Undorn: The Middle

Part One

Part One

Biondi, Region of Lufe

Location: The Basement - Catherine's Quarters

Biondi nodded again. "Yes, got it."

"And by Winter's end, you'll have gotten to upper Orrosta, Lufe, where you'll do a quick stop in Carbo of course, and hopefully then the surrounding lumber towns by Kiel. When Spring comes we'll have to be more diligent, especially in Kastali and around the Fort. Less conspicuous, fewer rallies. Only one or two with you physically present. I'll be your stand-in for the rest... Then by Summer, we should have enough underground News coverage and enough support. Of course, I've been building the support for a decade, but all it will take is a year to put your face on it..."

Catherine was flipping through her diary, making notes here and there, talking to herself rather than to Beo, it felt like. He could feel his shoulders sagging with every single syllable she added to his list of responsibilities. Rallies, speeches, not getting caught, but connecting with the people, all the while staying alive. It was all real, now, since he had agreed to bear the brunt of it all.

He had to continuously remind himself that this weight on his shoulders, it wasn't just because Catherine didn't want it anymore. It was much more than this paperwork and plans and logistics. It was him their people would remember. It was him their people would call to. And it was Beo who had to answer.

It wasn't Catherine tossing all this onto his shoulders, it was all of Undorn. And he had chosen to take it.

Not that anyone had asked him how he felt about it.

"Beo, are you listening?"

His eyes snapped up from her gracefully doodling hand and into her frighteningly foggy, serious stare. She was beginning to remind him of the evil witches in old wives' tales, begging you to take a bite of something so poisonous you wouldn't even have time to blink before you were gone.

"I am."

"Good. We'll discuss your first trip to the Wharf later this week. Until then, I want you in every single meeting we have going forward. I want you talking to everyone in the compound. Daily. Get to know your constituents. Hear them. Feel them. Their belief in you is now the only way this resistance effort will move off the ground. Do you understand that?"

He hesitated. Opened his lips. Closed them. Cleared his throat, then: "I do."

A pointed, almost sorrowful look came down on him from the Aldrich woman. "Well then. I trust you'll carry this responsibility with the greatest care and the utmost importance."

"I will."

She hadn't taken her eyes off him. They lingered and itched like a bad taste in Beo's mouth. In that stare, quite clearly, was a warning. An agreement. Words when no words were exchanged. You mess this up, you die.