Feargus

Let me start by saying, my parents were traitors.

Which in Feargus Alistair Finlay's book, is an excellent quality when to my benefit. My parents were great traitors, too. So great, I didn't even know they were traitors until they told me, and we were close. It was also my job to know most things, so it was a bit embarrassing. I got over it right quick, though, seeing as they brought me cookies from the Big Buns bakery like they always did when they came to visit me at Palisade.

It's extremely important to know that I love cookies.

In many ways, this whole story is about cookies.

But anyhow, whenever my parents came to visit, Councilwoman Kelly would let us her office so we could talk. There weren't many Legacy Partisans active out there, and what I mean by that is, most were either dead, defected, imprisoned, or had retired into a vocation or whatnot. But my parents were the Administrators at the Strachan Drop and they were kind of a big deal. I called them mum and dad, but their names were Jack and Daisy. As a unit, the rebels called them JD. I looked like both of them, and now that I think about it, they kind of looked like each other. But the important thing is: we all had fantastic hair.

"All right, Gus?"

"Aye, all right—mum, dad, what about the pair of you?"

And that's when they told me they were traitors. They said, "Lad, we're traitors and we'd like you to join the family business." And so naturally, I said, "What are we selling?" I hoped it was cookies. But then they explained they meant traitors and not traders, and we all had a wholesome laugh about it. Aye, I'm sure how that's exactly how that went.

Either way, it was good news. Great news, actually. Rhian and I were already traitors, we just hadn't flipped Palisade the full bird yet. They said they couldn't tell me much more—not there, and not yet—but that Councilwoman Kelly would be speaking with me soon. That's when I figured out Councilwoman Kelly was a traitor, too. Colour me zero surprised. Councilwoman Kelly was a great lady. I'd save her a cookie.

By the by, what colour you reckon zero is? I'm going with yellow.

Seeing as you already know what happens in the future, I'll be able to put some context to a few things I otherwise couldn't if I were trying to keep you in suspense. My parents were traitors in the sense they'd been working with Rhydian's lot for a few years. They were how Riz would eventually end up at the lair, for example. And because they were the Administrators of the Drop, they had access to embarks, active Partisan schedules, eyes on defects, the whole crumbly cookie. I didn't have all those details at the time, though.

"How's Rhian?" Mum asked.

"She's Rhian. I'm sure she'd like to see you if you have a minute."

Mum and dad always had a minute for Rhian. While we were both raised at the orphanage, occasionally my parents were able to pop in for a visit, so she's known them almost as long as I have. We chatted a little while longer, and before leaving Kelly's office, my dad handed over a scroll with a ribbon around it. When I opened it up, it was a map. I loved maps. Not as much as cookies, see, but a fair bit.

"This is great," I said, even if I didn't recognize any of the places.

Mum lifted a finger to her lips and pointed to my satchel. I tossed her a two-finger salute, folded the scroll, and tucked it away. I loved that bag. Rhian bought it—actually bought it—in Delphia for my birthday that year. The secret pocket was a heavy sell.

After a reminder to stay quiet until speaking with Kelly—even with Rhian—we left the the Councilwoman's office.

When we got to Rhian's room, I knocked, and the door opened quickly.

"'Ey, Strauss," I said. I wasn't surprised to see him there. Rhian was my dorm neighbour, and apart from Michael once or twice a week, she never had visitors. Not until Strauss was released from confinement, anyhow. "All set for the big day?"

On the other side of the string bean, Rhian sat on the edge of her bed. She waved when she spotted Jack and Daisy, and they waved back. In response to my question, Strauss just nodded. He was a simple fellow like that. At first, I wasn't entirely sure what my sister's fuss over him was all about. Then I read his journal, which was surprisingly juicy, and I started to come around. Plus, he'd been helpful in Delphia, and it wasn't as though it was his fault he came across a bit dull, all those years locked up mostly by himself.

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Good looking chap, at least.

Strauss had never met my parents before, so there were a few minutes of standard fare introductions. Thinking about it now, they would have known his parents before they died, but they didn't say anything about that because they weren't rude. Once all that was out of the way, he slithered back into Rhian's room, and that's when she came around to say hi to my folks. They both gave her a hug which she half-pretended not to like.

They'd brought her cookies, too. Funny thing, they'd been baked by her mum, but nobody except JD knew that at the time. Anyhow, they couldn't stay long, so that was pretty much the end of that. And now you know about the family business, and how I got the map of pre-Divide Auditoria—or whatever the world was called before Zacharias named it.

Wait, what was it called? Why don't we know that yet?

Hang on—don't go anywhere. I'll ask.

All right, I'm back.

But I couldn't find Strauss, Zacharias, or anybody clever enough or ancient enough except Riz, kind of, who tried telling me it was called Rizikia. I pretended to believe him. Good times.

I guess we'll never know for now.

I received the missive from Councilwoman Kelly a good few weeks after Strauss took his vows and left for Amalia. The messenger said it was urgent and to bring all my important belongings. So, cookies, a few bits of clothes, the map, other maps, a rope, my hand-crossbow, and a few knives.

Because of the location on the missive, I knew the meeting would be important. See, Kelly had a few Navs in her pocket who hated Councilwoman Oranen as much as most of us did, so when I boarded the embark, I gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, zipped below deck, and the Celestian popped a sound barrier at the door. Handy trick, that.

Down below, we chit-chatted for a bit because it'd been a minute since I'd spent any time with Kelly. She was loved universally by any reasonable Partisan and was usually pretty busy. Otherwise, Rhian was still landlocked for what happened in Delphia, and they liked keeping the pair of us together for jobs, so there hadn't been much business to discuss. Right before things turned serious, I gave her a cookie. She ate it, as one does with cookies.

"I need you to go with Faust to Amalia," she said.

"Councilwoman Kelly," I said, "I'm thoroughly appalled. It's five in the morning and you've been drinking already."

She laughed. "Wish I had been."

I handed her my flask full of Hocks and she bottomed-up like a champion.

Rhian and I had only been to Amalia once, and it was only the Drop, and only for about five minutes. The common denominator from all the stories was that Amalia was a place straight out of a nightmare. Their problems also weren't often a Strachan's problem, so this was new, and all I remembered about it was that it smelled like worms. Anyhow, it'd been pretty dull lately, so I could hardly wait to get cracking. "So, Amalia. When do we leave?"

"You leave in about twenty minutes. Faust is on her way."

"What about Rhian?"

"I'm working on it, but I'll need you to go ahead."

"What's the hurry?"

"We need you to make sure Andrei Strauss doesn't die. Councilwoman Faust will explain the rest."

It just kept getting better and better. Nightmare land, working with Councilwoman Faust, and babysitting Strauss for money. For money...

"I'll need double my allowance," I said.

"Your allowance is already double your allowance."

"And have I not been worth it?"

Councilwoman Kelly swatted me over the head and promised me a twenty-five per cent increase. And that, folks, is what winning looks like.

We were about twenty or so minutes from Palisade when Councilwoman Faust joined me below deck. All the years, and I'd never seen her wearing anything other than fancy ball gowns and the like, so it was nice seeing her looking a bit more relaxed in a pair of slacks, a blouse, and a nice blazer. She had a sit on the bench beside me.

"You must have questions, and I will tell you everything I can."

"Why do you care about keeping Strauss alive? Honestly, that's a brilliant question overall, isn't it? He really should be dead already, technically."

"I failed his father, and I made a promise," she said. "I'd hate it to be for naught."

I ran a hand over my beard. I loved my beard, and much like myself, my beard loved cookies. I found a crumb and figured I probably shouldn't eat it in front of Councilwoman Faust, so I flicked it away and kept the mourning to myself.

"As you know, I've been working closely with Davina," Faust continued, "and she and I are working closely with a rebel organization that once included Andrei Strauss's parents. One that currently includes your parents, as well as Rhian's father."

I liked where this was going. A lot. "No kidding," I said. "All right, then let me ask you this: what am I making sure Strauss doesn't die from? Himself? As far as I know, he's gone to Amalia to sit around in church."

"I'll ask you hold that question until we arrive," Faust answered. "There's someone I'd like to introduce you to, and he can answer your question far better than I can."

How great was my life? All of the sudden, nothing made sense, but then at the same time, everything made sense. Whatever was going on, I was loving it.

It'd be a few days before we arrived in Amalia. Councilwoman Faust played a mean game of Hidden Six.

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