by Sam Ryder
“Gehn got trampled on by a big creature—a Borgas. You heard of it?”
“I know of them,” she said. “Lay her down gently.” I complied, and she immediately placed her hands on Gehn’s stomach. Belenie’s horns began to glow white and Vega made a soft sound of disgust, recoiling.
“Be cool,” I said and Simon grabbed his friend’s arm to help her calm down.
“This is wrong,” Vega said. “We shouldn’t be here.” Her eyes were roaming the crowd, flicking to their heads to take in their horns, her nose crinkling when she spotted several tails.
“Vega,” Simon said soothingly. “Cutter is our ally and these are his people. We are safe with him.”
Just then, Hannah and Adi arrived, their timing perfect. Hannah ran over, concern lacing her expression as she saw her sister lying on the ground with Belenie working on her. “What the fuck happened?”
“We were attacked by some big ol’ wild beasts,” I said. “Gehn was badass, as usual. Belenie’s got her, don’t worry.” Hannah pressed up against me, fear in her eyes. I roped my arm around her and pulled her in close.
Belenie said, “A broken rib and a punctured spleen.”
Shit. That wasn’t good. “Can you fix it?”
“Partially. Then I’ll have to rest. She’ll be okay though. I can split the procedure into two pieces.”
Hannah gripped me harder. She needed a distraction, something to take her mind off her sister’s situation. “Hey, I really need a favor,” I said. “This is Vega. Vega, meet Hannah—Gehn’s sister.”
Vega looked startled by the revelation, eyeing Hannah up and down. “But you’re not an…”
“No,” Hannah said. “I don’t know why I didn’t change.”
Vega frowned, as if concentrating deeply. “I—I don’t understand.”
I spoke directly to Hannah: “Can you and Adi take Vega and Simon somewhere to rest? Her shoulder is dislocated—she’ll need your assistance.”
“Of course. Keep me posted on Gehn.”
“We will,” I promised. With that, Hannah, threaded her arm around Vega’s good arm and led her and Simon away, through a large space that opened in the Ender crowd to accommodate them.
Good, I thought. Nothing bad had happened. Not yet anyway.
I turned back, where Belenie continued to heal Gehn. Gehn wasn’t moving, but her chest rose and fall in heavy, even swells. That seemed like a good thing.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“I’m nearly finished with her spleen,” Belenie said, her eyes closed, her hands glowing slightly with healing power. She slumped back, her glowing horns fading back to black. Her eyes opened and she looked at me. “There. Okay. Her ribs are still broken but I don’t have the energy right now.”
Normally she could heal far more than just a punctured spleen in one go, which meant… “You’ve been healing soldiers all day, haven’t you?”
She nodded, offering a small smile. “Since you’ve been gone, my life has been a never-ending cycle of healing and resting.”
“You’re a saint,” I said, offering her a hand and helping Belenie to her feet. She stumbled into me, her legs too tired to carry her. I held Belenie tight, so she wouldn’t fall, and then dipped an arm under her knees to scoop her up. Her eyes fluttered closed, so tired she couldn’t stay awake. I glanced at Gehn, who was still sleeping. The crowd that had gathered was watching me intently. “Please,” I said to one of them, who I recognized as being one of Adi’s fellow medics. “Watch over her for a few minutes.” The Ender woman nodded. I made my way through town to the Queen’s palace, where I was hoping the guest house was still ours to use as we pleased.
Sure enough, I found Adi outside, sitting on the step. She stood when she saw me.
“What happened?” I asked, fearing the worst.
She shook her head. “Nothing. But I sensed Vega would be more comfortable with me outside.”
I sighed. I shouldn’t have been disappointed, but I was. After Gehn had helped Vega, I was really hoping the stubborn woman would start to see things differently. But it would take time. I needed to be patient and keep finding ways to show her that the world wasn’t exactly as her mind had painted it because of what had happened to her father. “Belenie is exhausted. She should sleep for a few hours.”
“I can watch over her,” Adi said. “And Gehn?”
“Watch over her too. I’ll be right back.”
I stepped inside and laid Belenie on the bed I had previously been using before I left to find the Insurgence. Then I took off back through town to recover Gehn. Adi’s medic woman had stayed as promised, while the rest of the Enders had mostly dispersed, save for a few, who continued to watch my every move intently.
“Thank you,” I said, scooping up Gehn’s slender frame easily.
“My pleasure, sir,” the woman said, curtsying. Like Adi, she was well-trained from her service in the Queen’s palace.
“You can call me Cutter. And you are…?”
“Sonya.”
“Nice to meet you, Sonya.”
She blushed and curtsied again, and then departed.
Like Belenie, I carried Gehn to the guest house and laid her in bed beside Belenie. I hoped when Belenie awoke, she would be able to roll over and finish the job. When they were both comfortable and resting, I turned toward Adi, who’d been waiting patiently.
Whereas Hannah had collided with me like a wrecking ball and Belenie hadn’t had the energy to stop herself from falling into me, Adi glided forward like a gentle breeze, encompassing me in her tender arms. The gentle embrace was exactly what I needed after the action-packed events that preceded our return to Paris.
“I missed you,” she said, her breath hot on my neck as she looked up at me.
I drank in her doe eyes and peaceful nature. We kissed, our lips tasting each other delicately, like a fine wine. I combed one of my hands through her long hair. “You are a sight for sore eyes.”
“And you ran off without telling anyone,” she said. There was no chastisement in her voice, only quiet observation.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat to keep you safe,” I said. “And technically, I did tell someone. Hannah. Who told Gehn, which is why she followed me and is now injured.”
She kissed me again. “None of us fear death, I hope you know that.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “But I fear losing you. All of you.”
She kissed me one more time, her lips warm against mine. I pulled away slowly. If we didn’t stop now, I knew we wouldn’t stop until we were both naked and thrusting. “Later,” I said. “I need to commune with my troops and speak to Belogon.”
She nodded fervently. “I will stay with Gehn and Belenie.”
“Thank you.”
“And the two newcomers?” she asked.
“They’re coming with me,” I said. I pecked her on the cheek and then departed, heading for Hannah’s room. The door was ajar and I heard soft voices filtering through the crack.
I knocked with two knuckles and then pushed it open, taking in the situation. Simon was sitting on the bed, feet up and hands threaded behind his head. He seemed tired but alert, his eyes immediately flicking to me. Hannah sat backwards on a wooden chair. I could see in her eyes that whatever they’d been talking about had taken a lot out of her.
Vega was the only one standing and seemed to have been wearing out the floor with her pacing before I entered. Now, she stopped, placing her hands on her hips. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she said without preamble.
“Do what?” I asked, though I had an inkling.
“Any of it,” she said, waving her hands around as if we weren’t standing in a pretty basic, nondescript room. “Paris. The Enders. It’s insanity.”
I met Hannah’s eyes and a thousand thoughts passed between us. I sensed she’d been having this same discussion over and over while I’d been carrying the two other women to the guest house.
Simon broke in. “Vega, you should sleep
. It will do you some good.”
“Fuck sleep,” Vega said. “I want to leave. Now.”
Shit. This was going off the rails, and fast. I hadn’t expected her to be so hasty, but maybe I should have. An Ender had taken her father from her, and it wasn’t something one shucked off like an old no-longer-needed coat. “Hold on,” I said. “Talk to me. Why are you feeling this way?”
“I—did you see the way they were staring at me? It looked like they wanted to rip out my heart and feed it to their offspring.”
“They don’t have offspring,” I said, trying for a joke. She glared at me. Tough crowd, I thought. “Seriously, the males can’t…you know.” I made my finger stiffen and boing up. Vega’s eyes narrowed on me. “Anyway, they were only looking at you like that because they didn’t expect another human to arrive unannounced.”
“You mean another besides you and Hannah?”
“Not only,” I said. “Our army has a few hundred humans now. The Enders are getting used to seeing them around Paris. Although I will say, they’re all males except you and Hannah. So that might also have something to do with the way they looked at you.”
“Doesn’t change anything. I want to get the hell out of here. Look, I’m not saying I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve here, but I just can’t be a part of it. I’m sorry.” She looked toward Simon, clearly hoping he would back her up.
“I want to stay,” he said. “We came a long way to see what this was all about. Two days. Can you stay that long?”
Vega’s jaw clenched and I could tell she was grinding her teeth together. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again. “Fuck,” she breathed, but it wasn’t a refusal. “Fine. Two days. No more.” She raised her eyebrows at the last.
“Agreed,” Simon said.
“Good,” I said. “Thank you both. Now rest, I can come back for you later. Hannah will stay with you.”
Hannah stared darts at me. I think she’d had enough of dealing with Vega.
“No,” Vega said. “If we’re going to stay here, I can’t be cooped up in this room where I can’t see what’s going on.”
Well, I did want Simon to come around with me and meet some people but having Vega there too worried the crap out of me. Who knew what she might do? Then again, if I wanted to win over the Insurgence, these were the two people who needed to see what we were all about. “Okay. Let’s go then. We’ll start with the troops.”
Hannah offered a worried glance, then nodded and followed me out the door.
I marched them through town, pointing out various buildings I could identify and making pointless small talk to try to cut through the tension. It felt weird being so comfortable walking through Paris without Gehn, Belenie or Adi as our Ender escort. Hell, it felt strangely like home now, even though I’d only spent several days in total in this city. Eventually, we reached the main square, where the army continued to camp as a unified group. When we entered the square, I glanced at Simon and Vega to catch their reaction. Their eyes widened. I wasn’t sure if it was due to size of the army, whether they thought it was pathetically small or impressively large, or the fact that humans and Enders were intermingling relatively well. More likely, it was simply seeing so many blue-skinned males in one place at one time. Whatever the case, I’d shocked them.
I looked over my army, too, amazed at how few were still laid up with injuries. If anything, the vast majority looked stronger, many of them working out or training, few still bedridden. Belenie must have worked her ass off. These guys look great compared to how they were when I left. No wonder she’d been so weak when she’d tried to heal Gehn.
“Want me to introduce you?” I asked.
“No,” Vega said at the same time that Simon said, “Yes.” She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Whatever. Just make it quick.”
“Like a Bandaid,” I said, leading them to the platform that remained erected in the center of the space. A murmur rumbled through the soldiers as they noticed us. All eyes turned in our direction as we took up position on the raised platform.
I heard Vega curse under her breath.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got you.”
“Now that’s a comforting thought,” she said, clearly unconvinced that anyone could control the Enders, particularly so many males in one place.
I scanned the waiting crowd. “Men!” I called out. “While you have recovered from our failed campaign, I have roamed the Ends seeking a rebel group of ex-Rising members known as the Insurgence.” More murmurs rippled through the crowd. Frowns fell on numerous faces, particularly the Enders. Though I had emphasized the “ex” part, I wasn’t sure they heard anything but “Rising.” After our battle, everyone was pissed off.
“Why should we trust them?” one Ender shouted.
“The feeling is mutual,” Vega said under her breath. Thankfully it was spoken soft enough that not even the closest soldiers would be able to have heard it. Hopefully there aren’t any lip readers, I thought. I willed Vega to keep her big mouth shut for the next few minutes, or any chance of an alliance might end in disaster.
“Because the only reason the Rising hasn’t swarmed Paris and destroyed us all are these good people. They’ve sabotaged the Rising’s technological advantages for months, maybe even years. Without their efforts, the Rising would’ve grown too strong for us to fight them.”
“They seemed pretty strong to me,” another Ender said. “They had vehicles. They mowed us down.”
“They would’ve had more advantages if not for these two and the rest of their group,” I said.
“Then how do they offer an advantage?” another Ender asked. “Look at them. They’re small. Short. How can they help us?”
“With knowledge,” I replied. “They know our enemy. They know the Rising’s strengths and weaknesses and how to defeat them.”
There was an awkward silence as the soldiers seemed to mull things over.
I took advantage of it to soldier on. “Look, I’m not asking you all to be best friends,” I said. “I’m only asking you to keep an open mind, just like you’ve asked these humans we’ve recruited from the outposts. They aren’t such bad assholes, are they?” That earned me a few laughs. I even saw a couple of the Enders slap their human counterparts on the backs. Apparently fighting side by side had created a sense of comradery already. That was good.
I turned toward Simon. “Anything you want to say?”
To his credit, he didn’t balk. Despite being fairly young, or at least younger than me, he was cool, calm and collected as he stepped forward. It explained a lot about how he’d become the leader of the rebel group. He cleared his throat. “I know little about Enders, or about what you all are about. Other than what Cutter has told me, my knowledge is minimal. But I’m willing to learn. And, more than anything, I hate what the Rising stands for. Their effort to exert power and influence over everything within their reach disgusts me. Whether human or Ender, they want to control people. My entire life is spent trying to stop them. So we may not look the same, but in a small way, we think the same. I’m honored to have been allowed to stand before you and speak my mind. Thank you.”
It was a pretty damn good speech, I had to admit. His emphasis of his hatred for the Rising was a good move, and I’d seen plenty of nodding heads and even a few fists raised to chests.
I clapped my hands. “Thanks for listening,” I said. “As you were.”
Many of the stares lingered for a few more minutes, but eventually everyone dispersed and went back to what they’d been doing.
“See?” I said to Vega. “Nothing to worry about.”
She didn’t look convinced. Her hand had been on the butt of her Blinder during the entire thing. “If you say so. What next?” At least she wasn’t demanding to leave still. I considered it a small victory.
“I want you to meet someone.”
“The Queen?” Simon asked. He almost sounded excited by the prospect.
“Later. First, I want you to me
et Belogon. He’s the ex-military strategist I told you about. With your intel and his mind for strategy, we can accomplish a lot.”
“He’s an Ender,” Vega said.
“Yes,” I said.
She shook her head, as if trying to come to terms with the fact that an Ender could use more than just his muscles—that they still had brains.
Once more, I led them through town. We passed a few females, and Vega made a point of staring each and every one of them down. If the females were angered by her open defiance, they didn’t show any signs of it.
Though the walk to the secret gardens was only a few minutes, it felt like an hour. The guards didn’t hesitate to let me in this time. “Belogon is waiting for you,” one of them said.
Once again, Vega had gripped her Blinder tightly as we’d passed the massive Ender males. Inside, however, she relaxed, once more amazed. “So much produce,” she said.
“The Queen’s supply,” I said.
Simon frowned. “She doesn’t share with her citizens?”
“She’s not perfect,” I said. “But she’s been supportive of our cause.”
Vega spat, and I glanced over my shoulder to check whether the guards had seen her do it. Thankfully, they weren’t watching us.
“Look, I know the Queen has her flaws, and I do plan to speak to her about spreading the wealth around. But not until this is all over. I can’t risk losing her support.”
Vega spat again, while Simon nodded his understanding. “Fair enough,” he said.
We continued on, until we reached Belogon’s small house in the center of the gardens. The door was open, so we walked right in. Belogon sat in his usual seat, pouring over a map on a wooden table. To my surprise, he was wearing glasses, which looked strange for some reason. I’d never seen an Ender wear glasses. When he looked up, he removed them and set them on the table.
“What took you so long?” he said, his eyes roaming over the company I kept.
“Gehn was injured by a wild beast. I had to take care of her first. Plus, I wanted my guests to see our army.”
“Gehn’s okay?” Belogon asked.
“She will be. Thanks for asking.”
He dismissed my gratitude with a wave. “Have a seat.” Three seats were prepared for us on the other side of the table. I sat first, then Simon. Vega hesitated, but to my relief, finally took the third seat. It wouldn’t have helped anything if she’d refused.