The Princess Rebellion (The Kyroibi Trilogy Book 2)

by Christina McMullen

  Chapter 10

  Prince Gevandar caught Ellie’s eye and frowned as he turned away. Anger swelled as she took off at a run. Clearly, the prince knew he was in the wrong. He didn’t care if those aboard were the enemy or not, he had given the order to kill. What Ellie wanted to know was why.

  But before she could confront him, a small blur appeared in front of her. Mikk was on Gevandar before Ellie had gotten close enough to speak.

  “You’re a monster, Gev,” Mikk growled, the respirator making the sound even more menacing. “You’re no better than Emperor Svoryk and I’ll wager ten times worse than Emperor Nyessovor! Are you as well under the command of a malevolent force or is your ambition your own?”

  “I have no intention of explaining myself to Paisreatta scum,” Gevandar sneered and tried to move around Mikk, but the short figure pulled out a staff, pointing it forward in a threatening manner.

  “Paisreatta scum who can and will take you down if necessary.”

  Ellie was shocked, but inwardly, she was grateful to see that there was someone else willing to stand up to the arrogant prince. Especially in light of his reckless attack. Mikk reached up with one hand and removed the respirator, tossing it aside. From behind, Ellie still could not see the pilot’s face, but the revelation of Mikk’s identity seemed to come as an unwelcome shock to Gevandar. The color all but drained from his face, though he quickly recovered with another show of arrogance.

  “Traitors making threats will not be taken lightly.”

  “Go ahead, tell leadership who I am and what crimes you think I’m guilty of, and I shall make sure you are given the same punishment for your treachery.”

  Without the mask, the rasping voice disappeared, replaced by a tone that was clearly feminine and had a familiar lilt. As the two continued their staring match, Ellie stayed where she was, waiting to see what would happen next, but before either said another word, Commander Vonsse came barreling towards them with an expression of pure fury.

  “Prince Gevandar, please explain your motives,” he roared. “Interrupting a planned tactical maneuver and endangering the lives of my team, including Eidyn Master El’iadrylline, would be completely inexcusable under any circumstance, but coming from someone with the military background to know better, I have to wonder of your intentions.”

  Gevandar again looked at Ellie, a glint of something unreadable in his eye.

  “I was of the impression that Lady El’iadrylline was to be part of the ground rescue crew. That she was caught in the crossfire was the fault of her own impulsive and unnecessary heroics.”

  “My own what?” Ellie took a step forward, unable to contain her anger. Her pulsing diodes all but blotted out the daylight radiating from Ghowrn Major. “I came here to assist in a rescue. That I found myself in the position of escorting the battleships to the planet’s surface is entirely due to your arrogant and quite frankly murderous intentions.”

  “I don’t have time for dramatics,” Gevandar said with a theatrical yawn, but was quickly cut off by Vonsse.

  “Is it not then true that when Captain Arvanon told you he would have his squadron join the escort mission you threatened his family?”

  “I merely reminded the captain that punishment for treason would mean exile. That I’d allow him to bring his wife and children is a mercy.”

  “What?” Ellie gasped. “Mikk is right, you’re a monster. You’re a monster and you are a danger to peace. I call into question your mental fitness as leader of the Alliance. Officially. There will be a trial. Oh, and you can be damned sure you are not getting your hands on any Eidyssic technology, let alone the Limitless Battalion.”

  She stormed away before she could say anything else, noticing that her hand actually twitched with a physical urge to slap the smug from his face. From the look of it, she wasn’t the only one. Bethany stood nearby in a tight knot with the other Eidyssic pilots, whose expressions ranged from shock to full blown anger. Vitokk stood with them and Ellie was sure his fast talking was the only reason Bethany hadn’t jumped Gevandar yet.

  Even Ka’griannas, who had finished questioning Captain Arvanon, now strode toward Gevandar with a determined look that didn’t bode well for the future of his leadership. But as much as she would have loved to see Gevandar get yet another dressing down, she had other worries. Specifically, two heavily armored figures watching from the sidelines and conversing with Richard.

  El’iadryov caught her eye first and smiled as Ellie ran toward them.

  “Thank goodness you’re both safe,” she said in a rush as she joined the group. “You are safe, right?” she added, noting some rather scary looking scorch marks on her father’s armor and what looked like the marks of some sort of giant claw on Julian.

  “Entry was a little rough,” her father said with a dismissive smile as he began removing pieces of armor, examining each as he did. “The markings are superficial. I will have to bring these back to Fionnia’s laboratory for further study, but I do believe these prototypes fared better than expected. Though I would not recommend anyone who isn’t Eidyssic attempt to surf the wing of a spacecraft any time soon.”

  Ellie raised her eyebrows. “You’re acting rather casual considering you did just that.”

  “I’m not the one who has to deal with the larger issue,” El’iadryov quipped dryly, casting a glance to the group Ellie had just left.

  “There will be consequences for his actions, I hope?” Richard added as he too turned to where Gevandar was now in a heated discussion with the Eidyssic leader.

  “Oh, I made sure of it,” Ellie muttered before turning her attention to Julian, who had produced a small recording device and was cataloging the damage on his armor as he removed each piece.

  “You’re okay?” Ellie asked, noting one of the gashes had dented the armor pretty badly, though Julian did not appear to be injured.

  “The guiding array collapsed. It was nothing to worry about,” he assured her, turning back to the assessment.

  “Maybe nothing for you, but I’ll have you know you freaked me the hell out, Julian,” she added, taken aback by his casual attitude.

  “I’m built to withstand that which would kill the average child of Eidyn,” he reminded her and Ellie had to wonder what purpose the reminder served.

  Without another word on the subject, Julian gave her a brief smile and headed toward the knot of Eidyssic pilots, who were a little less mutinous now that Gri had come to officially confront Gevandar. Ellie watched him go with a heavy heart. After all that, she received a smile only. It was bad enough he’d left for Du before she could get a proper goodbye, but that he maintained an emotional detachment was heartbreaking. Even if it was all an act for the sake of their public impression, it still hurt.

  She might have followed, but Gri was headed her way with a grim expression.

  “I heard your declaration,” he said without so much as a greeting. “Do you stand by your accusations of Prince Gevandar?”

  “That he isn’t mentally fit to lead the assembly? I do,” she said with more spite than she intended. What Gevandar did was inexcusable, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit it was Julian’s casual attitude that truly darkened her mood.

  “Then an official inquiry shall be made,” Gri said with a solemn nod. “I must warn you, however, that I do not expect this to be a swift or easy trial. There are some I suspect, who will stand firmly with the prince despite evidence. You may find yourself facing pressure from certain members.”

  “My mother, no doubt,” Ellie supplied, knowing exactly what it was Gri was hesitant to speak of. “It’s fine. This won’t be the first time we’ve gone head to head.”

  “Surely Isa won’t support Prince Gevandar once she’s heard of what he did here,” Richard said, eyeing them both.

  “Who’s to say?” Ellie shrugged her shoulders. “She thinks she can force me to marry that cretin. If she can see past the politics, maybe, but otherwise…” she trailed off, not in the mood to discuss
what she already knew was going to be an uphill battle. “If I’m not needed, I’d like to go speak to the rangers.”

  “Of course.” Gri bowed and turned to face his next hurdle, the group of pilots who each wanted their own revenge on Gevandar for putting their lives in danger.

  The refugee camp was a curious sight. Sonna was much like Earth in that it had cyclical temperatures and varied terrain, but everything seemed to be on a larger scale. The refuge was set in a forest, where tall buildings constructed of rough-hewn logs stood as high as the trees. Unlike the log cabins of Earth, the wood was placed vertically, creating buildings that blended seamlessly into the surrounding forest.

  With the imperial ships in the hands of the Eidyssic, the rangers themselves were focused on making sure everyone who had been aboard received the necessary medical treatment. Ellie stood off to the side for a moment, not daring to interrupt their work, when an older Sonnan caught her eye with a bow.

  “My lady, Eidyn Master,” he said with a swift salute. “Refuge Organizer Pendren at your command. I am pleased to announce there were no casualties aboard either imperial vessel, though the health of some that have come under our care remains a serious concern. We have our medics doing everything they can and I have called for the aide of any who can give it.”

  “Thank you for the update, Refuge Organizer, but please, just call me Ellie.”

  “Very well,” Pendren nodded. “If you’ll follow me, I do believe a briefing is in order and I’d rather some of what I must relay stay between us.” His eyes darted briefly to Gevandar, relaying in an unsubtle way the reason for secrecy.

  “Lead the way.”

  The interior of the building came as a complete shock. Where the outside had a rustic, if unorthodox appearance, inside was a state of the art facility closer in both aesthetics and technological advancements to her spaceship. Pendren led her to a bank of lifts and pulled from his belt a card that he placed against a symbol on the far left door. A blue light flared before the door slid open, allowing them entry into what reminded Ellie of a glass elevator from a fancy department store. Silver filigree work wrapped around the glass enclosure, creating something of a basket design.

  Ellie’s stomach did a small flip as they rose. They weren’t traveling at pulse speeds, but the lift moved faster than she would have expected, given the wide open view. As they crested the tree line, Ellie had to wonder if they weren’t headed directly into outer space, but when she looked up, all she saw above her was more trees.

  Finally, the lift stopped and the doors opened, affording her a view that was more in line with the log cabin appearances she was expecting from the building. Here, if it wasn’t for the floor to ceiling window looking out over the tops of trees that put the tallest of redwoods to shame, Ellie might have been able to convince herself she was standing in any one of a thousand national park offices across America.

  “Welcome to the raptor’s roost,” Pendren said with a smile, gesturing out the windows. “Sonna is home to more avian species than any other planet in the system. I say this merely as a warning, so that you are not startled if one of our larger feathered friends flies close. Perhaps on another occasion, I can have one of our specialists give you a tour of our fauna.”

  “Perhaps,” she replied with a smile. As interesting as the idea was, Ellie was far more interested in finding out what information Ranger Pendren had wanted to keep secret. Fortunately, he wasted no time getting to the point.

  “I asked law enforcement to immediately question those who remained in good health. What we have discovered will likely come as no surprise to you, but all claim they were sent to the ships against their will. No one has yet identified any of their fellow passengers as having any loyalty to Huptsov.”

  “You’re right. That’s exactly what we expected,” Ellie said with a long sigh as she sat down on a nearby bench. “Did anyone say anything that might lead us to what Nyessovor’s motivations might be?”

  “Not in as many words, but given the identities of some of the captives…” Pendren trailed off, looking momentarily uncomfortable before raising his eyes to study Ellie. “Understand that what I am to tell you cannot make its way to the assembly. Particularly the current leader.”

  “Refuge Organizer, given Gevandar’s willful recklessness, I am not currently inclined to share with him the time of day,” Ellie replied, barely keeping her voice civil. Whether Pendren understood Eidyssic diode speak or not, she was sure he at least got the gist of what her inner thoughts were.

  “Understood,” he said with a nod before taking a deep breath. “Among those who are currently under medical supervision is a young Fhasmyrric. He will eventually recover, but his injuries, I understand, were sustained while trying to keep imperial soldiers from forcing some of the elderly prisoners onto the ships. Once aboard, those who could did everything in their power to keep him stabilized, however, medical equipment was lacking to say the least.”

  “I’m sure,” Ellie said, more to herself as she pushed back the encroaching darkness in her mind. The idea of sending elderly and infirmed to their death struck her as a little too much like the atrocities of World War II. Svoryk, at least, operated out of a weakness for power, controlled by one far more powerful than he. But who was Emperor Nyessovor and what were his motives for genocide?

  “He has not awoken to confirm for himself, but several of those we have spoken with, including those he was trying to protect, claim he is the last living member of the Fhasmyrric high family.”

  “High family?”

  “The ruling class,” Pendren explained. “The SiFa cooperative is made up of several small prefectures, each governed by a family of royal lineage. Rather, it was, prior to occupation. Presiding over all independent nations was the high family, an elected group of royals who would serve as leader over both planets. The Fhasmyrric family of Oakwrn had just won the election not long before the Huptsovians took control of both planets.”

  “That is the boy’s family, the Oakwrn?” Ellie asked.

  “Oakwrn is their sovereign nation,” Pendren corrected. “The prince, Sozoak, was just a child when the royal family of Oakwrn won the election, narrowly beating the Sintarian royal family of Darwrn.”

  Out of the slew of names Ellie worried she would forget, a pattern formed, not unlike when the puzzle games she was fond of playing on her phone dropped a key clue.

  “Am I correct in the deduction that Darwrn is the sovereign nation Gevandar hails from?”

  Pendren nodded. “You have easily grasped the SiFa royal naming conventions. Gevandar was just a child at the time, but the rivalry between the two families runs deep.”

  “But the SiFa Cooperative holds no sway,” Ellie pointed out. “Sintar and Fhasmyr are both under the control of the Huptsovian Empire.”

  “Yes, well, no one thought to tell the free royals, apparently,” Pendren said with no small amount of sarcasm. “But yes,” he added with a more serious demeanor. “Your accusations against the leader will be difficult to prove, if I’ve read the current leadership council correctly, but know that you are not alone in your suspicions of ulterior motive. Prince Gevandar has shown his hand before and what I see is a man who is always looking over his shoulder. Which is why I would appreciate it if the assembly not know right away who was aboard the imperial vessels.”

  “I’m afraid I am in agreement, Refuge Organizer Pendren,” Ellie replied with a grim smile. “I hope for all of our sakes there are no loose lips about.”

  “I will make certain there are not.” For a moment, Ellie saw something hard in the otherwise kind face of the Refuge Organizer as he stared out over the treetops below them. But just as quickly, his eyes alit with kindness once more and he turned back to Ellie. “I will see you back to the camp, my lady. I am sure you will have much to discuss with the rest of your party.”

  “Thank you and yes, I sure do,” Ellie said, following him back to the transparent enclosure. She certainly had a lot she wanted to get
off her chest, but it wasn’t Gri she wanted to find first.

  Chapter 11

  Julian was already gone by the time Ellie left the briefing. In her frustration, she didn’t immediately notice that everyone else had cleared out as well until she spied Vitokk sitting alone in the atrium lounge area.

  “Where is everyone?”

  Vitokk smirked and gave a short nod toward her wrist.

  “I told ‘em you weren’t going to remember to check your messages. Your dads went off with Gri, presumably to speak with some other leaders about Gevandar’s behavior. The Blue Crew’s sticking around to help tear down the imperial ships. No surprise, Bethany went with them.”

  “Blue Crew?” Ellie raised her eyebrows and sheepishly checked the device on her wrist. Sure enough, there was a message from her father, Bethany, and Julian. She opened Julian’s and her heart dropped again. He’d returned to Korghetia. Alone. No explanation or even an excuse as to why.

  “Hey, don’t look at me, Bethany named ‘em and Bryotonnae thought it was clever enough to use as their squad name.”

  “What about Vonsse?” she asked, mostly to distract herself from going down a dark path. There was no sense in speculating on Julian’s strange behavior before she had a chance to talk to him about it.

  “Huh,” Vitokk let out a snort. “You know, for all his distrust and questioning my loyalties, my brother sure has a lot of secrets. Just a few minutes before you showed up, he and I were sitting here speculating about what our next move might be when that first officer of his comes running outta the woods like her head was on fire. She said something quickly and too quietly for me to hear, but whatever it was, it had Vonsse up and on his feet in an instant.”

  “Makes sense,” Ellie said with a distracted nod.

  “Does it?” Vitokk gave her a scrutinizing look.

  “Well,” she said, embarrassment lighting her face. “I’m not supposed to say anything, but one of the passengers is someone who would be of interest to Vonsse. But you didn’t hear that from me and you better make sure Gevandar doesn’t hear that from anyone.”