The Partisan Chronicles [Dystopia | Supernatural | Mystery]

Rhian

"Let me do it," I said.

"No, I've got this," Random Father replied.

"No, you bloody don't. You're wasting your matches, and you're bad at this, apparently."

It was a windy night, so I whipped out the lighter Strauss had given me for my birthday, nudged Rhydian out of the way, and lit the tinder in about a second.

The campfire we'd thrown together would be roaring soon.

"Fair play," he said. "Left mine with Evelyn."

The pair of us shrugged, settling down on a couple of rocks nearby.

"Gonna tell me why we've stopped?" I asked.

"Nav'll be spending the night further out at sea, she won't be inland to take us to the lair until morning. Besides, there's something I wanna show you."

Random Father reached out toward me and crooked his fingers.

I tossed him the lighter so he could light a cigarette and take one hell of a drag. Meanwhile, I fished around in my bag for my flask.

"So, what are you trying to show me?" I asked. "How to die in the woods with your estranged father?"

Rhydian seemed about to answer, but then he spotted it. The flask with the letters "RS" engraved on the front. "Where'd you get that?"

"That Bach gave it to me for my birthday," I said.

"Well, it's mine." He ashed into the fire.

An owl hooted, the fire crackled, and whatever else other nighttime noises were likely to have happened. "I know."

Random Father smoked. "You ought to keep it."

"I'd planned on it." I took a sip of water.

After a few minutes of saying absolutely nothing, Random Father reached into his bag and pulled out an oddly shaped sheath. He curled his fingers around the wooden handle and when he pulled the weapon out, it was basically a silver stake. Good for stabbing, I reckoned. He passed it across and patted the ranged weapon at his side.

"The crossbow's all right, but you'll hardly ever have distance when you need it. Fuck swords. This, mind you? Get yourself some speed, and full force through the bleeder. They'll be debilitated almost straightaway, dust in about five seconds."

"All right," I said. "I can do that."

Random Father grunted and took another drag. "Keep it sheathed to avoid the consequences, aye? Advice I wish I'd given that pain in the arse half-breed."

Truth, that one weaseled smile out of me.

I stabbed the air a few times. "This is what you wanted to show me?"

"Nope," Rhydian said. "Just needed you properly armed for where we're headed."

"Did we really need to light a whole fire so you could give me a metal stick?

"Thought we might talk for a bit."

My turn to grunt.

"You've made Evelyn real happy, lass." Random Father exhaled through his nose.

I took another sip of water. "Aye, she seems nice."

"Nicer than me, that's for sure."

"Me, too, probably."

"So, Enforcer, eh?" he asked.

"Not anymore, I guess. But aye, got promoted last year."

We held eye contact for a moment. And it was faint, but it was there. The sad and sorry face. It was all just for a moment afore we both looked away.

I'd never noticed how similar his eyes were to mine.

"Young for command, good on you."

"Aye, lucky me." I shrugged. "What about you? What'd you do for Palisade?"

With his cigarette hanging out his mouth, he answered, "I was a messenger."

"You're telling me the infamous Ghost was a goddess-be-damned letter carrier?"

"Still using that ridiculous name, are they?" Sparks flew when Random Father tossed his cigarette into the fire. "Speaking of ghosts, being around your boy Andrei is a lot like seeing two. You both put the pieces together yet?"

"Reckon so." I nodded. "Shit happens. He's over it."

There was another awkward silence. I took a sip of water. "Six years in active duty. Did you ever try looking for me?"

"Nope." Rhydian shook his head. "By pure chance Rick found you lot in Oskari."

"All right."

I traced a squiggle in the frosty dirt with the stake.

Random Father lit another cigarette.

"Listen," he said, "I'm about as good at this kind of confessional horseshite as I am at acknowledging my failures, evidently."

I watched the smoke pour out his nose.

"And I failed you. I failed Evelyn. Failed my mates," he continued. "Failed their son. I wasn't up for it. I wasn't strong enough. But I knew I needed to see you when I met Andreas's boy. Seeing the lad was like seeing the both of them again. And thinking of you, wondering what you'd become. Because of Evelyn. Because of me—in spite of me."

The owl hooted again, probably.

"Rhian, I want you to know: I fucked up."

"But did you, actually?" I paused, meeting his sad-looking eyes again for a minute afore I shrugged. "Seems to me it's just the way of things. 'Course, if you need me to tell you it's all right that it took twenty-one years for you to come around, then it's all right. Our lives haven't been our own since the day we were born, have they? I don't hold the choices you made under our circumstances against you. I just don't really know you."

"Hoping to change that," Random Father said.

"All right," I replied.

It was quiet again for a while. I gave my squiggle a once over.

"So, what's your problem with Alexander?" I asked.

"Apart from the obvious? He and Evelyn—whatever. My fault, too."

"Alexander said nothing happened between them."

"Well, nothing much really did, as far as I know. But I never should have brought her with me back then. It was selfish. I missed her, wanted to be with you both when you were born. 'Course, I was working too damned much, and the stress of this bleeding place was putting me in a piss poor mood. She was lonely. Alexander's good with a pregnant lass."

"Aye, historically he is. Not too worried about leaving them together, then?"

"Well, I'm not too thrilled about it, am I?" Random Father flashed a wry smile that looked just like mine. "But Alexander will keep her safe, and Evelyn'll do what Evelyn does. Doesn't change anything between us."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Right," I said. Whatever works and whatnot. "What about Everleigh Gloom?"

By now, the wind had died down and the fire was keeping us toasty.

"Weird little menace."

"Couldn't have put it better myself. But she said you wanted her dead."

"Nah, I wanted to bring that one in for study. Everleigh Gloom was notorious for getting in the way of our work, but would never do anything to hurt us. Bit of a conundrum, that one."

No argument there.

"So, where are we going?" I asked.

Random Father stood from the stone and shoveled snow over the fire with his foot. He nudged his head to say, "Come on."

Fine by me. I was getting bored of talking about feelings, anyhow.

A few years back, Rhydian's crew caught wind Zacharias might be alive, all the while not knowing he was busy taking a four hundred year nap under the church in Oskari. The lair sent out a number of operations looking for him, and all of them failed. So, when Rhydian asked if I'd heard of the old theatre, I told him I had no clue about any old theatre, but not unlike the old schoolhouse-slash-tavern, I learned it was another pre-Divide building still standing. It was about a league north of Verena, and not too far from where we'd made our camp. Whenever they'd sent scouts in the past, it was always empty.

'Course, it was a likely haunt, wasn't it? And with both brothers now running amok, who knows what we'd find this time? Other than me, obviously. And I'm about to tell you, so.

The thing about the Strachan Partisans is that we're stealthy. Our steps are quieter—silent if you're good. The point is, we marched along through the trees, only slowing down when the peak of the old building poked up over the horizon. That's when we switched to a tiptoe.

The old theatre was in better shape than the old schoolhouse-slash tavern was afore most of it burnt down, and it was about five times as big. The double doors were still on their hinges, but the roof was sagging a bit on one side. Basically, it was an old, dilapidated theatre. What else do you want? There was firelight flickering behind the grimy windows.

A shadow moved inside. It grew bigger, and then it shrunk. Big again, small again. The man's furious pacing put Strauss to shame. But then, the shadow stopped moving, and then it was gone altogether. I side-eyed Random Father. He side-eyed me.

Finally, the front door of the theatre blew open and a figure emerged.

Dressed to the nines in a deep purple suit, he walked slowly toward the tree line where we were hiding. And with that, I stepped out.

"Rhian Sinclair," the man said, opening his arms wide. "It's about time."

I rushed forward, but I didn't hug Sebastian Vonsinfonie. I gave him a light punch in the gut, though. He laughed, and Random Father also stepped out from the trees.

"And you've brought family! How fortuitous is this night? Come, join me inside."

Rhydian frowned the whole way, but we followed Sebastian into the old theatre, past the ticket counters in the atrium. Anything that hadn't rotted away already was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. Dead, dried leaves. Spiderwebs at every turn.

Seems Sebastian had tidied up the office a bit, mind you. The corners were clean, the candles were lit, but there weren't any chairs in working order.

"Sebastian Vonsinfonie." Sebastian held a jeweled hand out toward Random Father who hesitated for about a year before shaking it. "Rhydian Sinclair."

"How freeing honesty is." The illusionist waved a hand through the air and the firelight filling the room turned from orange, to pink, to blue. "What brings you both here tonight?"

"Looking for you," I said. "Or your brother. Or that Jakob fellow."

"You've come to the proper place, but it seems we've missed them."

"So they were here?" Rhydian asked.

"The candles were fresh and barely worn, and the wax was still warm when I arrived. I've been here, anticipating his return ever since. Brace yourselves, my friends, if my brother chooses this night to have our reunion at long last."

"Well, I reckon this works out nicely." I looked from Sebastian to Random Father, waiting for the a-okay. He grunted, and I took that as a, "Yes," even though it probably wasn't.

"Up for a trip, Seb?"

Sebastian stepped in between me and Random Father, laying his arms around each our shoulders. "I would go anywhere with you, Rhian Sinclair. But first, enlighten me?"

Random Father slipped out of Sebastian's grasp, peering between the pair of us with a critical look in his crow's-footed eyes. "This is far too fucked up. He's not coming with us."

"That was the deal, wasn't it?" I said. "We do things our way—mine and Strauss's. And after a great deal of consideration and whatnot, we've decided we trust Sebastian."

Mister Vonsinfonie squeezed my shoulder.

"Aye? And what's brought you to that conclusion, exactly?" Rhydian asked.

"Apart from everything I've already told you about how the man operates, I've got a hunch."

"You've got a hunch? The fuck does that mean?"

"It means I've got a hunch. I get hunches. I trust them, and then it usually works out."

"You see?" Sebastian gestured widely. "She has a hunch."

"For fuck sakes." Rhydian moved over to one of the candles that was now burning pink again, lighting his cigarette.

Sebastian began pacing. "So, where are we going, my friends?"

That's when I told him about the lair. Not where it was, because to be fair, I didn't even know. But about all the people we could have waiting in the wings, primed and ready to fight for a cause we all believed in. Already vetted, and already doing their parts.

Sebastian paced and paced until he stopped, looking Random Father in the eyes. "How long is the journey to your lair, mister Sinclair?"

"Couple days," Rhydian answered. "No point leaving until morning, though. Plenty of time to convince me why I should trust you enough to take you with us."

Sebastian Vonsinfonie smiled and the fire burned blue again. "You wonder whether you should trust me, and why you feel drawn to me as a bee to a blossom—yes, you, Rhydian."

Random Father rolled his eyes.

"You may also wonder: who can I really trust, but for myself?" Sebastian Vonsinfonie poked my father in the chest. "And how has that fared for you, my friend?"

Random Father blew a ring of smoke in Sebastian's face.

Without breaking eye contact, the thespian reached for my father's small crossbow and plucked a silver-tipped bolt from his quiver. He loaded it and put it into Rhydian's hand. Stepping back about a foot, he raised his hands, palms out.

With his cigarette pressed between his lips, Rhydian aimed the crossbow for Sebastian's heart.

Sebastian smiled, and the firelight burned blue again. "You're wavering, but why, I wonder?"

Rhydian looked my way, and I crossed my arms.

I wasn't taking liberties when I said Strauss was right there with me that night, in our decision to trust Sebastian. He'd helped set things right in Delphia. He'd helped rescue the Animals. He'd even helped stop Councilwoman Blanchett from being blown up. He helped us with Lidia. He saved everybody from the cage afore they could get killed by Those Things. He'd been nothing but good to Everleigh Gloom. He'd always been generous, he'd never been violent. And then there was the hunch. Wasn't just my hunch, neither. I tapped my foot.

Random Father lowered the crossbow.

Sebastian Vonsinfonie lowered his hands.

"Better not fucking regret this," Rhydian said.

"Regret? No, no," Sebastian replied. "Together, we will change the world."