The Fractured Empire (The World Apart Series Book 1)

by Robin D. Mahle

  "Would you deserve it? I'm here for answers."

  "And I suppose it's about time I give them. After all, there's no one left for me to protect since my wife left us last year. When I'm finished, you can decide the answer to that question for yourself," he paused.

  I took the cylinder out of my pocket. "Does your story have anything to do with this?" I asked him. I wasn't sure his lucidity would last, and I needed to know.

  "Where did you get that?"

  "Trauman gave it to me."

  "Ah. I see. My old friend must have been feeling the weight of our sins as well. Yes, in a way, that has everything to do with it. That is a Levelian data container."

  Great. Apparently, his lucidity already left him.

  I sighed.

  He cocked an eyebrow. "I see you doubt me. Where do you think the technology for the necklace came from? Do you think I didn’t notice it around the neck of that pretty young thing?” He waved off my surprise. “Don't look so shocked. I may be old and crazy, but I'm not dead yet." Seeing I was properly chastised, he continued. "To access its secrets, you must plug it into a Levelian port."

  "Where am I supposed to find one of those?"

  "That, I cannot help you with. However, there is no knowledge on that drive that I do not possess. I will tell you everything. You, of all people, deserve to know the truth. Our secrets destroyed your family and your father's reputation. I suppose you know he was innocent?"

  Relief washed over me in a wave. I did know that, but some part of me must have needed to hear it confirmed. Following on its heels was white-hot anger. If he was innocent, why had the man in front of me let him take the fall?

  "I see you're angry," the perceptive man said. "And rightly so. As I said, at least get your answers before you decide to kill me." It wasn't until he said this that I realized I had a death grip on my dagger.

  When did I even take it out of its sheath? I forced my hand to relax.

  "Do you know where he is now?"

  "So, you know he's alive. I had my suspicions. When I realized what was happening, I went back for him. I got him out of the building. I took him as far as I could toward the sea where I thought he may have a chance, and then I ran. Perhaps I've always been a coward." Langston's eyes misted, and he paused. His eyes clouded over a little. "What was I saying?"

  No, no, no. Not now.

  "You were telling me where my father was."

  "Your father?"

  "General Noble."

  "Are you here to kill me then?"

  This can’t be happening. My fists balled, and I fought the urge to punch something. Again, I forced a calmness I didn't feel. If he had moments of lucidity, he could have another one. I just needed to wait it out. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than a crash at the door startled us both.

  Bordel de merde. What now? My brows etched together in confusion when I saw who walked through the kicked-in door. It was Aegis and five of his Men of High Purpose underlings. What are they doing here?

  "Hello, Clark. Your brother reported in to me. We thought you could use some back-up," Aegis said.

  Is there something off about his voice, or am I being overly suspicious? Did Xavier tell him where I was? Not exactly covering for me, Brother…

  "You thought wrong. I've got it handled." I turned back to Professor Langston. His face had gone white. I suppose I would be terrified too in his position.

  "If you have it handled, why am I not in possession of Hila's Tear? I understand why you had to flee the scene initially, what with four against one. Though, it was impressive you managed to hold them off as long as you did. But why didn't you come back to base after that?" Aegis' tone was infused with its usual sincerity.

  There was only one problem.

  I hadn't told my brothers how many men were in that room.

  My heart pounded. Luckily for me, that's when I was at my best. I thought quickly, not allowing my eyes to stray in the direction Addie had gone. It was possible they didn't know she was here.

  "You asked for a necklace. I thought you'd appreciate it if I could detach it from the girl it came with." I put every ounce of nonchalance I could muster into that statement and dredged up my usual cocky grin.

  "While that was thoughtful of you, there are easier ways. We can take it from here. Where is she now?"

  "We got split up." Now I just had to pray she didn't come out of the library.

  "Aegis, I haven't told him anything." Langston's aged voice trembled when he spoke.

  They know each other? I spun around to face him, but the man wasn't looking at me.

  He stared daggers at Aegis. "I know why you're here. Kill me if you want, but leave the boy out of it. He knows nothing."

  "He didn't until you said that, you foolish old man. Now, look at this mess you've made me clean up." He took out a dagger and threw it at Langston's heart before I could even react.

  His men didn't react. Whether I had seen this side of his character before, it was clearly just another day for them. The harsh whisper of the dagger couldn't have actually been reverberating in my head, but I kept hearing it nonetheless.

  I was torn between wanting to stay and demand answers and knowing I needed to get the hell out of here. A glance at Langston told me he was beyond my help, his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. I looked away. I didn't want to mourn the man who had facilitated my father's downfall, but I couldn't help the remorse that flooded me now. He was only human, and he had tried to protect me in the end. He wasn't such a coward after all.

  All of these thoughts flashed through my head in less than a second. I spun on my heel and ducked behind the wall, grateful Aegis' men hadn't come any closer. I ran full-out, needing every second of advantage.

  "Get me the necklace and get rid of the loose ends. We need this done." Aegis' voice had no warmth now. He meant to kill us, and I didn't even know where the library was to warn Addie. I rounded a corner on feather-light footsteps. Two men came down the hall, a little too quickly.

  Amateurs.

  I ducked and lunged with my dagger, incapacitating one before he knew what was happening. The other fought back, and we dodged each other for a moment before I saw my opening. I took it, and he fell beside his friend.

  This house was a convolution of hallways and corridors. Another time, that might be an advantage, but I didn't want to lose any men and have them find Addie before I could. I shouldn't have worried, though, because my scuffle had been a beacon for them. All four remaining men and Aegis headed down the hallway I was in.

  So now it was me against five trained men with swords. Brilliant. I readied my stance. I might go down, but I wasn’t going to make it easy. I took a step forward, then stopped abruptly.

  Aegis went down like a ton of bricks, but I couldn't see why. Then, like avenging angels, my brothers stepped around the corner. Gunther was holding some sort of tranquilizer dart gun, and Xavier had his sword. The men didn't even notice Aegis was down before my brothers were on them. I met them from the other side, and together, it was only a matter of seconds before the MOHP were in a heap on the floor.

  We stood in the hallway staring at each other for a moment, panting from the adrenaline.

  Gunther smiled tentatively. "Sorry we're late?" He quipped, like he didn't know what else to say. I loved my brothers, but that was not going to cut it.

  "How did Aegis know I was here?" I studied Xavier's face while I asked. Though Aegis knew things he shouldn't have, I didn't think he was lying about my brother reporting in. Guilt flickered over Xav's features, confirming my suspicion.

  "I'm sorry."

  "I didn't ask for an apology. I asked for an explanation, and you'd damn well better have one. You nearly got us both killed." I wasn't sure I'd ever used that icy tone with my brothers, but though they had saved my life, it never would have been threatened if they hadn't blabbed.

  "And I will explain, I promise, but not now. Those weren't the only men with Aegis. More will come when he does
n't return. We need to get out of here." Xavier’s eyes were genuinely remorseful.

  In spite of everything, I knew he would never intentionally harm me. I nodded, and we set out to find the library. I was glad now that Addie had been so tight-lipped about her plan to get here. At least the boat wasn't compromised.

  That was perfect. That meant my brothers had at least two days to explain what the hell was going on.

  The Heiress

  It was the eighth week of class of my ninth year of schooling. I had already found reasons not to attend on at least seven occasions and had left early twice that often. People assumed I was skipping because I was too lofty to deign to attend class. I would rather have them think that than know the truth about my inability to force myself out of bed some days. Even Nell didn’t know why I was missing in action so often.

  On this particular day, I had found the will to stay in class. It wasn’t easy, here in this place where Ami and I had once walked the halls together, but I hadn’t left yet.

  My chemistry instructor was droning on somewhere in the back of my mind. I had my feet propped on the bars of the chair in front of me and a novel balanced in my lap when his voice got louder.

  "Ms. Kensington seems to think she's above paying attention in class. Tell us, then, what is an isotope?" he asked. The instructors were as bad as the students here, either sucking up to me because of my father or taking every possible opportunity to take me down a peg.

  I was not in the mood today.

  I was trying to force myself not to physically escape this viper’s nest by giving myself a little mental escape, and he was interrupting my favorite scene. I sighed but didn't look up from my novel.

  "It's an atom with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons." I replied in a bored tone. "If there's anything else, kindly wait at least six minutes so that I might finish this chapter." There were titters around the room, but I didn't care. I didn’t like them any more than I did the instructor.

  "Surely that earns Adelaide a demerit," Sophie, my least favorite of the vipers, chimed in. If Nell had been here, she would have snapped back at Sophie, but this was one of the two classes we didn't share this year.

  "It certainly does, Ms. Benedict," the instructor answered.

  "Fabulous. Do let the headmaster know, and while you're at it, tell him my father was delighted to see my perfect marks the first quarter," I said, my eyes never roving from my page.

  Bringing my father into things was a low move, but sometimes it was easier to do the lousy thing people expected of me than to try to rise above their opinions. The instructor wisely chose to carry on with the class rather than engaging with me further. They always did.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Adelaide

  Bartholomew, true to his word, was able to take me directly to where I wanted to go. There was a small section of ancient leather-bound tomes, dusty and emitting that musty smell unique to old books. He gestured to a pair of gloves, and I obediently donned them before cracking open the first of the books. Bartholomew stood silently off to the side while I studied the pages.

  Something itched at the back of my memory, reminding me of another old book I had recently flipped through. Is it possible the storybook Nell gave me is from Levelia? And if so, how did she come by it?

  I deftly turned the brittle, yellowed pages of the largest book, but my heart sank. There were lines and lines of indecipherable symbols like the one on my necklace. Unless Professor Langston could read it and was lucid enough to do so, this would be no help. I set it aside as a last resort and moved on to the next. There were two more books of the same, until finally I came across one that was not quite as aged as the other three.

  This one was written in the common tongue. It had no page numbers or even a table of contents, so I perused the pages one by one, as quickly as I could. So far, it was a history of Levelia. There was nothing particularly fascinating. I could have been reading any history book on any one of the many islands that made up the Ceithren Empire but for a few phrases and words that held no meaning to me. That, and that it appeared to be a matriarchy. Too bad that tradition hadn't held. There was a brief section on the legend of Hila and the tear she had gifted humanity, but nothing more than had been on the placard in the museum. I groaned in frustration.

  The next book was more symbols, and the one after that appeared to be a port ledger.

  Did we really come all this way for nothing? I could only hope Clark was having more luck than I was. Where is he, anyway? I rolled my eyes. Dodging this tedious task, most likely. Not that I could blame him. As if on cue, the library door banged open.

  "Addie." The relief in Clark's voice was palpable.

  "Yes?" I asked, confused. Gunther and Xavier followed shortly behind him, and tendrils of fear crept up my spine. His relief at seeing me and the grim expressions on his brothers’ faces could mean nothing good.

  "We need to go. Now." Clark looked to Bartholomew, sorrow on his face. "Aegis just showed up, and I'm sorry, there was nothing I could do. There wasn't time. I had no warning."

  I wondered if Bartholomew could hear the guilt that was eating Clark up as clearly as I could. And then I wondered when I had begun to read him so well. He looked haggard, as if he'd aged several years in the last half-hour. His eyes were even more hollow than his voice when he spoke. Then his words registered.

  I didn't know who Aegis was, but I could gather that something terrible had happened.

  "Professor Langston?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "They killed him. Aegis killed him. I'm sorry," he repeated.

  Bartholomew's face was stricken, and he ran from the room.

  Clark faced me. "We need to go. There's nothing more we can do here. We've done enough," he finished up bitterly.

  I nodded, forcing my arms to stay at my side. Some stupid, traitorous part of me wanted to hug him, but I doubted he would welcome the comfort. Not with his pride, not with his brothers here, and certainly not from me.

  "We need the books. I haven't found anything yet." That was stretching the truth, but I didn't think now was a good time to mention they were probably worthless, that possibly this entire endeavor had been. Besides, there was still a chance we could find something. Any guilt I felt at robbing a dead man was superseded by cold practicality. Lives could depend on this, starting with mine, and Langston wasn't around to mind. Gunther grabbed the first two books, and at a hard look from Clark, Xavier took the remaining three.

  A keening sound echoed from the living room, audible now that the solid doors were open. We left Bartholomew to his grief and found a back way out. Clark was right. There was nothing more we could do here, but I still lamented that I hadn't even gotten to thank the man for his help. Either of them.

  I followed Clark's broad shoulders while he navigated a way out. He held up a hand to stop after he opened the back door, scoping the area outside.

  "No one else should be here. I doubt they've even left the train stop yet," Xavier said.

  "Forgive me, Brother, if I don't take your word for it. We'll be doing our due diligence from here on out." He spat the word "brother" with a hint of mockery. Whatever had happened back there, he seemed to hold Xavier at least partially responsible. Xavier sighed, but said nothing.

  Clark gestured for us to go forward, and we continued on in that manner until we reached the boat without incident. No one commented on the fact that Xavier had been right, and the lack of banter between the brothers felt wrong somehow. I hung back from the helm this time, not wanting to add to the tension clouding the air. Despite whatever had happened, the three boys worked seamlessly to get us out of port, no communication required. It was clear how long they had been working together. Still, Clark shot accusatory looks at Xavier which were returned by increasingly-aggravated ones, and Gunther looked worriedly between the two.

  For my part, I escaped below decks, both to give the boys some clearly needed privacy and to avoid watching Alpina
Island fade from my view again. Once had been enough. Everything on the boat was exactly as we had left it. But a man had died, and something more had happened in that house between the brothers. It felt like more time had passed than the mere couple of hours we had been gone.

  Only minutes after I came down, Gunther followed, books piled in his arms.

  "I thought we could look into these," he said, face inscrutable.

  "Sure," I replied. They were likely no help, but we had nothing better to do and no stronger leads on how to get this thing off my neck.

  We sat on the bolted-down bar stools with the books laid out in front of us. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but I wasn't sure how to broach the topic, so we said nothing. The only sounds were the footsteps above us and the rustling of our ungloved hands rifling through the books' dusty pages. I tried not to think about how their previous owner would have balked at that.

  I wasn't sure how much time had passed before Gunther looked up from the last book, his features tight with worry.

  "There's nothing here to help us, is there?"

  "No."

  "So, we're back at square one. And it's not like we can just find more Levelian books. I didn't even think Levelia actually existed until today. I'm still not sure it does, truthfully. The evidence is here in front of me, but it doesn't make sense.

  “If it was real, what happened to it? Why does no one remember it? Why isn't it in any of our history books? Is this just a fool's errand from some broken old men?" He put his head down on the bar, defeat outlining every inch of him. Even his flaming curls seemed droopier than usual.

  I didn't know what to say. I suspected this was about more than the necklace or these books, but regardless, I had no answers. I stared at the old tomes, Gunther's weary words running through my mind.

  Suddenly, I shot up from my own sagging posture. Books. Other Levelian Books. There was one that I knew of, and it was a long shot, but since Nell had been the only person who seemed to know anything about what was going on and she had given me a book, it was better than nothing. I shook Gunther's shoulder.