The Red Queen

by Meg Xuemei X

  Valkyrie flew right toward the volcano site.

  Lucienne pulled out the platinum chain around her neck. The locket that encased the Eye of Time grew heavy in her hand. She pushed the pin, and the charm slowly opened. The Eye, in its silver metallic color, stared back at her amid the Twilight Water.

  Since ancient time, all Sirens had been driven mad to find it, but all of them had failed except Lucienne. She now had it in her palm, but she was about to get rid of it. By doing so, she was betraying the whole Siren race and denying her own destiny.

  But there were things more valuable than family obligations and personal ambitions. Lucienne rebuked her former thoughts. And only when she learned to let go of the idea that she held onto all her life would she be truly free.

  No, she was being incredibly selfish thinking of her own freedom. Her duty was bigger than her. Kian, Vladimir, and her people had gone through countless hardships to get there. Many of her warriors had perished for her and her cause. Once she cast away the Eye of Time, she'd never get it back. Everything she’d accomplished would be lost. All her people’s efforts wasted. Their deaths would count for nothing.

  Was the Eye influencing her, or was she fighting herself?

  You see the truth yourself, Siren, the Eye answered urgently.

  Valkyrie approached the coordinates.

  The volcano spewed fire even in its break. Lucienne had timed it well.

  The aircraft’s sensor blinked, warning of the hazard of getting any closer to the edge of the hot air. Lucienne let Valkyrie hover at the safe edge, staring down at the boiling lava far beneath.

  If you feed me to the fire, you unmake yourself. Do not throw away your birthright, Siren. You were born, as the greatest one, to rule with Ashburn Fury.

  It was right. How could she even conceive of exterminating the Eye of Time, her lifetime’s pursuit? This was more than madness. It was the most hideous crime!

  Valkyrie made a sharp U-turn, returning home.

  The Eye of Time let out a sigh of relief, but cold dread sank into Lucienne, in contrast to the molten lava outside the jet. She was heading back to hand the Eye of Time to Jekaterina. Instead of undoing herself, she was going to erase Ashburn and rip out the last humanity in him.

  Conflict warred in her, like magnetic poles pushing against each other. Lucienne suppressed a shriek. Then a shock wave of violet light shot out of her burning eyes, hitting the Eye of Time.

  Forbidden Glory had acted upon her extreme emotions, but its power didn’t damage the ancient entity, but made a connection.

  A vision hit Lucienne like a hailstorm.

  On the deck of a futuristic spaceship shaped like an eye atop two other interlinked eyes, she and Ashburn held hands and watched the world burn beneath them. Time passed by like the wind. Wherever the wind went, all living things turned to ash.

  The wind of time reached Kian first, then Ziyi, Aida, Vladimir, and all the loyal warriors in Sphinxes. They were reduced to swirling dust in the air.

  Lucienne, an immortal like Ashburn, was untouched by the sight.

  “New earth,” Ashburn said. He wasn’t the Ash she'd once known and remembered.

  He’d become one with the Eye of Time, and she one mind with him. The power to erase the world came from the completed TimeDust in him, with the aid of her Forbidden Glory.

  The ancient poison was no longer in her. It would never claim her again. Never.

  Ashburn glowed beyond glory. Her glow wasn’t as intense as his, but she knew she was beautiful beyond words, a hundred times more beautiful than any mortal female could ever be. She saw admiration in Ash’s silver eyes, just as she adored him.

  “Eterne is ours,” she said.

  He nodded. “For eternity.”

  Jekaterina led a race of beings resembling the image on the ice-pillar of the Rabbit Hole out to the deck, where they watched the destruction alongside Lucienne and Ashburn.

  “Earth is ours,” Jekaterina said.

  The race knelt before Jekaterina in worship.

  “You’ve waited patiently,” Jekaterina said, “but I’ve brought you home as promised.”

  “Your Imperial Majesty,” her race said in chorus, “you’ve sacrificed much for your people. You’ve endured time.”

  “And behold my beautiful, powerful daughter,” Empress Jekaterina said. “She sacrificed her people so we can have this day—”

  Lucienne gasped. She was back in Valkyrie, her labored breathing filling her ears. Her blood ran hot and wild at the vision, yet she’d never felt so cold.

  If she returned to Sphinxes with the Eye of Time, she’d be saved, but at the expense of her people.

  Was her glimpse of the alternative future a possible reality or an illusion? How could she decide when the poison of Blood Tear had altered her mind? She turned her gaze to the Eye of Time amid the Twilight Water. Its color turned blood red, just like when it’d hunted Ashburn and hooked into his mind.

  It was suddenly crystal clear to Lucienne that it needed her and Ash. It needed them to do its dirty work. It had powers beyond measure, but only humanity could end humanity. Somehow that was the rule out there in the corner of the universe—and only she and Ash had the right genetic code, as the Eye of Time had revealed.

  The ancient entity showed her its version of the future, believing she’d desire to live forever with the perfect man and choose to let her people and the world burn. It believed that sheer selfishness and self-serve were at the core of human nature.

  Lucienne turned Valkyrie around toward the volcano.

  You will die, Siren, the Eye of Time said. You will not be cured without me. If you choose to do this, you will never see Eterne. You will never taste the intimacy and fruit of love.

  “So be it,” said Lucienne.

  The prophecy said you were either the greatest of the Siren race or the worst.

  Lucienne slammed shut the locket as the Eye of Time whimpered.

  Valkyrie’s intercom buzzed.

  Sphinxes’ control tower must have noticed Valkyrie’s change of course and demanded an explanation. Lucienne ignored that too.

  General Fairchild’s threatening voice came through the jet's radio. Valkyrie's computer indicated three approaching jet fighters.

  “General Fairchild.” Lucienne opened the communication channel as she removed her disguise. “There's no need to pursue me. I'll be returning.”

  “Lucia? Siren?” General Fairchild sounded stunned. “How did you get in Valkyrie? Aren’t you in the middle of the bath in your mansion?”

  General Fairchild did have ears among those who were close to her.

  Lucienne heard the general ordering the jets to stand down and escort the Siren back.

  Valkyrie hovered at the perimeter where it could get no closer to the volcano.

  A triangular side door opened. Lucienne stood before it, holding a hybrid weapon of a compound crossbow and sniper rifle. Looking into the scope, she nocked the arrow, the chain that held the Eye of Time tied to its shaft.

  She had no right to sacrifice one person for her people or sacrifice the whole of Sphinxes for Ashburn. But she had the right to sacrifice herself for them.

  Lucienne released the arrow that was covered by RCC material with resistance to high temperature. The arrow pierced the air and shot toward the hottest fire on earth.

  The Eye of Time plummeted into the glare of the volcano’s molten core and vanished in the churning ocean of lava.

  As the side door slid shut, a deep shade of blood tear rolled down from Lucienne’s eyes.

  CHAPTER 31

  ONE NATION

  When Valkyrie touched down, General Fairchild, Admiral Enberg, Director Pyon, and other high-ranking officers were waiting at the air force base.

  “You see the line?” Ziyi asked. “This is bad. They’ll do more than yell at me.”

  “I’ll take care of the generals,” Lucienne said and pressed a Meridian point on the space between the pilot’s shoulder blades.
>
  Ethan woke up with a gasp, staring at Lucienne with a shocked, confused expression. Then he spied Ziyi also towering over him. “She—she hijacked the Siren’s—your jet!” He pointed a finger at Ziyi. “She threatened me with a big loaded gun, and her assistant hit me without mercy and knocked me out.”

  “It’s a G43, 9mm pistol. Not a big loaded gun,” Ziyi said. “Now stop complaining. We have a bigger issue.”

  The cabin door opened.

  Lucienne, who had changed into a white suit from the jet’s onboard wardrobe, stepped out of Valkyrie. “Gentlemen.” She nodded at the military crowd in a cool manner, as if nothing had happened. “I’ve returned. I’m going back to my house now.”

  “I’ll accompany the Siren to her house,” Ziyi said timidly behind Lucienne. “Uh, who’s going to give us a ride?”

  “We need to talk, Siren,” General Fairchild said grimly. “Chief is very upset. He’s on his way back from Nirvana.”

  “Then the talk can wait until he comes back,” Lucienne said. It was better to be shouted at once than twice.

  “Please, Siren,” Admiral Enberg said, “we’ve been waiting to have this meeting with you for a long time.”

  That was why they’d ambushed her. They were taking advantage of her hijacking her own jet to make their points. Lucienne sighed, “Fine. Let’s get it over with.” She let the officers escort her to the castle’s underground conference room.

  She hadn’t been to any of their meetings in a while. Her generals were running Sphinxes, along with Kian.

  The room smelled of espresso, Cuban cigars, and cologne, just as she remembered. An officer brought her a mug of black coffee. She nodded a thank you and sat at the head of the table.

  “Siren,” Pyon started, “according to the doctors, coffee—”

  Lucienne grabbed the mug tightly. “I need it today.”

  She took a swig, thoughts whirling in her mind. She’d wanted to converse with her officers about her leaving the Sphinxes’ leadership. Kian’s strong objection had stopped her. Now was probably the best time to talk to them when Kian wasn’t around. She needed them to brace for the day, which would come soon, when she could no longer be with them.

  She put down her mug, waiting for her generals to make the first move.

  “Siren,” General Fairchild began, “do you understand the severe consequences of leaving Sphinxes today?” His dark-skinned face looked grim.

  “I returned, didn’t I?” Lucienne said.

  “That isn’t the point,” General Fairchild said.

  “Then what’s the point?” asked Lucienne.

  “You left without authorization,” General Fairchild said, removing a fat Cohiba Esplendido from his cigar box.

  Admiral Enberg and Director Pyon kept their mouths clammed up and their expression stony. The other officers watched silently, but Lucienne could tell they held their breaths. They must have talked among themselves before this meeting. They must have chosen Fairchild as their mouthpiece. If they won this battle against her, they could lock her up in the tower and forever make her a figurehead before her last breath eventually went out.

  A queen, my butt.

  “You think I need your authorization to leave my house, General Fairchild?” asked Lucienne in a soft, lethal voice.

  “Chief McQuillen set the security protocol to protect you,” Fairchild said. “We all must follow the rules.”

  “Then let McQuillen deal with me,” Lucienne said, eyes sparking dark fire and fixing on Fairchild. “And please don’t smoke in my presence.”

  Fairchild looked taken aback. Lucienne had never taken that tone with him. He shut off his lighter and put the cigar back in the box. “I apologize, Siren.”

  Admiral Enberg cleared his throat. “Siren,” he said, “your leaving Sphinxes today caused panic. You have responsibilities. Your people look up to you. If anything happened to you, Sphinxes would fall apart.”

  “I should not be the reason that Sphinxes falls apart,” Lucienne said. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about it. You want a new nation born of ideals. A nation without the baggage other nations carry. I wanted to give you something better. I wanted to give you Eterne—what the ancients named the realm of the gods. Some of you know that I acquired a power that’s beyond this world; a power that could lead us to a quantum plane. But then I was poisoned. Most of the time I’ve been wandering in the land of the insane.” She surveyed the officers’ faces, meeting their eyes. “And today I’ve accepted the fact that there’s no cure for me.”

  “Siren!” Director Pyon called urgently.

  Lucienne raised a hand to stop him. “I can no longer lead. I can’t be your queen, but I can ask you not to fail me even though I’ve failed you.”

  “You never failed us, Siren,” the officers said almost in sync, some of them in tears. “We failed to protect you from our enemies.”

  “You’re our Siren queen forever,” Admiral Enberg said.

  Lucienne shook her head in regal sadness. “You’ll have to move forward without me. You must not let Sphinxes fall apart. This land is home to you. From this day forward, I remove my burden and place it on you. I lay my trust in you, in all of you. I believe you’ll not abuse my trust.”

  The officers looked grief-stricken and stunned.

  “We won’t give up on you, my Siren,” Pyon said. “There’s a cure. You must hang in there for your people. There’s hope!”

  There was no hope. Not anymore. When she’d tossed the Eye of Time into the boiling lava, she’d let the last hope of saving herself die. She doubted if the melting fire could demolish the ancient entity, but with it buried deep in the core of the volcano, no one could dig it out.

  And no one knew the real reason she’d gone to the volcano coordinates. They must have thought that she’d gone mental again. Ashburn wouldn’t know about it either. He couldn’t reach her memories, and she’d made sure no one witnessed her last act inside Valkyrie.

  A loud knock sounded on the door. Thaddeus stormed in. “Siren,” he said between labored breaths from running, “our cousins have arrived. They brought news. War is coming to Sphinxes. We have less than three days.”

  “My spies will confirm the intel tonight,” said Pyon. “I didn’t expect war to come to our door this soon.”

  “Where are our cousins?” Lucienne asked Thaddeus.

  “Waiting at the meeting hall,” Thaddeus said.

  “Bring them here,” Lucienne ordered.

  Within minutes, Lucienne’s seven cousins, who had all sworn allegiance to her, filed into the conference room. They kissed Lucienne’s Siren ring as she greeted them.

  As soon as Claude Lam, Sphinxes’ ambassador, delivered the news of a looming war, a slow, deadly silence settled across the room before it boiled into heated debates and shouts.

  Pyon’s intelligence had warned Lucienne that many nations had formed alliances under the leadership of the Sealers. Sphinxes crippled the shadow government in the Polynesian war, but didn’t destroy its real power. As long as the Sealers’ founder—a powerful, formidable ghost inside the machine—was alive, war would always find Lucienne and her people.

  The enemy had now regrouped.

  “They won’t stop until they level Sphinxes,” said Lucienne’s cousin, Patrick, who was in charge of the Lams weapons industry.

  “The news of your sickness has leaked and spread to every corner, Cousin Siren.” Claude eyed Lucienne. “Our enemies choose to strike when we’re most vulnerable. They mean to take us out before we become an elite country.”

  “Will America go against us too?” Lucienne asked in a soft, icy voice.

  “The United States sees the benefit of having Sphinxes as its ally,” Claude said.

  “We’ve been sharing intelligence with America,” Pyon said. “They sought a military base in Sphinxes, but Chief McQuillen gave them a firm no.”

  “The Sealers already have control of the United Nations,” another cousin said. “Sphinxes isn’t a countr
y yet, so UN will turn a blind eye on an attack.”

  “Some of our former allies have secretly shaken hands with the Brotherhood,” Patrick added.

  “Friends aren’t forever; neither are enemies,” said Claude. “It all depends on mutual benefits and circumstances. We can sway back some of our allies, like Australia, Canada, India and China.”

  “If they can’t make up their minds when we need them, then we won’t waste time on winning them back,” said Admiral Enberg.

  “Let our enemies come,” General Fairchild said. “We have the best military hardware. We’ve tested our success in Polynesia and South Russia.”

  “There is a difference,” Pyon said, rubbing his temples. “We haven’t fought the war in our own land. This time they’re coming here to throw bombs, missiles, and only god-know-what else at us.”

  “One unformed nation against many,” Lucienne said. “We can’t fight all of them. I don’t want Sphinxes to lose any more men than necessary. We should evacuate to preserve our forces and resources.” She would never have considered a retreat if she had the hope to survive. She would have chosen to fight until her last breath. But her fight was over, even before this impending war. She couldn’t speak for her people or encourage them to fight when she couldn’t. When she accepted her approaching doom, all she wanted was to preserve her men.

  “If we run, our enemies will hunt us,” said Admiral Enberg. “The day we answered your call, we vowed to give our lives to you, to Sphinxes. This land has become our home.”

  “And no one will drive us from our home!” many officers declared.

  “What about our soldiers and civilians?” Lucienne asked. “I want to give them a choice.”

  “They chose to follow you when you were crowned Siren at the age of eight.” Kian’s voice boomed from the outer room. He’d come back. He stalked into the conference room like a force of nature. His aides hastened after him.

  Ashburn wasn’t among them.

  She’d told Kian that Ashburn wouldn’t answer to anyone except her. Ghost House and the Rabbit Hole were a closed, alien world without Lucienne accompanying them. So it was no surprise that Kian failed to escort Ashburn back.