The Rogue Lady

Chapter Nineteen

Again, any mistakes, let me know =) Map in the external link. There are a few words in a paragraph about pieces of armor, you can type them into any online dictionary and you will get a definition.

Enjoy.

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     “I can have my Bandits marching on Brightburn with the next hour,” Eagle offered as a solution. His voice was resolute, not allowing anyone to question his control of his fighter; not that anyone would. His word was enough for me to believe him and I guessed William shared the sentiment. However, the solution he offered was probably not the one we would go with.

     For the past fifteen minutes, the three men around the table had been trying to think of a way to deal with the problem I had given them. I was surprised when William had believed me right away when I filled him in on the conversation I had overheard. I mean, after what happened earlier, it wouldn’t have come as a shock to me if he had doubted me and everything I could tell him. Or perhaps he decided to take my word for it because he knew he had crossed a line earlier. That was more likely.

     “If the Queen sent more men to Brightburn like she did for Roseacre, your Bandits alone won’t be enough,” Eric pointed out, most likely to Eagle’s annoyance. But it wasn’t Eric’s fault; he was only telling the chief Bandit the truth.

     “And my men won’t be ready in so little time,” William added.

     Eagle sighed. This was annoying him about as much as it was annoying me. I didn’t even understand why I had to still be here if they wouldn’t let me pitch in. I imitated Eagle by letting out a soft sigh before leaning my cheek into the palm of my hand. I had hoped that these men would be better at this than the ones I had seen arguing at the royal castle from time to time. The King’s Court had some say in the mayor decisions that were made and it always took them hours to agree on something. I had seen the King ready to burst sometimes. Now it was my turn, although I wasn’t going to burst but fall asleep instead.

     For the next hour or so, they went back and forth with ideas and reasons why it wouldn’t work. Ultimately no decisions had been made. Dawn was made five or six hours away still but they needed an agreement and fast. My mind, although it was starting to fog up with sleepiness, was working on something as well. When I had enough of the bickering, I stood up, slamming my hands down on the table like I had seen the King do. It got their attention and suddenly three curious pairs of eyes were on me. I debated whether to keep my mouth shut and sit back down and just fall asleep here or actually speak up. I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t going to have my say in this.

     “People, it is late, almost early. I want to go to bed and you need to go to bed too. I propose the guards wake us up an hour before dawn. The fighters, along with the Bandits, can get ready, suited up in armor and everything. We hide in the trees and we let the Queen’s men invade our camp. When they notice there is no one actually in the camp we attack; they will be trapped like rats, the Bandits get to have their fight, the outlaws still get to take the city where the defenses will be low and I get to have a few hours of sleep. How does that sound?” I asked, although I didn’t want to hear anything from them if they didn’t agree.

     I needed my sleep. I got cranky if I didn’t. And I still needed to get back to Colin, and speaking of the stable boy, what was I going to do about him? I couldn’t send him back to the city. Although he knew the sign of trust for the King’s men, I didn’t entirely trust him. How would a stable boy know that sign? He probably had nothing to do with the Queen but I didn’t want to take any chances. Meaning he would need a place to sleep tonight. I frowned slightly. How was I going to settle that?