He shrugged. “You told me to run, remember? You told me not to go, but I wouldn’t listen. I thought I was fighting for what was right, but now I’m not sure what is right and what is wrong anymore. Everybody seems to be on the losing side.”
“Still… I’m sorry.”
He looked at me strangely. “Riley? What are you doing here? I thought you’d vanished from Vysanthe for good.”
Kaido folded his arms across his chest. “You managed to keep him in the present for a few more minutes than usual. Sometimes, when he fixates on something in particular, that can happen. It does not last, though. As I say, it is extremely vexing to have to repeat the same things over and over again.”
“What are you talking about?” Sarrask looked as though he were struggling to remember.
“Nothing, Sarrask,” I said. “I’m going to leave you to your geology.”
“It is extremely interesting,” he replied, pleased. “Though not everyone thinks it is a proper science, do they, Kaido?”
“Indeed not. Rocks do not compare to living organisms.”
Sarrask snorted. “For a supposedly educated coldblood, your idiocy continues to surprise me. I doubt you could build a house, or forge jewels, or burn fuel from a living organism, could you?”
“I will have you know that fossil fuels do, in fact, come from formerly living organisms,” Kaido contested. “Although they are a primitive means of creating energy, it is no less true.”
“Riley? What are you doing here? I thought you’d vanished from Vysanthe for good.” The cycle repeated, Sarrask staring at me in surprise.
It was too sad to witness again. “I’m back for a while. I’ll come and see you again, but I should probably leave you to your geology books.” Without waiting for his response, I left the room, coming to a halt on the landing to catch my breath. He had been through so much in the war, only to end up like this? It didn’t seem fair.
“It is perplexing, is it not?” Kaido said, following me out.
“It’s tragic, is what it is.”
“I suppose some people might view it in that capacity.”
I looked at him. “Why are you caring for him? He never showed you any kindness.”
“It does not matter. I understand why he could not show me kindness, because I am not worthy of such things due to my affliction,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “But he is family, Riley. It is my brotherly duty to look after my family if they are in need of help.”
“You’re a good man, Kaido Idrax. You really are.”
He flinched. “You are not going to try and embrace me again, are you?”
“I’m not, you can relax.” I smiled, though inside I felt hollow. How many other soldiers were suffering the way Sarrask was? How many soldiers had never even made it home? How many soldiers were still out there, fighting for peace—an oxymoron, if ever I heard one? It burned me up inside to know that this war was showing no signs of being over. Jareth and his anti-elixir might level the playing field, but then what? Would it lead to even more death? The thought made me shudder. I just hoped one of our group had the solution, tucked secretly away at the back of their mind.
“Are you coming back in?” Kaido wondered.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think I’m ready.”
“That is understandable. Sarrask’s condition is very difficult to deal with.”
“I’ll leave you to it.”
Leaving Kaido on the landing, I trudged down the stairs to find Nova. Right now, I was in desperate need of my daughter’s cuddles. I wanted to hold her closer than I’d ever held her before, and never let her go.
Reaching the kitchen, I found Seraphina sitting on the well-worn bench, whispering to my baby girl. Nova was staring at Seraphina with her big, slate eyes, giggling and grasping at the front of her shirt. My friend had changed into some of the spare clothes we’d stored away in the ship, choosing the biggest size we had to fit over her distended belly, and was looking a lot more like herself. She looked up at me with a glowing smile as I approached and sat down beside them.
“She is beautiful,” she cooed, jiggling Nova’s little hand. “She may be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“Until yours comes along, you mean?” I replied, with a knowing smile.
“I know I shall adore this child with all my heart.”
“Do you know what you’re having?”
Seraphina shook her head. “There was no time to discover the sex of the baby. Gianne threw me in prison before I had the chance to find out. Although, I have my suspicions that it may be a boy,” she explained. “But, whatever it is, I shall love it all the same. I do not mind what I have, as long as it is happy and healthy.”
I could see how happy she was at the prospect of becoming a mother, but my heart still ached for her. Aurelius was the father, and this baby had no doubt been forced on her by that evil bastard. How could she be so pleased about it all, unfazed by where it had come from?
“If it’s not a rude question… why did you decide to have the baby now? I know you coldbloods can postpone pregnancy for a long time if you want to. Did Aurelius give you something to keep you from doing that?”
She smiled tightly. “Yes, Aurelius injected me with something in the first few months of my pregnancy, to stop me from postponing it. But when he went to join Ezra, I was left with a dilemma—I still had time to postpone the pregnancy, or I could continue with it. Believe me, I thought about halting the gestation for a long time, even though it was the only thing standing between me and death. If I’d postponed the pregnancy, Gianne would have executed me.” She paused. “But it wasn’t fear of death that kept me from preventing this little one from coming into this world. It was fear of not knowing them. It was fear of waiting forever to find out who they might become. I know it doesn’t make any sense, considering the torment Aurelius put me through to get here, but I wanted to know this little one and be its mother. As soon as I realized that, I vowed to love this child despite its father.”
“Rask, you’re a brave woman.” I chuckled, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into my embrace, the three of us girls sharing a moment together.
“Nice to see you’re picking up the coldblood tongue,” Seraphina commended me. “Anyway, I thought the child might bring a light back into my life. There was a point when it had grown so dark because of Aurelius and his cruelty. I know it seems selfish to want to bring a child into a war-torn nation, out of nothing but my own loneliness and maternal desire, but I must know this little person. I have to find out who they might be.”
“It’s not selfish at all,” I assured her. “The moment I found out about Nova, I knew I wanted to keep her. Ezra and Aurelius thought they were forcing me to have her, but there was no force necessary. Had the circumstances not been what they were, I would have happily grown her in my belly for nine months and welcomed her arrival. My only regret is that they stole that from me and gave my daughter this addiction in the process—they stopped me from experiencing all those wonderful things that pregnant women talk about, at my own pace, and they hurt my child by doing it. I’ll never forgive them for that.”
Seraphina had already been briefed on everything that had gone on with us. She knew about the attack on Earth, the Stargazers, what had happened at the rebels’ space station, all of it. Although, nothing had horrified her more than learning about what I had endured on that space station. Now, she looked sad, as though she wished she could fix it somehow.
She rested her head against mine. “But look at the gift you have been given, in spite of all that.”
I smiled down at Nova. “I know. I feel like the luckiest woman in the universe. If anything, knowing what we’ve both been through together, it makes me love her more than I ever thought possible.”
“I think that might be because she is yours—of your body and of your blood.” Seraphina laughed.
“I suppose I am a bit biased.”
“Not at all. I imagine I shall be just as besott
ed with my own! I shall think him or her the most glorious child to ever enter the world, and I won’t have anyone tell me different.”
The two of us chuckled, the sadness dissipating.
“She has Navan’s eyes,” I said, taking Nova from Seraphina’s arms.
She nodded. “But she has your face. Your features are mirrored in hers. And she definitely has your sense of joy. She seems to enjoy laughter above all things—your sense of humor, no doubt, as Navan does not have one.”
I howled with laughter. “He can be funny when he wants to be… but she does do these hard stares sometimes that crack me up. I can just see Navan doing the same thing, like they both hate everything in the world and are judging it in one brutal look. Like, the kind of look that could make grown men cry. She usually does it when she wants feeding, which, oddly enough, is exactly when Navan does it, too.”
We collapsed in a fit of hysterics, clinging to each other as we released our laughter, getting more and more raucous as the seconds passed, unable to control it. It felt so good to just giggle with a girlfriend, mocking my beloved husband in the best kind of way.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Seraphina placed her hand on my arm. “I don’t want to bring down this wonderful tone, my dear friend, but I understand that there shall be many challenges to come for you and the others,” she said. “I just want you to know that I will take care of your little girl while you are away, fulfilling these missions you have been given. It shall be my pride and joy to do that for you.”
“You know something, Seraphina? You might be the bravest, strongest, most noble woman I have ever met,” I said, overcome with adoration for her. “To me, you’re the very definition of grace and honor.”
She flushed. “Thank you, Riley, though I assure you I am not.”
“But you are, and you’re humble, too. After everything you’ve been through, you still believe there’s good in everything. That’s what makes you… well, that’s what makes you so wonderful.” I wasn’t sure whether to tell her the full truth about Orfaio’s prediction, in case it stopped it from coming true. I couldn’t risk that.
A small smile played upon her lips. “I might not believe there is good in everything, dear Riley, but despite all the hardship we have endured, I do believe there is good to be found in Vysanthe.”
And that is why you’re the only one who can lead her into the future, I thought, holding my tongue.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A short while later, Ronad burst in through the front door, clutching a comms device in his hand. The others had drifted down to the main space, all of us congregated around the table to eat the meager rations that Kaido had stored away. Kaido himself was notably absent, as well as poor Sarrask. There was blood for the Vysantheans, and some dried fruit and seeds for the rest of us. It wasn’t exactly gourmet, but it filled a gap. Plus, we still had the food printer on the ship to use when we needed it. Ronad beamed at the group, plonking himself down on the bench opposite, brandishing the device as though it were the most precious thing in the universe.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” I asked.
“I’ve been doing some cyber-digging,” he said proudly. “I’ve managed to track down this Nisha from the fighting pits. As fortune would have it, she’s now working at Gianne’s palace as a guard.”
Jareth smiled. “Very fortunate indeed,” he mused. “There are several ingredients that Navan and I require for the anti-elixir, and I know for certain there are some in the palace alchemy labs. If we must head there, it shall be fortuitous for all of us.”
“You aren’t worried Gianne will lock you up again the moment she sees you?” Bashrik muttered.
“If she sees me, dear boy,” he replied casually. “I presume you do not plan to charge in there, guns blazing? That would be very foolish indeed.”
Lauren looked pensive. “He’s right. We can’t rely on Stone to freeze everyone, because as soon as he looks away they’ll come after us.”
“Aye, it’d be worth our while to break into this palace the same way we wangled our way into the prison—best not to attract too much attention, if ye catch me drift?” Stone agreed.
“You humans really are fascinating,” Jareth said, glancing at Lauren before turning to Stone with curiosity. “And you… well, you are remarkable in your own right. I was certain our species destroyed yours a long time ago, yet here you are, alive and well. The last of your kind, I would wager?”
The ambaka grinned. “Doubt I’ve been called remarkable in all me born days, old man Idrax, but I’ll take it. And aye, if ye must know, your lot left me as a one o’ a kind sort o’ deal.”
“No hard feelings, I trust?”
“Ain’t no use in bearin’ grudges. Won’t change ought or bring ‘em back now, will it?”
“No… indeed.”
So, infiltrating Gianne’s palace was a way to kill two birds with one stone. We could find Nisha and try to convince her to join our cause, and we could find the ingredients needed for the anti-elixir. The pieces were definitely coming together now. Although, it wasn’t going to be an easy task, getting inside the palace without anyone discovering us. We’d need to be even stealthier than we’d been at the prison.
“Sneakiness is paramount,” Ronad said. “We can’t have everyone going in there—it’ll have to be a necessary-personnel-only kind of thing. For my part, I can use the comms devices and hack into multiple palace systems to help you navigate the floorplan from afar—cameras, floorplans, audio, satellites, infrared, you name it. Time to put my special ops training to good use. Think of me as the guiding voice in your ears.”
Jareth shot him a look. “I can navigate the palace quite well on my own, thank you very much.”
“Not with a bunch of guards everywhere, you can’t. I can keep you from running into anyone who might throw you back in your little sky cell.” He held Jareth’s gaze. “Besides, there’s no way in hell you’re going on this mission. You’re too much of a liability.”
“How dare you!”
Ronad shrugged. “It’s the truth. Right, guys?”
A murmur of agreement rippled around the group.
“Then I hope you know what you are doing,” Jareth muttered sourly.
Navan stepped in before anything could turn nasty. “Ronad’s got a point about the guards in the palace. We need to know where all the soldiers are, at all times, to stop this from going south real fast,” he conceded. “I know you know your way around, Father, but there will be much less risk without you wandering the halls. Everyone knows your face, and we can’t risk losing the only person who might be able to make the anti-elixir. Anyway, this whole thing will probably be easier with an eye in the sky, so to speak. You can use your knowledge to help Ronad out from here, by listening to the feed and leading the group to the ingredients.”
Neither Ronad nor Jareth appeared to be particularly happy about having to work together, the two of them refusing to look at one another.
“And I’ll be no use to you with my hands like this,” Angie complained, lifting her blistered palms. They were red, raw and weeping, though Kaido had done his best with poultices and ointments. They were looking a lot better, but they still weren’t healed.
“And I shall remain behind with Nova, to take care of her in your absence,” Seraphina chimed in.
Stone nodded. “Aye, well, I don’t mind gettin’ me hands a little dirty. Happy to lead the charge, just say the word. I mean, ye know I’ve got me freezin’ trick to keep us out of some bother. Not sayin’ it’ll protect us all the way through, but it’s better than nought.”
“And I have my staff,” Lauren added. “I can help fight if we need to, and I’m pretty good at being sneaky, thanks to Stone.”
He beamed with pride. “That’s me lass.”
“I’ll join you,” Bashrik said, though he gave no further explanation. Presumably, as with everything else since we’d left Aeon, this insistence had something to do with Orfaio’s cryptic
messages.
I nodded. “I’m coming too, if that’s okay.” I looked to Bashrik for some kind of confirmation. His silence spoke volumes.
“Naturally, I’ll be coming along as well,” Navan said. “I can fight, and I know my way around the alchemy labs.”
Immediately, Bashrik’s expression changed. “No… no, I don’t think that’s a good idea, Navan. I think you should sit this one out—stay behind and help Father with the anti-elixir prep and assist Ronad through the feed.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Navan countered. “If Riley’s going on this mission, there’s no way I’m staying here, twiddling my thumbs. No offense, Ronad.”
“None taken.”
Bashrik sighed. “I thought you might argue with me, but it really isn’t a good idea for you to go on this particular mission. Just stay behind, this once, for Rask’s sake. Riley will be fine on her own. She’s got the rest of us watching out for her, not that she needs it. The two of you went through the same training, remember?”
“I don’t care if we had the same training; I want to be there to protect her if anything happens. You’re walking straight into enemy territory, in a palace infested with guards. You must be mad if you think I’m not going! Nothing will keep me away.”
“Navan, you have to stay here.”
“Why, because that Stargazer said so?”
Bashrik was chastened. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Well, it’s pretty freaking obvious that’s why you don’t want me to go, and frankly I think it’s a load of crap. I hate that Stargazer’s stupid, cryptic advice. He said they were possible outcomes, not definite ones. What does it matter if I come along for this one? Is it really going to change that much?”
“You want to risk that?”
Navan growled. “This is ridiculous!”
“Listen, Brother, I’m not big on mysticism myself, but it hasn’t failed us so far. Maybe, just maybe, Orfaio’s advice is worth following.” Bashrik looked to his brother in exasperation. “I hate to say this, Navan, but this is bigger than all of us. It’s not about your feelings, or Riley’s feelings, or any of our feelings on certain things—it’s about doing what we were told, for the sake of everyone. Now, stop being a selfish son of a frostfang and stay behind. Riley will be just fine.”