“Oh!” Jordan exclaimed. “What have you done?” She tossed a polishing rag at Ari. “Spit and circles. Tight ones.”
Ari began to polish while Lamarack crossed the field to them, hunkering to examine the pile of armor. “Slim pickings,” Ari said. “We won’t exactly look the part of heroes when Mercer storms down.”
“Heroes we will be. Lords and ladies? Not so much.” Lam tossed a broken gauntlet. Their smile came up to meet Ari’s in a way that had her daydreaming about years and lives ago, when Lam was the first person to catch her eye.
“Help me get outfitted?” Ari asked. Lam nodded, and Ari hopped up, grabbing the breastplate and holding it in place. Lam fastened the back while Ari asked, “How come we never got together, Lam?”
Jordan muttered, “Unbelievable.”
Lam enjoyed themselves thoroughly with a sexy chuckle. “Because your brother would have thrown a fit.” Their voice faded with careful kindness. “And because, for those of us who were paying attention, there was only ever one person for you. Even back when you two were only known for your shouting matches.”
“Not obvious to everyone,” Ari said, chewing each word, staring at Kay. Her brother looked at her—and then away.
“You were dead,” Lam said. “Besides, they’re not the kind of couple you think they are. It’s more convenience and grief, and a very odd request on Gwen’s side—”
“An honorable knight would ask them,” Jordan shoved in.
Ari didn’t have to decide how to answer. Kay was stalking toward them.
“A word, Ari,” he said, “before we get dive-bombed by Mercer?”
“Leave the sword,” Jordan growled.
“I’m not going to stab him!”
“So I can polish it! You’re doing a terrible job. No wonder you failed knight camp.”
“These two flunked out. I was a conscientious objector!”
“Yes, and what are you now?” Jordan asked, never fazed by Ari’s temper.
“King Fucking Arthur, that’s who!”
Lam busted out a full-bellied laugh. Ari’s own smile cracked as she stuck the sword in the earth before Jordan. Kay looked like he wanted to smile but was afraid that if he did, the sky might crumble down around him.
Ari walked deeper into the heart of the glorious field, her brother at her heels. When they were out of earshot of the others, she made herself speak. “First, tell me where our parents are.”
“Tanaka, last I heard. They’ve been on the lam for a while, but they check in regularly. They took your death hard. Especially Captain Mom. She blamed herself.”
“That’s enough.” Ari burned. “Now tell me what you two lovebirds were arguing about.”
“How much to tell you about us.”
Okay, perhaps it was wise that Jordan made her leave the sword behind. “So? Do I get lies? Half-truths? What’s the verdict?” Ari paused. “I assume you’re the one who wants me to know. Gwen has always been a labyrinth of careful fiction. Did you know she was born on Troy? She told me she came from Lionel. She—”
“Was abandoned by her parents, Ari. Sold to the Lionel School for casino credits when she was five. Can you even imagine how hard that would be to admit?”
Ari stopped walking. The sun was so strong, she had to shield her eyes to take in her brother’s. “She could have told me that.”
“You’re not always easy to talk to,” he said, rubbing the bite mark she’d left on his forearm. “And you have no idea how close she came to being one of those Mercer kids. Raised by them, owned by them. She’s into this kings and queens life because it is her family.” He started to pace, and Ari knew her brother well enough to know that he was working himself up to something. “She’s been on her own her whole life, dreaming of what it’d be like to have someone. A real person. At least you and I had each other when our moms were taken.”
Ari reached out and caught his arm, making him face her. “Fine, Kay. You’re right, but none of that explains how or why you would step in when I was… unavailable.”
Kay’s eyebrows notched. “Gods damnit, Ari! You’ve flown in and out of her life like a space rat boyfriend, you know that? Appearing, disappearing. You’ve hurt her so—”
“Stop, I know!” Ari’s eyes crossed the field, reaching for the place where Gwen stood, one hand on her belly, her face a cloud of emotion as she watched them.
One hand on her belly.
“A very odd request,” Ari murmured, remembering Lam’s words… and then Gwen’s confession about wanting a kid back on Lionel. Ari’s eyes widened on her brother. “She’s not…”
“Not ever going to be alone again. Even if both of us get killed.”
Kay held his head higher, proud of himself on some level Ari couldn’t even begin to line up. And she couldn’t breathe. Gwen was going to have a baby. Kay’s baby.
The Gwen and Ari who had danced yesterday—pressed together as if every force in the universe was binding them—were gone. Vanished. Her head rushed, and she doubled over, hands on her knees, hair falling in her face. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, okay, okay.” The word was broken, on repeat. This was not okay.
“Ara.”
Ari paused. Gwen had never used her real name before. She looked up to find Kay much farther away, replaced by an apprehensive Gwen. Apparently, it was her turn to offer apologies. Or explanations. Or excuses.
“Gweneviere.” Ari lifted herself to her full height; she needed to be stronger than this. Even if it was the biggest lie she’d ever embraced. “I think I’m to congratulate you.”
Gwen sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I need you to understand—”
“We can talk about this later.” Ari aimed for calm understanding, but it came across as plain old hurt, her tone stinging. “I have to focus on what we’re doing here.” She crossed back to Excalibur, ripping it out of the earth where Jordan was trying to bring it back to a glorious sheen.
Gwen followed. “No, we have to talk now. We might not have a later.”
The black knight growled and left them alone.
Ari looked over the newly polished sword. It was easier than looking into Gwen’s deeply brown eyes. “What…” She cleared her throat. “What are we supposed to say, Gwen? You picked the one person in the universe I wouldn’t be able to…” Forgive wasn’t the right word. Forget wasn’t either. There was no right word. “The one person that would end my feelings for you.”
“End?” Gwen snapped in that commanding queen voice Ari loved and roiled against in equal measure. “What, did you take up lying while you were gone?”
Ari kept staring at her sword, the newly polished places a harsh contrast to the tarnished lines. She could be mad at Kay, surly to her knights, but she was nothing but wounded with Gwen. “I can’t feel this way, Gwen. I have to bring down the Administrator today.”
“That’s bullshit, Ari.”
“But it’s not! And this,” Ari motioned between them, “proves it. Arthur’s heart gets ruined by Gweneviere. That’s the legend. You break me, and I’m so destroyed I bury myself in the cause. Defeat evil, maybe even unite humanity this time. Until he…”
Ari’s thoughts nosedived as she recalled Arthur’s death at the hand of his son. She glanced at Gwen’s stomach.
“Ari, you’re talking about yourself and King Arthur like you’re the same person.”
“We are. Sort of.”
“More lies,” Gwen said. “Have they all brainwashed you?”
“You want to know the truth, Gwen? This feels worse than the loss of my people.” Ari winced, one hand over her face, hoping the rest of her friends didn’t know how close she was to being worthless. “That’s insane, isn’t it? This should be nothing.” She attempted a small smile, sniffing back the storm. “People get their hearts broken every damn day.”
Gwen stepped closer to Ari, her hands running up Ari’s arms, massaging her countless scars, and Ari lost a bet. If Gwen can hurt me, I’ll stay away, she’d snapped at Morgana on Ketc
h. I’ll rise above it. Morgana had laughed.
No one was laughing now.
And no matter what, Ari wasn’t going to be able to walk away from Gwen. She would stay right here, in the riot of her pain, for even a chance at this closeness.
Gwen’s fingers took hold of Ari’s dented breastplate, and Ari had a steaming flash of the tournament when Gwen had pulled Ari into that kiss so confidently Ari had taken to it like gravity. Gwen pulled Ari close again, but instead of kissing, she pressed their faces together. Gwen’s lips found Ari’s ear. “It had to be him, Ari. He was the closest I could get to you.”
She let go, pushed Ari back. And walked away.
At first it felt like the cosmos were on fire. Ari took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, searching for the place inside where King Arthur stopped, and Ari started. Gwen was right; it was becoming harder and harder to find.
Merlin jogged over, pulling a robe over his T-shirt and jeans. “Back in uniform, old man?”
“It’s—what do they say?—game time!” He was grinning, but the look slipped, no doubt because he could tell how torn up Ari had become. “Are you all right?”
“I am… not.” Ari dropped Excalibur into the sheath at her back. “But that’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? This is all part of the story?” Merlin’s acute sadness shone through, his baby-smooth face a reminder of how much he lost with each passing day. “Come on. We’re going to end this. I promise, Merlin. I’m going to save you.”
They embraced, and Ari held on to him too tightly.
“This feels like it’s really happening all of a sudden,” Val said, linking an arm with Merlin’s. “Not that I was doubting it, but well, of course I was. So what do we do when the Big Bad arrives?”
“We blow up Heritage,” Lam said, staring up at the huge starship parked past the moon. “I have explosives.”
Merlin waved his hands. “Blowing up the Death Star always seems like a good idea, but it only leads to bigger Death Stars.”
Morgana took in the crowd with a growing curiosity, her physical presence a bit strange. She tilted her head back and pointed. “There. They come.”
In the deep reaches of the blue sky, Ari saw the first sign of Mercer, a vessel that dropped like a dark insect. Just one. “Open up the web. Let him in, Merlin.”
Merlin obeyed, and the ship zoomed close. At first Ari hoped it was the Administrator, coming down to meet them with some honor. Then she woke up.
“Take cover!” she yelled, as it zoomed by. Its bay doors opened, and Ari imagined bombs or associates or poison falling on them.
Instead something wrapped in Mercer packaging fell from the vessel. It was as large as the escape pod she’d stolen from the generation ship. And yet it didn’t hit the ground like metal.
It hit like flesh.
Ari recognized the shape. And yet, she stood stock-still, gripping her sword.
“What is it?” Jordan asked. “A weapon of some kind?”
Ari waited for the large lump to move. When it didn’t, she walked toward it, slowly at first, and then faster and faster. Her friends followed, but they were not quick enough to stop her from pulling the tarp back, revealing the dead taneen hatchling. Kay’s green head was battered and bloodied. His long, forked tongue swollen and stuck out, his eyes a murdered black.
“Kay!” she screamed. “No, no, no!” Her legs gave out, and she was all aching fists against the side of the dragon’s hide. The real Kay appeared, dragging her back from the body.
Overhead, the vessel disappeared.
“What the hell is this supposed to mean?” Lam asked, voice tremulous.
“It’s the dragon from Ari’s video,” Val said, his voice biting. “The Administrator wants us to know that Mercer has been to Ketch.”
Gwen started to scream about her people, hysterical as Ari was turning coldly numb. Jordan fought to hold on to the queen.
Ari’s words tumbled from her lips. “Not Kay,” she whispered. “He’s just a baby.”
Her brother held her face with both hands, making Ari look into his blue eyes. “Kay is… the dragon? You named a dragon after me?”
She closed her eyes. “Missed you too much. Had to find a way to say your name every day.” Ari started to burn again, boiling with feelings that left her fingers clawing into her brother’s starved frame. The Administrator had done this. Taken their home. Their lives. He’d found the one thing that had brought Ari happiness on Ketch, and he’d murdered it.
“I’m going to kill him, Kay. I’m going to rip a hole through the Administrator.”
“You’re not a killer, Ari,” he said, pulling her tight. He smelled exactly like Error, like their moms, like the best parts of their lives together. “None of us are. That’s what never adds up. We can play battles and knights and kings, but in the end, we just want to exist.”
The Mercer vessel reappeared, hovering a few hundred feet above them. Ari’s band pulled in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder. But the Mercer ship didn’t move.
“What is it doing?” Lam asked.
Ari was distracted, looking around at the battlefield. They were broadcasting what was happening from Error, but how easy would it be for Mercer to kill the signal? Explain it away to the universe as a minor, silly uprising? She had flashes of Ketch, destroyed without the universe even registering a blip. This was a trap. A terrible idea.
“Time for you to do one of those fantastic party tricks, Merl!” Kay called out.
“Merl?!” Merlin sputtered. “Unacceptable.”
“Seriously, friends, what is that ship waiting for?” Lam asked, voice riled.
“I second Kay,” Gwen commanded. “Some magic would be great right now.”
“Merlin!” Val cried out. Ari whirled around to find Merlin limp in Val’s arms—as though his consciousness had been stolen straight out of this galaxy. Val struggled to hold him upright. “He just… went down. Like someone unplugged him.”
Ari turned to Morgana. “What happened to him?”
Morgana shook her head, her black hair snaking about her shoulders. Sudden fear had etched her into a timeless, terrifying beauty. “We’re doomed.”
A series of clicks issued from the great body of the taneen. Jordan threw back the rest of the packaging as smoke pumped from the belly of the dead dragon. Jordan cried out to move back, but it was too late. They were all gagging, falling down and into each other. Ari’s eyes burned so hard she had to close them. And then she couldn’t open them again.
Ari was aware of a bizarre, chattering drumming that reached through the darkness. She looked around slowly. An earthy and yet metallic smell left her uneasy. Mildly nauseated. She was on her feet, propped up by associates, and beside her a massive creature stamped anxious hooves into hard-packed soil.
She glanced around at a wall of Mercer associates. No, not a wall.
An entire army.
Only, they looked different. Their white uniforms seemed to have been tailored on Lionel, double-breasted with stiff collars. And they wore swords at the hip instead of their usual guns. Ari swung back around and into the pawing creature that was so much taller than her.
“It’s a horse,” the Administrator said, stepping around the front of the beast, stroking its velvet nose and feeding an apple with the Mercer logo genetically engineered on the skin into its wide, clomping mouth. “Damn near impossible to find these days, but we have our ways.” His nondescript eyes met hers and he gave Ari a pleased smile. Even more intimidating was his outfit. Instead of his traditional Mercer-white suit, he wore a golden robe that smacked of spiritual significance; Merlin might call them dress robes.
He noticed her stare and smoothed his hands down his front. “We are quite a sight, but we had to dress up for your coronation. Honestly, we’ve been playing with pawns for so long, we forgot how fun it’d be to throw a little sovereign drama in. The people are just gobbling it up.”
“What?” Ari’s voice came out scraped. She glanced down at he
rself. She was wearing a suit of armor that was etched with glorious gold and silver filigree, a ferocious red dragon emblazoned on the chest.
The Administrator pointed to it. “The family crest of the Pendragons. A nice touch, isn’t it? That one was our idea, since you’re so determined to go all King Arthur with this little rebellion.”
Ari regretted longing for proper armor earlier; she should have remembered that wanting things led to Mercer. She touched the sheath on her hip. At least Excalibur was at her side, although she doubted the sword would have allowed them to take it from her. “Where am I?”
“On Heritage. It’s only been a few days since your stunt on Old Earth. Your little band was in a state. Took us quite a while to shine you all up.” He winked. “To make you presentable for the festivities.”
“Where are my friends?”
“You mean your knights, King Arthur… King Ara? Whatever.” He flourished a hand behind her, and Ari looked over her shoulder to find five more horses in a tight formation. On one side, Gwen sat, side-saddle, gagged, wearing the most beautiful dress Ari had ever seen. It was shining even in the low light of this strange, closed-in space, a million diamonds riveting the seams—none of them as bright as the fear in Gwen’s brown eyes.
Behind her, Jordan sat with her head slumped forward, unconscious. Her armor had been polished to a mirror sheen, and Ari watched in a sort of slow-motion terror as a Mercer associate shot something into Jordan’s leg and her eyes began to flutter open.
On the other side of the formation, Kay sat astride a chestnut horse that seemed extra nervous. Ari tried not to stare too long into her brother’s dark expression. He was flame-cheeked and furious. The kind of furious that could be a problem.
Beside him, Lam sat with their dreads perfectly placed, a leather suit of armor to match Jordan’s metal one. They were not gagged, but a purple bruise down one side of their jaw implied that they’d already learned not to speak. Val was behind them, on the smallest brown horse. His face was streaked with tears, an unnerving juxtaposition to the finely pressed tunic of the queen’s adviser.
Once & Future Page 24
