Spies, Thieves, and Revolutionaries

Chapter 11

Everyone was silent. The two girls, along with Walter all stared at Dinah, blinking, After a few moments of quiet, one of the twins asked, "What?"

"I want you to take me to Marghen," Dinah repeated. The girl had mentioned that Marghen had nobles and aristocrats under her influence, and knew practically everything that happened in Tundera. Since the Taris Empire spanned the entire continent, there were five regions, and the king had sent out his five most trusted and respected archdukes and archduchesses out to keep an eye on those regions. While the archduke or archduchess would have the highest rank, and be the ruler of that region, they would all still answer to the king.
However, with the empire being so massive, the king's influence and informants were stretched thin. In every region, there was the official ruler, the archduke or archduchess, and an unofficial authority who pulled the strings from behind the scenes, and had as much as, if not more, power than the official ruler.   From what she heard so far, Dinah had no question as to who was Tundera's unofficial potentate. 

Perhaps Dinah could convince Marghen to introduce her to the woman's richer-and not wholly loyal to King Charles- friends. A sponsor or patron would be just what this revolution needed. Not only would they give the rebels their much needed money and supplies, but maybe the idea of the revolution would spread, and everyone would second guess their decision to stay bowed to Charles.

The louder twin, the one who did most of the talking, now fumbled for words. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, while her quieter sister looked at Dinah with confusion and fear. Finally, the more talkative one said, "That's not possible."

Dinah held the tip of her sword to the back of the girl's neck. It felt wrong to be threatening what looked to be a fourteen or fifteen year old girl, but Dinah was determined to meet Marghen. "You will lead me safely to Marghen, and I will not  hurt you. If you refuse, or attempt to get away or lead me astray once on the road, I will kill both you and your sister." Her voice was hard as flint.

The two redheads exchanged to what seemed to be a silent conversation with only their eyes. Finally, after a few tense moments, the quieter one muttered, "Alright," sounding defeated.

~~

"Wow! Is that the rare Mankani flower? I heard it only blooms a few days out of the year! Of course it's not blooming right now, but—ooh! What's that?"

Dinah sighed. The mood has really changed between her, Walter and the twins once they got on the road.

After leaving her rebels-which now numbered ninety people- with strict orders to stay at camp until she got back or sent word, she took her horse and two for the twins, and set out to find the mysterious woman.

Initially, she wanted Walter to stay at the camp as her second in command, and to keep an eye on Rimmon. But he insisted on accompanying her, and in the end she gave up trying to persuade him to stay. Instead, she assigned Sir Garrick-a former sergeant who insisted on everyone using 'sir' to address him- the role of temporary head. 

When Dinah told Evette and Rimmon that she was leaving for a bit, they both had their usual reaction to slightly distressing news. Evette looked solemn, and Rimmon looked like a kicked puppy.

As for the twins, they were quiet and alert until about an hour into the journey. The louder and more talkative one-whose name was Canna- started commenting on everything they passed by in a tone of fascination and awe. Soon enough, even her shyer and quieter sister-whose name was Rose- gave in to the wonder of the outside. It seemed to Dinah that these girls rarely, if ever, went from their home with Marghen to travel anywhere. Like they had said earlier, this was their first mission. 

As for what the home was, Dinah was very curious and tried to ask Canna, but the girl was too excited and fascinated about the fact that some plants were still blooming despite the snow on the ground, to give her a clear answer. Dinah supposed that Marghen was a spymaster, but what was her day job?