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Then: "Are you ready? Will you do battle on behalf of the world tonight?"

We are in hiding, so I do not expect a cheering assent or even an "All hail!" But soh Others follow Soon the cavern is filled with the low, steady slap, slap, slap! of nearly a hundred soldiers ready to lay down their lives

We are a sainst incredible odds I must use them to strike fast, hard, and smart But this is what I do This ishas faded to silence, I speak

"I have a plan"

39

I’M sliding daggers into the legs ofover me, and I know it’s Hector even before I look up

He stares down at me, his heart in his eyes "God, Elisa, do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"

I straighten to face hithen his foothold and then engaging in an all-out war that sets friend against friend, brother against brother"

"I erous for you"

"I knohat you mean"

A es his mind Then he turns and strides away

I ache to call hi over the plan toimportant

Conde Tristán and the Selvaricans will dress as peasants and attend evening services at thethe audience hall, they willinto place Tristán will give the signal, and they will strike fast to take the gate Then they’ll create a distraction, drawing as uards as possible, and when approximately half of the their forces Then Fernando and Mara will pick theed their unifored pants and patched blouses, rope for belts They can’t hide swords beneath their clothing, but Tristán has assured ers will do at first, that they will be able to arm themselves with the swords of fallen soldiers I’ve watched hiuable exception of Hector, he’s thebladesman I’ve ever seen

Fernando and Mara will don priests’ robes ae children are tasked with delivering quivers full of arrows to the palace, ostensibly for the palace garrison that ates Instead, the children will stash theed caches around the inner courtyard for Mara and Fernando to grab when they can

Hector will take his h the tunnels that lead to the catacombs and into the palace The entrance to the catacouarded by two men It will be no easy task to silence them before they can raise the alarm Then Hector’s men must move swiftly to the palace barracks and the prison tohere General Luz-Manuel and his top aides reside Hector will take the general alive if possible

The barracks are ahly flammable wood So Storm will accompany Hector

Captain Lucio and I will lead our new recruits through the secret egress tunnel to the king’s suite Fro, isolating Conde Eduardo and any other nobles in residence He also has orders to capture rather than kill whenever possible

All three insurgencies must happen at once for us to be successful So Father Nicandro has agreed to sound the hout the city--the nal to proceed

I could spend all day i Instead, I check and recheck hout the cavern, offering an encouraging word here and there, thanking the rabs ently "To the barracks"

I wrench rasp

"I don’t want to let you out of h I kno he feels The thought of hi off to battle without me makes my heart shiver with terror "I’m the only person in all of Joya who outranks Conde Eduardo I ive official orders Otherwise any hand raised against him is an act of sedition"

He steps closer until we are al "Then let eneral’s men"

His voice drops low "If this doesn’t work, I’ll coether, like--"

I wraphi back with a desperate finality