by Emerson Fray
Chapter 16
The walk back to Mahendra wasn’t nearly as far as Ren had thought it would be, and when she returned the city cheered. At first she had thought it was for all their safe returns, but as more and more people greeted Abetha she realized it was mainly for her. Ren felt jilted but grateful to be back in the capital.
They sat in Abetha’s family inn, a small building that could house only seven people at a time. Abetha explained it was used mainly for Sotarians and they rarely had travellers visit. Ren couldn’t stop from gorging herself on the food.
Even through the giant bites of meat and potatoes Ren could see that the people were acting odd. The Novaeans were giving her strange glances and refused to meet her gaze. It wasn’t like when she’d first arrived and people feared her, and it was the exact opposite of the when she’d gone to the festival. This was uncomfortable, secretive even.
What had changed?
She tried to brush it off as their fear, because if rebels kidnapped the Princess then maybe they thought something bad was coming. Maybe something bad already had, and Maks had gone into the city for clues as to Ren’s whereabouts. Had he taken someone for questioning?
Sheridan and Abetha didn’t say anything as they waited for Maks to arrive. They’d sent their fastest messenger to tell him the news.
“The King will be overjoyed you’re back,” Abetha’s sister, Annoya, said. She was nothing like Abetha, with long willowy limbs and a very confident smile. Her belly was huge, telling Ren that her baby must be due soon.
“As will the Monarchy,” Abetha added with a fake smile. It was the same one that Ren had thought so kind. Seeing it now she didn’t know how she had ever thought it was genuine.
“As will the Monarchy,” Annoya repeated, her smile tightening. She trained her eyes on Ren. “Would you like more water?”
Ren looked to her empty glass, her throat still dry. How had she gone so long without water and food, and barely noticed? “Please.”
Annoya poured her another glass, keeping the jug of clear water close to her, as if it were about to be stolen. “Are you sure you are not injured, Princess? I could easily call a medic.”
“No, I’m fine,” Ren replied. Her arms had already been cleaned and bandaged, and Abetha’s leg wrapped up. And though she was aching all over, she knew she didn’t need a medic. Part of her refused it because she wanted to prove to Maks that she could easily survive on Novae, even surrounded by rebels, and barely get a scratch. And if she did get injured, he would see that she could push through it just as well as his soldiers.
Ren looked forward to his arrival and thought it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Annoya pulled her hair back nervously and looked to her sister. “The Monarchy has been searching the planet relentlessly,” she said. “But there was no trace of life beyond the cities.”
Ren nodded, remembering the EM field. There was no way that even the Monarchy’s technology would see past that, unless they tried different frequencies. And since the Monarchy saw Novae as a very low-tech planet, they probably didn’t even think to try. She debated if she should tell anyone of what she’d seen, or leave it as it was. Kian’s words kept coming back to her; there was no way Maks or the Monarchy wouldn’t head into the forest to slaughter the insurgents if they knew what was out there.
Abetha was giving Ren a hard stare, barely touching her own food. She could hear Abetha silently tell her not to say a word about the rebels, or their technology. Taking a gulp of water, Ren didn’t think she would ever figure out what to do. Right and wrong were very blurred now.
If she told the Monarchy then the rebels would be killed; people that only wanted their freedom. But if she didn’t…then her family was in danger. She glanced at Sheridan, and found no answers.
“Do you know the name of the rebel that took you?” Annoya asked suddenly. Ren wasn’t sure if it was a ploy to convince her that Annoya wasn’t working with the rebels as Abetha was, or if it was question of genuine concern.
“Oh, I…um,” Ren stammered. Had Kian returned to Mahendra since she saw him? Did he act concerned for her well-being, or join the search parties to find her? If he had, Ren knew he would lead them far away from the ruins. Soon she shook her head.
“I’m sure if you described them, we may recognize them,” Annoya suggested. She looked down at the water, a hand rubbing at her stomach.
“Is your husband a rebel?” Ren asked. She quickly covered her mouth. “I’m sorry—you don’t have to answer that.”
“It is quite all right,” Annoya said. But she didn’t answer the question, at least not with words. Instead she excused herself and moved into the kitchen. The pain in Annoya’s eyes made the food on Ren’s plate impossible to eat, so she pushed it away.
Ren faced Abetha. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I asked that.”
Abetha didn’t say anything and took a bite of her chicken.
As Ren tried to drown her embarrassment and shame with water, voices began to get louder outside. Soon she heard the familiar whirring of a small scow and she jumped from her seat. She ran outside with Sheridan on her heels.
The small crowd that had formed around the inn cleared, and she could see the silver scow. A weight lifted from her shoulders and she decided then and there that she was going to give her father a hug, despite what he thought. Nothing in the world was going to keep her from wrapping her arms around that man. She’d never been more grateful to see a scow, Royal or otherwise.
Elian was first to step from the scow, his face lighting up when he saw his sister. Garret followed behind him, but the siblings had already run at each other, wrapping their arms around each other. Ren felt like crying but choked back the tears.
“You’re okay,” Elian breathed. “You’re okay, right?”
Ren nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah. I’m great.”
She was first to push away, awaiting her father’s loud voice and stern hand. The crowd was quiet, with only a few citizens whispering to each other. They kept a bubble of distance, wider than usual.
“Where’s Dad?” Ren asked, noticing that only two soldiers stepped from the scow after Garret.
Elian’s eyes lowered. “Ren…” he began. “While you were gone…Dad he…”
Ren’s heart dropped. “He what? Did he leave or something? Is he—on the scow looking for me?”
Elian slowly shook his head. “He was killed.”
The world stopped, and the crowd was silent. Nobody whispered, nobody even looked away from the royal siblings. Ren’s ears rang with the silence and she tried to make sense of what her brother had just said. But no matter how many times the words repeated in her head, they didn’t make sense. “What?”
“After he sent the scow to look for you…” Elian explained, holding Ren’s hands in his own. His grip was too tight, and Ren knew hers felt the same. “The rebel that had tried to kill you escaped and attacked Dad in the manor. I’m sorry, Ren, he didn’t survive.”
Tears brimmed her lashes. “He’s dead? Dad’s dead?”
All around them the Novaeans began to bow. One by one they lowered themselves towards the ground, a sign of respect, Ren thought. She didn’t care. She didn’t want respect right now, she wanted her father. The man that taught her how to throw a punch at a target twice her size, and would tell her war stories at bedtime even though her mother forbade it. The man that used to kiss her forehead goodnight each evening when he thought she’d already fallen asleep.
Ren dropped her brother’s hands and tugged at the cloth on her hips. She felt the tooth that Abetha had ripped from the arenthrope, and it made her chest hurt even more. Maks would never know how much she had changed in those short days, and she wasn’t going to get the chance to give him a hug or even call him “Dad” again. Ren had always known Maks wouldn’t be present for some of the biggest moments of her life; like graduation, her wedding day or when she kn
ew she was going to make a shocking revelation about the past. But in her mind he hadn’t been there because he was busy with work, not…
When was the last time she’d hugged him? Ren knew it had been years. She tried to think of the exact moment, but she couldn’t remember at all. Every memory of her father flooded through her mind and left just as quickly as it had come.
Elian pulled her into another hug. He whispered, “I’m going to make sure the rebels regret this. All of them.”
Ren looked over his shoulder at Garret. “How did he escape?”
“What?” Elian asked.
“The rebel,” Ren said, watching Garret feign sadness. “How did he escape?”
“He had been a Sotarian,” Elian explained, “he overpowered the soldiers when he was being transported.”
Ren furrowed her brow. “Transported where?”
“To a scow,” Garret answered. “He was going to face the Monarchy for his punishment.” He turned away to hide his pain, but Ren saw something she wished she’d seen much sooner. A smile. Just as his back faced her, she caught hint of his lips turning up in a cruel happiness.
And everything began to click into place for Ren.
The forced marriages, the subtle comments about what the Monarchy wanted, and the outright lies that Garret had fed her. She’d known they were lies, and she had ignored her instincts. She ignored it all and buried her nose in a book to forget about her troubles. She distracted herself with thoughts of making friends and trying to live a normal life—pretended that she could live a normal life on Novae.
Ren had seen all the signs, and blatantly told herself it couldn’t be true. Because what could the Monarchy do wrong? How could they have betrayed her like this? All her life she’d believed she was safe under the Monarchy’s rule, under Maks’s command of the Scow Army.
How could she have betrayed her own father like this? She gripped at the tooth, swearing to make sure there was change. Everything she’d said in the cave to Sheridan and Abetha felt more powerful now, truer.
“The rebel,” Ren said as she pushed her brother away. “Where is he?”
Elian took a deep breath. “Dad was caught off guard, but he didn’t go down without a fight.”
“The rebel died?” Ren asked.
Another nod. There was a gasp behind Ren. She turned to see Annoya dashing into the house and a pained look on Abetha’s face. “No,” Ren whispered.
Elian and Abetha were staring at each other. Whatever bond or friendship they’d had before Ren could see it was gone now. There wasn’t even a spark, and maybe there never had been. Her jaw snapped shut, already beginning to hurt under the pressure.
Ren wanted to explain everything to Elian; about how the rebels weren’t the real enemies, and how the Monarchy was to blame for all this. But she couldn’t, not with Garret there, and she knew her brother could be a hothead. If he found out the truth about the Monarchy, when his pain was still so fresh, she didn’t know what he would do. She also didn’t know how easily he could turn Monica into a doomsday device.
“What else?” Ren asked. “Tell me.”
Elian’s lips formed a tight line. She ordered again, “Tell me.”
“I’ve ordered another execution,” Elian revealed. Behind her Ren heard footsteps walking away, and a door slammed shut.
“Who?”
“Ross.”
Ren winced. “But why?”
“He had the markings of a rebel,” Elian explained. “He was working with the assassin.”
“Do you have any proof?” Ren questioned.
Elian stood strong, his back straight. “He had the markings, Ren. He’s a rebel. And now his family is under scrutiny; I’m going to get you another Guide.”
“Abetha is my Guide,” Ren argued. “And she is not a rebel. After everything I just went through you can believe that.” Her hands were in fists, and she wanted so badly to scream the truth. It was there, just waiting to crawl out of her throat and she had to force it down. Swallowing each individual word made her throat burn. “I think we need to talk alone.”
Elian swallowed his own fear. Ren knew he wasn’t used to her acting like this, but what choice did she have? He nodded and opened an arm towards the scow, letting Ren get in first.
“Not yet,” she said. “I need to speak with Abetha.”
Elian went to argue but one glare from Ren and he was halted. Sheridan followed silently behind Ren as she moved into the inn. Annoya was nowhere to be seen, but Abetha had returned to her meal. She was so calm, Ren couldn’t believe it. If someone had just told her Elian was to be executed she would be livid and terrified. Not like this.
“I’m not going to let it happen,” Ren said, unable to bring herself to say the word. “Ross is going to be fine.”
Abetha took a small bite. “I know he will be.” She was careful as she cut at her meat, looking like the picture of grace and poise. It was unnerving.
“I swear,” Ren whispered, her voice beginning to break under the pressure. It was so dry again and her legs began to wobble. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand.
Abetha nodded. “I know.”