by K. B. Wagers
43
I patted Johar on the arm as I crossed to the window. The sill was wide but angled sharply downward while the edges came to a point above my head. If I stood on my tiptoes and stretched I would just barely reach it.
“Hao, are you there?”
“Waiting on you, sha zhu; can we get out of this can?”
“You’re free to go, just don’t get caught. Seems like the Farians are going to respect the ship as Indranan territory. Tell Captain Saito to keep guards posted and the doors locked after you head out.”
“You think something will go wrong?”
“Doesn’t it always?” I asked.
Hao chuckled. “Fair point. Watch your back out there, Hail.”
“Will do my best. Back at you.”
“I’ve spoken to my people,” Fasé said, joining me at the window. “They’ll meet Hao and Sybil at a safe house nearby. I’ve already sent her the coordinates.”
“How difficult will it be to get me out of here so I can meet them?”
“It is a risk.” She tapped her fingers on the sill. “How much fuss do you think Emmory’s going to put up if I ask him and the others to stay behind?”
A metric ton was the first thing that came to mind, and I gave a tiny laugh that ended on a sigh and earned me a raised eyebrow from Emmory. “You know he won’t agree to that, Fasé.”
“You are, ironically, the safest you have ever been,” Fasé murmured. “The public respects you. The Pedalion will not dare to move against you. Even Adora, as mad as she is, cannot risk the gods’ disapproval and harm you.”
“That didn’t seem to stop her earlier.”
“True.” Fasé lifted a shoulder. “All I can tell you is what I know of my people and how you are perceived.”
“And what is that exactly?” I asked, turning from the window. “I’m what—”
“Hail, did you know they have statues of you here?” Hao’s voice broke into my head again, and it took me several seconds to register what he’d said.
“They have what?” This time I got more than a raised eyebrow from Emmory.
“Majesty?”
“Hao, now is hardly the time for fucking around,” I said.
“He’s actually not, Majesty,” Gita said, though she, thankfully, used the main com channel so Emmory and the others could hear her. “There is a rather nice, but very large, statue of you in the middle of this intersection.”
I gave Fasé a flat look. She lifted her hands. “Star of Indrana,” she said, as if that explained everything.
Aiz chuckled and I reminded myself why I couldn’t shoot him right now. Only Mia didn’t seem amused, the Shen watching me from her seat with gray eyes that had gone dark.
“That’s creepy,” I said finally, shaking my head. “I have done nothing for you people, certainly nothing to warrant a statue.”
My declaration seemed to release the tension in Mia’s shoulders, and she took a deep breath but remained silent.
“You are the Star, Hail. That is all that’s required.”
“You realize how that sounds?” I demanded. “It sounds like a cult and I know how that shit turns out for the supposed figurehead.”
“Hail.” Emmory’s quiet use of my name calmed me down somewhat, and the sudden knock at the door made me have to shelve the rest. I needed my focus to be here, so I pushed it from my head and pasted a smile on my face.
Emmory opened it at my nod and Sou bowed briefly. “Star of Indrana, the Pedalion is ready to receive you, if you and your people will follow me.”
I gestured for Aiz and Mia to go ahead; Emmory preceded me through the door and then fell into step on my left.
“This all feels a bit scripted, even Adora’s outburst,” Zin whispered in my ear as he followed me through the door. Fasé and Johar fell in behind us while the other three BodyGuards remained behind in the room.
“This whole place feels like a carefully maintained illusion,” I replied. “Tell the others to keep their eyes up.”
Zin smiled slowly. “You think Emmory hasn’t already issued that order?”
“Dhatt.” I smacked him in the chest with a laugh. “You all could at least let me pretend I’m in charge.”
Emmory chuckled. Zin squeezed my shoulder. “We do, ma’am, it’s not even a pretense.”
I reached up, touching his hand for a moment, and my vision misted. The words Do you know how much I missed you were stuck in my throat, but I wasn’t sure they were necessary. Zin squeezed once again and released me.
The corridor widened as we walked, moving from a narrow coffin of angles to something that felt a little more spacious, though no less sharp, and I found myself wishing for the soft rounded curves of the base on Sparkos.
Sou was less jovial as we moved through the deserted area, and I realized we hadn’t seen another Farian besides the guards and the Pedalion since our arrival.
I’d seen too many bad jobs go down this way to not be on my guard. No matter what, I told myself, you get everyone home. Is that understood?
We followed Sou down a long corridor that exited into a room with high arched ceilings filled with angles. A pair of guards at the back of the room came to attention, one of them reaching back and pressing a hand to the wall.
There was the sound of heavy metal grating against itself and the jagged pieces of white shifted, sliding away to reveal an opening large enough for me, Emmory, and Zin to walk through shoulder to shoulder.
“Star of Indrana, welcome to the chamber of the Pedalion.” Sou left us just inside the room, crossing the chamber to the raised stage on the opposite side of the large oval space. The other members of the Pedalion were already seated, in chairs that looked to be constructed from the same white metal that we’d already seen around us.
The floor was emblazoned with a massive sixteen-pointed star in stone as stark as a black hole. I moved to the center of it, Aiz and Mia on one side and Fasé on the other. The others lined up behind us. Tucking my hands into my pockets, I scanned the other members as I waited for Sou to get to his seat.
Adora’s face was pinched as usual, and she was glaring daggers at her brother. Rotem sat on her right at the outside; his face was expressionless, but his shoulders were tense. Yadira and Delphine sat on the other side, and Sou took his seat in the middle of the group.
He tapped the tiny golden bell; it rang through the chamber with a sound that echoed and built on itself in a way that shouldn’t have been possible.
“I call this session of the Pedalion to order. We are gathered to greet the Star of Indrana in her long-awaited appearance before us. All praise to the gods. All praise to the seven—the four who are gone and the three who remain.”
“All praise to the seven—the four who are gone and the three who remain.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aiz’s smirk flash briefly across his face and refrained from drawing any more attention to him by poking him in the side.
“I object to the presence of that abomination,” Adora said in Farian.
I jerked; the word was the same in Farian as Shen, and for a moment I thought she was talking about me, but her eyes were locked on Mia, who stared back with quiet defiance.
“Adora,” Rotem warned, also in Farian, but she was undeterred.
“No, we have strayed so far from the path the gods set. I will not be silent. None of this is as it was seen! We let Shen and abominations and armed humans into our sacred spaces. It is blasphemy! We would be well within our rights to kill the lot of them and send their bodies back home without a word of explanation.”
“Fasé,” I murmured. “I don’t want to give away our advantage here. Respond to her.”
“Watch yourself, Adora. Making threats you can’t keep isn’t a good look,” Fasé said, her voice loud enough to catch their attention.
Adora snapped a reply in Farian I couldn’t understand, one that was sharply countered by Sou and Delphine simultaneously and had Fasé raising a red eyebrow.
/> “Enough!” Rotem slapped a hand down on the ledge in front of him. “Adora, compose yourself. Sou, we know where your feelings lie. Delphine, speak like that again to your senior and I will personally take you before the gods.”
It was only thanks to Aiz murmuring a quick translation to me that I was able to understand all of it. Everyone subsided into silence and I took note of what had just happened. Maybe there wasn’t technically a leader of the Pedalion, but Rotem had enough pull that the others would listen when it came down to it.
“Star of Indrana,” he said in Indranan. “My apologies again for Adora’s behavior toward you. There is no excuse.”
“Accepted.” I dipped my head. “This is the last time. The next time she threatens me or mine, there will be consequences.”
“Understood.” Rotem didn’t look Adora’s way, but her strangled protest died in her throat before it fully made it out into the air.
I took a step forward, folded my hands together, and pressed them to my forehead, my lips, and then my heart before shaking them in the Pedalion’s direction. “I thank you for your gracious welcome and bring you greetings from not only the empire of Indrana but from all of humanity.”
“Well.” Sou smiled. “It is with great joy that we greet you, Star of Indrana. May I be the first to extend our apologies for the trouble on Earth and the deaths of your people in the attack on your embassy.”
“It is appreciated.” I let my gaze settle on Adora for a long moment, pleased when she looked away first. “We are still looking into the matter. We will deal with it later.”
“You wish to resume the negotiations between us and the Shen.” Rotem steepled his fingers and looked down at me, no doubt thinking he cut an intimidating figure. I’d seen more than my share, though, and he wasn’t even in the top twenty.
“Yes, that is what I went to Earth for and my task hasn’t been finished.”
“Surely, Star of Indrana, you realize that peace between us and these blasphemers isn’t something that is possible.”
“What I realize is that you all have very little choice in the matter. If Faria wishes to continue to enjoy a presence in not only Indranan space but the rest of humanity’s as well, they need to figure out a way to live in peace.”
“You’re not suggesting you’ll kick us out of your arms of the galaxy?” Yadira’s shock wasn’t feigned.
“I am saying humanity is done being the bystanders who get killed in this pissing contest you all have got going on. If you don’t sort it out yourselves, we’ll help you. Starting with removing you from our space for the safety of our people. You’ve spoken to my heir. You’ve spoken to President Hudson. You already know we are done.”
“You are not in a place to make demands.” Adora waved a hand at Aiz. “You lie. You kill our people. You bring these heretics to our home. You’re not here for a negotiation.”
I froze. Bugger me.
“You’re here to try to force us into a peace no one wants. You’re here to try to give that madwoman’s rebellion some legitimacy.” She waved her hand at Fasé, acknowledging her for the first time. Fasé merely smiled.
“Enough.” I crossed my arms, calculating our odds with a speed that would have made Portis proud. My voice rang through the chamber, and Adora gaped at me in shock while the others of the Pedalion watched with expressions ranging from confusion to curiosity. “I will—”
The door behind us ground open once again. Rotem got to his feet, but whatever he’d been about to say never left his mouth and I dared a glance over my shoulder.
Four figures came into the room. Each was draped in a veil of gold fabric and wore a curious off-center ellipse of flattened intricate lace on their head.
“Star of Indrana.” They spoke as one, dropped into a curtsy as one, and rose with an almost mechanical precision. “We have come to welcome you.”
The guards were all down on a knee. I glanced back and the Pedalion had followed suit, though with bowed heads, not bended knee.
“The Council of Eyes,” I murmured, suddenly realizing who these four Farians were.
“We are the future-seers.” I couldn’t see her face, but the voice of the one who stepped forward was definitively feminine. The others didn’t move, but I could hear their whispered echo resonating through the air.
“Our sisters.” She crossed the star on the floor, pale hands outstretched to Fasé and Mia; stopping only when Aiz stepped in front of Mia with a poorly controlled snarl at her to stop. “No fear, god-killer, we mean her no harm.”
“Would that I could believe that, Kasio.” But a smile fluttered across his face.
“From us, as certain as the sun rising.” Kasio made a little gesture toward the Pedalion. “As always, power does as power wills. You are here to claim the ilios porthmeios, but it is unnecessary subterfuge. The gods wish to speak with the Star and those who travel with her.”
“Just like that?” I asked, stepping up to Aiz’s side to further shield Mia as the faceless woman confirmed what Sybil had said.
She turned toward me, and the lack of facial expression or body language to go by made me extremely uneasy. “I wish, Star of Indrana, Hail Bristol, the woman who does not believe but who sees the truth which such ease. You know nothing is done just like that.” Her echo of my words was accompanied by a snap of her fingers. “It is done with heart and mind connected, with blood and sweat and tears. Not handed over like a gift.”
“A girl can dream,” I replied.
“The gods want to speak with you,” Kasio repeated. “But not yet. There are things you need to see here before you go. Things that will help in your choice and things that will help you when you descend into the well of dying souls.”
“What do I tell the Pedalion?” I looked over at them; the five members seemed frozen in place, unaware of our conversation, and that was when I realized Emmory and the others were also not moving. “What have you done?”
“A little privacy does wonders for the soul.” I couldn’t see it but I heard the smile in Kasio’s voice. “Tell the Pedalion you will give them three days’ time to decide on the negotiations.”
“Okay.”
Kasio tipped her head in acknowledgment. “And come see us tomorrow night; our sister Sybil will know where. She has been gone from us for far too long; tell her we miss her.”
I blinked and it was as if the room had spun back into gear. The Council of Eyes filed back out of the room without a word. Rotem lifted his head, looking first to the backs of the future-seers as they passed the still-kneeling guards, and then to me.
“I will give the Pedalion three days to discuss our offer of negotiations,” I said.
“Star of Indrana, what did the Council want with you?” Adora demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“They—”
“Said nothing to me,” I lied easily. “I assumed they were here to speak with the Pedalion. Three days, Adora.”
“And when we say no?”
I didn’t blink. I’d played this game with far better opponents than Adora and the rest of the Pedalion. “I’d advise against it,” I said, and left the chamber without another word.
44
Emmory took hold of my arm as we headed back to our rooms, but no one said a word until the door was closed and the flashing lights on his glove were visible.
“Aiz, what the actual fuck was that?” I asked.
He looked as shocked as I was, his eyes more than a little wild. “I have not seen Kasio since before the triumph,” he whispered.
Mia pressed a hand to her chest, chewing on her lower lip. “I did not expect that. They knew who I was?”
“Fasé, we’ll need to speak with—”
“On it already,” she replied, cutting me off.
“I’m going to need someone to stop and tell me what just happened,” Emmory said, fingers tightening on my arm.
“The Council of Eyes paid us a visit.”
“Yes, I saw,” he replied.
“They walked in and then walked back out.”
“That’s all you saw? Interesting.” I started to pull the recording from my smati, but frowned. “Bugger me. There’s no vid.” I shot Aiz a look. “You people and your tricks.”
“Not my people.”
“You know what I mean.” I felt Emmory’s hand flex again and turned back to him. “The seers had a message for the four of us. That the Farians’ gods want to speak with me, but not yet.”
“What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Zin asked. “This place is an Alcubierre/White Drive waiting to go critical. I can tell that just from standing in front of the Pedalion for two minutes. I don’t trust Adora.”
“Second that,” Johar said. “That one’s got power, Hail, and not only in the Pedalion. I saw the guards deferring to her when we landed. No impartial guard would have let her go after a visiting dignitary like she did to you.”
“The Pedalion has three days to deliberate the merits of the negotiations,” I replied, and then gave them a quick recap of what Kasio had said to us. “We’ll let them debate and do what we need to do in the meantime. First step is meeting with Fasé’s people.”
“Is that wise?” Aiz asked, and I lifted my shoulders in a shrug as I crossed the room.
Mia had sat in a nearby chair and I put my hand on her shoulder. She reached up, covering it with hers.
“I’m not planning on strolling out of here and straight into a meeting in the daylight, if that’s what you mean. But it’s about on par with the rest of our plans. In the meantime, let’s get ready for dinner.”
I chafed at the formality of the dinner, which was no surprise. Pomp and procedure weren’t something I had time for under the best of circumstances, and my restlessness had only gotten worse after we were led into a dining room with low white tables and the same damn angles.
Those were also starting to get on my nerves. I didn’t like Faria. The formality. The stale air. The sharp edges everywhere.
Adora got up and left the room after a passionate declaration that she wouldn’t share a meal with someone who’d harbored a traitor and god-killer, and a decent contingent of Farians followed her in protest. The rest of the Pedalion, even Rotem, frowned at her retreating back.