Photo: Christina Welsh
Rain pounds against the window as thunder roars outside, lightning harshly lights the room making everything seem unreal and ghost-like, the winds rush through the trees and seem to try blow to everything away. The sound of the rain increases until it blocks out the sound of the winds, until the thunder subsides, still the rain attacks as if it were fighting a war. Standing alone by the window is a young woman in a green dress studying the rain, listening to it bombard everything in its path. She gently touches the cold glass, feels the raindrops try to get through the glass, watches the drops join together and become one wave as they slide down the windowpane having failed to get through to her hand. She closes her eyes, listening, and looks as though she is at peace for the first time.
Oblivious to everything but the rain, the young woman doesn’t react when the door to the room opens slowly and a young man walks in and quietly closes the door behind him. He walks toward her, slowly, and the lightning suddenly illuminates the room showing that he is dressed in a suit and carries himself as though he were a king. During the moment that the room is lit, the man watches the woman, sees her dark hair shining in the light, sees her frozen at the window, hand outstretched as though she is waiting for the window to disappear, waiting to feel the rain. The light only lasts for a moment and once the room is dark again, the man continues walking quietly towards the window. He stands by her side, looking through the window, watching the trees sway in the wind. He takes a deep breath and says,
“It hasn’t rained like this since the Great War”.
The woman lowers her hand from the window and, still watching the rain, replies
“The legends say that the greatest storm will bring the greatest victory”.
The man smiles, “The legends also say that the greatest victory will destroy the City”.
Without changing her expression, she replies
“The legends say that the legends are always correct and should never be questioned in any circumstance”.
“Well, in that case we have nothing to worry about since we’re already screwed on that point. If the legends had actual power we would be dead by now”
He looks at the woman out of the corner of his eye, smiles, leans towards her and says,
“I don’t think that there are any rules we can’t break, as long as we know what we want, we can do whatever we want. Remember that we know a lot more than them, even though they may think they know everything. Once we complete our plan, they will understand”
The woman frowns, turns toward him, clenches her fists, and says,
“If they don’t trust us then they won’t follow us. If they think we are against them, they will rebel. If they think that we will betray them, then they will revolt. We have tied the rocks to their feet and I don’t think they believe that we aren’t going to drop them in the ocean. They don’t believe that we will do anything different. They only know how the City has been ruled and it is going to be extremely difficult to convince them that there is another way. Trying to make light of the situation isn’t going to get anything done. Especially since they actually listen to you, so when you joke they see a child instead of a leader. When you give commands they laugh since they don’t think they need to listen”
She stares at the man, daring him to challenge her, to argue. But he just smiles and says,
“Come on Anna, you know perfectly well that they respect you. If you relaxed around them, then maybe they would realize that they are being led by a human being instead of a robot that lives only for the mission”
Anna puts her hands on either side of his face, leans in close, and whispers,
“You just don’t get it. I can’t just give a command and expect people to obey; every day I have to prove that I am capable of leading an army. If I relaxed, then they would think I am weak. I’m so happy that you are able to act the way you want, whenever you want. I, on the other hand, am still Little Anna. You are Emyr the great, Emyr the warrior. They don’t trust me because they think I am a weak little girl who can’t make the necessary decisions. You went through all of their trials and are one of them now. As far as they know, I am just playing games and will get tired soon and just want to settle down instead of fight”
Emyr puts his hands around Anna’s face and leans forward until their foreheads meet.
“I know you’re afraid, but tomorrow we are going to the City. I think it would be easier to invade Hell, but we are going to walk right on in and take what is rightfully ours. Once we are established, we will find out who we can trust, get rid of the others, and figure out where to go from there. This is your battle plan, I will follow your orders and we will take care of all the traitors together. They will learn, pretty quickly, that the battle is starting and we aren’t going to back down.”
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