Thin Hope

by Holly Hook

  He should have known that Commander Jacob wasn’t truly with him. He wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Ivan sighed, plopping down on his throne. It wasn’t his fault that Jacob’s sister had tried to undermine the safety of Lateine by straying out that night. Her death was necessary to protect the way. He couldn’t have his employees abandoning their duties for anything. Only full cooperation from everyone would ensure the end to all these wars.

  Ivan turned to face the two pedestals on either side of the two thrones. The second throne was, of course, empty, and the Empress’s crown rested on its pedestal, like it had for the past two hundred and thirty-nine years, since he had deposed Empress Sylvania and taken the throne himself. White-blue lightning snaked around the gold of the crown, promising to infuse the wearer with the soul and power of Lateine.

  He sighed. Riley could have all that, but she was trapped somewhere with that backstabbing former Commander of his.

  The twin doors to the room burst open, and his new Commander, Melanie Conway, stepped through with a parade of soldiers at her heels. Ivan had appointed her Commander from the position of Head of Palace Security when he discovered Jacob missing with Riley that morning.

  “We have located the last of them, my Honorable Emperor,” she said, going down to a kneel. “They were hiding at one of our bases, trying to blend in with the troops there. One was in possession of what appeared to be royal jewels. Rest assured, the old palace guards are no more. We are in the process of appointing new ones.”

  Ivan leaned forward, studying the two men forced onto their knees in front of him by the other soldiers. Both stared down at the red carpet, hair hanging in their faces.

  “So,” Ivan said, allowing the power from his crown to flow down into him, lighting his entire body in a whitish-blue glow. “You assisted my former Commander in kidnapping my future wife, and managed to steal some of my property. You are traitors to Lateine, for which the punishment is—”

  “My Honorable Emperor!”

  A maid rushed into the room, skirts swishing around her. Ivan stopped as the glow around him died like a candle flame snuffed out. “You are speaking out of t—”

  “There are boats coming up the river, sir, from the direction of Keilara.”

  Ivan’s words died in his throat. General Aven’s refusal to push forward into Keilara reared back up again, along with the rumors that Jacob was trying to turn some of his own troops against him. How could his subjects have been so easily corrupted by the outside world? His knees felt weak as he rushed out past the soldiers and to the balcony, pushing his curtains aside to peer over his protective wall.

  The boats were easy to see in the darkness of Constance, rolling up the Imperial River like an army of silent fish. Lights shined from the fronts of them, illuminating the water below. There were not only Lateinian military boats, but those he recognized from his visions: the green hulls of military cruisers from Keilara and the black frames of Delainian ones as well. Already, specks came out of their homes, disobeying the curfew, out to see what the commotion was about.

  The Emperor grasped the railing as white-blue lightning curled around his hands, warping the frame. His own troops had turned against him and allied with those warring enemies, and he had no doubt that Jacob had orchestrated it all.

  “Melanie,” he ordered, facing his new Commander. “We will see to it that that this invasion is crushed. Let them fill the streets. Hold back the troops.”

  “Yes, my Honorable Emperor.” She nodded and ran from the room, cape swishing behind her. The remaining soldiers, including the condemned palace guards, followed.

  Ivan would deal with them later. The first of the boats landed, and specks—his own troops—disembarked and ran down a street, soon lost to the darkness of the town. The Emperor smiled down at them and focused on the city below, with its million magic users waiting to be tapped. He drew in a breath, feeling the power from his people flow up through his arms like a wave of pure shock, building inside of him and waiting for release. He hoped the civilians below were smart enough to obey his orders and stay indoors, but sacrifice was necessary here for those who didn’t.

  The invasion would quickly prove the rebels’ undoing, and Jacob’s demise. Riley would soon be back with him, back in his arms, crowned Empress of Lateine as the rest of the continent came under his rule to live in peace forever.

  * * * * *

  “Riley, are you sure about this?” Jacob asked.

  The boat bobbed up and down under them as they rolled down the Imperial River, retracing the escape route they had taken only a couple of short weeks ago. Lights swung back and forth outside as water parted all around them.

  “Ivan thinks you kidnapped me, right?” she asked. Her stomach felt like the river itself, unsettled. “If so, he’s still in love with me. I may be the only one able to get close enough to take his crown.”

  “Yes. I believe he does,” Jacob said, pacing around the inside of the boat. The Keilaran troops stood aside as he did. “I don’t want you to do this, Riley. He’s far more powerful than any other Lateinian.”

  “But getting his crown off his head is the only way we can kill him.”

  Her words hung in the air. Jacob looked up at her. His brown eyes were sorrowful and beautiful at the same time. “Yes. He never parts with it. It is the only thing that can be granting him immortality. It can’t be anything else. We'll need to convince him to part with it, because it can't come off his head unless he removes it.”

  “Then I need to do this. I can pretend I'm helping him escape and have him remove his crown to disguise himself.” Riley wasn't sure he could fall for it, but it was the only chance they had. The thought twisted around inside of her. How could she face Ivan again? Jacob would be close, but he couldn’t let himself be known to Ivan for obvious reasons.

  He appeared in front of her, blocking out the parade of boats outside. “Riley, I will be taking Ivan’s crown for myself when he is killed. I…I must. The rebels are expecting that of me, and the magic of Lateine will die without a ruler. If our magic dies, we will lose part of who we are.”

  Riley blinked at Jacob. He bit his lip. The look on his face was serious. Jacob, her nervous Jacob, become the new Emperor?

  “There’s more, Riley,” he said. On the next boat, Kiki called out that they had entered Constance. The long ride through the swamplands was over. “There are two crowns in the palace. The first belongs to Ivan right now. The second is the Empress’s crown, which is just as powerful and has not been worn in hundreds of years. I believe it takes one ruler to keep Lateine’s magic alive, but it will require two to make it thrive.”

  Riley’s heart turned into a drumbeat. All the words in the world seemed to have left her, leaving the universe exploding in its place. Finally, they spilled out: “I want to be your Empress.”

  Jacob swallowed and smiled. “I think your parents are coming around, Riley. Your mother doesn’t glare at me nearly as much anymore. Your father treats me like a friend now. Things will turn out okay.”

  She thought of them, over in the next boat with Kiki and Damon. Once she was made Empress of Lateine, there would be no taking it back. But maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about it, anyway. Her family had accepted Kiki’s new condition, and Damon’s, too.

  Riley hugged Jacob, taking in his warmth on as a cold breeze came in through the stairwell. “Will I get magic? Turn immortal?”

  “Yes. There is no reason that you wouldn’t.”

  The thought made shivers run over Riley’s skin. “Why hasn’t anyone taken the Empress’s crown yet? Used it to stop Ivan?”

  “You can’t crown yourself. The crown’s magic only works if the people of Lateine want it to, or if Ivan chooses an Empress. Sadly, Ivan was popular in the days before his rule, promising that no one would invade Lateine ever again. He was the former Empress’s Commander, you know.”

  Riley separated from Jacob and glanced outside at the boats around them, many of them Lateinian boats, c
arrying troops that looked up to Jacob. No doubt, many of the civilians here in Lateine did as well.

  Then she noticed something. Silence. Dark buildings rolled past and alleys snaked away into nothingness all around them. No fighting. No resistance as troops marched away into Constance, snaking their way through streets towards the palace.

  “This doesn’t feel right,” Riley said, rubbing the goosebumps rising on her arms. Power had been cut to the entire city, all except for the Emperor’s palace, which rose above everything with its ridiculous concrete wall. She suddenly felt glad her boat was positioned in the middle of the fleet, with her parents beside her. Despite her training, she still didn’t feel like much of a fighter.

  “I agree,” Jacob said, sniffing the air. Figures started to mill around the buildings on either shore, some of them soldiers, some of them civilians, come out to watch the parade of ships. The rebel troops had landed.

  He sniffed again, worry lines coming over his face. “Riley, you smell that?”

  Breeze wafted through the air again, carrying with it a smell she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Ozone. Her hair stood on end, as if something electric were racing over her skin, but this was different from the tingling she got whenever Ivan tried to watch her. It felt more like the calm before a storm, like something was about to happen.

  “Jacob, what is this?”

  “Ivan’s drawing power from all us Lateinians.” He panted, rushing up the stairwell and seizing the radio that hung there. He nearly staggered on the way. “Everyone, pull off the streets and get inside. Take any civilians with you.”

  Shouts rang out on both sides of the shore as the troops got the message. Doors slammed somewhere and feet thudded out of the way.

  Riley joined him just in time to see her parents coming up to the top deck of the boat next to them. Kiki and Ryan were right behind, studying the dark city behind them.

  “Jacob, what’s that smell?” Kiki asked.

  He didn’t speak. Instead, his mouth fell open as he stared in the direction of the Emperor’s palace.

  She saw why. White-blue tendrils of light snaked down the concrete wall towards the city, turning the wall itself a whitish yellow. The ozone smell grew stronger, suffocating, as the light reached Imperial Land and rushed through like an oncoming tsunami. The glow became brighter, blinding even, as it began to snake through the streets, leaving the buildings intact but sure to incinerate any living flesh it struck.

  Riley barely had time to remember what Lateinian magic had done to Kiki’s shoulder. Jacob seized her arm, ran for the railing, and shouted, “Everyone in the water!”

  Damon and Kiki dove off their boat, dragging Ryan with them, as her parents followed. Other splashes sounded through the air as soldiers dove off their boats. Nearby, Darren Storm shouted for his wife as Riley leapt over the railing and water rushed up her nose.

  White-blue light shimmered all around her as planks flew into the murk around them. One scratched the side of her hip, then rose to float in front of her face. Riley cried out, but her voice came out in the form of bubbles, exploding in front of her face as the searing flow faded and left only murk in its place.

  Jacob’s hand seized her arm and pulled her upwards. She surfaced into chaos, sucking in a breath.

  * * * * *

  Kiki gasped for breath and Damon surfaced next to her, Ryan in tow. Only splintered remains of boats remained in the water, among them flailing soldiers, shouting, and death. The ozone stench had disappeared from the air, only to be replaced by another, more sinister one: burnt flesh.

  Only a few feet away, garbed in the black and red of the Delainian military, floated the corpse of a solider, still smoking from contact with the Lateinian magic. Around them, other indistinct shapes floated in the darkness. She couldn’t be sure if they were those who hadn’t gotten out of the open air in time or something else. She looked away and gagged, unsure if she vomited into the water or not. “Riley!”

  “Over here,” called her sister. Water splashed near a group of floating planks. Two figures huddled together not far from the shore. Behind them, the streets stood eerily silent and darker than ever without the searchlights of the boats on them, but all the houses still looked intact. Anyone inside must have survived. Ivan had been aiming at the invasion.

  “Everyone with us?” her father asked, splashing up next to her. His red hair had plastered itself down to his head. “Good. Your mother’s over here with me. She has a cut on her arm. Get to shore. We can’t stay here.”

  He was right. There was a change in plans. They couldn’t wait here for the invasion to finish. “Looks like I’m going to the front lines.”

  “Kiki,” her father started.

  “I must.” She eyed Jacob and Riley. Riley would no doubt be going with Jacob, which meant that she was going, too. “Damon’s coming with me.”

  Her arms felt strong, unbreakable as she swam through the river, Damon beside her, just as Jacob helped Riley onto the gravel-covered shore. Shouts started to ring out again as doors opened. Those who had taken shelter were coming out. Those who hadn’t—

  A woman’s agonized scream rang out somewhere, full of pain. Kiki tried to block out the sound as she climbed onto shore and let Damon put his arm around her, but it was impossible. Ahead, rebel Lateinian soldiers spilled forward and gathered around Jacob and Riley, shouting and pointing towards the palace.

  Jacob pulled out his soaked radio and waved to a soldier, who handed him a megaphone. He dropped the radio and held up the megaphone instead.

  “Emperor Ivan is willing to sacrifice the lives of his own people in the name of protecting Lateine!” Even in the darkness, Jacob’s face had twisted into something different, something raw, something in pain. “I have received reports that civilians as well as soldiers lie dead in the streets, their only crime being outside at the wrong time. Ivan has just made a critical error. Now, the magic of all Lateinians, including his loyalists, is drained. Spread the word. Now is the time to move, before Ivan is able to harness our power again. We have less than an hour.”

  Shouts rose up, radios crackled, and feet thudded away into the night.

  * * * * *

  The march towards Ivan’s palace only seemed to swell the closer they got, so much that Kiki brushed elbows with military of all three countries on a constant basis. Ahead, Jacob continued to call out on the megaphone, Riley at his side, though Kiki couldn’t make out his words well over the rumble of thousands of feet. Lateinian citizens, most with thin frames and patched clothing, stood in their doorways and watched them pass, a look of hope coming over their faces in what was perhaps the first time of their lives. A little boy waved at her from a crooked doorway, barely held back by his mother, as they passed. Kiki returned the wave, relieved that he didn’t shrink back from her.

  Next to her, Damon spoke into his radio. “…and detain them. I estimate we’ll reach the palace within fifteen minutes. Yes, now is the time to send the copters this way. Ivan’s power is still drained according to Jacob. The wall has to come down immediately.”

  Kiki nearly tripped inside another pothole. Luckily, they’d come across very few bodies; but that was only because the soldiers ahead were clearing them off the road. The confusing streets, dilapidated houses, and shops with bars across the windows never seemed to end. Ivan’s palace towered over them, reaching for the stars. Kiki had known that the people of Lateine lived in squalor, but not like this.

  "I've only heard stories," Alexander said next to her, looking around at the hopelessness around them. "No wonder Ivan kept the borders closed."

  The parade turned around a curve, sweeping her and Damon along with it, and Emperor Ivan’s towering statue stared down at them. They had made it to the entrance of Imperial Land. Beyond it rose the palace, easy to see through the darkened amusement park. It was the only place that still had power. Kiki’s heart fluttered, and she wasn’t sure why.

  Pieces of debris shot up from the crowd as the proces
sion moved under Ivan's statue and into Imperial Land, bouncing off its legs with loud pops. A lot of civilians had joined the march after Ivan had let his magic loose through the city, and Kiki could spot them throughout the crowd. None of them left offerings at Ivan's feet other than broken boards, pieces of trash, and shards of glass. As she passed through the gates, soldiers and civilians fanned out through the park around them, shouting and pumping their fists.

  Something moved on the closest roller coaster, blurring into the night. Kiki stopped and seized Alexander's arm.

  The blur stopped, not thirty feet above her head, forming into a blond woman in a black dress. A cigarette hung from her mouth. She stared down at her, clinging onto one of the support beams as if hanging onto the side of a roller coaster were an everyday occurrence.

  “What the hell?” Kiki nudged at Damon, who stopped and clicked his radio again.

  “It's Ariel. We should find out why she’s here,” Alexander said, motioning for Damon and Kiki to come along.

  She did, the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach growing stronger as she weaved around a small parade of Delainian troops. This wouldn't go well. No doubt she was in league with Patrick. She'd probably freed him from his cell weeks ago, and turned him herself. What was she doing in Lateine?

  Ariel flung her cigarette butt down at them. It landed just on the other side of the fence. The woman laughed, a high, annoying sound that cut over the excitement of the march around them.

  “Why are you here?” Alexander yelled up to Ariel.

  “Why shouldn't I be?” Ariel asked. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened in a long time. It's about time that prick gets kicked out of office."