by Emerson Fray
Chapter 12
Ren awoke groggy and confused. The last thing she remembered was Kian’s hair, and the way his eyes seemed a little off. As she tried to move she felt the metal cuffs cinch tighter around her wrists, and memories flooded back to her.
As unfocused and disoriented as she was, she remembered Kian aiming a gun at Sheridan and pulling the trigger. She shot up, handcuffs clinking together as she whispered, “Sheridan!”
“Not here, Princess,” Kian said, biting into an apple. He was across the room from her, giving her the space she’d always wanted from him. Ren surveyed everything, taking note of the ancient brick walls and the broken down furniture. She threw her legs over the edge of the old couch, taking in Kian’s odd appearance. He wasn’t wearing his cape anymore, or his fancy clothes that made him look like nobility—no, he was wearing a pair of jeans, with a green cotton shirt and black jacket. His hair was shocking against the dark fabric, and it no longer draped elegantly over his shoulder; he wore it in a high ponytail now, a devilish grin on his lips. The sleeves were rolled up to display white tattoos on his forearms, all in the pattern of flames.
“You’re a rebel?” Ren asked, her voice hoarse. “How?”
“I wouldn’t call myself a rebel,” Kian said, “I’m a revolutionist. I was next in line to lead Novae, but things changed a couple months ago.”
“When the Monarchy came,” Ren replied. “So now you plan to kill my father?”
Kian sighed. “I’m not going to kill anyone if I don’t have to. I’m hoping he’ll just—fly away in his big ship.” He waved a hand across the air between them. “Novae doesn’t want any outsiders here.”
“Is that why the Prime Minister gave up his seat so easily, then?” Ren questioned. “Or the people hold a party in our honour, or maybe because—”
“They did that because they had no choice,” Kian spat, standing. He tossed the apple into a nearby can. As it rattled loudly it reverberated in Ren’s mind, making her wince. “And you better not try anything or Enn will have your head.”
“She’s the leader?” Ren remembered that Enn was flying the ship, but her features were off. She’d been too focused on Kian at the time, and the gun he now gallantly displayed on his hip. She couldn’t remember what Enn looked like.
Kian laughed. “She’s the driver,” he said, moving up to Ren quickly. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” He hauled her to her feet, dragging her towards the wooden door. When he slammed it open a few loose bricks fell to the dirt, but Ren didn’t have time to care about the sound that pounded against her skull; the world she stepped into was nothing like the Novae she’d seen so far.
It was as if she’d been thrown into another century; a small town filled with brick buildings, and high treetops, and vehicles that moved along the dirt with wheels. Ren smiled.
“This is amazing,” she breathed. “What is this place?”
“You aren’t supposed to like it,” a woman shouted. Across the wide street Ren spotted the source of the voice drop down from a wooden balcony, her lips tight. She recognized Enn instantly, and the fuzzy image in her mind cleared. “You’re kidnapped; this is a hostage situation. You should be scared!”
Ren nodded, barely listening. “But look at this place! Everything is made of—of brick, and those things have wheels.” She laughed. “I just—are these the ruins that everyone talked about?”
“Some of them,” Kian replied. He held the chain between her hands, but she felt his grip loosen when she didn’t try to run immediately. He mentioned, “You would never escape from here if you tried.”
She shook her head, still peering at the odd buildings. “I don’t plan on trying.”
Enn flinched. “What is this, a joke? We’re revolutionists—you should be scared we’re going to kill you and send your head to your father.”
“Okay,” Ren agreed. “Can I just be scared and get a closer look at everything? Like that?” She tried to move towards one of the vehicles as it passed behind Enn, but Kian tugged on the cuffs.
The people that surrounded them dressed similar to Kian and Enn, and Ren wondered how they hadn’t been found yet. If everyone knew where the ruins were, why not attack them? Surely Maks and the Monarchy would have found this place with the scanners by now.
Ren looked overhead and saw the familiar shimmer of an EM field. “You’re cloaked,” she guessed. “How are you doing that? Cloaking technology is only used by the Monarchy—is that how the planet was hidden?”
Enn crossed her arms, and in the daylight Ren could see her black eyebrows shimmered green when the sun hit her just right. “That’s none of your business,” she said.
“Whatever,” Ren replied, still starry-eyed as she looked around. “Why didn’t you kidnap me sooner? Un-cuff me, I need to see this place.” She thrust her hands towards Kian and he shrugged, taking a key from his pocket and sticking it into the lock.
“Kian!” Enn shouted.
“Relax, Enn,” he ordered. “She isn’t about to go anywhere.” When the cuffs came off Ren easily ignored the pain on her wrists but rubbed at the red marks left behind. She barely noticed the pain that shot up her arm from when Kian had grabbed it and took a few steps back to look at the building she had been kept in.
None of the buildings were larger than two rooms, Ren guessed, and from where she stood she could see five of them. She knelt down and picked a brick up, feeling the weight and roughness against her skin. It had been a while since buildings were constructed with such rough material. This was what Ren had always wanted, to explore the history of different worlds. She’d been hoping the Monarchy would come up with a way to uncover the sunken cities of Earth, but they were too focused on expanding civilization to explore what was lost. They were a lot like Elian in that regard. “Where are these bricks from?”
Kian shrugged again, leaning against the stones beside them. “Found them like this,” he said, “some of our historians think this was the first town built by our ancestors.”
“During the Beginning?” Ren asked.
“Before,” Enn answered. “That prophet talk isn’t listed in any of the books we found.”
Ren jumped to her feet. “Books?” she asked, trying to remain calm. She could see the gleam in Kian’s eyes, her former trump card going to him already. On the scow she remembered seeing something that had made her think she had an edge over him, but now it was hard to remember. Her head began to pound with her pulse and she had to sit down in the dirt just to make it bearable.
“You’re that excited about books?” Enn asked. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet. Kian—why don’t you figure out what they’re doing in the pit while I watch the Princess here.”
“Call me Ren,” she mumbled. “I hate being called Princess.” The word chilled her more than it normally did surrounded by rebels. A few passersby gave her looks of hatred and it felt different to be called Princess here. Surrounded by marble and silver it was a little more normal, at least, and nobody looked like they would slice her throat just for breathing.
“Ren?” Enn repeated. “What a stupid name.” She crossed her arms and looked away.
“It’s almost the same as yours,” Ren retorted.
“Play nice,” Kian ordered, smiling at the girl. Enn’s jaw tensed as she bit down on her tongue, making Ren wonder what kind of comment she was resisting. “Remember, no killing.”
He shot another wink to Ren before walking off, shouting commands at two men to follow him. Enn didn’t move and watched him leave, and only when he had disappeared into the forest did she turn to Ren. “He likes you.”
“I think he thinks kidnapping me will get a reaction other than bloodshed from the Monarchy and my father,” Ren replied. She knew that the Monarchy didn’t really care about what happened to her on a personal level, but they cared about how they looked. And having the daughter of their newly appointed King kidnapped wasn’t going
to go over well. It wouldn’t be long before Royal Scows began to Fall out of wormholes and tear Novae apart.
Enn rolled her eyes. Taking another look up at the glimmering field, Ren wondered what kind of power source they had used to create it. Even Elian couldn’t find one strong enough to expand further than a few feet; how had they gotten one so far overhead? Did it have to do with hiding the planet for so long?
“We’re more organized than you think,” Enn stated. “We’re backed by the Jade Daggers.” She held her head high, as if that meant something to Ren. When Enn realized it didn’t mean a thing, she sighed. “You really don’t know anything about Novae; you aren’t fit to rule.”
“I’m learning,” Ren declared. “And I never said you weren’t organized.”
“Well if your father comes for you, you can let him know that there’re more of us than he thinks,” Enn spat. “And we’re a lot closer than you—”
“Abetha?” Ren shouted. Over Enn’s shoulder she saw Abetha walk out of the forest, her hands filled with fresh fruit. She gaped, unsure of how to react to seeing her Guide there. “You’re—”
“What are you doing here?” Abetha questioned. “This wasn’t…” She looked to Enn for an explanation, but Enn smirked instead.
“Surprised your faithful servant is part of our organization?” Enn asked. Overhead the EM field shimmered as drops of rain hit it. Enn cursed under her breath. “Kian will kill me…but I need to check on the battery. Abetha you look after the prisoner.”
Abetha nodded and passed the fruit to another nearby rebel. He gave a glare to Ren, but never said a word. Ren still didn’t know what to do about seeing Abetha there.
“When did you have time to be a rebel?” Ren asked.
Abetha’s nervous demeanour was still there, but it was so toned down that Ren questioned if it was still a trick. Abetha never played with the hem of her shirt, and while she would normally look away from other’s eyes she stared straight into Ren’s. “This was something I had to do.”
“I didn’t ask that,” Ren argued. “You were with me almost all the time, when did you—”
“You’re more oblivious than you think,” Abetha interrupted, making Ren flinch. “When they were deciding on who to take—you or Elian—I said it should be you.”
“Oh, great, thanks.” Ren crossed her arms, feeling defensive.
“I said it should be you because…I think you’re more on our side than theirs.” Abetha shrugged, pulling at the high collar on her shirt. She zipped it down to get more air, unashamed to show more skin; she wasn’t anything like she pretended to be in Mahendra. Ren kind of liked it.
“I…” Ren sighed. “I don’t know what to think right now. Is Sheridan…?”
Abetha exhaled, something close to a sigh. “Sheridan is not. I imagine she’ll be rampaging through the forest to find you though, considering who escorted you here.”
“Kian?” Ren asked. “Why would Sheridan care who it was?”
“They’ve been rivals for a long time,” Abetha said, holding her arm out and gesturing towards the path. They began walking down the road, and Ren was too blindsided to notice any more historical artifacts that surrounded her. She didn’t even try to ride on the carriage. “Kian is the only warrior ever to best Sheridan in a battle.”
“So I’ve been told,” Ren said, “repeatedly.”
Abetha chuckled. “Kian chose you, you know. It wasn’t just my decision.”
Ren looked around at the insurgents, wondering which one could be the leader. By the way Kian spoke, she thought it might be him, but if he led them why be the one taking the most risk? Maybe that’s what makes him the leader, she thought.
“Does Kian think I’m on his side?”
“Kian was upset you ignored his advances.”
Ren stopped on the path. “Are you kidding me?”
With a shake of her head Abetha said, “No woman has ever said no to Kian; I think he wanted to punish you by taking you here.” She giggled. “He’s such a child.”
Ren looked at the bricks. “This doesn’t feel like a punishment.” She felt the large bump on the back of her head. “Well, maybe a little bit.” There was a pause between her and Abetha, something that happened often but was now different. How many people here wanted Ren or her father dead, and how many would be willing to kill? Ren knew the Novaeans weren’t nearly as innocent as they appeared but she hoped they wouldn’t go as far as to kill.
And then she remembered the arrow that had gone flying past her head, mere inches away from imbedding into her skull. She looked to Abetha, saw that same gentle smile, and realized most everything she’d seen until now was fake. That kindness and nervousness that Ren related to wasn’t real. It was just an act to gain her trust.
“So how long will I be here for?” Ren asked. And how many people should I worry will try to murder me?
“Kian wants to make a trade,” Abetha revealed. “The rogue that sent an arrow at you is one of our strongest members. We hope to get him back.”
“So he can kill my father?” Ren questioned.
Of all things, Abetha laughed. “Oh, my, no. So we can punish him.”
Abetha started walking again while Ren froze. She wasn’t sure she’d heard that right, and hurried to catch up. “Could you repeat that?”
“He went rogue,” Abetha explained. “He attacked you before we had any preparations made. We need to punish him ourselves in order for that not to happen again.” She looked over her shoulder at Ren. “Not everyone here is as obedient as they seem, even to us.”
“Who is ‘us’, exactly?” Ren asked. “Is Kian the leader?”
“In a way,” Abetha said. “He’s the strongest, and if all goes well, he’ll lead Novae into a new age.”
Ren thought Enn didn’t seem to take her leader very seriously and wondered what else might be going on. As they walked Ren began to get nervous, her hands sweating hard enough she had to rub them on her pants just to make it bearable. She looked up when the EM field shimmered again and completely vanished.
“That’s better,” Abetha murmured.
“You know what it did?” Ren asked.
“It’s at full power now,” Abetha said. “And yes, I know about EM fields, and cloaking devices, and even scows. My mother taught me everything I know.”
“So I assume that means you can read,” Ren said, thinking of all the times she’d tried to get Abetha to pick up a book. It was no wonder she was so hesitant to try—she already knew how. Abetha only nodded at Ren, not even the slightest bit perturbed by revealing all her secrets. The fact that nothing was being hidden now didn’t sit well with Ren. If nothing was being hidden from her that meant they were most likely planning for her to die—or at the very least attack the manor.
The one thing that sat worse with Ren was the fact that she would have to wait around for the last people she wanted to come and save her; the Monarchy. Even with Sheridan’s abilities, and Maks’s, they weren’t about to single-handedly rescue her.
Still, she hoped Sheridan would show up before the Monarchy.
A humming erupted overhead, and directly above the ruins Fell a Royal Scow. Ren knew immediately that it was her father’s scow, the Stormbringer, because there was no way Maks would call for any other ship. She couldn’t tell if it was scanning for her, but everyone around her stopped what they were doing and waited, their eyes on the war machine.
No longer able to see the EM barrier, Ren knew that the chances of being spotted were low but she held her breath just like everyone else. Sitting just below the clouds, the Stormbringer waited, and soon flew off. And only then could she and the rebels could breathe again.
“See?” Abetha asked. “It’s a strong field.”
“I never questioned that.” They must have thought she looked down on them, because every chance people got, they told her how strong they were. But that was not something Ren had
ever thought about questioning. With their constant reassurance she thought she needed to question it. Someone that was truly strong didn’t need to say it repeatedly.
“Come on,” Abetha said, “I’ll show you around.”
