Of course, after I told Luke that my father was rarely home until late at night, he showed up for dinner.

I soon found out the reason for his change of habit: trying to find out what Luke and I had been up to that afternoon.

"Did you hear about the executions tomorrow?" He started as we both picked at our food.  "We're all expected to be present."

Making an uncommitted sound, I ate a bite from my fork.  "What did they do?"

"Apparently they were markers," my father said, shoving his beans into his gravy.  "That's not the only thing I heard today.  Were you at the green this afternoon?"

"Yeah, Luke and I went there after work to talk," I replied, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.  "Why?"

He set his fork down and sighed.  "Did the two of you do anything besides talk?  Something that could get you both in trouble?"

Setting my own fork down, I managed to force my face into a look of surprise.  "Father!  I hope you're not implying that the two of us were breaking a Founding Law.  We both know the consequences of that."

"You better not be lying to me, young lady.  You matched the description of the young woman," he scolded.  "Have you kissed anyone?"

I shot to my feet.  "Do you trust me so little that you rely on rumors and idle gossip to keep track of me?  It's a little late for you to become concerned about me!  You should have been there almost six years ago when Mother died!

"But as soon as I find a friend, who is willing to listen to me, you get involved and doubt me!  You never cared before!  You never cared when I was sitting in a corner alone with no friends at school!  You never cared when I was at home alone, picking at a cold plate of food while I waited for you to come home!

"Why do you care now?  So you can be some great citizen and report to Enforcement when your daughter breaks a law?  So you can stop any chance of me ever leaving home and having a family of my own?

"Luke and I are just friends, Father!  That's it, so stop listening to the gossiping old women and actually start understanding that I'm growing up!"

I stormed out of the room, bolting my bedroom door before flinging myself down on the bed.  A hot tear ran down my cheek as I stared at the ceiling.

Maybe it was considered wrong for Luke and me to share that kiss, but nothing in my life had ever felt so right.  The kiss had made me feel like I had been wandering aimless in a foreign place, but now I had found my way home.

"Ilania!" My father yelled, pounding on the door.  "Unlock this door right now!"

I ignored him, tracing pictures that were forming in the plaster on my ceiling.

"Young woman, I can make your life miserable!  Open this door immediately!"

Instead of responding to him, I remembered something my mother had told me when I was younger.

"You may always believe that you understand exactly what's going on inside your father's head, but there are secrets that he keeps from even me," she whispered one night as we heard him yelling at someone.  "He's more dangerous than he seems.  Be careful what secrets you let be known."

My father gave up after a long while, and I heard the front door slam behind him as he left the house.  I sighed wearily and found the book that I had borrowed.

"Lane," Luke's voice whispered from the darkness as I slid out the door.

I turned to find his silhouette standing slightly off to the side.  "Luke, you came."

He reached for me.  "Of course, I did."

I raised my face up for his light kiss, this one just as potent as our first one had been.  He sighed and wrapped an arm around my waist to steer me down the street.

"Ilania, I only ask that you don't say anything to anyone that we met tonight.  The group is very touchy of outsiders," he said before taking his jacket off and draping it over me.

"I promise," I muttered, kissing his cheek as we halted in front of a door shadowed in an alley.

Luke knocked on the door, and I tightened my grip on the lapels of his coat that fit me more like a dress than a coat.

"Good evening," a low voice said as the door creaked open slightly.  "Speak if you be friend; leave if you be foe."

"Eadem Mutata Resurgo," he replied in a breathless tone.

I watched as whoever was behind the door pulled it open wider.  "Luke, you scoundrel!  We were wondering when you were going to grace us with your presence."

"Hello, Diane," he greeted the woman, whose straw-colored hair was cut into a chin-length bob.  "Where's your cousin this evening?"

Diane waved vaguely back through the open doorway.  "Andie's around here somewhere.  You know how she is when it comes to one of these gatherings.  Who's your friend?"

Luke smiled mischievously.  "Don't you try your tricks on me.  Matthew insists on meeting everyone before you get to."

"I'm the doorkeeper.  I think I should at least get a hint," she answered, pale eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Here's one.  She works with my uncle."

Diane's eyes widened.  "An Archivist?  Matthew will be interested to hear about this."

He nodded and took my hand, leading me into the building.  A long set of stairs spiraled downward.

"What was all of that about?" I hissed.  "The strange language, the doorkeeper, and Matthew?"

"That strange language was Latin, Diane's an old friend, and Matthew is a big deal among these people," Luke said in a way where he answered all of my questions yet didn't answer them at all.

I sighed.  "I know that was Latin.  What did it mean?"

Luke halted in the middle of the dim stairway.  " 'Though changed, I rise again the same.'"

"Kind of like Enforcement's motto of 'From the ashes, we rise,'" I remarked as we started down the stairs again, and I started to hear the sounds of other people.  "This is more organized than I expected it to be."

"I would hope so," he agreed.  "After all, Matthew's parents started the whole thing before they were killed about eight years ago.  He only took over after he grew old enough to handle it."

I saw lights as we turned one more corner, and I could make out the words of the speaker.

"Soon the time will come to make our move!  We may grow large in numbers and then be picked off by those who oppress us, but we are mighty no matter what!  Our ancestors fanned the flames, and Enforcement thought that they had turned us to cinders!

"We will show them that there are still living embers!  We will stand and become the Igniters that bring about a new era for the next generation to flourish in!"

A roar of approval rose at the young man's words, and we entered a large room that was only filled with about fifty people.  At the front of the room stood a man whose midnight hair flashed with hidden auburn highlights.

Luke pulled me closer to whisper, "That's Matthew right there.  Welcome to the Igniters, Lane, and the hope of a future together."

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I walked further into the room with only the solid presence of Luke keeping me from curling up in a tight ball on the floor.

The tight huddle of people began to disperse through the large area, talking amongst themselves, as Matthew weaved his way back to where the two of us were standing.

"Luke!" He said as he neared us, and I realized he was only about sixteen, my age.  "It's been months since we were last graced with your presence.  What dragged your sorry self back to us?"

Luke released me to clasp hands with the other.  "They were becoming too suspicious.  I'm sure Meara was half-tempted to follow me at night, and we can't have a trainee stumbling in here even if she is my sister."

"Who's this?" The Igniters' young leader asked, turning an eye to me.  "I don't believe I've ever seen her here before."

"Matthew, meet Ilania, my uncle's apprentice," Luke introduced, returning to my side and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.  "Ilania, meet Matthew, the leader of this whole operation."

Matthew raised an eyebrow at the familiar way that we settled into each other's sides.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ilania.  I'm sure Luke didn't tell you this, but we've been hoping that someone with access to the Archives would join us.  It will make our plan much easier to accomplish."

I smiled at his disguised question.  "I'm pleased to meet you as well, Matthew.  Perhaps we can work out an arrangement to retrieve what you need from the Archives."

"I like her already!" He said with a slight chuckle, patting Luke on the back.  "You've got good judgment, Luke, but we already knew that.  Come along, Ilania, we have much to discuss before anyone can continue with our plan."

I leaned my head into Luke's shoulder, grinning at him when he gave me an amused smile.  We followed Matthew to a secluded corner where a table had been set up.

That night, when I talked to Matthew, I only got a glimpse of how my life was going to change in the coming years.  There are times when I wish I had seen even more, enough where I could have prevented some of the events that followed.