“Oh darling,” Delia gushed, taking my face in her hands, “it's not your fault, it's not your fault at all!” She pulled my face forward, kissing me on the forehead.
“Eden, listen to me,” my father commanded and I looked up at him immediately, “Lucan is a tyrant; he is an evil man and you cannot blame yourself. You simply cannot. I don't believe there was anything you could have done. If it weren't Avalon, then it would have been you. And Amory, well, they have been trying to kill him since this whole thing started. It's not your fault, Eden. We would never blame you.”
“If anything, we blame ourselves!” Delia glanced at her husband who nodded his head solemnly and then turned to stare at the closed blinds. “We have been selfish and foolish. I should have known from the beginning how determined Lucan was, even after all of these years.... It's not your fault, darling; it's his. That is why we're here; we can stop him together. The time has finally come to end this abomination.”
I exhaled in relief; their forgiveness meant more to me than anything else. I always knew the truth about Lucan and his oppression, but it was too easy to blame myself. With the confirmation from my parents that Lucan and his bloodline were as bad as I experienced them to be, I could move forward in a different way than before.
There was still some self-blame, I wondered if I would ever escape the guilt of that night, but it lessened. I was not the only one that loved the victims wholeheartedly, and I was not the only one that could blame the king and his son for the events that unfolded.
“Eden, I need to tell you that we will have to leave again,” Delia was suddenly grave, her onyx eyes conveying the worst kind of heartbreak. “It doesn't seem fair, after we've just found each other again. But in order to keep you as safe as possible, we have to keep moving.”
“Safe? I'm not safe, there's a detail on Aunt Syl right now anyway; they know exactly where I am,” I protested, not ready to say goodbye after just finding them. My heart felt crushed, I thought we were going to work together, that I wouldn't have to carry this Resistance alone. I needed guidance, someone that was a better leader, someone that people would listen to; I thought I had found that in them.
“That is exactly why we have to go,” Justice jumped in, reaching across the table and taking my hand in his. “By now they've figured out we are here. We've stayed too long already. But we had to see you; we couldn't leave until did. Still, they are coming for us. In hours, Omaha will be swarming with Titans looking for us.”
“Kiran will protect you, Eden. I believe that he will, but his father will hunt us until the day he has us in his possession and so we have to keep moving to keep you safe.” A single tear slipped from Delia's eyes and I could feel it in her magic how desperate she was to stay with me. “You have a place here, you're the leader of the Rebellion, for goodness sakes. We will meet you soon; we will attack the Romanian citadel with you.”
Delia looked back at Justice and he smiled. His green eyes sparkled with intensity and the idea of battle and the room was quickly flooded with his warrior-like magic, hungry for conflict, ready for blood, “We are only leaving until your teams are ready to move. We will meet you there and we can rescue your brother together. We've contacted with many more that are willing to fight. I'd say, at last count, we had about two hundred that have promised to go with us.”
“Wow!” I marveled at those kinds of numbers. In the same amount of time, I was able to recruit.... Gabriel. In all that time, I was able to recruit one. Well, and if you counted Silas, that made two. The rest were all just a re-gathering of the people already enlisted by my brother or grandfather. “So when? When are we doing this?” I could hardly contain my excitement to go.
“Well,” Jericho spoke up from across the table, “we were thinking, as long as you agree, how about we add ourselves to the guest list for the royal wedding?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“What I am worried about is Lucan's showmanship,” Delia continued, as if she needed to convince me that destroying any hope of happiness Kiran had was a good thing. “I am worried for your brother. Lucan loves these big moments where he can display his power and authority. If he has been waiting for the right moment to hurt your brother anymore, it would be during his son's wedding, as either a gift or a promise.”
“You had me at royal wedding.” I smiled. I wondered at my mother's deep knowledge of Lucan. I knew they spent time together when they were young and that is how Lucan fell in love with her, but I always just assumed she only had eyes for my father. Something was revealed though, when she spoke about Lucan, it wasn't with contempt or hatred, it was with deep sadness, the earth-shattering kind that broke a heart in two.
“It will be tricky getting all of our side into the citadel without alarming the Titan Guard far in advance. We are thankful for our numbers, but there is no way to smuggle that many Immortal's into a heightened security situation without setting off some bells and whistles,” Justice explained and his accent was so similar to Talbott's that I found it slightly off-putting.
“Well, do we need all two-hundred?” I asked, and everyone's eyes turned to me. “I mean, what is our goal here? Personally, I would prefer to focus only on extracting Avalon, and then regroup and decide how to take down the monarchy later. Avalon is my first concern.”
“Ours, too,” Justice agreed, sitting up straighter and talking to me differently, like I was an equal and not a child.
“All right, so, my thought is, save the other two-hundred, train them to fight and then use them in a greater battle in the future. A battle where maybe our target is Lucan or at least aimed more towards the royal family,” I suggested, suddenly nervous with everyone staring so intently at me.
“So, use a smaller base and like a get in, get out kind of scenario,” Jericho jumped on board, nodding his head enthusiastically.
“Unless you think we need all of those people to get Avalon?” I asked, second-guessing my ability to decide anything.
“No, I think you're right,” Justice pressed his fingertips together and rested his chin on top of them. “Security will, of course, be heightened, but they will also be distracted with the entire royal family present. It could be the perfect opportunity for a small opts kind of scenario. We could even slip in before the wedding starts, grab Avalon, and escape. Simple as that.” He returned my smile, the proud kind of grin that only father's could offer their children and I beamed with admiration for him.
“Will it be possible though? I mean to move around the castle undetected?” I asked, trying to improve at thinking entire plans through. There was no way I was ever going to get sucked into another Morocco situation by being unprepared and naive.
“If worse comes to worst, then I can step in,” Delia announced confidently. “I haven't seen Lucan in a hundred and sixty three years, it's time I met the man face to face,” her eyes saddened and Justice reached out his hand instinctively to comfort his wife. I was almost unbearably curious about their history with Lucan, but I kept my questions to myself, saving them for a different day, a day when Avalon would be here to listen to the answers too.
“Besides, the whole kingdom both adores Delia and absolutely despises her at the same time,” Justice gazed at his wife as if he wanted to take whatever burden this meant on himself and carry it for her. “At the very least, she will be a distraction.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They love her because Lucan loves her and because she escaped and found life outside of the kingdom. They hate her for the exact same reasons,” Justice answered seriously.
“Do they feel the same way about you?” I asked him and his face lit up in a smile.
“Oh, no, they pretty much all hate me,” he laughed and Delia turned to him, laughing too.
“The wedding, do we have a date?” I asked, working out a time line in my mind.
“Our sources tell us everything is being prepared for the first of May,” Jericho spoke up again and both Delia and Justice nodded their agreement.
“Kendrick unions are always held on the first of May; it's sacred tradition,” Delia practically whispered her response.
“All right, then that only leaves one small detail,” I grinned, happy to have a plan in motion that was only three weeks away from being carried out, “How do we get inside?”
“Eden, is it true that last fall, you escaped through the underground river?” Justice asked, his eyes proud again and his expectation confident.
“Yes, Amory took me,” I swallowed, finding it almost impossible not to weep at the memory.
“Without magic?” Justice pressed, his eyes growing ever more excited.
“Yes, the entire way,” I couldn't help perk up with pride.
“That is incredible!” he exclaimed, and then turned to his wife, “Lia, isn't that incredible?”
“Yes, it is.” She gazed intently at me, her eyes brimming with tears again.
“Then, that is how we will go back,” Justice declared. I could tell Lucan had an amazing bodyguard in him at one time. “Delia, Eden and I will sneak in to the citadel that way without magic. If we can operate without magic through the castle, we can theoretically stay undetected until Avalon is out and safe. Jericho, how many are there of you?”
“Almost two dozen,” Jericho replied, he was buzzing with excited energy, ready for battle and ready to rescue his best friend.
“Fantastic! Lucan will be expecting something, some kind of display or protest from you. Jericho and his people can draw out the Guard from the Citadel, leaving the castle nearly empty. When we have Avalon, Eden can call Jericho, who can retreat into the forest and disappear. I do not believe the Guard will follow you far into the mountains, because they will assume it is a trick to get inside the Citadel!” Justice half-shouted, leaning back in his chair and bringing his fist to his chin. “This just might work!”
“It has to work, I have to get Avalon back,” I whispered seriously, as excited as everyone else was, but not able to drop sight of the real goal: my brother.
“Yes, we know you do,” Delia agreed seriously and I felt her words to my very bones. She stood up abruptly and Justice followed.
The mood in the room changed quickly; it was obvious that they needed to move on. The feeling that the conversation was at an end was almost bizarre; the whole climate of our communion changed as if time itself warned my parents that this visit was over.
Delia pulled me into another embrace, holding me to her and rocking back and forth gently. “It gets easier,” she whispered into my ear.
“Being without Avalon?” I asked, clarifying. I hoped she was wrong, I desperately hoped she didn't mean my brother. I didn't want it to get easier; I didn't want not to push every second of every day to get him back.
“No,” she shook her head in my tangles of hair, “to be without Kiran.”
I stood speechless, letting her arms comfort me against the harsh reality of her words. I wondered again at her relationship with Lucan and if my life was a mere echo of hers. She kissed me on the cheek, not wanting to let go, but when Justice tapped her on the shoulder, she immediately consented.
