The Partisan Chronicles [Dystopia | Supernatural | Mystery]

Rhian

There'd been no word from Michael and none from Gus neither. I still had no wolves and the kids were getting restless. I had to enact a plan—something to stop them going back to being less than average. After visiting the tree house the other day, I came up with an idea. The trouble was, I needed Adeline's help no matter which way I spun it around in my head. Lucky for me, she was still wide open to being my favourite friend.

Adeline Blanchett liked dueling. I suddenly became interested in dueling.

"The rules are really quite simple. You may attack, you may defend, but you may not leave the field of play. You'll be fighting with your left hand, yes?"

I would be, seeing as I was left-handed. It was kind of her to notice.

"There will be no acrobatics, no rolling, no flipping."

"Do what I'd do if I had a death wish—got it."

For the fight, she handed me a rapier. It was wobblier than I was used to.

"The rules are designed to be fair."

"Would you be worried if they weren't?" I asked.

Truth, I was stalling. I needed more time to make acquaintance with the blade.

Adeline laughed, and it was annoying. Her posture was perfect—too perfect. She held her weapon like she'd known it her whole life. "Yes, but our aim today is not to kill. After all, that would be too easy for you, wouldn't it?"

I'm not above giving credit where it's due, and that was on point. Also, it presented an opportunity to see where the lass stood on a certain topic.

"Are you implying I haven't got any morals?"

"I've yet to decide."

Leaving it at that for now, we dueled. I've never been so bored in my goddess-be-damned life. I'm not saying we weren't properly matched. The lass had skills. Parry this, counter that. Jab, jab a bit too close to my eyes. She wasn't used to fighting someone a Strachan's size. I could tell. It was boring, but I played along, and I caught an opening when she was distracted. It would have gone straight through the squishy middle had the weapon not been blunted. She should have done something about her big hair—it was a windy day. For the record, it wasn't as though we were standing in an empty field, but the other Partisans hustling and bustling around us couldn't be bothered with our antics. We kept on, and on, and on until it felt like forever. I took a few points, and so did she.

"I think you do," she said.

"What?" Swing, clang.

"Have morals. It's said you saved my mother's life at the risk of your own."

Swish, duck. "So?"

"So?" Adeline held a finger up to call a pause. She lowered her weapon to her side. "Did you know that there are many of us here at Palisade who consider you a hero? Why do you think I was so excited to meet you—why I consider myself so lucky to get to know you? Heroes cannot exist without compassion or honour—without ethics to guide them.

I remember trying to swallow a strange lump rising in my throat, but it wouldn't go down. "I was just doing my job, lass. What's got to be done isn't always in line with our imagined sense of morality. It hardly ever is."

Adeline shook her curly, red head. "Heroes are not heroes for doing what's necessary without consideration. Heroes are heroes for doing what's necessary while staying true to their supposed imagined sense of morality. I don't need to tell you that my mother isn't a nice lady, Enforcer Rhian. While I don't know exactly what happened that day in Delphia, you could have accidentally been a few minutes late. You could have forgotten to do what you needed to do. None would have been the wiser."

That one time in Delphia wasn't that long ago. It was the first time working with Strauss and aye, I might have saved Councilwoman Blanchett's life. But frankly, the whole thing was a disaster. Maybe I'll write a book about it later.

"You're missing the point," I said. "Heroes are for pretty stories. Nineteen Partisans died while your lunatic mother got to stick around to enslave us. Wanna talk morals? I'd have seen them all live instead of her. Your delusion of honour is my deepest dishonour."

The Squeaky Lass shook her squeaky head. "But we are not slaves, Enforcer S. It's our sole purpose to serve—a sworn and eternal dedication to the people of Auditoria. The Assembly exists only to maintain order. Our legends will live on to inspire the world with tales courage and—"

I'm fast and I'm not boasting. Strachan Partisans are like goddess-be-damned kitty cats. One dash forward and I took out the back of her knee with the pommel of my weapon. The lass lost her footing, so I pushed her to the ground and pressed my boot to her back.

So much for fair, but she needed to understand something important. She needed to know the reason why the silence sounded so goddess-be-damned loud and why most of us couldn't sleep at night because of it. It wasn't personal. I liked her.

"Ever hear those tales of courage out of the mouth of someone who's lived them?"

The Squeaky Lass squeaked out a quiet, "No."

I couldn't see her face to know if she was angry, but I was annoyed, and when I was annoyed, I tended to say a lot of words in a little bit of time.

"Right. 'Cause if you had, they wouldn't sound a thing like the rubbish you've been fed. Throw in a few fancy words and an inspiring message and suddenly someone's personal nightmare is a thousand-verse poem being recited on the streets for a half-note or a quick lay later." I lifted my foot from her back.

Big shocker—she didn't look angry when she stood. Just a bit dirty and a lot surprised. Another big shocker—I still had her unblinking attention.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You want your heroes to piss rainbows? Go read a book about it. You wanna see what really happens on the glittery road to justice and honour, and blah, blah, blah—then I'll be more than happy to show you."

She took about a minute to consider before she nodded. "Yes, please."

Look, it wasn't exactly how I imagined things going that day, but it would do. Most of the the time, no plan is the best plan.

Sometimes.

Professional tip: the key to a successful break-in is the key.

Adeline said her mother wouldn't miss it, and I believed her. That woman had an entire territory plotting to blow her to bits, and she didn't have a clue. They were her own goddess-be-damned people, too, and they weren't even all that smart about hiding it.

Neither of us had been inside the asylum before, but I had a point to prove and a plan to adjust as necessary. For the first little while, we wandered the bright white corridors trying to look like we knew where we were going.

"Enforcer Rhian, what do you think it means to be devoured?"

I hadn't a clue, but whatever it was, it was a popular topic. Every few cells, someone had something incoherent to say about it. "Why don't you ask one of them?"

"An excellent idea," she practically shouted. "I'm here to learn, after all."

"That's the spirit," I said. "Just keep your voice down while you do it."

The asylum was square, and it was only two floors high and one floor deep. There were Strachan in cells next to Amali. There were Delphi Partisans all mixed up near the Celestian ones. It was a lot like solitary—right down to the silver-plated cages keeping the inmates trapped and powerless. Silver had that effect on us.

I'd expected we'd run into workers at some point. I didn't know when, didn't know where, but when a lanky Celestian turned the bend, I bolted around the opposite corner. Adeline didn't have the same reflex, but we'd talked about what to do in this situation.

"Partisan Blanchett," the Celestian said. "State your purpose."

"I'm here to conduct a psychological profile for Councilwoman Kelly."

"Clearance papers?"

"Only the key." Adeline probably held the key up for good measure. "She insisted I return by dusk and off she went like a busy little butterfly."

Councilwoman Kelly was a notorious flake. It was a likely story. Also, there was no good reason for the worker to question the motives of a Councilwoman's daughter, or any sensible reason to think Adeline stole the key and broke into the asylum for a good time.

"This is acceptable," the Celestian said.

"Actually, if you have a few moments to spare, I have a question."

The worker did have a few moments to spare, and the two wandered off in the direction that wasn't mine. I used the opportunity to carry on exploring.

The cages looked exactly like the ones in solitaire. Springing the place would be easy once I had the key, and I planned to ask Adeline to borrow it again in a few days. First, I had to have a look around. I needed to find the inmates who were done being fucked on by the Assembly. The ones who'd be up for one last fight.

"Psst," said someone, somewhere.

I couldn't be bothered looking. There were a lot of people making strange noises, and chatting them up wasn't my aim at the minute.

"Psst, Sinclair," that someone said again.

That time, though, I was curious enough to oblige.

The man making noises at me was a Strachan, but this one didn't seem especially witless in comparison. He wasn't talking about being devoured, and he hadn't plucked out any of his own hair. He looked about sixty, sick, and tired. I stopped in front of his cell.

"Oi, Random Man. How do you know who I am?"

"'Cause you're Rhydian's girl. It's uncanny."

"Is it actually uncanny, seeing as he's my father? I mean—what's this actually about?"

Random Man chuckled.

"What, is he dead? Right behind me?" I looked around for effect and whatnot. "I'm not supposed to be here so make it quick."

"If Rhydian Sinclair is dead, then he died a free man. A good man."

"Right. How do I know you're not in here for making up stories about people's fathers?"

Random Man started laughing again, fitting right in with the others crazy enough to sound happy. Meanwhile, I wasn't surprised when the Squeaky Lass scurried up beside me. I'd heard her heels and smelled her metallic arse about a league away. At the time, I didn't know the full extent as to why she always smelled like copper and iron. Figured it was all that fucking around with fire-weapons.

"While this has been highly educational and terribly sad, Enforcer S, I think we should go."

Random Man shot Adeline a sharp look. He didn't seem to like her interrupting. Frankly, I didn't either. I wanted to hear what else he had to say.

"It was their plan—your father's and Rick's," he said. "They made it out alive, but I was caught by the powers-that-be. Then they had the bollocks to tell me they killed Strauss and Laine. Those hypocritical bastards haven't got it in them to do me the same justice."

I wondered where or how Strauss fit into the equation, but I'd have to wait to find out.

"Are you saying you wish to die?" Adeline asked.

"Damnit," Random Man shouted randomly. Spooked a drop of piss out of the poor girl by the looks of things. "That's exactly what I'm saying, lass. Haven't felt the wind in nearly fifteen years. The day I was locked up in here was the day it should have ended."

Adeline's eyes basically fell out of her head. "You're not permitted outdoors?"

"Take a minute to think about what would happen if we were."

Turns out, Adeline would take a lot of minutes to think about it. But for now, she was right. With all the yapping, the other inmates were getting too excited. It was time to go.

Later that day, seven Partisans flew the loony tree.

I didn't even have to do it myself.