by Delia Roan
“Stop, Jen. I’m supposed to be the strong one with sensible advice. Don’t steal my shtick.”
“You say you want this guy?”
Do I want him?
She thought about his laugh. The way his nose wrinkled when he smiled. The way he stepped up to help, even before she asked. The way he gave, without expecting anything in return. The way she sometimes caught him staring at her. The awe in his face. The trust she felt for him, even when she had no cause for it.
All along, he must have known he was her Avowed. He tried to talk her out of loving him.
It didn’t work.
“More than anything, I want him.”
“Melissa Harlock has never been afraid to chase what she wants. Not on Earth, not on Cadam. So fight for him.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. But I do know you won't do it alone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JAHLE
Jahle’s prison cell contained more physical comforts than his chamber back on Geran. The bed sagged when he perched on the edge, but it was spotless. The floor beneath his feet reflected back his drawn face, and the air smelled of disinfectant. After the guards led him here, a doctor visited to ensure his wounds healed well.
No point in dying before my execution.
His thoughts, all dark, were his only companions now. He didn’t expect to see Mel again.
He closed his eyes, and imagined what she might be doing now. Had she found her sister? Did she think of him?
A clang made him look up. The heavy door swung open, revealing an Ennoi man with knives strapped to his side. He stared down at Jahle with a cool, calculated look that reminded Jahle of the soldiers in his father’s employ. This man was a professional. The Ennoi guard stepped aside, his armor jingling, so a second Ennoi man could enter.
Unlike the first, this one was Avowed. He wore a simple blue tunic slashed with orange at the sleeves and across his broad shoulders. His braids hung loose down his back, but his body radiated power and strength.
Jahle straightened.
A judicial officer come to discuss the trial?
The first Ennoi remained by the door. The second strode in to stand in front of Jahle. He placed his hands on his hips and took in Jahle’s measure. His vivid red and blue skin contrasted with his robes. Another man might have felt foolish in such colors, but the officer maintained his authority and dignity.
I should not underestimate this man.
“Well,” the stranger said, “if you will not stand, may I sit?”
Slowly, Jahle nodded.
The guard by the door nodded. A servant scurried in with a chair and the judicial officer sat. “Oh, I am not built to crawl through ductwork.”
The guard snorted. “You groan like an old man, Old Man.”
The stranger raised a finger to him. “Careful, Yaldir. I’ll not have your insolence. I’ll see you scrubbing the latrines.”
Yaldir said nothing, but his lips quirked as he turned his focus on the far wall. Despite the jibes, Jahle got the sense that Yaldir respected the judicial officer.
Jahle and the officer studied each other. Jahle waited for him to speak.
With a grunt, the officer leaned back. “So, you have turned yourself in for treachery against Cadam? And regicide?”
His lips tight, Jahle nodded.
“And you have done so freely?”
Another nod.
“Under no duress?”
Nod.
“You don’t say much, do you?”
Jahle shook his head.
“You aren’t going to make this easy, are you?”
Silence.
The officer sighed. “I want to help you, you know.”
Jahle said nothing.
The two men sat at a stalemate. Only the clink of Yaldir’s armor broke the silence.
Finally, Jahle could take no more. “Mel- the human. Is she well? Unharmed?” When the officer raised a brow, Jahle hurried to add, “And the children? Are they healed from the dolor?”
The officer considered his words. “The human is well. She is reunited with her sister. They are free to come and go as they please.”
Relief flooded Jahle’s body.
A blessing. She is safe.
“The children are faring well, too,” the officer said with a wry smile.
Jahle coughed and stared at the floor. “Good.”
“The oldest boy says they are orphans. We will do our best to place them in loving homes.”
“They have suffered much. Thank you.”
“As have you. I am sorry for the loss of your brother.” The officer’s voice held genuine sympathy.
Taken aback, Jahle replied. “Thank you.”
“No matter the circumstances, it is difficult to lose family.”
Jahle thought about his parents and other siblings. “Yes,” he said, his voice low. “For all his faults, he was my brother, and I loved him.”
The Ennoi man bowed his head. Perhaps he knew the loss and guilt Jahle felt.
“We cannot control the actions of others,” the Ennoi said. “We can only control ourselves. Tell me what happened.”
Jahle’s scales rippled.
I killed him, he wanted to say.
The sympathy in the man’s eyes made him pause. He found the whole story spilling from his lips, first haltingly, and then faster as the words flowed. He described everything he could of Dogan’s plan to harm Kovos, including the name of the shipping merchant who smuggled Jenna into Cadam for a hefty fee.
Jahle kept Mel’s role in the incident to a minimum, claiming that he had pushed Dogan and the centipede over the edge of the platform and into the lava.
Better she remains free.
When he finished speaking, the officer tipped his head back and considered all Jahle had said.
“It is a clear-cut matter,” the officer said. “We will hold the trial tomorrow. Might as well expedite the procedure.”
Disappointment filled Jahle’s mouth and stole his words.
I had hoped…
No, hope was foolish.
I deserved this.
A servant tapped at the door, and Yaldir stepped aside to allow her to enter. She dipped into a bow. “My lord, Lord Ziyk wishes to speak with you. He says it is an urgent matter.”
The officer sighed. “It always is. Tell Lord Ziyk I shall attend to him shortly.”
The servant bowed. “Yes, Lord Kovos.”
“Thank you, Marim. You are dismissed.”
Kovos? Jahle’s eyes widened. This is Lord Kovos? This man?
“Kovos, you promised Lady Jenna you would meet her sister once we were done here,” Yaldir said.
Kovos groaned. “The hardships of popularity. I will visit with them after Ziyk. That way, I can linger.”
Jahle tried not to gape. He is Lord Kovos. This is the man whose family killed mine. This is the target of my brother’s hatred.
This is my greatest enemy?
To Jahle’s shame, he rather liked the ruler of the Cadam, with his easygoing ways and gentle humor. He treated his servants in a way that made Jahle ache for his father and mother, and the way the Ennoi Geran were under their rule.
If he and Kovos met under better circumstances…
“One last matter before I depart,” Kovos said, rising to his feet. He snapped his fingers. Yaldir stepped forward to offer Jahle a hand-held computer.
Jahle took it, his face creased in puzzlement. “What is this for?”
Kovos paused, his face serious. “That lumis contains information that will alter your life. You will probably curse my name, as messengers often are when they deliver bad news. I hope you will accept it in the spirit in which it is intended. As a means of closure.”
He sat back, giving Jahle a chance to process what Kovos had said.
Jahle eyed the lumis. He swept his hand over the surface, and the screen lit up. The
holographic projection showed the interior of a ship. Sirens blared in the distance, and a squad of armed guards thundered past, in a blur of purple and gray.
He placed the location in an instant. His father’s flagship. The one he and his mother, and his siblings, had died in. The remains of which floated somewhere in Cadam territory.
A woman entered the screen, too close, so all he saw was her scalp and forehead. Then she backed up, until her entire face filled the left of the screen.
Roana!
His throat closed up at the sight of her. She was just as he remembered her, frozen in time, her neat braids laid against her skull, but a trickle of blood flowed down her cheek from a cut.
Roana shot a glance over her shoulder. “Come on, come on…” she muttered. Behind her, a guard clad in Geran colors raced past. She paid him no heed, keeping her face fixed on Jahle’s.
I must be looking at a recorded transmission, he thought. She is waiting for someone to appear on her own screen.
Suddenly, the worry from Roana’s face melted away to relief. “Oh, thank the moon!” she exclaimed. “Jahle!”
Jahle jumped, but she kept talking.
“Jahle! Is he with you? Is he safe?”
Roana paused, as if listening to someone speak. “Good. We have been ambushed. Our signals are being jammed. I wasn’t sure I would reach you. I need you to contact Cadam. Tell them to call off their attack.”
An explosion rocked the ship, making Roana duck. She cursed, then popped back into the screen, her attention focused on a point off screen. More figures ran in the background, and voices babbled in panic. Angry shouts. Black smoke billowing. Jahle leaned closer and closer to the screen, watching his sister’s face. He knew how this ended. He had heard the story countless times for Dogan.
His sister’s last moments.
Who did she call before she died?
When she faced the screen, her expression was grim. “They’re breaching the blasted doors.” Another pause. “Mikkil? Mikkil’s dead. Father has been injured. Contact Cadam. Tell them to stop. Tell them we come in peace. We surrender!”
Who is she calling for help?
Her face crumbled, and she closed her eyes. “Please! Just tell the Cadam…” She listened. When she opened her eyes, shock and revulsion crept across her face. “You… You set this up. It’s not the Cadam. It’s… you. Dogan. Why, Dogan? Don’t do this. Dogan, please! Dogan!”
The screen went blank.
Jahle reeled back.
No. No, it can’t be.
He turned to Kovos, who sat with his head bowed.
“Wh-what is this? I don’t understand.”
Kovos met his eyes. “The Skyrorian mercenaries who attacked Cadam implicated Geran. They named your family as the instigators.”
“We had nothing to do with that! Nothing!” Jahle froze. No, the ships on Geran had been programmed to travel to Cadam.
For another attack?
“Listen first,” Kovos said, raising his hand. “My father reacted based on that information. His retaliation on Geran was… rash. Later, when his anger faded, he realized he should not have acted thusly. Father invited your whole family to come to Cadam to negotiate peace. Your family accepted.”
Bitterness twisted in Jahle’s belly. “Except for Dogan. He refused.”
“We suspect he was involved in orchestrating the initial attack on Cadam. Perhaps he did not wish to negotiate, or perhaps he was afraid of being recognized by one of the Sykorians.”
“And I was sick. Mother did not want me traveling.”
Kovos continued. “When the Cadam learned of the attack on your family’s vessel, we hurried to send help.”
“But you arrived too late.”
“Our scanners were scrambled. All we managed to decode was that intercepted message.”
“Dogan,” Jahle closed his eyes. “I knew he was angry. I knew he hated the Cadam. But to go that far? To sacrifice our own parents? Our own brother and sisters?”
“Power is a stout wine,” Yaldir interjected from the door. “It makes many drunk. Even moderate drinkers.”
“Why do you show me this now?” His pain felt like boulders sitting on his chest, choking him. “What difference does it make?”
Kovos stood. “Little to none, I imagine. I simply… wished to say I was sorry.”
The prince of the Ennoi Cadam, and chairman of the Ennoi Council bent at the waist deeply enough that his braids brushed the floor.
Jahle stared. He’s bowing. To me.
“Forgive my father’s poor choices. If I can, I shall make reparations to Geran.” He rose from his bow. “From this day, Cadam is no longer an enemy to Geran.”
“Are we allies?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Thank you,” Jahle said. He remembered his words to Dogan’s guards. “Some of Dogan’s guards might also find their way into Cadam space. Please…”
“We will be sure to welcome them. Until tomorrow.” Kovos left, and Yaldir followed, closing the door behind him.
Jahle sat in silence, staring at the lumis. With a trembling hand, he reached out and replayed Roana’s message. He watched her face, counted her freckles, studied the swirls of color on her skin. She’d found her Avowed a few short months prior. Wosho had keeled over while strolling in the gardens; his heart stopped when hers did.
When the message ended, he fumbled with the controls until he found the volume, then played the message again. The walls nearly vibrated with Roana’s voice. Her booming desperation. Jahle closed his eyes and listened.
There! In the background, faintly, he could hear his mother’s voice. “Trinninat, come away from that door!”
A faint smile played across his lips. Trinni never listened. She always found trouble. Eien, with his settling colors, was probably the same age she had been. And now, Jahle was the same age as Mikkil had been.
Roana’s voice echoed into silence.
Jahle reached out and played the message again.
And again.
And again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MELISSA
Mel paced the length of the corridor outside Jenna’s rooms. The late afternoon sun had warmed the tiles beneath her feet. Her soft shoes barely made any noise on the smooth, white marble floors. Trees swayed outside the large windows, and Mel heard the cheerful chattering of alien animals, as well as the melodious notes of a musical instrument.
Not even the music could soothe her nerves. Pacing helped, so she kept moving, bouncing from one wall to the other. At the middle of her trip, she paused to stare at the closed door, behind which her sister and Kovos discussed Jahle.
Jenna had promised to beg Kovos for clemency, asking Kovos to spare Jahle’s life on the grounds that he and Mel were Avowed. Not enough was known about human and Ennoi bonds. If they functioned the same as Ennoi-Ennoi bonds, then it was possible that Mel would die, too.
It seemed unlikely to Mel. She didn’t feel a second heart beating. She didn’t feel like she could change into a dragon.
Though if this takes any longer, I might bore a hole in the door by staring at it.
What she did feel was a deep sense of hopelessness.
She paused in front of the door. Yaldir stood in a relaxed position beside the door. Jenna had explained Yaldir was Kovos’s honor guard, the way Jahle was Dogan’s honor guard. Mel understood that to mean he was some sort of trusted adviser meant to keep a leader on the straight and narrow.
By that definition, I’m Jenna’s honor guard.
With a heavy sigh, she dropped her shoulders. “They’ve been in there for hours,” she grumbled.
“Barely half a bell,” Yaldir said, his eyes fixed ahead. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked like he was waiting for a bus.
But I guess the love of his life isn’t about to die in the morning.
She stepped closer to the door and tipped her head. She
heard nothing. Tucking her curls behind her ear, she leaned to place her ear on the door.
“Ahem.”
She straightened to find Yaldir shaking his head at her.
“I would not recommend that.”
“Why not?” She placed a hand on her hip. “I have a right to know what’s happening in there.”
The corner of Yaldir’s mouth rose. “Are you certain?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “This concerns me.”
“Very well. They are probably attempting to conceive an heir.”
Mel’s face grew hot. She stepped away from the door. “Oh. Is that a… possibility?”
“It is unknown,” Yaldir seemed to be receiving great joy from her reaction. “I am certain we will find out soon based on the frequency-”
Mel clapped her hands over her ears. “Please stop.”
Yaldir's half-cough might have been a laugh, but she didn’t wait to find out. She stomped to a nearby bench and collapsed into a heap. She glared at the birds chirping in the trees outside, which she tugged at the ornate beading on her gown.
It isn't fair. Why do the birds get to be happy?
And not me?
Jenna’s words repeated in her head: This is not you, Mel.
She took a deep breath. Nope, she was not that girl. She was not the pining kind.
She was the kick-ass kind.
Yaldir watched her approach with amused eyes. “Yes, Lady Melissa? Is there anything I can assist you with?”
“Take me to see Jahle.”
The amusement faded. “I am afraid I cannot do as you ask.”
Mel’s eyes flashed. “I did not ask. I told.”
“And I cannot do as you tell either.”
“If you can’t help me, then who can? Who has the keys to Jahle’s cell?”
For a second, she thought Yaldir might lock her up as securely as Jahle, but then his eyes softened. “I believe you will integrate into Ennoi society with far greater ease than your sister.” He scanned the corridor, and finding it empty, he stepped away from the door. “Follow me, Lady Melissa.”
After walking halfway across the palace, and winding their way down a curved staircase, Yaldir stopped in front of an unmarked metal door. “I am honor-bound to attempt to dissuade you one last time.”