The Fifth Queen

by Ali House

  After completing her elemental training, Kendra had moved to Stanton to work with the ISS. Pitor hadn’t been happy about the change of plan, but she made it clear that this was the best way to achieve their goal. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to give up and go back to Tecken, just because Pitor wanted her to. She wasn’t six years old anymore.

  Even though she’d only worked for the ISS for a couple of months, she’d already made great strides, bringing attention to what was happening on Briton. Aside from wanting to take down the Humanists as soon as possible, she knew that something like this could really help her career.

  As she finished reading Azeil’s reports, she couldn’t help thinking how easy it had been to convince the ISS to investigate this matter. When she first started working, she noticed that the ISS had newspapers from all over the Segment delivered. The employees were encouraged to read them, but most people stuck to the Stanton News. Occasionally papers from Drakkar, Aesira, and Cambria would be read by employees missing their home island, and some people would read the Tecken paper once in a while – to keep an eye on what was going on over there – but it was rare for the Briton paper to be picked up.

  She began taking the Briton Truth with her and reading it around the office. After a few days the right person noticed what she was reading and commented on it. She casually mentioned how she’d studied on Briton for a year and had noticed a strange formula to their crime pages and was checking to see if it was still there.

  That original passing comment had turned into an hour-long conversation, where she filled him in on all the strange things she’d noticed about Briton. She may have played a little dumber than normal, but she wanted him to come to his own conclusions. It worked, and the next thing she knew, the both of them were in the office of Ren Wyck, the Segment liaison, telling him about their concerns.

  From there it had moved slower than Kendra would have liked, but she understood the need for discretion. Wyck wanted to make sure that they weren’t reading too much into this, so he assigned a task to the Stanton Police to study all of the Segment’s newspapers, hoping that others might come to the same conclusion. He’d also mentioned it to the liaisons on Cambria, Drakkar, Aesira, and Tecken so that they could do the same experiment if they wished.

  When the initial findings came in, Kendra was pleased that others had discovered the same strange pattern, although she was a little disappointed that it had only been two of Stanton’s officers. She’d hoped that it would be obvious to everyone and that the reports would come flying in, but then had to remind herself that it had been the lack of interest from other islands that had allowed the Humanists to flourish in the first place. One of the best parts of this experiment was that one officer had gone above and beyond what was expected by writing a ten-page report on her findings. Kendra had read the report and was thoroughly impressed. It had some really good ideas in it, which she was sure the ISS would use. She was surprised to see that it had been written by Zenyth Hansen, a friend of Tyler’s, but she still had to admire the effort. Maybe Hansen would be a good ally to have.

  Wyck had given their findings to the other Segment liaisons, and now they were waiting to hear back. In the meantime, they were crafting a plan to figure out why there seemed to be no non-Elemental crime on Briton.

  Kendra had been put on this team and she knew that she was lucky to be there. Even though this had started because of her observation, she was still a brand new employee. They could have given her a thank-you and moved ahead with more senior employees, but instead they asked her if she wanted to be involved. She accepted immediately.

  So far she was proving herself to be a great addition, making helpful suggestions, but being sure not to overstep her bounds. She couldn’t wait until the ISS’s first ever Officer Exchange Program was finalized and they were able to take a large step towards making Briton a safer place for Elementals.

  “Have you heard the news?”

  Kendra looked up from the report. Rae was standing near her desk, her orange eyes wide with disbelief.

  “About what?”

  Rae pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. She leaned in close and lowered her voice. “Apparently the Six-Elemental is currently in custody. In the basement.”

  Kendra’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  Rae nodded.

  “Why is she in custody? What happened?”

  “I heard a rumour that she snapped and thinks she’s back on Tecken’s side. Frederick and a few others confronted her yesterday and she went berserk.”

  “Wow...” Kendra shook her head. “That’s crazy. And she’s here? In the basement? The ISS hasn’t used those holding cells since the war…”

  “I know, but where else would you keep the most powerful person on the Segment?”

  “What do you think they’re going to do with her?”

  Rae shrugged. “Probably the same thing they did last time she thought she was on Tecken’s side. Try to make her realize the truth. Anyway, I should mention to you that this is all just rumour and that it probably shouldn’t be spread around, but I heard it from four other people this morning, so obviously it’s not going to stay secret for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the paper tomorrow.”

  Her pessimism made Kendra laugh. “Something this big wouldn’t stay secret for long. Especially after that rumour about her being spotted on Tecken.”

  “Oh yeah. The timing of this is insane.”

  “Thanks for giving me a heads up. I’ll try to act surprised if anyone else mentions it.”

  Rae smiled. “No problem. Have fun reading all your reports.”

  Rae headed back to her desk in the Community Matters Department, where Kendra had worked before moving to the Briton project. In the short time she’d been there, they’d become friends, and Kendra had to admit that it was helpful knowing someone who found out all of the good gossip early.

  The news about the Six-Elemental brought a smile to Kendra’s lips. The basement of the ISS had been used as holding rooms for Tecken spies after the First Invasion and again after the Second Invasion, but there had been no need for it once Tecken had been peacefully integrated back into the Segment. Until now.

  It was too perfect. Once rumour spread that the Six-Elemental was being held down there, the world would finally realize that she was more of a liability than an asset.

  Chapter 29

  “It’s not working,” Naydir sighed. He was tired and frustrated, and out of ideas. When they’d had to restore Kit’s memories during the Second Invasion, it had been surprisingly easy. Zenyth and he had brought up a number of specific past memories and within minutes she was back with them. This time, however, nothing was getting through to her. She thought that everything they said was a lie fabricated by the ISS, meant to keep her under their thumb. It was almost as if she didn’t want to remember.

  “It’s those stupid letters,” Zenyth grumbled, sitting down next to him on the bench. “They told her not to trust us, so she refuses to believe anything we say. She thinks that we’re trying to trick her.”

  They were in the hallway of the ISS’s basement, a few doors down from the room where Kit was being held. A guard was scheduled to stand outside the door at all times, which had made conversing awkward at first, but then Zenyth stopped caring about what the guards heard. Why would they be here if they hadn’t been proven trustworthy? Although it would have been nice if they’d offer up some helpful ideas instead of just standing there, watching the door.

  “But why does she believe those letters?” Naydir asked. “I mean, she must remember her real past. She lived it, after all.”

  Zenyth shrugged. “I have no idea what’s going on inside her head. Maybe when Tecken brainwashed her the first time they added this secondary back-up brainwashing thing, and those letters brought it out.” She sighed. “And you have to admit that this current situation isn’t giving us any brownie points.”

  After Naydir had tazed Kit to stop her fro
m running away, and Zenyth knocked her out, they’d brought her down to one of the holding rooms in the basement of the ISS building. The rooms had been maintained, just in case they were needed sometime in the future, which made Zenyth wonder if the ISS had been preparing for this kind of thing. Not only were they holding her in a room normally reserved for Tecken spies, they had also restrained her power with an Element-cancelling collar – the same design that Tecken had used on her sixteen years ago. Whenever Zenyth tried to look at the situation from Kit’s point of view, she couldn’t deny that everyone involved with the ISS looked like the bad guys.

  “Have we decided who’s telling Vaughn yet?” she asked.

  Naydir shook his head. “Are you volunteering?”

  “You know that he’s going to want to go in there.”

  “I know. We need to keep him away as long as possible.”

  They sat in silence for a few seconds, staring at the dark grey walls. The lighting in the hallway was harsh, and after spending so much time down here, Zenyth now considered the holding cells in the police station to be positively radiating with warmth.

  The room where Kit was being held wasn’t a bad room, but it wasn’t the best. The bed, which was the only furniture in the room, was fairly comfortable and there was a private bathroom area. They were trying to be nice to her while also restraining her, which was a difficult line to walk.

  Frederick was depending on the two of them to bring Kit out of whatever mental state she was in, but nothing they’d done so far had worked. They’d tried talking to her and bringing in specialists to talk to her, but Kit wouldn’t trust anyone. In her eyes, everyone was an ISS spy.

  Zenyth had read over all of the letters they’d found in Kit’s possession, but she didn’t know what to do about them. They’d tried showing Kit that the ISS reports were fakes, comparing them to official ISS reports from that time and pointing out the subtle differences in the logo and ink colour, but it achieved nothing. Whatever rabbit hole her brain had fallen into, it was going to take a lot more to get it out.

  They’d put off telling Vaughn, hoping that they’d be able to bring Kit back before he was released from the hospital, but he was leaving today and there was still no light at the end of the tunnel. Zenyth knew that he’d want to come here, but she doubted that it would help. She’d seen how Kit had reacted to Vaughn after he’d come out of his coma and knew that her suspicions had spread to him as well. It was that exact moment when Zenyth knew that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

  Seeing Kit like this would break Vaughn’s heart, and Zenyth didn’t want that to happen.

  “I’ll tell him,” she sighed.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’ll probably have to strong-arm him to stop him from coming here, but we can’t let him see her. Not like this.”

  “Agreed.”

  They sat in silence for another minute. Finally, Zenyth rose to her feet.

  “Well, I’d better get going. See you later?”

  Naydir nodded sadly. “See you later.”

  ≈

  During the drive home from the hospital, Zenyth managed to dodge the majority of Vaughn’s questions. She tried to distract him by asking about his health and what he was and wasn’t allowed to do now that he was out of the hospital. She already knew the answers to those questions because she’d arrived early to speak to the doctors, but it was the only topic of conversation she could think of. As Vaughn answered her questions, she tried to figure out if he was stable enough to handle the terrible information that was coming.

  When they reached his apartment, he called out for Kit, but there was no answer. Zenyth took in a deep, steadying breath and closed the door behind them.

  “Vaughn, let’s sit in the living room for a minute.”

  He looked confused, but then some kind of realization sank in. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Sit first. And yes, it’s that bad.”

  Obediently, he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, bracing himself.

  Zenyth filled him in on what was happening, trying to be as tactful as possible while also trying to convey the utter feeling of hopelessness. To his credit, he didn’t fight her on anything. When she finished talking, she waited for him to say something.

  “I thought she was acting strange at the hospital,” he said quietly.

  “Yeah, I picked up on that, too.”

  He frowned. “She really thinks that we’re all spies, keeping an eye on her for the ISS?”

  She nodded. “We don’t know what to do. We’ve tried everything, but she doesn’t trust any of us.”

  “What if I—”

  “No!” Zenyth jumped right in. “Remember the hospital? You’re in the group of untrustworthy people, just like my brother and I. Your talking to her won’t change anything.”

  Vaughn’s frown deepened. “So, what do we do?”

  He sounded utterly defeated. Zenyth wanted nothing more than to say something reassuring, but she had no words.

  □

  Naydir was wracking his brain, trying to think of a different tactic they could try, but every idea he came up with seemed stupid and pointless. If trained psychologists couldn’t help her, what could he hope to do? He needed Kit to trust him, but how? She saw everything he did as an ISS tactic, instead of a genuine concern for her wellbeing.

  If they didn’t find a way to get Kit back to her old self soon, then the ISS would label her a hopeless cause and probably leave her in the basement forever. As hopeless as he felt, he couldn’t give up.

  Taking in a deep breath, he walked down to Kit’s room. Looking through the peephole, he saw that she was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. He knocked on the door.

  “It’s Naydir.”

  She didn’t respond. Her only reaction was to cross her arms over her chest.

  He unlocked the door and walked inside. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask you. You don’t have to answer them now, but I’d appreciate it if you’d at least think about them.”

  There was no reply, but at least she hadn’t told him to shut up.

  “Question one: do you really think that the ISS would be able to kidnap one of the most important people on Tecken and remove her from the island without anyone noticing? Question two: why would the ISS brainwash you to know that you’re the Six-Elemental, but want you to keep it secret? And question three: concerning your elemental Vision, you told us that when you received your Vision it was so intense that you blacked out, but when you were with Tecken you thought that it was nothing more special than a normal Vision. So why would the ISS go to the trouble of creating this strange Vision for you instead of going with something more normal?”

  She said nothing.

  He held back a sigh. “Can you promise me that you’ll at least think about these?”

  She glared at him. “Why should I promise you anything? You’re holding me here against my will, and you’ve taken away my powers. I don’t owe you a thing.”

  “We’ve taken your powers away because you could level this building and everyone in it,” he explained gently. “I know how terrible you felt after the Second Invasion when you learned how many people had been hurt because of you, so when you finally realize the truth, I wouldn’t want anything like that on your conscience.”

  “I’ve already realized the truth,” she shot back. “No matter how many times you say I’m wrong, I won’t forget it. Not again. One day you’ll realize that you’ve made a terrible mistake in keeping me here like this.”

  He shook his head. “Just promise me that you’ll think about those questions, okay?” He turned to exit the room.

  “I’ve already thought about them.”

  He looked back and saw that Kit had risen to her feet. She didn’t move forward, but her body language radiated power and anger.

  “Answer number one: yes. I wouldn’t put anything past the ISS. There were multiple spies living on Tecken who could have accomplished s
uch a thing. Answer number two: of course they’d want me to hide my powers. They couldn’t exactly parade me around in front of everyone and hope that Tecken wouldn’t find out where I was. And answer number three: I don’t care. You’re clutching at straws because you know that you have nothing.”

  Any hope he’d entered the room with was gone and Naydir left without another word. Once he was back in the hallway, he sat on the bench and put his head in his hands. It was starting to feel like the more they tried, the worse it got. The more persuasive they were, the more stubborn she became.

  He would have given anything to have the old Kit back, but he didn’t know if she still existed.

  ≈

  Vaughn had gone to bed hours ago, but Zenyth was having trouble sleeping. Although Vaughn hadn’t looked pleased when she informed him that she’d be spending the night on his couch, he hadn’t told her to go away. She was worried about leaving him alone, considering that he’d just gotten out of the hospital and had a major bombshell dropped on him. Sleeping on a couch would be worth it if he made it through the night without any trouble.

  The news of Kit had hit him hard. In fact, Zenyth wouldn’t have been surprised if Vaughn was still awake, lying in bed, trying to think of some way to help Kit. If that were the case, at least he was being quiet about it.

  She knew that there had to be some solution that they hadn’t thought of yet. They’d already done everything they could to convince her that she was from Briton, short of bringing in her family. Everyone had agreed that bringing in her mother and step-father wouldn’t help, just like nothing would be achieved by bringing in Bryanna or Cale, but Zenyth was almost ready to jump to those last resorts. Maybe seeing her step-father and remembering all the arguments she’d had with him would jog Kit’s memory. Or maybe it would strengthen her resolve to believe that her past on Briton had been a lie.

  If only they knew who had written those letters. It had to be someone from Tecken, but the author had covered their tracks extremely well. There were no fingerprints or clues for them to follow, and they couldn’t go around accusing people without proof. Zenyth started pacing around the living room, hoping that the action would tire her. As much as she wanted to go to sleep, she couldn’t turn her brain off. There had to be an answer out there, somewhere – some angle or idea that they hadn’t considered yet.