The Emperor's Daughter

by H M Angues

  Ryse loses himself in thought. “So... all that time, you knew. And you didn’t tell Ramsey?”

  “That was the point of everything, Rysen. It’s the reason the Underground didn’t try to save me, even though Jed knew I was on your side. Once Ramsey captured me, I decided to stay with her and keep her from believing Calla was alive. As long as I was there and pretending to be grieving, Ramsey didn’t question a thing.”

  “How’d you know she would be at Ragnar?”

  I let out a frustrated groan. “Oh my gods, you’re dense. Have Calla and I not said a dozen times that I’m the one that told her to be there?”

  Rysen rubs his forehead. “Okay... okay, so you’re not a complete shithead. It doesn’t make up for everything else, and I don’t entirely believe you, but... All right, so this anonymous source is in the Underground. Why did you tell me this?”

  “Calla’s too busy ignoring me to listen to me. And you’re the most cynical of them all—you don’t see the good in anyone, it seems. Calla does, though, and if this person is close to her...”

  “You’re afraid she won’t believe it.”

  “Not without definitive proof. So, I want to prove it, then tell her.”

  He shrugs. “Where do we start?”

  ∞∞∞

  Fayette

  I pad gently across the polished concrete floors, sliding on my jeans with silent ease. Rysen and Kainan are still too busy trying to figure out who the traitor is to bother noticing my absence. They sure do talk loud for two guys trying to be secretive. I wriggle my feet into my tennis shoes and slip out of the apartment without a sound.

  I move quickly, half-jogging to 4Z at the end of the hallway. The keypad and locking mechanism are broken; careful planning on my part. I heave the door across its tracks and slither through the small opening. It seals to a close behind me.

  I grab the datapad sitting on the table and type in the password with my fingers. A message appears from an unknown source.

  No reported casualties, is all it says.

  I tap the button on the tablet screen to call the sender. It only rings once before a familiar face appears on the screen.

  “They managed to evacuate everyone,” I say to her. “Calla’s on level five.”

  She sighs, blinking her ruby eyes. “Damn it,” she whispers. “We planned on her being with the Overseer in his separate bunker.”

  “She’s with Kainan,” I say, “and Blade. I got assigned to the same apartment as Rysen. What do you want to do from here?”

  “Get her to the other bunker. This all depends on it.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Ramsey’s crimson eyes harden. “No, you will. I care for you, Fay, but if you fail me again, I can’t turn the other cheek this time. Others have been using my leniency with you as an excuse for their own defiance. I can’t show the same mercy any longer.”

  “I know,” I breathe.

  “Once this is over, you’ll be happy. I promise. She will be dead and so will everyone else that’s hurt you.”

  I smile at her, and her red eyes seem to glow a little brighter. But that brightness fades almost as quickly as it had come.

  “Do as I command,” are her last words, and the screen goes blank.

  Chapter 37

  Kainan

  I don’t return to the apartment until well into the early morning. The digital clock on the far wall reads two o’clock when I finally step inside.

  Blade is asleep with his head in Calla's lap and Talon is nowhere to be found—I assume he's passed out in the bunkroom. Calla’s tired eyes are glued on the telescreen across from her. Star Wars. If I’ve learned anything from spending so much of my time inside her thoughts, it’s that she’s a major fanatic for the old movie series brought here from Earth all those centuries ago.

  “Where have you been?” she asks sleepily, yawning mid-sentence as I sit down on the small chair across from her. She's running her fingers through Blade's tight curls as he snores.

  “With Ryse.”

  “That’s... good. Are you guys working things out?”

  I shrug and mutter, “Sort of.”

  She looks down at Blade's sleeping face and smiles. Again, I'm reminded of a connection that she and I will never share. One she has with her brother, with Blade.

  She lifts her gaze back to the telescreen, the glow casting various colors on her skin. I know Calla must have this movie memorized by now with how many times she’s seen it.

  “You look like Anakin, you know,” she murmurs. “A little bit.”

  I want to smile, but I lost that ability when I lost my chance with her.

  “I’m scared, Cal,” I mutter. “It feels like I'm running out of time.”

  Her amber eyes are dim and dreary as she returns them to Blade. “I feel like there’s never going to be enough time. I lost my brother, and all I could think of is how many years I wasn't going to get to spend with him. Every day since the Arena, I wake up fearing it will be the last.”

  “Is that how you figured out you didn't want me?”I don't say it to hurt her, but I know it fills her with unnecessary guilt. Calla has no reason to feel guilty. She doesn't owe me anything.

  She blinks away tears. “I realized that, when I would wake up, it wasn't you I wanted to wake up next to. That, if one of those days would be my last, you weren't the person I wanted to spend it with.”

  I bury the sharp sting of pain those words bring. “Who do you want to spend your last days with, then? If you could choose?”

  Calla's eyes are still on Blade as she answers, “My family. And you're part of that family too, Kainan.”

  ∞∞∞

  When I wake up in the morning, Calla and Blade are gone, and Talon is still asleep. I dress and slip out of the apartment without making much noise. I don’t worry about Calla—I know well enough that she's all right, her presence lingering at the back of my mind. As long as she is safe, I won't bother with her whereabouts.

  I meet Ryse at his place on level four, Fayette off somewhere with her father and the emperor, most likely.

  “So, any ideas?” I ask him, kicking my feet up on the table.

  “Yeah, actually. Bellamy.”

  I snort out a laugh. “You can’t be serious.” His face is expressionless. “Wait, are you? Bellamy is Cal’s sister. That girl would die for her, I have no doubt about it.”

  “Well, just think for a minute. Bellamy was the only person who knew all the details about Ragnar without actually being there. And, she knew Drakonis and Jurynn’s exact locations. She has motive, too. Her mom was cast off by the emperor because she was pregnant with Bellamy. She had a shitty life, and then got to spend it watching Talon and Calla grow up as royalty.”

  “It’s still... That’s a stretch, Ryse. And to make Calla believe it would be incredibly difficult.”

  Something rumbles from overhead, dust trickling from the ceiling. “What the hell,” I whisper.

  Ryse grips my arm. “Calla. Where’s Calla?” he demands as another bomb drops overhead. Ramsey must be trying to eliminate anything that remains from her assault yesterday.

  I latch onto her thoughts. “Jed’s bunker,” I breathe, hurling myself into the hallway with my brother close behind. We take off toward the elevator.

  Another bomb shakes the lift while we’re inside. I curl my fingers into fists, knuckles turning white from the strain. Ryse looks even more anxious.

  Level one is eerily quiet—no guards or Underground soldiers are anywhere to be seen.

  I don't bother dwelling on the observation, sprinting for the door that will take me to Calla.

  Jed’s bunker is a few hundred feet above level one. It’s not the safest location, but he probably preferred its easy surface access enough to sacrifice safety. There is no lift to take us there, forcing Ryse and me to climb several flights of stairs. The stairwell is trenched in darkness. The lights must have gone out, making it almost impossible to see.

  As we near our destinat
ion, the explosions get louder. Closer.

  Calla! I shout in my head, hoping she’s listening.

  No answer.

  I begin to take the stairs three at a time, and Ryse does the same when he senses my increased urgency.

  Someone coming down the stairs slams into me, knocking me backward. Luckily, Ryse catches my fall. He shoves me back onto my own two feet.

  “Fayette?” he calls from behind me. “What the fuck is going on up there?”

  “Ramsey’s second assault. Calla’s up there, you should hurry.” Without another word, she slips by me, but not before making a startling realization. I reach for her thin arm before she’s out of reach, yanking her back to face me, her eyes barely visible in the darkness.

  “Why are you the only one out here?” I ask.

  I can’t read her face with the lack of light, but her hesitation is clear. “I... uh... I just—I got out, okay? I’m not important, so I was able to slip past them.”

  “Them?”

  “Everyone up there! Just go!”

  She wriggles her arm away, disappearing entirely into the depths of the stairwell.

  Ryse must have picked up on the same thing I did, because the next thing he says is, “If I know anything about Fayette, it’s that she’s the most disloyal person down here. She's said before that Calla isn't her friend.”

  I turn around and continue my trek up the stairs as my brother continues. “She told me once back in Drakonis that she wanted to create her own path, not follow a predetermined one set by an emperor,” he says in between panting breaths.

  “I thought Calla was her friend.”

  “So did I.”

  I pause, but just for half a second, smirking through the darkness as I say, “I told you it wasn’t Bellamy.”

  Before Rysen has a chance to make a comment, gunshots sound from overhead. From Jed’s bunker.

  I don’t think I’ve ever run faster in my life.

  ∞∞∞

  The heavy metal door sits open, half of it disconnected from its hinges. Gunfire raps from inside. I slide through the opening without thinking to protect myself.

  The Overseer’s bunker is about the size of a single level in the standard one below us. Except, instead of living quarters, the space is filled with monitors and control panels. It’s designed so that Jed can run the entire Underground from this small location, if need be.

  Off the main area, there are only three rooms—Jed’s, a meeting room for the Council, and the emperor’s. Calla, of course, had refused to stay there.

  The lights on the ceiling have been shot out, leaving the red emergency bulbs flashing above us as the only source of illumination. Broken glass litters the ground and crunches under our boots as we slowly creep along. The guns have fallen silent, the only sound being the alarm blaring from one of the control panels. Breach, the monitor above it reads. No shit, I say to myself.

  The double doors to the living quarters up here are wide open, one even blown off its hinges entirely. Ryse glances inside each one, shaking his head at me. Empty.

  I find the door to the temporary Council Hall, carefully pressing my ear against the metal surface. I can hear voices inside, but I can’t make out what’s being said.

  Cal, I try again.

  Something cold and terrifying strokes the back of my neck, making the hairs stand on end. The coolness trails down my arm. I look down and have to stifle a gasp as a black mist-form snakes along my skin.

  I let out a sigh. “Thank the gods,” I whisper.

  When I turn to face Ryse, he’s frozen pale with horror, and I actually laugh at his terrified expression. “You don’t remember Ragnar?” I barely hear my own hushed voice over the alarm.

  The mist pools on the ground beside me, warmth rushing back into my body. It swirls and rises, and with a gentle swish, Calla forms at the center, the fog wafting off her skin.

  “Shade,” I mutter, in awe. I remember seeing her in Ragnar in this form, but I hadn’t had the time to truly take in the magnificence of it.

  Her armor—the set gifted to her in the Arena—fits tight over her body, the cloak fastened around her neck. It may be useless, but I imagine she likes the look. Cuffs around her wrists gleam red in the dim light.

  Calla’s eyes are deep black and seem to swim with the very shadows she came from. “Ramsey can’t feel me when I’m in shadow form, either. Not my mind, not my existence,” she tells me. “She’s not in there. She and a few others took the emergency exit down to the main bunker to look for me.

  “They have the whole Council tied up like hostages. They got Blade, too. I wasn't paying attention and let him slip through my fingers.” Calla stands, pressing her hands against the sliding steel door. “When I open this, you go straight for the others, got it? I’ll handle her men.”

  “Got it,” Rysen and I say in unison.

  “Don't die,” is all she says before the door crumbles in on itself under her hands, like scrunching up aluminum foil.

  Calla hurls the metal ball she formed at the head of one of the soldiers before the rest can notice our uninvited presence. His skull explodes on impact, almost completely taken off his shoulders. I try not to gag at the sight as Ryse and I rush for Blade and the Council members cuffed against the table in the center, all while she singlehandedly takes out the dozen or so soldiers.

  I stand frozen as I watch bolts of lightning fry the internal workings of two of the men. A third bursts into flames, while another finds his own bullet in his brain.

  I grab a set of keys off the lifeless form of a fallen enemy and use it to unlatch the captives. Jed rubs his wrists, glaring at me with his one good eye and saying, “What the hell took you so long?”

  Cal flicks her wrists, intricate black and silver blades forming in her palms. She slashes the throat of the last man standing. He falls dead on the floor, blood pooling around him as she strides toward us, stepping over the singed and electrocuted and bloodied corpses as she does so.

  She jerks her chin toward the door at the opposite end of the Council Hall. “That leads straight up—or straight down,” she explains, moving past us to stand on the staircase’s landing.

  “She knows Talon’s alive,” Blade stammers as he moves to stand beside her. “I’m sorry, she was in my head and—”

  She grabs his chin with her small fingers. “Don’t apologize. I'm just relieved you're all right. All three of you,” Calla’s eyes land on Blade, Ryse and me in turn, “will stay up here with the Council.”

  “That’s bullshit, Cal,” I snap.

  “He’s right,” Jed agrees, folding his arms across his chest. “You shouldn’t go alone. Rysen and Blade will go with you—Kainan will stay here.

  I open my mouth to argue, but Jed silences me with a raised finger. “It’s best for everyone that you’re far away from Ramsey. Last thing I need to deal with is an emperor driven mad by the loss of her Flame.”

  Calla grabs my arm. “If anything—anything—at all happens, I don’t care how insignificant, you tell me, all right? I mean what I said: I’m not losing you, Kainan.”

  I nod. “Be safe. If something happens to you, I’ll have nowhere left to go.”

  I still love you. You're still my home, I add through my thoughts.

  I know.

  The moment they disappear down the unlit stairwell, I can feel what she’s experiencing. I know exactly where she’s at, where she’s going—Talon and Bellamy are her first destinations. I hold onto that solid bridge between us like a lifeline.

  Jed focuses on settling down the Councilmen and women, who are a bit frantic—with good reason, obviously. It takes a good fifteen minutes, but once their panic has subsided, the Overseer turns to me, raising his eyebrows in question. I get the hint.

  “Talon’s with them now, but they’re still looking for Bellamy. They’ve locked down all the apartments, so no one else is able to get caught in the line of fire. The people that were found outside, though, are dead. At least on the top tw
o levels,” I report.

  Jed nods gruffly, opening his mouth to say something when a horrifyingly familiar woman appears in the main doorway.

  Her ruby eyes find me in an instant. “How perfect,” she purrs. “I was hoping you’d be the one left behind. Calla is becoming quite predictable.” She doesn’t even look at the Council members as she obliterates their existence. Brain matter oozes out of all their ears and noses as they collapse, leaving only Jed and I standing.

  She closes the distance between us as the Overseer inches closer to the same door Calla used. He reaches down for one of the guns of the fallen while the menacing woman traces her sharp fingernails down my neck.

  “Good to see you again, my dear. Tell me, was it worth it? To betray me and throw away your position at my side for that little girl who calls herself emperor?” Her voice feels like snakes slithering beneath my skin.

  I try to move, but I’m frozen in place. She has me. My body is under her control now, but my mind is still my own.

  “You could’ve had everything,” Ramsey hisses in my ear, her breath trailing down my neck. If I could move, I’d probably be vomiting.

  “She is everything,” I choke out, barely able to move my jaw under the weight of Ramsey’s control.

  I reach out for Calla in my head. They found Bellamy; she’s injured, but alive. A couple is with them, too. I recognize them from the time I spent in Helkyn. I knew them—Syn and Jeriko.

  Calla, I whisper in her thoughts.

  Are you okay?

  I put all my strength into blocking her from the truth of my current situation. If she knew that Ramsey was here, toying with me and Jed like a cat with mice, Calla would be here in an instant. I can’t let that happen. I can’t watch her die again—it would destroy me, and everyone else who has already experienced that same loss.

  I’m fine, I lie. We’re fine here.

  I risk a glance in Jed’s direction. Our eyes lock for a second, and in that moment, I know he knows.