A Coconspirator

Rukelion didn't truly think Conrad would sell him out. His loyalty had already been bought when he saved his life.

Taking a deep breath, he began to tell the truth. "The king of Mirea decided to destroy the entire country of Katalya unprovoked and used the Aveleenian water mages to make it happen. I still don't know why he did it…though I do have some suspicions.

"I saw it all happen. It was a completely one-sided slaughter. The Katalyans had no warning whatsoever. Not only were they outnumbered, they were outmatched because they were fighting against horrendously strong plant magic without having the benefit of using their own. Water nullifies fire, after all.

"As far as I'm aware, I'm the sole survivor and that was only because I played dead. The king LAUGHED when he saw me surrounded by my dead family members. How do you think I'd feel running into him again after that?"'

Conrad's expression was one of utmost horror. "If you're Katalyan and you had to go through all of that, what on earth are you doing in the Mirean military?!"

"The best way to take revenge is from the inside out," Rukelion said in a hard voice. "I've been among my enemies biding my time for a chance to destroy the king for what he did to my people. I didn't expect him to turn on the Aveleenians but it sort of worked out in my favor since I was out to get them too."

"You…who are you, May? You're the strongest person I've ever heard of and supposedly came from a farm town in the middle of nowhere but now you're from Katalya. You must have spent years training specifically for this."

"Almost three. I ended up in that farm town after running away from the carnage and was taken in by a girl not much older than me after she found me injured and unconscious. I recuperated there and ended up using her farm as my base as I trained."

"Your fiancée," Conrad said in wonder.

Rukelion sighed. "Yes. She thinks I ran away from somewhere and helped me hide in plain sight but she doesn't know who I really am. She doesn't know about my revenge plan either and I don't intend to tell her until after it's done."

"You never told me who you really are either, you know."

With a snap of his fingers, a small flame appeared and hung in mid-air. "Does this answer your question?"

Conrad blinked at him. "You're a fire mage? Are you a noble then? I don't know much about magic but I've heard in most countries magic is restricted to royalty or nobility because of intermarriage and bloodline purity and whatnot."

He had revealed all of his other secrets. Keeping this last one was pointless by now since he was certain his lieutenant wouldn't betray him. "I was the third prince of Katalya and my name was Rukelion Blaze."

"You're a prince?! And you ended up working on a farm then joining an enemy military? No one would ever believe that!"

"Exactly the point. Besides, everyone thinks I'm dead and I'd like to keep it that way until the last possible second. Do you understand what's been bothering me now?"

Conrad leaned his head against the wall and blew out a frustrated breath. "Obviously. That's a lot to deal with on your own, May. Or…whoever you are. I don't know what exactly you're planning but I'm in."

"Seriously?" Rukelion had expected that to be harder.

"Why not? I already knew the king was at least somewhat sleazy but finding out he's been committing war crimes left and right gives me more incentive to commit treason. No offense but, strong as you are, I don't think the two of us will be able to go up against the royals, the army, and the royal guard by ourselves."

"I never intended to do this alone…I was hoping to find people willing to help me avenge my country but wasn't sure I would be able to. Thank you, Conrad."

"Of course. You saved my life; it's the least I can do. The country would be better off in your hands anyway. You actually care about what happens to people and you've lived as a commoner. Mirea would prosper under your rule," Conrad said firmly.

"We're going to need more people though. I'm sure the Silver Wolves would help you out if they knew the truth since they respect you and most of them are only there for the money like I am. We might be able to convince what remains of the Black Dragons and Golden Eagles as well considering they were there in Aveleen and had to deal with that bloodbath. Will three partial squads really be enough?"

"No," Rukelion replied with a shake of his head. "I have some mercenaries I can get to help out for the right price but I'd have to track them down…and have enough money saved to hire them. They're known as the Gray Skull.

"I don't know if they would be enough either. The real trick is knowing the layout of the palace inside and out so we can storm it when the time comes. We need numbers and intelligence; two things we're short on right now."

Conrad shot him a confident smile. "We'll figure it out. We have time and your reputation on our side."

Rukelion wished he shared his lieutenant's confidence. Even so, it was a relief to have someone believe him and genuinely want to help. Suddenly he felt guilty for previously thinking of him as nothing but a chess piece.

"Come on," Conrad said as he gestured for Rukelion to follow. "Let's head back to town and get something to eat. That is a seriously long walk and somehow talking about treason has left me famished. We'll think better on full stomachs anyway."

With a tiny smile of his own, he did. Having a coconspirator had already made a world of difference for his morale.

===

Rukelion and Conrad spent the better part of the next three years trying to recruit people. He also saved every coin he didn't send home to Daisy to help him hire the mercenaries when he managed to track them down.

Their squad grew as military recruitment continued and soldiers from other squads who had managed to advance in rank joined them slowly but surely until they were back to the size they were before the war. Those soldiers weren't as trustworthy as the ones who had seen battle and were loyal to their captain because of it so they didn't try to bring them on board.

They had to be careful. Very careful. If a whisper of a planned coup got out, they would all be dead.

Aside from their plans not going nearly as quickly as Rukelion would have liked, things were fairly consistent. Predictable. Boring. He handled his regular captain's duties to the point that the repetition became dull.

At least being back in headquarters allowed him to hear from Daisy more often. She occasionally sent gifts along with her letters as well, such as new winter clothes or jars of preserves.

Though progress on his plan was slow, he had one thing to look forward to. Ira was finally going off to the academy.

It was situated in southwestern Mirea and was even further away from Cloverfield than the capital. She said she was going to safely see him off then officially move closer to him after using him as an intermediary to get in contact with that girl she met at the flower shop in town.

Even if it wasn't at the royal palace right away, she would still have a job working with flowers upon her arrival. That was what mattered to her. Flowers would always trump fruits and vegetables in her mind.

Rukelion couldn't wait to see her! He had been promoted to a major about six months ago so he now had his own house in one of the nicer parts of town where the two of them could stay together like before. He was relieved it happened before she arrived so they didn't have to be apart more than necessary.

Conrad had taken over as captain of the Silver Wolf Squadron and had made Boon, who was on their side, his lieutenant. The whole squad was still basically under his command because of this. Whatever he wanted done, Conrad would make it happen.

But carefully. They couldn't make a move before they had the chance to infiltrate the palace, gather the intelligence they needed, and gain more allies.

At this point, Rukelion honestly wasn't sure when he would be able to pull this off. It might be years before he even got into the palace once considering he was only a major and they hardly ever made it into war meetings involving the king.

His revenge was so close he could almost taste it and yet still so far away. All this progress and he had still hardly gotten anywhere! It was beyond frustrating but he couldn't let himself lose hope.

Any progress was better than none. He had to take what he could get.

All things considering, he had come rather far in the time he had been in the capital. Empires didn't fall in a day. He was doing very well with the resources he currently had.

He shouldn't be worrying about what he had no control over right now. He had more important things to be concerned about…such as Daisy's impending arrival. He needed to make sure the house was in order when he arrived. He knew she liked things to be tidy.

Rukelion leaned back in the chair of his office and sighed. She would be with him soon and that would make all of this waiting so much more bearable. It wouldn't feel as much like waiting if he was able to have part of what he wanted.