Void Born

by R. J. Metcalf

  ***

  Francene’s pacing held the grace of one who didn’t merely know how to dance, but who had mastered the art. Her wine-colored dress swished with her every step across her meeting room, enhancing the sashay of her hips.

  “I’ve heard from my man in the Hollows,” she began, her words matter-of-fact despite the soft cadence of her tone. “Andre’s starting to make a name for himself as a fighter.”

  Relief coursed through Jade, almost rendering her limp where she stood. She sat as fear consumed the lighthearted emotion. He’s fighting. He’s in even more danger. “What can we do for him?”

  “Everett wanted him dead because Andre knew your true identity,” Francene reminded. Jade sank back into her chair, and Francene arched an eyebrow. “Of course, Lord Everett gave a different excuse for arresting him. Based on his public excuse, if we can somehow prove that Andre didn’t spy on him, and didn’t share Aerugan secrets, we can petition to have him freed.”

  “How on Terrene could we prove that?” Samantha asked. She bounced her fist against her leg.

  Francene shrugged a shoulder. “To be honest, I’m not entirely certain.”

  “Then what good are—” Zak started, but Francene cut him off.

  “I have contacts that are looking for anything we can use to build a solid testimony for Andre. If we can prove what we here all know—that he’s an upright man, loyal to Doldra, yes, but also to Aerugo—it will help.” Francene tapped a finger against her lips. “We’ll want to actually have that reversed. His loyalty is to Aerugo, and also to Doldra. The courts here will like that better.”

  Jade swiped at a stray tear, and Zak squeezed her shoulder. She’d been crying far too much the last few weeks. It was time to stop venting steam and get her gears in order again.

  The door opened across from them and Weston walked in, his eyes tight and face pale. “My father is—”

  A guard scurried in behind Weston, holding the door open for Lord Everett. Jade straightened in her chair, a chill running through her spine as Everett’s gaze traveled over her, his scrutiny pausing on Zak’s hand still resting on her shoulder. Zak’s hand didn’t move.

  Everett tilted his head. “Weston, greet your fiancée. Adeline, you should greet your future husband.” He gave a pointed look at Samantha, then Zak. “Even in such intimate environments, we need to work on our decorum.”

  Jade stood, her shoulder bemoaning the lack of warmth as Zak’s hand fell away. She tensed as Weston approached her, his back to his father, unspoken apologies in his eyes. He tilted forward, his lips hovering close to her cheek.

  She braced for his kiss, holding her breath. She stared into his shoulder, not really seeing the stiff blue collar of his shirt, or the black vest he wore over it. Her stomach trembled like water even as she stiffened her knees. No more tears.

  His breath tickled her ear, and he spoke softly, almost too low for her to make out. “Not without your permission.” He leaned back, eyebrows raised, worry shining clear as day as he bit his lip.

  Zak exhaled behind her, and she didn’t dare say anything or nod or do anything to tip Everett off that the kiss hadn’t happened. She lifted her chin and gave Weston a weak smile.

  A flash of a smirk crossed Everett’s face, and he sauntered to the book of designs the seamstress had left behind. He tapped the open pages. “Have you picked yet, princess?”

  “Not yet, no.” Jade replied, her voice shaking despite her desire to sound impervious. She shot Weston a glance. He’d had a perfect opportunity to touch her, and he hadn’t. Even said he wouldn’t without her permission. What was he thinking? Did he think she was that naïve?

  Everett flipped through the pages idly, not really looking at the designs so painstakingly drawn on each surface. “You’ll need to choose soon, you know.”

  She dragged her gaze away from the confusing prince and focused her attention on his creep of a father. “The leaders’ summit isn’t for another month.”

  Everett glanced up from a ruffled design that Jade had vehemently protested earlier. “Indeed.” His smile made her skin crawl. “But depending on what you pick, the seamstresses will want more than just thirty-odd days to work.” He closed the book and walked up to Francene, who watched him silently, her body perfectly still as Everett ran his fingers up her exposed arm. “Especially if they want to meet your standards. Who knew that a mere mechanic would have such expensive taste in material things?” His fingers gripped Francene’s bicep. “If I didn’t know better, Adeline, I’d wonder if you had some help in choosing such niceties that take so much more time and effort to prepare.” He let go of Francene, leaving red splotches on her creamy skin as he strolled the edge of the room. “But it’s of no consequence to me. It will reflect well on our kingdoms to show how lavish a wedding we can host.”

  Jade bit her cheek, hating herself for playing along. For letting him hurt another, even if it was someone she barely knew.

  “Have you heard how my uncle is?”

  Everett turned, a glimmer of surprise crossing his face. “Andre? Last I heard, he’s alive. But not for long.” He shrugged. “The fighting pits in the Hollows are a cruel place. He’s an excellent fighter, don’t get me wrong.” He clucked his tongue, shaking his head with exaggerated sorrow. “But he doesn’t stand a chance. Give up hope while you can, Princess.” He raised his eyebrow. “Hope doesn’t belong in a ruler’s heart. Remember that.”

  “Neither does arrogance.” Even as the words left her mouth, Jade knew she’d made a mistake with her snarky reply. Everett whirled around, his eyes flashing. His hand raised. Momentum pulled her back into Zak’s chest at the same time as Weston jumped to stand where she had just been. A resounding smack reverberated in Jade’s ears. Weston’s head jerked to the side.

  Zak stepped in front of Jade, shielding her. She gripped his shirt in clammy hands, peering around his shoulders at Weston and the red imprint on his cheek. Everett’s eyes narrowed at his son, and his lips twitched.

  “Pick your battles carefully, boy. You test my patience.” Everett’s low tone held no warmth, nor any apology for striking his son. Everett’s black eyes flicked to Jade. “And you would do well to guard your tongue when speaking to me.” He stepped back, then spun on his heel, striding out, the sharp clicks of his boot heels on the floor pounding in rhythm to Jade’s heartbeat.

  He’d tried to hit her. Tried—and failed. Thanks to her pulling back at the same time as Zak tugging her and Weston ...Weston jumping between them. She eased her grip on Zak and moved around him, keeping her fingers lightly on his forearm, needing the grounding as she approached Weston. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, opting to look at the distant wall. Mottled red and purple marred the smooth warm brown of his cheek. She lifted her hand, hesitated, and dropped it back to her side.

  “Thank you,” she said softly.

  His eyes flicked toward hers, and he nodded. He worked his jaw slightly, wincing as he probed at his own tender flesh. “He has a temper you need to be careful of. But don’t worry—” Weston’s eyes met hers, bright and earnest. “We’ll hold out for hope. It’s Andre. We can always bet on him.”

  “We can bet on him, but for how long?” Samantha broke in as she hustled up to Weston’s side, pulling his hand away from his face so she could inspect his cheek. She set her jaw, eyes narrowed. “Does this happen frequently?”

  Weston took a half step back from Jade’s mother and turned quickly, hiding his red skin. “We need to get Andre out of the Hollows somehow.” He strode away from Jade, his shoulders pulled back, as if fighting to maintain a semblance of his princely ego.

  “I’m pretty sure we ruled jailbreak out as an option.” Jade rubbed at her forehead. What could they do at this point? Their hands were tied.

  Weston whirled, his eyes wide as he snapped his fingers, revealing the imprint on his cheek. “We ruled out a jailbreak because we couldn’t get into the prison. But we do have a way in!”

  Jade exchanged looks with Zak. Francene,
Samantha, and Krista looked just as baffled as Jade felt. Was she missing something? Jade blinked at Weston. “What?”

  Excitement practically radiated off Weston as he paced the length of Francene’s table. He bit on his knuckle, then shook his finger in Jade’s direction. “Pistoia mentioned it to me not too long ago. We’re working on a steam-rifle shipment to send to the Hollows. If we can get our own men on the team, we can use them to get in. And they can get Andre out.”

  Zak left Jade’s side, squeezing her arm as he passed by. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms, watching Weston. “Who can we send? Does it have to be engineers or guards?”

  Jade rubbed her arm as her mother pulled her into a side hug.

  “Both, I would imagine.” Samantha spoke, her tone thoughtful. “Do the guards at the Hollows already know how to use this new tech?”

  Weston shook his head. “It’s completely new, and handles differently than the steam-pistols.”

  “So they’d need someone to show them how to use it,” Zak mused. He tapped a finger against his sword hilt, either oblivious, or ignoring how Weston quickened his steps to move past him. Zak’s lips quirked, and he looked at Samantha. “You don’t have many men from the crew that could work for this.” He nodded at Weston. “Do you have any guards you could spare that you’d trust for this, that wouldn’t also be noticeable if missing?”

  Jade slipped from her mother and joined the silent Francene at the table. Francene leaned an elbow on the polished wood, her narrowed eyes following Zak and Weston as they talked, a finger held up to her red lips. She poured a glass of water and slid it to Jade.

  Weston shook his head. “My father’s attention has been on me too much lately for me to risk using my own men—even if I trusted them.” He tilted his head toward the door. “The only one I can say I fully trust is Niles, and it’d be far too blatant that something is happening if he were to disappear from my side.”

  Francene dropped her hand and rapped her fingernails against the table. “I could help with manpower.”

  Weston stopped his pacing, and Zak’s head swiveled, both of them staring at her.

  “But you’ll need to train them,” Francene continued, her tone thoughtful as she leaned back in her chair. “And we’d have to find a way to get them on the team in the first place. How soon is the shipment going out?”

  “I’m not sure if there’s an exact time that’s been set,” Weston admitted. “I’ll find out.”

  Francene nodded. “Do that. We’ll start planning what we can for this as a backup plan. Official channels would be much better for us all in the long run.” Her stern expression softened around the eyes, and her lips twitched into a small smile. “But this idea has merit, and if we can get the kinks worked out soon and have it ready to go if Violet and I fail, that would be excellent.”

  Jade clutched at her elbows, focusing on slow, even breaths. If this worked ...if they were able to get someone into the Hollows, and get Andre out ...that would reduce Everett’s collateral over her head. Her uncle would be free, and she’d be a step closer to being free, too.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Ben

  From the air, in the early morning light, Kelstone didn’t look like a place that would have the site of power or whatever it was that Finn called it. Simple buildings surrounded a tree-covered rocky plateau, a metal band of some sort encircled the village, and beyond it were fields of crops, followed by a forested area. A few people came out of buildings, pointing at the Phoenix and waving to each other before disappearing back inside.

  Rebecca landed the airship in a stretch of green on the outskirts of the village. The whine of the turbines powering down covered any noises that Ben would’ve expected from the small community. Maybe the inhabitants were all scared of strangers? The remnants of the Sapphire crew and a few of the Phoenix crew filtered up to the deck, surrounding Finn.

  Kerlee folded his arms over his chest. “It’s so quiet.”

  Finn turned away from the railing with a frown. “Something must have happened. I want only a small group to go in and talk to them so we won’t risk scaring them off.” He tugged on the hem of his multi-pocketed vest while he considered those that had come to the deck. “Ezekial, Geist, Ben, and Raine, you come with me.” He shot Kerlee an apologetic grin. “Sorry.”

  “No problem.” Kerlee waved a hand and hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “I can find something to help with around here easily enough.”

  Raine walked by Ben’s side as he followed Finn down the ramp and into the village. “Kelstone used to be one of several villages where the Elph would send their deaf people to live and to help society in their own way,” Raine explained in a low voice, her gaze roaming over the neatly kept fields bursting with produce. “Originally, it was to keep those that weren’t ‘whole’—by Elph standards—out of sight, but then they realized that the deaf were just as valuable.” Raine waved a hand before them. “They took volunteers to make this village, as the deaf wanted to stay outside of the normal Elph society that didn’t understand them, and the Elph needed the sacrifice stone guarded day and night.”

  “Mutually beneficial.” Ben nodded. “Nice.” He paused and gestured to the metallic band as they passed it. “Is that art, a gate, or something else?”

  Raine quirked her lips as she studied it. “I’m guessing it’s an alarm, or something for communicating.”

  “You guys going to stand around staring at junk metal, or are you going to come with us and learn what we can?” Geist snarked as he walked by. He lowered his voice and nodded to Ezekial up ahead with Finn. “I understand wanting to bring the sage, but he’s a hothead, and we need all the even-keeled people we have.”

  Ben raised an eyebrow. “So you’re not our resident hothead anymore?”

  “Whales, no!” Geist exploded with a wave of his arms. “I’m much calmer than—” he broke off as Ben’s smirk grew, and he shot him a flat look. “Never mind.”

  A soft laugh escaped Raine, and Ben grinned at her. “It was too easy.”

  “Indeed.” She looked ahead and let out a little noise of surprise. “We should catch up.”

  They jogged past the fields and Geist until they caught up to Finn and Ezekial on the edge of the village. Geist trotted up behind them and wrinkled his nose. “I smell blood.”

  Finn gave a solemn nod. “Good to know. Tell us if you smell anything else.”

  An elder man detached from the doorway he’d been lingering in and walked toward them, his deep blue robe waving in the light breeze. He stopped several paces away from them, silent, watching.

  “Good day to you,” Finn greeted, bowing. “I regret to be a bother, but I was hoping you could tell me if anyone out of the ordinary has been by recently?”

  The robed man sighed before raising his hands, shaking the robe back to his scrawny elbows. He held up five fingers, made a motion that Ben couldn’t interpret, then rotated a hand, slapping it palm up into his waiting hand.

  Finn nodded, then pointed at Ezekial, and the rest of them, stopping after each person to slowly sign on one hand.

  Raine stepped close enough to Ben that he could feel the warmth of her body heat contrasting the cool current of air wafting through the village. She lowered her voice. “Elder Marius, the leader here. We learned some sign on our travels, but Papa isn’t the best at it.” Raine chewed her bottom lip and shot Ben a look that was almost shy. “I can interpret for you, if you want.”

  “Please,” Ben whispered back. “I have no idea what he’s saying.”

  The elder Elph nodded, clearly agitated about something. He held his left hand out, palm down, and his right hand out, palm up. Then he flipped them, his brows narrowed.

  “He says they had people die last night,” Raine translated quietly. Geist stepped closer to her and Ben, and she raised her voice just loud enough so that Geist could likely hear her, too. “Guards, three of them.” Her breath tickled his cheek, and Ben clenched his jaw, determined to c
atch every detail he could. “A group of five came by yesterday, said they’d leave in the morning. Then the patrol went missing last night.”

  Raine’s eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head, studying Marius as he signed. Her eyebrows shot up, and she nodded. “That makes sense,” she muttered to herself. “They sent a message to Camort to report the killed guards.”

  “Has anyone checked at the site for these guys?” Ben murmured. He fingered the metal tags tucked under his shirt, then shoved his hand in his pocket when he realized what he was doing. He had to break that habit. Fast.

  “He hasn’t said,” Raine replied. “He just said they aren’t soldiers by any means. They’re just meant to watch over the sacrifice stone.”

  “Much good that seems to have done them,” Ben muttered.

  “Can you show me the path?” Geist asked. “I can confirm if they went up there or not.”

  Finn interpreted the question, and Marius nodded, turning to point. He led them to the base of the hill, and in the daylight, Ben could see clear signs of a scuffle. But the softer ground by the village gave way to hard, rocky ground on the footpath, making it impossible to know for sure if Lucio’s group had gone up there.

  Geist stood by the elder, inhaling deeply. He then moved closer to the path, pausing every few feet to sniff the air. When he reached the path, he knelt a knee to the ground and closed his eyes. A breeze blew down the hill, and his eyes snapped open.

  “They went up there. And I’m confident they’re still there.”

  Ezekial swore and spun around, slamming his fist into a fence pole. Color drained from Finn’s face, leaving it the tint of bleached paper. “We’re too late.”

  Geist pivoted where he still knelt, and he rubbed his knuckles against his chin. “To stop them from getting the bloodstone? Yeah, probably.”

  “What if we make sure they don’t get past this point?” Ben asked. “You know, ambush them?”