Xander and Peter shared a glance and then stepped away, obviously deferring to Eamon’s order on the matter. I watched them all, a little slack-jawed, and a lot annoyed. Not a single one of them had consulted with me first.
I took a breath, ready to blast every single one of them for making so many decisions without even bothering to ask me, but I paused as something new caught my eye.
Just ahead of Xander, the road had curved again, and the view had changed. The canopy of trees was gone and in their place were rows and rows of rooftops.
We were here.
It was time to become Alina Leone, empress heir to the Zorovian throne. I was about to take my place as leader of the Zorovian people—or what was left of them. And I wasn’t entirely certain I wasn’t going to throw up.
Chapter Eleven
The town was the exact opposite of everything I’d imagined from an alien settlement. At the entrance, a pair of large wooden gates stood open and inviting. The gates were sturdy enough, but the wooden slats were very clearly woven together using twine and some sort of glue or sap. In fact, everything in sight was very simply constructed. Thatched roofs with mud walls rose up on either side of a wide dirt road that cut a path through the center. Not a single sentient building in sight—not that I knew what a sentient building looked like exactly. Still, Xander hadn’t lied when he said they kept it simple here.
Some of the buildings were labeled with signage though none of the words or letters were in a language I knew. Businesses, I assumed. The rest were unmarked. All of them bore striking similarities to Earth’s architecture, and I wondered if we’d swiped the designs from them or they’d swiped from us. Either way, the familiarity was comforting right about now. Because scattered along the sidewalks and standing on front stoops were dozens of pedestrians. And every single one of them had turned to stare at me.
My stomach flipped with a nauseating combination of butterflies and bricks. Was it too much to ask for Peter to at least have grabbed my hairbrush?
“Alina, breathe.”
Peter’s voice startled me, and I jumped in my seat as I jerked my neck to look over at him.
Just ahead, Eamon and Xander had stopped to wait for me to catch up. I hadn’t realized how far behind I was, but now all of them were watching me with concerned expressions that made me wince.
“I’m breathing fine,” I said. “I just want to get there. I’m starving.”
Lie.
Pretty sure if I ate now, it was coming right back up.
Xander frowned and looked back at the road, clearly impatient. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be seen with me in public. A brush probably would have fixed that. When had my hair gotten so crazy? Oh yeah, probably about the time we’d traveled through a cyclone to get here.
“Take this,” Peter said.
He held out a small device, and I picked it off his palm, studying it in confusion. “What is it?” I asked.
“A translator.” Peter pointed to his ear where I spotted the same device tucked around the inside of his earlobe. “You wear it like this and it’ll translate everything you hear into English.”
“And what about when I speak?” I asked, hooking my device around my ear with clumsy fingers. “How will they understand me? Do they wear one of these?”
“They’ll understand,” he assured me. “Every Zorovian learns the common languages in primary school.”
“The common languages?” I frowned. Talk about American privilege… “Are you telling me English is even common in space?”
“He means common species,” Eamon explained. “Any species with similar features to yours. Humans, Beltroids, and Forbrands specifically.”
“What are…?”
“We don’t really have time for this right now,” Xander said.
My eyes narrowed. What the hell had I done to make him go all broody again? “Forgive me for struggling to play catch up after having my entire brain wiped,” I said.
He merely arched a brow in response.
I huffed.
“Xander’s right,” Eamon said. “We’ll miss our window to present you at the council meeting if we don’t hurry.”
“Is that bad?” I asked, but Eamon and Xander were already moving again.
“Is your translator in place?” Peter asked.
I nodded. “I think so.”
“Let’s get moving,” Eamon said and our processional resumed.
Once again, Xander and Eamon took the lead. This time, Peter stayed right beside me as we followed.
“So, is it just perfect timing that we’re about to crash a council meeting or is the universe just into torturing me?” I asked him.
Peter sent me a sympathetic glance. “The first, I think, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. We’re going to let Eamon introduce us to some of the group and then he’ll show us where we can get some rest.”
I nodded because, really, what was the point of trying to argue now? I couldn’t change my DNA—or the fact that this was happening right freaking now. But the next time I had to flee across space, I was going to be prepared. A travel toothbrush stuck in my boot, at least.
Peter stayed close beside me as our processional turned the corner and began our trek down the main road. Of course our route was taking us right through the busiest street in town. We hadn’t made it more than halfway before those staring seemed to recognize our little parade for what it was. Suddenly, all activity and noise stopped and every wolf and person I could see turned to watch us.
For a split second, it was as if someone had frozen time.
A really long ass second. Or maybe ten minutes.
The silence stretched until it went from awkward to irritated.
Then, like a switch had been flipped, the movement resumed, but the energy had changed. A mixture of wolves and people parted to let us pass. From the corner of my eye, I watched them gather in small groups to whisper while they watched us go by.
But mostly they watched me.
The farther we went, the more crowded it became. Our pace slowed which only made me cringe more. No one even bothered to hide their stares. Some smiled up at me, but most were too dumbstruck to do anything but watch. I tried to put myself in their shoes. Of course a newcomer, especially one that looked Zorovian, would catch their eye, right? I could only guess they didn’t get very many visitors here. And standing right next to the Zorovians were wolves of every color and size. Most were Eamon’s size, though some were smaller. All of them were huge compared to human standards.
Movement ahead caught my eye, and I looked up in time to see Xander suddenly veer off and duck into an alleyway. Eamon didn’t look surprised and never broke stride. I tried not to wonder what the hell had made him bolt, but I couldn’t shake the feeling it had something to do with me.
Or, more specifically, getting away from me.
As soon as he was gone, the hum of conversation went from muffled whispers to a louder buzz of voices. My stomach knotted, and I gripped Nightingale’s reins with sweaty palms.
I could do this.
I just had to get to the other end of town. It wasn’t like I was facing down a Shadow or something. These were friendly people. These were my people.
I continued the encouraging self-talk and forced myself to look straight ahead, avoiding the stares for now. My stomach rolled a little and my knuckles turned white as I gripped the reins harder in my hands.
“You’re doing great,” Peter whispered and his words filtered in first through my ear and then through the translator hooked on.
I sent him a confused glance. “Was that—”
“Zorovian.” Peter grinned. “Feels good to use the old language again. I wasn’t sure I remembered it well enough.”
“Must be nice,” I said under my breath.
I wasn’t mad at Peter for not teaching me the language of our home, or at least I hadn’t been before today. It made sense. Knowing it would only have risked me further if we’d ever been captured on Earth
. But now I wished I’d pushed harder for at least a few basic words. It felt like going to Mexico and not knowing hola or baño.
It only made me feel like more of an outsider.
Eventually, we turned off the main road and onto a side street that led past a short row of houses. At the end, the road turned into a dirt trail between a small bank of trees before opening up into a long, narrow field.
Eamon led us a few steps into the field and stopped.
I looked around, not sure if I should point out that whoever was supposed to be attending this council meeting was either invisible or already late.
“The others will come here and meet us,” Eamon explained.
I noticed he’d switched back to the Zorovian language thanks to the voice overlay that translated his words softly into my ear. Good to know this little contraption worked.
“So, they already know I’m here?” I asked.
Eamon nodded. “Xander went to gather them.”
So that’s where he’d run off to. It was better than what I’d assumed.
“Is this where you have all your meetings?” I asked.
“When weather permits, yes. Wolves think better outside.” Made sense. “I know you’re both tired,” Eamon added, looking at Peter, “But we can do this first and then give you time to rest. Dominik will send for a healer as soon as we’re finished here.”
“Thank you, Eamon.” Peter shot the wolf a grateful smile. “Just getting us here is more than I could have asked for. I’m happy to meet with the council.”
“What is the council exactly?” I asked.
“The leadership council was formed when we fled here,” Eamon explained. “Without you or your parents, there was no true heir to lead, so we formed a council comprised of the best warriors from your people and mine.”
“How many are there?” I asked.
“About two dozen total.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling the bricks and butterflies spring to life in my stomach all over again. I would face warriors—and be expected to win them over to what—trust me as their leader?
I was so not qualified for this job.
Suddenly very aware of how I must look in this moment, I smoothed a hand over my hair, hoping it didn’t look as bad as I imagined, and then slid off Nightingale’s back. Probably best not to sit that high; I’d feel like I was on display.
Peter dismounted from Archer and walked over to me. He looked into my face and then pulled me into a tight one-armed hug. “You can do this. I’m right here beside you. When he’d released me, he took my hand and squeezed.
“Thanks. Just don’t let go okay?” I said, squeezing back.
“Never,” he promised.
We took a minute to secure the horses out of the way, and then, all we could do was wait.
It didn’t take long for them to show up with Xander leading them. I recognized some of the faces we’d passed on the street, and just like before, they all watched me with interest but said nothing as they filed into the clearing and took a seat on the grass.
I felt awkward standing near the front with Peter and Eamon. Like these newcomers were the audience, and I was the show. Hopefully, my part would be easy; just stand here.
For all of Peter’s training, we hadn’t talked much of what it would take to lead. To actually stand here in front of a sea of men who would look to me and expect me to be responsible for their lives. That was one lesson I’d never had.
I glanced from face to face, focusing more on the people instead of the wolves. Eamon was a lot less intimidating now than he’d been that first night, but there were a lot of wolves sitting across from me, and that was intimidating as hell no matter how friendly my experience with Eamon had been. Not to mention the dozen or so men and women that were scattered in between the wolves, staring at me with open skepticism and curiosity. Nearly all of them were strapped with various weapons, mostly knives and machetes.
I tried to take reassurance in the fact that they didn’t seem put off at all by sitting so near their furry friends. But then maybe it only meant these Zorovian warriors were, in fact, scarier than a bunch of ‘roided out wolves.
Near the front, Xander sat talking with another man a couple of decades older than him. I tried to catch his eye, or at least hear what they were saying, but he never looked up and his words were lost in the buzzing of everyone else’s voices.
A few minutes later, the group must have been complete because Eamon stepped forward and issued a growl that evidently meant “shut the hell up” because everyone promptly did just that.
I waited, fully expecting Eamon to address everyone, but he only stepped back and gave Xander more room to stand and face the crowd.
“Thank you for coming,” Xander said. “I’m sure you’re all wondering who our visitors are. Let me explain, and when I’m done, we’ll all celebrate together.”
I stared at Xander as he spoke, completely and utterly confused as to what was happening. A warrior debriefing after a mission was one thing, but this was something else. Now that he was before them, every single council member gave him their undivided attention. No one interrupted. No one moved. And Xander looked over them as if he held a position of absolute authority.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I knew I didn’t like it.
“You all know we have spent years searching for Alina, our lost empress and heir to the Zorovian throne. Some of you have wondered if she was really alive and some of you never lost hope.” He paused, and I held my breath to see if he’d look over at me, but he went on, his eyes still on the crowd of warriors assembled.
“I am here to tell you, after years of searching and never giving up, Eamon and I have brought her home.” His arm flung out toward where Peter and I stood as he announced, “Today, I am honored to present to you Peter, high advisor to the royal court of Zorovia, and Alina Leone, daughter of Canicus and Hestia Leone, empress-heir to the throne of Zorovia!”
As soon as Xander finished, the crowd erupted.
Every wolf who sat in the group raised their heads high and began howling to the sky. I jumped and then steeled my teeth at the sheer noise.
Xander watched them in stony silence, still refusing to look over at me.
I looked at Eamon and then, since Eamon had joined them and wasn’t paying attention to me at all, I looked at Peter. He smiled back at me, clearly unconcerned.
I tried to act just as cool as he was, but I wasn’t sure if this was the “celebrating” Eamon mentioned or if they were doing some sort of warning call that they were about to revolt and eat me.
Behind me, Nightingale and Archer were about to lose their shit, so I hurried over to calm them. I soothed Nightingale with silent reassurances while stroking their coats—and doing my best not to get stepped on while they danced around.
Archer was the worst of the two, and I jumped when Peter appeared beside me and reached for Archer’s lead. “I’ve got him,” he said over the noise. “You should get back out there.”
“Right. Sure.”
I left him to it and returned to stand on the sidelines of the crowd.
Finally, the creepy howling stopped and Xander began talking again. “Alina fought bravely against the Shadow who attacked her. With the help of Eamon and myself, we defeated two of them that night. But more were waiting. We were ambushed and forced to flee. Eamon used the old magic to open a portal home and we just barely made it through before we would have been attacked again.”
“Does that mean the Shadows know Alina is here?” someone asked.
“Yes. And we can all assume it’s only a matter of time before they report back to Tharos,” Xander said.
“What’s the next step?” someone else asked.
Xander seemed to be expecting the question. He spoke smoothly. “As you all know, we have been completely focused on finding the empress which has divided our resources when it comes to training and combat readiness. Now that she’s home, we can unite our efforts into full
combat readiness.”
Eamon made a sound that could have been a growl—or he was simply clearing his throat. Xander faltered and shot a glance at the wolf. Then he added, “The next step will have to be carefully decided and all of this taken into account before a vote is conducted.”
“With the empress returned, I would think a vote is no longer necessary,” said an older man Xander near the front. He looked over at me with a kind expression. “It is her right to decide our next course of action. It is our duty to follow her orders. Your highness,” he added when our eyes met. “It is an honor.” He bowed his head.
His kindness reassured me, but then I caught sight of Xander’s expression and my smile died. “I don’t think that’s—” I began.
Xander cut me off. “Alina has been away for a long time,” he said, his gaze flicking to me and away again before he could meet my eyes. “But more than that, I have learned that in order to protect the future empress, Hestia wiped Alina’s memory. Until those memories are restored, or she has remastered our culture and her place in it, she will be offered the full rights and position of every other council member here. We continue to be a democracy.”
A few murmurs went up.
“She doesn’t remember anything?” growled a wolf in the back.
“Nothing.” More voices, this time louder. Xander’s voice boomed over them, full of authority. “And Hestia’s last act as a mother and your empress will not be questioned now or ever.”
I blinked.
No one argued.
One by one, I watched as the truth registered followed closely by obvious disappointment.
Xander continued, “We’ll give Peter and Alina a few days to settle in and then we’ll re-convene to discuss how to proceed. I know you are anxious to move forward, but let’s give them time to adjust and to heal. It’s a big change for them, being gone for so long and back so suddenly.”
“Xander’s right,” said a tawny wolf in the center of them all. “Our empress deserves our respect and support no matter what. No doubt she’s been through more than any of us these last years.”
A man with golden brown hair to match his skin spoke up, “Peter, Alina, take all the time you need. I’m sure you can understand our excitement—and our impatience. Something we never thought possible has happened. You have both been found alive and well. That has to mean something for our chances. No matter what, it will do much to bolster the hopes of the rest.”
The Girl Who Called The Stars Page 10
