Out Past the Stars

by K. B. Wagers

  “Majesty, why are they here?” Emmory asked.

  “Because Adora escaped and took one of the Farian Hiervet, I think it was Priam, with her.” I said the words at the same time as Mia and watched as Aiz whipped his gaze to me in shock. “I happened to be touching her when the vision came, I’m assuming that’s why I could see it.”

  “I’m relieved to hear that,” he said. “I’m not sure the universe would survive you being able to see the future.”

  I straightened, sharing a nod with Emmory as he released me, and smoothed both hands down the front of my black uniform shirt before heading for the door. “Take Mia back to your rooms, Aiz. I’ll call if I need you.”

  Despite my bravado, my mind was spinning. I’d seen the choices open to me—let Adora escape with Priam or fire on their ships and kill them. Both events had played themselves out in front of my eyes, the consequences of my decision.

  Which one leads to Mia’s death instead of mine?

  I shook the thought away and felt the brief brush of Emmory’s hand on my back, a silent question I answered with a forced smile. I suddenly understood with painful clarity the warning Fasé had given me. The risk of making choices because I knew what was coming rather than based on the information in front of me was all too real.

  Untangling the images of me and Mia from the ones I’d seen of Adora, I rolled over the problem as we headed for the bridge. The more mercenary part of me wanted to go with the kill. Get the enemies out of the way as fast and efficiently as possible, as I’d been taught.

  Don’t leave live enemies behind you, Cressen.

  I rubbed at my leg in reflex, the memory of Po-Sin’s words accompanied by the phantom pain of my leg breaking.

  But Priam was on board, and while I suspected that the Farian Hiervet had willingly gone with Adora there was no way to know for sure. Killing her meant killing him, and that was what brought things into sharp relief.

  His death would fracture what was left of the Farian Hiervet even further. It would wipe out the support I already had from the remains of the Pedalion. It would destroy this tentative peace between the Shen and the Farians. It would remove any chance of an alliance that was necessary to face the oncoming storm.

  I paused outside the door to the bridge.

  “Majesty?”

  “Emmory, I’m about to do something that may seem reckless. Do you trust me?”

  “With my life, Majesty.”

  I squeezed his hand once, sent a quick prayer winging out toward any gods willing to listen to me, and opened the door.

  “Your Majesty.” Thyra turned as we entered the bridge. “Itegas Adora has kidnapped my brother. You must stop her.”

  “Your Majesty, I have a message from Admiral Amo on board the Infinite Sun. She’s reporting a small force of Farian ships headed their way out of the system. Requesting orders.”

  The head of the Shen fleet was a gruff, no-nonsense woman I’d met only once during our preparations on Encubier, but I respected her. Marcela Amo would fire on the Farian ship if I ordered it. I only hoped she would also hold her fire with the same fervor.

  I held up a hand in Inana’s direction with a quick nod. “Get me a time to intercept. Yadira, what happened?”

  “Adora was being held in the Pedalion cells,” the Farian replied. “About a half an hour ago she overpowered the guards with the help of some of her supporters. Priam was on his way to talk some sense into her. He was apparently taken prisoner and is now on board Adora’s ship.” She cleared her throat and glanced sideways at Thyra.

  “Thyra, would you like to explain how that’s possible?” I asked.

  “I don’t quite understand your meaning, Your Majesty.”

  “On the display, Majesty, Admiral Amo is relaying eight minutes until intercept,” Inana said before I called Thyra out for the liar she was. The very idea that Adora could overpower one of the Farian Hiervet was ludicrous, no matter how many people she’d had with her. I headed for the front of the bridge, Emmory at my side. As we passed Sybil, the seer reached out and touched a hand to my arm.

  Priam went with Adora willingly. The gods are fractured.

  It wasn’t words in my head so much as an impression, a series of stills, but it confirmed my own suspicions.

  “Inana, put Marcela up on the screen.” I slipped into parade rest, hands behind my back, as I looked at the display. Adora’s force was close to two dozen ships, at least three of which were the killer ships.

  I wondered how close we were to figuring out how the weapons worked on them or if someone had passed that information on to Warrant Officer Ragini Triskan and her team.

  “If I let her run with those, I’m going to have another problem on my hands.” I blew out a breath. “It’s just going to have to get in line.”

  “Majesty, I’ve got Admiral Amo on the com.” A window appeared on the display with the admiral. She was older than me, with a streak of gray cutting into her slick-backed black hair. I liked the Shen admiral, though I suspected that would shock her if I said it to her face.

  “Marcela, exciting morning.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” She didn’t ask where Aiz was, and the weight of his earlier words that I was in charge of the Shen fleet settled firmly onto my shoulders.

  “Admiral Hassan, ping Adora’s ship, if you would.”

  There was a beat and then another window appeared on the display. I was somewhat shocked Adora had answered the com at all, but I smiled slowly at her. “Itegas Notaras.”

  Adora sneered at the formality. “Star of Indrana.” She made the title sound like an insult and I heard Yadira’s choked-off gasp behind us.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She was unprepared for the question. I could tell by the sudden silence that blanketed our com link. Then Adora shook herself. “We are taking the faithful away from this place before you kill us all.”

  “You think I’m going to kill you?” I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled into the air. “If I recall, the last time we spoke the threat was the other way around. You’re making a mistake here by running, Adora. Why don’t you turn your ships around and we’ll have a chat?”

  “You betrayed us! You were defiled by the Shen, twisted from your purpose. I have seen the truth of what you’ve done, Hail. Our lone surviving god has shown it to me.”

  Priam stepped into the frame and I heard an angry chitter from Thyra behind me. He didn’t respond to whatever she’d said, instead focusing his wide, dark eyes on me. “My Farians, your Star has betrayed us. She has slaughtered my brother and sister and replaced them with these false idols.”

  “Are they broadcasting to the planet?” I murmured, and saw Emmory nod. “Inana, mute us. Can we shut them down?”

  “I can, Your Majesty,” Marcela said.

  “Without killing them?”

  There was an awkward pause as Marcela tried to find an appropriate answer, and I felt my amusement build despite the seriousness of the situation.

  “I need them alive, Admiral. Don’t engage the rest of the fleet. Send in a few fighters for a targeted strike. Shut down their coms and encourage them to get the hell out of here.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Understood.”

  “Your Majesty, you’re not seriously going to let the Shen fire upon a member of the Pedalion and—”

  “I’m ordering the Shen to fire, Thyra. The Pedalion is gone. Priam has betrayed you. They are trying to undermine your authority, and at the moment they’re doing a pretty good job of it,” I snapped. The memory of Thyra stabbing me in the chest made my voice sharp, and everyone around me stiffened. “Yadira, you need to get back to the chambers and get a countermessage out now unless you want the whole of Faria revolting right under your nose. We’ll discuss how this could have happened later.” I waved a hand. “Gita, escort our visitors off my ship.”

  There was no further protest from Thyra, though I could feel her eyes boring into my back before Gita herded them through the bridge
door.

  Priam was still talking, but I watched as the transmission fuzzed once and then cut out entirely.

  “Marcela?”

  “It’s done, Majesty, we took out their coms array. No answering fire from the Farian ships and they’re continuing out of the system. Do you want us to come closer to the planet?”

  “No,” I replied. “Hold your position once you’re out of Adora’s range. Let’s not spook the Farians any more than they’ve already been.”

  Marcela’s eyes flicked past me, and then she nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Aiz,” I said after the com clicked off.

  “Some excitement here, I see.” He stepped up to my side. “You let my sister go instead of blowing her out of the black?”

  I watched Adora’s ships speeding away on the radar. “Dead, she’s a martyr and a complication we don’t need. She’s more use to us alive.” I glanced at him. “What?” I demanded. The half smile on his face seemed to be an ever-present fixture these days.

  “You are fascinating. Sometimes I can’t keep up with how your mind works.”

  “How’s Mia?” I asked instead of responding. I knew full well what he meant, but I didn’t want to investigate it too closely. There was a good chance it would all fall apart if I did.

  “Resting. The visions are not usually so difficult on her.”

  “It had been a while,” I murmured, and watched him frown. The realization that Mia hadn’t told her brother hit me just before a second flash of the future I’d seen from her filled my head.

  “You are an abomination, Mia Cevalla, and I will figure out why you Shen survived when all the others would not.”

  Mia lifted her chin. “We both know how this will end, Thyra. We found the Star and saved her from you. You will not be able to wield her against the galaxy the way you had planned.”

  The strike put Mia on her knees, opening up a gash on her cheek.

  “Hail?” Aiz had a hold of my arm and the frown on his face was deeper than before. “What is it?”

  “Still dizzy from before, apparently.” I waved him off. “What were you saying?”

  “What did you mean that it had been a while?”

  “That vision Mia just had was the first since we left Sparkos,” I said.

  “No one saw fit to tell me about this?”

  I met his furious gaze with a surprising amount of calm. “How was I supposed to know she didn’t tell you?”

  The fury drained away. “I’m sorry. What happened here? I saw Yadira and Thyra leaving looking like they’d seen ghosts.”

  I couldn’t stop the flinch at his phrasing. “Priam left with Adora. Emmory, get the BodyGuards together; we’re going to have to head for the Pedalion chamber.” I tapped Aiz on the shoulder and gestured toward the door. “Get Mia on her feet in an hour. I’ll catch you up as we walk.”

  16

  It was a hectic few hours of damage control while Yadira and the others scrambled to keep Adora’s claim that the Farian Hiervet were impostors from tipping Faria completely into chaos.

  Once that had died down, long days followed. They were filled with numerous meetings where the Farians and Shen hammered out the final details of the peace accord. My presence was rarely needed so I split my time between refining a plan to hit an unknown enemy and long stretches on the com talking with Alice and the others back home where I tried to convince them said enemy was real.

  I could count on one hand the number of times I’d been in the same room as Mia, and until now none of them had been private.

  “I missed you.” I murmured the words against her temple in the quiet of my room. “I know that’s a silly thing, but—”

  “It’s not.” She slid her hands into my hair and leaned in to press her lips to mine. “I missed you, too.”

  “When this is over I’m taking you somewhere quiet for at least a week,” I said, somewhat breathlessly, when we separated.

  Mia smiled. “I love that you’re optimistic enough to think that will be doable.”

  “It’ll take Emmory a week to find us. I’m good at hiding.” The door chimed and I sighed. “Come in.”

  “Majesty,” Emmory said. “Aiz wanted a word.”

  I let Mia slip away from me, her fingers tangling with mine before we separated completely.

  “The Farians lost three more ships last night,” Aiz said by way of greeting as he came into the room.

  “Presumably joining Adora’s force?”

  “Yes.” He pressed a kiss to Mia’s cheek as he passed. “That puts her at almost three dozen ships, though it’s still not enough to overcome our combined forces. If she starts firing at us with those thírions, we may have some issues.”

  The name for the brutal ships, roughly translated from Farian as killers of the faithless, hadn’t surprised me. What had was that Delphine willingly passed over the weapons system schematics without the slightest hesitation. I hadn’t mentioned to the Farians that Ragini and Mia’s people had been less than fourteen hours from figuring the whole thing out when they gave us the information.

  Though Ragini had told me, at great length, how close they’d been until Admiral Hassan silenced her with a look.

  I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck with a sigh. “Home Fleet knows about Adora, so if they show up in my empire they’ll be in for a fight. Though Shiva knows they’ll probably still cut their way through us.”

  “We could send the mercenaries.”

  Mia had made the suggestion earlier and I’d turned it down for the second time. Caterina should be proud of me for relying solely on our own forces instead of criminals.

  Never mind that I was reasonably sure I should use whatever was at my disposal to keep Indrana safe.

  “I already told Mia no,” I said with a half smile. “Adora will fuck something up. She doesn’t have the patience to plan long term, plus I think she’ll stay around here. Faria is what she really wants, not Indrana.”

  “You’re still on edge.” It was a statement from Aiz, not a question, and I rolled the words over in my mouth before I let them go into the air.

  “I need to hit something. I don’t know if it will make this feeling go away or not, but…” I shrugged.

  “I’ll spar with you.” The offer from Zin was unexpected and fear lodged in my throat.

  “No.”

  “You want to fight, I’m offering. We used to spar all the time, Majesty.” He looked at Aiz. “Will you supervise?”

  Will you bring him back when I kill him?

  “Zin, no.” I turned to Emmory, but my Ekam was terrifyingly silent and I realized the decision had been made without me. “No. I won’t spar with you.” I shook my head.

  Zin held his hands out. “Hail, are you going to spend the rest of your life controlled by the power you now have? Or are you going to learn to control it?”

  “Please don’t make me do this.” I pressed a hand to my mouth.

  “The fact that you don’t want to tells me everything I need to know,” Zin said softly. “You are not a monster, Hail, you are merely someone who knows how to kill. It’s time for you to learn how not to.”

  Zin still had his hands outstretched and the same kindness on his face that had been there from the very first moment I’d looked in his eyes. The trust and love were also evident, and it smoothed over my sick terror at the possibility of killing him. I reached out trembling fingers and put my hands in his.

  “It will be okay,” he said.

  He was right. I knew it. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life unable to spar, unable to fight with those closest to me for fear that I would hurt them. I needed to find a middle ground between who I had been and who I was now.

  I let go of Zin, crossed the room, and grabbed Aiz by the shirtfront. “Promise me you can bring him back?”

  There was no snark, no smile from the Shen as he leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine. “I won’t have to, but I promise.”

  The collection of people sitting of
f to one side of the Hailimi’s gym while Zin and I squared off wasn’t a distraction. I’d long since learned to put such things out of my head and focus solely on the fight.

  I had never quite gotten the hang of fighting Zin, though to be fair we hadn’t been together all that long. He was faster than me, his style well suited to avoiding my head-on attacks. And now, facing off with him, the stark difference between our abilities was staring me in the face.

  But I was holding back and we both knew it. I didn’t ever want to kill Zin, but I especially didn’t want to do it with Emmory watching. So the match had taken on the feeling of a formal bout, with both Mia and Aiz stopping us at unexpected moments to critique or suggest new moves.

  “Hey, focus.” Aiz snapped his fingers in front of my face, dragging my attention away from where Mia was showing Zin a move that I was sure was going to leave a bruise in the shape of his hand on my back.

  “He’s always been a gods-damned ghost but it feels like he’s kicked things up a notch. How do I defend against this?” I was soaked with sweat and aching. I was also reasonably sure that I’d somehow been tricked into this and that Mia had been training Zin for the last few weeks right under my nose.

  “You start actually fighting.” He was unmoved by my glare. “I’m serious, Hail. Stop holding back. Fight like you mean it.” Aiz put a hand on my back. “You get out of your head and listen to that gut of yours. If you’re on the defensive you’ve already lost. Use some of that skill we both know you have and be where Zin is going to be before he gets there. You have the control not to hurt him, but if something happens and you do we’re here.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath and straightened, moving to the center of the mat. Zin joined me after a final word with Mia and bowed with a smile.

  “Are you ready to stop messing around and fight me, Your Majesty?”

  I closed my eyes, swallowed down the tears. “I have managed not to kill any of you with my foolishness lately. I would prefer it stay that way.”

  “You have not killed any of us,” he replied. “Look at me.”

  I opened my eyes.