"Not to me apparently," Corso growled. He sounded so harsh, so hateful, Torash and Alolis started to cry in harmony. But Benedetta heard the pain tightening his voice as he took the blame. But why would he feel badly when all along he'd spoken plainly about what he saw as slavery?
She shook off her confusion. "The captain is correct. We need to find a safe haven to wait this out while the Asphodel targets the attackers."
Icere straightened. "How can you still believe in them—in him—after what he has done?"
"Because we have no choice," she said simply.
Corso paled, and she realized if she'd wanted to hurt him, she couldn't have found a better way than with her distracted words. The captain, who valued his freedom above all else, who had rejected all she stood for, thought he'd taken her choice from her.
Couldn't he understand she was giving them a chance?
She wanted to shatter all her ingrained grace and decorum and demand that he see past the silver in her skin…except her thoughts suddenly whirled.
Perhaps the captain thought her fate had always been in others' hands, but she'd been taught that her own touch still had power, a power reflected in the ritualized gestures of the l'auraly. So she'd been taught by…
She turned slowly to Yecho. "Where is Rislla?"
He shook his head. "I haven't seen her since… I can't remember now." He frowned.
Icere gripped the tablet to his chest. "She followed me after we talked at the clearing. I wanted to ask her again about undergoing the key ceremony early, and she told me it was over, that I'd never have my key. She just walked away, and that's when I went to the Hall of Mute Crystals. I didn't see anyone again until you and the captain earlier tonight."
Corso clenched his fist. "Doesn't sound like she had too much faith in our victory."
Benedetta nodded, her body tightening in matching outrage. "Because she thought she already knew the outcome. Why didn't I see it?"
"Didn't see what?" Icere's plaintive voice tried to cut between them. "What are you talking about?"
But Corso, of course, knew what she meant and touched her arm. "Why would you have known? She's one of you."
Yecho shook his head slowly. "Not quite."
The l'auraly stared at him in shock. Benedetta shook off Corso's comforting hand. "What do you mean?"
"She never left Qv'arratz to be with her a'lurilyo."
Icere frowned. "But why? Once Rislla was keyed, she should have stayed with him forever." He blushed a little. "Well, forever until her a'lurilyo died."
Yecho glanced at Benedetta, encompassing Corso with the look. "Rarely—so rarely there haven't even been legends—a keying fails. Perhaps a flaw in the crystal matrix that prevents true resonance. In the last century, we've worried that as the rock vein thins, more of the crystals will be flawed."
Icere pursed his lips. "That explains why the survival rate has declined over time. The quality of the crystals has declined too."
Yecho bowed his head. "We think that could be so."
Corso swore. "And still you exposed your children?"
"It's who we are," Yecho protested. "It's all we have."
Benedetta shook her head slowly. "And that is gone. Or will be soon. Except now we have to prevent the infection of the universe." She paused. "Rislla sent them the location of the qva'avaq mine. That's where she is. That's where she went to send her message."
Corso swore. "They are keeping us pinned down and occupied while they move in and take the crystals."
Benedetta looked at Icere. "I need your tablet for a moment."
He handed the device to her. "What are you doing? I'm almost done with the program that will hijack the raiders' launch codes."
"This will only take a moment." She tapped the screen. "I'm sending the vein coordinates to the Asphodel."
Yecho and Icere protested, their voices tumbling past each other in agitation.
"It's over," Benedetta said. "Not just for me, for all of us, if the crystals are used as weapons." She took a breath. "And it might be over anyway." She gave Icere a steady look. "You and the girls were the only acolytes to survive initial crystal exposure. Since you know the statistics on keying so well, tell me, which of you will survive the keying ritual?"
"Maybe all of us." He hesitated. "Although more likely just two of us."
"And Torash and Alolis are bound by a triplicate crystal. If one of them dies, the remaining l'auraly crystal and the a'lurily crystal will both be muted. Dead. Or would you rather it were you to suffer that fate? And will it matter, in the end, with none coming up behind us? The qva'avaq legend is dying. Whether we die too is all that remains to be seen."
Corso looked at her steadily, but she could not read his expression. Were her sensitive l'auraly gifts fading with the loss of the key? Or did she just not care to know what he was thinking about their future chances?
He cocked his head, obviously listening to his comm link. "The Asphodel is in position over the coordinates you set. They have a second ship in sensor range, running dark and anonymous. The Asphodel can stay hidden in the dust rings for now, but they'll have to come out to engage." He kept his gaze trained on her. "According to the coordinates you sent, the mine is close to here. It's possible we can get to the crystal before them."
Immediately, Yecho and Icere clamored to go. Benedetta didn't look away from Corso's unwavering stare.
Despite her unwillingness to read him, she did know exactly what he was thinking, what he was offering. He would do anything, risk everything, including his beloved ship, to keep the crystal—the source of the entrapment he had despised—from falling into the wrong hands.
Her heart ached at the unspoken pain in his dark eyes. But she did not want to bind him with guilt anymore than qva'avaq. The deaths at L-Sept had sent him running for the stars; she would not lure him back with the false promise of a life in crystal chains.
The hint of possible resolution had energized Yecho and Icere. Though Corso suggested leaving the girls behind, there was no place they were guaranteed safety. So all together the group sped for the crystal mine.
Yecho huffed along in the back, keeping up despite his age. When Corso suggested he return to the temple, Yecho shook his head. "Rislla and I were acolytes together. There was nothing I could do to prevent the failure of her key, but I can stop her from making this terrible mistake."
A mistake made of her own free will, Benedetta mused. She wondered what Corso would say about that sort of freedom.
Although she hadn't known him long, she knew him well enough to guess; mistakes—even terrible ones—were the price of freedom.
Somehow, he had infected her as thoroughly as the crystal.
Except now she'd thrown away the qva'avaq bond. And maybe lost the captain along with her key.
Chapter Fourteen
Corso followed the coordinates toward the crystal vein, with the last l'auraly trailing behind him. He cursed himself, the l'auraly, the crystals, and other significant chunks of the universe, including the anonymous ship above.
And his princess.
The way she'd looked at him, devastated, the light gone from her citrine eyes. From the very first, she'd been willing to fight. Fight for her planet, fight the invaders, fight him. Even draped in that shredded crystal, with the marks of her bondage hardwired in her skin, she'd forged onward.
Until he'd broken the crystal. Broken her.
Yes, her hand had been on the other end of the torque when it shattered, but he'd been the one to drive her to that point.
And now he was charging through the dark, ostensibly to prevent the crystal compulsion of the universe, and he knew he would burn worlds, tangle the sheerways, enslave the stars themselves just to make her smile again.
The universe should be very, very thankful he hadn't any such power.
In fact, he had only an old man, a boy, and two young girls, plus a distant hidden ship to set this world to rights.
The pulse hazer at his thigh
was feeling very inadequate.
When they reached the location marked on his scanner, he paused in the shadow of the looming cliff face. Against the lush jungle greenery, the dark rock wall seemed out of place and shockingly bare.
"No sign the attackers have landed," he muttered. "The rough ground will force them to take a shuttle down and land at a distance."
The first pale light of dawn was just brightening the sky over the cliffs, which would make it easier to spot an incoming ship. And easier for any ship to spot them. In the soft light, the opening of the mine was a shadowed arch in the wall of stone. Around the opening, traceries of silvery crystal glimmered.
Yecho sketched an arc in the air. "The inscription around the doorway reads: From the stone, we take our passion. To the stars, we give our light."
Once, Corso would have scoffed, but he didn't have it in him now. Instead, he slanted a glance at Benedetta.
She was already striding forward although she held up a detaining hand to Icere. "Stay with the girls." When he started to protest, she gave him one hard glare. "Keep watch for the other ship."
The youth scowled. "How am I supposed to tell anyone?"
Corso unwound the comm link from behind his ear. He tossed it to the boy. "Find a hiding spot close by. Signal the Asphodel on that if you see anything. And Benedetta has your tablet. Send one burst. Then get yourself and the girls far away."
Benedetta had almost disappeared into the dark recesses of the mine, Yecho on her heels.
Corso looked at Icere once more. "Whatever you've been taught, I'll tell you this: You aren't only what you were born to be. You are what you choose to become. This is your chance to be a hero."
Icere stared at him. "And what have you chosen?"
"Still working on it." Corso plunged into the darkness.
They had brought lume sticks, but Corso was surprised to find, once inside, Benedetta's stick alone was enough to light the way. Though the qva'avaq seams here ran too thin to extract crystal sets with matched l'auraly and a'lurily components, the glimmering traceries wound all through the corridors, which more resembled finished hallways than a working mine.
"Rislla will be in the core," Yecho said. "That's the only place where she would be able to get a signal out."
As they raced down the corridor, the crystal seams thickened and Benedetta's lume stick seemed to race ahead of them like pale flame, jumping from facet to glittering facet as they advanced.
Only a minute into their run, the corridor abruptly narrowed again, pressing them close as they slowed to a walk to avoid the sharp points of the crystals.
Yecho touched Corso's shoulder. "You won't kill Rislla if you don't have to, yes? She could have been the most powerful l'auralya of our generation. She was to be gifted to an admiral who conquered entire star systems in his youth. She might have become anything."
"A traitor, apparently," Corso said.
"That was because of the flawed key."
"Was it? Or was the flaw in her?"
Yecho stared down at his twisting hands. "I suppose it doesn't matter. There are no more keyed l'auraly. Benedetta was the last, and now..."
Corso scowled. He hated how they spoke of her as if she were already dead.
As abruptly as it had narrowed, the corridor suddenly expanded in all directions, up and sideways. And down.
Corso swallowed at the sudden drop off beyond the toes of his boots. All of outer space was one thing, but this open cavern made his stomach roil uneasily.
The chamber was roughly spherical, though angled with the long-lost facets of the crystals that had been collected. The geological activity had been volcanic, he guessed, a bubble of magma about the size of the Asphodel, pulling whatever strange, melted elements had been in Qv'arratz's mantle and percolating with waterborne minerals over eons to create the resonating crystals.
All that remained now, though, was the hollowed-out sphere. Streaks of crystal still shone from the walls, but large patches of bare, dull rock riddled the surface. At its peak, the mine must have been amazing. No wonder a near-religious devotion had been built around it.
And just as clearly, it was coming to an end.
From their entry point, a narrow path had been carved into the rock, spiraling down toward the uneven floor of the chamber. Benedetta was already well along the path, and Yecho and Corso hastened to catch up.
When they reached the floor, Corso realized how truly large the chamber was. What had looked more or less even was actually a maze where the crystal had been mined, leaving only waste rock and slivers of qva'avaq too small for recovery. In some places, the rock could be scrambled over. Elsewhere, the remaining columns towered over their heads.
Corso grabbed Benedetta's arm and dragged her to a halt. "Don't get too far ahead."
She set her jaw but nodded and fell back parallel with him although their steps were out of sync.
Why did he even notice that?
Resolutely, he pushed onward. "Thank you for trusting me with the coordinates."
She stared ahead too. "As I said, we had no choice."
"You always have a choice. Especially now."
She slanted him a glance as hard and dark as the waste rock around them.
"You aren't locked into anything anymore," he said. "You can be…whatever you want."
"You are the one who was afraid of being locked in," she reminded him. "And now you're free. Just as you wanted."
His jaw worked on words he couldn't quite say. "That isn't what I wanted. At least, not like this."
She took a breath to answer, but he grabbed her arm and hauled her back against his chest. He showed her the image on his scanner. "Just around the corner. The crystal blocks most transmissions, but this signal is going straight up through the rock."
"A good spot for her to hide," she murmured.
"Not anymore."
"Let me go first," Yecho implored. "Maybe I can talk to her, have her send them away."
Corso lifted his eyebrows, but Benedetta said softly. "If he can convince Rislla to distract them, at least, the Asphodel will have a better chance."
The uneven rocks left them a partially obstructed view, and Corso wasn't happy with the way the haphazard footing would slow him down, but he nodded once. Yecho stepped around the rock, taking the lume stick with him. Corso and Benedetta concealed themselves in the shadows he left behind.
Rislla sat on an outcropping of stone, the transmitter on another shelf beside her. Whatever message she'd sent, she was obviously finished and impatient to get on to the next step. She tapped one foot against the ragged remains of a crystal seam beneath her but stood with alacrity when Yecho appeared.
She scowled. "What are you doing here, old man? Go away."
He shook his head. "Who are you waiting for, l'auralya?
Her scowl deepened at the honorific. "In a way, I suppose I am waiting for my key. Do you remember Augheld?"
"The admiral you were keyed for? Was that his name?"
"I never forgot him." For a heartbeat, her gaze drifted, softened with might-have-beens. "When the keying ceremony failed, he said he would have kept me anyway. The life I would have known with such a man..." The hard shine quickly returned to her eyes. "But Qv'arratz wouldn't be shamed by a flawed l'auralya. They refused to let me off world."
"I'm sorry we never talked about it."
"Why would we have? You'd already been given to the commissioner. And when you returned after his death all those years later, what remained to be said?what wa" She turned slightly to stare up at the nearest node of qva'avaq. The aggregate wasn't much larger than her hand, the crystals jutting out like a bouquet of flowers. Or teeth. "I used to come here and sing to them. I called out my note until my throat bled. Nothing ever answered." She glanced at the transmitter. "So many years gone… Not until that first bomb knocked me out of my complacency did I realize it was long past time to make my own way."
"So you sold us." His tone was gentle but chiding.
"You know what they will do with this technology. They'll have a weapon to enslave anyone they want."
She shrugged. "They can't enslave us. The keys to our crystals are long dead."
His studious equanimity seemed to waver. "Rislla, why?"
"You know what one l'auraly was worth. Imagine how much they'll pay for an entire universe of slaves."
"This is wrong," he whispered. "You are wrong."
"But I'll be free at last."
Yecho straightened. "No. You will stop this, Rislla." He strode toward her, the bold grace of his l'auralyo training still obvious in his withered frame. "Contact them now and tell them the deal is off."
She laughed. "But it's not."
He took another step forward.
From the artful folds of her robe, Rislla drew a gun. "No farther, old man. I will have the life denied me. Far too late, but it will be mine."
"It's not yours to take," he told her and reached for the transmitter.
From behind Corso, Benedetta darted forward, her bare feet flying over the rough ground. "Rislla, no."
Rislla's furious glare never wavered as she shot the old l'auralyo.
His robes ruffled a little, but other than that he seemed unharmed. Until crimson bloomed above his heart. The circle was almost decorative until it began to run in fatal rivulets down his chest.
Then it was just a bloody mess.
Benedetta, already in motion, caught him before he hit the jagged rocks.
Rislla tracked her with the gun.
Corso stepped out of the shadows, hazer sighted between the old woman's eyes. "Drop it."
She looked at him in the speculative way Benedetta had used in the beginning, l'auraly skills judging him. She dropped the pistol. "It's too late."
Corso risked a glance at Yecho. "It is." In every way that mattered.
For a moment, her lips trembled. "He shouldn't have tried to stop me."
"Yes, he should have."
She tightened her mouth into a strict line. "How can you, of all people, not understand what I went through? I would have been companion to an admiral. Not just a captain, but a ruler of galaxies."
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