Free All That Is Red by Anna Caltabiano Page B

answer to the commander’s question already, I made my way to her rooms for the second time that day. The door opened after only one knock and it seemed as if the
commander were expecting me.
    “... and move all the injured into the rooms we prepared,” the commander was saying to a young human girl. “Do sit down,” she offered, as the girl left the room.
Motioning to a seat at the same table I had sat at earlier, the commander herself took a seat at the head. “I assume you have a verdict you want to give?”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Well, then go ahead,” the commander insisted. “Talk.”
    “I will be honored to lead the Red cause.”
    “I knew you would step up to lead us. You can provide our side with a strength that even the Pure One doesn’t have. You can band two races together under one common goal. Faith in
the prophecy can bring unity, and only you can do it.”
    “Commander?” She looked up. “You’re wrong about one thing.”
    “And what is that?”
    “I won’t be doing this alone.”
    The commander visibly leaned forward and uttered one simple word. “Who?”
    “The boy.”
    He’s only one of the crowd, a camouflaged face amidst many. What makes him qualified to lead with you?” she scoffed. The commander stood up and walked around the table to where I
sat.
    “The people will accept him. He’s one of them and they know it,” I argued to blocked ears. “What makes me qualified?” I added when it was obvious she was not
convinced.
    “You’re of the prophecy.”
    “And that makes me worthy to band together two races and lead them to what will be certain death for many of them?” I asked her. “And what if I’m not the one the prophecy
was talking about, or what if the prophecy was wrong?”
    “Then it wouldn’t matter. As long as the people believe you’re the one the prophecy talks about, they’ll believe in you.”
    “I want the boy to be the face of the cause.”
    “But-”
    “I’m not turning down the offer to lead the Red. I’ll just be behind the scenes. The boy will talk to the people on my behalf and protect my identity.”
    The commander, for once, was silent. She seemed to ponder my proposition. When she spoke next, her words were softer.
    “Are you sure he can be the face of the cause?”
    “Yes, I’m sure.”

C HAPTER 8
    That night, I returned to an empty room. The bed had been remade with fresh sheets and a different quilt, but I couldn’t shake the image of the blood splattered bed. Not
able to rest there, I took the sheets and quilt off the mattress and made a temporary bed on the floor.
    As I lay down, I gazed up at the waning moon, which again seemed trapped in the cutout in the ceiling. It seemed to be locked in place, but I was comforted by the fact that the dark night was
beginning to trickle into that space and the moon need not be lonely anymore.
    I caught myself thinking of what the commander had asked of me this morning. Could I really lead a rebellion? I didn’t know the first thing about them and, come to think of it, I
didn’t know the people well either.
    The commander and I had come to a consensus that the boy would lead on my behalf. I would make the decisions, but he would be the one to stand in front of the people. It would be dangerous for
me to lead directly, and I trusted that the people would accept him in a way they couldn’t accept me. After all, he was one of them.
    The morning came quickly and with it came the doubt over whether the boy would even agree to leading the cause on my behalf. I was sure I had made the right choice, but I didn’t know if he
would agree with me.
    I found myself knocking on General Gerrard’s door long before I realized my feet were moving. A Trigon boy, who reminded me of Nalin, opened the door and announced my arrival to the
general. I couldn’t help but give him a quick smile, but his grave face took no notice of it.
    He seemed so serious for a boy his age, but then I remembered the