by Lucia Ashta
I waited off to the other side, opposite Tanus and Dolpheus, feeling out of place. I felt bad for Narcisse, who looked like he was feeling alone and as out of place as I did, so I went to him, took him by the arm, and we returned to my original position.
He startled at first, but reacted warmly to my entreating smile. He seemed to understand what I was doing and didn’t ask questions. We stood there without apparent purpose, my arm still hooked in his, but at least we were being out of place together.
When the next batch of elevator passengers arrived, the Princess made a beeline to where Tanus and Dolpheus were mind speaking. She’d be able to mind speak with them, I guessed. At the very least, I was sure she’d be able to speak in Tanus’ mind.
Jordan, Kai, and Lila joined us. “Hi guys,” I said. “We’re the extras, huh?” I laughed to lighten the mood, with little success. Only Jordan seemed to get my bad joke.
“What now?” he asked.
“I have no idea, but I have no intention of just sitting around while everyone else figures out my life for me. I’ve had enough of that to last me a long while.” My bravado was out of place, considering I didn’t even have the start of a clue as to what I should be doing.
But Jordan agreed. “Exactly. I intend to get out of here as soon as possible. I have a life here—well, not here, on the other side of the world—but it’s one I plan to get back to.”
“What about the rest of you all?” I asked. “Any thoughts?”
“Lots of them,” Lila said. “But as to what we do next, no good ones, other than let’s get the fuck out of here and back to O. It’s obvious we’re not going to get any more answers about the splicing industry here, since Aletox is unwaking and unable to give us the answers he promised. Meanwhile, on O, the shit’s still going down. I’m sure Brachius isn’t taking a vacation. Splicing continues, and so the people in control of O are becoming more and more evil. Someone’s got to stop them, and if no one else will, I’ll find a way.”
“I’m sure you will.” She sounded determined enough to manage it. “Lila, tell me, why does it matter to you so much that splicing is evil? I mean, I understand that it’s causing a lot of harm, but why does it affect you so deeply?”
She looked as if she was debating whether to dodge my question. I was glad she didn’t. “I’ve seen enough people hurt indirectly by the increasingly evil courtiers to know it needs to be stopped before it gets any worse. The courtiers were bad enough before, but now it’s really bad. The majority of Oers are subject to the whims of the courtiers, and they’re certainly subject to the whims of King Oderon, if he lives, that is. I didn’t have a life of privilege. I got to where I am, in the position I had in the splicing lab, because I’m smart and I work hard. Most of the people I shared my childhood with didn’t have my same luck. They suffer because of what the ruling classes do. And while I might not be a mighty soldier,” she said with a look at Tanus and Dolpheus, “or a princess, I’m a damn fine lab researcher. I want to make the only change I know how to. This is something I can find a way to do. It might take some fighting, and it might be dangerous, but it’s something I can achieve—without a title or battle training. I hope I don’t die, I really do, but if I end up dying in the process, then so be it, I’m going to do something to better the world I came into.”
“Damn, girl,” I said.
She raised her chin. “I know it might sound foolish to someone like you.”
“Someone like me? A storm chaser who looks like a princess of a foreign planet?”
“Yeah, like you, someone who’s used to taking what she wants in life and kicking ass to get it.”
“No, Lila, you’ve got it all wrong. I wasn’t thinking anything like that. I was cheering you on. I was thinking, if Lila’s going to blow shit up, then I’ll be right alongside her, blowing shit up with her.”
“Oh,” she said, with a sheepish smile. “Really?”
“Hell yeah, really. I believe we’re born into these bodies to make a difference too. I have no idea what difference I’m going to make, but I’d like to think the world will be a better place because I’ve lived in it.”
“Which world?” she asked.
“You know, Lila, I really don’t know anymore.”
“Because I think you should come back to O and blow the shit out of the splicing industry with me.” She grinned.
“And what of the real princess?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m not sure Tanus does either.”
I looked at Jordan. “She’s right,” he said. “I know myself. That man loves you in a way he doesn’t love my Ilara.”
“You still see her as yours?”
He smiled. “Hell yeah. I’ll be pissed for a while, but we’ll get through it, if she wants to.”
“You’d forgive her for lying to you?”
“In the end, yes, it’s not like these circumstances happen all the time. I can understand why she wouldn’t want to tell me these outlandish things. I wish she’d told me, but I can get over it, as long as I know I can trust her. Just don’t tell her that.” He winked. “I like to make the woman squirm.”
“Hmmm,” I said.
Kai said, “If you come back with us to blow the lid off the splicing industry with Tanus and Dolpheus, I’m in too.”
Lila punched him softly in the bicep. “Yeah?” Her smile fell. “What? Oh shit, that was your hurt arm, wasn’t it?”
Kai was too red in the face to answer.
“By the oasis, Kai, I’m so sorry. I didn’t remember. I was just excited you’d be joining me—us.”
I thought that once the pain passed, Kai might find the way to smile at her.
“Narcisse, what about you?” I asked, as if any of this we were speaking of might actually be this easy, as if it were up to me whether I stayed or left, and whom I stayed or left with.
“What about me?”
“Would you want to come with us?”
“And leave my mother and all this behind?”
“I guess so, yeah, unless your mother came too.”
He grinned. “I’d come.”
“Yeah?”
“To blow shit up with you guys on the planet I belong on, hell yeah.”
“All right, it’s decided then,” Lila said.
I imagined we all realized that not a single thing had really been decided. We were still the extras in this scene, with no way to travel where we wanted to go.
Tanus, Dolpheus, and the Princess finished mind speaking and started our way, and Yudelle left Aletox’s bedside to do the same.
Whatever the plan was going to be, we were about to find out. I didn’t know what to wish for anymore, but I wished I did, because when life was this bizarre, I believed that wishing made a difference. If life on other planets existed, and magic, or faithum as Oers called it, existed on these planets too, then why couldn’t I create the reality I wanted?
I decided I could, and I got right to imagining, all the while wishing I had a better idea of what I wanted.
14
“Do you guys have a plan?” Lila asked Tanus and Dolpheus when they joined us.
Finally, we were all together, and the greatest of the urgency had passed. If we were to believe Yudelle, this underground facility was off the grid, and none of the people trying to figure out who managed to power up the pyramid after all this time would find us here.
Despite that, I couldn’t help but feel on edge. I didn’t trust that a facility as large as this one could really be off the grid. Somewhere, on some monitor, someone would see a blip of something that sent special op teams our way. With all the satellites, drones, and other spying tools I had no idea about, I didn’t think anything could remain secret for long. Or maybe I’d just seen too many movies.
Either way, I was jittery, and I couldn’t wait to get to doing something, almost anything, that would lead to accomplishing a meaningful goal.
I wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, but I wanted to go
where Tanus went. I could forge a life wherever he was. I’d enjoy the hell out of a life of adventure with him, and together, it looked as if we’d have plenty of it. He had asked me to marry him... but that was before the Princess showed up with her hourglass figure, cleavage, and attitude to match.
I realized that Tanus was talking, and I made my brain stop jumping around so I could listen. He was saying, “Our main goal in traveling to Sand has been accomplished. We’ve found Princess Ilara.” He looked at her. She beamed back with self-importance, or maybe that was just the royal way. “There appears to be no further reason to remain on Sand, since we’ve left behind plenty of problems on O.”
“Such as?” Yudelle asked.
Dolpheus said, “There are lots of problem on O, but the main ones are the instability of the monarchy and the continued practice of splicing by O’s elite. Since you’re not all up-to-date, I’ll lay out some basics. King Oderon, who is the ruling monarch of Planet Origins—”
Jordan whistled. “One man rules an entire planet?”
“Aye.”
“And does it happen to be a very small planet?”
“Not particularly. Origins is a bit larger than Sand, though not by much.”
“Holy shit. One man rules an entire big planet? No wonder there are problems on this Origins place. We can’t even manage accord with hundreds of rulers across this planet.”
“Yeah, well that’s part of the problem, I’m sure,” Lila interjected. “There’s no cohesion. From what Ilara’s told us, you have hundreds of languages and countries. There’s no unity across humanity. It’s no wonder things are a mess here.”
“It doesn’t sound like things are much better on O.”
“You’re right, they aren’t, and what are we going to do about it?” Lila looked from Jordan to Dolpheus, giving him an opening to continue.
“As I was saying, King Oderon is unwaking. When we left, it was unclear whether he’d live or die.”
“Why? Did something happen to him?” Jordan asked.
Tanus said, “Assassins tried to kill him again. But there are too many details to explain right now if we’re to get moving. We’re talking about an entirely different planet. Obviously, there’s a lot to discuss to get you informed. Besides, what difference will it really make? It’s not like you’ll be traveling to O, anyway.”
This quieted Jordan, but not the Princess. “I agree that now isn’t the time for Original history lessons, but not that it might not be relevant to Jordan. Why wouldn’t he come back to O with us?”
“I don’t think that makes any kind of sense,” Tanus was saying just as Jordan said, “Are you actually suggesting I leave my planet for yours?”
To Jordan, the Princess said, “It’s something I’d like to discuss with you in private. Origins isn’t all that different than what I’ve seen of Sand, and this way, we’d be together.”
Tanus said, “You’d be together? So now you’ve decided that you’re to share your life with this other man instead of me, the one you promised yourself to?”
“Our promises were private and non-binding. If we choose to dissolve them in mutual agreement, then they’ll be dissolved, easy as that. And it’s you who’s decided to share your life with another, not the other way around. You chose first.”
My heart started racing. I tried to look inconspicuous and nonchalant while several curious gazes fell upon my face.
“What are you saying?” Tanus said.
Yeah, what are you saying? Be clear before I have a heart attack at the tender age of twenty-six—or the equivalent of four hundred and forty-three, something that can finish blowing my mind open later.
The Princess said, “I’m saying that you obviously are in love with this other me and—No, wait.” She held her hand up to stop Tanus from interrupting. “Don’t deny what I can see and feel just as I’m sure she can. We didn’t foresee this, but maybe this is the way it’s meant to be. You’ll still be loving a version of me.”
“And you’ll be loving a version of me, but it won’t be me,” Tanus said, but his meaning was different. It didn’t sound like he wanted to let her go, but it didn’t sound like he wanted to let me go either.
“No, Tanus, it won’t. But can you honestly tell me this isn’t the way it needs to be?”
Tanus grew rigid, drawing himself to his full height, something he hadn’t done much recently, with all his injuries.
The Princess said, “Denial won’t get us anywhere good, my darling. We’ll talk about it later, when we can have some privacy. I know you don’t like to show your soft side to anyone other than me.” Her actions were replete with contradictions.
“I think we passed any reason for privacy a long time ago,” Tanus ground out, but acquiesced.
What was he saying? What did this say about my future, and why was I letting a man have any say in it? From the start, even as a girl, I’d been my own person. Did I really want to link myself to another? Did I really understand what that meant? And sure, thinking that I’d return to Origins to continue the adventure was fine as a thought... but as a reality? Was I willing to trade my home planet for an alien one... for a man? Or maybe it wasn’t just for a man, but for me too. I’d never felt like I belonged on Earth. But I didn’t think I belonged on Origins either.
Tanus’ eyes sought mine like a homing beacon, and I realized, once again, that I’d zoned out and missed a discussion that continued on without me. I hesitated at first, uncomfortable to discover myself behaving differently than I had before, as if I’d left the Ilara I knew on that lakeside mountaintop.
I found the courage to look at Tanus, to really look at him, to examine all that his eyes broadcast, and as I did, I realized that he, too, had changed when I plunged into that lake and into his arms. The man of steel was still there. I had no doubt once he returned to Origins he’d continue to show that world the face of the badass warrior who wrestled mowabs by the horns.
But I’d unearthed a side of him that he’d hide from the world as much as he could, especially once things settled down and our behavior could normalize. The Princess might have given birth to the transformation within him, but I’d completed it.
Proof of it pulsed through his eyes to mine.
And in that moment, I realized that it wasn’t weakness to follow my heart toward love for another. I was human, and humans were meant to love. To deny what existed between us and what I wanted—what I was certain I wanted when I allowed myself to admit it—was folly. Wasn’t I a storm chaser who followed nature’s manifestations of might into danger? Was it all that different than following the trail of love back to another world? The risk was just as high as chasing a tornado or a lightning storm, and the rewards just as brilliant.
In that moment I decided. With the benefit of the Princess’ permission, I knew what I’d do if I had the chance.
And Tanus watched me decide, I was sure of it.
Dolpheus was still talking, and I struggled to rejoin the conversation. Get on board, mind. I wasn’t about to let myself go soft now, not all the way at least.
“With the King unwaking, and Lord Drakos, the King’s minister in control, there’s a power vacuum. Unless we get the Princess back, and soon, Lord Drakos will assert his control. And if not Drakos, then my bet is on Brachius, and he isn’t a particularly pleasant option either. Drakos might be a corrupt, immoral courtier, but Brachius is—”
“Evil,” Lila said.
“So you’ve said.”
“And I’m right.”
Yudelle interjected, “A man isn’t the same as his actions. Brachius isn’t evil.”
“You haven’t seen him in centuries,” Lila said. “You have no idea how much he might’ve changed.”
“True, but I’m also the only one to remember him as the man he really was, aside from Aletox of course. Trust me when I say that the man isn’t evil, in fact, he’s a remarkably good man.”
“It’s a pointless distinction when he’s doing what he’s doing.�
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“Maybe, but I think it’s important to remember the essence of a person.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you haven’t seen what he’s done since you left.”
“None of this is easy for me.” Yudelle’s voice lost its melancholy and was suddenly sharp as a whip. “It hasn’t been for a very long time.”
“Your feelings don’t change that Brachius is singlehandedly altering the balance of life on O, assuming that Aletox didn’t have a big hand in it as well, and before you rise to Aletox’s defense, you should consider that he might have changed too.”
“Impossible, he’d never change that much.”
“Impossible?” Lila asked with a poignant arch of her eyebrows.
“Yes, impossible.”
“There’s no such thing, Tanus and Dolpheus have told me that enough times for me to start to believe it.”
“As well you should,” Dolpheus said, taking control back. “If the Princess doesn’t return to O to take the rule, things are only going to get worse, and fast.”
Kai said, “And we still have to figure out how to present her to the people while keeping her safe from assassins.”
I smiled. Kai was inserting himself into the ranks of his heroes, and they both seemed glad to have him there. Dolpheus said, “That’s right, Kai. We have lots of details still to work out, but getting back to O is the first step. We have to deal with the power vacuum on O before Oers begin to suffer the consequences.” Dolpheus looked to Lila, “And we need to address what’s going on with the splicing, I agree, especially now that we understand what’s really happening. The ruling classes already make it difficult for those beneath them to raise their families in relative peace and security. The changes in the courtiers will only continue to aggravate the situation. Couple the courtiers’ increasing cruelty and indifference with a coup intending to overthrow the monarchy, and we’ll have mass chaos.”