by K. B. Wagers
“Ah,” I said, biting the inside of my cheek. “Okay, so probably not.”
Prosa laughed.
I waved a hand at the city below us. “Your architecture is interesting.”
“Your tone suggests a different word.” Prosa’s laughter continued to dance along the edge of her reply.
“It is jarring,” I admitted.
“The angles please the gods. They say it keeps us safe and hidden. Different from Indrana, for sure.” She looked up at the sky. “I have never been to your empire, but I have seen the images. Perhaps someday.”
“It is a lovely place. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I was back.”
“I understand that,” Prosa replied. “I just returned from two years on Earth for my mission and though it was a very happy time of my life, I felt the difference in my soul when I set foot back here.”
“Can I ask you about the Pedalion’s feelings on the negotiations?”
“I’m afraid not.” Prosa shook her head. “This war is almost a family matter, but it impacts all of us. In some ways I wish the gods would just step in. The Shen are our enemies, yes, but they want the same things we do. Home and safety?”
“You seem very knowledgeable of the Shen and surprisingly sympathetic to their cause.”
“We initially thought Delphine would go to the negotiations on Earth, and so I helped her with her research. But Adora was chosen instead. Then after what happened I felt it would be useful if I continued with my research since the Star of Indrana seemed to be on good terms with the Shen.”
“You all are really fixated on that, aren’t you?” I laughed and looked up at the unfamiliar stars that were vanishing with the coming sunrise.
“It is one of the foundations of our society.” Prosa rested her arms on the ledge and stared up at the dawn-painted sky above. “Possibly foolish to you, but it’s what we’re told from the beginning.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, folding my hands together and shaking them in her direction. “I did not mean that as an insult, but merely as an observation.”
“It is all right. I shouldn’t project our reverence onto you, but it is difficult to remember that your knowledge of all this is so new.”
“To be honest, it’s not only new, but I still don’t know a lot about it.”
Prosa gestured below us. “Come with me, Hail. This is a delightful view, but down on the ground is where our people live, and I think it is good that you see them.”
I followed her back down the stairs and out onto the street. With no sense of the time beyond the lack of sun and the lights of the city, it was hard to tell if the moderately populated street we exited onto was busy for the hour.
“Faria has a thirty-four-hour day,” Prosa said as if she’d heard my thoughts. “It is shortly after the eighth. But Sicenae is a major metropolis for us, and people are out at all hours. We may run into some crowds, but your BodyGuards can rest assured that no one here means you any harm.” She dipped her head down the street, ignoring the stares from the passersby. “We’ll go this way, I think.”
“Lead the way.”
As we walked along, I smiled and nodded at the Farians we passed, delighting in the double takes and confused looks that passed from me to Prosa and back again.
One man walked into a post and I bit down hard on my cheek to keep the laughter in when Zin choked back a snort. Judging from the sparkle in Prosa’s golden eyes, this was providing her with just as much delight.
“Here we are.” She pressed her hand to the doorway, the pristine surface sliding away to reveal the smells and sounds of what I could only assume was a café of some kind.
“Mi Prosa!” The elderly woman behind the counter clapped her hands in delight and was halfway around the smooth white slab, arms spread in preparation for an embrace, when she spotted me. Her silver eyes snapped wide. “Indrani fin astari?”
“Nai,” Prosa replied.
The Farian folded her hands together and bowed so low that for a moment I was sure her forehead was going to touch the spotless floor. “Star of Indrana,” she said in perfect Indranan that was laced with the most curious accent. “Thank you for blessing me with your presence.”
“Hail Bristol, if I may introduce you to Vada Hessa, my grandmother and the owner of the best restaurant in all of Faria.”
“My granddaughter flatters me,” Vada said with a wave of her hands as she rose.
I extended mine, pleased when the older woman took them after only a second’s hesitation. “That is what granddaughters are for, isn’t it?”
“Just so.” Vada pulled away. “Have you ever tried masalata?”
She said the word in Farian and I shook my head. “I doubt I have, but I’m not sure what it even is.”
“I will make you some to try.”
“I would like that very much.”
“Come to the back, otherwise we will be mobbed within minutes.” Moving with surprising speed, Vada crossed the café and locked her door. “Since I am sure Prosa paraded you down the street just to get a reaction from people.”
I watched the blush spread over Prosa’s porcelain skin and grinned. “She did, but it was worth it.” Following Vada back into the kitchen, I took the stool she directed me to. “Tell me where you learned to speak Indranan so well, Grandmother.”
“In school with the rest of my family, Star of Indrana,” she replied.
“It’s a required subject for all Farians,” Prosa supplied, laughing at my shocked look. “The other human languages are electives that people can choose before their mission years. But every Farian is required to speak Indranan.”
“Why?” I felt silly even before the word left my mouth. Both Prosa and Vada looked at me in surprise.
“So we could speak with you if we were one of the ones lucky enough to be placed in your path.”
46
You know what Hao would say.” Johar leaned back in her chair late in the day with a grin on her face. “That’s the kind of army you could take over the universe with.”
I blew out a breath. “That’s the terrifying part, Jo. These people’s entire education has been centered on Indrana and apparently me. For what? My arrival? It’s as unsettling as this damn architecture.” I slapped a wall on my way by with a snarl. “I am not Kalki, riding in to destroy all evil and chaos.”
“You are to the Farians.”
“That’s the part that makes Emmory nervous, and for once I agree with him.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed a long breath out before I dropped my hand. “If I really were one of the avatars of Vishnu, you’d think I could just tell them all to stop this war and it would be over.”
“Sure, if it worked like that, but you and I know it doesn’t.” Jo shrugged a shoulder and went back to her breakfast.
“She’s not wrong,” Zin replied at my look. “I used to think it was a human condition, but the Farians and the Shen have proved me wrong on that front. Other than the Svatir, is there a sentient species out there that doesn’t fight and kill?”
His words made me think of Dailun’s warning and how the Hiervet had almost managed to grind the Svatir under their bootheels. I wasn’t so arrogant as to think humanity was better at war than any ancient race, which left me with the unsettling thought.
Could humanity stand alone against the Hiervet if we had to? Or would we fall without the Farians and the Shen to fight at our side? How was I going to convince the Pedalion to fight an outside invasion when they were in real danger of dissolving into chaos right in front of our eyes?
You’re getting ahead of yourself again, Hail. Focus on the first problem and go from there. I leaned against the windowsill with a sigh.
“What is it?” Emmory asked, joining me at the window.
“Everything.” I waved a hand. “This creepy-assed place with its statues of me and its unnerving reverence. The iron fist I can just barely see hovering in the corner of my vision. I grew up thinking Faria was a blessing to humanit
y.”
“I know.” He nodded. “It’s unsettling, and that’s from the standpoint of someone who’s not being looked at to make a major choice that will impact not only the lives of her people but everyone else in the galaxy.”
“Really? You know someone who fits that?”
Emmory chuckled and bumped his shoulder into mine. “Majesty, I’ve watched you go from an unwilling prisoner to the Empress of Indrana. It wasn’t in the blink of an eye, but it was something that was always there inside you. This choice, whatever it is, it’s the same way. You have this.” He tapped me in the temple. “And this.” Again, above my heart. “Use them.”
I set my jaw and looked out at the blue-tinged light cutting through the mist that had settled onto the city in the night. Sharp-edged shadows lurked where the light couldn’t touch, adding to the unease I’d been battling since we’d landed.
“Sybil said the gods wanted to meet me,” I whispered finally. “I can’t do anything with this until I stand in front of them, and Aiz knows it. Everyone seems to agree that the choice I face is killing the gods or not killing them.” I looked at Emmory. “But what if it’s not? Bugger me,” I muttered. “Emmory, there is a thing.” I lifted a hand, gesturing at the back of my head. “Something hovering just out of reach in my head. I can’t get it to slide into place and make this whole thing make sense.”
“Then let it go.” Emmory reached out and put his hand on mine. “Chasing it doesn’t work, just makes it hide from you even more, right? Let it go. Trust that you’ll know what you need when you need it. I know you’re used to planning things out and having every step calculated before you have to take it. Now’s the time to jump into the unknown and have a little faith.”
I let out a slow breath at Emmory’s words. “Okay.”
“What, no argument?”
I bumped him with my shoulder again, laughing as I did, and Emmory joined me, our good humor floating out into the evening air before sinking into the mists.
This time Mia and Aiz came with us when we snuck out of our rooms. Fasé insisted that the four of us go to see the Council of Eyes. With Emmory and Zin that made six of us traipsing down the hallway, and I shook my head with a sigh.
“We are the least stealthy bunch at the moment.”
“It will be fine, Majesty. If Kasio wants to meet with you, I trust she will have seen fit to clear a path.”
“We’d better hope so,” Aiz murmured, one hand on Mia’s arm, the other on his gun. “This will get really ugly really fast if we run across some guards, or worse, Adora and her goons.”
The revelation that each member of the Pedalion had what was supposed to be an honor guard but Adora had built hers up into a small army was one of the new things making me uneasy.
“Through here.” Fasé gestured to the open doorway. “Quickly.”
We slipped inside, Fasé pulling the door shut behind her, and for a moment stood in the dark. Then a soft light in the center of the ceiling started to glow and two women slipped out of the shadows on the far side of the room.
“Star of Indrana.”
I recognized Kasio’s voice and tipped my head toward the taller of the pair. Her white hair was short and her eyes a brilliant copper unlike any I’d seen.
“This is Phia.” Kasio gestured at the younger woman by her side.
“This is a risk,” Aiz said.
“It is, but we have so few choices left to us. Adora will have her vengeance on those who seek to defile the gods one way or another. If we linger too long we will all be caught, but there is time enough for what needs to be done.”
“Which is what?”
Kasio folded her hands together and looked around the room. “The Pedalion has traditionally deferred to the council on matters dealing with the gods, but since Javez’s death they have tightened their grip on us and on Faria. They say they are acting in the gods’ stead, but that I very much doubt.”
“Do you not speak to the gods?”
Kasio shook her head. “No one has spoken to the gods in a very long time. The Pedalion rules as it will, unchecked and unchallenged.”
“I keep being told the gods want to speak with me, though.” I tried to keep the words from being too sharp.
“True, and it is not meant to deceive you. We have all seen this.” Kasio waved at herself and Phia. “Not a future so much as a dream of you and the gods. How else should we interpret that besides them wanting to speak with you?”
I rubbed a hand over my face with a muttered curse, dropping it in time to see Aiz shaking his head.
“You know what I plan to do, Kasio?” he asked.
“I know what you planned,” she replied with a tiny smile. “Do you still believe that is what will happen?”
He swallowed, and it was Mia who answered. “We believe in the Star.”
“It is good to hear, sister. The council spoke often of the future Sybil saw and how the arrival of the Star would be a time of great change for Faria. It scares some of them.”
“It scares Adora,” I said.
“Rotem also and Sou to a lesser degree, though he is better at hiding it.” Kasio gave me a smile when I raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Yadira and Delphine are devoted to the Council of Eyes and the gods. They believe we should let the future happen, let it play out.”
“Adora wants to stop it.” I heard Emmory’s hiss of anger behind me. “That’s what Earth was about, she really was trying to kill me?”
“At least in part, Hail.” Kasio nodded. Fasé looked sick while Mia and Aiz were sharing a look that I knew spelled trouble.
“You’re about to have a civil war here regardless of what Fasé and her people do?”
Aiz whistled and I knew exactly what he was thinking. The Shen could decimate the Farians if they were distracted from the fight by something like this.
“It is a very real possibility and it will spell disaster. This is the real reason we convinced the Pedalion to send Sybil off Faria with Fasé. The reason we came to you in the chambers.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all this in the beginning?” Even as I asked the question I knew her answer.
A small smile hovered at the corner of her mouth. “This was the only way to get you all here in this moment. This future is so unclear but there were points we could anchor ourselves in to light the way to you. Trust in us tomorrow; we will get you to the gods.”
47
Hail, stop pacing,” Emmory said from across the table, where he sat with one booted foot propped up on the angle of the wall.
“I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”
“You nervous makes the rest of us nervous,” Johar replied around a mouthful of food. “Sit down and finish your breakfast.”
I sat and blew out a breath that wasn’t quite a huff of frustration, though Mia’s amused look said otherwise.
Kasio had been right about the narrow window for our meeting. We’d barely escaped getting caught by a patrol on our way back to our rooms; Emmory’s distraction of pretending I’d wanted to speak with someone about how the Pedalion’s discussion was going was the only thing that allowed the rest of us to scramble silently up the stairs.
Then I’d had to endure a visit from Sou, who pretended to be kind and caring while not answering a single one of the questions Aiz and I threw at him.
“All we can do now is walk through this.” Zin leaned forward in his chair to take my hand. “Whatever happens, Hail, we’re here. Okay? Hao said to let you know that Fasé’s people are ready for whatever happens. Admiral Hassan is standing by and the fleet can warp straight in if they need to thanks to Dailun’s calculations.”
I curled my fingers around his and forced a smile, relaxing some at the news. Dailun had suggested the same dangerous plan we’d used to come into Pashati when fighting Wilson’s forces, and Aiz’s people had been a lot more excited about it than Admiral Hassan had the first time he suggested it.
Either way, it would buy us time out there. Down here
on the planet we were still only less than a dozen strong in the middle of what could only be considered hostile territory.
“Whatever happens today, thank you for having my back,” I said, looking around the room. “I want everyone to keep your eyes open and don’t trust anything but your instincts.”
They nodded as one. I returned it, then crossed to grab my holsters and guns. The knock on the door came as I finished fastening them, and the door opened as I slid the last one home.
“Star of Indrana.” An unknown Farian bowed low. “I have been sent to bring you to the Pedalion if you will follow me.”
“More guards than normal,” Emmory subvocalized over our private com link.
“Quite a few more,” Zin chimed in. “And all very tense.”
The Farian escorted us down the same corridor to the same pair of guards in front of the Pedalion chamber. I watched their wary eyes track us as we passed and noted their white-knuckled grip on their weapons.
“Jo, did you ever get a chance—”
“Pulse rifle. The energy source isn’t anything I’m familiar with, though there’s a sharp-edged crystal visible at the butt of the gun that you can see if you get the right angle on it. Unril didn’t want to go into too much detail about the workings of it and he wouldn’t let me hold the damn thing, but I was able to get a good look at it. I’m still running up a report on it.” Her voice was tinged with laughter. “I’d advise against getting shot with it.”
“I advise that on pretty much every weapon,” I muttered back, and Johar’s snort earned us a side-eye from the guards as we passed through the door into the chamber.
Aiz stopped in the center of the star on the floor, and he tilted his head toward the dais. I looked past him to where Adora was chatting with Rotem, keeping my eyes on her until she turned to look. I held her gaze, making her break eye contact first, and then I slowly surveyed the rest of the Pedalion.
Yadira and Delphine were in deep discussion, both women wearing frowns that could have just been because of the gravity of the situation or could have been because of something else entirely.