Media

The next morning, we were woken by Copper who unlocked the door from the outside.

Despite our situation, I woke with a grin on my face. The memories of last night would be etched in my mind forever. I think Copper saw the flush on my face and was embarrassed.

He placed some clothes he’d brought with him and some sandwiches for the day on the bed by our feet.

“My officers will be here at any moment,” he said “I don’t have to remind you that you’ll need to be quiet all day. I’ll get on with that thing we talked about yesterday and report back when everyone leaves after work.”

I was just about to thank him when I heard the sound of approaching voices. Copper closed the door quickly, and I heard the key turning in the lock.

I handed one of the sandwiches to Cynder along with the clean clothes. He stripped quickly and used the bathroom to clean himself and dress.

“What are we going to do?” I whispered as he emerged from the bathroom.

Cynder answered me with the same quiet voice I’d used. I had to move close to him just to hear what he was saying.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about your plan from last night.”

“The stupid plan?” I quipped. It was amazing how little I cared about anything anymore. I was on too much of a high from the night before.

He smiled. “I wasn’t the one to say it was stupid. That was you, remember? Anyway, I think it might work if...”

“If?”

“If we do it ourselves. We set up our own press and make a newsletter. That way the only people in danger of being caught are us. Ok, we won’t be able to unmask you as such, and it won’t have the impact of you being on TV, but we can counteract the lies Luca has been telling people until we find a safe TV station.”

I pulled a face. “It would take us a year to deliver a newsletter to everyone in Silverwood. Besides, how are we going to fit a printing press in here?”

“Not just us,” explained Cynder, “the Magi—all of us. If we can get a message down to the holiday cottages where they are all staying, we can get the word out. We’ll have to be extremely careful.”

I could think of a multitude of problems with this. While it was a good idea in theory, I couldn’t see how it would possibly work.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to get out of town without being seen, let alone manage to get all the way to the south of the country. Luca’s men are everywhere. I saw a map on his wall. We’ll have no chance.”

“We don’t actually need to get there ourselves. We just need a way to communicate with them. We could send them what it is we want to print, and they could figure a way to print it. Of course, they’d have to go out and distribute the newsletter which will be tricky, but I know many of them will put their lives on the line for the freedom of the kingdom.”

“How are we going to get information to them? We are currently locked in a cupboard hundreds of miles away, and although we have phones here, they don’t. We can’t even leave this room let alone travel through the kingdom.”

“That, I don’t know,” conceded Cynder.

I thought for a few minutes before a brainwave hit.

“I’ve got it!” I scrabbled around in my pockets before finding the talk stone Seraphia had given me at Luca’s mansion.

“You have a talk stone?” Cynder asked, his expression turning to one of excitement. “Who has the other?”

“Seraphia!” I whispered. “She knows the truth. She’s on our side.”

“Seraphia as in Princess Seraphia? Luca’s sister-in–law, Seraphia?”

“Yes!” I replied jumping up. “I spoke to her at Luca’s house. She helped me escape. I bet she can help us. Luca doesn’t like her, but he won’t stop her coming in and out of the kingdom. He’s trying to keep appearances up. She could get a message to the magi. I bet she could help finding us a printing press too.”

We couldn’t do anything without a pen, so we had to wait until everyone left the office and Copper opened the door later that day.

When he did, I hurriedly told him the plan. He handed me a pen which I used to write a note on the talk stone along with the address of the holiday cottages.

I watched as the words sunk into the stone. Seconds later there was a reply.

I’ll see what I can do. S

We all cheered. For the first time since all this madness started, I finally felt as though we were actually doing something productive rather than just running.

“Look out, Luca. We are coming to get you!”

Our excitement turned to despair as we waited for news. A week later, we still hadn’t heard back from Seraphia.

Jason brought us the national newspapers to keep us abreast of the propaganda that Luca was spewing. As expected, all the newspapers were filled with news about how wonderful Luca was and how he’d make a great king. It made for sickening reading. From the perspective of the papers, it seemed that the whole of Silverwood was rooting for him. How could it be so when I’d seen for myself how miserable everyone was? Jason assured me that the majority of the people were against Luca, but were too scared to say anything. Silverwood was under the grip of tyranny, and no one had the guts to speak up. Those that tried disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Jason painted a depressing picture. People were losing their livelihoods because of all the travel restrictions. Shops were closing down, and people were starving.

“On the plus side, the people are beginning to realize how hard it’s been for the Magi all these years now they are getting a taste of it themselves. It seems the people’s opinion of the Magi is changing for the better.”

It was that thought that kept me going through that week while we waited for news from Seraphia.

Finally, on the eighth day, it came. I’d been checking the talk stone almost constantly, desperate to hear from her.

Ready to go. Send news. S

I grabbed a pen and quickly replied.

Writing article now. Have you managed to set up a press?

Seconds later, Seraphia’s words appeared on the talk stone.

Press ready. Distribution ready. Headquarters at my house. S

“Headquarters at her house?” repeated Cynder who’d been reading over my shoulder. “What does she mean by that? They are doing this from the palace in Thalia?”

“No. She told me we could use her parent’s house in Thalia the last time we spoke. It’s just across the border from Silverwood. I guess some of them managed to get across without getting caught.”

Cynder considered this. “If they got across the border once, it was a fluke. How are they going to distribute our newsletter to the people of Silverwood if they are in Thalia?”

“Seraphia must have gotten across to tell them the plan. They must have gotten across with her somehow. As Luca’s sister-in-law, they are probably letting her go through without doing much checking. We need to write an article quickly.”

Using the notepad, I drafted a quick article. Part of me wanted to expose Luca’s lies and tell the world that I was still alive, but that was bound to have Luca sending all his men out to find out who was printing it. Instead, I told a story of resistance, about how the Magi were still fighting alongside non-Magi and that they were ready to come out into the open to make Silverwood a better place. I hoped that if enough people were turning against Luca’s regime, they might pay attention to the newsletter.

“What do you think?” I said, showing the article to Cynder.

“I’m not sure,” he replied after scanning it. “It doesn’t say anything about you. I thought that was why we were doing this? To let the people know you are still here?”

I reread the short article. It wasn’t good enough. I needed to make more of an impact. I tapped the pen against my cheek while I thought of what to write. I wasn’t ready to expose myself yet. Not in a newsletter anyway. It was too easy for Luca to say it was lies. The right time would present itself, but until then, keeping safe was the best option for everyone. Instead, I dropped the bombshell that no one knew about—the intended marriage between Luca and Drusilla Bloom.

“What?” asked Cynder, his eyes wide as he reread my words.

What with everything going on, I’d completely forgotten to tell him.

“I saw the invitation to the wedding in Luca’s office. It’s set for one day before the coronation.”

“He’s marrying my sister?” he sputtered.

“Step-sister,” I corrected him.” Are you really surprised? You know they were helping each other try to bring you down last year. If you think about it, it’s perfect. She’s desperate for the fame and fortune, he needs a pliable wife to be his queen.”

Cynder screwed up his face. “I’m not sure who I feel sorry for the most. Him for marrying her, her for marrying him or for the rest of us to be subjected to the pair of them. Yuck!”

“They certainly deserve each other,” I laughed.

I copied down the article carefully onto the talk stone, watching the ink disappear into the stone.

I ended it with a question about Elise. Is Elise ok?

Seraphia responded almost immediately

Elise still ill. Left her in Silverwood in the care of your mother and a couple of other ladies. S.

So Elise was still sick. At least they’d not tried taking her over the border. The long journey would probably kill her.

I’d only just finished with the talk stone when the door opened. It was eight pm which was the usual time for Copper to bring us dinner. Right on cue, the door opened, and Copper came in carrying a tray with two plates full of food.

“I have news!” he said, handing the first plate to me. The second was then handed to Cynder.

“We do too. What’s yours?”

Copper placed the tray down and pulled a chair in from the operations room outside.

“You know I’ve been looking for press agencies for you? Well, a friend of a friend of a friend has agreed to film you. He knows someone who is exceptionally technologically gifted and can get you onto TV. You’ll have to keep moving around to not get caught, but he says he’ll be able to promise you five minutes of airtime a week.”

“Great,” put in Cynder, placing his hand on my arm. “We can do both. You being on TV will take the heat off the others.”

“How soon can you set it up?” I asked Copper.

“I’ll see if I can get him to come this week.”