“So,” Krista grabbed the bottle of wine, popped off the cork, and poured some of the red liquid into the two goblets. She took both and sat next to Jade, handing her one. “How bad is the situation, really?”
Jade twirled the glass stem between her fingers, her gaze unfocused. “We may have been rather indiscreet, and it may have gone on for I don’t even know how long.” She chugged the wine down, and only as the last clear note of berries faded in her mouth did she look over at the bottle. “That’s quality.”
“Indeed.” Krista slid her hand over Jade’s and squeezed. “Tell me everything, so I have an idea on how I can help. Or, at least, I’ll know the details for when she comes back and she’s freaking out again.”
After the second glass, details spilled out of Jade like rain in a downpour. She giggled, and even to her it sounded a little hysterical. “We decided that we’d pretend that nothing happened while around Weston or Zaborah or anyone, but clearly that didn’t work.” She set the goblet aside and pushed the bottle to be out of reach. She didn’t mind being tipsy, but she still needed to think. Being drunk would be beyond irresponsible at this point. “I didn’t expect her to understand, but I’d hoped she’d at least try. Now it’s going to be even more miserable here. But I made my choice. It’s him.” She shrugged one shoulder, ignoring the ripple of sorrow that pulsed from her heart. “And to be queen. My people need me.”
“Your friends need you, too.” Krista reminded tartly. She sighed and ran a hand over her braids. “I know I’ve been a bit on edge since we got here—”
“Only a bit?”
Krista ignored Jade’s interruption. “But you’re so caught up in doing the right thing that you can’t see how you’re poisoning yourself. I’m scared for you. You’re not equipped for such a lifestyle, and while I have no doubt you can learn, it’s going to suck you dry. You’ll be stripped of everything that makes you, you.” Krista’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “I don’t want to lose the only sister I’ve ever had.”
Jade’s heart twisted and she reached out, settling her hand on Krista’s. “You won’t.”
Krista gave her a dour look. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Being queen, you won’t have time for people like me. People who have no nobility, no class, no reason for you to mingle with.”
“You can be my head mechanic.” Jade forced a laugh through her tight lungs. “Or something.” She fell silent. Tinkering. She’d miss that. There was a very good chance that Briar’s prosthetic would be her final project. “I want to finish his leg.” She took a shuddering breath. “And somehow avoid Zaborah as much as possible tomorrow.”
Krista rubbed Jade’s shoulder while she sipped at her drink. “Weston has that workshop where he built Ben’s steam-pistol, right? How about we invite ourselves to it tomorrow, during Zaborah’s morning routine? Maybe some distance would do everyone some good.”
Jade considered the idea and found herself nodding. “Zak will get me out of this if things go south with Weston.” Jade grimaced at Zaborah’s empty bed. “And the prince may be the safest option for me right now.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Ben
“If we’re not criminals, then surely we should be permitted to sight-see the city?” Finn asked their Elph guard, his voice mild.
Ben tried for his most innocent smile when the brown-haired Elph looked over at him, and Raine offered the guard a meek wave from where she lounged on a cushion across from Ben.
Finn swished a hand in the direction of the street outside. “You already have some of our group in for interview questions now, and it looks like it will rain by the end of the day. We’re free now, so if we were to get a look around, this would be the proper time, would it not?”
Ben placed a tile on the game board and inclined his ear to better hear the conversation between Finn and the guard. Ben had been eating breakfast next to Raine when Finn came by the atrium-like living room and explained his desire to get out and look around, and, if possible, get a lay of the land, learn if the Phoenix had been moved, look for any indications of what Lucio and Victor may be up against. Raine had instantly agreed, and Ben had chimed in that he’d be interested in going out with them. Finn had given Ben a long, level look at that time before something in his eyes had shifted and he’d invited Ben to join the attempt to leave.
The guards had already taken several crew members—Doctor Schultz, Captain Rebecca, the anti-social Pierce, Michael’s right-hand man Steban, and crewman Ash—right after breakfast, to go be questioned at the palace, leaving the house feeling quieter already. But if they were lucky, two groups away from the house would mean fewer guards at the house to notice that Brandon had slipped out during the night. Even Ben had missed Brandon’s departure. The former bandit had the stealth of a ghost, it seemed. They’d have to report him once they got back.
The guard stroked his goatee as he tilted his head to look out the window to the gray sky. “All you want is to walk around and see the city?”
“Indeed, sir.” Finn’s head bobbed, and he motioned to Raine with a hand that trembled. Raine stood and Ben tossed his next tile into the pile before joining her by Finn’s side as Finn made a show of straightening his back as if it hurt. “My granddaughter and I traveled through here many years ago, and it’s been so long since she’s had the opportunity to see the Isle in the sea, or to watch the waves crash in the Inlet of Shadows, or to see the temple of Falchion.” Finn’s voice rasped at the end. “It would mean so much to this old man.”
Ben had to press his lips together to avoid grinning, but the guard seemed to actually be considering Finn’s request.
“Please, we wouldn’t have to be out long,” Finn pleaded. He settled his hand over his heart. “I just want quality time with my family before my age gets the better of me.”
Raine twitched, but her eyes widened, earnest as she nodded at the guard. “Please, sir, my Papa is only growing more decrepit with each day.”
The guard looked away from Finn, and Finn shot Raine a dirty look that disappeared as quickly as it had come when the guard gestured to Ben. “Is he going too?”
Finn’s eyes sparkled at Ben. “Oh, I’d hope so. He’s her beau, you know.” He leaned in toward the guard, and the taller man automatically bent over to hear Finn whisper loudly enough that Ben could hear him. “I’m hoping they get married before I die, as I’d love some great-grandkids. But they really need a kick in the gears to get that going.”
Ben’s eyes bulged as he coughed on air. He snapped his jaw shut when the guard glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. Raine’s calloused hand slipped into Ben’s, and she wrapped her fingers around his bicep, pressing into him. The tips of his ears burned, and he swallowed hard.
“Oh, Papa.” She giggled. “We’ll get there when we get there.”
“I suppose we could escort you three for a brief time,” the guard relented. He motioned to their belts. “No weapons leave the house.”
“Oh, thank you,” Raine exclaimed, and she turned to beam at Ben, her dark eyes warm with genuine happiness. “Isn’t that marvelous? Your first time seeing the beauty of Camort!”
“Wonderful,” Ben managed through tight lungs. He wasn’t sure who was going to be the death of him more right now: Finn and his suggestions or Raine and her following through on said suggestions.
The guard hitched a thumb outside. “Let me inform Commander Corran what we’ll be doing.”
Raine waited until the guard was out of earshot before swiveling to face Finn, her fingers still gripping Ben. “Papa!”
Finn shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it?” He unfastened his sword belt and handed it to Raine. “Could you please settle these with the others?”
Raine released Ben’s arm, and she snatched the weapon from Finn’s hand with a huff. “Fine.” She pointed to Ben’s belt without looking at him. “I may as well take yours, too.”
“Right. Thanks.” Ben’s fingers fumbled on the buckle, and he narrowed his
eyes, focusing on the simple clasp. This would be just like an undercover mission. He’d have a role to play, and it was just that. A role.
Raine walked away, and Ben rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing Finn. “Boyfriend? Really?”
Finn watched Raine turn the corner to the hallway where they’d stored their weapons and gear on an armoire. Then he turned to face Ben, his gaze steady and sparkling with humor. “One can hope.”
Ben felt his eyes widen, and he stood there, frozen, his brain flat-lining, incapable of coherent thought. Say what? Finn wanted him and Raine—?
Steady footsteps on wood flooring behind Ben made him clam up. He’d sort through this later. Hopefully.
Ezekial came into view. He scratched at his goatee and nodded stiffly to the guards conferring in the corner of the room. “Getting chummy with the guards?”
“We’re off to see some sights with guard permission and escort,” Finn replied nonchalantly. “Are you interested in joining us?”
Ezekial’s mouth opened, and he blinked. “Yes, please. If they’ll allow another one to go with you.”
“I’ll ask when he comes back.” Finn clapped Ben’s shoulder. “Don’t forget to act the part when we’re out there.”
***
Ben couldn’t decide if the nerves in his gut were because of the trio of guards walking around them, Raine’s hand in his, or the sight of a familiar blue stone in an intersection up ahead. He stared at the stone for a moment longer before tearing his eyes away. Being caught staring at it would look just as suspicious as when it wouldn’t light if they passed it. And the lead guard—Tobius—seemed to be marching them right past it.
A cold wind blew through the squat buildings around them, and Raine’s fingertips dug into his knuckles. He squeezed her hand and eyed the Void Born alarm stone as they steadily approached it. What could he do? Would Raine’s life spark be sufficient to light it without casting suspicion on either of them? She’d been right by him at the library in Bergen, and Ben could only suspect that that alarm had gone off. The Elph passed this one without pause, and it didn’t look like Tobius was leading them toward it intentionally, so it was unlikely that this was supposed to be some sort of trap or ruse to check them for signs of life.
Finn stumbled ahead of them, and Raine left Ben like a flash, at her grandfather’s side in an instant. Ben slipped his hand in his pocket to preserve the warmth. Ezekial chuckled lowly behind him. “Miss her already?”
“Shut up,” Ben muttered. Pretending to be her “beau” was turning out to be even harder than Ben had imagined. If she’d meant nothing to him romantically, it would have been easy to tease and flirt appropriately, but he couldn’t. Like it or not, he was realizing how much she did mean to him, and that made it nearly impossible to keep his heart out of it.
But even if he didn’t have Sara to return home to, he was a Void Born. Raine deserved more than a ghost of a man who didn’t belong.
And it would soon all mean nothing if he failed to light the alarm that was barely a building length away. His pulse picked up as he scanned the crowded area. Elph hustled from one place to another as shopkeepers pulled in their wares from the increasing wind.
Finn turned and gestured to Ben. “Come here, son.”
A trickle of relief whispered through Ben even as a fresh new surge of worry crashed into him. He’d be closer to those who would definitely not trip the sensor, but now he was closer to it, and he still didn’t know if he’d be able to pass without notice. Finn wrapped an arm around Ben, clapping him on the shoulder. Finn leaned close, his eyes on the blue rock as Tobius walked under it. “Stick close.”
Ben pressed his hand against the dog tags hiding under his shirt. Did Finn know somehow? Suspect? Or was he just acting like a grandfather who wanted grandkids from him?
Finn walked under the glowing stone without hesitation, hugging Raine with one arm and Ben with the other. He lifted his hand to point, “Behold, the temple of Falchion.”
Stifling his panic, Ben whistled and nodded, impressed. White marble pedestals towered above them, and their safe home could have fit inside the temple at least four times over. He tried to bury his concern enough to concentrate on the here and now. “Falchion is their water god, yes?”
“Correct.” Finn tapped Ben’s shoulder and lowered his voice. “The airship yard is close to here. We need to confirm the Phoenix is still here.”
Ben dipped his head and raised his voice. “You mentioned an inlet or something, earlier?”
Tobius turned to look at Ben. “We’ll have to do that after the storm. We’re not going there in this weather.” Tobius’s eyebrow raised at the sight of Finn with Raine and Ben so close. “If you’re too cold, we should head back.”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Finn smiled and waved his hand by Raine’s face. “The road’s just a bit slick in some spots, so they’re making sure I don’t fall. Don’t want to break a hip at my age, you know!”
Raine’s snort was almost swallowed by the wind. “Right. Because you’re so old,” she muttered.
Finn let go of them and pulled their hands together. “Well, I think the slippery stones are past us, so I won’t keep you two apart any longer,” he replied cheerfully, a glint in his eye.
Heat warmed the back of Ben’s neck, and he rubbed at it, not making eye contact with Raine. He leaned toward her, his lips close to her ear. “What have we done to bring out this side of him?”
A tremor ran through Raine’s shoulders as she shrugged. “I wish I knew. He’s in rare form today.” She looked up at Ben, biting her lip, worry reflecting in her eyes. “What suspicions I have, I don’t like.” Before Ben could ask, she shook her head, a strand of hair dislodging from her braid and whipping across her face in the breeze. “I need to think on it more,” she finished, her voice soft.
Ben tucked the errant strand behind her ear before he thought through the action. He froze at the sight of his fingers hovering by her chin. Close to her lips. The tip of her tongue poked out to lick them. He swallowed hard.
“I think the guards have finally bought it,” Ezekial muttered from Ben’s side. “Good acting, you two.” He brushed past as a flurry of emotions raged through Ben.
Anger. Horror. He didn’t dare look Raine in the eye to see her reaction. He spun on his heel without a word, following behind Ezekial, his hand still trapped by Raine’s. If she’d been unimpressed with him flirting with her back in the bar so many months ago, what would she think of his actions now?
The scenery passed without comment from either of them—grassy slopes stopping suddenly in steep drops to the ocean, more large buildings, an airship yard. Ben’s attention snapped to it, and he scanned the collection of air and water ships, searching for the familiar hull of the Phoenix. His gaze snagged on the gleaming plating of their airship, and he studied it as best he could while still following with the group. She looked to be untouched, simply resting among many others.
Good. One thing down.
Raine’s thumb rubbed over his, and he shot her a small smile. She nodded toward the Phoenix. “Rebecca will be relieved to hear that it looks well.”
“Agreed.” Ben glanced up and blinked to see Finn and Ezekial standing a distance off with Tobius and another guard, watching someone by the edge of a cliff. “What’s going on?” he wondered aloud.
Raine shook her head. “No idea.” She hurried forward, tugging on his arm. “Come on.”
Ben kept pace with her, and the guard trailing behind them jogged to keep up. Ben stared at the figure as they got closer. It was a woman in silver and green robes. Ben snapped his fingers. “She was in the throne room with Ezran, wasn’t she?”
The guard behind them spoke up, his voice miffed. “She is the Princess Abigail, and you’d do well to remember her title, as well as Emperor Ezran’s.”
“Sorry,” Ben grimaced. He watched as she rolled her wrists, and the ground beneath her shot up, raising her almost twice his own height. “Is she a sage?”
“Indeed.” Respect weighed the word from the guard.
Finn motioned for Ben and Raine to come closer to where he stood by Ezekial’s side. He shifted to allow them in on his conversation the taller sage. “Notice how she holds her hands like that?” Finn pointed as Abigail rolled her wrists again. “She must also be adept at water manipulation.” He studied her for a long moment as she shaped the mound she was on, solidifying the damp earth into dry dirt, almost like rock.
“Agreed. Her trick to pull the water out of the earth is similar to how I pull heat out of objects.” Ezekial stroked his goatee. “I’m guessing she’s close to the opposite of me.” A cocky grin broke across his face. “I’d love to challenge her sometime.”
Ben smirked. “Wouldn’t it be awful if you got beaten again?” Raine’s sharp elbow dug into Ben’s ribs, and he wiggled away, rubbing at the sore spot. He couldn’t help grinning at Ezekial’s scowl. “I’d be curious too, if it helps. Heat versus earth? Sounds interesting.”
The ground rumbled in front of them, and Ben stepped back, instinctively pushing Raine behind him. Earth rose along the edges of the fence, cutting off their view of Abigail and replacing it with moist dirt and a wriggling earthworm. Ben glanced over at their laughing guard.
“Her Highness isn’t fond of an audience today,” the Elph chuckled. He sobered in a single breath and tilted his head at Finn. “We should take you back. You’ve seen enough of the city for now.”
“We have, thank you.” Finn bowed. “Do you know when our comrades will return?”
“Whenever they’re done.” Tobius shrugged. He pointed the way they had come. “The sooner you get back, the sooner you’ll know.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Ben
Ben yanked on Geist’s ankle, toppling him to the spacious living room floor with a grunt. Geist scuttled back on all fours like a crab, his eyes narrowed. Ben grinned as he popped up again, settling his weight on the balls of his feet. “Any time now.” His voice was sing-song.
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