The Fifth Queen

by Ali House

  Kit put the paper aside and crossed her arms. “If I’m supposed to bring the ISS down, why haven’t I joined them yet? Why do I keep turning them down?”

  “Maybe it’s part of your master plan,” Zenyth suggested conspiratorially. “You knew that if you went in right away that it would be too obvious. Then again,” she switched back to her normal voice, “sixteen years is a long time for a bluff. Anything over ten is just wasteful. By the time you actually managed to climb your way up to the top spot of Leader, you’d be nearly seventy, and even then you’d only be the Leader of Stanton, not the rest of the Segment. And it’s not like you have any offspring to hand power over to.”

  Kit raised an eyebrow. “Whoever wrote that article should have talked to you first. You’d have set them straight so fast their head would have spun.”

  Zenyth brushed the compliment off. “I don’t know why the paper is bothering to publish this stuff. It’s not news – it’s just speculation. And, honestly, who cares anymore? No offense.”

  “No offense taken. I wish the world would forget about me. It’d make my life a lot easier.”

  “Anyway, you never answered my question. Were you on Tecken today?”

  She’d been hoping that Zenyth would forget about that part, but of course she hadn’t. All the distractions in the world wouldn’t turn Zenyth away from her true purpose. Should she lie? Should she tell the truth?

  “Well, I may have gone somewhere to clear my head…”

  Zenyth groaned. “Seriously? What were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that with what’s being written in the papers, and with Vaughn… I needed to go somewhere that wasn’t here.”

  “And what’s wrong with Drakkar? Or Aesira? Or any island that’s not Tecken?”

  Kit unconsciously took a step backwards. “I made a mistake, okay. It’s not like I went over there and waved my arms around shouting ‘Look at me!’ I thought that nobody would suspect me of going there, so they wouldn’t think to look for me.”

  “Well, you were wrong, but at least it’s just speculation right now.” Zenyth frowned. “If anyone brings it up, lie to them. I mean, you’ll have to tell Frederick the truth tomorrow, at your meeting, but don’t tell anyone else.”

  The meeting. Kit had forgotten that tomorrow was her meeting with Frederick. She didn’t want to talk to Frederick – or have anything to do with the ISS at all – but if she didn’t show up, the ISS would definitely suspect something.

  The phone rang, but Kit didn’t move. She was so used to ignoring it that she barely noticed it, lost in her own thoughts. Zenyth waited a few rings, but when Kit didn’t budge, she stood up and brushed past her.

  “I guess that explains why Naydir couldn’t get a hold of you,” she muttered. She picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  Kit only half listened to Zenyth’s side of the conversation. There wasn’t much to hang on to, except that something surprising must have happened. She stared off into space, wondering how she should plan her day tomorrow. She should pack her bags, go the afternoon meeting with Frederick, and then leave. It would make sense for her first stop on Tecken to be Akola’s office, to talk things over. Maybe Akola wouldn’t want her on Tecken. Maybe remembering her past wouldn’t be enough to make up for all she’d done. What would she do then? Where would she go?

  “Kit!”

  She snapped out of her fog. “What?”

  Zenyth’s eyes were wide as she put down the phone. “We need to go to the hospital right now. Vaughn just woke up.”

  Chapter 27

  The world seemed to slow down. Kit knew that she should be jumping for joy, but was unable to move. She was happy – of course she was happy – but the truth had complicated things. Vaughn wasn’t just her partner anymore, he was someone who had been assigned to watch over her by the ISS. How could she face him, knowing that her entire life had been a lie?

  “New Earth to Kit,” Zenyth said. “Are you there? I thought you’d be ecstatic.”

  “I…” Kit tried to think of a lie. “I just can’t believe it. I’d almost given up hope.”

  “That’s strangely pessimistic, but whatever. Are you ready to go?”

  She tried to speak but her words came out in a flustered mess, so Zenyth grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the apartment. Kit wanted to tell her to go on without her, but it would be too suspicious if she said anything like that. Instead, she allowed herself to be brought to Zenyth’s Sol-car and driven to the hospital.

  “He’s still a little groggy,” the nurse explained, “but now that he’s awake he should be feeling better soon.”

  Kit could only nod as she walked into the room after Zenyth. Naydir and Sav were already inside, talking to Vaughn, who was still lying in bed. The front of the bed had been propped up so that he could see them easier, but he was making no effort to lift his head. There were still bandages on his arm, but the surface area they were covering was less than before, and some of his skin merely had a red tinge to it.

  “I guess I should get the name of the person who found me,” he was saying to Naydir, his voice hoarse from disuse.

  “You just concentrate on getting better right now,” Naydir replied. “I’ve already thanked that person enough for all five of us.”

  Vaughn’s head turned and he saw Zenyth and Kit. A smile broke out on his face. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

  Kit’s reply stuck in her throat. She knew that she should run to his side, but her feet felt heavy as she moved forward. She needed more time to reconcile the past with the present, but she couldn’t do that with him lying there, looking at her like that.

  When she finally made it to his side, she took his hand and managed a small smile. “Welcome back.”

  “I’ve been filling him in on what happened,” Naydir said.

  “Do you remember anything?” Zenyth jumped in eagerly.

  Vaughn paused. “I remember getting ready to leave, because it was getting late, but then I... I think I smelled smoke. I was turning back to investigate, but then it all goes black.”

  Zenyth nodded, her eyes moving to the side, lost in thought.

  “Did they say when you can leave?” Kit asked.

  “Maybe tomorrow or the next day. There are still a few tests they want to run.”

  She nodded. She felt terrible because Vaughn remaining in the hospital would be more convenient for her.

  “Maybe we should go and give him a chance to rest,” Zenyth said. “We don’t want to overwhelm him on his first day awake.”

  Vaughn almost laughed. “I’d like to think that I’ve slept enough for now. Although everything’s still kind of... fuzzy.”

  “We’ll come back tomorrow,” Zenyth said. “By then you’ll probably be as good as new.”

  “Sounds good.” He looked up at Kit. “See you tomorrow?”

  She smiled, making sure it reached her eyes. “Yeah. You take it easy, okay?” She gave his hand a squeeze before letting go.

  “We’ll be a few minutes,” Naydir said, speaking for him and Sav.

  Zenyth nodded and led Kit out of the room.

  “Well, that’s great news,” Zenyth said as they walked. “He seems to be his old self, just a little groggy. And there’s no memory loss.” She nodded to herself. “It’s really good.”

  “Yeah, good,” Kit echoed hollowly.

  “Look, I know it’s hard to see him in the hospital. Probably brings up bad memories and stuff, but don’t worry about it. Once he’s home it’ll all be fine. Trust me.”

  Kit felt a small wave of relief. She was worried that she’d been acting strange, but it looked like Zenyth had translated that strangeness into a logical, realistic explanation.

  “Yeah, it’ll all be fine once he’s home,” she said.

  Ϟ

  Her bag was packed and had been placed in her El-car late last night, so all she had left to do was go to her meeting with Frederick. Once this meeting was over, she could say goodbye to this
fake life and hello to her real one.

  Kit spend the morning practising what she’d say to Frederick. The Tecken trip would probably come up, and possibly the opinion pieces from the paper. She’d have to find some way to end the meeting quickly and get out of there without saying anything suspicious. She could do this.

  When she reached the sixth floor, she greeted Teya warmly. Teya returned the greeting and then told her that she could go right in. Frederick’s previous meeting had run long, but she should be along any minute. In the meantime, Kit was welcome to the refreshments inside.

  Kit thanked Teya and went into Frederick’s office. It was strange to be in there without the Leader, but hopefully it wouldn’t be for long. First she went to the large windows and looked out over the island. In some places she could see all the way to the water. It really was a beautiful view. If this room had been on the other side of the building, she might have been able to see Tecken.

  She was still standing at the window, admiring the view, when Frederick came in.

  “Sorry to be late, but we were busy trying to come up with an appropriate response to that opinion piece in the paper accusing you of being a Tecken spy.”

  Kit was confused. “I thought you weren’t going to respond to any of those?”

  “Opinions are one thing, but conspiracy theories are completely different. Everyone knows that we’ve been trying to get you to join us for ages, so it’s in our best interest to discourage that opinion. It’s taking so long because we don’t want to say anything that could be misconstrued.” She gestured to her kitchenette. “Tea?”

  “No thanks,” Kit replied. She walked over to the sitting area and sat down in her usual chair, preparing herself.

  Frederick poured herself a cup of tea, walked over and sat down. She took a long sip before beginning. “So, Kit, tell me all about your trip to Tecken.”

  She smiled after speaking, but Kit knew that she wasn’t happy.

  “I’m sorry. I needed to go somewhere to clear my head. I didn’t think anyone would recognize me.”

  “Of course not.” The smile remained on Frederick’s face, but her tone wasn’t happy. “Why would the most famous person in the entire Segment think that anyone would recognize her? You know, your little day-trip is the reason our statement is so difficult to work out. How can we say anything when you’re sneaking off to spend time on Tecken?”

  “It was just the one time.”

  “Well, promise me that you won’t go back there. We don’t need this getting worse.”

  “I promise,” she lied.

  “Excellent!” Frederick took a sip of tea. “Now, what’s going on that you needed to get away from?”

  Her voice had gone back to sounding friendly, but Kit wasn’t fooled.

  “It’s everything that went on with Vaughn,” Kit said, almost stumbling on his name. “It brought back a lot of memories, and I needed to clear my head.”

  “Okay,” she nodded. “Well, if there’s ever anything you need to talk about, we have lots of people here who can help you. You know, you never took us up on our offer to talk to a psychiatrist after the war, but it’s still standing. I know it seems that we have ulterior motives, but we really do want to help you, just like everyone else on this island.”

  Kit nodded politely.

  “Is there anything you’d like to talk about today? Anything that you want to bring to my attention or that you need to get off your mind?”

  Taking in a deep breath, Kit shook her head. “I think I just need time. These feelings will go away eventually.”

  Frederick raised an eyebrow. “Eventually is a pretty loaded word. It could mean two days from now or two years.”

  “It’s just stupid stuff. And I know it’s stupid, so I don’t need anyone else to tell me that.”

  “Okay. Just as long as it’s not anything serious that might cause you or anyone around you harm. It’s not serious, is it?”

  “No. Just a few unwanted memories.” Kit wondered why Frederick had said that. What did she think was going on?

  “So, there’s nothing that you might want to talk to me or anyone else about?”

  “No. And if we could get to the next topic, I’d much appreciate it.” She was starting to get annoyed.

  “All right.” Frederick took another sip of tea before standing up. “I was hoping to put this off a little while longer, but I’ve got something to show you.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’d rather you form your own opinions.” She gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”

  This didn’t feel like a good idea, but Kit didn’t know what to say. She had no idea what Frederick would want to show her, but it couldn’t be good. Was it more proof linking her to Tecken? Or more stupid opinion pieces making her out to be a villain? There was no valid reason for her to decline this request, so all she could do was follow, hope for the best, and get out as soon as possible.

  Rising to her feet, Kit smiled and tried to act relaxed. “Lead on.”

  They walked out of the office, Frederick leading the way. Teya gave them a smile as they walked past. They headed down the stairs, to the fifth floor, and over to one of the conference rooms. Frederick opened the door and gestured for Kit to go inside.

  Kit wondered what she’d see she walked in. Maybe there would be a stack of papers accusing her of terrible things. Maybe it would be a large group of people accusing her of still being with Tecken. Or maybe it would be a large group of people wanting her to talk about her feelings. Hopefully it wouldn’t be the last one. As if anyone on New Earth would be able to understand what she had gone through.

  When she walked in, Zenyth was sitting at the table, a file folder in front of her.

  “What are you doing here?” Kit asked.

  She heard the door close behind her and turned around to see Frederick standing next to it.

  “What’s going on?” Kit said warily.

  Zenyth stood up. “You’re going to explain this to us.” She opened the folder and started taking out pieces of paper, spreading them out on the table.

  As Kit moved forward, she saw that they were the letters from Wes. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. “How...?”

  “I saw you bring something out to your car late last night, so I thought I’d do some investigating. You’ve been acting pretty strange lately and I wanted to keep an eye on you, in case you decided to run off or whatever. Guess I was justified in my suspicions, since you’d packed a bag and these letters. Probably hoping to make a quick get away after this meeting was done. Am I right?”

  Kit didn’t say anything.

  “Well,” Frederick said. “Is she right? Were you planning on running away to Tecken?”

  “I...”

  Zenyth jumped right in. “Did you actually believe that these letters were real and that you’d been born on Tecken?”

  Kit crossed her arms. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

  “No,” Zenyth rose to her feet, her voice rising. “You need to explain everything to us. You need to explain why you’ve been acting so weird, why you’ve been hiding things from us, and why you were going to run away.”

  There was no escape. Frederick was standing by the door, blocking her exit. Suddenly Kit remembered that she was the Six-Elemental and she could take down anyone in her path. But would that be a wise thing to do? If she went crazy and started attacking people, she’d prove that she was dangerous.

  “Kit, you need to realize that these letters are lies,” Frederick said. “They were created to make you think that you’re on Tecken’s side. They’re all false.”

  It was the exact thing that she would expect Stanton’s Leader to say. She knew the truth and wouldn’t be fooled any longer. She wouldn’t let them mess with her mind any more than they already had.

  “You actually believe that you’re on their side, don’t you?” Zenyth shook her head. “Kit, what did they do to you?”

  “They didn’t do anythi
ng but tell me the truth,” she shot back.

  “It’s not the truth! It’s all lies! Why can’t you see that!?”

  “You can’t hold me prisoner!” Kit yelled. “I have the freedom to go where I want in this Segment, so move away from the door!” She glared at Frederick, who didn’t budge.

  “We’re not letting you go until you’ve realized the truth,” Frederick said, her voice steady and calm. “And I mean the real truth. It’s too dangerous to let you out in public like this.”

  Kit shook her head. “No. I’ve spent weeks figuring out the truth, so it’s too late for your lies to have any effect!” Kit called up the power of Air and shoved Frederick away from the door, before turning on Zenyth, who was already rushing towards her. Calling up Air and Ice, she summoned a stronger wind and shoved Zenyth back to the opposite wall. Zenyth hit the wall hard and fell to the floor, but Kit knew that it wouldn’t keep her down for long. Grabbing the doorknob, she pulled open the door and raced into the hallway. She was almost free.

  Before she could reach the stairs, she felt a sudden jolt as electricity flowed through her body. Kit dropped to the floor, breathless and stunned. When she turned to the left, she saw Naydir standing beside her, his tazer in his hand. He looked apologetic as he knelt down and brought the tazer to her side, sending electricity throughout her body again.

  As the pain started to fade, Kit tried to think of which power could help her out of this situation, but before she could make a decision, Zenyth appeared in her line of vision.

  “Sorry, but it needs to be done,” she said, not sounding sorry at all.

  The last thing Kit saw was Zenyth’s fist flying towards her face.

  Part THREE

  Chapter 28

  The weekly reports from Chief Azeil had come in, and Kendra was pleased to see that they were proving her hypothesis. Nobody on Briton knew that their newspapers were being scrutinized by other departments, so they hadn’t changed their format in the slightest. The statistics of Humanist versus Elemental crimes had become so lop-sided that it was almost impossible to chart.