Fractured Suns

by Theresa Kay

  When I crash through the back door of the cabin, Peter jumps, nearly dropping the bowl he’s washing in the sink.

  “Where’s Jastren?”

  “He’s in with your brother,” says Peter. “He still hasn’t woken, but from what I can observe, he’ll be fine. Did Flint find you? I sent him out to get you, or rather to get Stuart. Leonard isn’t doing so well and I don’t expect he’ll survive much longer. I assumed the boy would like to be there when his father passes. Is he headed back here now?”

  I simply nod and then dash down the hallway to Jace’s room.

  Pushing the door open, I enter to find Jastren sitting on the bed beside my brother with his eyes closed and his hands resting on either side of Jace’s head. His face is contorted in concentration and his mouth is turned downward in a frown. Given what I know about the E’rikon’s aversion to touching, this is odd.

  “What are you doing?”

  A barely perceptible jerk of Jastren’s hands is the only sign that I startled him, but coming from my nearly unflappable grandfather, it’s enough for me to know that something is… not right.

  “I am trying to assess his mental state,” he says.

  “And…”

  He turns his head to look at me but leaves his hands in place. “And I believe he will recover. But this is not something I have ever seen before. What did you do?”

  “I’m not really sure.” I shrug. “I took his anger from him, and when it went back to him, it… blasted him or something.”

  “Took his anger?” Jastren drops his hands and rises from the bed. “How exactly did you accomplish that? The dhama does not have that capability.”

  I roll my eyes. “I already told you I don’t know. There’s something else—”

  “Do not be impertinent.” Jastren has never been particularly fond of me—at least not once he realized I couldn’t do anything he wanted me to—but the harshness in his words is new. “I believe you have caused enough damage for this day. When are you leaving?”

  “Leaving? You mean going to Bridgelake? We’re all going…” My words trail off when he shakes his head.

  “Nonsense. Jace is in no condition to be moved. I imagine you are capable of making it a short trip?”

  His clipped and dismissive tone grates on my nerves. There is no possible way I’m leaving my brother behind when the E’rikon could target this place next.

  At my irritated look, Jastren’s face softens… in a very calculated manner that could be meant to humor me. “He will be safe here, Jasmine. You still have the kifa, correct?”

  I nod. The small silver device I pulled from Dane’s desk is sitting on a shelf in my room.

  “Perfect. I can alter it to project a barrier much like the one that encloses the city. Will that put your mind at ease?” A self-satisfied smile crosses his face, and subtle waves of reassurance roll from him to me. The flow of his emotions is gentle but persistent—a splash here, a drop there—and gradually I relax.

  If he can truly do what he says he can, then Jace is clearly better off staying here. But…

  Doubt creeps in through the light fog in my mind, too brief for me to grasp it. What in the world? Then realization hits and my eyes widen. Jastren is doing… something. Could he be using Jace to calm me? I gently pull away from the mental connection I share with my brother—and immediately the fog clears.

  Is this awareness of the manipulation another new ability manifesting, a side effect of finally linking with my grandfather? Has Jastren been doing stuff like this all along and I didn’t notice? But what would be the point in that? My eyes slide to Jace, lying on the bed with a peaceful look on his face. Maybe Jastren was calming him and it leaked through to me. That’s got to be it, though it’s a little disconcerting to think that our grandfather has that much influence.

  I shake my head briskly to clear it further. “Why are you just now offering to alter it? Why weren’t you hiding us all along?”

  If he’s noticed my momentary confusion, he doesn’t mention it. “The kifa is not designed to be used that way. With so many people here, always in and out, it would have caused a strain on the tech. I was unsure about its effectiveness under those conditions.”

  My head bobs in a slow nod. Jastren’s plan actually makes a little bit of sense, but do I trust him enough to leave my brother in his care? We haven’t gotten along, or really even gotten to know each other. Jastren might be blood, but our relationship has been strained at best.

  It suddenly occurs to me that Jastren hasn’t mentioned linking with me earlier. Maybe he doesn’t know I did it. He’s worked with me for weeks and gotten nothing. If he knew, he would have said something. For once, I have an advantage.

  Keeping my eyes open, I reach out and find the glowing red thread of connection with my brother. Skimming along it, I find a spot where another thread, this one red and yellow, branches off. It’s faint, even more so than it was earlier, and nothing remotely close to how I can communicate with my brother, but I’m able to sense a few emotions. A hint of worry, determination, and something almost like anticipation. Only a few snippets of actual words come across, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that worries me.

  Finally I’m able to distinguish one clear thought. And knowing how much the E’rikon value family, it’s enough to make me feel comfortable leaving Jace here with him.

  She’s so much like her grandmother.

  An hour later and we’re ready to head out, dressed in boots, coats, and warm layers. Well, Flint, Stu, and I at least. Lenny isn’t going anywhere and Peter’s staying behind to… give him last rites or something I guess. Not that I think Lenny deserves it.

  After our confrontation, Stu has calmed down a bit and his shoulders are drooping now, his expression more sad than angry. He barely says three words to Lenny on his way out the door even though his father is dying and he’ll probably never see him again. He shrugged off my offer to wait until…

  I shake the thought out of my head.

  It’s obvious they don’t have much of a relationship. It actually reminds me a lot of how Flint acts around Dane. I guess the whole “tyrant daddy” thing is its own issue.

  From the cab I watch Peter pull Stu aside and lead him to the side of the house. The younger man leans down so the priest can speak directly into his ear for a minute, then straightens, nods, and heads over to the truck where Flint and I are waiting.

  I never quite got the hang of the manual transmission, so Flint’s in the driver’s seat and Stu slides into the passenger seat beside me, slumping down and turning his head to stare out the window. He’s on edge, his jaw tensed and his arms crossed. No matter his relationship with Lenny, it can’t be easy leaving him behind to die.

  “Do you—”

  He cuts off my attempt at conversation with a sharp glare. “Just don’t.”

  Maybe his attitude has more to do with my presence than anything. Not that I blame him.

  Peter ambles across the driveway and up to Flint’s window. “All set now? You should have plenty of fuel, but I’m not sure how the roads will be. I’ve never made the trip all the way to Bridgelake, obviously. Though I believe I told you once, Jax, that I’d thought about it, yes?” He nods to himself. “And don’t you worry about your bird, Jax. I can take care of him until Jace wakes up. It’s not too difficult, right? I’m assuming he’ll come back home when I let him out to hunt, right? I don’t want you to come back and have him be missing.”

  Neither do I. I don’t quite know what Tiercel will do without me around. He’s always listened to me. Hunted when I told him to hunt. Went back to his perch when I told him to go home. Jace knows how to handle him at least on a basic level, thanks to our dad, but my hawk’s never taken to Jastren. Hopefully Peter can keep Tiercel in line until I come back for him.

  I smile at Peter. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s in good hands.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on that brother of yours too,” says Peter. “He’s not going to take it well
that he was left behind, but he can’t complain too much since Flint here is going with you. You’ll watch out for her, right my boy? She’s a handful, but I’m sure you know that already. What with that trip into the city earlier and—”

  Stu perks up. “Trip into the city?”

  “Oh, nothing to be worried about, Stuart. Obviously they made it out fine. Jax had to take a quick trip to visit with… uh… and after all that mess…” Peter’s voice falters at my silent glare. There’s some stuff Stu simply doesn’t need to know. “Well, have a good trip then. Stay safe.”

  “We’ll do our best,” says Flint with a subtle grin. “As long as Jax doesn’t go running off with any more aliens.”

  I elbow him in the stomach. “Shut up.”

  He chuckles as he throws the truck into gear and rolls down the driveway.

  I don’t bother to crack a smile, instead joining Stu in staring out the window in silence. There’s only one alien I’d “run off” with, and he’s stuck in the city having who knows what done to him.

  Lir hid it well, but I could feel the loneliness practically gushing out of him earlier. His kind isn’t meant to be alone. I didn’t understand the sacrifice he was making when he broke the bond. I never stopped to consider what he was giving up. But I know now. He gave up everything for me. I can only hope I deserved it—and that I can find a way to make it up to him.

  I’m not off to the best start with that though, heading back to Bridgelake with Stu. Lir would not approve of me placing myself in danger like this. But it’s more than just a way to relieve my guilt over Zach. And it’s more than just keeping my promise to Emily. It’s what I hope to get from this trip that I’m focused on. I don’t approve of Dane’s methods, but right now my mind tells me he’s the lesser of two evils, and I’ve got to find a way to get Lir and Stella out of that city—even if that means I have to play nice with the overbearing jerk to get him to help me.

  STILL REELING FROM TREL’S animosity, I have been sitting here for over an hour turning over all the possibilities in my head. There are many preparations to make, many courses of action to plan, and my head is starting to pound again simply trying to determine what my next step will be.

  A soft knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts.

  “Come in.”

  Rym pokes his head around the door and grins. “Knocking on my own door…” He shakes his head and walks over to the bed, handing me a cup and a plate. “And serving you too. One would almost think I was your servant.”

  “You are,” I say, raising one eyebrow and giving him my best disapproving look. “Too bad you are such a poor one.”

  He looks taken aback for a moment before breaking into a laugh. “And the prince makes jokes now too. I had no idea how much seeing your human would improve your mood or I might have gone to fetch her sooner.”

  I return his smile and nod. “I have not had an opportunity to thank you for that yet, nor for whatever it was you did to convince your father to release me.” I pause and wait for him to meet my eyes. “Thank you, Rym,” I say, before taking a sip of the water he brought.

  An uncomfortable silence descends over the room and stretches out until Rym shifts from foot to foot and says, “Well, this is weird.”

  “Pardon?”

  He chuckles nervously. “The quiet… It is very strange to be in a room with you and not be able to link with you.” He sweeps his hands out. “You are a blank spot, and I find it a bit unnerving.” Stepping closer, he tilts his head to the side and studies my face. “What is it like?”

  “Lonely,” I say. Though simple, it is an apt description that truly encompasses this feeling of disconnection. I take another sip of water and watch him over the rim of the cup. “Scary.”

  The eagerness recedes from his face, and he frowns. “Have they said anything about fixing it?”

  Setting the cup on the side table, I sigh. “Who would this ‘they’ be? The ones who call me traitor? The ones who ignore what is really going on here? The few scientists left who participated in your father’s experiments?” I shake my head. “Nobody has said a word about fixing my kitu, and even if it were possible, I do not believe that your father would permit it.” I cannot keep the bitterness from infecting my next words. “He likes me this way. Helpless.” And hopeless.

  Rym glances around the room and then sits down on the bed by my feet. “What do you need me to do? What is your plan? I will assist you in any way I can.”

  There are so many questions floating around in my head, but it is the simplest one that passes my lips. “Why?”

  When Rym arrived to release me from the research facility, I was too confused and half-crazy to question his motives for releasing me and for offering to find Jax for me. I gave him the location of Peter’s cabin with hardly another thought. It could have gone quite badly. He could have delivered the information to his father. But he did not. And that makes “why” the most pressing question.

  He drops his chin, and the voice that comes out of him has lost much of the bravado. “I do not believe in what he is doing. And I have had that opinion for quite some time.”

  “Then why—”

  “Why have I kept quiet? Why have I not done something?” His voice rises and grows harder. “There was nothing for me to do, Lir. My father has always brushed aside my concerns. I have always been… less to him. He thinks me vapid and lazy. In truth I am neither, but that is how my father has always portrayed me. No one respects me; no one looks to me for anything more than a joke.”

  My cousin cannot fake that level of frustration, or at least I do not think he can, and it has me looking at him differently. It is true that Vitrad has always favored Trel, lavishing her with gifts, presenting her as his favored child, and generally being more affectionate toward her. I have always thought it had more to do with her facial resemblance to her mother, but now that I reflect on it, I see that Rym has always been deliberately shoved into the background. I suppose I was aware of this, but I never noticed he minded it there.

  “You asked me what my plan was,” I say. “But what should I be planning for? What do you think the two of us—the traitor and the joker—can accomplish?”

  The irritation goes out of him and he sighs. “I do not know.” He meets my eyes. “But I do know you. I knew your father. I have met your… girlfriend.” He winks. “I do not believe that you are the type to sit back and let things happen, to give up. You are a fighter—and a planner. My father is a tyrant, and given the choice, the people would follow you over him. We simply have to convince them that there is a choice. The people want balance. They follow my father now, but he is no replacement for the system we had before. It is only a matter of time before his harsh tactics come to light.”

  “Even so, they will never follow me. Not now. The best hope I have is getting out of the city. But I cannot leave without Stella.”

  “That is where you are wrong. There is no better time for them to follow you. You have been locked up for weeks, and you have no idea what has been going on during that time. He has been ordering attacks on the humans, wasting resources we do not have to spare, and leaving the city unprotected while he is doing it.”

  I run one hand through my hair. “What has he told the Council to get them to agree to this strategy? And why? There is no need to start a war with the humans when he could simply wipe them out by implementing the initiative. He spent months manipulating me into proposing it to the Council, had the Vi’askari leave me for dead when I stopped cooperating to his satisfaction, manufactured a human attack—and murdered my parents—for what?”

  “Jax and her brother changed all that,” Rym says. “He has had to rethink his strategy.” He stands and paces to the other side of the room with his hands clasped together behind his back. “Expanding the barrier and altering the atmosphere to accommodate us will not kill those with E’rikon DNA. My father wants all traces of humanity wiped out.”

  “But Jax and Jace are the only two…” My voice tr
ails off as understanding begins to take shape in my head. “Unless they are not.” I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand up. “What do you know?”

  “I do not know anything. Not for sure. There have been rumors that some of those who left after the arrival may have taken up with humans. You have heard of the groups the humans call Breeders, correct?”

  I nod, and my stomach churns. This line of thought leads nowhere good.

  “They have not been very selective about the species of the females,” says Rym.

  I run my hand over my face and close my eyes before pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers. Though the number was small, there were some disappearances when we arrived. The early ones were defectors from one faction or another, going off to live on their own. Nothing anyone worried about, least of all my father. At the time he said that if they wanted their freedom so badly, they could have it. There was no communication with them after that, and that should have been cause for concern, but by the time anyone stopped to take notice, we had bigger problems—like the fact that E’rikon children born on Earth could not survive outside the barrier.

  “How many?” I ask.

  Rym shrugs. “I do not know. The only reason I even know of the possibility of the other halflings is from eavesdropping on some of my father’s private meetings.”

  “How is he getting away with it? Do the soldiers he sends out not know? Can they not tell?” My distress is combining with my lingering anxiety, and the walls feel like they are starting to compress. These halflings, the ones Vitrad is having murdered, could be what we have needed all along. They have the potential to save our race without the need to demolish the humans, and—

  I crash back down to the bed and put my head in my hands, breathing deeply and slowly to calm myself.

  “Are you all right?”

  It is an innocent question, and for once my cousin is not attempting a joke, but I chuckle anyway. “No, I do not believe I can manage to be all right. This information changes everything, and I am barely functioning enough to process it, much less act on it. My task has become much more than discrediting your father and taking control of the city. Now I must prevent a war as well.”