Within Ash and Stardust

by Chani Lynn Feener

  They’d never bothered hiding things from each other before, so he let some of the inward fear shine through in his eyes. Let her see how terrified he actually was, hoping that she’d understand where he was coming from. What he was actually trying to say. He knew getting her to change her mind at this point was out of the question—she was too stubborn. But convincing her not to take any unnecessary risks? That he could do.

  “I never want to feel that way again,” he told her. “Please, don’t make me.”

  The corner of her mouth tipped up reassuringly, and in that one move, he knew she’d picked up on his underlying meaning.

  “I won’t be stupid if you won’t be stupid,” she promised.

  He grunted, unable to hold back his own smile. “That’ll have to do.”

  “Can I help you?” Ezran called, a bit louder than necessary, from where he stood in the entryway. It was a signal for them to be quiet. Apparently the Zane’s paranoia was going to work in their favor; the Rex had men searching the castle.

  Ezran stepped into the room a second later. At his back were three other Tellers dressed in Kint blues, silvers, and whites. With his head held high, he led them toward Ruckus’s cell, swinging out an arm when he was close enough, as if presenting him.

  “The Ander,” he said as the other three took Ruckus in. “Did the Rex give instructions on what was to be done with him from here?”

  “No,” one of them, a tall boy at least three years younger than Ruckus, informed Ezran. “Only that we should check to make sure he was still in place. We’ve been ordered to leave him here and let Lissa Olena decide what’s to be done next.”

  At the sound of her name, Ruckus’s jaw involuntarily clenched. For a split second he saw red before he was able to get ahold of himself. Being short-tempered had been a flaw of his since birth. It was one of the major reasons his father had insisted he join the army at such a young age. Then, the hope had been to teach him control. It’d done that, and then some.

  In less time than it took the others to blink, he’d successfully schooled his features back into a blank mask. There was no point in showing fear here, or bothering to attempt conversation. They’d seen him; now they’d leave.

  Only, they didn’t.

  The one standing closest to Delaney’s cell frowned and stepped toward it.

  Ruckus shifted on his feet, which was the wrong thing to do because the others took notice, despite how small the move had been. It was stupid to be twitchy—he’d been trained to be better than that—but it’d been less than two days since he’d gotten her back, and the thought of losing her again made him lose his cool.

  “What is it?” one of the other Tellers asked the one now moving even closer to Delaney’s cell.

  “I thought I heard voices before we came in,” he explained, eyeing Ruckus suspiciously.

  Ezran glanced between them and snorted. “He talks to himself sometimes. He’s been down here awhile. As you can clearly see, there’s no one else here.”

  “Then why is the barrier up?” the Teller asked. When he didn’t receive an immediate response, he added, “The electrical one? None of the other unused cells are activated. Why is this one?”

  Because the shielding technology was built into the same electrical force field that kept prisoners in. Ruckus inwardly cursed. They should have activated the other cells, to be safe. It was such a minor mistake, and something he should have caught himself.

  “It’s an empty cell,” Ezran said, instead of answering. “You can see that for yourselves, right now.”

  Delaney, who’d been standing as still as a ghost, merely took the weight off one ankle to rest it on the other then. But it was enough.

  The Teller who’d been staring at the cell so closely sucked in a breath and activated his fritz. He aimed it at Ezran and growled, “Open it up.”

  “Excuse me?” Whoever had trained Ezran, Ruckus was impressed.

  “I heard something. Almost like there’s someone in there,” the Teller said.

  “Someone invisible?” the younger-looking one asked, not bothering to cover the smirk spreading across his face.

  “I’m telling you, there’s someone in there,” he insisted.

  “It’s empty,” the other argued, but when all that earned him was a glare, he waved Ezran on. “Just open it up so we can be done with this already.”

  “It won’t open,” Ezran gave it one last attempt. “That’s why it’s activated. We’ve been having problems with—”

  “Forget about it.” The quiet Teller who hadn’t spoken up to this point walked over to the wall panel and hit the control pad before Ruckus could think of a way to stop him. A soft beep sounded, and then the pale blue screen that acted as both the cell door and front wall panel flickered and disappeared.

  Leaving an exposed Delaney.

  “Damn.” Delaney lifted her arm and fired off her already activated fritz. She’d hit two of them between the eyes before they could react.

  The third, Ezran took out with an elbow to the side, and then a twist of an arm around his neck. When the body dropped, the Teller’s eyes widened and he stared down at it, clearly shocked by what he’d just done.

  “Get me out of here,” Ruckus ordered Ezran, another twist of desperate anger filling him up.

  Delaney stepped from her cell and placed her hands on her hips, staring down at the dead Tellers. “Trystan is going to be so pissed.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Delaney circled Rue Rantan for the fifth time. After taking out the Tellers downstairs, she and Ruckus had waited a few minutes before heading back up. Ezran had come with them and was now guarding the door, looking a little sick to his stomach.

  She supposed that made sense, considering he’d just helped kill fellow soldiers. Though he was loyal to Trystan and had been told what to expect, there was a difference between imagining something and actually acting on it. Her gaze swept over to where the Zane perched against the edge of a large desk.

  “Was this really necessary?” Ruckus asked, sweeping a hand through his dark hair as he glowered down at the Rue’s unmoving body.

  “I seem to recall,” Trystan said, “your suggestion was that we do this in the first place.”

  “Yeah,” he snapped, “and you corrected that logic by pointing out we needed him alive.”

  “This is only the second conversation you two have had today, and I’m already tempted to split you up like misbehaving children.” Delaney sighed, rubbing at her temples.

  Trystan gave her a dark, warning look, which she ignored.

  Ruckus’s expression wasn’t any better.

  So she’d bruised some egos? Seemed like the least of their worries at the moment, and it wasn’t like either of them were being much help, constantly at each other’s throats. Trying not to acknowledge one over the other, she circled the Rue’s body one last time and then came to a stop between them.

  “What do we do now?” she asked. “We can’t exactly leave the Rex hanging.”

  “You mentioned my father gave me until tonight?” Trystan didn’t seem happy about this prospect. “I could go now. I’d make it there in time. It’ll be easy enough to explain that my anger got the best of me, and the Rue was the unfortunate recipient.”

  “And when you arrive without Olena?” Ruckus crossed his arms.

  Trystan thought it over, then shrugged. “I’ll have to come up with something on the way.”

  “Nope.” Delaney shook her head. “That’s out. Next idea?”

  He frowned. “Delaney—”

  “Great,” she interrupted, “I do have one. Thanks for calling on me, Trystan. Ruckus and I already talked about getting to the Basilissa. She needs to know what happened to her daughter, that she no longer has to follow the Rex. With any luck, she’ll help us stop him, and more immediately, come up with a way to rescue Gibus.”

  Delaney had been thinking more on it throughout the day. It still made the most sense. So far, the only people who knew Olena was d
ead were in this building, and all loyal to Trystan and her. So long as they kept it that way, they should be able to get back to Vakar in time to inform the Basilissa and get her to turn on the Rex.

  “And how do you suggest we explain the circumstances surrounding Olena’s death, hmm?” Trystan questioned, clearly not on board.

  That could get tricky. Pettus had only been doing what he needed to in order to protect Delaney, but would Tilda see it that way?

  “It’s a risk we’re going to have to take,” she said. “We need Vakar’s help, and the only way to get it is by convincing Tilda. Being their Lissa doesn’t mean anything if their Basilissa isn’t with us.”

  “She could denounce you,” Ruckus told her. “Once she discovers you had a hand in her daughter’s murder. That you were there.”

  Delaney blinked at him. “Are you siding with Trystan all of a sudden? Because I thought we’d already agreed on this. This makes the most sense.” When neither of them reacted, she straightened to her full height—which was wholly unimpressive in their company—and stated, “Either help me figure out how to make this work, or get out of my way.”

  Neither one of them seemed very pleased by her edict, but they both sighed and clearly started thinking of solutions.

  Trystan was the first to speak. “Traveling through Vakar right now is too risky. At least in any Kint ship. Too easily spotted, and once my father gets word where we are, and that Delaney survived, we’ll have an even bigger problem on our hands.”

  “So we convince your father you have a legitimate reason for going,” she said. “Make it so when you do show up at the palace in Vakar, and he undoubtedly gets word, you’re exactly where he expected you to be anyway.”

  He cocked his head at her. “It isn’t a terrible idea. However, I’m also not comfortable leaving Inkwell unprotected.”

  “You don’t think anything is going to happen to Dom or the others, do you?” The citizens of Inkwell lived in town far enough from the palace grounds that Delaney hadn’t visited yet, but she knew Dominan’s house was close.

  “It would be rash for my father to attack his own people, but we also don’t know how the Basilissa will react once this news is delivered. I’d rather leave behind a way for civilians to safely flee if need be, and my personal ship is the fastest in the kingdom. What about the Ander’s?”

  “We can call Fawna and see how fast she can get here.” Delaney motioned to Sanzie, who stepped forward and handed over a clear device, called a shing, which worked similarly to a cell phone or a computer. She held it out to Ruckus.

  Ruckus shared a brief look with the Sworn over Delaney’s shoulder, but before Delaney could question it, he took the shing, tapping away at the screen and moving off to the corner of the room. It began to emit a low beeping sound, and a second later his voice could be heard giving orders.

  “You’ve got blood on your shirt,” Trystan said quietly, and Delaney glanced down at the tiny red splatters dotting her chest.

  “Yeah?” She flicked the folded fabric around her neck. “Well, your collar is crooked.”

  She couldn’t hold back the laughter when he immediately reached to check.

  “We’re in luck,” Ruckus said, walking back over to them. “Fawna was already close by. She’ll be here in under an hour.”

  “Which doesn’t leave us much time to plan,” Sanzie pointed out as she took back her device. “We can’t all make it into Vakar, and the Rex is still a problem. If he doesn’t hear from someone soon, he’ll grow even more suspicious.”

  “She’s right.” Trystan settled more comfortably against the desk, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles.

  He’d changed into his traditional outfit, long blue sleeves on a high-collared shirt that zipped up the front. White pants tucked into black boots, and there wasn’t a single crease anywhere to be seen, like he’d taken the time to iron everything just before putting it on.

  Delaney would have rolled her eyes at how impeccable he needed everything to be, especially at a time like this, but there were more important things to deal with than his weird quirks. “Is there someone here who he trusts?”

  Trystan gave her a look, and she grunted.

  Right. The Rex didn’t trust anyone, not even his own son. Though, all things considered, that was sort of understandable.

  “Who would he listen to the most, then?”

  “Me,” Trystan said, and she was already shaking her head when Ruckus came up with another suggestion.

  “What if you video conference him? Give him a reason why you’re refusing to return tonight, come up with some excuse to head to Vakar instead.”

  “You were attempting to manipulate the Rue into believing you were rebelling due to mourning,” Sanzie recalled, turning to the Zane. “Perhaps you can use the same line of logic on the Rex?”

  Trystan paused, thought it over, and ultimately discarded the idea. “He’d know Delaney’s death would affect me; I did a poor job shielding that fact from him when I got back from Kilma, but the life of a human wouldn’t be enough to warrant my disobedience in his eyes. If I push too hard, he’ll only send more Tellers to retrieve me.”

  “What about Olena?” Delaney shrugged when they all looked at her. “It’s not like we can leave her out there in the snow forever, and Tilda deserves the chance to say good-bye to her daughter in person.”

  “I could tell my father I’m delivering your body to her; he’ll agree to that,” Trystan surmised, “so long as I explain that it’s an attempt to keep our peace treaty intact. You are her Uprisen heir, after all, and now he thinks you’re dead.”

  “So you tell the Rex you’re bringing Delaney’s body to Tilda, but in reality, we’ll be bringing her Olena’s.” Ruckus hummed to himself in thought. “We might also be able to persuade the Basilissa not to take Olena’s death out on us by doing this. She’d be grateful for the return of her daughter.”

  “How do you explain to your dad where Olena will be during all of this?” Delaney asked. “Are we sticking with the injured-while-murdering-me story?”

  “It seems to be the best angle we have,” Trystan agreed. “Besides, more of a reason for me to go to Vakar. The Basilissa should be told of Olena’s injuries in person. That’s what I’ll tell my father. It’ll be impossible for him to find fault in that.”

  “All right, that’s something then.” Delaney wanted to ask the Zane if he was sure about talking to the Rex, but knew better than to do so in front of an audience. “What about when we get to the Vakar palace? I assume there are still a ton of Kint Tellers guarding the place. With this plan, you might be expected, but not us.”

  “It’s impossible to know how many of them are loyal to my father, and how many will side with me,” Trystan told them. “I’m not sure who was left there. I’d need a list of names before I could even begin to guess how much support we’d have.”

  “I’ve got friends,” Ruckus said confidently. “Ones who can get us through the palace unseen.”

  The Zane tilted his head. “Are you referring to the ones who helped sneak you in the first time?”

  Bringing up his failed rescue attempt probably wasn’t a good idea. For a second there, they’d actually been having a civilized conversation. Now the Ander’s eyes flashed with anger and he took a pointed step forward.

  Delaney placed a palm on his chest, stilling him.

  He took a deep breath. “You never found the people who helped get me into the palace.”

  “No,” Trystan admitted. “I didn’t. But I can’t promise they haven’t been discovered since. Obviously, there’s a lot my father has kept from me. Hell, for all we know, this is yet another elaborate trap.”

  “That can’t be true.” That would suggest the Rex had wanted them to kill Olena, and Delaney highly doubted that. She’d seen the way he’d looked at the old Lissa, like she was the goose that laid the golden egg. He’d needed her alive. He would not be pleased to find out she no longer was.

&nb
sp; “Olena was too important to him,” Ruckus said, practically reading her mind. “He confessed that was the plan all along: to use her to gain control of Vakar.”

  “He told me that as well.” Trystan sighed. “He only pretended to accept Delaney as a change of plan. He wanted to create unease among the people, manipulate them into believing having Olena on the throne was still better than allowing a human to take it.” He held her gaze. “It wouldn’t have worked in the long run.”

  “Comforting,” Delaney drawled. “What do you know about the rest of his plan? Anything?”

  It was a bit uncomfortable to realize that she hoped he didn’t, even though that would leave them in the dark on what to expect next. The thought that he could be involved with his dad’s scheming bothered her.

  “I know he wants Earth,” Trystan said.

  “We all know that,” Ruckus put in. “How about you give us a how? What does he intend to do with Vakar?”

  “Going off what I’d been told, he wants to merge them. But he never intended to leave political control in Vakar hands. He would run things himself, from the sidelines.”

  “Using you as a figurehead.” Surprisingly, Ruckus’s words didn’t sound mocking.

  “I would have aided him in getting what he wanted,” Trystan admitted, “yes. But only to an extent. I’d hoped that I could persuade him to alter his goals. To allow Earth to continue on as is, rather than taking complete control.”

  “But you don’t know details?” Ruckus read between the lines. “He didn’t confide in you.”

  Trystan’s jaw clenched. “He did not.”

  “Tilda might know more,” Delaney said. Either way, it wasn’t like they were going to find out more here. “How long before your father loses his patience again and sends someone else?”

  “For all we know, he already has.” Trystan straightened from the desk, adjusting his shirt, and then toed Rantan’s body with a grunt. “It’s unclear how soon after his arrival he was supposed to call in. I should get to a com device soon, get this conference call over with before we’re really out of time.”