What we needed now was all the information we could get. Information, and allies. Though we were coming up short on that last front.
“I don’t understand,” I said irritably. “They hate the king, and you’re their long-lost queen, come back to save them. Shouldn’t they be jumping to support you?”
“It’s not that simple,” KeLia answered. “Our people are terrified to go against the king. And as for Queen PeNelope…” she trailed off with an apologetic look on her face.
“It’s all right,” Nell rubbed her temples. “Just say it. I already know.”
“The people had no great love for her as a child. She was somewhat reckless and held often dissenting views she felt free to make known, even from a public forum.” The old woman smiled. “Not wrong views, mind you. But Levelians are a traditional people. The upset of having a man be in power, and the destruction that has wrought, make some want to cling even harder to the old ways.”
“And Nell has been below for the past several years,” Xav added.
There were nods around the room.
“What about the captain’s influence?” I asked.
SuEllen shook her head.
“It’s my husband on the throne, my daughter being shoved into this alliance with a man twice her age.” She clenched the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white. “They likely trust me even less than they do my niece.”
“So, are you saying all of this is for nothing?” I caught my voice before it turned into a yell, knowing it upset Biscuit when I raised my voice. “How do we get Addie?”
“Do not presume to think you are the only one with someone in the palace whom they wish to rescue.” SuEllen glared at me to emphasize her point.
“Or an entire people you wish to be out from under that monster’s thumb.” KeLia added.
“That doesn’t negate my question.”
“No.” Nell was the one who answered. “It isn’t for nothing. I just need to win my people over. I need to make them understand.” She looked at the captain. “I think it’s time to make our presence known. We may get more information that way, and as much as I hate to admit it, Clark isn’t wrong. We can’t expect allies if people don’t even know what they’re fighting for.”
There were tense nods around the room. The old bastards representing the Court were absent from this gathering, as they had no real desire for Nell to be in power.
“Speaking of information.” I pulled out the cylinder Trauman had given me what felt like a lifetime ago. “Where can I plug this in?”
“In the village library, if he hasn’t shut them all down,” SuEllen said bitterly.
“Not yet,” JeVani offered.
“It’s settled, then.” Nell raised her chin. “Scout today, and we’ll head there tomorrow.”
The day dawned bright and mild, like every obnoxiously perfect day here. I never thought I would miss the rain and humidity of Central Island, but the monotony here, the feigned perfection of their existence, was starting to grate on me.
I didn’t stick around for Nell’s speech. Instead, while the people were distracted by the locals telling them to gather, Xavier and I headed into the clearly marked library.
As we had expected, the library was empty. It was fairly easy to find the port, as JeVani had said it would be, but I was surprised there was no conduit for information. No screen, no speakers, nothing.
I exchanged a look with Xav, and saw my own pain reflected in his eyes. Gunther would have normally been the one to handle this. Even though he had been the last one to join our family, I could hardly remember a time without him. It seemed unthinkable that there were only two of us now.
“Alrighty, then.” I took a deep breath, trying to shake off the gut-wrenching emptiness I felt whenever I thought of Gunther, and pushed the cylinder into the port.
Immediately, a 3D rendering came to life. We backed up until we were far enough from the picture to see the entire thing.
It was Professor Trauman, Langston, and Aegis. I opened my mouth to speak, but the image of Langston beat me to the punch.
“The last one took out a whole island. How can we be sure this won’t do more damage than we plan on?”
I remembered an island that had been on the map, but was little more than a pile of rubble by the time we sailed past it with SuEllen’s crew. Had that been the first attempt?
“Spectrum has spent years working with the crystals since then,” Trauman replied. “We know now we can target the blast directly to the magnet.”
“So, can you guarantee there will be no casualties?” Aegis asked.
I was kind of surprised he cared.
“We can minimize them,” Trauman said.
“That isn’t good enough.” Aegis shook his head.
“The entire world is dying off.” Trauman stood up. “It’s easy for you to sit here on the side of the world that has it better for the time being and ignore that fact, but soon Ceithre will be in the same exact boat.
“It will be your ecosystem going awry, your crops dying, and your children starving by the scores. Is that what you want?”
So, the professor had been from the Other Side of the World. And had somehow managed to convince himself his mission was a noble one.
“Of course not.” It was Langston who spoke this time. “But there has to be another way.”
Unreasonable hope surged in my chest that the two of them were fighting back before I remembered I already knew how this story ended. These three men would decide the fate of an entire Empire. And whatever they were saying now, they would make the wrong call in the end.
“There isn’t.” Trauman shook his head sadly. “Don’t you think we tried everything else before war, before murder? Unless we destroy the magnets that were put in place when HiLa split the world, it will not go back together. And death will come to your part of the world as surely as it has come to mine, in far larger numbers than these.”
“You’re asking us to help you kill people on the whim of a fairy tale,” Aegis spoke again.
“I’m asking you to help me save people based on the ample evidence you have seen yourself. I am the foremost expert on ancient crystal energy in the world.” Trauman looked to Aegis. “You’re the most sought-after engineer.” Then to Langston. “And you’re the most renowned geologist. Together, we can ensure a targeted strike to the magnet that does no structural damage to the island. We are the world’s best chance at survival. Perhaps the only chance.”
The image flickered, and the three were back on the screen. They were wearing different clothes, and Langston’s hair was a little longer, a little greyer.
“Is this what you call minimizing casualties, Trauman?” Aegis was screaming in the smaller man’s face, while Langston stared off into the distance like he had checked out entirely.
“This was minimal compared to what would have happened if we had done nothing.” But the man looked shaken.
“Except that it didn’t even work, did it?” Aegis spun, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “The crystal burned up, as I told you it would when we calculated the energy necessary to make this strike. I told you someone needed to be here to direct the energy!”
“It appears we need a more powerful crystal.” Trauman paused before adding, “And someone willing to sacrifice themselves by wielding it.”
“There’s no ‘we’ ever again. I am finished with you, and I’m finished with Spectrum. I will find a higher purpose than this ridiculous mystical fable you’ve based your life, and that of a quarter of the sector’s, on.”
“The general was a good man,” Langston finally spoke.
I sucked in a breath at the mention of my father.
“He only came to investigate.” Langston’s eyes looked misty and far away. Was this when his mind had started to go? “He didn’t deserve this.”
So, my father really was innocent. Of that, at least. And now I had the proof I had set out for all those years ago.
&n
bsp; Just in time to witness him commit a different atrocity.
I didn’t glance at Xavier for his reaction, not wanting to miss a second of what was playing out before me, but I heard him brush his hand against Biscuit’s head like I did when I needed to calm my nerves.
“None of them deserved this.” Aegis’ furious tone pulled me back to the screen. “We could have at least evacuated them.”
“The Levelian king has eyes everywhere.” Trauman’s head was in his hands, but I could hear him clearly. “We never would have succeeded after drawing that kind of attention to what we were doing.”
“We need to tell someone. At least clear the General’s name.” Langston sounded as though he were speaking from underwater, only barely present.
“No, we don’t.” That sounded more like the Aegis I had grown to hate. “We need to move on with our lives. The general is dead. Our joining him will do nothing. We make a pact here. If any of us speaks of this, our life is forfeit.”
The image went black. Xavier and I stood for a moment in stunned silence. I moved my hand to remove the cylinder when the square lit up once more.
Trauman sat alone in a chair this time, looking as though he had aged decades in the five years since the previous video.
“My name is Henry Trauman, and I have a confession to make.” He tried to still his shaking hands by placing them in his lap. He went on to talk about how his children had died in the blight on the other side of the world. Ryland had approached him and told him of how HiLa’s rending of the world had caused this.
“But even crystals must follow the laws of nature. Two magnetic islands held the Ever Falls apart. Tilar, on my side of the world, and Central Island on yours.”
They had thought the whole island had to be destroyed, but only after thousands of lives were taken on Tilar did they discover it was the magnetic core that was important.
“We could have fixed it with no more lives lost if we had found a more powerful crystal, but despite our searching, the Tear of HiLa remained elusive. So, we did what we thought we had to do.”
At this, the man broke down, tears streaming down his face. After he collected himself, he went on.
“And now we have the Tear and it was all for nothing. I am making this video because I don’t expect to survive the energy it will take to wield the crystal to do what is right. And the world deserves to know the truth. The Noble boys deserve to know their father is innocent.
“I can never atone for what I have done, but I can at least accomplish what I set out to do before I get the death I deserve.”
He shut off whatever mechanism was recording him.
“We have to tell Nell,” Xav said.
I nodded. “We can’t let this get into the hands of the Court, though. I don’t know what the General is playing at. Whatever else he’s guilty of, he still killed...” I cut off, not even able to say my brother’s name in the context of that sentence. “But if they know he didn’t cause the explosion, that he isn’t the man from their ridiculous prophecy...We could all be in very real danger.”
The Analyst
The General had just left, and BeLa was still reeling from everything he had told them. There was also something else on her mind. Something that should have been so much less important, but she couldn’t stop herself from bringing it up.
“You called her Addie.” For the first time in her life, BeLa couldn’t seem to come up with a rational question.
“We all do,” he answered. “My brothers and me. And now my father as well, I guess.”
“And you trust her.” Another not-quite question.
“With my life,” Gunther said. Then his eyes lit up with understanding, and BeLa looked at the floor.
He reached out to place his hand on her arm.
“Addie is my brother’s wife. I love her as a sister, and a dear friend, and nothing more.” He put a hand under her chin, so he could meet her eyes.
BeLa nodded, wishing she was as good at masking her feelings as everyone around her seemed to be. But that regret didn’t last long.
Because when Gunther took in the stark relief on her face, he leaned in to meet her lips with his. BeLa froze in terror. She had never been kissed before. What was she supposed to do? Did she turn her head? Taking into account the relative size of their noses, she would need to turn at least twenty-five degrees, depending on the angle of his head.
He backed up to evaluate her expression, then threw his head back and laughed.
“I know you love to overthink everything in that beautiful, brilliant brain of yours, but some things, you just have to feel.”
He had a way of explaining things without making BeLa feel embarrassed. She closed her eyes as Gunther leaned in again, and this time, she tried to just let herself feel.
And she felt everything.
Chapter Fifteen
Adelaide
We had scarcely reached BeLa’s doorway when the metal slid open, the girl and her mammoth canine nearly bowling us over.
“Oh, Killian, I was just coming to get you!” Her eyes shone with excitement, hope. Emotions I was hoping could only mean one thing.
“Is he—?” The general was asking, but I didn’t wait for him to finish his question before I all but shoved BeLa out of the way.
And there he was, sitting up, cornflower eyes open and alert, brimming with intelligence and wonder and no small amount of confusion when they landed on me.
“Addie?”
Before I could say a word, his eyes shifted to something behind me and widened in fear before narrowing into mistrust. He looked to BeLa with clear betrayal on his eyes before turning back to his father.
“General.” His voice was like solid ice. It sounded wrong coming from his mild face.
“Son.” Killian stepped next to me.
“Don’t call me that. Not anymore.” I had only ever heard Gunther sound so venomous once before, with his biological father and brothers. “Did you bring him here?” he asked BeLa.
I stepped in front of Killian, putting my hands out.
“It isn’t what you think. I know how crazy this is, more than you know, actually,” I added wryly. I would have to tell him soon my similar story of waking up in a fairy tale land surrounded by people I had been told were enemies. “But please, let him explain.”
“Why?” Pain flickered across his features, raw and real and having nothing to do with his mostly healed wound. “I wouldn’t trust anything he said anyway.”
I knew this suspicion was out of character for him, but his face triggered a vivid memory of being carried onto a boat full of people who had lied to me, betrayed me. People who had nearly gotten me killed.
I had trusted Locke that day. And I had trusted Gunther.
Now, all I could do was hope he felt the same. I walked forward and knelt at his bedside, much as I had the day I discovered he was alive.
“Then trust me.”
He held my gaze for a long moment before his face softened and he nodded.
“All right, Addie. I will hear him out. For you.” Then, he cracked a small smile, one that gave me more hope than even his waking had. “I mean, I won’t hear him.”
I couldn’t help a smile in return. The general’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears, and I looked away to give him some privacy.
Behind him, BeLa glanced between Gunther and me with sadness and something akin to longing on her face. I supposed it was difficult for her, not having had siblings.
I had been jealous when I first observed the closeness between the brothers after years of being without my sister. I couldn’t imagine never having had that at all.
“You deserve to know everything, but I’d like to wait for your brothers to tell the entire sordid tale.”
I glared at Killian. This is what you do with your one chance?
He held up a hand.
“Also, Gunther is exhausted.” That much was true. “So why don’t I start with the important part?”
Gunth
er nodded, but his gaze remained wary. I held fast to his hand, feeling the grooves of his scars beneath my fingertips, while the man who had raised him attempted to explain the events that led us all here.
“The Court has a prophecy, something about the man who would cause “blue death” coming back to lead him home. When they found me after the explosion, they believed I was Yomi, come back in the flesh.” He used gestures to help convey his meaning while he spoke.
It shouldn’t have surprised me, having seen it from Clark and Xavier so many times, but the man’s legend, for better or worse, was larger than life. It was easy to forget he was the same man who had rescued Gunther to begin with, who had devoted his life to his empire and then the raising of three very different boys.
Until he hadn’t anymore. He was still talking, and I tried to make my tired mind focus.
“At first, I went along with it because I had little choice. It was that or die. Then when I saw the reach of their organization, I felt that I had a duty to destroy them.
“I tried to keep you and your brothers out of it. When you showed up on the ship that day, each of you ready to risk your lives for the daughter of the enemy.” He glanced apologetically at me, but I shrugged him off.
“I have never been so proud. Nor so terrified.” Killian reached a hand out toward Gunther, then thought better of it, pulling it back to his side.
Gunther’s expression softened, but he didn’t reach out.
“That day, I was sure I would lose all three of you. So I did the only thing I could think to do in the moment.” He paused, taking a shaky breath. “I thought I could bring them down in a couple of years. But here we are.” The large man looked smaller, somehow, in that moment. Like the truth had deflated him.
There was a tense moment of silence. Then, Gunther slowly removed his hand from mine, and placed it on Killian’s knee. And he said the words he had refused to say to his biological father.
“I understand, Father.”
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