Hi everyone!

Thank you as always for your patience with this story! I know there's been a bit of a delay recently with uploads! Just as a thank you, I will be posting another chapter TOMORROW! (and I promise there will be some more romance in it ;) LOL) So be ready for that!

Thank you! Don't forget to vote and comment!

Love,

Luckycharms <3



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When Tai came down the stairs and Julian and Kaya rushed back up to join Niall again, Thea, Aaryan, Luana and Milo watched her and her small entourage leave the community center, looking completely satisfied with whatever had happened.

Curiosity overwhelmed Thea, an eagerness to know what had happened taking over her until she was startled by Tai stopping in front of her. "Theavi," Tai started. "As agreed, I am expecting to receive the box of the hair and letters that was entrusted to me back. Now."

For a moment, Thea was confused, the mere presence of the woman overwhelming her, but then she snapped back into her senses. "Yes, of course," Thea said, turning to look at Aaryan, who was already on his way to disappearing into the community center to grab it. When he returned with it, Tai took it with a smile. "Thank you," she said. "Until next time."

Thea smiled at the woman as she turned and walked off, feeling pleased to know that whatever conversation she and Niall had, at the very least, there was going to be a next time.

The group watched as Tai, Anban, Kova and Sinna returned into the massive vehicle and the second their door shut, the rest of the Crow's marched back into their own.

Once the other two vehicles shut their doors, from the corner of Thea's eye, she was distracted by the sight of movement. She followed the movement until her eyes landed on a figure rising from their position up on the building she knew to be City Hall.

A sniper.

She hadn't seen the person there before, so for a moment, she praised Aaryan in her head, impressed with his ability to spot them so quickly.

Before Thea could look away however, she was distracted once more when the figure became clearer.

Thea watched, gawking, as the woman with the long, tight braid leaned back a little, one hand pressed against her back as the other ran down her very large belly. She suddenly recognized the woman from Ilia, Kova's very pregnant lover... Paruntha. She also remembered, right then, what Paruntha had said to the child who teased the thought of women with guns.

They'd have a bullet through your head before you even have a chance to think about running.

She was a sniper?

Thea's head shot towards Aaryan, who was also gawking. "Do you see that?" Thea asked as she looked back at Paruntha, watching as she did some odd hand signals at some other invisible person before stepping away and disappearing out of sight.

Aaryan let out a breathless scoff. "Yeah."

Unbelievable. Thea thought.

These people were unbelievable.







When the entire team had gathered into the room that Niall and Tai had just had their conversation in, it took Niall a few moments to collect himself before beginning to speak. "Even after giving these people quite a fair amount of credit, we have still grossly underestimated them," he eventually said.

"She used this meeting to show us where she stands," Milo said, unsurprisingly having figured it out.

Niall nodded. "And she has thoroughly proven that she stands ten steps ahead of us... if not way more."

"What happened?" Luana asked. "What did she say?"

Niall took a breath, closing his eyes for a moment before looking at his team again. "She knows things... about all of you."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"Significant things. Histories, traumas, secrets... she and her team have managed to find more information on all of you than I could ever have imagined."

Thea's eyes narrowed. "Secrets? Trauma? How..."

"Crows," Julian said, making everyone turn to him. "It's much easier for powerful guerilla fighters and rebels like Tai's Crows to get information than it is for even the State."

"Even with all the resources the State has?" Luana asked.

"Clearly these Crows have a significant number of resources as well," Julian said. "But in addition to that, they have the trust of the people. People are more likely to talk to Crows, or at least, the decent ones, than they are to individuals who work for the State. Plus, they could easily just meld in with the crowd... no one would even need to ever know they were talking to a Crow. So it would have been substantially easier for them to just walk over to someone and start conversation and get the information they are looking for."

Niall nodded.

"Is she threatening to use it against us?" Aaryan asked, frowning.

Niall kept his eyes on Thea for a moment before glancing at Aaryan.

His mind was racing, but for a moment, he forced it to pause. He forced it to pause so that he could recall the words that Tai had said so casually that he may have missed it if he wasn't so hard set on trying not to miss a single thing.

'When the girl you love and the boy who loves her appeared at our doorstep...'

The boy who loves her.

It could have meant nothing. It could have just been Tai's way of expressing the once close relationship between Thea and Aaryan.

Or...

Or, it could have meant that Aaryan was in love with Thea.

Certainly, it would have made sense. It wouldn't be surprising to learn that Aaryan was in love with her. They were close... and Thea had said to Niall herself that she had once loved him too... it was why she was so upset when she found out that he was hiding from her. And of course, there was the hiding... Aaryan's reluctance to meet with her at the beginning... it made more sense than ever now. Of course he would struggle to reunite with the young woman he was in love with if he felt he had failed her... it would make more sense then if they were just friends.

Aaryan... was in love with Thea.

This made things... complicated.

"Not explicitly," Niall responded. "She simply made it known what she knows, but I'd assume that's what she was implying."

Milo, who was looking rather uncomfortable, took a deep breath. "Are you going to tell us what she said?"

"I'm assuming you all want to know, but we won't discuss it here and now. I will talk to you privately. Individually. Right now, Milo, I need your expertise."

"Of course, Sir."

"Despite the fact that the woman seemed to know everything about each of us, I was only able to extract three things about her. Firstly, she has an accent... that of someone whose mother tongue is Old Elorian."

Milo's eyes widened. "That certainly helps in narrowing down her place of origin."

Niall nodded, but continued. "The second was when we were discussing where I was born... and my mother," Niall said, remembering the look on Tai's face. "She seemed affected by this information."

The team looked confused. "Affected?" Thea asked.

"I don't know how else to describe it. During our entire conversation, she seemed poised... unreadable. But when discussing this, it was the first time that I could read her... even if it was for a moment, I could see something, though I can't put my finger on exactly what that was."

"I suppose it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that she is from the same area...especially if she has the accent," Milo said.

"I was wondering the same thing," Niall agreed.

"Does the third thing you learned help consolidate that?"

"No, the third thing is mostly unrelated, though still significant," Niall continued. "She wants to get rid of the Premier of Elore."

Everyone paused, surprised by this revelation.

"Though that's unexpected, I suppose it's believable," Kaya finally said. "That man is an entirely incompetent puppet of the Aiverian State. Most Elorians hate him."

"Yeah, and maybe she wants to take his place," Luana added. "She's clearly a good leader-"

"No, that can't be," Milo interrupted, looking deep in thought. "Yes, you're right, she is clearly a remarkable leader but that's also exactly why there is no way she'd be stupid enough to think that she'd be capable of winning an election against Lavan Kyrie."

Lavan Kyrie. The unimpressive Elorian premier whose pockets were lined by the State so long as he kept himself in line, which meant keeping the Elorian people at bay. Some would even go as far as to claim that the reason for why Eloria was not free was because of this one man's greed.

"But everyone with a functioning brain despises the man," Aaryan said. "They know he's a puppet-"

"Milo is right," Thea said, "for two reasons. The first being that he's supported by Achlis and the rest of the State. The second reason being that no matter how good of a leader Tai is... she's still an Elorian woman. It doesn't matter how much they hate Kyrie, there's no way, at this point, the Elorians and Aiverians, would let a woman take on such a pivotal position."

"Exactly," Milo agreed. "It's foolish and unfair but it's true. Tai would be stupid to not know this, and judging by how on top of things they are, I'm certain she wouldn't bother wasting her time trying to get herself into power. Instead, she probably has her alternative in mind. Someone who she is certain would win."

"Another unanswered question," Niall frowned.

"Or not," Thea said, looking up at him. "Whoever she has in mind has to be someone who is intelligent, capable and has the makings of a leader. Plus, it has to be someone she trusts whole heartedly and is also well known by both Elorian's and Aiverians. It needs to be someone who would win the hearts and therefore the votes of the Elorian's but also someone who has the sympathy of the Aiverians, so much so that the State would be reluctant to interfere with their usual methods."

Niall narrowed his eyes, noticing Milo begin to smile as he nodded. "Yes... yes," he said. "Yes... you're right."

Normally, Niall wouldn't have been bothered by the silent conversation that Milo and Thea were having in their minds as they stared at each other, their eyes revealing some sort of revelation that they were coming to. However, now, at this point, Niall was rather impatient. "Well?"

"Is it someone we know?" Kaya pushed. "Because I can't think of anyone who meets those criteria."

"She's taking advantage of the situation we've created," Thea said.

"She's quick to plan and act," Milo continued.

Luana groaned and rolled her eyes. "Are you two going to fill us in or are we going to have to play some sort of guessing game because clearly, none of us can keep up!"

"Rue," Thea finally said, making everyone freeze. "It must be Rue that she wants to make premier. He fits the criteria... thanks to everything we did."

Niall's shoulders lowered as his lips parted.

Rue.

Niall was suddenly reminded once more of the stories of Rue sitting cross legged on that broken fountain in Faru. The last time he had thought of this was when he went to see him the night before the meeting with the higher ups, hoping that he could convince Rue to give Thea more support.

Despite everything that happened since then, however, his vision of the story hadn't changed.

Rue had been one man, smiling down at the barrels of hundred of guns, watching as the entire force of the State marched towards him with the hopes of capturing his entire division. He had no fear because his people were safe... Tai was safe.

And maybe, with everything Niall knew now, Rue probably had no fear because he had been moments away from crippling Rivier's career... from getting the revenge he wanted, even if it meant the potential that he would be killed.

Rue was courageous. He was strong. He was intelligent. He was admired, even by those who were meant to hate him.

And now... he was loved as well. Rue's poems, the discovery about his lover and Thea's work had made sure of it.

Tai was right... he would be a good candidate for the Premier of Elore.

Niall had to rethink everything... all of his plans, all of what he had hoped to achieve, he had to rethink it all. Of course, his end goal would not change... not ever. It would always be to ensure that the conflict is ended and everyone who is innocent is allowed to live in peace, comfort and relief in knowing that they are safe.

But Niall was forced to admit at that moment that Tai's way... at least, if they were on the right track... was better.

Rue as the Premier of Elore.

Someone capable as Premier. Someone eloquent and brave and willing to speak out without the fear of being punished. That was Rue. No one could do it better.

"Niall?" Thea called.

It was when Niall looked up at her, pulled out of his spiraling thoughts, that he realized he was smiling. He was smiling widely.

The range of emotions he had felt in the last hour was exhausting, nevertheless, he knew there was way more work to do. "We need to head back to the state. Our priority now... our only priority, is to get Rue back."

Thea's smile grew instantly.

"We must keep in mind that if we lose him, we lose our greatest chance at both peace and stability for both Elorian's and Aiverians," Niall said. "Aaryan and Luana, you will be stationed at the Military Police Headquarters. You will be Rue's personal bodyguards and your number one priority will be to assure that he comes out safe. Julian, you will continue to rile up the crowd. Feed them with whatever information needed to keep them interested and intrigued enough with Rue to want to support him. Kaya, you will do everything in your power to get the best of the best in medical aide to Rue. We need him alive."

Everyone was gawking, surprised by the sudden demands.

"Thea and Milo, you two will work on getting that second book of poems out. It's focus on his time as a Crow and his struggle with right and wrong as well as his subsequent meeting of Miriella will be perfect to keep people intrigued. Julian will support you in spreading word of its release so that it gets the attention it deserves."

"Niall, this is all fine and dandy and we will do as we are told," Kaya started. "But you do realize that all of this puts you and your title at risk, right? The higher ups of the State are already struggling to accept you... when they see that you are devoting so many resources to a prisoner Crow, they may protest."

"That's fine," Niall said. "It doesn't matter if they fire me because of it. You have your orders... they will be your first, official, orders from me as the Secretary of Defense. Put your all into it... because they may also be the last."

"Niall," Thea started, her brows furrowed.

Niall was still smiling. "It's fine," he repeated. "It's not like I truly wanted any of this for myself anyways."







As soon as the team returned to Achlis, they split up and when their own ways to begin their work on their specific tasks. Niall knew he had to act fast as well, knowing well that as soon as the higher ups got wind of what he was doing, the frustration and annoyance with him would follow swiftly after. He knew that he had to get as much done as possible before they fired him.

Of course, it certainly humored Niall to know that the name Killian would have been attached to both the longest serving Secretary of Defense, as well as the shortest serving one.

The dishonor it would bring to the name.

Oh well. At least it wasn't his own.

So, the first thing Niall did when parting ways with his team was walk into Mayra's. Mayra greeted him with her usual pleasant look, but unlike every other time, she didn't hold him back for conversation. Instead, she said, "The phone is ready. You know where it is."

Niall nodded his head at her before crossing around the bar and opening the door to the back. After shutting the door behind him, he walked into the room and grabbed the phone, dialing the number that he memorized, despite it being a different one every month. The dial tone rang for a few moments and Niall pulled out his pocket watch. He watched as the time shifted to six-o-three and right then, there was a voice at the other end. "Niall," he said. "Tell me. What's the plan?"

The voice of the man on the other end had become familiar to Niall, despite the fact that they had only spoken to each other a handful of times over the last couple years. He was also someone Niall felt like he knew, though they had only ever met in person years ago, when Niall was younger, and since then, the only person who had the capability of getting a hold of him was Mayra. Despite all of this, Niall trusted him.

Niall trusted him wholeheartedly.

"Niall?" The deep voice questioned.

"It's all changed. Everything has changed."