Beyond the Shadows

by Jess Granger

  “I had plans for her. I knew she’d have to be removed for the others to support Cyani.” Yara felt as if the Grand Sister had just slapped her in the face with the handle of her whip. “You didn’t think I was going to waste your genetic potential on someone unworthy of you.”

  What is she talking about?

  “You pulled this scheme before. I figured you’d try it again.” Cyn’s words held a bitterness he couldn’t hold back. “Was that why you chose her for the bloodhunt?” Yara focused on his face. She could see the burning hatred in his eyes.

  “Perhaps all I need is a little modification of my original plan.” She paused, stepping in front of Cyn. The fraying hem of the mantle of power filled the small screen. “I intended to have Yara go to the ground to find you once Cyani was ready to ascend. She has a weakness for male flesh. Perhaps that’s my fault. I wanted her broken in young. I set up an Alkar ceremony for her and some of the others with talent. I find it’s best to hinder any ambitions toward the throne by ensuring I have blackmail material on each of the girls.”

  Yara fought to breathe. The loss of her vow? It had all been a scheme. She’d been manipulated by the Grand Sister. She wanted to blame herself for not seeing it for what it was, but looking back, it all made perfect sense. She had been immortal, untouchable, until that day. After that, the lingering fear that others knew, that someone could use it against her, always remained in the back of her mind.

  By Ona, the Grand Sister had no limits to her obsession with power.

  “So you planned to drug me so I’d seduce Yara, the way you drugged my parents so they’d conceive your heirs?” Cyn’s dark voice broke Yara out of her thoughts and forced her to focus on what was happening now. The Grand Sister had drugged Cyori? By the Creator, all the pieces were beginning to fall together in her mind.

  Cyori was the most talented warrior any generation had seen since the great Matriarchs. Fira was older. She couldn’t compete with Cyori’s strength and legendary agility in battle. So instead of getting rid of Cyori by challenging her, Fira drugged Cyori and her own brother so Cyori would be shamed, and Fira’s niece and nephew would be the offspring of the most skilled blood on the planet, the full bloodline of the Merciless and the Rebel.

  According to Azralen law, Cyn’s father would have been able to keep and raise the babies in the high cities if he’d claimed them. Instead, he disappeared. He followed the mother of his children to the ground.

  So Cyori was shamed, and Fira assumed the throne, but she lost access to the babies she’d so carefully crafted through her deception. She lost her heirs, until Cyani returned to the high cities accused of murder.

  No wonder the Grand Sister had shown Cyani mercy. She not only got her heir back, but she ensured Cyani would never betray her out of fear for her life and the life of her brother.

  But Cyani did betray her. Cyn defied her even now.

  “All I have to do is purge your blood of infertilizers, shoot you so full of Byralen stimulants you go mad, wait for the right time in her cycle for her to conceive a female, and then let you rape her, over and over.” The Grand Sister’s voice lowered, seething with hunger and malice. “Maybe this time I’ll watch.”

  Cyn leapt at the shield, throwing his fists against it. “I will not!”

  The Grand Sister threw her whip through the shield, catching him across the scar on his chest. He recoiled as an angry red welt rose on his skin.

  “Oh you will, my nephew. Then, as soon as she conceives an heir, I’ll have you executed for rape, and I’ll keep the baby under my careful control this time. If Yara tries to rule Azra in a way I don’t approve, I’ll teach the child how to be strong through pain.”

  Yara clenched the edge of the cold table, numb and sick with shock. Fira had to be stopped. She was the only one with the power to stop her.

  “Yes,” Fira sneered. “I like that plan much better. Good-bye, Cyn.”

  Yara stood, gathering her resolve. She no longer thought about her fear. She no longer thought about anything but her pure rage. The reign of deception would end before nightfall.

  The Grand Sister’s footfalls clicked down the long hall. It was time to put her plan into motion.

  “Tuz.” Her cat snapped to attention, his long whiskers pricked forward as he watched her with a war-hungry look in his eyes. “I need you to work with Bug. You two have to cause a distraction in two places at once.” She stroked his thick head as the cat grinned at her and purred. “A big one. Bug, when you hear Tuz’s signal, wait fifteen seconds and then make as much noise as you can on your end.”

  “Yowwrrr,” Tuz called and ran out the door. The holoprojection dipped in affirmation. Good. Between the two of them, they should be able to cause enough havoc to cover her.

  Yara grabbed two injection spikes filled with a potent tranquilizer. She removed the eyepiece and returned it to her pocket.

  With stalking strides, she exited the interrogation room and crept back to the corner.

  A sudden cacophony erupted down the far hall, followed by an urgent scream. Two of the four guards ran past her, leaving two behind at the archway. Perfect.

  She readied the injectors and counted, three, two, one.

  An ear-piercing whistle sounded from within Cyn’s cell.

  Yara jumped out from around the corner. Both guards had turned their backs, looking toward the noise. Yara jabbed them simultaneously in the necks. They crumpled to the floor before they had the chance to turn around and see their attacker.

  She didn’t have much time. Dragging them into the nearest cell, she locked them behind the shield, then ran to Cyn.

  He stood at the shield, the whip burn across his chest still bleeding. He stared at her in shock.

  “Yara?”

  She punched the release, and the shield dissolved. He rushed forward and took her by the arms.

  “I’m sorry,” she confessed. “It was the quickest way to get you into the Elite complex without suspicion so you could hack the com array. I couldn’t tell you, or—”

  Yara couldn’t say another word before his mouth captured hers in a blistering kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her so tightly she couldn’t breathe as his lips, his tongue tangled with hers in a frantic, passionate release.

  She pushed her arms up, circling his neck, tangling her fingers in his shining hair. Her rush of relief and arousal sped through her body on the wings of her coursing blood.

  He gripped her, his strong hands holding her body to his.

  She pulled away enough to catch her breath. “We don’t have much time,” she gasped.

  He kissed her again, smoothing his hands up her sides and capturing her face.

  “I know,” he grunted, tipping his forehead against hers. “God, I love you.”

  Yara pulled him back and kissed him. Her lips felt tender, raw, but she didn’t care. She nipped his lip then looked deep into his shining green eyes. “You’d better.”

  Bug rattled up against the grate. Yara pulled out of Cyn’s embrace and opened the grate so he could fly out. He spun around Cyn’s head and landed on his shoulder.

  Tuz ran into the room with the spastic control and enthusiasm of an untrained kitten.

  “Tuz, take Cyn to the linking station of the com array that is connected to the docking interface,” she commanded. “Use as many of the thin branches as you can and scan for witnesses.” She turned her attention to Cyn and placed her hand over the welt on his chest. “Don’t get caught. As soon as you hack into the array, you’re vulnerable. Get the cannons down, and your message out quick. If I’m unsuccessful, the people of Azra need to rise.”

  “What do you mean?” He caught her wrist, then tucked her hand against his heart.

  “I’m going to give you your distraction.” She let her fingers splay out over his warm skin as she felt the beat of his heart against her palm.

  “Yara, what do you mean?” he asked again.

  “It’s time to light the fire in the temple.”
>
  22

  CYN STEPPED BACK. “YOU CAN’T.” HE STARED AT HER IN SHOCK. HIS FACE paled. “You’ll be in the path of the revolution.”

  “I know,” she said, taking his wrist. Her fingers caressed the snakes. “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

  “I’m not.” His eyes shone with sincerity, but her mind was made up.

  “I’m going to challenge the Grand Sister. If I don’t survive, Azra must rise.” She swallowed.

  He took her hand and pulled her closer to him. “Fira will cheat. She’ll do whatever it takes to kill you, Yara. She’s already killed three challengers, and they were younger, stronger, and more talented than she is. Even if you defeat her, you’ll have to contend with Palar. She’ll challenge you before you ever step off of the platform. It’s the only time you’ll be vulnerable enough for her to strike.”

  “I know. It’ll give you the time and opportunity to lead our people, Cyn. You have to take it. The access code for the com system is integrated into Tuz’s collar. Bug should be able to find it.” Yara let her body soften against his. She tilted her head up and kissed him one last time.

  “Go,” she implored.

  He looked stricken as she backed away from him.

  “Go.” She turned her back and strode out of the hall. She didn’t have much time. As soon as she lit the fire in the temple, all eyes would turn to her. No one would see Cyn in the chaos.

  With the force of her conviction, she quelled her nerves and steeled herself for what was about to come. The beauty of the high cities passed by in a blur as she marched through the smooth white streets built over the arching branches of the eldar trees.

  The serenity of the light filtering through the bright green canopy only hardened her resolve. This was her beautiful home, but Azra was more than just this. If things didn’t change, the high cities would fall. The time of reckoning was upon them.

  She turned the corner and climbed a flight of stairs. The open arc of the covered bridge rose before her, when a small boy in white prayer robes caught her eye. She paused, drawn to the little boy. He turned his enormous green eyes up to hers.

  He was so young, so innocent. His sweet little face glowed as he gave her a hesitant smile. She was about to bring war to this child.

  By Esana the Noble, what was she doing?

  His mother grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him around. “Get back! Lower your eyes!” she shouted at the boy.

  Yara blinked in shock. The mother shoved the baby behind her and bowed in deference. “I am so sorry, Your Holiness. He did not mean to look at you. He knows his place.” The mother shook as her skin paled. “I swear he knows his place.”

  Yara touched the woman’s bare shoulder. She tensed, her fear so stark and raw. The Elite were supposed to protect the people. When had they gone so wrong?

  She squeezed the woman’s shoulder, then turned and entered the bridge to the temple. The bridge arched over the gap between eldar trees leading to the holy temple. Smooth, white branches wove up from the floor supporting the roof above her. The shadows of the twisted branches curled across the floor as they passed swiftly beneath her feet.

  She knew what she had to do for all of Azra.

  She climbed the steps to the towering doors of the temple. Two low-level orderlies greeted her with a sweeping bow, their faces masked by a white drape. She walked straight past them, over the inlaid floor depicting the glory of the Matriarchs, to the chewed-up wood of four support columns in the central sanctuary. In each column, daggers stabbed into the ancient pillars, grouped by loyalties among the Elite. She saw her own dagger. It hadn’t moved in the four years she’d been away, and now even more daggers jutted out from the wood just below it than she had ever seen. Palar didn’t have a quarter of the backing she did.

  Would they support her in this?

  It was time to test loyalties.

  She took a deep breath and climbed the steep shrine stairs to the golden brazier burning in the heart of the temple. One of the priestesses gasped. She couldn’t turn back now. Grasping the ceremonial torch, she dipped it in the fire.

  Flames licked along the torch, warming her hand. She lifted it, felt the heat close to her face as she closed her eyes and prayed.

  She prayed her heart was guiding her to the will of the Matriarchs. She prayed she had the strength to succeed and survive, but most of all she prayed for the future of Azra.

  She opened them again, at peace with herself and her decision. The priestesses had gathered at the foot of the stairs, waiting. She turned and placed the torch in the center of the open hands of the statue of the Creator.

  The flame burst to life, traveling down oil-filled channels carved along the edges of the temple. It barreled along its path, proclaiming to all those in the center of the temple that change, violent and terrible, was coming. It reached two pillars at the end and roared to life with a terrifying ferocity as the flames shot up through the center of the pillars to the crown of the temple above. Soon all of Azra would know what she’d done.

  She turned and watched the crowd through the angry tongues of flame as she gripped the torch. The sounds of frantic conversation began to fill the temple. A stream of people flooded in from the doorway.

  A hush fell over the crowd as the Grand Sister entered, the mantle of power swaying behind her.

  “Palar!” she shouted. “How dare . . .”

  Her eyes locked with Yara’s, and Yara lifted her chin in defiance. Fira paled, her expression slack with shock. A moment passed, then two. Yara watched the Grand Sister’s icelike eyes dart around, chased by the turmoil in her expression. The color returned to the old woman’s face; she flushed red with it as she ascended the steps like a stalking cat.

  “You were not to light the fire,” she scolded then took another step. Yara tightened her grip on the torch.

  “Yet I did.” She took a deep breath, her resolve strengthening her. She would not let one woman torture Azra any longer. Fira’s time was done. Yara welcomed the fight.

  “Your High Holiness,” someone shouted from the doorway, “the prisoner has escaped.”

  “What?” Fira shrieked, her voice cracking as she unfurled her whip. She sent it flying over the heads of the Elite. Then she rounded on Yara, climbing the last of the steps with her rage pushing before her like the wall of a great hurricane.

  “You freed him. You have betrayed me. You have betrayed Azra,” she accused Yara under her breath.

  “The torch has been lit,” Yara stated, even though her heart raced for Cyn. She sent a quick prayer that he wouldn’t get captured or killed. “How do you answer?”

  “Your blood will wash my feet!” The Grand Sister’s voice boomed through the temple. The crowd gasped. The nervous current of whispers slid through the room. “Prepare yourself. I will meet you in battle.”

  “Find the son of the Rebel and bring him back alive,” she thundered as the crowd parted and she exited the temple.

  Yara let out the breath she had been holding and tried to keep her focus through the reeling in her head and gut. She couldn’t lose her concentration now. She had to rely on the precision and cold certainty of her training.

  It was in her. She couldn’t fail Azra.

  She took each of the steep white steps carefully. Her nerves made her feet uncertain, but she couldn’t let it show. As soon as she reached the crowd, Onali grabbed her elbow. Yara glanced toward the columns as three of the young girls in training put their daggers with hers.

  “Why?” Onali urged, squeezing her elbow tighter as they rushed out of the temple with urgent strides. “You have everything. Why are you doing this?”

  Yara lifted her head, surprised by Onali’s concern.

  “Because it has to be done,” Yara confessed. “Please trust me, Nali.”

  “You could die,” Onali warned, blinking her eyes. Yara remembered the death of the last challenger. Penora had been so strong, so skilled, but in the arena it was as if her life just faded o
ut of her for no reason. She seemed weak in battle. It was unlike her. They all took the loss hard, but it was the way of the Elite. “I don’t want to lose another sister,” Onali confessed.

  Sister? Yara had spent her entire life not feeling connected to anyone, but the truth almost slapped her in the face. She had not connected to them, but it didn’t mean they had not connected to her.

  She looked away from Onali. “It’s too late. I have to face her now.” She didn’t realize the depth of Onali’s loyalty until this moment. She didn’t want to betray it. What choice did she have? “I’ll see you at the platform.”

  Onali left with a swift and angry stride. Yara swallowed her regret. She didn’t have much time to focus. The Elite were already looking for Cyn. Her distraction would only work if she pushed things quickly.

  It was time to face the Grand Sister once and for all and end the grip of terror.

  Yara passed through the back branches, the thin sweeping arches bowed gracefully amid the foliage and ciera blossoms. In spite of the tranquil beauty, she felt the same way she did just before the spider attack on Cyn’s ship.

  She had fought through blood, horror, and agony, and she stood victorious. She pulled that memory to the forefront of her mind as she thought about being chained on the Kronalen ship. Her sheer will to live had kept her focused and calm. She felt that instinct rise as she stepped onto the final arching bridge that led to the platform.

  The thin bridge swayed beneath her feet, and she thought about Cyn, the way they had fallen together through the lattice, then kissed.

  She had something to live for.

  She was more than duty. She was more than her training. She was Yara, blood of the Just, and a woman who would do anything to help and protect the man and the planet she loved.

  She stepped onto the ceremonial platform. The gleaming white expanse hovered directly over the shadows below. Five thin arches led onto the platform. Each would be guarded by a group of Elite warriors. The only way off of the platform was the straight drop to ground below.

  Spectator stands rose above them, separated from the arena floor, forming the deadly gap. Already the stands were filled with at least half the population of the high cities. They eagerly watched the projections above the platform. Everyone on Azra would be able to see the challenge through the com array.