*
The night of the full moon was foggy and damp, making the streets dark and cold. As she hurried along to the meeting at the Old Barrel Yard, Eleanor wished she’d thought to bring her winter cloak. She’d presumed too much from the early spring sunshine.
When she arrived the bar was already crowded and she was amused – and somewhat impressed – to find a young lad at the door who was using her own pass phrases to control who he allowed to enter. After she’d satisfied him of her identity, she pushed through to the bar.
“Good turnout,” she said to Ade. “Thanks.”
“It’s your idea that’s brought them,” he said. “I can’t claim any credit for that. Are you having your usual?”
She nodded, and he filled a tankard for her. The spiced ale warmed her fingers and her insides, and by the time she reached the bottom she was more than ready to call her meeting to order. She drummed her fists on the bar until the room fell silent, and stood on a chair to address the crowd.
“Men and women of Almont,” she began. “Welcome to the revolution.”
They clapped and cheered and stamped their feet, and she had to wave to quieten them down before she could go on.
“The Empire has gone too far! The Imperial family flouts their own laws! We must act!”
Again there were cheers, and again she waited for the excitement to subside before continuing with a more serious tone.
“The Empress is looking to expand into the southern mountains, against the will of those who live there. She’s trying to extend her influence into the drylands across the ocean, by sending our soldiers to die in the sands. She’s ordering the assassination of those who dare to disagree, even her own flesh and blood.”
She looked around the room, and her eyes met those of the astonished audience who were soaking up every word. They might be longstanding rebels, but she guessed most of them had never before come close to knowing what went on within the palace walls.
“This can’t continue. To succeed, the revolution needs every one of us. It requires every woman and man and child we can call on. It requires us to give up our petty acts of personal rebellion and join together to follow a new path. A path more challenging, but more rewarding. A path to overthrow the Empress and her poisoned family. This is the only way to stop them crushing us with laws they don’t even follow.” She could feel tension mounting in the room as she spoke. “So who’s with me?”
The crowd erupted with cries of “Yeah!” and “Forwards!” and “Revolution!”
“Because anyone who’s not with me can leave, right now.” She pointed towards the door, but nobody moved. “There’s no space left for playing at rebellion. There’s no more time for vandals and petty thieves. For our revolution to succeed we have to be much more than this. We’re at war now. This is a battle. You are an army!”
Again she waited for the clapping and cheering to subside. There was something strangely addictive about this leadership game. The crowd fell into silence again and watched her expectantly.
“Like any army, we need to have discipline,” she said. “You need training and weapons and strategy – I can give you those things. In exchange, you have to give me your word. If you’re prepared to trust me, we can do this together.”
“I’m in,” cried a young man at the back of the room, punching his fist into the air. A smattering of others echoed his sentiments, while others just watched.
“Now, I need you to go out and tell your people. Tell your neighbours and friends that this is the shape of the new order. The revolution is starting tonight.”
She barely slept that night. The excitement of what she’d started filled her veins; there was something exhilarating about the crowd’s responses. Suddenly Don’s idea seemed to have a real prospect of success.
The next morning, feeling a little more optimistic about everything, she made her way back to Lucille’s office.
“I won’t do it,” Lucille said. “I can’t.”
“Okay,” Eleanor nodded. She was disappointed but she’d promised herself she wouldn’t exert any more pressure – she still felt some loyalty to the girls she had grown up with. Besides, she was sure she could find someone else at the College who would be just as easy to break.
“But I’ve got you a list,” Lucille added, pulling a couple of sheets of paper from her pocket. “I thought, maybe, if you had the names... well, you could talk to the schools, couldn’t you?”
Eleanor had to fight to stop the triumphant expression that was trying to shape her features; Lucille might reconsider if she understood just what she was offering. Talk to the schools? Not likely. But talking to the possible candidates, now there was a plan that might work.
“Perhaps,” Eleanor said casually. “I’ll have a go.”
“Here.”
“Thanks, Luce. You’ve saved me no end of trouble.” She read the names and noted the schools. There were a couple from Venncastle; that was no surprise. The others were spread across the Empire. “Could I come back later in the week and take a look through their records?”
“I have them here,” Lucille said, offering up a stack of folders. “I can’t let you take them out of the building, but you can read for as long as you like.”
Eleanor sat there for almost half a day, flicking through the files while Lucille continued to work. Once she was convinced she’d committed every important detail to memory, she put the pile of papers back on the desk and got to her feet.
“Thanks for that.”
“Is there anything else?”
“I’d appreciate it if you could pass one message to whoever makes these lists,” Eleanor said. “Just tell him to include the female students from next year.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you notice? There aren’t any girls on this list. It’s time that changed.”
“I thought you said this was the way you found your job.”
“Well, yes. I was a special case. They haven’t traditionally taken any women.”
“Okay, I’ll do that. And come back if you need anything else, won’t you?”
“I won’t need to,” Eleanor said, tucking the list of names safely under her belt. “But I’ll be back around this time next year, and I’ll be very happy if there are some girls’ names on the list.”
She was almost at the door when Lucille spoke up again.
“Do you really think there’s going to be a war?”
“It’s looking more and more that way.”
Lucille wasn’t the kind of person who liked things she couldn’t measure, and she looked troubled at the very idea. “What’s going to happen to us?”
“I don’t know. It probably depends which side you choose.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Empress has already set about killing any rebels that her people can track down. Even children. It won’t be long before the revolution has to become equally violent to stand a chance of success.”
“But you think the rebels are going to win? You must, or you wouldn’t be supporting them.”
“I can’t promise you anything like that. I don’t know who’s going to win. I just know what’s right, and the Empress has been wrong a lot lately.”
“Do you think I should...?”
“I think you should stay out of it for as long as you can.”
“But last time you were here, you said everyone would have to choose.”
“That day will come – and I think it’ll be soon – but it’s not here yet. For as long as you’re able to keep doing your job without danger, that’s what you should do,” Eleanor said. “When that becomes impossible, only you can decide which way to jump.”
Lucille stared at her, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want this.”
“I know. Neither would I, if there were any alternative.”
“But what should I do?”
“I think you should pick the winning side,” Eleanor said. “It might well be obvious by the time you’
re forced to choose. But listen, if you do join the rebels, just make sure you mention my name. You’ll find friends quickly that way.”
Lucille nodded. “I’ll remember.”
“You’ve done me a huge favour today,” Eleanor went on. “And you know I’ll always help you if I can.”
“Would I have to fight? You know I was always hopeless at that kind of thing.”
“No, my friends will hide you until I can find you. You’re not cut out for fighting – no-one’s going to try and put you on the front line.”