The Order of the Twelve

Chapter 4: The Rebels

Chapter 4: The Rebels

         Rosie struggled to control the panic that was rising in her chest as she burst out of her room. As she reached the stairs, she wondered where the guards Aaron had posted outside her room were. When she reached to the first floor, she got her answer.


         Garret was slumped against the far wall with an arrow in his throat. John was on the floor, the front side of his uniform stained crimson with blood. Calvin had a dagger in his stomach, and Rosie was pretty sure his neck was broken. Then, she saw Aaron clashing swords with the cloaked man from her dream, who was surprisingly a woman. She wanted to stop watching, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn away. As the woman dodged one of Aaron’s blows, the table that the sword hit instead burst into flames. It suddenly dawned on Rosie that Aaron was using his talent to fight this woman. He was from Leo, so he had a fire talent. She tried to look for a way to the door but she couldn’t see past the flames and smoke, and she didn’t want to leave Aaron alone in a burning building fighting for his life.


         Suddenly, a path through the smoke formed and she could see the exit. She could also see Logan running straight towards her. “Rosie, what are you doing?! We have to get out of here!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.


         Rosie pulled back. “Wait, Logan. I can’t just leave. Aaron is fighting that woman and one of them might die, and aren’t there other people in the inn too”


         “Don’t worry. Sparrow and I got everyone else out already, but now we have to leave.”


         “Logan, I can’t just let him die.”


         “Please, Rosie, just listen.”


         Rosie screamed, “LET GO!” She stumbled and fell on the ground. Aaron looked over and the woman took advantage of the distraction to land a hit and knocked his sword out of his hand. Oh no. She’s going to kill Aaron. What do I do? Rosie could feel some kind of pressure forming in the back of her mind. Time slowed down. The woman raised her sword, ready to finish Aaron off. The pressure in Rosie’s mind was growing with her anxiety and panic. Aaron braced himself for the sword’s impact. Rosie pressed her hands against the floorboards and screamed, “AARON, YOU CAN’T DIE!” Then, all hell broke loose.


         The pressure in her head suddenly gave way to an ocean of power she had never felt before. As it surged through her, down her arms and hands, and into the floorboards; the very ground beneath them began to tremble with power. She started an earthquake! The woman stumbled backwards and grabbed the wall for support. She yelled something to Logan, but Rosie couldn’t make out what it was. All she could hear was screaming, and she realized it was coming from her. Rosie tried to move, cut off the flow of power, anything to make it stop; but she was frozen in place. Whether it was from her talent, of fear she didn’t know.


         She looked up to see if Aaron was all right, and she saw him just sitting there staring at her with a mixture of surprise and horror on his face. She heard the sound of wood breaking above her and didn’t even have time to look up when she felt a stab of pain and searing heat on her back that forced her down onto the floor. As the shaking subsided, Rosie felt all of her strength leave her. She felt the pressure on her back leave and someone pulling at her arms and picking her up. She could hear voices around her but she couldn’t tell what they were saying. She thought she could still see Aaron in the burning inn. They needed to save him too. She had to tell them. She tried but only got as far as his name before everything went black.

◊

         As quickly as Rosie had passed out, that was how slowly she regained consciousness. At first, she could only tell that she was bouncing on something. Maybe I’m on a horse, she thought, it feels like someone’s holding me. After a while, her hearing started working again. She heard running water, so she assumed she was near a creek or a river. Rosie was still tired. She wanted to sleep more, but it was becoming too loud and bright to sleep.


         “Don’t worry Rosie. I’m going to take care of you until you wake up.” That voice sounded like Logan’s voice. “I just wish there was an easier way to feed you.” It was Logan. Rosie wanted to tell him that she was awake, but apparently her body was still asleep.


         A sharp voice cut through the air, “Brown, you done checking on your girlfriend yet? You still have to check on the horses.”


         Logan yelled back, “I’ll be there in a minute Tabitha. I’m almost done.” Rosie groaned. All the noise was making her head pound. “Rosie, can you hear me? It’s Logan.”


         Rosie moaned and said, “Don’t talk so loud.” She opened her eyes. She was in a tent. She tried to sit up, but she felt a sharp pain in her back and Logan pushed her back down. “How long have I been asleep?”


         Logan let out a chuckle and replied, “You’ve been out cold since last night when we fled the burning inn. I’ll be honest though, from the size of the earthquake you caused, I expected you to be out for at least another day or so.”


         Rosie clutched her head. “So I guess I didn’t dream that up, did I?”


         “Afraid not. Why don’t you have some water while I go find Sparrow, he’s the blonde one you saw with the bow and arrows. We still have to treat that burn on your back and I can’t lift you by myself.” Rosie stared at him confused. He laughed and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll explain in a minute.” Then he crawled out of the tent and ran off.


         Rosie’s head was spinning with questions. Had she really caused that earthquake? Had Aaron made it out of the fire? Was he dead? Why did Logan take her with him? Who was Tabitha, and why had she called Rosie Logan’s girlfriend? She had all of these questions and no clue how to answer them. It only reminded her how tired she still was.


         Logan came back along with the blonde haired boy she assumed was Sparrow. Logan explained that since she couldn’t stand and the tent couldn’t hold more than two people in it, they had to pull the blanket she was laying on out of the tent and then carry her. After she was out, Sparrow grabbed her feet and Logan took hold of her around her waist. It was essentially a rainbow of pain and discomfort. They carried her over to a nearby stream, set her in it, and Logan kneeled down beside her in the water.


         Rosie sat up and gasped. “This is freezing,” she said through chattering teeth. Even the pain in her back couldn’t make her lay back down in that water again.


         Sparrow didn’t even look at here as he replied, “Suck it up you big baby, and hand me your moonstone while you’re at it or it will interfere with the Doc’s spell.”


         Rosie’s hand went instinctively to her necklace. “How will it interfere? I’m wearing it, not him.”


         “True, but he’s doing the spell on you. If you’re wearing your moonstone while he treats you it might absorb the spell and not work. I promise I’ll give it back when he’s done.” He held out his hand and smiled. Rosie took off her necklace for the first time in years and handed it to him.


         Logan clapped his hands together and said, “Good, now that everything’s settled, let’s get started. Rosie, I hope you don’t mind, but I have to lift up the back of your shirt to see the burn that wooden ceiling beam made when it landed on you.” Rosie felt herself blush but nodded. “Okay, it’s not as bad as I had expected. I just need you to take a deep breath and relax. I promise I know what I’m doing.” He kept one hand on her shoulder while he placed his other hand palm down in the water and closed his eyes. At first, she couldn’t tell what was happening, but then, she felt the stream water slowly flowing up her back. It was like the stream had been flowing up her back for years and she never noticed before. And as it flowed, the pain in her back and legs began to ebb away. As if waves were washing over her and taking some of the pain away with each passing wave. As the last bit of pain faded away, Rosie could feel something else flowing besides the water. She felt a sort of energy. It was sort of like the kind she had felt when she released the earthquake, but it was much softer, less potent. Rosie wanted to hold on to it forever, to just sit there and bask in its soft light when she felt a hand push her away and the connection was severed. She sat up, looked over, and Logan on all fours gasping for air. Sparrow was holding him steady and glaring at her, like it was her fault or something.


         “What the hell were you thinking,” Sparrow yelled at her, “You were sucking up all of Logan’s energy. You could have killed him.” Rosie just stared, dumbfounded. It had never occurred to her that the power had been coming from Logan. She suddenly felt terrible for putting him in danger.


         “It’s okay Sparrow, I’m just a little worn out, that’s all,” Logan said between breaths, “It was just as much my fault as it was hers. I should have stopped when she was healed. She didn’t know, couldn’t have known, it was my power she was connecting to.”


         Sparrow looked down at Logan and said, “Oh, well in that case, You Idiot! What’s the matter with you? You know how dangerous letting pure energy flow is. That’s why she was out cold the entire night.”


         “That’s why I did it when you were here. I knew you would stop it before it got out of hand,” Logan said standing up. Then he turned around and pulled Rosie to her feet. “Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I need to have a look at the horses before Tabitha starts using me for target practice.” Logan gave Rosie’s hand a quick squeeze before he walked off towards the horses. Sparrow handed Rosie her moonstone and started walking towards camp.


         Rosie walked out of the stream and asked Sparrow timidly, “Sparrow, who exactly is Tabitha anyway?”


         Sparrow looked at her and said, “Tabitha’s the leader of the rebel army. She’s also our top strategist and possesses a pretty powerful air talent.”


         “She runs the rebel army?” Rosie asked.


         Sparrow snorted. “Well, considering she built it from the ground up, I think she should get to be in charge.” Rosie stared at him. “It’s true. Tabitha was the first person to track down all the people who were tired of King Magnus doing whatever he wanted and get them to band together to fight back.”


         “That’s amazing,” Rosie remarked, “but what drove her to do that in the first place? I mean, there’s a pretty solid line between complaining about a king and starting an entire army to overthrow him. What made her cross the line?”


         Sparrow’s expression quickly darkened. “It’s not something she likes to talk about. I’ve known her for years and even I don’t know the whole story. The most I’ve been able to gather from her since we’ve met is that the King’s soldiers burned her village to the ground and killed her brother.”


         Rosie gasped. “That’s horrible. Why would they do that?”


         Sparrow gazed into the distance. “Don’t know. I know Tabitha better than anyone and I still can’t get her to tell me. Although, I have a pretty good feeling she’s going to keep that reason a secret until the day she dies. Well, that’s enough funeral talk. I think it’s about time you met our fearless leader. Follow me.” As Sparrow led her towards the forest, he started talking about all the progress the rebel army had made in the last few years. Rosie wasn’t interested in war, so she tuned out his voice and took the time to get her thoughts in order. She still had so many questions, about her talent and last night at the inn. Rosie hoped that whoever Tabitha was, she had the answers that Rosie was looking for. Most importantly, Rosie wanted to know when she’d be able to go home. If she was lucky, the King’s soldiers thought she was dead and she could go back home and live in disguise. The one thing that still bothered her was if Aaron was still alive. Rosie couldn’t get over the look he was giving her as she blacked out. It was like he’d just realized something horrible, and for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it meant.


         Rosie was so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed Sparrow had stopped walking and she almost ran into him. “Here we are. I hope you’re ready to meet the mastermind behind the rebel army.” Sparrow turned and yelled up into the trees, “Tabitha, that girl Logan rescued is awake. Come on down and meet her.” Rosie heard leaves rustling above her. She looked up and saw someone climbing down the branches with catlike agility and grace. The person that Rosie assumed was Tabitha stopped about 10 feet from the ground and jumped the rest of the way, landing perfectly. Then Tabitha stood up and turned around. Rosie couldn’t believe her eyes. Tabitha was the same woman she had seen fighting Aaron at the inn the night before. She was sure of it. It was the same waist length hair. It had seemed black in the inn but now Rosie could see it had a slight dark blue tint to it, almost like ink. Her eyes were blue as well, but it was too deep a blue to be natural. It looked like the royal blue dye used in coloring cloth that was going to be made into dresses for noble women. Tabitha’s eyes showed no sympathy either. She had a look that was cold and hard, ready to cut someone down at the first sign of attack. Rosie could tell this was a woman who didn’t trust many people, and Rosie was absolutely terrified.


         “So, this is the earthquake girl. You’re much more fragile looking than I expected, but most people with talents usually are in the beginning. I’m sure with a little training you’ll toughen right up.” Tabitha was eyeing Rosie up like she was a side of beef. Then she turned to Sparrow and said, “Hey Sparrow, I know I saw a ceiling beam fall on this girl. How is she walking already? Come to think of it,” Tabitha said looking back at Rosie again, “that earthquake was really big. How come you aren’t still unconscious after using up so much power?”


         Sparrow cut in before Rosie had time to answer, “Tabs, I don’t know how she woke up so fast, but Doc is the one who fixed the burn she got from the flaming ceiling beam.”


         Tabitha suddenly looked really annoyed. “What?! He wasted perfectly good talent on this little princess. I’d throttle that idiot if he wasn’t so good at what he does.”


         “Tabs, take it easy,” Sparrow said putting his hands up defensively, “Rosie here was barely able to sit up when she got up. You and I both know that it would have been much harder to stay inconspicuous if we’re carrying around an invalid.” Sparrow put his hand on Tabitha’s shoulder, and she smiled back at him.


         Rosie tried to control her stammering as she said, “Um… Miss Tabitha, I don’t mean to pry, but I’m still kind of wondering, what happened to Aaron back at the inn?”


         Tabitha looked at Rosie as if she just asked a stupid question. “You mean the red-headed soldier? I don’t know. I didn’t break his legs, so if your earthquake didn’t kill him he probably got out alive.” Rosie couldn’t believe Tabitha had replied so nonchalantly. This was somebody’s life, not a pocket watch or a pair of pants.


         “So, you don’t know where he is then?” Rosie asked nervously.


         “No,” Tabitha replied bluntly, “and we should hope he doesn’t know where we are or we’ll be hanging from the gallows by week’s end. Unless, his Royal Highness, King Magnus decides to think of a new way to kill us.”


         Sparrow chortled and said, “Honestly, I’d be a little insulted if he didn’t after all the trouble we’ve caused. Well, I’m going to go find The Doc and see when we can pack up to leave. Rosie, would you like to join me?”


         “Oh…uh…no thanks, I think I’ll take a little walk. I need to clear my head,” Rosie said smiling.


         Sparrow shrugged and replied, “All right then, if that’s what you want. Just don’t get lost, the forest is pretty big.” He turned and walked back towards the camp, leaving Rosie alone with Tabitha.


         Rosie turned back towards Tabitha and said, “Tabitha, I’ve been curious about something. Is ‘Sparrow’ his real name?”


         “Actually,” Tabitha replied, “it isn’t. I’ve been calling Sparrow by that name for as long as I have known him, but it’s really a nickname his father gave him when he was a kid.”


         “Do you know why his father calls him that?” Rosie asked.


         “Nope,” Tabitha replied, “and I don’t know what his real name is either. I asked him once but he told me that he hated his real name and never wanted to use it again for as long as he lived.”


         “Why is that?” Rosie asked puzzled.


         “I didn’t think it was my place to ask.” Tabitha suddenly looked at Rosie and her expression got very serious. “One thing you need to learn about the rebels, Princess. We all have our secrets. I’m not one to judge and neither are you. If one of my men think you’re trustworthy enough to learn their secrets, that’s fine, but don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. Understand?” Rosie was too scared to answer, so she just nodded. Tabitha’s face softened. “That’s good. Now, I’ll leave you to your walk. Since you no longer qualify as an invalid, I need to pack up the tent. I prefer to be able to leave in a hurry if need be. I’ll see you back at camp.” Tabitha walked passed Rosie, leaving her with a mixture of fear and curiosity.


         Rosie walked aimlessly through the forest as she pondered all the questions she had and how few answers she was getting. She walked around in the forest until she came across a large pond with lotus flowers growing on the banks. Rosie thought that finding the lotus flowers seemed fitting because lotus flowers symbolize mystery and truth. Rosie sat down to rest for a while and as she smelled the rich fragrance of the lotus blossoms, her mind drifted off into a dreamlike state.

◊

         Rosie suddenly found herself surrounded by trees. She couldn’t tell where she was exactly because a thick fog covered the ground. Despite being unable to see or hear anything, Rosie couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She felt someone’s gaze on her back and as she turned around, she barely glimpsed a small face ducking behind the tree. Rosie tried to walk over to the tree, but she found herself rooted in place. Then she heard giggling coming from the other direction.


         “Come now, little Rose, you cannot really believe you got out of making your choice that easily.” The voice sounded like a small girl. Rosie tried to figure out where the sound was coming from, but the voice had no direction. It was as if it was coming from everywhere. “I know you are used to having fate make your choices for you, but that will not work this time.” There was something vaguely familiar about this voice, but Rosie couldn’t tell where she had heard it before.


         “Who are you?” Rosie asked as she called out to the voice.


         Rosie heard the voice giggle. “You will learn that when the time is right, little Rose. Until then, trust in your talent. I will be checking up on you again in the future.”


         “Wait,” Rosie cried out, “Please don’t go. I still have so many questions.”


         “All will be answered,” The voice said as the dream faded away, “when what belongs to me is returned.”

◊

         “Rosie, Rosie, Rosie wake up,” Logan said as he shook Rosie awake.


         “I’m awake. What happened?” She asked sleepily.


         “You fell asleep. Tabitha told me to go out and look for you. We’re packing up to leave. She wants to make it to the next town by tomorrow. Come on, I’ll help you up.” Logan grabbed Rosie’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Also, you shouldn’t sleep near lotus flowers. It can give people weird dreams, especially talented.”


         “You don’t say.” Rosie thought to herself, No kidding.


         “Yeah,” Logan continued, “I mean, they can be pretty helpful sometimes, but it really messes up your sleep schedule. Sometimes people wake up even more tired than they were when they fell asleep. It’s really just best to avoid them unless you’re looking for a vision.”


         Rosie stopped and asked, “Logan, Tabitha didn’t kill Aaron, did she?”


         Logan turned to look at her. “Rosie, I can tell you one thing for sure about Tabitha. She would never kill someone unless they attacked first. Back at the inn, Aaron’s soldiers attacked us first and we defended ourselves. After you blacked out, Tabitha left Aaron be, and I can say with all but absolute certainty that he is probably still alive.” Rosie felt as if a weight had been lifted off her. She knew Aaron was safe and now had one less thing to worry about.


         Logan took Rosie’s hand and smiled. Rosie smiled back and said, “Thanks Logan. By the way, what town are we going to anyway?”


         “We’re heading to the city right on the border of Leo,” Logan’s eyes lit up as he spoke, “the beautiful city of Belisama.”