by Greg Dragon
A twelve-year-old boy marched behind me, unable to suppress a grin. He’d bounced along the entire way so far, excited to be a part of the excitement. To the other side of me was a gray-haired woman, and it was obviously painful for her to walk. She should have been relaxing in a comfortable chair, safe at home, rather than facing an uncertain future.
I glanced behind us, eyeing the patrol vehicle that had been tailing us for two kilometers now. Not only were we breaking curfew, but we were obviously headed for the palace. Why weren’t they confronting us? That worried me even more. Mills’s brilliant plan to “peaceably protest” now felt like a death wish, and dread permeated every muscle of my body.
We came to an intersection with a blinking light. I paused, then chuckled and marched through. What was a traffic law at this point? I was breaking pretty much every law possible, and there was no going back now. My followers had cut their bands off tonight with Jasper’s tool. That alone ensured a work-camp sentence at the very least, and at the most—well, I didn’t want to think about that. I rubbed my wrist again, wondering if I would ever get used to the exposed skin.
Another patrol vehicle pulled up and flanked us on the other side, and then another. They matched our speed like shiny escorts. Adrenaline pulsed through my body, and the chanting behind me was replaced by murmuring. We were only two blocks away now. I’d ridden this way in a transport on my first day in the city, gaping and nervous at the adventure that had awaited me. It seemed ages ago.
“Everyone get ready,” I announced, although there was nothing to left to do. We had no weapons, no way to defend ourselves except to show that we were peaceful. That was critical, Mills had said. We were victims, not attackers. Someone waited at the square with Dresden’s camera, ready to capture our grand entrance and show the nation our struggle for justice. Everyone nodded at my words and steeled themselves, and a girl my age moved to stand beside me. She was about the same height as Tali.
Please, I thought silently. Don’t let me lead these brave people to their deaths.
When we turned into the square, I stumbled to an abrupt stop. There they were—hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and monitors. The city had gathered its forces to protect the palace, just as Mills had predicted. Every single person was armed and had their weapons aimed straight at us. I glanced around but didn’t see any camera.
“Close in behind them,” a deep voice growled from within the enemy lines. The soldiers obeyed, and soon we were completely cut off from escape.
“Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air,” a voice said, the echo from the amplifiers bouncing across the hardness of the stone square. “Now.”
“We have no weapons,” I said. My voice wobbled, and I cleared my throat. “We come in peace to protest the empress’s illegal occupation of the throne.”
A figure emerged. A dozen guards surrounded him, so it was hard to tell who it was until he stopped in front of me. It was the commander himself, looking as fresh as if it were the middle of the day.
“You are all under arrest,” he said, his voice carrying easily over the stunned silence of the group. “Those who put their weapons on the ground now will be treated less harshly than those who don’t. The rest of you—put your hands on the backs of your heads.”
Clattering sounds echoed across the square as several rebels dropped stunners on the ground and raised their arms. They had just made me a liar. I completely understood, though. If I’d owned an illegal weapon, I probably would have brought it too. Not that it would make any difference now.
“That’s what I thought,” Denoux said. He motioned his soldiers forward, and an entire contingent broke off from the main group. They immediately kicked our stunners out of the way and started securing cuffs.
“Where’s the camera?” someone whispered behind me. “They’re supposed to be broadcasting this, right?”
A quick glance at our captors told me all I needed to know. There was no broadcast, nor was there a camera. The citizens would never know what had gone on here tonight. I’d just walked everyone right into a trap.
Mills had pored over every detail of our protest. There was no way he hadn’t anticipated this. So why hadn’t he warned us or given us a backup plan? Maybe he would descend at the last second in a dramatic rescue.
I thought back to that first time I’d met Mills, when Jasper had said something about his questionable past. If he was really working for NORA and wanted to crush the rebellion, this was a great way to do it. Fates. I’d fallen right into his hands.
“We’re dead!” a woman exclaimed. “It’s all over now.”
“Mills will come through for us,” a man said confidently. “We just have to play along.”
“You’re a fool. We’re alone.”
“Who’s the fool? This was all a setup, and you walked into it same as anybody else.”
The voices rose in pitch and intensity until I couldn’t understand them anymore. A few of them decided to fight back and stormed the soldiers. They just ended up in an unconscious heap on the ground. One guy in his fifties took down three soldiers with his fists before he was clubbed. He lay motionless on his stomach, a puddle of dark liquid pooling around his head. The guard who had done it simply stepped over him to the next person.
Rough hands grabbed me from behind and yanked my arms down, and then there was the all-too-familiar feel of steel on my wrists. Luckily, there was no techband to connect it to, which meant I could still move without pain. I considered fighting back for a moment. But then something shoved me forward so hard I tripped and landed on my knees with a startled yelp.
“Wait,” Denoux said. “Bring me that one.”
The guard lifted me up by the back of the collar like an unruly kitten, then practically dragged me over to the commander, who looked puzzled for a moment. When he saw my face, recognition finally dawned. “The wanted girl. I assumed you’d be involved somehow. An interesting outfit for such a night, don’t you think?”
I couldn’t agree more, but I met his gaze. “The empress is the one breaking laws, not us. You have no right to treat us this way.”
“No right? Bringing an army to the palace gates, especially at this time of night, breaks a multitude of laws. If you had applied to plead your case with the Council at their next meeting, you may have had a chance—”
“And I would have been arrested,” I cut in, “and then silently executed. You know it’s true.”
The haughty amusement in his face was now a cold, dark glare. People probably didn’t interrupt him often. “You thought this would bring about a different outcome?” He chuckled and turned to the man on his right. “Take her to the political prison, and inform Her Majesty that the girl has been captured.”
“What about the rest of them, sir?”
“Run the food test to find out which ones are confirmed smugglers. The rest can go to the work camps.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier put his fist over his heart and strode toward me. He gripped the back of my neck and shoved me just like the first guard had, but I managed to stay up this time.
“Commander!”
Denoux turned as a runner shoved his way through the crowd. It was one of the empress’s personal guards, a stone-faced guy with wide shoulders. He pulled up in front of Denoux. “Her Majesty orders that the girl be delivered to the gates. She wants to speak to her.”
I should have been terrified, or at least scared, but my mind was simply numb. Empty.
All our hard work and I was right back at the beginning, in the empress’s hands. Would she execute me publicly like Tali, to make a statement? Or would she lead me to the shadows and do it in secret?
The commander gave an exasperated sigh and nodded. Each soldier took an elbow and guided me through the chaos of prisoners and soldiers, monitors and gate security guards.
The gate looked like wrought iron, but I could tell by a soft buzz that it was electrified. It opened automatically when we reached it, swinging outward, and I gazed
up at the palace. Such a beautiful building to be at the center of so much strife. Hundreds of lights shone on its surface, which gave off a strange orange hue.
“Should’ve known it would be you,” the empress said. It took a second to see her through the shadows, but there she was, leaning casually against the guard post. “I could sense a certain rebellion in you, a stubbornness, on that day we met. Although I never thought your treason was quite this . . . extreme.”
“Forgive me for not dying,” I spat. “I’m sure three failed murder attempts can get pretty inconvenient.”
“Higher positions require tougher choices, and that’s something you’ll never understand.”
“Because you’ll finish the job yourself?”
“Not necessarily.” She motioned for someone to join her. Two bulky guards stepped forward, supporting someone between them. The figure was incredibly skinny and shook as if barely able to stand. A gray sack covered the face and neck. The empress put one manicured hand on the person’s shoulder. “There’s something I want you to do, and this prisoner is why you’re about to cooperate.” She whipped off the sack. The prisoner blinked at the sudden light.
I felt my knees buckle as I stood there, gaping. Her body was broken and shaky, her head bald, and her face bruised almost beyond recognition. She looked exhausted, scarcely able to hold herself up. But I’d know my friend anywhere. “Tali?”
“Hi, Treen,” her hollow voice said.
This wasn’t happening. I’d watched her die that night, and then dozens of times afterward in my dreams—stumbling forward, glaring at the camera, the fire of rebellion in her eyes. There was only a spark of it now, but it was there. She could hardly hold her head up to meet my gaze.
Of course. The Raters knew everything, so they would know Taliyah was my best friend. The empress had turned down the intensity of Tali’s punishment a bit, allowed her to suffer nearly to death, then stopped punishment mode when she’d blacked out. It did explain how she’d lasted longer than her friends on the broadcast. But it didn’t explain what the point of it all was.
“You tortured her.” My voice shook with barely controlled rage.
“Insurance,” the empress said. “A backup plan. I knew she may come in handy if my assassins failed.”
I felt my eyes widen at her bluntness. She was surrounded by guards and didn’t seem to care what they overheard. Her mouth curved into a smile. “Oh yes, they know, Ametrine. They’re loyal to me. You don’t think I’m the first ruler determined to secure the throne, do you? Some reports say Emperor Ashford executed sixty-one people he deemed a threat to his position.”
My mind raced, processing every horrible word. How many people had this woman killed? I didn’t stand a chance against such brutality. I had to buy myself some time. “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Why make me a red and have me killed? You could have easily given me one handicap, or even two. Nobody would have suspected a thing, and I wouldn’t have been a threat.”
Her lips pursed as she considered the question. “Someone I loved once betrayed me, and it made me realize how much hurting you would hurt him.”
“My father.”
“Jasper. At first he was just a brilliant coworker with advantageous bloodlines. I knew we could be powerful together. And we were.” Her expression was strangely vulnerable, but it soon turned sour. “I thought it was real until I caught him looking at his wife’s image one day. He didn’t know I was there, but the look on his face was so gentle, so tender, that I knew what we had was a lie. All those years—gone in an instant.”
“So you threw him in prison, then tried to destroy his daughter?”
“Being empress is a tough job, Ametrine,” she snapped. “Since you’ll never experience it, I’ll enlighten you. Imagine dedicating your life to a group of people who admire you but then plot to overthrow you at the same time. With every bow, people scheme how to take your place. Your own friends and family members see you as competition.” She was so close she looked down on me now, a towering statue of disapproval. “You can’t even trust those who profess to love you. No, empress is not a title for the weak, and definitely not one for a teenage girl fresh out of Level Three school. So I’ll tell you how this goes. You will announce on a national broadcast that you lied, that any claim you had to the throne was fabricated, and then accept punishment. You will also turn over any other smugglers you’ve been hiding.”
I glanced at Tali. Her head was still down, her body tense. I knew she was hanging on every word. “You’ll kill me either way, so why would I agree to that?”
“Your little friend here. She’s a resilient one, but she’s been through a lot the past few days. It won’t take much more to break her.” The empress grabbed Tali’s hair, tipping her head back. Tali gasped.
It sent a painful ache through me down to my toes. She was alive, but barely. Tali was in this position because of me, and rescuing her was finally in my power. I’d wished for the opportunity to save her a hundred times. It seemed the fates had a very twisted sense of humor.
The empress held Tali in front of me like a prize, but it was about much more than threats. Giving up meant selling out the hundreds of people who had supported me, those who hoped for a better life and had made a stand. Hundreds of families waited silently in their homes tonight, waiting for fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters to come home. Those people believed that I could change their children’s futures. What kind of leader would I be if I gave in so easily? Was one person’s life worth the suffering of hundreds, even if it was Tali?
This was the type of decision an empress made, I realized. The worth of human life, one against hundreds, number against number. This was the very decision Vance had faced when the commander had offered him a deal—his family for his clan.
I was no better because there was no way I could turn Tali over to the empress. If it meant her safety, I’d arrest the rebels myself, one by one.
Tali’s eyes met mine, narrow and determined. Her expression seemed to say, “Don’t you dare.”
I fingered my necklace, familiar and comforting. Purple and gold, two colors in one stone. I thought of Vance, with one foot in each world and yet living in neither. My father, Jasper, protecting his family in his own way. My mother, turning away and burying her problems. There was a time to run and a time to fight.
Tali gave an imperceptible shake of her head. I could almost hear the words in my mind.
Let me fight.
I settled my gaze on the empress. My stare seemed to unnerve her, and a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes gave me my chance. I thought of Vance and the father he’d lost. I thought of Jasper and the years this woman had taken away from us. I thought of her cold new punishment law, the poison pills, the lies and manipulation. I gathered all the anger within me at her injustices, at all the pain she’d caused, and my body began to tremble with rage.
At my expression, the empress took a step backward. I leaped and hooked her leg with mine, toppling us both. The empress lay on the ground, lips parted in a silent gasp, her dress twisted in a very unladylike fashion.
The guards were only a split second behind. One aimed his stunner at me, but Tali lowered her head and barreled toward him, hitting him right in the gut. He threw his arms around her and they tumbled to the ground together, Tali biting and kicking for all she was worth. I stepped aside just as a huge blast whipped by, and the other guard who’d tried to stun me growled. I didn’t wait for him to aim again—I rolled toward the empress.
“No!” she snapped, scrambling backward to get the footing to stand, and then she winced and glanced down at her ankle. I followed Tali’s lead and knocked her back down with my head.
There was a shout from somewhere and the sound of heavy footsteps headed toward us. I didn’t have much time. Both guards aimed their stunners at me, and I rolled closer to the empress to discourage them from shooting. She took that opportunity to wrap both hands around my throat and situated herself above me on her knee
s.
“Look what you’ve turned me into!” she growled. “You’ve ruined everything.”
Pain crushed my windpipe, and I saw black spots flashing across the empress’s crazed expression. I had a matter of seconds left. I heard Tali grunt, and then a guard shouted something, but my mind was swimming. Think, Treena.
The empress’s techband caught my eye, silver and glittering in jewels like her uniform. If only I could get punishment mode to work.
She leaned forward, closer, and began to whisper. “You should have taken my deal. I had a much better death planned for you, but this will do. Good-bye, child.”
No. It’s still time to fight.
I gathered all the strength my weakened body contained, and with a mighty heave, bucked my hips upward. It unbalanced her enough that she broke contact. Just as she sat up, I swung my legs around and kicked. My foot connected with her forehead.
A strangled scream came from the empress as her hands shot to her head, and then she started to convulse. It took a few seconds for me to realize what I’d done. The implant. It was electronically connected to her techband. The band itself didn’t have punishment mode, but apparently her implant did.
The guards, who had been waiting uncertainly for a chance to attack, now watched in horror as the empress thrashed on the ground, writhing and kicking like a madwoman. Then she curled up on her side, let out a long, quiet breath, and was still.
I coughed, sucking air, and stared at the empress in horror. Her chest didn’t rise.
“Hands up,” the guard said with a look of fear and aimed the stunner at me. I raised my arms, too numb to fight. Tali lay on her back several meters away. I held my breath, but then she turned her head and looked at me. A tired grin spread across her battered face, and I smiled back.
It was then that the world exploded.
44
