What if. I could not afford to travel down that path.
The metal grate of the elevator platform finally sounded, her slight steps clicking on the blue tiles.
I kept my back to her, my hands clasped behind me as I stared into the large, empty room.
Mother’s steps slowed as she approached. She walked into my line of sight and stopped several metres away. “El’Asim.”
I kept as much emotion removed from my expression as possible. “Ino Nami.”
It didn’t pass my notice she did not offer the welcoming greeting of Family.
She raised her chin. “What is your purpose here, Synn?” she asked in Sakin.
I noted the insult of language choice as well. “I was informed Ino City was under attack. I am here to see how the city fares. Why does Ino Nami greet the El’Asim when Ino Oki should be here in her stead?”
She narrowed her slanted eyes. “Are you here in an official context or as a brother and son?”
I studied her still, round face. “You tell me. Mother.”
She stood quietly unmoving, for a long moment. “I am sorry to hear about the loss of your tribe.”
I watched her every breath. No remorse. No empathy, sympathy, pity. Her dark eyes were empty of emotion. Cold. Calculating.
“I am, however,” she said, pacing away in the small steps her kimono allowed, “disappointed in how you handled their deaths.”
My hairs stood up. Had she killed them to drive me to initiate war? If so, why? What did she gain? “You would discuss this with me when you are supposedly under attack?”
“You scared most of the attackers away. They fled as soon as they saw your massive ships enter our radar.”
Except that I’d heard her say she couldn’t see us. Lies and bluffs.
She faced me. “Have you nothing to say?”
“Not yet.”
Her right eye ticked. “Have you no wish to honor the lives of your Family? Your second-in-command, your sister?”
“I will.” Oh, I would. But I had to be smart about it. Destroying her here, now, would get me nowhere.
Or would it?
A cool, interested expression softened her features, her lips parting. “What are you going to do, Synn?”
We were alone. No guards. Just her and me.
She’d ordered the destruction of my Family.
“How stupid do you think I am, Synn?” Her voice was a bare whisper as she stalked toward me. “Do you truly think I am unarmed, without protection?”
Saliva pooled at the back of my jaw and my gut dropped as I felt the bars of the trap snap into place. “Do you think I am so helpless, so inept?”
She raised a single eyebrow, her wrinkled lips pursing as she regarded me. “These months in solitude have done you well.”
“I have not been in seclusion.”
“You have not shown your face.”
“Publically, no.” Resolve blanketed my lava rage like a glacier. It settled through my shoulders, down my arms, my chest. The objective was to free Oki.
But I may never have a chance like this again in my life.
It would be so easy. My Mark could slice her open, burn her, wrap around her until she was nothing more than a husk.
She raised her chin, her round cheeks glistening in the pale letharan light.
She was my mother.
It hadn’t mattered to her. She’d thrown me away as though I were nothing more than trash.
But my father had instilled a sense of family, of belonging that I could not shake.
A triumphant smile slid along her lips.
I needed to delay her for another fifteen minutes. “Why?”
She tipped her head to the side with a chuckle. “What do you mean, why?”
“Why did you destroy my Family? Why did you kill hundreds of my people?”
Her smile turned into a smirk. “How did you discover it? Well, it’s of no matter, is it? No.” She shook her head, pacing in a small circle around me. “For reasons your mixed blood will never allow you to comprehend.”
I twisted to frown at her. “Blood? You murdered your own daughter.”
“She was not a true daughter.” Ino Nami stopped and assessed me. “We had thought the power of your Mark could overcome the shortcomings of your blood, but…” She trailed off, her gnarled fingers hovering over the Mark peeking over the collar of my shirt. “You have proved that is untrue.”
What was she talking about? “How?”
“You are standing here accusing me of doing what had to be done instead of rejoicing that it is complete.”
I was struck speechless. Her expression, her body language. She honestly believed that. “Rejoicing? Ryo was on board those ships.”
“Not a full-blood.”
“And Oki? She is not either. You were going to give her the city.”
She curled her lip in disgust. “I was never going to hand that mutt my city.” Her hand twitched, her arm twisting in a sudden and unnatural position before relaxing again. A maniacal sheen entered her dark eyes, almost as if a sliver of metal gleamed within them. “Where are your ships, Synn?”
What was going on? I’d always known she was cold, calculating, but something seemed wrong with her, something unnatural. “Why would I tell you that?”
“You have one docked here, do you not?”
I narrowed my eyes. “It is protected.”
“Really?” The corners of her lips rose, though it wasn’t a full smile. It was almost as if someone wore her face who didn’t know how to use it. “How well?”
Dread filled me. What if the rescue had been the trap? What if she’d sentenced Oki to be executed to draw me in for this?
“Ah, the young one sees now.” Ino Nami’s lips twisted slightly.
But the words, though spoken in Sakin, had a tinge of another accent, one my mother had never had before.
“Run, little one,” she said, her shoulders lifting as though years had been erased from them. “Run now.”
I released the rage I’d been holding back, calling on my Mark. This was the woman who had destroyed my family. This was my time to get revenge.
I still needed to buy a few more minutes to save my sister.
Fisting my hands, I unleashed my Mark.
Nothing happened.
My Mark had never failed me before. I had never been able to keep my emotions in check. Was this doubt? My Mark was stronger. I would win. Now was my only chance.
You won’t win, a female voice said inside my mind.
My eyes widened. Whose voice was that? Who was in my head this time?
And why couldn’t I move? Why were my limbs frozen as if someone else had control over them? The last time I’d felt this, I’d been bound to Nix.
I can’t explain right now, the voice said hurriedly. The person controlling your mother right now? Yeah. He’s a lot more powerful than she is.
Controlling?
I know you saw it. You’re not nearly as stupid as everyone thinks. Run. Now. Save your sister.
Who are you?
Later. Leave!
My muscles finally freed themselves from their frozen slumber, but control wasn’t entirely mine. My legs propelled me out of the barren room as quickly as they would allow, taking me to the stairs where I flew down them.
What had just happened? And how was I still alive?
Ino City: Oki
METAL CLANGED IN THE STONE hallway outside Oki’s cell, like a key falling to the floor. A man grunted. A dull thud sounded.
Oki sat up, setting her sandaled and socked feet on the floor, gripping the edge of her stone bench. She saw nothing on the other side of her barred door. She heard nothing more. Not a step. Not a door creak. The air didn’t shift.
She wanted to scream, to cry, to claw the clouds from the sky! But instead, she was locked in this dirt-be-damned cell. And her mother was really going to have her executed in the morning.
Executed.
She raised her face to
the ceiling, searching for any source of light that would tell her what time of day it was, how many hours she had left.
Hour she had left.
Blessed sky. She was—She couldn’t contain the shudder the rattled along her bones. She was really going to die. She’d never thought of death. She’d witnessed it. She’d cleaned up after it, but she’d never really thought about it.
She’d heard people say things like, “If only I’d had more time.”
But it—that didn’t even scrape the surface. More time? No. If only tomorrow wouldn’t arrive. What could she do to make time stop?
Maybe Synn got her message. Maybe he’d come.
No. Even if he did get her message, he wouldn’t come.
A flicker of light tickled the corner of her gaze.
She peered into the cold, tiled hallway outside her bars, but could make nothing out. She looked away, casting her gaze to her bench.
But. What if she did have more time? What would she do? Lead? Think about her people?
No. It’s what she should do, but no.
She’d spend her remaining time with Kenta and Chie.
Oki swallowed, gripping the edge of her cot hard. She wouldn’t, though. She wouldn’t get that chance. Death was upon her.
At the hands of her mother.
Mother. How? How could a woman turn her back on a child? How could she look through her child as though she’d never existed? Was it because she lacked power? Because she lacked a great, powerful Mark like Synn? Was it because she couldn’t bond to the lethara? Because if Makoto really was pure blood, his Mark was still just as weak as Oki’s, and he could bond to the lethara of Ino City no better. Did Mother really think they’d be better off with him? Because of blood?
No. It couldn’t…She released a pent-up sigh of tear-lined frustration. It couldn’t be.
The light flickered beyond the bars of her door again. A person. A man, by the barest look of him, moving quickly from one letharan tendril column to the next.
Oki swiped at her tears and sat up straighter. Rescue? It couldn’t be. Synn wouldn’t risk docking in Ino City. He wouldn’t come for her.
Then who? Kenta? If she were lucky, perhaps, but where would they go? Would they board a ship and get out of there? Where? How? There were no ships in dock. They were in the middle of a hurricane.
The man appeared suddenly from the shadows next to her cell door. Medium height and build, stern of expression, katana in hand.
She released a breath of relief. “Kenta.”
He spared her a brief glance as he worked the lock. “We don’t have much time.”
She scrambled to her feet, cursing, not for the first time, the tight constraints of her kimono. If only she’d been given to the El’Asim, she could wear clothing that allowed freer movement. But, then, she would also, most likely be dead along with her sister.
Kenta opened the door and reached for her hand.
White dust fell atop Oki’s head from somewhere above the door.
Waving her hand in front of her face, she grabbed her husband’s hand and ran from the cell. “What is the plan?”
“Synn.”
What? No. He would not. “How? Is it safe for him? He’s not good at planning.”
“He answered our call. He’s with your mother now, buying us time, but we must hurry.”
“And the guards?”
“Taken care of. For now.”
She hurried, her small steps rushed in comparison to his long strides. Could it be possible? Could she hope?
He took to the stairs and began the ascent.
The world shifted, knocking her into the cool wall. She grasped at it, trying to make sense of what was happening. Such sudden movements didn’t occur on a lethara, especially not of this size. Something was—
The floor caught her. She stared numbly at the ceiling, watching the pulsing veins of light in the columns. Someone called to her, but he was so very far away. The cool floor calmed her. Her heavy head fell back, releasing its fight to remain upright. She released one long, deep breath.
And the world went still.
HITOSHI PRIED HIMSELF OUT OF the shadows as I exited the Family building. “You survived.”
I stumbled as full control of my own body was suddenly restored to me. My Mark hissed and rose around my neck, the smell of singed, sweaty cloth assaulting my nose. I spun and stared up the face of the family building.
Hitoshi blinked, his one hand raised, the other on the hilt of his belt knife. “Should we leave now?”
I nodded, my mouth agape. What had just happened?
“Did things not go well?”
“Define ‘well’.” I turned and headed for the docks. “Tell me Oki has been freed and that we can take off as soon as we get to my ship.”
He was quiet for a long moment as he kept pace with me. His legs were longer as he was a good head taller than me.
I, on the other hand, was starting to breathe harder but I didn’t care. I swept through what had once been the arena area. It was a large, barren space now. I took the adjoining bridge in two steps.
“What spooked you?”
I didn’t know him well enough to confide in him. For all I knew, he could have been a spy.
A spy.
Oh, I needed Du’a and her ability to speak to rest of the crew. Why had I left her on the ship?
You thought I would truly leave you alone? Her voice settled my nerves in no small part.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Tell the crew to keep the Ino segregated. Ino Nami admitted she was sending someone to sneak aboard the ship.
Be calm, Synn. We already suspected as much. I’ll set the falcons out to watch for anything suspicious.
Thank you.
What happened, Synn?
I didn’t have words quite yet, so I sent her what I felt, the terror, the confusion. The voice.
A warm blanket of understanding settled over my emotions.
I blinked slowly and swallowed. Thank you.
Always.
Bonds. I wracked my brain. Something was going on, something important, and it had to do with bonds. I had been bound to Nix, and then bound again to a falcon I should never have been able to bind myself to. To a lethara, who by all rights, should not bond to me either. But it was more than Du’a and my lethara. I could join with the other falcons as well. I simply spent more time with Du’a. She was more confident, less scared.
And that voice. That had felt like a bond.
What had she meant about the power of my Mark? How was it connected to everything?
I slowed my walk and glanced at Hitoshi out of the corner of my eye. “Explain to me how things got to this point.”
“I don’t—oh.” He nodded. “The city. Oki.”
“Yes.”
He bowed his head, his lips flat. “Shortly after Asim City left the games, things changed. At first, it was small things. Ino Oki did not say much or tell us what was going on. However, we could all see things were not right.”
I hoped he’d get to the meat of the story before we made the docks.
He led the way over a platform bridge.
“Then people started disappearing.”
“Who?” I glanced at the elevator platforms. They might get us to the lower levels faster, but it was too easy to get pinned in, and that was the one thing I didn’t want to happen.
“People who supported you, and those who voiced their agreement with Ino Nami’s retirement of command.”
Both eyebrows shot up. “She wouldn’t.”
“She did.” Hitoshi skirted around a group of older women crossing the walkway in front of us. “Get to the ship now. We are out of time.”
One of the three women nodded as they hurried away.
What few people remained in the streets worked faster. A few stood, frowning at us and their neighbors.
A man in the blue and turquoise uniform of the Ino guard slipped along the shop fronts, heading back to the heart of the city. He
was easy to see in the nearly empty streets.
We were running out of time. Though, why? Ino Nami knew what we were doing.
She wasn’t going to make it easy. What would happen if we were captured fleeing the city? We’d all be executed. And she’d have control of my newest ship. That couldn’t happen.
The docks were quiet. I could make out small groups of people hiding behind barrels and boxes, stacks of nets. The smell of the sea hit my nose with a heaviness that hadn’t been there earlier. The storm was shifting, getting warmer. With the icy air above and hotter air below, the storm was about to get more volatile.
Du’a, I called. If Captain Rose hasn’t removed herself from the fight yet, tell her to do so now.
Yes.
There were times when I wished her communication skills were a little more giving.
The port side galleys weren’t nearly as full as I had originally thought they would be. Hitoshi’s expression grew pensive as he searched the thin crowd.
A man in the clothes of the El’Asim directed them down the stairwell that led to the lower catwalks, living quarters, and cargo bay.
I gripped Hitoshi’s elbow. “If Chie has made it, she will be below.”
A man I didn’t know touched my arm. “Thank you, El’Asim.” He hugged his daughter closer to him, resituating her in his arms.
I nodded at him and gestured for him to follow the other refugees down the stairs. I wasn’t doing this for his gratitude. “Where is Oki?”
Hitoshi licked his lips, his eyes still searching. “Kenta should be here. I heard word he’d succeeded in getting her out.”
I released the seal to the door leading to the command dome. “I want word as soon as Chie and Oki are on board.” I closed the door behind me, sealing it shut, then took the stairs two at a time. I burst into the command dome.
Everyone remained focused on their tasks.
Jamilah looked up from the navigation table. “Do you have Oki?”
“Waiting for confirmation.”
She quirked her lips and looked pointedly through the glass. “Ino is dropping her curtain. We have to leave now.”
A lethara had a veil used when above the ocean to protect against storms and such, and a curtain. The curtain was thicker and wrapped all the way around the city, blocking off any route of escape. We had to get out while the curtain was still up.
Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) Page 7