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“Then we have to move fast,” Lucas stated.
“Once we have more information, how do we plan to fight back?” Grant wondered.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Miles said with a slight smirk. “We overthrow the council.”
Talia’s eyebrows shot up. “What, kill the priestesses?”
Miles shrugged. “If they were gone, maybe someone we trust could take their place. Then we can overpower them. The priestesses aren’t innocent. You’ve killed people already. You can do it again.”
“No,” Chloe said firmly. “Every move we make has to be calculated. If we kill the priestesses, we lose all favor with the coven, and everything we’re trying to do falls apart. We’d need support in order to put someone we trust on the council. Otherwise, we’re hanged for treason and the new priestesses could be worse than the last. It’s not going to work.”
“Even if killing the priestesses is the wrong move, Miles brings up a good point.” My stomach clenched as I carefully prepared my next words. “We have killed people. I’m not proud of it, but I have to own up to it. I killed the witches at Pinewood Manor. Lucas killed Stella. Grant killed two officers the night of the Burning. And yes, I stand by the belief that those choices were necessary in order to save each other, but I’m not willing to continue sacrificing lives to win this war. That’s what the priestesses are doing, and it’s what we stand against.”
I drew a deep breath. “We all need to be on the same page about what our values are, and what we’re willing to endure. The choices we will face are going to be difficult. I know, because we’ve already faced many impossible decisions. But it takes just one of us to make the wrong decision for this entire thing to fall apart. So… what exactly are we willing to risk?”
Silence filled the room, and no one met my gaze.
Finally, Chloe cleared her throat. “The difference between you and the priestesses is that you did what you had to in order to survive. They’ve taken innocent lives and twisted their stories to suit their own agenda. We’re here to fight the injustice of wrongful persecution and the persecution of innocents.”
Grant sat up straighter. “You’re right. This is a war. I can’t take back what I did to those officers, but some of you wouldn’t be standing here if I hadn’t. We have to decide what happens when innocent lives are in immediate danger. What happens when our only choice is to eliminate their oppressors or let the innocents burn at the stake? If something like the Burning happened again… what choice do we have?”
I stared at a spot on the table, thinking hard. Death and destruction was the last thing I wanted. I just wished we could all get along, without hurting each other. But the priestesses had made it clear they weren’t willing to do that.
“We protect innocent lives,” I answered simply.
Lucas squeezed my hand to show he agreed with me. “We’ll do everything we can to keep the peace, but if innocent lives are in danger, we have to save them. This coven is nothing if we don’t protect our most vulnerable people.”
“So, what’s our plan?” Miles questioned.
“Our first step is to rally people to our side,” Lucas answered. “We can’t go up against the priestesses alone. We have to show them that the coven won’t stand for their methods. They’re trying to scare us, but if we show them that the coven is prepared to retaliate, they may be willing to negotiate.”
“The priestesses will never work with us,” Mandy sneered.
“We have to believe there’s a chance,” I argued. “We all want the same thing. We want to end the Waning and restore our magic. But we can’t sacrifice innocent lives to do that.”
“How do we get people to work with us?” Talia asked. “The priestesses were ready to kill Felicia, Samantha, and Darcy. The priestesses wanted to burn them simply for helping people escape the riots, yet none of those girls wanted anything to do with a revolution. We tried talking to them over break. They’re terrified.”
Lucas pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “If the priestesses can turn people against us using the Miriamic Messenger, then maybe we can do the same thing.”
I eyed the big printer in the corner. “The Epitaph.”
“That’s risky,” Talia argued.
“Everything we do for this movement is going to be risky,” I pointed out. “We have to be willing to take those risks.”
“We can’t confront the priestesses head-on,” Talia insisted. “It will put a target on our backs.”
“I’m already a target,” I argued.
“Which means we have to be careful, or they’ll take aim.” Talia sounded really worried. “We need to do this with as little conflict as possible, or things will get out of hand very quickly.”
“What are you suggesting?” I asked.
Talia thought about it for a moment. “We can write the article, but it should be under a pseudonym. And it shouldn’t be The Epitaph. It should be something new, because the priestesses already know Lucas was working on an article for The Epitaph last semester. We can print a hidden message, so even if the priestesses get their hands on it, they won’t know what we’re up to.”
“I can do that,” Lucas offered.
“You should write two papers,” Grant suggested. “Keep writing for The Epitaph. Write boring stuff no one cares about, and then change your writing style for this new paper. That way, the priestesses think you’ve been scared into compliance and won’t suspect you.”
