Page 266 of The Poison Daughter
Footsteps sound on the wooden stairs on the other side of the stage. Rochelli is here.
Whispers pass over the crowd in a wave.
Though I logically know who I’m looking at, it takes me a full minute to comprehend.
Kellan Carrenwell is not on the stage to represent his family. Kellan CarrenwellisRochelli. He’s the one who has been organizing a rebellion against his own family.
Beside me, Harlow stares at him with the same mix of shock and confusion.
Kellan holds up his hands, and the crowd murmurs die down.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kellan says. “How could I possibly be Rochelli? Why should you trust me? What if this is all just a grift from the Carrenwells?”
There are whispers of agreement in the crowd.
Kellan nods. “I knew this would be hard to explain. Some of you know what cruelty my parents were capable of. Suffice it to say that those cruelties existed both in and out of our home,” he says solemnly. “I made a hard choice because when I vowed to Divine Vardek to protect the people of this city fifteen years ago, when I became captain of the city guard, I meantallof our people. I’ve watched the disparity grow between the blessed and the rest, and I have seen firsthand the way it’s affected crime inside these city walls.”
Harlow reaches for my hand without looking for me, and even though I know she just needs something to hold onto, it’s the first hint of hope I’ve had since she ran from me.
Kellan shakes his head. “How quickly we’ve forgotten how this community formed. And that selective memory was encouraged by my parents. I knew when I was young. I tried to work around the system, but my parents’ roots were deep. I couldn’t strike until I knew who would support a change when the time came. My parents were vindictive, and if we didn’t succeed on the first try, I knew we wouldn’t get another.”
Bryce and Naima stand on the far side of the crowd. They see me looking and offer nods of encouragement. So far, so good. I’m really hopeful that no one tries to kill my brother-in-law.
The people’s anger and frustration are palpable. I don’t blame them. They were expecting to channel it into the ones who hurt them, but Harrick and Liza are already gone.
I can relate to that disappointment, though knowing they met a violent end has brought me some measure of peace.
“I take responsibility for how long it took to know exactly how to get us here. I’m not blind to how many of you have suffered in that time.” Kellan pauses as shouts of affirmation ring out. “More importantly, I know that it’s easy for someone to stand on this dais and tell you what you want to hear. So let me be honest for a moment and tell you what you don’t want to hear. I beseech you to listen until the end. I’ll hold weekly town hall sessions after this so that you can have time to think of your concerns and discuss them in detail. Are you willing to hear me?”
There’s a brief hesitation before murmurs of agreement break out.
“Okay. Good,” Kellan continues. “Now, this is going to sound scary, but let me start with the Drained. You’ve probably noticed that we’ve had more breaches in the last few months. That’s because the Drained have evolved. Fortunately, thanks to the cooperation of our old friends at Mountain Haven, we have a working theory that our blood tithes that were made in pain and frustration have exacerbated this problem.”
Shocked whispers rush through the crowd, but when Kellan raises his hands, they quiet.
“This is a problem that could have been avoided, but it can be traced directly to my parents’ desire to control information in Lunameade. In their greed for power and control, they cut out parts of our history that left us blind to the purpose of the blood tithes and to the true nature of the Drained. We will right that wrong by bringing back the full story of the evolution of Drained and why the tithes were directly connected to making the problem worse. We will bring back storytellers who can remind us of these tales, and we will never again wipe out uncomfortable parts of our history for the sake of holding on to power.”
The people of Lunameade look stunned.
“Say more,” someone shouts from the rear of the group.
Kellan nods. “There is good news and bad news with that. The good news is that we will be stopping the blood tithes. The bad news is that we don’t know how long it will take for the Drained to settle down enough that we can start hunting them back. But Henry Havenwood andthe people at Mountain Haven have brought us a helpful piece of information. Well water kills the Drained just like holy fire. This week, we will start distributing stashes of well water to every house in Lunameade, starting with homes and businesses in the A zones on the outermost rim of the city and working our way in through each section until we reach the city center.”
The crowd erupts into loud cheers. People hug, and the relief on their faces is plain. Kellan waits patiently for them to quiet.
He places his hand over his heart. “Now, I have one more shameful admission. Some of you already know, but most of you don’t. When I became captain of the city guard, I learned that my father was killing any Vardek-blessed children who had holy fire magic. As soon as I found out, I volunteered to take over watching all the blessing ceremonies. I lied to cover the tracks of any children with blessings from Vardek. Because of that, my father became paranoid and more volatile, thinking the Divine had abandoned us because of his sins, and more controlling of our citizens. I’m sorry for that miscalculation on my part.”
Kellan gestures to the crowd like he’s welcoming them into a huddle. “However, the children I saved have learned to wield their power, and in my father’s absence, they have graciously offered to help us maintain the wall.”
On cue, holy fire erupts around the outside of crowd, the Vardek-blessed making themselves known. The people clap, and I swear they look relieved.
Kellan presses a hand to his heart. “It’s on me for not realizing sooner, and I promise I carry the weight of that responsibility every day. It’s part of the reason why I started this revolution. The reason Alistair Carren was blessed with the Blood Well to begin with was to protect the whole of this community, not just those of us with magic.”
The crowd claps in approval. I’m impressed at what a thorough job he’s done of setting up this speech, but I suppose he’s had a lot of time to think about it.
Kellan bows his head to me in deference as he continues. “It’s also time to acknowledge that even if Rafe was responsible for directing the horde that attacked Mountain Haven ten years ago, the burden of protecting the people of Lunameade and the fort fell on my family. We failed the Havenwoods and everyone else at the fort by not seeing Rafe’streachery, and not realizing how large the horde had become. For that fault, I would like to formally apologize to the Havenwood family and everyone else at Mountain Haven. I cannot imagine their grief, but I admire the way they have rebuilt and redeveloped their community. We will be helping them bolster their forces going forward.” He looks at me. “Henry, I’m sorry for your losses, and we aim to do better going forward.”
I place my fist over my heart and nod my head. “Thank you. You have the full support of Mountain Haven.”
