The Fifth Queen

by Ali House

  Last year – the first of the four – had been spent on Drakkar. It was the first time she’d been away from Tecken, but there was no time to be homesick. Not only did she have her classes to focus on, but she also needed to learn as much as she could about the island and its people. It was an eye-opening and oddly pleasant experience, and she felt a strange sort of freedom being out there all alone.

  Drakkar had been easy, but she doubted that Stanton would be the same.

  Unsure of when her roommate would be showing up, Kendra decided to lay claim to the left side of the room, placing her luggage on the bed. It would be practical to start unpacking, but she was feeling restless. Ever since her arrival on Stanton, she’d felt as if she was being watched. It was a ridiculous thought, because of course nobody was watching her, but she was a born-and-raised Tecken on an island that had been invaded by Tecken. Twice. No matter what kind of reconciliation thing the ISS had going on, some wounds were still too fresh.

  This paranoia was why she had driven her Sol-car through Drakkar and Aesira to get here, instead of taking the more direct route from Tecken, and why she was determined not to bring up her real home to anyone. It was going to be an interesting year.

  Leaving the room and her luggage behind, Kendra decided to go for a walk. It would be a good idea to orientate herself with the layout of the island and get an idea of where everything was located. Maybe once she was more familiar with the island, she’d feel less like an outsider.

  The day was sunny and warm and perfect for walking around. It was early afternoon, so the sun wouldn’t be setting for hours. There was still plenty of time for her to get lost and found a couple of times. Heading south, she decided to walk downtown and see if there were any good cafes or shops that this island could offer. There was nothing particularly unique about Stanton, and for the most part it looked a lot like Drakkar, with short streets, long avenues, and enough greenery to forget that the small island was surrounded on all sides by water. No matter where she was she could see the ISS building standing tall in the centre of the island. Kendra had a feeling that most residents would look upon that building favourably, but to her it felt as if it was looming, keeping watch over everything and everyone.

  As she walked, she tried to pay attention to her surroundings, taking note of any stores that she might like to visit or any restaurants that tempted her. Although she wasn’t heading in any particular direction, she soon found herself at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 32nd Street, and only a few blocks away from where the Second Invasion had come crashing to an end.

  The history of the Second Invasion wasn’t the most detailed, considering all the behind-the-scenes information that could only be gathered from first-hand interviews, and all the information that the ISS had decided to keep secret, but Pitor’s teachings had filled her in on anything that might have been missing from the history books. She knew about the final moments of the Invasion, when the Tecken Army thought that they had won it all only to be betrayed at the last minute.

  She would have come across this place eventually, but why did it have to be so soon? Perhaps her subconscious had led her here. Better to go now and get it out of the way, instead of avoiding it for months.

  As she looked down the avenue, she went over that moment in her mind. The battle was raging on at the third barricade – Tecken’s Army was feeling confident, while the Cambrian Forces were merely trying to delay the inevitable. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Six-Elemental appeared, declared the war over, and made her final, fatal, move.

  At this moment, the street looked normal and all hints of battle had been erased. People walked along the sidewalks, engrossed in conversations, cars and bikes passed through on their way to somewhere else. Life went on.

  But this area – the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 35th Street – was where life had stopped for many others. The majority of those caught in the collapse survived with broken bones, internal bleeding, and cuts, but those who’d died had families and friends waiting for them – families and friends that they would never see again.

  Kendra looked out at the intersection. She could almost see Fitz standing there in his blue uniform, exactly as he’d been on the day of the Second Invasion, the last time she saw him alive. He had been prepared to give his life for his island, but the death he’d been given was meaningless. She could feel her muscles tense as her hand clenched into a fist. The Six-Elemental should have done the right thing and given the Tecken Army a chance to surrender. Maybe they would have, maybe they wouldn’t – but the choice would have been theirs. They could have gone down fighting, instead of being murdered by a person pretending to be their ally.

  Δ

  By the time Kendra returned to her dorm room, her roommate had arrived.

  “I see you’ve claimed the left side,” the young woman smiled brightly, “but don’t worry, I like the right. Hi, I’m Skye Celucci.”

  She extended her right hand, and Kendra politely shook it.

  “Kendra Chen.”

  Skye smiled. “That was easy! Now, I’m not going to bother calling you Chen – I’m jumping straight to Kendra. We’re roommates, after all, so why bother sticking to formalities when we’re obviously going to be friends? And even if we don’t really like each other, it’s so impersonal to be so formal. Sorry to burst your bubble if you’d planned on spending our first few days as roommates calling each other by our last names, but I always consider it a waste of time.”

  “Um. Sure thing… Skye.”

  “Excellent! And, since I know you’re wondering – because everyone wonders – but I was not named because of my looks. Skye was my grandmother’s name.”

  Kendra couldn’t help smiling. With her dark green hair, tawny skin, and light grey eyes, Skye’s colouring seemed more akin to a park than the actual sky.

  “Are you sure your parents weren’t colour-blind and lied when they were found out?” Kendra suggested.

  Skye paused. “You know, I never thought of it that way. Huh...”

  “Sorry to blow your mind on the first day.”

  “Apology accepted.” She smiled brightly. “So, were you planning on unpacking or would it be preferable for us to grab a bite to eat and get all that ‘getting to know you’ stuff out of the way?”

  Kendra had to pause for a second to collect her thoughts. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re very direct?”

  Her face went very serious. “Never.”

  Kendra knew that her roommate was messing with her. Her previous roommate on Drakkar had been nice, but he mostly kept to himself and his studies, so she wasn’t expecting Skye’s enthusiasm or straight-forward attitude. This roommate was going to be higher maintenance.

  Skye smiled again. “You’re my fourth roommate in three years, so I’ve learned to dispense with the whole polite conversation thing.”

  “Four in three years?” she whistled. “What’d you do? Kill them?”

  She laughed. “The first one got homesick and moved back after the first semester. The second decided that school wasn’t for them, and the third I killed. Just kidding! The third wanted to room with a friend this year.”

  “Impressive. You’re only my second. I went to Drakkar University last year but decided that I wanted to see more of the Segment.”

  “Ah, which means that you’ll probably run off to some other exotic island next year, so getting to know each other would be a complete waste of time. Should we call off lunch?”

  Kendra pretended to consider the option. “Well, it would be a really awkward year if we ignored each other. Maybe we should go, just in case. Who knows – we might end up hating each other and looking forward to the end of the year.”

  Skye nodded seriously. “I like the way you think, Kendra.”

  They walked to a sandwich shop which was close to campus and approved by Skye – two very important details that she made sure to point out. There were other eateries that were Skye-approved but weren’t as close, and she made sure to menti
on them on the walk. Since Kendra was new to the island, she was happy to hand the reins over. Then again, she had a feeling that the reins had been permanently glued to Skye’s hands, and trying to take them away would involve a lot of pain and swearing.

  Luckily, Skye’s recommendation turned out to be trustworthy. It was a fair price, had a lot of great options to choose from, and the atmosphere was casual but not overly loud.

  “So,” Skye began, once they were seated at a table with their food, “you’ve come to Stanton to explore. Elaborate, if you will.”

  Kendra pretended to think over her words before launching into her well-rehearsed speech. “Well, I’d never let my home island before, not even for vacations, and I figured that college was the perfect time to get out there and experience living somewhere else.”

  “You’re totally going to leave Stanton after this year,” Skye muttered, frowning. “You’ll leave and I’ll have to move on to roommate number five. I think I’m going to have to hate you, Kendra.”

  She smirked. “And here I was hoping you’d like me enough not to murder me.”

  “We’ll have to say goodbye at some time. It might as well be on my terms.”

  Kendra stifled a laugh. “I want to state for the record that it’s alarming how casually you talk about murdering me.”

  “Dang, I guess I’ll have to stop.” Skye pretended to be sad about the decision, even wiping away an imaginary tear, but two seconds later she was back to normal. “Next question: what are you studying?”

  Kendra took note of Skye’s acting ability. She was going to have to be very careful over the next year. With all the quick repartee, there was a possibility that she’d say the wrong thing or contradict herself, and she had a feeling that Skye was smart enough to pick up on anything out of the ordinary.

  “I’m doing a little bit of everything,” Kendra answered noncommittally. “I’m hoping to get a job with the ISS after school.”

  “Ah, a government girl...”

  “What about you? What are your job prospects?”

  “Clothing design,” Skye answered. “Or maybe journalism. Or mechanics – I haven’t decided yet.”

  They continued talking while they ate, with Skye going on about all the great things there were to do on Stanton and why a person should probably give it more than a year. Kendra learned that Skye lived with her father, but had moved onto campus to give him a better chance at dating. As Skye put it, ‘I didn’t want him to feel awkward about bringing someone home, if you know what I mean.’ Kendra talked about living with her mothers, and how she moved to campus to get an idea of what it was like to live on her own.

  Whenever Skye asked about home, Kendra avoided saying anything specific. She was careful never to mention that Drakkar was or wasn’t her home – simply letting the conversation drift in that direction if a question got too involved. It was one of the things Pitor had taught her: if you’re careful enough, you never actually have to lie to a person. Just phrase your words a certain way or answer abstractly enough that the person comes to their own conclusions.

  Whenever the questions started to get too personal, Kendra would always turn the subject back on her roommate. She hoped that it was coming off as shy and not avoidant.

  “But if you’ve lived on Stanton your whole life, how can you advocate not travelling?” Kendra asked after another pointed comment had been directed her way.

  Sky looked as if she’d been waiting for the question to pop up. “That’s the exact reason why I can be an advocate. If I’ve lived here my entire life and never wanted to travel, why should anyone else?”

  “But you’ve never been anywhere else. Wouldn’t you rather travel to other islands, see what they’re like, and make your own decisions about each of them?”

  “There’s nothing to stop me from travelling for a day or a weekend. I’m just saying that you don’t have to go live on every island. If you’ve got friends and family here, why wouldn’t you stay?”

  Kendra shrugged. “I think the best way to serve the people is to understand what they’re going through, and how will I find that out if I don’t get to see what’s going on?” Skye looked like she wanted to say something, but Kendra quickly started talking again. “I mean, why should we keep doing things the way we’ve always been doing them if there’s a better way out there? What works on Stanton might also work in Drakkar, or vice-versa.”

  Skye let out a sigh. “You are really suited to public service,” she said, shaking her head. “And here I thought I’d gotten a cool roommate.”

  Kendra debated tossing one of her carrots at her. “I can be into public service and still be cool.”

  “Nope,” Skye shook her head more fervently. “Not possible.”

  “Then maybe we should stop talking about politics and get back to stupid stuff like movies and music.”

  There was a pause as Skye considered the suggestion, giving it much more weight than it deserved. “That sounds agreeable to me. So, favourite song?”

  Δ

  When it was time to choose her classes, Kendra followed the plan that she had created with Pitor, taking courses that would be an asset for a well-rounded ISS employee. However, for her first semester in Stanton, she decided to make a slight change to the list. Instead of enrolling in another history course, she signed up for an architecture class. Although she had no real interest in architecture, she was compelled to sign up because Kit Tyler worked in that field. There were no delusions that the powerful Six-Elemental would show up in the class to give a lecture or that the class would visit the company she worked for, but Kendra wanted to understand her better, through any way possible.

  In the years since the war, Kendra’s hatred for Tyler had grown exponentially. There were so many things wrong with the world that were all Tyler’s fault, and there was no doubt that it would be a better place once she was no longer in it. It would be a stupid idea to try to fight her, especially since Kendra did not yet have an element herself, but there were other ways that a person could be defeated. While she was on this island, she vowed to learn as much as possible about her enemy – every strength and every weakness.

  Kendra had big plans for the future, and she had no intention of letting the Six-Elemental interfere. Not this time.

  Chapter 8

  “Get ready. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

  Kendra looked up from her textbook to see her roommate standing in the doorway. Obediently, she grabbed a bookmark to hold her place.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, standing up. Earlier that day, Skye had run up to her, informed her that she’d be going out with the group tonight, and then disappeared without another word.

  Skye gestured grandly. “We shall be partaking in the wonderful nightlife of Stanton, including visiting an infamous local bar for a few drinks and some dancing.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “We’re going dancing?”

  “You’ll have plenty of time to avoid fun once you’ve become a public servant. Now change into something appropriate.”

  Even though Kendra had homework, it could wait. For the most part, Skye understood that Kendra needed to get good grades and left her to her own devices, but every now and then Skye would think of something really interesting to do and invite her to come along. Kendra didn’t mind the random invitations and was happy for the distractions. She liked to joke that Skye only invited her because she was worried about her studying to partying ratio and was trying to even the scales.

  Truthfully, it was a benefit to be shown the island by a person who’d lived there her entire life. Instead of wandering around, observing everything from the outside, Skye was able to give her the insider’s point of view.

  “What’s this infamous bar we’re going to?” Kendra asked as she changed her shirt.

  “The Black Hole.”

  The name didn’t ring any bells. “And why exactly is this bar so ‘infamous’?”

  Skye’s eyes widened as she took a dramatic ste
p into the room. “It used to have another name, but they changed it after the incident. It used to be called,” she paused for added tension, “Fyre.”

  An inner bell went off and Kendra knew exactly which bar she was talking about now but pretended to still be confused. “That means nothing to me. What’s this ‘incident’ you speak of? Did it burn down in a name-appropriate circumstance?”

  “I’m talking about the disappearance of the Six-Elemental! This bar is the last place she was seen on Stanton before she marched over with the Tecken army!”

  “I see,” Kendra said slowly. “So, should I be worried about someone abducting me? Is that the bar’s current theme? A person gets abducted every night?”

  “Of course not. Are you going to change your pants?”

  “Why? What’s wrong with them?”

  Skye gave her a flat look. “They’re pants. You’ll be dancing, which means that you’re going to sweat. You should put on shorts or a skirt.”

  “But these are my dancing pants,” Kendra said, trying to sound serious.

  Putting her head in her hands, Skye sighed dramatically. “You’re a hopeless cause, my friend.”

  Kendra smiled at her disappointment. “You know what’s great about pants? Not only do they look good, but they also soak up sweat. You should consider changing into pants.”

  “Fine,” she huffed, pretending to be annoyed. “You ready?”

  “Yup.”

  Kendra followed her roommate into the hallway. The rest of the group was waiting for them near the front of the dorm. Skye’s main group of friends consisted of three people – Lin, who was majoring in Journalism and loved to analyze every situation in hilarious ways; Gen, who had yet to choose a major and happened to have Intro to Architecture with Kendra; and Quinn, who was majoring in History and was the person Kendra had the most in common with. The three knew about Skye’s previous roommates and so they’d been polite but unsure when Skye first introduced her, but now they were delighted whenever she joined them.