by s. Behr
“You are hurt.” And as usual, he stated the obvious when he added, “Very badly.”
“Thanks for the update. I’ve missed you, but that’s the least of our problems.” I knew my best chance to get us out of here was slipping away, despite my injuries.
“This is hopeless.” I wanted to cry, but a strange tingle sparked in my neck, and everything went hazy. “I’m going to faint.”
“No, you are not. You have to start moving, now. I don’t know how long I can keep this up,” he said, his voice sounding strained.
Only a moment later, the pain in my shoulder and side diminished. I stood, taking shallow breaths. It wasn’t perfect, but I could move.
“I’m hallucinating,” I whispered.
“There is no time for that, Princess,” Hailey said impatiently. “The tablet is damaged. It took considerable recoding to get this basic connection, so listen to me carefully in case I lose you. To the right of the alcove opening, there is a hidden panel. Remember the code 07272016 will open the exit. Follow the tunnel. I have uploaded the trail to your suit. You will be able to find your way home from there.”
“Hailey is the damage reversible?” I asked, moving toward the panel.
“I won’t know until we get to your city archives. They might have what I need to repair this tablet.”
“What happens if we can’t?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
“Worry about that later. For now, focus on getting out of here,” she urged.
“She’s right. You need to go,” my inner voice said, sounding shallow and distant.
Pulling myself together, I found the path Hailey had said would be there. By some miracle, I was able to climb fairly quickly up the ladder hidden behind the panel. It led to another small cave. I had to lay flat on the rocky floor to squeeze out of the exit.
Gritting my teeth as I stood, I found myself on the top of a mountain along the ocean where the Wild Steel Mountains met the Atlantic. I could see the coastline for miles each way, marking the border between Neyr and the Maie Realm. Turning around, through the cloudless sky, I could see the towers of Hattan rising above the lower forest, and I nearly cried with relief.
“Hold still, Princess, I am mapping out the best route for you to take.” Then, through the eyes of the suit, a trail appeared taking me through the mountains and heading right for Hattan.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” I asked Hailey.
“Yes, this path was part of the Ark’s original design. It will be the safest way to go until you reach the river. After that, it will be up to you.”
The tingle in my neck tightened and I felt a strain I couldn’t explain. Somehow, I knew that I didn’t have long. Moving at a brisk pace, I headed down the path the suit showed me. Moving as fast as I could, I made it down most of the mountain to where the river came into view, stirring up a gamut of emotions.
The bubble of relief popped drowning out my belief that everything would be okay soon, and I heard his faint voice. “I’m sorry. I can’t keep—” And as I felt him physically vanish from my mind, the pain roared back, and I doubled over, falling to my knees.
“Princess!” Hailey exclaimed. “Your injuries, why didn’t you say anything?”
“What…difference would it have made?” I breathed, unzipping the suit. Unable to take even the tiniest extra weight, I pulled Jane out, envious that she was still peacefully sleeping. I sat back and let the fresh air cool my skin.
“I don’t think you understand, Princess,” Hailey said, sounding confused.
“What is it, Hailey?” I groaned, in too much pain to argue.
“Until a moment ago, your vitals showed no injury. Not even the shoulder tear you suffered in the Ark.”
“Your tablet is damaged. Maybe you missed it.”
“That may be, but I did not miss the activity in your nervous system.”
“Non-computer speak, Hailey, please, I don’t have it in me to translate.”
“Something was shielding your neural synapses because your body responded as if everything was fine. Your blood pressure and your heart rate were both normal, then they weren’t.”
The pain was so overwhelming that my stomach roiled as I tried to get back on my feet. “What are you trying to say, Hailey?” I grimaced.
“I am not sure.” She sounded alarmed.
“Okay, then… Get back to me when you are. I have to concentrate on not passing out,” I said as I staggered on.
My grandmother once told me the road not traveled is the one we all regret as we get closer to the end of our lives. The key, however, is to remember the road that got you where you are today, and if you are proud of that, you will never have any regrets.
When I had sat wrapped in her arms, I was sure I would understand what she meant someday. A day long into my future. I never imagined it would come when I was only seventeen years old, filled with regrets, and certain I was going to die trying to cross the river I had thrown myself into two weeks prior after killing her son. What she should have said was you get what you give. Karma was a twig, or in this case, a perfectly aimed rock.
I felt the laughter bubble from inside me, gurgling out of my lips.
“Princess Violet, I don’t recommend laughing; it’s going to make your condition worse. Besides, I don’t see anything funny about any of this,” Hailey reprimanded.
“Oh Hailey,” I murmured, gazing at all the blue through the trees. The trickle of the river had returned to normal. The haphazard trees and debris scattered along the banks were the only proof the flash flood ever happened. I wondered what proof would be left of me once I was gone.
The answer that came to me got me back on my feet, and I managed to stumble down the last part of the mountainside carrying Jane until we reached the water. I stopped to take a drink, not caring if it was safe, but once my feet got stuck in the muddy shallows, I didn’t have the strength to pull them out.
That was it. This was as far as I was going. I gently laid Jane on a fallen tree next to me that was a foot above the water; she stretched out, making herself comfortable, which was a sign her sedation was wearing off. I fell to my knees, then sat back against the trunk next to her. The cold water was a small relief that I savored.
“You are almost there, Princess. According to my calculations, it is less than a mile to your home tower,” Hailey said, trying to encourage me.
“I just need a minute,” I breathed. The pain had become unbearable, and when I had stooped to take a drink from the river, it was only basic fear that kept my body from falling in.
As I sat here, I knew I would not be able to lift myself out this time.
“You can’t wait, Princess. I fear if you do…” She hesitated, and in un-Hailey-like fashion, she did not finish her sentence.
“I am sorry, Hailey. You risked everything for me, and I let you down.” Tears burned behind my eyes. “I let everyone down. I don’t know why I thought it would be different this time.”
Closing my eyes, I let the weight of this horrifying irony crush down on me. The last time I fell into this river, I couldn’t have cared less if I lived or died. Now, all I wanted was to get back across and make it home to tell my mother everything.
“I can’t Hailey,” I cried.
Reaching up with my good hand, I pulled the headpiece off my face. The waft of fresh air filled my nose with the smells of home. I was so close—close enough to hear the birds and smell the trees full of blooms left over from spring. For a moment, the pain disappeared, and all I could see, hear, and feel were the memories of the forest, and being free and happy.
I could almost hear my father calling my name. Maybe there was a heaven after all, and despite the disaster my life turned out to be, he was there and had forgiven me. He was calling me home.
I knew at that moment if that were true, I could die happy.
My eyes fell shut again, and on the wind, I heard the sound of the voices that I had loved in my life: my mother, my father, my inne
r voice, even Hailey’s voice mixed in with Jane’s joyful yip.
If their voices were the last thing I heard, then I had no regrets.
If this is what dying is like, it’s surprisingly noisy.
Shouts from all directions surrounded me, making no sense whatsoever. I could only understand the tapping rhythm of Jane’s feet, declaring she did not appreciate being ignored. I would have smiled if I could have. Maybe I was. The edges of my reality narrowed, growing dimmer.
“We have to get her back to the palace,” a familiar voice demanded.
“Where is the hover?” another voice said, cracking with anger.
Another yelled, “There’s no time!”
“What about a transporter?”
“No good, her injuries are too severe.”
“How do you get this thing off?” a voice shouted.
“Do not move her,” my mother commanded. I would know her voice no matter what condition I was in. “Everyone step away. There is no time, and bickering will not help.” Her fingers brushed my cheek, and the energy from her abilities warmed my skin, allowing her to see what others could not.
“Her injuries are severe.” I could hear the worry in my mother’s voice. Despite her concern, I found a glimmer of strength within me.
I focused on opening my eyes and finally, a crack in my impossibly heavy lids allowed me to see my mother’s face hovering above me. Her eyes were closed, her expression almost exactly the same as the last time I saw her.
A tear slipped down my cheek. I had thought I would never see her again. I certainly never imagined that she would care, but here she was with me in her arms.
Behind her, several people hovered anxiously: Rall, Healer River, and next to him Lily’s father, the general. The others I didn’t have the energy to remember, but my lips tugged into a small smile when I saw the flash of red fur in the arms of someone I didn’t recognize.
Then, I saw him—the unearthly face of my father, lingering behind my mother, gazing at me with his violet eyes. At that moment, I knew I was dying, and my father was here to take me with him.
A constant hum accompanied by an occasional beep nudged me awake. The high pitch thump made me want to smash it, wherever it was. I was so tired. Trying to open my eyes was not an option, and smashing the beep wasn’t happening.
To my dismay, I discovered that smashing anything was a lofty goal my body just wasn’t capable of. I attempted to wiggle my fingers and toes, but everything ignored me, everything except my ears. Between the beeps and the hum were the hushed whispers of people—a few or a few dozen, I wasn’t sure. Fragments of conversations reached me as my brain tried to stitch them together.
“Where has she been all this time?”
“What is she wearing?”
“Who would have done this to her?”
I didn’t recognize all of the speakers, and every guess I had was nothing more than an idea that slipped away with each new voice.
“Please keep the fox out of the way.”
“She wants to be with the princess; she has bitten me twice, Your Majesty.”
“I have every faith you will figure something out for the next few minutes. We are almost there.” I recognized my mother’s voice, but the desperate urge to see her, talk to her, was smothered by my pain.
“My apologies, Your Majesty,” someone else said, “but this suit is unlike anything I have ever seen. I have tried cutting it several times, but it seems to mend itself before I can complete a cut.”
“I would advise against removing the suit; it is keeping pressure on the extensive internal bleeding in Princess Violet’s abdomen.” That couldn’t be anyone but Hailey, and I felt a flutter of amusement at her sass.
“Your Majesty, it’s a computer. What can it possibly know that you don’t?” someone argued.
Hailey mumbled a few choice words at being called a computer, but my mother ignored her.
“I don’t know what this material is, but she is correct. Violet’s internal bleeding is substantial; the suit is acting as a tourniquet.” My mother sounded exhausted. Then, a web of bickering filled my ears again, and I had no desire to untangle it.
I could only imagine the look my mother gave them when all went quiet. “The suit stays on until we can get her into the healing unit,” she commanded, putting an end to the discussion. I felt her hands wrap around mine, and a gentle surge of warmth spread through me.
“Your Highness,” I heard Rall say. Knowing he was close reassured me. Aside from being my father’s best friend, Rall had spent most of his life training to defend kings. He was arguably the greatest warrior in Neyr, and though I didn’t know what he did to earn the misfortune of training me, he did as he would for anyone applying for guardianship.
He’d never cut me any slack. For one hour a day, every day, he was my boss. Although to call it training was being generous as it was typically more of a daily session of him yelling while throwing various sharp or heavy objects at me, expecting me to defend or dodge. It made our relationship a special one. Over the years, it was a razor’s edge that balanced between respect and resentment.
The two sides of our coin that signaled when he was my mentor or my protector were the names he called me, Little Purple Flower or in public, Your Highness.
“Your Highness?” he repeated, but when I tried to answer him, my voice was useless. My lips refused to move. To my surprise he asked, “How did you know she was there?”
“I saw her heat signature when we made our approach to Chrysler Tower,” answered a voice so familiar although I couldn’t quite place it.
“That location isn’t on any of the typical landing approaches to Chrysler Tower, Your Highness,” Rall observed.
“My brother and I wanted to see the Wild Steel Mountains. I have never been to Neyr, and I didn’t think it would hurt to take a detour,” the other Your Highness replied.
Then, a new gravelly voice spoke, sounding like wind scraping against sandpaper; a voice that could only have been Lily’s father. “There can be no more deviations of any kind, not with the Hg-1 here.” The first General of Neyr, Sep Kocur, was always cautious, and Lily often said it was his job to worry.
Wondering what he would have thought about Lance Yzer, everything flooded back to me all at once. I tried with all my might to wake up and tell them, any of them what Hailey was, about the Ark, and most importantly about the humans. The urgency surged through my mind, but my body had had enough.
Losing my battle with consciousness, I heard someone ask, “Are you sure you should be giving her that? It’s been so long since her last dose. She needs all the strength she can get.”
“It’s not a full dose, but you know it’s for the best,” my mother whispered back as the cold tip of an aerosol syringe pressed against my neck. The pressure of the medication warmed and spread quickly through my body.
For a split second, I wondered what it was she had given me. Fatigue filtered through my veins, and I was too tired to care. My mind drifted back into the abyss of sleep where there was no pain, no threats, just peace.
By the scent of the air alone, I would have known I was home. The crush of the pillows on my bed wrapped me in lavender. How I got here was hazy. The chaos of voices and fractured sentences were dotted with excruciating pain and merciful moments when I had blacked out. I didn’t know what was real or what I’d dreamed.
Straining to crack my eyes open, the memory of pain erupted into reality as the entire right side of my body throbbed. Barely able to turn my head, the agony pulled me completely out of the fuzzy limbo between sleep and waking. The room came into focus, and in the faint light, I saw my mother asleep next to me on my bed, holding my hand. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. She was real.
Across the room, Rall stood at attention, looking directly at me. A silent wink and a smile told me he was still my friend. Another tear streaked down my face. I would have thought I was waking from a horrible dream, but I saw that I was still in the suit from th
e Ark. I reached to feel for the tablet, and relief spread through me when I found they had not taken Hailey.
At the foot of the bed, I spotted the end of a fluffy tail belonging to a very clean fox. She was fast asleep and sprawled on her back with a belly so full I guessed it would be days before she woke up from her food coma.
Turning my attention back to my mother, I looked at the flowing gown covering her very pregnant body. It made my heart ache thinking of the twins and my father. Another tear chased the one before down my cheek. My mother’s eyes fluttered open, gazing at me thoughtfully.
A sad smile crossed her lips, she kissed my fingers, closed her eyes, and pulled me closer to her. “Violet, I will always love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.” I let all the questions I had wait in the back of my mind. What punishments would come, I would face, but here, now, she was my mother, and I was her daughter. I cherished this moment, for I knew it could be the last of its kind.
A string of hours passed, some completely blank while others were tattered scraps of faces and words weaving a lace menagerie of memories. The rock thrown from Lance Yzer’s hand and my ribs exploding was the last thing I could remember clearly until I woke briefly during the night and saw my mother by my side.
When I woke the next morning, the Royal Healer of the King’s Palace had come to check on me, and despite my arguments that I was better, he gave me another round of shots, and the day slipped away.
“Windows open,” a voice commanded.
Brightness pierced the peaceful dark of my room that would have woken the dead, which knowing Ameli was exactly what she hoped for.
“Good morning to you, too, Ameli.” I mustered a smile and stretched with a stifled yawn. I squeezed my arm, pleased to find the pain in my shoulder and side were vague. An overwhelming happiness filled me to see Ameli, even if she was angry. My morning was already a win. Jane, however, was not ready to forgive the rude awakening and she burrowed into the covers, leaving the fluffy tip of her tail sticking straight up in the air.