by Rebecca Rode
The corridor was strangely quiet. Harlow slowed to check behind him. “Should we wait for the others?”
“Stay here and signal me when they come. I’m not sure which is the right room.” She placed her knife back into her boot and walked on, feeling the presence she’d followed for the past half hour grow larger and more prevalent in her thoughts. So close. The emperor himself, the man everyone said never left Empyrean, was right here on this ship. And she was going to kill him.
She halted right in front of the wall between two doors. There. Just on the other side.
Ember eagerly headed for the nearest doorway, but when she peered inside, she found a simple meeting room with a desk and chair. No closet, no exit.
Frowning, she tried the other room. Same.
She returned to the wall, feeling the man’s presence more strongly than ever. He should have been right here. If she broke through, she’d come face-to-face with the man. Had he hidden himself in the walls somehow? She gritted her teeth and reached for his light. Her arm slammed against something hard and invisible.
“That was very entertaining,” Ruben said, stepping out of the conference room down the hall.
Ember whirled to warn Harlow, but he was gone. The corridor behind her stood empty.
Ruben walked slowly toward her. “If you’re concerned about your friends, they’re on their way to a prison cell. They’ll be treated as fairly as they deserve.”
Ember’s retort caught in her throat. She hadn’t come all this way to deliver her team into the Empire’s hands. “So you direct troops now?” she snapped. “I thought you were above such things.”
“They align with my goals at the moment.” Ruben winked. Heat rushed to Ember’s cheeks as she remembered this man taking over her soul, forcing himself on her.
Her voice shook with barely controlled rage. “If you ever touch me again, I’ll kill you.”
“You would try, no doubt.”
His amused smirk only enraged her further. “After we fed you, clothed you, provided housing for your people. We had little enough to spare as it was.”
“The Daughter has plenty of resources. She simply keeps them to herself.” Ruben paused, then turned slightly. “I know you’re there, soldier. If you want to live, slide your stunner to me.”
Ember was confused until she saw Harlow emerge from the other end of the hall, stunner pointed directly at Ruben.
“Tell us where the emperor is,” Harlow said, creeping slowly toward them. His voice shook a bit, but his aim was steady. “They say fatal mode will kill a flare same as anybody. Challenge me and we’ll find out.”
Ruben smiled patiently. “You aren’t even a flicker. Just a worthless little Union soldier.”
“Five seconds,” Harlow said. His voice was steady now, and he was only a few meters away. “Four.”
Ruben turned calmly back to Ember. “You know where the emperor is. You just don’t know how to get to him. I didn’t see it at first either. Not until I discovered Empyrean.”
“Three,” Harlow said.
Ember stared at Ruben, trying to comprehend his words. “He isn’t in Empyrean. He’s here, and I’m going to kill him.”
“Two.”
Ruben’s face darkened, all mirth gone. “You shouldn’t have come, flare. There’s only room for one of us.”
The five seconds were up. Harlow stood only three feet away from Ruben. He kept his weapon trained on the man’s chest, but he fixed a questioning gaze on Ember. He didn’t dare kill Ruben until Ember had the information she needed.
Ruben would never tell her where the emperor was. He was stalling. If they waited much longer, this mission would end with Harlow and Ember on their way to join the twins in prison. Or worse.
Fortunately for Ember, Ruben seemed unarmed. As distasteful as it seemed, it was clear she’d have to remove Ruben as a threat before she could reach the emperor.
“One of us it is.” She swiped the stunner from her belt and leveled it at him. But Ruben was already a blur of motion.
He slammed his elbow into her temple, sending her stumbling sideways as pain exploded throughout her skull. She managed to remain on her feet but realized too late that he’d swiped her stunner. Now Ruben aimed it at Harlow. The two figures lurched and spun in her vision.
“Fascinating you thought that would work,” Ruben was saying. “I’d expect it from a lowly Union soldier. But from you, Ember? I’m disappointed, truly. You never did see your potential.”
Ember gritted her teeth, holding her head with one hand to keep it from spinning. She fumbled at her belt with the other for another weapon but came up empty-handed. She threw her internal light at his shield, but it felt more solid than ever.
Why hadn’t Harlow taken a shot by now? Then she noticed Ruben held both stunners. Harlow had gone completely still, arm raised. Even then, unarmed and facing down a flare, he wore a determined expression.
She slid her hand down and retrieved the knife from her boot. Then she stepped toward Ruben, her knife raised. “Sitting at a leader’s feet is not potential, Ruben. Far from it.”
Ruben whirled, saw the knife, and aimed the stunner at her chest. His finger began to close on the trigger.
Harlow leaped.
He plowed into Ruben, knocking them both to the floor. One of the stunners hit the ground and slid away, but Ruben had a tight grip on the other. He growled and yanked it out of Harlow’s reach, trying to aim it at his opponent, who sent a massive punch to his eye. Ruben’s head recoiled, his grip on the weapon slackening just long enough for Harlow to swipe it from his hand and roll to his feet.
Ruben sat up slowly, holding his injured eye. “That was foolish, little soldier.” His voice was deadly.
Ember ran for the stunner that had slid away. Harlow leveled the other weapon at Ruben with a victorious smile. But then his smile tightened. His eyes went round, and he seemed frozen in place, unable to pull the trigger.
“No—” she said, realizing what was happening. She slammed into his inner light to reverse it, to force Ruben out somehow. But a shield every bit as impenetrable as Ruben’s own blocked her path.
Harlow’s wrist turned, the stunner rotating around until it was pointed at his chest. The surprise in his gaze turned into pure panic. Then his finger tightened on the trigger.
His head snapped back.
For the second time in months, Harlow toppled slowly to the ground. This time he lay still, a permanent expression of shock on his face.
Ember released a strangled gasp and threw herself toward Harlow. She watched his chest for movement, but there was none. This wasn’t happening. His purpose, the reason the stars had saved him—Harlow was supposed to avenge his Lillya and escape, not die saving Ember’s life.
I’m so sorry, my friend. I failed you yet again.
“Messy when weapons get involved,” Ruben said. “He only postponed your death, I’m afraid. It has taken far too long to dispose of you.” The pressure on her shield began again.
It was nearly crippling now. She felt him closing that invisible fist around her shield, trying to weaken it. It couldn’t hold forever. “It’s the Empire I’ve come to defeat, not you. I’m not leaving until the emperor is dead.”
“Ah, but my dear Lady Flare. You don’t understand how these things work. The emperor is more than a person. He’s an icon, a figurehead. If he were to be killed, another would take his place and the realm would resume business as usual.”
“And you want to be that person.”
“My purpose today is in stopping you from killing the emperor. Whether he lives or dies is not up to you. His life is in someone else’s hands.”
“Yours?” Ember snapped. She felt as if her brain were bulging out of her skull. Her heart galloped so fast she grew dizzy. Her shield still held, but it felt ready to snap.
“Mine, actually,” a woman said. The Daughter slipped out of the conference room Ruben had just exited. She wore a slender white dress, her loose curls h
anging down over her shoulders. “Release her, Master Kane.”
The pressure ceased.
Ember blinked, trying to comprehend what was going on. Had he taken hold of her again and forced her to see things that didn’t exist? The real Daughter was evacuating with her people. She would never have come here alone, not when she could send Ember—her sand—instead.
Ruben stood with his fists clasped. “With respect, High One, the flare must be overcome quickly. Our business isn’t yet finished.”
The Daughter lifted her chin. “The flare could still be useful. She’s better known in the realm, which would add credibility to our plan. She lives for now.” The woman chuckled at the look on Ember’s face. “Young Master Kane and I have an agreement, Ember. I granted him a few favors in exchange for smuggling me onto my father’s ship.”
“You—you left your own people?” Ember asked, turning on the emperor’s daughter. “They’re fleeing for their lives, trusting you to protect them. They’re probably being overtaken by the Empire as we speak!”
The Daughter shook her head before she finished. “This is the only way to save them, Ember. They’ll understand eventually, and so will you.”
“I don’t want to understand. I want them to be safe! How can your being here possibly save anyone?” She was breathing hard now. “You were only using the Union to get the throne. You killed their original leader and turned the Union into what it should never have been. General Pyne told me the cause and what it was like before you came along. They were better off without you.”
“Lies,” the Daughter growled. “I never killed him. When he realized what he’d become, the pitiful man killed himself. Thankfully he named me his second just before it happened, or there would have been anarchy. I saved those people, and today I’ll do it again. If you’re a good girl, I may even let you watch.”
Ruben stiffened. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Eminence.”
“Keep a tight rein on her, and she’ll be fine. Won’t you, my sand? It feels appropriate that both my flares act as witnesses. Now, bring her along, Ruben, and stop complaining.”
So the two were on a first-name basis now. Loathing spread throughout her system. The Union could be fighting for their lives right now, and the Daughter was too busy flirting with the enemy to notice. Ember glanced at Harlow and felt a deep, hot anger rise up inside her. If Harlow couldn’t avenge his wife’s death, Ember would just have to avenge them both.
Suddenly Ruben was at her side. “You heard the lady. Time for the show.” He held a stunner at her back and nudged her forward. She knew he would use it at the first opportunity.
They made their way through the empty conference room to the back wall. The Daughter tapped it daintily. The outline of a door sprang up around her and slid open to reveal one of Ruben’s flickers standing at attention.
Ember took a step backward, staring at the doorway. There had been nothing there before, and now . . . a secret passage? She reached out inwardly, but the lives on the other side of the door felt incredibly dim, almost fuzzy.
“It fooled me too, at first,” Ruben whispered over Ember’s shoulder. “The chamber walls are impenetrable even for flickers. The emperor believed he was completely safe from detection, and he was right. Until we came along.”
Ember shuddered. So Ruben had tracked the emperor down in his hideout, then led the Daughter to him like an obedient dog. But why was the emperor even here? Surely he’d be safer in Empyrean.
The flicker guard’s gaze fell on Ember a moment longer than the rest. Then he nodded to them and stepped back to reveal a pile of bodies. Imperial guards. The corpses of the emperor’s protectors had been shoved to the side to allow passage through the dark, narrow corridor beyond. Her stomach churned.
The Daughter went first. Ruben pushed Ember in next, then turned toward the open door. A faint green light formed around the edges, and the wall replaced the empty space once again. One second the doorway had been there, the next it was gone.
But it was the effect on Ember that sent her gasping. The moment the hole closed, the outside world went blurry. Only those inside with her felt bright and real. It was as if she’d stepped into a different dimension. The emperor’s dim, flickering light now blazed brightly just a short distance away. Even sound functioned differently here. The dark walls seemed to absorb the very air she breathed.
They made their way through a series of short, dimly lit corridors, descending gradually. The last hallway ended in a single door, rounded like a hatch and lined with thick, black metal.
“Welcome to Empyrean,” the Daughter said and pushed the door open.
Chapter 29
A small, dark room lay beyond. An elderly man in a hospital bed rested in the center, eyes closed. Ember recognized the emperor immediately—or rather, an older version of the man the Empire had been showing for decades. Tubes ran from his arms to a pair of machines on his left.
A silver-haired woman in a white uniform lay facedown in the corner. Nausea rose up inside Ember. She’d come to kill the emperor, but she never intended for others to be harmed in the process. The deaths of the emperor’s caregiver and guards were unnecessary. They had just been following orders.
“I don’t understand,” Ember said. “Surely they have medical facilities on Empyrean.”
Ruben and the emperor’s daughter shared a smile. “This is Empyrean,” Ruben said. “He’s in a trancelike state, his body flushed with pleasurable drugs as he sleeps. Not a care in the world.”
No. That was wrong. She’d seen it—Empyrean was a beautiful place with high mountains and happy people. “But the others, those who earn ascension—”
“—all end up like this. It prolongs their lives. Most remain in this state for years, happily sleeping while the rest carry the burden of leadership, hoping to ascend themselves someday. They’re in chambers much like this one all over the universe.”
She attempted to grasp the reality, but it slipped through her fingers. Why would anyone want to sleep through their own lives? And what did he mean by chamber?
Ember took another look at the room. Beyond the shadows she could tell the walls were curved, built from the same metallic stone as the door’s lining. Occasionally a mark was visible, as if the stone had been scraped into shape. She touched it with the tip of her fingers. Cold.
“Ironboar stone,” the Daughter said, looking down upon the sleeping man. “My father wanted immortality. He said enemies and generals would come and go, but he would remain emperor forever. If the ship were destroyed, this chamber would survive. It has the capability to sustain his life unmanned for at least fifteen years.”
“But he was in contact with Commander Kane on occasion,” Ember said slowly. “I was present for one of their conversations.”
“He wakes up once a week,” the Daughter said. “Takes care of all business remotely, then goes back under. When I was a child he stayed awake for longer stretches, but now that the aging processes have taken hold, it takes longer for him to wake up each time. He just went back under, so he hasn’t quite reached his restful state yet.”
So the place Stefan had shown her on the screen was a set, its happy inhabitants actors. Soldiers, flickers, generals, and commanders spent their lives reaching for a mirage, an ideal that existed only in the minds of its people. The emperor had manipulated his supporters more thoroughly than Ruben could ever have done.
She had to tell Stefan. The entire realm deserved to know that their kingdom was built upon lies. They had to tear down the old before erecting something new—a reality built on truth and trust and mindfulness of all. That was what she wanted. That was why she was here.
That was why the emperor had to die.
“So you’re going to kill him and take his throne?” Ember finally asked, turning to face the woman. “You know they’ll never allow it.”
The woman took her father’s limp hand and squeezed it. Her tender actions would have been believable were it not for the ee
rie excitement in her eyes. “They will if their emperor decrees it. Ruben?”
“On it, Your Eminence.” He adjusted the settings on the bedside machine. A series of beeps sounded, then a new blue fluid flushed through the tubes connected to the man’s arms.
The emperor’s eyes flew open at once. A pained gasp tore from his lips and he sucked in air like a drowning man. A moment later his eyes seemed to focus, his gaze falling upon his daughter.
Shock registered on his face, followed by horror. “Lea,” he croaked.
“I’m here, Father.”
“Where’s Edy?” He didn’t have the strength to sit up yet, but he craned his neck until he caught sight of the white-coated body in the corner. His breath left him in a long sigh, and his head fell back against his pillow again. “This is it, then. You’ve come to kill me.”
“I have.”
He finally noticed Ruben, and his eyes narrowed. “You.”
“Did you expect somebody else, High One?”
“You were supposed to lead them,” he managed. “You—I thought you would be the one to—to stop her from destroying everything I built.”
“I’m afraid not, Your Eminence,” Ruben said. “You see, cleaning up a child’s messes is a father’s job. But I wouldn’t be too concerned. Your next state will be remarkably similar to your last.”
The emperor fought to rise, but he only made it a few inches before Ruben took control. Ember knew it the moment it happened. The fight left the emperor’s eyes, and all that remained was an old man. She could imagine him somewhere deep inside himself screaming and fighting for escape, experiencing the horror of knowing he was a prisoner inside his own body.
The emperor rose from his bed, moved to the opposite end of the room, and turned to sit down. Overhead lights flickered on, bathing his face in whiteness. A camera Ember hadn’t noticed before descended from the ceiling.
It was a set. This had to be where the emperor created his broadcasts. Stars. Had the man even left this room in the past decade?
