The Fifth Queen

by Ali House

  Zenyth’s heart fell into her stomach. “That’s going to be another difficult one.”

  Chapter 34

  Back in her own office, Akola tried not to think about what had just happened. She should have felt great for finally telling Kit off, but there was no triumph or jubilation. She’d been holding on to this anger for so long that it was impossible to let go of it in one fell swoop.

  During her drive to Stanton, she’d thought about all of the possible outcomes from this visit. She could have used this opportunity to her advantage. It would’ve been easy to lie to Kit and say that everything was true and get the power of the Six-Elemental back on Tecken’s side, but that wasn’t what she wanted. Not anymore. Erikson was dead, and the island was crawling with ISS agents. There was no point in trying to make everything go back to the way it used to be, because it would never be that easy. Besides, ever since Erikson’s death, Kit had been hated by most of the island’s inhabitants, and Akola would never allow her to hurt these people again.

  While it had been great to finally say all the things she’d been holding inside, she knew that it didn’t matter. Erikson was still dead and the ISS was still in charge. Her words hadn’t changed anything.

  The drive back to Tecken had been fraught with emotions, but now Akola was back to her normal, controlled self. Now she had time to focus on the bigger questions, like how had something like that happened? There would likely be an investigation into this, probably headed by Stanton’s ISS, but would they find anything? They didn’t seem to know who had sent those letters, but it would make sense for them to suspect someone from Tecken.

  She picked up the telephone and dialed a familiar number.

  “Hello?”

  “Pitor,” she said. “How are you?”

  “Quite well. And how is your day?”

  “I’ve had better. Look, have you heard from Kendra?”

  “Not recently. Why?”

  “I suspect that she’s been quite busy.”

  He paused. “Does this have anything to do with a certain rumour surrounding a certain powerful individual?”

  Akola frowned, even though he couldn’t see it. “I suspect so.”

  “Do you also suspect her of somehow being involved?”

  A quick laugh escaped her lips. “Pitor, other than you, I don’t know anyone else who could pull off something like that. And you’d know better than to try such a thing.”

  “I told her many times not to bother with the Six-Elemental, but she’s gone a bit rogue ever since she decided to work for the Stanton ISS. A very Erikson thing to do, if you ask me.”

  “I know... Although I doubt that an Erikson would ever execute a plan so reckless.” She sighed. “I had a feeling something like this might happen once she decided to work on Stanton.”

  “I’ve tried my best to guide her, but I can’t push too hard or I risk losing her. When she makes up her mind, there’s no changing it.”

  He was right. Kendra had grown up without knowing her true heritage, so she didn’t have the support that an Erikson would normally have. It was all Magnus’ fault, insisting that she grow up in secret because he wasn’t ready to accept fatherhood yet. Akola was sure that he would’ve accepted Kendra later on, after he’d succeeded in taking over the Segment, but now she’d never know.

  Pitor had been instrumental in giving Kendra the push she needed to get on this path. Erikson had chosen well when he appointed Pitor to watch over her, but now she was grown up, and making up her own rules. She was more like the first Magnus Erikson rather than the second, blazing her own trail through the Segment, refusing to be tied down by the past. Despite her worries, Akola couldn’t help but feel proud of the woman Kendra had grown up to become.

  “Well, if you happen to know anything about a certain maternal person who is inhabiting this island, it would do them well to disappear for a while.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m sure it’s already been taken care of. Along with the matter of another, very persuasive, individual.”

  “Good.”

  Akola ended the conversation after that. She had a feeling that Pitor knew more about this plot than he was letting on, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  Besides, it was better for Pitor to lie to her. As the Leader of Tecken, Akola shouldn’t know anything about any of this. She’d hidden enough of this island’s skeletons after the war, and the last thing she needed was another secret to cover up.

  Chapter 35

  Once the situation had been explained, Dominika Haskell caught the next boat to Stanton. Kit still wasn’t talking to anyone and refused to leave the room.

  Explaining the situation to Vaughn had been as painful as Zenyth expected, especially since they couldn’t confirm if Kit was back or not. The surprising part was that Vaughn didn’t immediately jump to his feet and insist on seeing Kit. Zenyth didn’t know if it was because he was still feeling unwell after the accident or if this time things had gone too far.

  He did go with Zenyth, Naydir, and Sav to the ISS, to find out why Kit had wanted to talk to Haskell. Frederick had them wait in one of the conference rooms while the conversation took place. Nobody could think of anything to say, so they all sat around the table, silently waiting, dreading what might come next.

  When Frederick finally entered the room again, she was accompanied by Haskell. The mood wasn’t one of joy or happiness.

  “Well,” Haskell sighed, “I can confirm that Kit remembers the truth. Honestly, her brain’s been worked over, but there’s enough guilt in there to keep her grounded for now. Bringing in Allen was a good move. A really reckless move, and one that should have been discussed beforehand, but it did the trick.”

  Zenyth couldn’t help feeling relieved, despite the berating. “Why did she want to talk to you?” she asked.

  “She feels, and I agree with her, that it would be best for her to move to the Centre.”

  Zenyth’s eyes widened in shock. She looked back at Vaughn, but the grim expression on his face was unchanged.

  “I think it’s a wise decision,” Haskell continued, “considering the past couple of weeks. Nobody on this Segment will trust her anymore, I doubt she’ll be able to keep her job, and if she works for the ISS people will always suspect her of being a spy. On the Centre, she’ll be able to live a peaceful life. Only a few people will know who she is and where she is. We can keep her safe.”

  A thousand protestations rang through Zenyth’s head, but she didn’t say any of them. None of them mattered because Haskell was right.

  “We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

  “So soon?” Naydir asked.

  “It’s best for everyone.”

  Zenyth preferred to disagree but remained silent.

  “She wants to avoid being out in public,” Frederick added, “so I’ll need one of you to gather some personal items for her. Also, she mentioned that she’d like to say goodbye before she leaves. If you’d rather not talk to her, she understands, but if you’d like to see her, you can go down to the basement.”

  ≈

  Kit was sitting on the bed when Zenyth walked into the room. Zenyth could practically feel the embarrassment and shame radiating off her.

  “You don’t need to explain anything,” Zenyth said, not giving Kit time to speak. “At least, not to me. Honestly, I expected this kind of thing to happen after the Second Invasion, so I’m only surprised that it took this long.”

  Kit looked up at her. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was tight and drawn. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. I should have been stronger.”

  Zenyth sat down next to her. “You’re not a superhero, Kit. I mean, you should have told one of us what was going on, and you should have talked to someone before it got this bad. Although, having read the letters, I understand. As much as it hurts me that you thought I was a spy and not your friend, I can see how you got there. Whoever wrote those letters knew exactly what they were do
ing.”

  “It still doesn’t make it right.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Look, if you want to beat yourself up over this, go ahead, but I won’t do that to you. What’s done is done, and I’m just glad to have you back in your own mind.”

  Kit looked at, her expression changing to a weird mix of sadness and gratitude. She leaned over and hugged Zenyth. Zenyth was taken aback, since hugging wasn’t a thing they did, but she recovered quickly, putting her arms around Kit.

  “You know,” Zenyth said, “if this had happened a few months ago, I’d offer to go to the Centre with you, but I’ve got projects here that I can’t abandon. Still, it doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to visit.”

  “Without you, who’s going to talk sense to me?” Kit asked, breaking away from the hug.

  “I guess you’ll have to call me whenever you’re having a crisis. I can be just as brutal over the phone.”

  Kit smiled, but then she looked down at her hands. “I really will miss you, Zenyth.”

  “I’ll really miss you, too.”

  Chapter 36

  When the door opened, Kit knew who it was without looking. There was only one person left for her to say goodbye to, and it was the person that she most dreaded being seeing. It had been difficult to say goodbye to Naydir and Sav, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to come back for their wedding, but she knew that they’d be fine as long as they had each other. The person she was most worried about was the one standing in front of her.

  Once the door was closed, Vaughn stood in front of it, not moving any further into the room. His eyes glanced her way, but were unable to stay focused on her for too long.

  She wanted to go to him, to apologize, to fill the room with her remorse and regret, but there was something in his expression that made her stay where she was, sitting quietly on the bed. Before his entrance, she had been filled with guilt and shame, but the second she laid eyes on him she realized that it wasn’t enough.

  “You thought I was spying on you.” he said quietly. “You thought that the only reason I was with you was because I was an ISS spy.”

  She tried to swallow the lump that was rising in her throat, but it was impossible. “The letters said—”

  “I don’t care what the letters said.”

  Kit looked down at the floor. She wanted to say that she hadn’t believed the letters, but how could that be true when she’d been preparing to leave him?

  “We’ve been together for sixteen years, Kit. Sixteen. And I know that it hasn’t always been easy – but it’s not for the reasons you think. You hate it when people interrupt our dates to talk to you or go to my gallery openings just to see if you’ll be there, but none of that bothered me. Even the dreams about Nathan weren’t enough to ever make me want to leave.” He took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. “What really troubled me was that you always had one foot out the door. Not in the beginning, when you were determined to make things work, but afterwards. It felt like you were holding me at arm’s length. I didn’t need you to marry me to prove a point – marriage doesn’t matter that much to me – but we never so much as talked about the possibility. Whenever the topic came up, you’d freeze, and I’d know what it meant.”

  “Vaughn...” her voice caught in her throat.

  “All I wanted from you was a reaction that wasn’t blind panic. I deserved better than that.”

  It felt as if someone had reached inside her chest and was crushing her heart. Everything he’d said was true. She’d been so worried that he was going to leave her that she never truly committed to him. She was so convinced that she would ruin everything, and in the end she’d done exactly that.

  “You deserve better than me,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “It was easy for me to think that you were a spy, because I couldn’t understand why you were still with me when I was such a burden. When you were in the hospital, I couldn’t visit you because I was too messed up to put your needs ahead of my own, but if the situation had been reversed, you would have been at my side day and night, spy or not. It’s not fair to you.”

  “So, you’re giving up?” he said flatly.

  “I can’t ask you to forgive me. What I did was horrible.”

  “But do you want me to forgive you? Or are you done?”

  His expression was difficult to read, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. Every time she thought about saying goodbye to him, she could feel a tightness in her chest.

  “What about the next time, Vaughn? Or the time after that? Because, knowing me, there will always be a next time. You should be with someone who won’t keep hurting you the way that I do – the way that I can’t seem to stop hurting you.”

  Vaughn leaned back against the door and put his head in his hands. “Listen, I know that I could have walked away any time I wanted, so don’t make me out to be some kind of hopeless romantic with no backbone.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “I made mistakes, too. I know what it looks like when something’s bothering you, when you’re about to spiral into one of your episodes, but I was too afraid to do anything. I thought that if I pushed you to talk to someone about it, you’d leave me, so I did nothing. I’ll never know if I could have helped you avoid all this, but I know that I can’t go back to the way things were.” He sighed and shook his head. “But I’m not ready to give up.”

  It felt as if the world had slowed down. “What?” Kit said, her mouth dropping open

  He looked up, and when his eyes locked with hers, Kit realized that he was serious.

  “I can’t stay here,” she said.

  “Then I’ll go with you.”

  The thought of Vaughn accompanying her to the Centre was like a light in the darkness. The idea that he might want to come with her had never crossed her mind, but now it was all she could think about.

  But it wouldn’t be fair. She couldn’t let him leave everything behind to be exiled with her. It would be a terrible thing to ask of him, and she was tired of being selfish.

  “No,” she said, trying to sound strong. “I can’t let you follow me to the Centre. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “I wouldn’t be following you, I’d be going with you. Besides,” and the barest hint of a smile appeared on his face, “it’s not like I have a studio here anymore.”

  Despite his attempt at humour, she didn’t feel better. “Vaughn, I don’t want you offering to go with me because of pity or some noble sense of honour.”

  He let out a frustrated cry. “You really don’t get it, do you? Kit, I love you. I’m really, really upset with you right now, but I still love you. And I’m not upset that someone got into your head and preyed on your weaknesses, I’m frustrated that you never talked to anyone about it. People have been trying to help you since the Second Invasion, but you’ve been too stubborn to let them.”

  She hated that he was right.

  “I’m willing to work on this relationship and see if we can save it, but I refuse to do it alone. If I go with you to the Centre, it has to be because you love me and want me there, and you’re determined to make this work. Because if I go with you and you keep heading down the same path you’re on now, I won’t hesitate to leave. So, if you don’t want to put in the time or effort, then we might as well say goodbye right now.”

  A million thoughts waged war inside her head. The past indicated that no matter what she did, she would fail and the relationship would fall apart. It would be easier to break up now and stop holding on. But, if there was a chance that she could save this, shouldn’t she take it? The one thing she knew for certain was that she never wanted to feel this hopeless ever again. She needed to change – needed to be a better person. And if it meant that she could keep Vaughn in her life, then she had to try.

  For the first time in days she felt hope for the future.

  Vaughn took her silence as resignation and started to move for the door.

  “Wait!” she cried out, stepping forward. “I’ll try. I
can’t guarantee that I’ll do everything perfectly, but I’ll try. I promise. For you, I’ll do anything.”

  Chapter 37

  When Frederick informed her that the Six-Elemental had been relocated off the Segment, Akola couldn’t help feeling relieved. Now that Kit was gone, hopefully the memory of everything that had happened between the two of them would stop haunting her and she’d be able to move past her anger.

  Initially, Frederick had called to provide an update on the Briton Investigation. The Stanton ISS was crafting a plan and would be putting out a notice for volunteers soon. If Akola had any employees from the ISS or Tecken Police that she trusted, then she was welcome to submit them, but the final decisions would be made by Frederick’s team, based on skills and compatibility. Akola said that she would look for appropriate people but knew that it was very unlikely anyone from Tecken would be chosen. At least she would receive updates on the investigation, no matter who was selected.

  Although Stanton’s ISS was taking all the credit for this investigation, Akola knew who the real mastermind was. It was no coincidence that something like this was happening mere months after Kendra started working for them. Taking on Briton was a smart move, not just for her career, but also as a step to becoming a beloved Leader. Now that the Six-Elemental was no longer an obstacle, Akola had no doubt that Kendra would rise even higher.

  Frederick mentioned that the ISS was no closer to figuring out who had sent the letters to Kit, or who the person posing as her mother had been, or where Wes was located, but they were still searching any leads that came up. There was a general suspicion that Kit had imagined the meeting with her mother, which Akola was relieved to hear. Kit’s mental state had been questionable towards the end, and it helped that when the ISS came to investigate, there had been no yellow house with a blue door on that street. As underhanded as it was, she had to respect Pitor’s thoroughness and speed.