Traitor, Traitor [NaNoWriMo 2013]

Chapter Fourteen

The sun shot rays of gold through the windows, glancing off the walls. Dust floated in the light, disappearing once it crossed over to the dark side.

"Well," I began. Lyon looked ready to kill. "You might want to sit down."

Lyon undid the straps of his armour and placed it on my table. After he had seated himself comfortably, I began. I had polished this story so well that the words flowed out of my mouth like water.

"I joined the rebels when I was a child," I said. "I thought the king was evil and hated him for a long time. The rebels honed that hatred and I found a home with them. Then, one day, I found out that the rebels spread false truths. All that they had told me was a lie. So I left. I came here to work for the king, letting the rebels believe that the king had sent me there in the first place. That was more for their convenience than mine, since I think it is easier for someone to believe that a person had always been twisted rather than having grown to become that way. I came here and started to work for your father. You know the rest."

Lyon nodded thoughtfully. "That's a lovely story," he said, "except, there are lots of holes in it. To anyone else, it might sound perfect, especially with the confidence you narrate it with, but I know you, Arya. You are not someone who joins a cause without reason. I'm not stupid, so stop behaving like I am. Tell me the truth."

I stopped short. Seeing my hesitation, Lyon said, "I wasn't deaf in that temple. I heard everything as clearly as you did. There were so many inconsistencies in that story Leonardo wove that I was surprised that Segan didn't see right through it. So please, just tell me the truth."

"You don't want to know the truth," I said, looking down. I plucked the fascinating embroidery on the hem of my skirt.

"Yes, I do."

"No," I said, "you really don't."

"What's the worst you could have planned? To kill the king?"

My eyes shot up to his and his lips curved up in a sardonic gesture. "I know Leonardo was a rebel and by extension, I am assuming the rest of his people are as well. What I don't understand is why they are posing as representatives of the kingdom of Lamia. If it was for 'peaceful negotiation' as he suggested, which I do not believe it was, then I see no point in lying about who they are. So, it is not for peaceful negotiations, then. The peace treaty for Lamia is actually being drafted, so they want to keep my father in the dark about who they are for as long as they can. What purpose does that serve?" He was thinking out loud now. "Simple. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. They still don't like the king. Whatever they have planned, it runs on secrecy. I don't think anybody knows the entire plot except you, and, perhaps, your leader. Leonardo mentioned someone called Larkin and I think it's safe to say he is the man behind all this. Leonardo was also lying about not wanting to kill the king. That activity is still in their agenda. Segan said this has been going on for twenty years, so it must be a pretty elaborate plan." I squirmed under his gaze. Something about it felt like he was opening my mind and reading everything in it. "So elaborate that it would take them, I don't know, about six months to get to its end?"

"What do you want, a prize?" I said, my voice barren.

Lyon gave me a look and I turned away. "You have always been smart for your age." I gathered my thoughts. I didn't see a way out of this. "Very well, I'll tell you, but you're not going to like it.

"Six months ago, Larkin - you may know him as Lord Roran - assigned a task to me. It was a job I willingly took on, and he laid the details out. It was crisp, but complicated. It was a good plan. The course of action was that I would come to the palace as a nobody, but secure my place in the court. That part worked out fine. I also had to make the rebels believe I had betrayed them. Why? The main reason was so that no one would get hurt. There was always the risk of my actual intension being brought to light, and if that did happen, he would not be able to blame the rebel body, since I had left them a long time ago and acted on my own. I was my own person and had nothing to do with the rebels. It was also so that if he traced my involvements with the rebels, he would find nothing suggesting that I was still in their service. The dismay of the rebels would be true and it would appear as if I really had forgone them.