The Rising Gold

by Ava Jae

  Naï, I don’t know what the cycles will bring us.

  But for the first time in too long, I truly believe the world will only better from here.

  60

  Eros

  Mal hugs me so tightly I think my ribs might break, but it’s not tight enough. I don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to let him go. But it doesn’t matter. It’s his life, and I have to let him have this. I can’t get in his way. I won’t.

  “The ship staff will take good care of you,” Deimos says. “They’re good people, and I think you know many of them from the tech team, shae?”

  Mal slowly lets me go, takes a deep breath, and nods. “Shae, I do. It’ll be okay. They know what they’re doing.”

  “We should be able to talk any time,” I say. “You remember how to use the glass to call me right?”

  Mal rolls his eyes. “Shae, Uncle Eros, you only showed me like, ten times.”

  Deimos snickers and puts his arm over my shoulder. “He’ll be all right, Eros.”

  He will. I trust that. I believe that. But that doesn’t make it any easier to ignore my aching throat or the spot in my chest that hurts every time I remember this good-bye is forever. But maybe it’s not the kinduv permanent good-bye I’ve had to say before—Mal isn’t dying; he’s going to live a better life somewhere else. Somewhere where he can be happy and hopefully more accepted than he is here. He’s going to grow up and live a long life, and yeah, that long life will be somewhere I can’t follow, somewhere I can’t see him, but maybe just knowing he’s happy will be enough.

  I hope.

  “Okay. I’m going now,” Mal says.

  Deimos nods. “We should be headed outside to oversee the launch anyway.” He ruffles Mal’s hair. “Don’t forget about us, okay?”

  Mal smiles softly. “I won’t.”

  He steps forward and gives me one more hug, and I don’t care if he thinks it’s embarrassing—I kiss his head and hold him tight. “I just … want you to know, I’ll be with you wherever the stars reach.”

  Mal takes a shaky breath and nods. “I know.”

  And then I let him go. And as Mal joins the other humans lining up to get registered and assigned and allowed entry, Deimos tugs my side and pulls me away. So I walk. One step after another, forcing myself not to look back, not to check to see if he’s okay, not to baby him.

  “He’ll be okay,” Deimos says again.

  I close my eyes. Breathe deep. Grip Aren’s bracelet. Force myself to believe it.

  Mal will be okay.

  And so will I.

  Deimos holds my hand as we stand at the front of the crowd, at the barricades in front of the launch pad. The shuttle to the ship is sleek, and silver, and glass, repainted with refreshed English lettering and upgraded to make it faster, stronger, safer than it was when it arrived here ages ago.

  The suns rise in the horizon behind the shuttle, painting the lightening sky gold. The engines roar like a thousand ports starting up at once, like a thunderstorm, like the rush of my heart every time Deimos’s eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles. He twines his fingers with mine as the hot air blown out from the shuttle’s launch hits our faces, kicking up sand and the cheer of the crowd.

  In the end, with the nanites working again, Kosim was the first to try the cure—and started getting better in a matter of segments. After testing on a few other patients, the distribution started quickly. All the while humans gathered in Asheron to leave. When all was said and done, just over 10,000 humans decided to leave along with twenty or so half-bloods. And to be honest, I don’t know if I’m going to regret making this happen, I don’t know if this is going to turn out to be a terrible idea, I don’t know if that ship is going to make it to Earth, and I don’t know how well they’ll be treated there if—when—they do arrive.

  But this wasn’t something the Council wanted, or the Sepharon wanted, or even my father wanted. This is something, with Mal’s prompting, I did on my own. This is something I did: giving humans a chance to rebuild and start new worlds away from our own.

  The shuttle lifts into the air, reflecting the golden sky so perfectly it looks like the whole shuttle is molten gold. And as the rising gold climbs higher and higher above us, Deimos squeezes my hand.

  “I want you to know I’m with you,” he says. “No matter what happens. Good or bad, I’m yours.”

  My heart skips a beat as I glance at him with a smile. “You know, that almost sounded like a proposal.”

  “That’s fortunate,” Deimos says. “Because ill-timed as it may or may not be, I’m relatively certain it was.”

  “Relatively certain?”

  “You could just say, sha, of course I’ll marry you, handsome love of my life. Prince with a body like no other. Boy so clever and wonderful I just can’t keep my—”

  “You’re so good at saying sha for me I’m not sure you even need me.” Deimos laughs and I smile and nudge him with my shoulder. “You know I’m yours. And if you want to be officially mine, you won’t get any complaints from me.”

  “Excellent. Our wedding party will be excellent.”

  I groan. “Please don’t make me regret agreeing to this.”

  “Never.” Deimos smiles and nods at the gold-tinted shuttle high above us, sliding into the clouds. And so we watch together, hand-in-hand, as one cycle of our lives closes and a new one begins.

  One where we’re together, whatever that means, and even the stars aren’t out of reach.

  And it’s good.

  It’s good.

  THE END

  Minor Recurring Characters List

  IN ELJA:

  Uljen (OOL-yen): Kora’s advisor

  Dima (DEE-ma): Kora’s twin brother

  Jarek (YA-rek): formerly Dima’s second-in-command; currently Dima’s boyfriend

  Lira (LEE-ruh): Kora’s new personal assistant

  Roek (RO-ek): the oldest of Elja’s Council members

  Torven (TOR-ven): Eljan Council member; once her father’s closest friend but has always been kind to Kora.

  Izra (EEZ-rah): Eljan Council member

  Barra (BAHR-ra): Eljan Council member

  IN ASHERON:

  Mija (MEE-yah): Eros’s stylist

  Arodin (AH-roh-deen): High Priest

  Rion (REE-ohn): Asheron Council member

  Kenna (KEN-nah): Asheron Council member

  Tol: Asheron Council member and Scientific Advisor

  Menos (MEH-nos): oldest of Asheron’s Council members

  Roma (RO-mah): former Sira and Eros’s uncle; currently (and permanently) comatose

  Kosim (KO-seem): Eros’s personal bodyguard

  Fejn (FEYN): Deimos’s personal bodyguard

  Varo (VA-roh): Mal’s personal bodyguard

  Lijdo (LEE-doh): also Eros’s personal bodyguard

  Zarana (za-RAH-nah): the head palace medic

  Glossary/Pronunciation Guide

  Note: /r/ is rolled (similar to a Spanish /r/) and /j/ is closer to an English /y/.

  Sepharon (SEH-fah-rohn, as pronounced by Sepharon; SEH-fur-on, as pronounced by nomads): the native species of Safara.

  Safara (SAH-fah-rah): the planet the Sepharon and nomads live on; in a separate solar system from Earth.

  Sephari (SEH-fah-ree, as pronounced by Sepharon; SEH-fur-ee, as pronounced by nomads): the language all Sepharon speak.

  el/ol Avra (el/ohl AH-vrah): my/your majesty; Avrae are rulers of the eight territories.

  el/ol Sira (el/ohl SEE-rah): my/your high majesty; the Sira is the high ruler who all Avrae must submit to.

  Avrae/Sirae (AH-vray/SEE-ray): plural forms of Avra and Sira

  ko (koh): a ruler’s spouse; ranks directly under the ruler.

  kaï (KAH-ee): prince

  saï (SAH-ee): princess

  kjo/sjo (kyoh/syoh): plural forms of kaï and saï

  Kala (kah-lah): God

  ve (veh): sir

  ken (kehn): the, as part of a title

  sha (shah)
: yes

  naï (NAH-ee): no

  kazim (KAH-zeem): wildcat

  [City] ora’jeve: (oh-RAH-yeh-veh): [City] greets you (all)—the equivalent to “Welcome to [city].”

  or’jiva (ohr-YEE-vah): greetings (to one person)

  ljuma (LYOO-mah): a tangy fruit.

  azuka (AH-zoo-kah): a powerful drink, somewhat equivalent to alcohol.

  zeïli (zeh-EE-lee): a leaf that’s dried and smoked for a relaxing and mood-boosting effect.

  lijara/lijarae (lee-YAH-rah/lee-YAH-ray): umbrella term equivalent to queer people (lijarae is the plural form)

  ulae (OO-lay): a traditional uniform worn by Ona’s military men since before the Great War.

  kata (kah-tah): a flat food wrap, similar to a tortilla

  ko (koh): used to refer to spouses of Avrae and Sirae (often as Avra-ko or Sira-ko)

  balaika (bah-LIE-kah): a modern—and very popular—A’Sharan style dance

  mana eran (mah-nah EH-ran): my brother

  shae (SHAY): A’Sharan variation of “sha”; equivalent to “yeah”

  ora’denja (OH-rah den-YAH): good morning (to you)

  denna (dennah): literally “a morning”; response to ora’denja

  kafra (KAH-fra): a swear word, similar in intensity to “fuck”

  Kala alehja (KAH-lah ah-LAY-ha): God above; phrase used to express exasperation

  kelo (keh-low): a cold, sweet dessert

  sko/skoi (sko/skoy): a swear word used to describe someone who is a jerk (skoi is plural)

  ej (ey): kind of like “hey”

  ljnte (LEEN-teh): hot, white, sweet and spicy energy drink

  Jorva (YOR-vah): Sepharon holy book

  ufrike (oo-FREE-keh): an intoxicating drink

  ora’jeve (oh-RAH-yeh-veh): welcome, to many people

  or’jiva (ohr-YEE-vah): welcome/greetings (to one person)

  sennak (sen-NAHK): a light blue rock webbed with white and silver; popular in Daïvi

  General terms:

  breath: (in terms of time) second

  (sun)sets: equivalent to a day.

  term: month (50 sets)

  cycle: year (8 terms)

  mo: moment: minute

  Nomad slang:

  brainblaze: migraine

  blazing: somewhat equivalent British English “bloody.”

  blazed: angry/ticked off

  throwing sand: freaking out

  Acknowledgments

  When I first began writing with the intention to publish something like thirteen years ago, my goal was to publish a trilogy. And here, at long last, I’m so proud and thrilled to say I’ve done just that—but I didn’t do so alone.

  Endless thanks to the team that helped me bring this book into being, including:

  My Creator. Working at this dream and watching it unfold has been an absolute delight. I can’t wait to see where my words take me next.

  My fantastic agent and professional cheerleader, Louise Fury, thank you so much for being in my corner and believing in my stories and in me. These words never would have made it onto actual pages in actual books without your enthusiasm and confidence.

  The Skyhorse team who translated this story from a document to pages to an actual book. My incredible editor, Nicole Frail, thank you for pushing me to make this last leg of Eros and Kora’s journey the best part yet. Kate Gartner, thank you for gifting me with yet another jaw-dropping cover, and Joshua Barnaby, so many thanks for making each of these books as beautiful inside as they are on the out.

  My genius CPs, Laura and Caitlin, thank you once again for your incredible suggestions and ever-increasing support. And to Mark and Charlotte, thank you so much for your insight, guidance, and encouragement.

  A big group hug to my lovely Simmons peers and professors: the Core Four, Writing I and II classes, and more—getting to know you all has been a highlight of my new life here, and I can’t thank you enough for your absolutely fantastic support.

  And last, but not least, my lovely Twitter friends and Community of Awesome, to you, reading this book right now—thank you for joining me on this truly epic adventure of making my dreams come true one at a time.