BLUEMANTLE, Karen Langston [best classic romance novels TXT] 📗

their need to control. Instead of protecting the citizens of Wydeye, they tell them what to think. Now they poison the water to manipulate how they behave.

“Citizens must recognise they are no more dependent on the Authority than they are on the protection of the Deep. One is fantasy, the other fairy tale. They are free to leave, free to follow, free to choose.

“Estrin has informed us of your plan. It filled me with great hope to hear it. Those with open eyes and sufficient courage will seize the opportunity. You will have many who will come forward, empowered by union, hungry for the opportunity to make the stand together that they’re afraid to make alone.

“However, Wydeye is a large city, its population bloated. To touch, you need to reach. To be heard, you need a voice. Cole knew this. He created a means to reach those ready to venture from the A’s single track. He grew the audience by giving people a map, inviting citizens to follow a different path – to engage with the Scene, in order to make up their own mind about it. He had faith that, if they did, they’d become part of it. Who wouldn’t?

“And now, here we are, in a very similar situation. Only, the stakes for engagement are significantly higher. Yet the reward warrants the risk. It’s not simply choosing a different path. It’s about choosing freedom by following it. And the tragedy is, most people don’t realise that the choice has been there all along.

“So again, we need a voice. A map to reveal the way and express the invitation. Dear Cole…” Ursel faltered, then sighed, her eyes downcast. “I asked other prisoners, even guards. He wasn’t there. They must have him in the Hold. They tortured me for four days and I know they were close to drawing a line. Cole was taken ten days ago. There’s no way…” She swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

Eventually she looked up at Wella and said, “We may harbour hope in our hearts, but in terms of our actions moving forward, we must assume he’s gone from us. Yet, the invitation he created lives on. In Bluemantle.”

Wella wanted to withdraw her hand, sensing what was coming next, but Ursel held on tight, determined to get to the end. “Wella, we need you to resurrect Bluemantle. One edition. To tell the real story. No coded messages, no coordinates buried beneath text, lost to all without the means to decipher them. This time it needs to provide the map and make it plain as day there’s a choice: to follow the path and don’t look back.

“I can tell you where Cole’s workshop is. Where the drops are. We’ll get a message to followers. They’ll pick up the bundles and distribute them by hand, giving them to citizens who’ve never even heard of Bluemantle. If you print a hundred thousand, we could have them handed out in a day. That’s a third of the population. If only a quarter of them join the path, that’s twenty-five thousand people who’ve opened their eyes for the first time in decades. It’s also twenty-five thousand joining your walkout. That should make a dent in productivity. Then the A will have to listen.

“Believe me, I appreciate the huge risk. We all knew the dangers that Cole faced. And yet, I’m asking you to face the same. For this one edition. Then, if it works, we won’t need it anymore. Presented with the truth about the A, I believe citizens will navigate their own way. Challenge the narrative, break the illusion of their dependency, take back control of their freedom.”

She let go of Wella’s hand and held out the paper and pencil to her. “So, what do you say? Will you do it?”

–

In the warren of Rader, the creeping light of sunrise could not penetrate the hide’s concrete walls. Chase stood beside the table, his face lost in shadow. “I can’t believe they asked you to do this.”

Wella stood opposite him, weary from the arduous journey, yet wired by the prospect of her mission. “They say there’s no other way.”

“There must be.”

“I don’t think so. And were it not for the danger, it’d be the perfect solution. It’ll boost the walkout in a way that the A can’t possibly ignore, and in a fraction of the time. It’ll get the message out to citizens in a way they can’t ignore, direct and unambiguous. It could change everything, Chase. I see that. You must be able to as well.”

“Were it not for the danger, then yes. But you can’t extract that. You can’t will it away.” He reached out and held her arms. “The message won’t be coded. When a copy falls into the hands of the A, which it will, it’ll be over, for everyone. Every raid, every attack, even Rideout – nothing will compare to what they’ll do. We’re talking innocent people, kids. The A won’t care. They’ll come down on the whole city and they won’t stop until everyone in possession of a copy is locked up or dead.” He slumped down on one of the chairs.

Wella sat down opposite him, silent. She’d had the same thoughts when she first heard the plan. She’d battled with them on her journey back to the city.

Chase studied her face, looked deep into her eyes. “You know all this. Yet you’re going to do it anyway.”

She took a deep breath, then relaxed her shoulders. “Yes.”

Chase closed his eyes and held his head in his hands.

Earlier, when Wella had eventually returned from her summons to the Troubadours, she had told him about Ursel and the brutality inflicted upon her. He’d felt the urge to retch. The thought of Ursel’s suffering sickened and appalled him; he felt responsible and helpless, weak in every regard. Then Wella had added, “But you know, after all they did to her, she’s still not broken. If anything, she’s more determined. Stronger.”

Those words came back to him now. He