I knew Levelian women were tall, but SuEllen’s daughter was even taller than she was, and had broader shoulders, too. When I got closer, I could see that their slow pacing had nothing to do with me.
“What happened? Is she injured?”
If SuEllen was startled by my proximity, she didn’t show it.
“We’ll talk about it in the forest. Let’s just get out of here.” Her throat sounded raw, like she was choking back emotion.
I guessed seeing your daughter for the first time in a decade would do that to a person. I was still reeling from seeing Addie, and she had only been gone for a couple of weeks.
BeLa’s breathing became more labored with each step, but neither of them seemed to want to talk about it. It felt like an eternity before we finally caught up to the crystal embedded in the wall which transported us to its twin in a nearby patch of woods.
SuEllen helped BeLa to rest against a tree while I took a moment to assess our surroundings. It looked like we were alone and hadn’t been detected or followed in the tunnel.
Just as I turned to check on the captain and her daughter, I heard a low, familiar chuckle. I froze.
My mind didn’t even want to hope for what my ears thought they heard. I could barely breathe, could barely think. I forced myself to turn slowly back around just as I heard the words.
“Not as observant as usual, Brother.”
And there he was. He had pulled the hood down to reveal hair as vibrantly red and curly as it was the day the general had brought him onto our ship. He was paler than usual, his freckles standing out starkly in vivid brown and ginger tones.
And for all his purported nonchalance, there were tears pooling in his brilliant blue eyes.
I was at my brother’s side in seconds, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to me. My own eyes were burning, and I could hardly get the words out to ask.
“Is this real? Are you really here?”
Of course, he didn’t respond. He couldn’t hear me. And that, more than anything, convinced me this was real.
I didn’t know or care how. My brother was alive, against all odds. If that kind of miracle could happen, we just might make it through this whole mess all right.
The Idealist
Anton’s eyes were burning, but the smell in the small fishing vessel was preferable to anything he’d experienced before. That smell meant freedom. He knew it wouldn’t be long before his father sent men after him. Then, he’d really pay.
Anton winced as his back bumped against the wall. He knew there were bruises where each blow from his father had landed. They didn’t compare at all to the pain he felt in his hands, however. Anton stared down at the slashes crisscrossing from his knuckles to his wrists. The wounds were deep, and anytime he bumped them, they began to bleed again.
It was the first time he’d beaten him that way, so angrily as if there was more to the punishment than his father was saying. And it was also the last.
Anton knew that his father was ashamed of him, but he’d never felt it so keenly as he did after his birthday party. But that didn’t matter anymore. None of it did. He had somehow made it off the island, and he was never going back.
He’d heard the crew speaking of the Ever Falls and how some were crossing it to find a better life. From what he had studied of the chasm that split the world in two, he wasn’t sure how that was possible, but he had to believe it was. He knew that was the only chance he had at getting far enough away from his father’s reach. No matter how long it took, he would figure out how to get across, and no one would hurt him anymore. Maybe there would even be a place with people like him, or at least people who accepted him for who he was.
A hesitant smile formed on his bloody lip as tendrils of hope snaked their way into his heart.
For the first time since his mother’s death, Anton believed in something again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Adelaide
“I know you’ve been planning something. I want to know what it is.” I had gotten called away to another interminable training session with the king, full of lingering touches and pointed remarks.
So soon after Clark’s brief visit, it was an effort not to actually vomit. Then, I had come here, and the general was nowhere to be seen.
So, my temper was short, not that BeLa particularly seemed to notice.
“Why didn’t you leave?” She angled her head.
“Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?” I countered.
“We weren’t sure exactly when it would happen. The general was concerned you would be unable to hide your anticipation from the king.”
I scowled, just as the man himself arrived.
He took one look at my face and held a hand up.
“I was trying to keep you safe, not insult your competence.”
“I do believe you met success in rather the opposite way you were striving for, then.” I met his eyes, conveying every ounce of frustration I felt. “You asked me once to trust you when I had no reason to. Is it so much to ask for a little faith in return?”
His eyes narrowed, his jaw setting in a way I could only describe as paternal.
“This is not about faith, Adelaide. I’m sure you’re very capable, but you have not seen the king as I have. It is him I do not trust. Not with his own daughter, and certainly not with mine.”
I couldn’t quite speak past the lump in my throat. This was all too much in too short a time.
“You are so much like my boys.” He sighed, the tension leaving his face. “At first, I wondered what this tiny slip of a girl had done to win my boys over so completely that all three of them would give their lives for you. Xavier disobeyed direct orders, Gunther let you hold his ungloved hand without so much as a flinch, and Clark married you.” He chuckled. “But I understand it now. So, surely you see why I can’t let you put yourself in danger.”
“You don’t know what it means to me that you care.” I put my hand on his, conveying my sincerity. “But this isn’t your decision. It wasn’t Clark’s, and it’s not yours. It is for me to decide how and why I risk myself.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but BeLa cut him off. I had almost forgotten she was here.
“It’s neither here nor there at this point. She has made her choice. She is here now, and she will only be in more danger if we keep her in the dark.” Then she looked to me. “But make no mistake about it. My father is a cruel man, and it’s a dangerous game you play.”
The dread that seemed to reside permanently in my stomach chose that moment to crawl up into my throat, so thick and cloying I could barely breathe. I sank into a chair, trying to keep the fear from my face.
JoJo put his huge head in my lap, and I was absurdly grateful for his steady, warm presence. I hadn’t gotten to ask Clark about Shensi in our brief visit.
I glanced up to see the General pacing with the furious look of someone backed into a corner, but he didn’t argue.
I know the feeling, Killian.
After a tense silence, he finally began to outline the basics of their plan. Apparently, BeLa had never planned to leave. She said it would cause too much attention. She was right, and their plan was a good one, but the timeline was far too long.
I told them as much, recounting mine and Clark’s conversation. The general cursed.
“A week isn’t nearly enough time.”
“With all due respect, General, we don’t have another decade to see your plans through. Besides, I have an idea. I didn’t just stay to be difficult.” I raised an eyebrow at him, and he actually laughed.
“I can see Clark has rubbed off on you.” He quickly sobered. “What were you thinking?”
I told him, and I managed to keep my hands from shaking through my brief description.
“You know he will push to...finalize the marriage.” Killian looked murderous. I could tell he was thinking of what had already happened to me, on his watch.
He wasn’t the only one remembering that
day. Panic surged in my chest, and I had to shut my eyes against the visions that assaulted me at his words.
“I am not without bargaining chips,” I eventually choked out. I had to believe I could orchestrate this to my advantage. “In any event,” I said, more in an effort to convince myself than them, “you two have been engaged for months. We should have time.”
BeLa glanced up, her face more serious than I had ever seen it.
“I hope you are correct.” But she didn’t sound at all like she believed it.
“I couldn’t help but notice your tattoo is no more faded than it was on the day you arrived.”
It was the opening I had been waiting for, and it had only taken one day. One day of me being slightly more inviting of his touches. One day of letting my gaze linger on him when I knew he was observing me.
One day of being filled with such self-loathing I could no longer stomach the sight of myself in the mirror.
“I spoke with BeLa.” That was true. I tried to focus on the honesty in my statements, so no hint of the lie would be evident. “She’s been working on a serum that works in a matter of days.”
“And yet.” He put his hand around my wrist and drew it up for us to both see.
My skin crawled where he touched it. I pushed that feeling to another part of myself, the part that was allowed to be human. She would have to stay shut away for now.
I met his eyes, letting him see the uncertainty in mine. He would never believe I had reached this decision easily. But I couldn’t be too defiant. A tenuous game, and, as BeLa had so aptly pointed out, a dangerous one.
My heart beat furiously in my chest, and I knew he could feel it in my pulse. Let him think his touch excited me.
“And yet, this is not a decision I make lightly. I do not wish to be the queen of a kingdom at war.” I peered up at him through my lashes. “How long would you expect that of me?”
Though knowing his plans was helpful, it wasn’t vital. I was mostly asking because he expected me to. The general had coached me through much of this.
Sure enough, his eyes sparked with interest.
“With the right show of power, no one will dare challenge us. There is no need for war. Only unity.”
“And what would I be to you? A killing machine? Merely the conduit for that show of power?”
“Is that what you’ve been so concerned about?” He covered my hand with his, and looked down at me with unfiltered condescension in his gaze. And a trace of something else I didn’t want to think about.
Bile rose in my throat, but I nodded.
“Partly.”
“The thing about the amulet is, it will allow us to keep casualties to a minimum, far lower than if I was forced to go to war without it.” His meaning was clear.
I could help him with the crystal, murder a few people to make a point. Or he could indiscriminately slaughter as he had been doing.
“So, a decisive display of power, then enter into diplomatic negotiations?” I reminded myself that none of this was real. It was never going to get that far.
“Exactly.” Pride overtook his features again, further nauseating me.
I didn’t want to think about what kind of person I was, that I could make this vile man proud.
“You’ve given me much to think about.” Like how everyone had been right to be concerned. How I hadn’t begun to understand how far I would have to go to see this through, and how much it might destroy me when I did.
The Idealist
Anton had no reason to trust the furious man who carried his limp body onto his warship, but also no energy to care. He hadn’t eaten in days, and his hands felt like they were on fire. If this man was sent by his father, and he was finally going home, then at least Anton knew that along with the beatings would come food and a bed.
The last little bit of hope that he’d been holding onto faded with each step the man took onto the ship.
His biggest mistake had been assuming every island was similar to Picaro. As much as he hated to admit that the President had been right about anything, his stance on keeping the island’s resources protected made a small degree of sense in light of the things Anton had seen. There was little to be found here.
Anton had made it across the Ever Falls only to be met by hunger and the same cruel indifference with which he was treated back home.
The man, the General, he’d seen the others call him, asked him questions, but Anton was delirious with fever. He couldn’t keep his eyes focused long enough to read the man’s lips, and he couldn’t process well enough to know what he was saying.
Besides, what if he accidentally signed but the man wanted him to speak?
Beads of sweat rolled down his face as blinding panic began to seize him. No. Going back would never be better for Anton. He’d rather starve than face that monster again.
Visions of his father’s whip cracking down, of finally breaking enough to cry out, to plead for the man to stop, invaded his feverish mind. Suddenly, his father and the general melded together into some new monster he wasn’t sure he could trust.
Better not to say anything at all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Clark
What had taken less than a day for SuEllen and me took close to three with my brother’s injuries, but I couldn’t have cared less. All that mattered was that he was alive.
Besides, we had a lot to catch up on.
Gunther told me about the general. I was at a loss. I wanted so badly to believe him, for my family to be whole. But we had been deceived before. I was grateful when SuEllen interrupted to ask about BeLamere.
The question brought a blush to my brother’s wan cheeks. I would have to tease him about that when the formidable captain wasn’t around.
“You haven’t asked about Addie,” he commented gently on the second day.
My face turned to stone without my permission. I hadn’t wanted to think about the danger she was in, not when I finally had this tiny piece of happiness to hold on to.
“It’s complicated,” I replied tersely.
I knew he had read my lips, but he didn’t respond. It was a familiar tactic. One that usually worked.
“I don’t understand why she wouldn’t come with me,” I blurted out.
“If you thought you had the power to put an end to the king’s reign of fear, would you have left?”
“She’s in over her head.” I ignored his question, because we both knew the answer.
“Maybe.” He didn’t bother to lie. “But she would never forgive herself if she didn’t try, and you of all people should understand that.”
Maybe it wasn’t that I struggled to understand that. Maybe the problem was just that I was terrified to lose her.
The next time we stopped to rest, I remembered that I had never unpacked the satchel with Addie’s things. I braced myself for her lingering smell on her clothes, the physical aching loneliness I felt that she wasn’t here to wear them.
What I didn’t brace myself for was the tiny tube I had packed away.
“This might come in handy.” I held it out to SuEllen.
She took it with a furrowed brow. The label was written in Levelian, but I had noticed that wasn’t uncommon with medical or government-related things here.
“Where did you get this?” She frowned in confusion.
“It was with Addie’s stuff. I thought it might work like Nell’s had. Gunther said BeLa experiments with medical things.”
SuEllen examined my face, her own expression deliberating.
“What?” I asked, a weird sinking feeling in my stomach.
“This is not for wounds. It is for accelerated tattoo removal.” She said the words without inflection, but that didn’t minimize their impact.
Gunther had been resting with his eyes closed. He had missed the entire exchange, and I couldn’t form the words to catch him up, to ask him anything.
Like why Addie had the means for a Levelian divorce in her room.
B
y the time we finally reached Nell, I was used to having Gunther around. So much so that I nearly forgot that Xav didn’t know he was alive.
Of course, my oldest brother was standing guard and the first to greet us when we neared the safe house.
Xavier’s deep brown face went paler than I had ever seen it. Before he even reached Gunther, he broke down into giant, quaking sobs. I left to give them a moment while SuEllen and I reported to Nell.
“BeLamere should be able to contact me directly now.” SuEllen pointed to a bracelet I hadn’t seen until now. “But the general will still need to send word to the Court so it appears he is on their side.”
I still wasn’t completely convinced that was subterfuge, but it was possible that was more stubbornness than reason on my part.
“Why didn’t she come with you?” Nell asked.
“She said she was needed there.”
Nell nodded, but the pain was evident in her eyes. Her cousin must be the closest thing she had to a sibling. And Addie, who had also stayed.
“Shall I presume Addie said the same?” Exasperation and fatigue clouded her voice.
“Something like that,” I responded, not fully committed to that line of reasoning in light of my discovery in the satchel. “I gave her a week.”
The queen raised her eyebrows.
“I’m surprised you gave her that long.” She looked away thoughtfully for a moment.
I waited for her to fly off the handle as she normally would have done. We had put a lot of time and effort into rescuing two women who insisted on staying put, and Nell liked to be the one in charge of plans.
Biscuit let out a sharp, angry bark, running for the back door and startling us both. The hairs rose on my arms. I hadn’t been around her long, but she had never acted that way.
Everyone in the room froze, on alert, but when I went to investigate, no one was there. Nell and I exchanged a wary look.
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