“It breaks my heart that you are right.” Mikk looked back out toward the organized chaos of the capital city. “There’s still a lot of distrust down there.”
“I wouldn’t expect that to change overnight,” Ellie replied. “But I do think taking Sintar next will go a long way towards mending fences.”
“Then I will do all that is within my power to push for a swift and efficient effort.”
“I have every faith you will,” she said, adding with a sniffling chuckle, “but I wish you luck anyway, Queen Meioak, most venerable of the Paisreatta Scum.”
“Good luck to you as well, Lady El’iadrylline, champion of primitive planets everywhere,” Mikk replied with a tearful, yet impish smile. “I feel you’re going to need it more than I.”
“Indeed,” Ellie murmured, frowning as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in one of the highly ornate mirrors that lined the hall.
Julian stood next to the ship, wondering if Ellie wasn’t deliberately drawing out her goodbyes in an effort to further avoid the assembly. He had given her space, choosing to return to Cald and assist with the effort to reunite refugees with their families. He knew that Ellie would find him when she was ready to face their next hurdle. Unfortunately, Alliance leadership was not as patient. When Ellie refused to return their requests, they turned to Julian in hopes that he would be able to convince his master to return.
At last he saw her, head down as she rushed across the expanse of the landing pad in an attempt to keep at bay the already circulating rumors of war. He knew, perhaps even better than she, that the liberation of Fhasmyr was but a small step forward in a larger battle. She lifted her gaze only for a moment, and only just before boarding the ship, but in doing so, communicated the fears they both shared.
The war had only just begun.
The first thing they noticed, upon debarking at the capital, was the eerie stillness. It was well into the night cycle, but typically, the capital was much like Ellie’s beloved New York in that it bustled around the clock. The quiet was not just unfamiliar, but seemed out of place given the celebration that was going on elsewhere in light of Fhasmyr’s liberation. Even Magorium’s long outdoor eatery was sparsely populated.
Inside the palace was even quieter. Her footsteps were like thunder to her ears in the empty hallways. Her legs felt like lead as she forced herself towards the assembly chamber. She had not been looking forward to meeting with leadership as it was, but the empty halls added an extra layer of dread.
When she reached the chamber, Ellie was taken aback. Only five leaders awaited their arrival. Notably absent was her own mother and of course, Prince Gevandar, who was likely still on Fhasmyr, but also Queen Romana.
“El’iadrylline,” Ka’griannas greeted her with a tight smile as his eyes met hers. “I am grateful you have joined us. And thank you, Julian, for facilitating her arrival.”
Ellie’s diodes flared with indignation, but only for a moment as she could not truly refute Julian’s part in her agreeing to the assembly.
“Why is it so quiet out there? And in here for that matter?” she asked, looking into the shadows of the cavernous room and seeing no one else.
“After the liberation, celebrations began to get… let’s go with boisterous. A curfew was imposed in the capital, though I assure you, Turss Summit is experiencing a bit of overcrowding at the moment. As for this…” Gri gestured to the empty table. “You are looking at what remains of the current leadership assembly.”
“What happened?” Ellie’s heart plummeted into her stomach as every worst case scenario played out in her mind.
“After Prince Gevandar returned, he confessed to everything we already knew, and some we didn’t. He has accepted voluntary incarceration…” Jorigul explained, pausing momentarily with obvious discomfort before meeting Ellie’s eye. “As have the remaining missing members of the assembly.”
“What?” Ellie began, but cut off as realization hit her. “The entity,” she said, searching Ka’griannas’ face for confirmation. “So only the royals felt it?”
“No, it seemed all of us sensed something untoward, but only those of royal birth felt weak against its lure,” Gri confirmed. “This is unsurprising, of course as their birthright makes them more susceptible to the promise of power."
“What is it though?”
“That, we unfortunately, do not know,” he continued. “Though we can confidently surmise that it is that which threatens peace in the galaxy.”
Ellie lowered her eyes. “I’d truly hoped the liberation of Fhasmyr would have brought an end to this.”
“If I am to understand, it is not a simple matter, convincing the Kyroibi that peace has been restored.”
“It is all but impossible,” Julian said, breaking his silence for the first time since they left Fhasmyr.
“It’s been done before,” Ellie countered, drawing all attention to her.
“The archive shows no record of the awakening,” Gri noted.
“There wouldn’t be,” she said quietly, cursing herself for speaking up. It was clear to her now that Master Yellenoae had made a much larger sacrifice than simply giving up the Kyroibi in order to keep the battalion from destroying Ghowrn once before. Ellie wasn’t sure she was strong enough to do the same, nor did she hope to ever have to find out. “I don’t want to say too much until I have a chance to speak with the council,” she went on. “What exactly is our next step?”
“The liberation of Sintar, I would imagine,” Fresson said. “Lady Meioak has agreed to a leadership position to the assembly under the condition that we one, also take on a Merata delegate, and two, that we first work toward securing all enslaved planets. Though I suspect, and you may concur, that the lady impatiently awaits her brother’s recovery so as to push delegation responsibilities onto him.”
“Indeed I would,” she said with a small huff of amusement before again sobering. “And the deposed leaders?”
“Will remain incarcerated until their departure.”
Ellie looked up sharply. “Departure?”
“They are being escorted to Earth. It was your mother’s idea and quite frankly, it’s a good one. She and Richard are well known on Earth. It would raise too many suspicions if they were to simply vanish. Plus Vitokk is returning to his wife and I believe Bethany is going back to tie up loose ends as well.”
“Sure, but the other two?” Ellie wasn’t sure how she felt about Prince Gevandar running amok on her home planet. Even though he had been helpful and turned himself over to the assembly in the end, she didn’t see a leisurely vacation on Earth as much of a punishment.
“Queen Romana is scandalized, of course, but she understands that this is as much for her safety as the safety of her people. Gevandar feels it is no less than he deserves.”
“But what’s to stop them from returning? Or for whatever it is to follow and take control of one of them while on Earth?”
“Well, for one thing, there will be no readily available ship. Your mother already handed over coordinates to the vessel she’d arrived in and we’ll have a team do a scan for any other errant ships that might be hiding in the Terran wilderness,” Jorigul replied.
“As for the entity,” Gri added, addressing the second part of her question. “Your mother feels, and the council agrees, that whatever it is, it seems to have an attachment to you.”
Ellie winced at the implication, but had no counter argument. Gevandar too had said that he only began to feel the effects after she had arrived on Korghetia.
“That being said, it stands to reason you are best suited to find and stop whatever this is. Isaverlline has also volunteered to assist if it becomes necessary to lure the entity into a corporeal host.”
Ellie’s stomach flipped. “Transgressions aside, I will not use my mother as bait. Nor the other prisoners, for that matter.”
“If it comes to that, we will do everything in our power to keep everyone safe,” Ka’griannas assured her. “But it would certain
ly help if we knew what it is we were up against.”
“Meaning the time for my visit to the temple is now.” She tried to keep the hurt from her voice, but failed. Going to the new Eidyn home world, meeting the council officially, and spending time in the temple should have been something she was looking forward to, but instead she was disappointed and impatient. At least she would have Julian. She’d hoped to wait until they were at the temple, and alone, to find out what he knew of Master Yellenoae.
“The council agrees,” Gri confirmed. “I would have liked to escort you myself, but I’m afraid there is too much to be done here and with nearly half our leaders in exile, well… I assure you, between the council and the temple keeper, you will be in good hands.”
“I understand,” she said with a sympathetic smile. To be honest, for as apprehensive as she was, Ellie was grateful that she was relieved from acting as a delegate to the leadership assembly. “Then I suppose I should prepare for my journey. I have a feeling this will be something of an extended stay. And I’d like to see my family before I go.”
“Of course,” Gri said. “Your mother and Richard are confined to their quarters. Your father is likely still on Cald.”
“Thank you,” she said, turning to each of the remaining members in turn, surprised to see looks of hopeful optimism on the faces of those who not long ago were wary of her. “Thank you all,” she added before taking leave, followed by Julian.
“You are coming with me, right?” she said once they were well out of earshot of the chamber.
“I will escort you to T’al Eidyn, but Ellie, no, I must go on to Ia’na Eidyn.”
She stopped, her heart hammering suddenly in her chest.
“You think you have a way to stop this?”
“I do,” he replied, but his refusal to look her in the eye sent up a red flag.
“You’re hiding something.”
“Yes.”
Ellie said nothing, but her gaze was unwavering as she stared him down. One way or another, he was going to tell her, but she did not relish the idea of forcing him with a command.
“Your father will be accompanying me,” Julian said at last. He didn’t have to say more. The look in her eye told him that Ellie knew El’iadryov would not be returning from Ia’na Eidyn.
Chapter 30
“I’m jealous,” Bethany told her as they rode the slow moving transporter to the private Eidyssic hangar. “Reg has been talking up T’al Eidyn ever since we met. Though I think now he’s just doing it to mess with me.”
Even with the full spectrum of implants and radical biological changes Bethany subjected herself to in the name of staying with Re’geya, there was still a period of adjustment where she would be unable to travel to any of the planets or moons that had a different mass or atmosphere from that of the planets of the inner Ghowrn system.
“I’ll let you know if it’s all that,” Ellie assured her with a smirk, but her heart gave a squeeze. “Can I admit I’m a little put off that I can’t go with you?”
“Ah, you’ll be back one day,” Bethany said, giving her a light punch in the arm. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give everyone your love and spread as many wild rumors as I can.”
“Why do I think you’re not joking?”
“Because you know me too well,” Bethany replied, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m gonna miss you, Princess, but you know I’ll be back soon. We still have a whole lotta war to win.”
“On that you are definitely not joking,” Ellie said with a grimace. “I feel guilty that I won’t be there to do my part for Sintar.”
“Do not speak so soon,” Gri cautioned. “You have the most difficult task of us all. Aside from perhaps Julian. I still can’t accept that he can easily shut down the battalion. It’s unheard of.”
Ellie’s hand went to the disk in her pocket. Unheard of was not the same as impossible, but again her heart squeezed. Yellenoae had given her the pieces. She hoped that the secrets of the temple would supply her with the know how to complete the puzzle without resorting to what she now suspected was his extreme solution.
Her grim thoughts were put temporarily on hold when the transporter brought them up to the wide, cavernous hangar. Standing alone in the center, like a three story misshapen egg, was the Eidyssic flagship of the Kyroibi master.
“She’s got a clean bill of health,” Reg informed her with an infectious grin as he and the other technicians stepped aside to give her full access.
“I’ve missed you, girl,” Ellie said, patting the pliable outer shell of the sleek space craft. Though she joked, she was surprised by the sudden jumble of emotions that surfaced as she realized she had indeed missed the ship. After all, it was within the flagship that she’d had her first glimpse of the vastness of space, found her father and the history of her people, saved Julian from a cold and lonely death, and accepted her own role in the shaping of the cosmos.
And now, the ship would be taking her on the next leg of her adventure.
While she looked forward to finally seeing the living home world of her people, it was with a heavy heart that her eyes settled on the familiar luxury of the expansive cabin. Not all aspects of this particular adventure would be pleasant, as she was painfully reminded when her father took his place in the chair to her right.
Suddenly, Ellie felt very much like a small child.
Though twice as far as the longest distance between any two other habitable planets in the Ghowrn system, the trip to T’al Eidyn was just over an hour. Rather than brood and worry, Ellie used the brief journey to better know her father. She listened, laughing, crying, and experiencing a myriad of emotions as he told her of his own life, and the love he grew to share with her mother.
Too soon the hour passed, and Ellie braced herself as the diodes on the console before her indicated they’d landed on T’al Eidyn. Moments later, the ship’s walls disappeared, allowing the crew to see their surroundings before disembarking. She’d finally gotten used to the sensation of walking in midair, but as she took her first look at the planet where her father grew up, her shoulders sagged. The barren landscape reminded her of images taken on Earth’s moon or by the Mars rover.
A seemingly endless plain of cracked gray and brown earth spanned in all directions, dotted only by small, featureless pods clumped together in what she assumed were living communities. Though how anyone lived in the dark wasteland was anyone’s guess. The sky above was an even deeper twilit shade than she saw on Ia’na Eidyn.
A lone figure, their one person welcoming committee, stood on a small, hovering platform a short distance away. To Ellie, this was an ominous sign, but upon spying the figure, her father’s diodes lit up with nostalgia and joy. He quickly finished up the security and landing protocol and opened the hatch.
“Agi. I told you I’d return for a proper goodbye.”
The platform slid forward, noiselessly bringing the robed figure forward. Frail hands reached up and lifted the hood away, revealing the oldest Eidyn Ellie had seen yet.
By Eidyssic averages, she was tiny, standing just under six feet with the benefit of the hovering platform. The woman’s hair and skin were both a weathered and dull shade of smoky blue and her eyes bore cracks of soft gray, as if someone had dropped and shattered the obsidian orbs and hastily reconstructed them with melting glue.
As those tired eyes landed on El’iadryov, they lit with such brilliance that the whole area seemed bathed in their glow.
“By the stars, you have, child. It honors me to see you once more.” She slid her gaze sideways and the smile that split her face widened. “El’iadrylline, it is truly an honor. I am Ag’iazza, keeper of the T’al Kyri.”
“I am honored to meet you, temple keeper,” she said. Her brow narrowed as she again took in the barren landscape. “Forgive my cheek, but where exactly do you keep it?”
“Your eyes do not see all our world has to offer,” Ag’iazza said with a melodious chuckle and a mischievous glint in her eye. “
I have arranged quarters for you at the temple for the duration of your stay. When you are ready, I shall take you there directly.”
She turned back to El’iadryov and her smile became bittersweet as she took his hands in hers, radiating the same measure of love a parent has for a child.
“You were the light of your grandparent’s life,” she said, emotion cracking her voice in a way that was more human than Eidyssic. “They had regrets, most certainly, but know you were loved. It is my hope that you will find on Ia’na Eidyn the reunion you deserve as the hero you are.”
A bittersweet torrent of emotions flickered on El’iadryov’s face as he brought Ag’iazza’s hand to his cheek, briefly touching the diodes there.
“Thank you, Agi,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Perhaps I will.”
Ag’iazza pulled gently from his embrace and turned to Julian with another warm smile.
“Come, commander. Let us have words and allow the family a private farewell.”
“By your command, Keeper,” Julian said with a low bow before following the woman out toward the edge of the landing platform.
Ellie watched them for a moment before turning back to her father, finding her vision already blurred by tears and her heart wedged firmly in her throat.
“You don’t have to do this,” she begged again, pleading not only with her eyes, but with the waves of nonverbal influence. “You said so yourself, your root is fused with the grounding element. You can always find a place… like Earth…”
El’iadryov smiled sadly. “Were it as easy as that.” He took both her hands in his, connecting the diodes on their fingertips. Waves of love, regret, and pride swelled between them. “I am grateful to have had these stolen moments. You make me proud, Ellie. You’re going to make a wonderful leader.”
That was the last thing she wanted, but Ellie said nothing and instead, pulled her father into a hug, not knowing or caring if the gesture was customary or unknown to the Eidyn.
The Princess Rebellion (The Kyroibi Trilogy Book 2) Page 26
