But neither of them wavered.
Hayle waved a hand at Lierick. “It’s all you.”
As all eyes shifted to Lierick, Vox came to stand beside me, and I linked my fingers with his. Lierick nodded congenially at Hayle and Vox, though there might still have been a hint of animosity when his eyes took in our clasped hands. I guess generational vendettas didn’t just die overnight.
“Thank you all for being here. Our goals in Ebrus are simple: we would like to restore our place in the hierarchy of Ebrus, torestore the checks and balances that once prevented any Line from growing powerful enough to become a dictator. For too long, the will of the First Line has, by default, been the will of the citizens of Ebrus, either out of fear of retribution from the ruling family, or because they’ve benefited from the oppression of the Lower Six Lines. But no more. Over half the country is in a food crisis, starving in their homes, and the other half is living banquet to banquet, as if their suffering means nothing.
“The Eleventh and Twelfth Lines have been good friends of the Second Line for generations, and we won’t let you suffer. My father, the Baron, has invested in me the authority to reclaim Ebrus for all people, not just its Upper Lines. But we don’t have the numbers for a head-to-head fight with the Dawn Army.”
Shay snorted. “You don’t have the numbers on those boats outside to take Boemouthe. With all due respect, Heir Hanovan, even if you armed all of the Second, Eleventh and Twelfth Line citizens, you wouldn’t be able to subdue the Dawn Army. The conscripts that come from Boellium are merely war fodder who can hold a sword. They are a noose around the Lower Lines, so they don’t get it in their heads to rise up against my Line and be forced to kill their brothers and sisters, cousins, fathers. There are specialist teams within the Dawn Army’s ranks that have such strong magic, they can melt the skin from your bones.”
Lierick gave her a solemn nod. “I understand. Vox has explained in great detail how ill-equipped we’d be for a traditional battle strategy. And we agree. That was never the plan—not yet, anyway, and hopefully not at all. While there’s no such thing as a bloodless rebellion, we want to protect the people of Ebrus; it’s the whole point. Hand-to-hand combat would have the exact opposite effect.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “Unfortunately, a revolution isn’t something we can do within the walls of Boellium War College. But what wecando is create an underground network to moveaid to the West of Ebrus, to your families and communities, without interference from the First Line and its allies. The first step in the rebellion doesn’t have to be a declaration of war. It can be a small act of dissent. It can be empathy. It’s in caring for the people of Ebrus, regardless of their Line.”
There was silence around the dorm room as the words settled between us, a heavy yoke of secrets across all of our backs.
“How do you suppose we start?” Acacia asked curiously. “We’re just a bunch of conscripts on an island in the middle of the sea. We don’t have the ear of anyone in power, or the ability to organize and create supply lines without raising suspicion.” Her eyes settled on Hayle and Vox. “Well, most of us, anyway.”
“We’ll take care of the how and what. We don’t expect you to waltz into the Hall of Ebrus and demand change,” Hayle agreed. “What we need from you is less dangerous. We need you to get your Lines on board with the plan. We need you to move food and supplies from place to place when the time comes. To keep your ear to the ground and listen for any information you think might help the cause. To sow the seeds of doubt and dissent, first among the Lower Lines, and later, among the more sympathetic members of the Upper Lines.
“We need the Upper Lines to have a connection to the purposeful starvation of the Lower Lines, to hear stories of suffering so that it’s hard to ignore. We need them to know that while it’s a problem today for the Eleventh and Twelfth Lines, it won’t just stop there. If the First Line can callously eradicate those Lines, then they can do it to the Eighth. The Sixth. The Fourth Line. To anyone they wish, if their power remains unchecked.”
Lierick nodded. “Hayle’s correct. If Feodore Vylan gets away with this, in mere years, there will be no Line system. There’ll only be the First Line and their whims.”
A few people gave Vox and Shay the side-eye. I understood. We were all standing around talking about rebellion with a literal Heir of the Line we were seeking to overthrow.
Vox looked at Shay, who was nodding her agreement, then turned back to the others. “I stand with the Heir of the Third Line. With the Heir to the Second Line. Despite the visage of privilege, I can promise you that we have all suffered at the hands of my father. When he dies, I will dance on his fucking grave.” He cleared his throat. “But more than that, I would stand against my father and brother, not just for myself, but for people I love. For the members of my Line who would be traded away to powerful men, like they’re livestock to be bought and sold in the pursuit of power.”
His eyes lingered on Shay. “For those who aren’t as powerful as the Vylans, who wake up every day terrified that they will be called to the palace by my father or brother and never come home. For those of us who are subjugated by their own Line.”
He sucked in a deep breath and looked down at me. “I stand against the Baron of the First Line for the friends I’ve made, whose lives my father believes mean less than nothing. For adversaries who are now brothers. For Avalon, for whom I would do a lot worse than overthrow the First Line.” His eyes shone, and my own love bubbled in my chest. “So while I understand that it seems almost unbelievable that Shay and I are here, with the same goals and beliefs as you, please believe me when I say that I stand with Lierick Hanovan and the Second Line. Do you stand with us too?”
The cheers around the room gave me hope, but also made fear settle deep in my gut. Every person here was now a traitor to Ebrus, at least in the eyes of Feodore Vylan. I feared for the men I loved, for the friends I’d made, for the people whose faces I saw every day.
We answered a few more questions, then made a plan to reconvene here in my dorm in a week. As the members of the other Lines drifted out of my dorm, the only people who remained were my guys and Lierick.
The latter slumped down on my couch. “That went better than I hoped.” He stared up at the ceiling. “I thought of a way to both keep Avalon safe from the Baron finding out that she’s Vox’s lover and to establish an underground supply.”
“Oh?” Hayle asked, and I could see his incredulousness.
“Yep. It’s quite simple, really. I need to meet with Zier Tarrin, and she needs to travel with me. We can make the trip work double duty by spreading the belief that Avalon Halhed is my girlfriend among the Barons, starting with the Baron of the Eighth Line. If you think about it, it’s even better than her being Hayle’s, because Baron Vylan still might be tempted to take her out purely out of spite, if he knew she was important to the Third Line.” He waved a hand at himself. “But no one is going to care if a Ninth Line Heir and a lowly Eleventh Line conscript are together. A neat, simple solution to two problems.”
“Simple?” Vox repeated with chilling calm. Hayle growled.
And then everything went to shit.
Ten
Hayle
Iliked to think that I was a reasonable man most of the time. I understood that you couldn’t lead with anger. That you had to be able to put aside your emotions and think things through logically, when your actions had far-reaching consequences.
However, when it came to Avalon, there was no reasonable man in the room. She was my Soul Tie, and I would happily fuck up any person who even contemplated taking her from me.
Rage pulsed through my veins as I launched myself at Lierick Hanovan. He’d been watching Vox, so it was a bit of a sneak attack, but I had my hands around his throat before he even had time to act. Or maybe Vox was holding him still.
Either way, I slammed my fist into his face with a satisfying crunch. He might be able to take over my mind, but not before I rearranged his face. “Iknewyou were a fucking snake in the grass. Was this your plan all along? You don’t even deserve to look in her direction, do you understand? She is not for you. She ismine,” I roared in his face.
