Within Ash and Stardust

by Chani Lynn Feener

  “It is not fine,” Trystan growled, swiveling his head to glare at the Ander. Until he noticed Delaney’s look. Though his jaw remained clenched, and he took a second to adjust his uniform, he ended up stepping aside.

  Before any of the people standing in the hall could actually enter, however, Trystan flung an arm out against the doorframe, blocking their path a second time.

  “If you upset her, you’ll have me to deal with.” Warning delivered, he moved away, heading over to take up the empty space on the other side of Delaney’s bed.

  It took her a second to realize she recognized two out of the three who’d entered. She’d never met them in person, but they’d made a lasting impression.

  “Ria and Corodonus,” she said, trying to keep her voice firm, but friendly. “Right?”

  “Hello, Lissa.” Ria bowed her head, and then motioned toward the other man. “This is Remus.”

  “They’re members of the Vakar council,” Ruckus told her.

  “We’ve met before,” Delaney said, shrugging when he frowned questioningly at her. “Projection meeting in Inkwell.”

  “Apologies for my actions during our first encounter, Lissa.” Ria bowed again.

  “She doesn’t need you sucking up to her,” Trystan stated dryly.

  “We’re actually here because of what the people need.” Corodonus took a step closer to the end of the bed, his eyes on Delaney. “What Vakar needs, now that Tilda Ond is no longer with us.”

  Even though part of her had expected it, Delaney did not want to continue this conversation. Especially not when she was in a hospital bed, only hours after being shot and threatened. To say she was currently in a delicate emotional place would be an understatement. Making life-altering decisions? Not really a good idea.

  But aside from letting Trystan toss them out—and she knew he would, despite the fact that he probably wanted this discussion to happen just as badly as they did—there really wasn’t anything she could do to stop them from continuing.

  It was nice of Ruckus to try, though.

  “You can’t be serious?” he snapped. “You’re going to do this right now?”

  “Vakar is on a precipice,” Remus replied tightly, “right now. We’re still counting the numbers lost during the attack, but the civilian death rate is high. Homes and businesses have been destroyed, and our city is flooded with Kint Tellers and Tars who have yet to turn themselves in or be arrested. On top of that, to be told their Basilissa was lost as well?”

  “We need a plan,” Corodonus said, “something to give to our people.”

  “The Lissa is not a dish to be served on a silver platter,” Trystan told them.

  “No,” he agreed, “but she is the Lissa, a role she agreed to.” He caught her gaze again, held it. “We’re here to know if you intend to honor that agreement, Delaney Grace.”

  “You aren’t asking me to be Lissa,” she pointed out.

  “You’d be made Basilissa as soon as you’re well enough to participate in the ceremony,” he confirmed. “We need leadership, and tradition dictates the Lissa is next in line for the throne. I’ll admit, it’s been a long time since death has been the cause of a Passing; however, speeding this process up is not only necessary, but critical to Vakar’s survival.”

  She would have asked what he meant by that, but the side glance he sent to Trystan was answer enough. They believed, with no one standing in his way, the Zane would choose the same path as his father and attempt to take control of the entire planet. Tilda had thought that as well, so Delaney couldn’t really blame them for it.

  Hell, she couldn’t really blame them for it because it was probably true.

  “I don’t know how to be a Basilissa. Tilda”—she paused, took a shaky breath—“she never got the chance to teach me what I’d need to know.”

  “The high council will help you,” Ria said. “As I’m sure will the Ander and the Zane.”

  Trystan grunted.

  “Apologies. The soon-to-be-named Rex.”

  Which only brought to light the second part of what they were asking. Delaney would be expected to not only become Basilissa, but also to marry Trystan, which was … She didn’t know. She didn’t know how she felt about any of this anymore, and that was the real problem.

  “You want me to answer you now?” she asked, holding out hope that they’d surprise her and say this was just a prequel to a later conversation they wished to have. A much, much later conversation.

  “We need to deliver reassurances to the people,” Remus replied. “As soon as the video released, and the Tars saw that they’d been manipulated, they stopped attacking. They still need to be dealt with, though. They can’t be allowed to get away with what they’ve done, and the streets are rife with anger toward them. It isn’t safe for anyone, and won’t be until we can restore some semblance of balance.”

  “The Kints have been helping you round the Tars up,” Trystan reminded them. “I’d hardly say you have no aid. Pressuring Delaney—”

  “I’ll do it.” She was honestly almost as shocked as the rest of them were when the words rushed from her mouth. Still, she was sure to remain stoic, not wanting to let on how jumbled up she felt about both the prospect of staying and the idea of leaving them all to their fate. For now, saying she’d do it seemed like the best option, if only to get them to finally leave her alone and calm the city down.

  There’d been enough bloodshed; if hearing they had a new Basilissa would help keep people from outright attacking others, then fine. Like her, they probably just needed time to settle, to come down from the emotional high the day’s events had created.

  “Delaney—” Trystan began, but she cut him off.

  “They’re right,” she said, chucking her chin out toward the council members. “Vakar needs to be told the situation is being handled, and that there’s some form of stabilization happening in their government. So, yeah, tell them I’ll do it. Tell them I’ll be the next Basilissa.”

  Ruckus remained silent on her other side, and she tried not to give in to the urge to turn and try to figure out what he was thinking.

  The Zane watched her for a moment, his eyes slowly narrowing. For a split second she thought he’d seen through her, knew that she wasn’t as certain about this as she was letting on, and was going to call her out on it. But then he simply pulled back, straightening to his full height, and nodded at the council members.

  “You have your answer,” he said, motioning to the door. “Now leave her be. She needs to rest.”

  The three of them stood their ground, pointedly turning to Delaney, silently awaiting confirmation—which she finally gave with a sigh and a small wave.

  Once they were gone, Trystan turned to fully face her. “Delaney—”

  “You were right.” She couldn’t handle talking about this with him, either. “I really should rest.”

  He clearly wanted to argue but, like so many times before, dropped the issue instead. “Whatever you need, Lissa.”

  Ruckus continued to say nothing at all.

  * * *

  “ANDER.”

  Ruckus stood on the far side of the room, near the open door. At the sound of Trystan’s voice, he forced his gaze briefly away from Delaney, only long enough to acknowledge the Zane’s presence—with a glare.

  “She just fell asleep,” he said. “She needs to rest.”

  “I’m not here to disturb her.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  Trystan canted his head. “Presumably for the same reason you are.”

  Ruckus wanted to disagree, but what would be the point? He wasn’t wrong.

  The only reason the Zane had even left Delaney’s side in the first place had been because she’d asked him to. She’d wanted him to check on the council, make sure they were doing as they’d promised and helping to calm the city.

  She’d been worried for the people. Like a real Lissa would be. Her injuries would heal, were already healing, but if Trystan had been ev
en a few seconds later, his father would have killed her. Ruckus closed his eyes, inhaled slowly. All of this could have been avoided if he’d only left her alone in that club. If he’d stood up to the Basileus and Basilissa when they’d suggested putting Delaney through the Uprising ceremony.

  The Zane sighed, the sound bordering on annoyed. “Blaming yourself won’t do anything to help the situation. Let your guilt go, Ander. It’s useless to everyone, especially to her.”

  “And you’d know about guilt, wouldn’t you?” Ruckus scowled. “This is as much your fault as it is mine.”

  “There’s no need to sugarcoat it,” Trystan said. “I’m more to blame here than you. I know it. I’ve accepted that.” He held his gaze. “You seemed upset earlier, when she told the council she’d stay and accept the position of Basilissa.”

  Ruckus crossed his arms and glanced back into the room, not wanting the Zane to see his true feelings before he could get ahold of them.

  Sure, it seemed like Delaney had agreed to stay here, but that brief conversation they’d had about leaving was still at the forefront of his mind. He’d told her he would get her off the planet, no matter what the regents wanted. Even with Tilda dead, he intended to keep that promise. If Delaney wanted to go, he’d make sure she had a way to do so.

  “I can accept anything, if it’s what she wants,” he said quietly, settling into that realization himself. He turned back to the Zane. “After everything I’ve put her through, respecting her choice is the least I can do. Don’t you agree?”

  Delaney stirred and then slowly eased up in bed, wincing a little. When both he and Trystan immediately stepped farther into the room, she rolled her eyes and waved them off. “I’m fine. What were you guys talking about that required you to stand practically in the hallway?”

  Ruckus shook his head and smiled. “Nothing.”

  “Do you need the doctor?” Trystan asked.

  “I told you, I’m fine. Tell me how it went with the council.” Delaney shifted into a more comfortable position as the Zane began to speak, moving her legs over when Ruckus came to perch on the edge of the bed.

  He watched the two of them as they talked about the council, like it was any other conversation.

  Like it was normal.

  CHAPTER 28

  “Delaney.”

  She groaned and tried to roll over, annoyed when a strong grip on her shoulder prevented her from doing so. It had to have only been a few minutes ago that she’d fallen asleep, and she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything or anyone in this particular moment.

  Three days ago the Basilissa and the Rex had both been murdered and they’d barely gotten people to calm down, the aftereffects being too great. Announcing that they’d soon have a new Basilissa had helped ease some of the fear and the tension in Vakar, but the fact that Kints still freely roamed the streets of Varasow didn’t.

  Both Trystan and Delaney had made it clear the planet was again at peace, that there was no fear of further attack from either side, and that this time, it had nothing to do with the Rex manipulating or blackmailing their leader into it.

  Understandably, however, the fact that there’d been a peace treaty before, and yet the old Rex had still created the Tars in order to continue the bloodshed, made everyone wary.

  “Delaney, wake up,” Ruckus urged. When she realized it was him, her eyes popped open.

  “What’s wrong?” She sat up, tossing off the blankets and already getting to her feet before he’d even opened his mouth to answer. Horrible possibilities raced through her mind, especially since the last time he’d woken her up in this palace, they’d been under attack.

  “We have to move quickly and quietly,” he told her, keeping his voice down. Linking their fingers, he began leading her toward the door to the bedroom she’d been given once she’d been well enough to leave the med wing. “I’ve instructed the Tellers who usually guard your hall to do a general sweep of the area. It’ll only buy us so much time.”

  “For what?” she asked, even as she allowed him to tug her into the corridor, and to the right. Sure enough, they were alone, a rarity these past few days. Typically, there was always someone else around, whether it was a random Teller or the Zane. “Where’s Trystan?”

  “Being handled.”

  “What?” She forced him to an abrupt stop, then felt a rush of guilt when he glanced back at her and rolled his eyes.

  “He’s fine, Delaney. Gibus is just distracting him, that’s all.” He took them down another turn, peering around the corner before moving them forward. “We were going to do this yesterday, but when Trystan arrived earlier than expected, he threw the whole plan off. I’ve accounted for him this time.”

  “Do what?”

  Trystan had only been able to put off returning to Kint for a little over a day before his council had insisted he come home at least long enough to undergo his Passing. While the actual attack had happened in Varasow, his people were just as affected by the events that had taken place. Their king had lied to them, after all.

  He’d wanted Delaney to go with him, attend the ceremony, but her council had worried if she left, the people’s fragile trust in this peace agreement would waver further.

  As the future Basilissa, she’d had to do what was best for her people, and he’d had to do what was best for his. Amazingly, it’d only taken an hour or so to convince Trystan to go without her, with the promise that she’d at least watch the ceremony on their version of the television, like the rest of the world was doing.

  They hadn’t expected him back until sometime today, but he’d returned yesterday evening, surprising them all.

  And apparently ruining whatever Ruckus had planned.

  “Fawna has the ship ready to go in the hangar,” the Ander told her. “By the time anyone notices we’re missing, we’ll be in the air and it’ll be too late to stop us.”

  Delaney’s fingers tightened around his and he shot her another look over his shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. This will work,” he said.

  That was why he’d been so quiet lately. He’d been planning this, planning to keep the promise he’d made her. Get her off planet before she had to go through with becoming the Basilissa.

  “But what about … when we get there?” That was still a problem. “I wasn’t overreacting before. You know they’ll come after us.”

  Or maybe only Trystan would, now that Tilda was gone. Delaney’s stomach clenched. Now that Tilda had sacrificed herself to protect her. She was still surprised that the Basilissa had done it, and she had tried to convince herself it’d only been one final “screw you” to the Rex.

  She knew better, though.

  “Let them.” The doors to the hangar were visible at the other end of the hall now, and he picked up the pace. “We’ll disappear, travel. Once things calm down here and they get used to having Trystan in charge, they’ll stop looking.”

  “You’ve thought this through.”

  “It’s all I’ve been thinking about since you told me what Tilda made you agree to,” he said. “Obviously, it isn’t ironclad; maybe they won’t give up and it’s just wishful thinking. But if that’s the case, I’m fine with staying in motion. Exploring Earth, with you.”

  Delaney was still stuck on that first part. Because, truthfully, with everything that had been going on, she hadn’t thought about what they’d do. At least, not to the lengths he clearly had. She’d always just assumed they’d figure it out eventually, and go from there, but she had been too caught up in taking down the Rex, and then dealing with the aftermath.… It hadn’t even occurred to her that this was Ruckus’s plan when he’d gotten her up a few minutes ago.

  Their fight had been on her mind, obviously. Their breakup. How horrible she felt about it and her part in it. She should have told him about the agreement with Tilda right away, not kept it from him until the last minute. And she’d been genuinely worried he wouldn’t want to risk betraying his people by helping her escape to Eart
h, a planet that wasn’t even his.

  Only … it didn’t really feel like hers now, either.

  They’d entered the hangar, and the sight of his ship waiting for them should have given her a sense of urgency and relief. She felt the first, but not the latter.

  Which didn’t make sense, because this was what she’d always wanted, right? She’d been dragged back to Xenith against her will, had been thrown into terrible situations with horrible people, and through it all the thought of going back home had kept her sane.

  But it hadn’t been the only thing to do so, had it?

  “Wait.” Halfway to the ship, Delaney forced them to a stop, unable to meet his gaze as her mind raced to catch up with what she was feeling.

  Going home should make her happy.

  Yet all she felt was this twisting knot in her gut. All she could picture was the Basilissa’s body, bleeding and lifeless in her arms. Going now didn’t just mean leaving Xenith anymore. If they went on the run, it meant they couldn’t contact their friends, either, not without putting everyone at risk. They’d never get to talk to Mariana or Gibus or Fawna or Sanzie again.

  Trystan wouldn’t hurt them, she knew that. But what about the Vakar council? They were trusting her to help restore their kingdom, to help keep Vakar Vakar. They wouldn’t easily accept a Kint Rex as their ruler, even if Trystan was the only viable option left to them.

  “Delaney.” Ruckus took her other hand, tried to tug her forward. “We have to go. Now.”

  Tilda had thrown herself at the Rex without hesitation, just to protect her. She’d sacrificed her life, risked everything she cared about, for Delaney. The only thing she’d had left was Vakar, and she’d entrusted that to a girl she hardly knew, who’d come from another planet.

  “I can’t,” she whispered, the realization hitting her just as hard as it apparently did him, though Ruckus was the only one of them to openly flinch.

  “What do you mean?” He tightened his hold, pulled her close so they were only half a foot apart. “If this is because you feel guilty, don’t. You don’t owe this planet anything, Delaney.”