Chapter Three

“Well, that was interesting,” Navy mumbled to herself as she pulled open the cellar-like doors of the rebel base. The woman noted the eerie silence—in the time it had taken for her to make it back from the Spring palace, night had completely fallen, the moon rising higher than the trees.

Using her hand to slow the door’s fall, she entered the abandoned tunnel system. Shade had found this bunker during the rebels’ search for a safe base of operations. Being a short distance from the Spring capitol *and* the Holy Land, it was exactly what they needed.

The princess had said something about it being some sort of old mine, but none of that mattered much. Navy made her way to the makeshift common area, not expecting any others to still be up.

She was mostly right. Two rebels were sprawled on the sofa, whispering about Gods knew what. They quieted as Navy drew near, watching her expectantly while making room for her to sit.

“How’d it go with the foreigners?” One of them piped up as Navy sat between the girls.

“As expected, Jiya. We can talk about it later.” Her voice was stern—she was too tired to deal with any more royal talk.

“Are you still going to the Holy Land tomorrow?” the other asked, her voice softer than their friend’s.

Navy thought for a few seconds. “I believe so, yes.”

“Do you mind stopping at the healer’s?” She fidgeted with the gems on her bracelet. “We’re almost out of supplies and there’s only so much I can do with Chrys’s blessing.”

Being the only member with a Blessing from the God of Medicine, Harmony had become the head healer of the rebels.

“I don’t mind.”

Jiya leaned back, her usual smile returning. “Take Wild with you, she’s been itching to get out for weeks.”

Navy chuckled. “Will do. I’ll need some help, anyway.”

They sat in silence for a little while, which had Navy thinking that the same thought was running through their heads as it was through hers.

*How did we get here?*

It was a common thought among all of the rebels, constantly gnawing on their minds.

She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge it from her mind. “We should get some sleep.” With that, Navy stood and headed off to bed. … The night felt too short. Navy spent most of it tossing and turning, as she typically did. When the time came, the rebel quietly dressed and woke Wild and Harmony, then moving on to prepare two days’ worth of food and clothes. It should only be a one-day trip, but one could never be too prepared.

Harmony didn’t bother getting dressed, knowing she wouldn’t be allowed to go with the War-Granted fighters. Instead, she simply wrote the list of herbs she required before going straight back to sleep. Wild, on the other hand, joined Navy in the common room shortly after the healer skulked off to bed.

“Ready?” Navy tossed her an apple and the girl crisply caught it, no hesitation in her stance.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Wild sent her mentor a smile that was probably fake—and Navy knew why.

If it weren’t for their Grants from the God of War, they probably wouldn’t have crossed paths. If Reggie hadn’t gotten bored and decided to “spice things up a bit,” Wild probably would have had a normal life. They would both be in very different places right now.

Wild shoved the apple and the list Harmony had provided into her backpack, sensing Navy’s sudden change in demeanor. “You alright?” “Fine,” Navy replied curtly, filling her canteen with water.

“We should get going, then.”

The leader of the rebels only nodded, silently following her friend to the tunnel entrance.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Navy prodded.

“Yes.” Wild groaned. “Another fourth of a mile northeast and we’ll make it to the settlement. I thought you’d been there before.” She put her map away, slowing down to look back at Navy, who was several paces behind.

“I have, but Angela decided that the weather needed to change since then,” she grumbled. “Things here look a lot different in Winter’s weather.” Navy fiddled with the crimson gem on her sword’s hilt, newfound energy surging through her upon the touch.

There was an eye roll shortly followed by a hushed reply. “You’re nervous for this, aren’t you? You’re not sure they’ll side with us.”

Silence.

More fiddling.

Then a sigh. “I am. Most of these people have spent their lives in the Holy Land, safe from the royalty,” Navy admitted. “They don’t understand what it’s like to live among people who aren’t like them.”

Wild nodded. “So, you brought me in case things go south and they decide to turn on you?”

“That, and I figured you’d like to see everyone and how those on the other side live.”

“I’ve seen it before.”

“Not a group this big.”

Silence, again.

Neither said a word until they reached the settlement. It was nowhere near big enough to be a city, but it still consisted of a respectably large population of Granted and Blessed people. The houses were strongly built of timber and stone, many well aged, with the next generation of Blessed already living in them.

“Here we are.” A smile spread across Wild’s face and she looked around in wonder. “So, this is what the Godly cities are like.”

“The closest you’ll get to a city, at least.”

The town had its own market, and people were already out trading. It was expected—the two had arrived just before midday.

“Let’s get Harmony’s things first.” Navy began walking around the crowds.

“You’re only saying that because you want to put off talking to the citizens.”

“Maybe, but you have to listen either way.”

The rebels set off for the most unkept building in sight. It was just outside the town. Whether it was secluded for privacy, or in case patients needed to be kept away from the main congregation, Navy didn’t know. It wasn’t quite important, anyway.

This building was unlike all the others in that the presence of smooth stone was nonexistent—the structure was completely made of old, weathered wood, which perhaps enhanced its rugged look. Upon the door was a symbol, faded yet still recognizable.

The symbol of Chrys.

Wild opened the door and the rebels stepped inside, immediately greeted with the smell of herbs and spices. An array of books was scattered across what appeared to be the waiting area. Sitting in one of the herb-incensed chairs was a girl who appeared to be slightly younger than Wild.

“Who is it?” A man called from the back. This was immediately followed by the sound of something crashing to the floor.

The girl looked up from whatever book she was reading, glancing at them disinterestedly. “It’s that lady from the rebellion,” she replied casually before reabsorbing herself into the book.

“Oh.” Eli stumbled out of the furthest door. “Hello, Navy. I wasn’t expecting you today.”

Navy got straight to the point. “Harmony needs her supplies and I need more men.”

Wild nodded to Eli. “We were only supposed to come to talk to your people, but this was a needed detour.” She smiled. “I’m Wild, Harmony’s sister.”

“Ah, yes I remember her telling me about you,” he mumbled, ruffling through papers and vials.

After a moment of his frenzied searching, Navy cleared her throat. “Eli, do you mind if we speak in private?”

The man glanced up, giving her a curious look. “That serious, eh? There’s no one in here but us. It’s been a slow day.”

The eldest rebel motioned to the unknown girl. “You call her no one?”

“You mean TP? No, no, she’s fine. She’s like my sister and loyal to the Blessed.” As if to prove this, the girl lifted her head and kicked her legs up onto the coffee table, further burying her face into her book. “You can talk freely. I’ll gather the medicines.”

Navy sighed before locking the door and leaning against the closest wall. “The Summer heirs joined the rebellion.”

Wild, who hadn’t managed to get anything out of Navy about the situation, looked over. “You’re serious? We have both the Summer heirs?” “We do,” her voice was calm, yet she couldn’t help but let a little excitement bleed into her voice. “The eldest’s Blessing from Anonymous will be useful—maybe they’ll be able to predict the outcome of all this.”

Eli was smiling at the two, shoving vials of substances unknown to Navy into a bag. “That’s great! So that just leaves Autumn and Winter, then?”

“Tgk and Hades.”

“And you’ve said you know how to bring them in, haven’t you?”

“Already working on it. Now that we have Summer, we can focus on things other than the royals.”

“Gods know that they don’t need any more attention,” TP chimed in, a smirk lining her face.

Navy ignored her comment, focusing on Eli instead. He continued to prepare all of the seemingly random medicinal equipment. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

He shrugged, not meeting her eyes. “I have too many people here who rely on my healing. It wouldn’t be fair to them.”

She gave a slight nod. She couldn’t force a mind made up. “Thank you for your help, Eli.”

Eli’s smile returned as he closed the bag, holding it out for Wild to take. “I wish you the best of luck. Keep me updated.”

“Thank you.” Wild took the bag, smiling gratefully.

Navy unlocked the door, letting her companion leave first. As they stepped out of the apothecary, a mumbled remark from the young girl leaked through the open door—something about joining the rebellion before Eli cut her off with a sharp, exaggerated ‘No’ and the door closed shut.

It was well past midnight when they got back to the bunker. Harmony and Jiya sat on the same sofa, in virtually the same positions as they had been when Navy had first returned. Wild handed the herbs off to the former, not bothering to explain what the bag was before heading for her bed.

“Welcome back,” Harmony chuckled. “I should put these away before everyone wakes up.” She stood and headed for the infirmary.

“How’d it go?” Jiya asked, not for the first time.

“Eleven people wanted to join… but few of them fully know how to control their gifts.” Navy plopped down next to her.

“We can teach them. They’ll figure it out,” she reassured the leader. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Jiya let out a small sigh, a little bit of sorrow glinting in her eyes.

“I have to confront her soon, don’t I?”

Navy nodded. Jiya pursed her lips in reply, falling back into the sofa and closing her eyes.

“Well,” she murmured. “We all knew it had to happen eventually.”