Free Rebels and Fools (The Renegade Chronicles Book 1) by David Michael Williams

wandering down
here? You could find yourself face to face with an enemy as easily as an ally.”
    “Lucky
for me you aren’t here to cause trouble,” she replied with an unconcerned
smile. “But I wouldn’t worry about unwelcome visitors, if I were you. I’ve been
using this room as my office for more than a year now, and only those whom
Elezar approves may enter the Cathedral’s lower levels.”
    Levels?
thought Klye. Just how far below ground does this place go?
    “So
the High Priest has nothing better to do than keep a lookout all day and night?
I didn’t see him at all today. Was he peeking out one of the stained-glass
windows? And what could he have done to stop me if I were, say, the Captain of
the Three Guards?”
    “Elezar
believes that Aladon protects us from harm and helps hide the Renegades’
secrets.”
    “You
don’t honestly believe that, do you?”
    “I
have no reason to doubt it,” she said evenly. “Elezar would not be helping the
Renegades if he didn’t believe his god supported our cause. You surely believe
our cause is just. Isn’t it conceivable that the gods, too, find it just?”
    “I
don’t know what causes gods believe in…or what causes people to believe in the
gods, for that matter,” said Klye, a little disappointed in Leslie.
    “You
don’t believe in the gods?” The way she asked the question made Klye feel as
though he were the one being foolish.
    “No.
Why should I? What have the gods ever done for me?”
    “What
have you ever done for the gods?” she was quick to counter. “But you didn’t
come here to discuss religion. What should we talk about instead, while we wait
for your guide? Your plans for Fort Faith maybe?”
    All
throughout the conversation, Leslie had kept her tone light and friendly, and
he was glad he hadn’t offended her. Leslie seemed to be in a better mood today,
as though she now saw him more as a friend than a rival. Or perhaps she was
just trying to lull him into a false sense of security…
    “I’d
rather talk about you,” Klye said.
    “All
right,” she replied slowly, drawing out the words.
    She
continued to smile, but he could tell she was trying to measure him up. Klye had
always preferred subtlety, regardless of his profession, but he thought that
Leslie Beryl wouldn’t be so easily manipulated.
    Better
to be blunt and see how she reacts, he thought.
    “I’m
told you are the daughter of Port Town’s mayor. What provoked you to become the
Renegade Leader of his city?”
    Leslie
leaned back, crossed her arms, and gave him an indecipherable look. At first,
Klye thought he had overstepped, that she wasn’t going to answer him, and that
she might even ask him to leave. But then she spoke.
    There
have been many men sitting where you are sitting, Klye, and I’ve seen that very
question on many of their faces. I think you may be the first to come right out
and ask it.” She shook her head and smiled. “Most people assume that I became a
Renegade Leader because I hate my father, and I’m content to let people believe
what they want. It’s easier that way. The truth is a bit more complicated. The
truth is…I still love him…or at least I love the man he once was.”
    She
spoke quietly and no longer looked at him but at something far away. “Even
before the Alliance of Nations came into being, my mother and I started seeing
less and less of my father. With King Edward’s plan to open Capricon up to the
peoples of all nations in the Alliance, my father had a lot of work to do to
make sure Port Town was ready for an influx of foreigners.
    “Slowly,
Crofton Beryl began to change. Once a kind man, he became short-tempered and
rude. The mayor had made a lot of friends in Port Town, but he no longer
visited them. He became suspicious of everyone and stopped attending Elezar’s
weekly sermons.
    “He
spent a lot of time with a Superian official whose name he told neither my
mother nor me. In fact, he told us very little about what kept