Jack had learned the different sirens, and his designated shelter area on the first day in the Realm’s Guard. He knew full well that the wailing of this siren meant something serious was going on. Together, they jogged towards the meeting point where the other men and women were taking their place in line.
Five minutes of commotion passed, but finally, everyone began to settle down. Jack saw Ethel a few rows ahead of him, and she turned and smiled at him as if she’d know he was looking at her. Embarrassed to be caught staring, he turned away and focused his attention to the front. A muscle-bound, dark-skinned man stood before the two hundred men and women.
‘Settle down, settle down,’ he boomed across the audience. Silence fell at once. ‘All right. There’s no need to panic. We’ve just received news from the Realm Headquarters that the Human Rebels and empathisers have planned an attack on the shipment of livestock bound for France. They plan to free the human livestock and turn them against their masters. It’s our job to go in there and defuse the situation. Of course, we want to handle this in a non-violent and professional manner, but as you know, that is not always possible. We’re going to deploy several parties to the ports in the hopes of preventing the loss of the trade with our foreign cousins.’
Jack could hear his own teeth grinding together as he listened to Sergeant Jenson’s deployment speech. Attack, Jack thought snidely. It’s probably a small group of protestors, but they’re making it seem like a full-blown terrorist attack.
But something was nagging Jack in the back of his mind. He recalled Elise Stalk, a member of H.E.L.E.N.A, mentioning that they would stop the export of live humans. At the time, Jack hadn’t taken her seriously; to pull off something of that magnitude would require a small army.
There was no way it could be H.E.L.E.N.A who planned to take down the human trade. The idea was preposterous.
‘Also,’ Sergeant Jenson continued above the chatter. ‘As you know, the head of the Human Registration, Korra Waterson, was the victim of a vicious attack by a human empathizer a couple of months ago. But thankfully, they were able to cure her.’
Jack gasped audibly, before clapping his hands to his mouth. Several people turned to stare at him, and Ethel giggled. Jack didn’t care if his reaction to this news was out of the ordinary. However, Jack’s heart was pounding. Had he really just heard what he thought; they’d found an antidote to the memory serum?
~
Jack went to run his hand through his hair, but met only scalp. He’d already forgotten that he was bald, just like all the other men who joined the Realm’s Guard. It was the day after the announcement of the cure, and Jack had not been able to get it out of his mind
He was currently stationed in one of the watchtowers on the perimeter. Suddenly, the door opened, and Ethel climbed the stairs, carrying a sandwich in her hand.
‘Hey, Greenwood,’ she said, closing the door behind herself.
‘Hey,’ he muttered, turning back to scanning the grounds.
‘I brought you something to eat,’ she said, placing the sandwich near him.
‘Oh … thanks.’
‘You know … they say the leader of the Rebellion is a Powerful Fire-Mage – a heartless woman who isn’t afraid to destroy anything in her path to free the humans.’
Jack almost smiled, but he kept his face straight. ‘You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.’
‘It came from a reliable source.’ Ethel crossed her arms. ‘I overheard the General talking about it.’
‘So? How does it affect you?’
Ethel seemed agitated. ‘My shield is useless against fire. I’ll be dead within seconds.’
‘You really think this Fire-Mage would slaughter innocent Mages?’ Jack couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the idea.
‘Why would they make up such a thing? This is the government we’re talking about.’
‘They like to exaggerate,’ said Jack in an undertone. He leaned closer to Ethel so she could hear him better. ‘I bet she’s just some kid who was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.’
‘And Korra Waterson? How do you explain what happened to her?’
‘Gimme a break.’ Jack rolled his eyes. ‘She probably stuck herself with one of those needles and lost her memory by accident.’ It was a lie, of course. Avalon had been the one to inject Korra Waterson with the memory serum, but Ethel didn’t need to know that. He hated the idea of people imagining Ava to be some kind of vengeful monster.
Ethel raised her eyebrows, seemingly shocked with what Jack had said.
‘What?’ he said, wary of her reaction.
‘Who said she lost her memory?’ Ethel whispered. ‘No one knows what happened to her exactly. So how do you know?’
Jack jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating to the camp which they’d left behind twenty minutes ago. ‘Sergeant Jenson said it at that emergency meeting … didn’t he?’
Ethel shook her head. ‘No. He said Korra was the victim of a vicious attack.’
Jack didn’t like the way Ethel was staring at him with wide eyes. Shit. He’d just dobbed himself in by revealing information that only Realm officials should know.
‘So … how do you know?’ she asked.
Chapter Eighteen
R?ven’s Past