The Mir Chronicles- The Complete Series

by Leisa Wallace

  Lena nodded.

  Merina relaxed and smiled. "Oh, good. I thought I had read you wrong and was about to apologize profusely. Come on, servants aren't supposed to cross the courtyard to the fortress. It makes the Priestess upset. We have to go around to a side entrance by the crags. I'm Merina, by the way."

  "Essie," Lena said, giving the girl the same fake name she'd given Aldebaran at the gala.

  "Come on Essie. We can't be late," Merina said. The girl was chatty. "So where are you from?"

  Lena hadn't thought she would have to talk to anyone. She wasn't used to such friendly banter from a complete stranger. She decided sticking to the truth might be the best way to keep her story straight. As much of the truth as she could anyway. "I actually worked for the Priestess at the Defense Training Facility.”

  Merina paused her step and her jaw dropped. She seemed to pale. Her voice turned to a whisper. "There are rumors that the Priestess bombed her own facility."

  Lena looked at her, unsure what to say. "I can't really talk about it," she said.

  "Oh of course, of course." Merina led Lena through a side street still talking. "I think my brother was there. Not as a servant though. As a recruit. Jonah, Jonah Vernalis. Did you know him?"

  Lena stumbled and grabbed Merina's arm to stable herself. She stared at Merina finally realizing what was so familiar about her. She had the same bright blue eyes as Jonah did. Lena's heart dropped and suddenly she wanted to cry. She forced herself to look away. "We weren't supposed to talk to recruits," Lena answered crisply letting go of Merina's arm and continuing towards the fortress.

  Merina lowered her head. "Of course. I just worry about him is all."

  The conversation ended. Lena couldn't bring herself to look at the girl anymore.

  They reached the entrance to the fortress. As soon as she walked inside, she felt she was back at the Defense Training Facility as a servant. Merina led her to a locker room. There were already several other servants there changing.

  "Who's this?" one girl said sharply. She didn't look nice.

  Lena slid closer to a locker and tried to blend in with her surrounding like she had for so many years.

  "Essie. She worked at the training facility," Merina said.

  The girl harrumphed and turned back towards her locker. "Well, she better not get in my way of promotion. I have been working towards earning a spot on the main level for years now."

  "I'm actually a techie," Lena said, keeping her eyes to the ground. "Well, that's mostly what I did at the facility, I imagine that's what they need me for here." She flicked her eyes up quickly then down again. She hoped the girl didn't see her as a threat. She just needed to get in and out.

  Essie handed her a uniform. Grey with the insignia on the shoulder. Lena had worn the exact same design for years.

  "The Priestess doesn't vary much, does she," Lena said without thinking.

  The girls looked at her blankly.

  "It's the same uniform," she said then quickly dressed cursing herself for talking.

  The servants left the locker room. Lena followed Merina out. "Hey Merina," she whispered. "Can you show me where the main tech room is? I think that's probably where I should start.”

  "Most of the tech is on the next floor down. But servants don't have access to it," Merina said.

  "My insignia should grant me access," Lena answered. "It did at the facility anyway."

  Merina nodded and led her down a hall. "I can walk you there," she said. "I work in the laundry. I don't do much, mostly just watch the service bots work. Kind of gets boring.”

  The halls they were in curved, just like the ones at the Defense Training Facility. They walked the space between the main halls and the room.

  "Hey if you're in charge of tech, maybe I can break something, then we'd get a chance to really talk. You can tell me what it's like at the facility," Merina said chattily. "I've wondered lots about my brother since finding out he went there.”

  They walked down the stairs together.

  When they got to the lower level, Merina pointed to a door. "You can go through that door. It's really the whole floor."

  "Thank you, Merina," Lena said scanning her insignia across the door's security panel. It slid open just as it had with every door at the facility. Suddenly she turned back to Merina. She looked so much like Jonah. "Merina?" she said.

  "Can I do something else for you?" Merina asked.

  Lena took a breath. "I can't really talk about it, but I want you to know that I did know your brother. He made me laugh. I want you to know he was kind to servants. And he never forgot you."

  Merina smiled. "Thank you!" she said. "He always did have a type of charisma that made people like him.”

  Lena watched as Merina disappeared around the curve, then slipped into the control room. She bit her lower lip forcing thoughts of Jonah away.

  She looked around. The room had rows of shoulder-high servers and tubes with electricity surging through them. She needed to be finding the main computer. The room was eerily empty but even though she was alone, she felt as if someone were watching her.

  Lena shook her thoughts clear. Walking to the closest computer, she scanned her insignia and immediately bypassed any security. She needed to find out which computer controlled communications. Quickly typing, she found it was in the middle of the room. Perfect. Lena closed her insignia and wove through the machines towards the middle.

  The computer looked like all the others. Nothing special about it, but Lena knew this was the computer that all their plans hinged on. This was the computer that controlled communications. She opened up her insignia again and entered the Priestess' system.

  Evren had programed her insignia with a virus that would give the Rise control. All she had to do was keep her insignia linked until the virus was uploaded.

  Her heart raced as she watched the seconds tick away. The virus was uploading slower than she had imagined. Fifty percent complete. She bit her bottom lip as she silently urged it to work quicker.

  She felt the wrongness before she heard it. The door at the side of the room opened. Turning her head, she saw him. Gideon. Dressed in the Priestess' finest military attire, watching her.

  "Hello, Evangeline," Gideon said. He had one hand on his hip and a haughty look on his face.

  Her stomach flipped. This wasn't Gideon she was seeing. This was Gideon being controlled by Selene.

  The virus wasn't uploaded yet. Seventy-seven percent complete. She ducked below the consoles keeping her hand attached to the main computer. She needed more time. And she needed to not get captured.

  "I know where you're sitting, Evangeline," Gideon's voice said. "I don't need to tell you, you're now our prisoner." The intonation of his voice sounded so different than she was used to.

  Lena lifted her head over the edge of the consoles and looked for a way out. Gideon stood at the door she had entered. There was another door adjacent to him. It was just her and him.

  She could fight him. She looked back at the computer. It was still uploading. Ninety-eight percent complete. She looked back to Gideon. She'd have to be fast.

  As if reading her mind, Gideon answered. "If you fight me, I will kill you right now." He pulled out a gun from his hip holster and pointed it at her head poking over the machines.

  She ducked again. "I'd rather live.”

  Lena looked to the communications console. It had stopped. One hundred percent complete. She had done it! Her heart soared. A message from Evren came across her lens. They were in.

  "Lucius says you're looking for me," Gideon said.

  Lena's lens started flashing with warnings. Lucius had betrayed them. She closed her eyes tight and blinked off the lens. She already knew that and what she needed now was a way out. Typing madly on the open computer, she pulled up a map of the crags from the server. If Selene thought she was looking for Gideon, she would let her keep thinking that.

  "I guess I didn't need to go through the trouble," Lena
said. "After all, you do always find me."

  Gideon whistled and a door at the other side of the room burst open. Defense soldiers filed in. She left the map of the crags open as she stood and placed her hands above her head.

  Lucius stepped through the doorway. His eye was turning purple and he had cuts on his face.

  Lena was furious. "How could you? You gave us your word."

  Lucius smiled. "You didn't really think I'd let you win, did you?"

  ***

  Lena stared between Lucius and Gideon. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. If she could get past them, she could possibly escape.

  "Lucius," Gideon said, "your position with the court is secured with the girl's capture. You may take back your family home, and all that goes with this prestigious honor," he said in Selene's haughty way of talking. He stood with more weight on one foot than the other.

  "Lucius you're a snake. You're not going to get away with this," Lena said.

  "I just did," Lucius said giving Lena a vindictive smile.

  Lena glared at Lucius, then turned her focus to Gideon. She had to find a way out. She narrowed her eyes as she studied him, noticing the imbalance of his weight. If she could get to him, she could knock him over. Maybe. She bit her lower lip and glanced at the guards surrounding her. It would never work.

  "You're excused," Gideon said waving his hand in dismissal.

  Lucius placed his hand over his chest and bowed. He smirked at Lena again, then turned and left down the same servants hall that had brought Lena here.

  Lena could feel herself trembling. "Gideon," she said looking deep into his eyes, pleading that she could reason with him. "Gideon, I know you're in there somewhere."

  Gideon walked towards her, weaving his way through the servers. "Don't try to fight me," he said. "You will certainly lose."

  Lena's hands were still in the air. They tingled. "Gideon," she pleaded. "Come back to me."

  "Did you really think you could rescue him?" Gideon said smiling crookedly. He was only steps away now.

  Lena bit her lip. She looked behind her hopelessly searching one last time for an escape, wishing she had brought the nullifier with her.

  He stood within reach now.

  "Gid, please." She could feel the tears filling her eyes.

  Gideon grabbed her wrists.

  Instinctively, she twisted to free herself. Her head cracked painfully against a console.

  His grip tightened. "What did you expect would happen?" Gideon yelled. He threw her to the ground and kicked her in her in the stomach.

  Lena pushed herself away from him. Her back hit the console behind her as blood dripped into her eye. She reached for her scalp and winced. She had cracked her head open where she'd hit the console.

  "Did you think you could defy me and just walk away?" Gideon screamed.

  Lena could barely breath. "Gideon, stop. Fight her." She turned to the soldiers around her. "You know she's a monster. Help me.”

  The soldiers stood their ground. Their guns were ready to fire.

  Gideon kicked her again. "You thought you could hide from me," Gideon sneered. "No one ever wins against me, Evangeline," he yelled. "No one."

  Lena rolled away from him.

  Gideon grabbed her hair and yanked.

  She lost all reason to the pain that came. Floundering she reached for his hands, trying to pry them off her head. She couldn't think. What was she supposed to do? He lifted her up by her hair. She struggled to get her feet underneath herself.

  "Gid. Stop." Her words came out breathless.

  "He's going to kill you," Gideon snarled. "He's going to kill you in front of everyone, so they know what happens to those who stand in my way.”

  "You're a monster, Selene," Lena gasped.

  Gideon dragged her into the hallway and pushed her into the arms of nearby soldiers. They held her tightly.

  "Take her to the crags," he yelled to the soldiers. "If she struggles, hurt her."

  The soldiers half pulled, half carried her to an elevator. The doors closed.

  Lena felt the descent.When the doors opened, she was straight in the heart of the crags.

  The soldiers pushed her forward. Prisoners peered at her from their cells. They knew who she was, and what she represented.

  Lena closed her eyes, unable to keep watching as their hope faded.

  The soldiers threw her roughly into a cell and left.

  Lena opened her eyes and looked at the familiar faces of the recruits staring at her through the cell bars.

  "Look who the guards dragged in," Jenna said giving Lena a condescending glare. "So much for your promise to save us."

  Lena wanted to disappear. The recruits all looked crushed. But no one looked as crushed as she felt.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lena curled up in a ball on the cold cave floor. Of course, they hadn't given her blankets or anything to keep her comfortable. The floor was uneven. No matter where she laid, there always seemed to be a bump digging into her. And the smell of unkept humans made her gag. She tried not to think about it.

  "Lena?" It was Corgy. He had been trying to talk to her since she'd been brought here.

  Lena couldn't bring herself to respond. She had failed them all. Not only the recruits but the Rise as well. Thinking of it brought tears to her eyes which made her angry. She was so sick of crying all the time. Why couldn't she just shut off her feelings?

  The sound of Corgy's voice echoed again. "Lena, I'm sending you down a blanket, but you have to reach through your cell to grab it. Do you think you can do that?"

  Lena didn't answer. She didn't move. How could she? She was supposed to save them. She was supposed to destroy Selene. She hadn't done either. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and stared at the wall. She didn't want to do anything at all. She heard Corgy handing her the blanket but didn't reach for it.

  Corgy held it there for a minute before pulling it back up into his cell.

  She heard the recruits talking about her in the background, but forced herself to tune them out when she heard Jenna say, "See, I told you."

  Her head pounded and she could see the stains of blood on her clothes and feel the stickiness of where the blood had flowed down her face. When she felt her head, her hand came away wet with blood. She didn't care.

  A dim light always shined at the same voltage. Sometimes one of them would flash and flicker, before holding strong again. She tried to put herself to sleep to block out the misery but sleep never came. The memories of her failures kept resurfacing.

  The sound of footsteps and voices briefly dragged Lena from her misery.

  Ras walked to the front of her cell and stood just outside the bars. As he studied her, a smile slowly spread across his face. The result was scary. The implants in his face purposely contorted it to look inhuman.

  Lucius stood next to him. He looked shocked but quickly hid his expression with a cocky smirk. He also glanced at the other recruits in the cells around her.

  "How does it feel to be where you belong?" Lucius asked.

  "You betrayed us." Lena could barely get the words out. She wanted to scream at him. To cry, to hit something. But all she could manage to do was croak out those few words.

  "I've told you from the beginning who my loyalty is with." He looked around at the recruits and then back at her. "So who are you to scold me?"

  Lena stood. The effort made her dizzy and she had to place her hand on the wall to keep herself from tipping. But she defiantly raised her head and looked at Lucius. "Forgive me, I had you mistaken for someone I was starting to respect."

  Lucius' jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. He was trying to appear tough, and while he may have fooled her weeks ago with his bravado, he didn't now.

  "The Priestess gave me the privilege of informing you, that you're being executed by Gideon. Tomorrow. She says all of Ebon will attend, as well as her leaders and as many people as she can gather from outside of the city. An arena is being set up on t
he outskirts of Ebon. It's an event she wants as many people to see in person as possible."

  The floor tilted underneath her. She knelt to the ground. Gideon was going to be the one to kill her. She tried to focus back on Lucius. To say something that would make him help her escape. But as Ras spun in her vision, she chose to stay silent.

  "You have less than a day, Lena," Lucius said as she sat on the ground and rested the back of her head against the cave wall. She didn't know when Ras and Lucius finally left. She had to focus on her breathing. Her head pounded. She closed her eyes as tight as she could then opened them in an attempt to straighten her vision.

  She wanted to scream, to fight. Anything but be trapped in this cell. She listened to the sounds around her. The other recruits moving in their cells. The sound of tins scratching the floors. The snoring and rattling breaths of those who were sleeping. And the deep staggered and shallow breaths in a cell near hers.

  Whoever it was did not sound good. Every few minutes, the occupant would be racked with painful coughing. None of the recruits spoke to the person, but every once in a while Lena could see the occupants of the cells across from her glance that direction.

  After one gasping fit, Lena couldn't stay silent any longer. "Are you okay?" she called.

  "I am as good as can be expected," the weak voice answered. A voice that was distantly familiar, but that Lena couldn't place from her years at the Defense Training facility. Then it all came together with shocking clarity. He wasn't from the Defense Facility. He was from Everleigh.

  "Zeke?" Lena gasped.

  He started coughing as if the effort to speak triggered his condition.

  "What are you doing down here?" Lena said. "What's happened to you?"

  "You should know, the Priestess likes to show an example of what will happen if anyone who stands against her. I'm your and Gideon's example."

  "You need help," Lena said.

  Zeke gave a weak laugh. "The Priestess won't help me. She is just keeping me alive until the treaties are changed. Once they're changed, she can rule Mir without me and no one will intervene."