Ascension (54 page)

Croxley could think of nothing to do
but to kiss her. Yes, I definitely love this girl.

Chapter
41

I wiped the sweat
from my eyes as I stopped to catch a breath. We were fighting in
waves, and I had just been replaced, so I dragged myself back to
our camp. It was now well into the afternoon, and still, there was
no end in sight. In the beginning, we had been doing well off,
surprise giving us the upper hand, but no matter how you looked at
it, we were outnumbered. We couldn
’
t keep fighting for much longer,
and I didn
’
t
know how much more death I could handle. Every time I heard a
scream or a shout, I cringed, hoping that it wasn
’
t from any Nether. But that
didn
’
t mean I
wanted the soldiers to die, either. With each soldier that I struck
down, I felt myself grow heavier and heavier.

I tried to eat
something to restore my energy back at the camp, but as I walked
past scores of wounded Nethers, I decided that I
couldn
’
t
stomach any food. Instead, sat at the edge of the camp, cleaning
off my sword. I felt someone come up behind me and spun around,
startled, my nerves still fried from the fighting. It was Wilson,
holding some bandages and a water canteen.

“
Miss Fara, are you okay?”
He handed me the flask and I took a small sip,
testing whether or not I could at least handle water. Finding that
I was suddenly parched, I drank it down in one gulp, belatedly
realizing that I was incredibly thirsty.

“
Yes, I
’
m fine. A few scratches, but
nothing too bad.
”
He offered his bandages
but I refused.
“
No, save your bandages
for those who need them. I
’
m sure more will be coming
in.
”

“
Yes, I
’
m afraid so.
”
He sighed and sat down next to me.
“
War is a terrible thing.
”

“
And it could all
be avoided if the King would just give us an audience,
”
I announced dispassionately. It was taking too
much strength to be concerned about anything other than survival at
the moment.

“
Things that are
worth fighting for most often aren
’
t easily won,
”
he concluded, and we just sat in silence as I
sipped the rest of the water from the canteen.

I was scanning
the battlefield when my eyes caught movement from the left side. A
large crowd was coming down from behind the gate. My heart sunk
when it occurred to me that it must be more soldiers coming in. We
can
’
t handle
any more soldiers, I thought. I stood up and watched them march
down the hill, heading straight towards our camp. I grew alarmed at
the thought of them attacking us here, taking out all the wounded
and the tired. Even the worst war criminal would frown upon that
tactic.

But as they came
closer, I noticed that they weren
’
t wearing any armor. What is
going on? My battle-spent mind wasn
’
t able to process what I saw
before me, until it recognized Croxley and Jean at the front of the
group.

I leapt up and ran towards them,
somehow finding the energy deep within to spur me
forwards.

By the time I reached them, I was
panting heavily.

“
Fara! Are you okay?”
Jean checked my arm, which had stopped bleeding but looked
admittedly angry.

“
I
’
m fine, I
’
m fine,
”
I gasped.
“
What are you doing
here?
”
I managed to get out in between
breaths.

“
We started a
rebellion. In the castle. After we left, all the slaves and
servants, both Nethers and Ahrenians, stood up against the King and
struck back!
”

“
Fara!”
In the
middle of Jean
’
s explanation, I was charged and tackled into an embrace
that sent pain shooting through my body.

“
Ow!”
I cried,
and my attacker let go.

“
I
’
m so
sorry! Sorry, Fara!”
Lydia stood before me,
tears streaming down her face.

“
That
’
s okay,”
I assured her, but she shook her head.

“
No, for
everything! I
’
m sorry!”
I stopped her before she could apologize any
more.

“
Lydia, really,
it
’
s okay. What
happened is in the past. You did what you thought you had to
do.
”
She wailed and came in to hug me
again, but this time I was prepared and able to position myself so
that she didn
’
t
hit any of my wounds.

“
Fara, how are
things going out there?
”
Croxley asked
me, indicating towards the battlefield.

“
We
don’
t have enough numbers,
”
I replied.
“
We are
growing tired and it won
’
t be much longer before they
overpower us.
”

“
How many men do
we have left?
”

“
At least a
hundred have been killed or wounded, and another 50 are resting,
trying to gather their strength before entering the fight
again.
”

“
Well, we should
be able to help. There are about 500 of us here, and while not all
of us can fight, we can help heal the wounded and get supplies
ready.
”

I was taken aback
by the number.
“
Five hundred? If we storm
the field all at one time, we might be able to overwhelm the
soldiers into submitting,
”
I plotted. I
looked at Croxley and Jean for confirmation, and they seemed in
support of the plan.

“
It would be
risky. We don
’
t
want to lose all our numbers in one go. But then again, it just
might work,
”
Croxley
mused.

“
It
’
s the last chance
we
’
ve got. It
’
s all or nothing,
Croxley.
”

He nodded, and I rejoiced at our
sudden good fortune.

We made our way
to the camp to get everyone their weapons. Luckily, among the group
were some old palace guards and other servants who had experience
with weapons, so they knew exactly what to grab. As for the others,
we didn
’
t have
time to get everyone matched up with the correct size and grip. I
just hoped that our numbers would be enough to make up for the
inadequate supplies. I could tell passing through our camp that the
sight of fresh troops raised everyone
’
s moral. I just had to have
faith that it wouldn
’
t be for nothing.

Once everyone was
equipped, we lined up before the battlefield. Looking to Jean and
Croxley, we exchanged
“
good
lucks
”
, and with our weapons raised in
the air, we charged back into battle.

We were met with
the clangs of swords and the shouts of men fighting with their last
ounce of strength. I could see in the King
’
s soldiers
’
eyes their disbelief at the
sudden onslaught of opponents, and it didn
’
t take very long before we had
pushed them back to the edge of their camp. I watched as a fresh
wave was getting ready to come in, and I steeled myself to prepare.
But before they reached us, a stillness rolled across the field.
Atop an armored horse sat none other than the
King.

Throughout the
crowd, weapons fell to the sides of their wielders as he passed by.
He climbed a mound in the center of the battlefield and
bellowed,
“
I heard you wanted an
audience. Well, I am here. If you are brave enough, come and face
me.
”

I stood there, disbelief and
suspicion rooting my feet into the ground. But as I was watching
the King, my eyes caught motion coming from the peripheral of the
battlefield. It was Erik, weaving his way towards his father. This
spurred me into motion, and I headed in the same direction, hoping
to beat him. This was my battle, not his.

I caught eyes with Croxley as I made
my way through, and he shook his head, warning me not to go any
further, but I kept on going. I was past fear, I was past hiding, I
was past letting everyone do things for me. This is what I stood
for, this is what I have worked so hard towards. I needed to do
this for myself as much as for my people.

When I made it to the bottom of the
mound, I was faced by a group of guards. Some gave me dirty looks,
while others looked at me in awe. To my amusement, a few even
looked scared.

I pushed my way through the barrier
and trudged up the mound until I reached the top. When the King saw
me, he raised his eyebrows.

“
And who are
you?
”
He asked, contempt dripping from
his voice.

“
I
’
m Fara, and I am here to
represent my people,
”
I responded, my
voice strong and steady. The anger I felt towards this man trumped
any nerves I might have had. I wouldn
’
t let him see me tremble. Not
again.

“
So
you
’
re the one
who
’
s causing
all this trouble. I think I remember you. You
’
re the one that shovels horse
manure all day in the stables, right? With that bumbling fool,
Heath. Pity, his mind was barely sharp enough to work with animals.
I can
’
t imagine
what you had to go through, dealing with him all
day.
”

I felt my temper
flare, but I knew that was his intention, and I
wasn
’
t about to
let him get to me now.

“
I
’
m here for an audience,
”
I demanded, cutting right to the
point.

“
Oh,
that
’
s right.
You thought you and your people were important enough to take my
time and complain about your lives. Well, I do have to say, you
certainly know how to catch everyone
’
s attention. I mean,
it
’
s part of
your nature, right? You
’
ve always wanted to be the
center of attention. You just can
’
t stand being overlooked, am I
right?
”
He was fishing for that spot, the
trigger that would send me over, but it wasn
’
t there. Anything that would
have been there for him to use against me had been healed in this
past few weeks.
“
Well, you have my
audience,
”
he said, giving a mock
bow.

“
I ask for the
freedom of my people. Not just of Cethin, but of Grundale, Fyzen,
Weldar, Laurevell, Montill, and Sprokil, For all of those oppressed
and robbed of the basic pleasures of the sky, the wind, the sun. I
request that we are liberated from our underground prison, where we
work and toil for the sole benefit of those who prosper above. I
ask for a chance to join our brothers and sisters above, to reunite
Ahrenia and pursue a new future.
”
When I
finished, the King said nothing, solely looking at me. I held his
gaze, neither of us flinching, when suddenly he threw back his head
and laughed a cruel laugh.

“
How cute. That
was a touching speech, I
’
ll give you that. But I
don
’
t think
I
’
m going to
let that happen. As much as you all may want to come back
and
‘
be free
’
, as you say, have you ever
thought about Ahrenians? They don
’
t want you. They will reject
you, scorn you, make your life miserable. You will suffer and live
in such despair that you
’
d eventually go crawling back to
your caves underground where you Nethers belong.
”

I stumbled at the thought. I knew
that there was prejudice. I had encountered it more than once up
above. But how deeply engrained was it? Could Ahrenians ever learn
to accept the Nethers?

“
That
’
s
not true,
”
in the midst of my doubt, I
whipped around to see Erik standing before his father. He had a
stream of dried blood trailing down his forehead and cheek, and
streaks of blood crossing his clothes. Try as I might, I
couldn
’
t find
their source, so I assumed they were from his opponents. Despite it
all, I was relieved to see him relatively unharmed. But that
didn
’
t mean I
wanted to see him here. With what was essentially a death warrant
on his head, the most dangerous place for him to be was here in
front of his own father.