king?!" Marigold interrupted me loudly. "Papa's saying Darius is going to war with him, but he's the king! You're not supposed to fight the king!"

Eustace crossed her arms and grunted dismissively. "If he's a bad king you are. Like the Menethil prince, you think anyone'd accept him for a king?"

Marigold put her hands on her hips and pouted up at the much taller woman. "But he's a Menethil!" She protested. "Not a Greymane! Greymanes are good kings. Old Nan always said so."

"But he did a bad thing." Merrie, my youngest, piped up; she clutched her raven friend tighter – but not harmfully – and withdrew slightly towards her mother as she drew attention to herself. "The ravens say he did a bad thing, a big bad thing, and let the bad wolves out. And he wants to hurt Gwennie and Lady Lore-na and... and... bad stuff."

Her raven cawed unhappily as she ducked her head, chastising us for upsetting her.

"Gwyneth, not Gwennie." Trent corrected her haughtily. "And it's Lady Crowley, only her friends get to call her by her first name."

I tutted loudly, shooting him a look of disapproval. "Gwennie is fine, keepers know there are some names I can't pronounce, and certainly couldn't at her age." Looking over the rest of them, I moved on. "I assume you're all here for the same reason?" They nodded. "Then let's get out of the cold, we can talk over some hot tea."

And... I could put off telling them about Richard a moment longer. Like a coward.

After so long with Frazzle lighting my stove with magic I almost forgot where I kept my matches, but soon enough Eustace had helped me prepare cups of tea for everyone. Sweetened for the kids, as a treat, which they knew I did and made them rather unusually enthusiastic.

They should be happy, carefree, chatting away peacefully like they were. Gossiping and squabbling and learning; I should've pushed harder against apprentices being at the wall.

"To answer your question, Marigold, I will first say that Archibald Greymane was a good king. I was too young to know him, his early death a tragedy, but the prosperity Gilneas experienced in my youth is a product of his policies."  I said, and she brightened at having her beliefs in the Greymanes vindicated; it almost made me regret bursting that bubble. "But King Genn Greymane? Just as Merrie said, he did a bad thing. A number of bad things which will, and have, had dire consequences for us all."

I leaned back in my chair, noting the tension in Eustace's arms. She was angry, but not at me? "And in his order for our lord's arrest, he has forced our hand."

"But–"

Raising a finger I interrupted Merrie's mother's protest – Carol, that was her name – for a moment. "However, I wish to make absolutely clear, none of you are to fight. I have spoken with Speaker Celestine, and she will be placing the Order of Amber, the witches as a whole, in as neutral a role as she is able."

So long as she hadn't changed her mind, Genn hadn't forced her hand, events hadn't dictated things for her... more ifs than I was really comfortable with, but I wouldn't let my students fight.

I wouldn't. Not the children.

"With her work, along with that of the Church of Dawn, we can hope the casualties from what is to come can be kept to a minimum." I looked at each of the kids in turn. "Royalist or rebel, we're all Gilneans, and a witch's duty is..."

"To serve Gilneas' people." They chorused dutifully, even little blushing Merrie, but Marigold was frowning as she did it.

"But how can we serve Gilneas' people by going against the king? He's... he's, the king." She said, trying and failing to articulate her concern. Abruptly shaking her head, she changed topics before anyone could answer. "Where's Trixie and Dick anyway? If you're back, they should be back too!"

"Yeah! Richard owes me a lesson on potions from Teacher Rosethorn!" Howard jumped in, and then he started snickering and nudged Trent with his elbow. "Hey, she said dick."

As the kids started titering at Marigold's expense, my face fell. Drinking my tea helped calm my nerves, but I still didn't have the words.

There weren't words for how to say this properly. I didn't want there to be – that would mean it was acceptable that it happened. "Trix... Trix is still at the wall, she wasn't with me when we were forced to flee. I will find out what happened to her soon enough, and she will come home."

I refused to close my eyes even as I blinked away tears. Though the sight of him ripping himself apart flashed before my eyes I couldn't hide away from them as I told them.

"Richard... Richard was killed in the fighting when the wall was attacked from behind." I choked out and my hands clenched tight enough I felt my cup should shatter. "He's gone. I'm sorry."

"But, but he promised to come back?" Triss asked confusedly.

"I'm sorry."

"He's got to come back!" Trent jumped to his feet as he shouted, his cup nicked aside uncaringly. "He promised! Teacher Rosethorn promised! You're joking with us, right?!"

I shook my head. "I'm not." What more could I say? I couldn't describe what happened to him, couldn't traumatise them like then; no, all I could was... was never let it happen to any of them. Or to Trix. "Heather... Heather might not come back, she wouldn't speak to me since he died."

"And what of his family?!" Carol snapped from her seat, a hand pulling Merrie to her side possessively. "Were you to leave them in the dark? Surely you must–"

Closing my eyes and pushing down my roiling emotions I replied as evenly as I could. "They know. Heather made sure of it." As an act of self-flagellation over failing him, if nothing else.

The protests resumed, the children feeling shock, disbelief, and horror; all save Merrie, who just looked sad. The raven she still held was even grooming her hair comfortingly; I would have to look into that more later. Much later, considering her age.

It took hours, and Vivi's entrance startling them all, for everything to calm down. One by one my students departed until only Eustace remained, staring at me with crossed arms as she leaned on the wall.

"Out with it," Vivi demanded sharply, his voice drained and tired. "You've got something to ask, so ruddy ask.

"Teach me to fight." She said determinedly. "Not just heal, not just... help around a farm, but fight. Use magic in battle like you do. I know you can, Trix liked to show off."

Resting my head on Vivi's shoulder, I met her gaze tiredly.  Eustace was really the only worthwhile of the adults I'd tried to teach, a herbalist before I'd started she was... decent. Probably comparable to some of the weaker witches, though lacking in most of the lore that underpinned who we were.

There was some I'd shared, much of what Mama had taught me as a little girl, but the greater parts I learned under Celestine, the names of our gods, all of their stories... our history. That I had kept for Trix, and through Heather, Richard.

It was one thing to teach them to be healers, but to spread ways to weaponise witchcraft amongst outsiders... if they used it for ill, it could blow back on us all. Enchantment, blessing harvests, healing, they were all so much safer. For us and for them – to have combat magic was to be at risk of being called up to use it.

"Why?"

Eustace snorted loudly. "Got some cousins that came through the wall thanks to Crowley. I'm joining up, no ifs no buts. I just want to be more useful than a... a stupid rifleman who can patch up scratches."

Meeting her eyes, the anger burning there, I decided against remarking that healers were more valuable than riflemen. By a large margin. Whoever she got put under would tell her such soon enough, anyway. The question was... should I?

Probably not.

"Okay, I'll try to make some time." I said, seeing her relaxing as I agreed. "But don't expect much, Lord Crowley has first call on what I spend my time on, and I need a break after... the wall."

Vivi squeezed my hand, a reassuring pressure as I confirmed my decision in my mind. Teaching Eustace might make her a target, a priority for opposing commanders, but at the same time, it would give her ways to protect herself. As much as I had faith in Darius' commanders to not waste magical potential, there would be times she would be alone.

Whether she was used as a healer, a buffer, or a crowd controller wasn't up to me, but she was an adult and I wouldn't deny her the agency.

"Didn't expect much," Eustace muttered, looking down at her boots. "You gotta help the lord, after all. Big shot an' all."

-oOoOo-

With one hand holding the vest of his suit, and his other arm held out for his daughter, Darius walked forward onto the podium confidently. After a moment, just long enough for my status to be clear, I followed behind him to stand in support. As did Viv, Dame Hilda, Lords Bowford, Clarince, and Mayor Aitment; the early arrivals of the locals who had already pledged their support in full.

Though the skies were clear, my first contribution to this campaign being to keep the snow away until late afternoon, the air was still crisp. A thin layer of frost lingered from the morning and the breath of thousands rose in a great mist.

The number of people wasn't really a surprise, but looking out over the combined populations of Crowford and dozens of minor settlements, hundreds of farmsteads, family holdings, and so on, had a way of making it seem larger. A grand throng of people all gathered to listen to Darius speak.

Each of them was legally bound under his rule, and, through him, King Genn Greymane. Who we – he was asking him to rebel against.

"Few amongst you could have missed the changes that have come to our fair home these past few days, and, I suspect many of you have heard rumours as to why those changes are taking place." Darius projected his voice clearly, loud and resonant but not shouting. "A rumour most foul that concludes that I have committed treason."

Gazing out across the crowd, their anticipation was palpable. Waiting for him to set the account to rights.

And, in one moment, he dashed that anticipation upon a rocky shore. "I must inform you that, in detail, it is true."

A roar erupted as many cried out their disbelief, men and women, young and old, protesting the idea that their lord could have committed treason. The cacophony was impossible to interpret, but some names could be picked out.

Esmerelda, Darius' late wife, prime among them.

As could some denouncements of the Greymanes themselves; though jumbled and garbled it was clear enough sentiment did not run cleanly for our kings here in Crowford.

"It is true!" Darius yelled over the crowd after long enough that it was clear they wouldn't quieten on their own. "It is true, in detail. As you may have heard, I opened my lands that were safe-" the word dripped with venom, "-behind the Greymane Wall to those that lived beyond, offering to those who looked to me for just rule, for judgement, guidance, and for... protection." His hand clenched over his chest; the faint tremble there was an affectation, but the anger, the anger was real. "To the sons and daughters of Gilneas, to my people, I offered all that I could."

He threw his hand out, gesturing to where the refugees that remained in the area had gathered. "Though my meagre efforts were scarcely enough, I defied the king to enact them! And, in time, when more came seeking sanctuary, good men and women fleeing a threat that would turn them upon their own kin? Though they were not my people, who was I to deny them? I am no monster."

"A princess, orphaned by her kin-slaying brother, her young daughter in tow, her husband killed by orcs... how could I refuse her sanctuary?" He let his arm fall. "To offer what I had to so many?"

Lorna broke free of her father's arm,  standing alone for a moment with her head held high. "It was not my father who brought Princess Calia Menethil into Gilneas, but myself." She said firmly.

"Praise be to Lady Lorna!" Came a distinctly Lordainian accented cry.

She continued as if the words had not been spoken. "We learned of her plight, trapped in Southshore which had been ravaged by orcs, alone saver for her daughter. So, I chose to rescue her. Perhaps foolishly, perhaps recklessly, but for no reason other than it was right."

"Because we are not monsters, no matter what the king wishes to make of us." Darius spat, his head shaking with anger that required him to seemingly take a moment to control himself. All of the impact, all of the discomforting manipulations, meant to raise the will of the people to defy their king.

If Crowford didn't follow us, if the locals who were so deeply indebted to Darius, his work, and held so many refugees from beyond the wall chose to remain loyal to the king the rebellion would die in its crib.

But, as there was a rolling murmur of disgust at the king's misinterpretation of events, the speech was clearly working.

"Genn Greymane, a man I once call friend,  might think I would join on his butchery of those who bear no crime save that of being born in another land, but I will not!" Darius roared, inciting an answering cry from all of us. " He might think I would abandon my daughter, cast her aside for a better heir, but I will not! He might think I would forget my dearest Esmerelda, surrender her memory... But. I. Will. Not!" Huffing, with true fury at the very thought shining through, Darius kept up his momentum and planted his foot on the railing of the podium and raised himself higher. "I would surrender any throne to have my wife back, and who here could claim otherwise?! How dare he accuse me of abandoning her!"

If before people had been unhappy with the king, in one fell swoop, Darius had turned all of those from Crowford into ardent supporters in a moment.

"Lady Esme can't be forgotten!"

"Crows mate for life!"

"Forever and a day, he swore, I heard it!"

Dame Hilda, her armour shining in the morning sun, stepped up and stood beside him. "Your devotion to my lady, to her daughter, is why I still serve. Even now, even when my oaths fall into contradiction." She slammed a gauntleted fist over her armoured chest in a salute. "I stand with you Lord Crowley, till the day Lady Esmerelda's memory fades."

"And it never, ever, shall." He said, some of his furore leaving him. "The king's accusation is little more than an insult laid atop worse crimes, some years in the making, others... scarcely believable yet so suddenly, terrifyingly, real."

Recognising my cue, I stepped forward. "You know me, a witch, a healer, the bringer of the Harvest Miracle." As much as I tried to project my voice like Lorna, Darius, and Dame Hilda had, I was not as good at it. And I had no convenient illusionary sky to hijack and project sound through here. "And most of you will know the stories of the worgen, told to scare children away from the dark forests where danger lurks. A legend... from ages past."

"Long, long ago, the worgen were born. Not from beasts, but from a curse; a curse that spreads through bites, one worgen to another, corrupting and changing those afflicted who have not the will to resist its pull." I raised a hand and created a worgen made of stars to stand over us. "It was here, in Gilneas, they were sealed."

I looked up at the snarling starry figure as the crowd gasped. "And it was here, by Genn Greymane's order, they were freed once more. Uncaring, unknowing, unthinking... it does not matter. They are free by his word now."

"And," Darius said, clapping a hand down upon my shoulder heavily. I exaggerated the way it made me stagger slightly, but it wasn't entirely fake. "In his wisdom, the king has decided to order the arrest of the witch who knows much of the creatures he unleashed. As a disciple of their god, the great fox who sealed the demon general which commanded the Scourge, my witch was already working on a cure."

"I am forced to leave it to others, now. Out of my reach as they are under the king's thumb." I agreed. We would retake the wall, and I could contribute when it was needed, but winning the rebellion was now my priority.

Disgustingly, the worgen could wait.

"The worgen ain't real!" One man yelled defiantly.

Lord Bowford snorted derisively. "My good man, I have fought next to one. Speak to those that return from the wall of the wolfmen, of their savagery, and you shall be enlightened."

"While the king may not believe the worgen worthy of being cured, sabotaging efforts to save those of our countrymen who are afflicted with the curse, I cannot follow suit." Darius rallied once more. "We shall see all proud sons and daughters of Gilneas saved from the king's madness... or, so I must ask of you. Not as your lord, your liege, but as a fellow Gilnean; my people, will you join me in toppling the tyranny of our king?"

The eruption of support, loud calls for the end of Genn Greymane's reign, and even tearing down the wall,  made the next part seem irrelevant, but we went ahead anyway.

Lorna rested her hand on her father's arm. "Will you join us in putting Gilneas to rights?"

"Will you join us in restoring those lost to us, be it by curse or wall, through the king's actions?" I added softly.

"Will you join us in restoring Lady Esmerelda's honour?" Dame Hilda demanded of them.

"My father, Tobias Mistmantle, died to the Scourge. He died defending the wall." Vivi said at last, her eyes glistening with tears that she couldn't hide. "But the king tried to use his funeral to capture us. To threaten Darius with his daughter's life. Will you join us, me, in making him pay for his dishonourable acts?"

This time, the sudden roar shook the air enough to make my chest vibrate. The outpouring of anger at the king's actions, as people from across the spectrum screamed that they would take up arms, simply didn't cease.

From the locals, the refugees, to Lordainians, all of them were clear in their defiance of the king that had wronged us all.

"Then it shall be done." Darius spoke, his voice barely carrying over their continuing calls and cries. "The rebellion begins here, in the Northgate Woods, but it shall spread across all of Gilneas as those with their own grievances rise up. We act not for power, but for duty! For Honour! For Gilneas itself! Genn Greymane must fall!"