AAROW
THE BATTLE
Spector made the final eagle call and Aarow searched for Rani in the darkness. When they entered the Round, he needed to be by her side. It was going to be chaos and he had to protect her. It was his job to keep her safe. If she weren’t such a key part of their plan, he’d have tried to convince her to stay behind in the Colony with Sharma. Although, he knew she’d never have agreed to any such thing.
He found her, the familiar shape of her small frame illuminated in the fading moonlight. She reached for his hands and clasped them. The breath rushed out of his lungs. When he’d tried to hold her hands in training, she’d had a strong reaction that he’d been certain was negative. It was only later when Jinn teased him about it that he realized he’d totally misread the situation. She felt what he felt. She just didn’t know what to do about her feelings. Now that he thought of it, neither did he. He’d never met anyone like Rani before.
He fought the urge to ask if she was okay. Nobody was allowed to speak right now. It wouldn’t look good if the son of the Colonel was the first to break this rule.
So, instead, he let go of her hands and brought his fingertips to her cheeks. She wasn’t crying. He let his hands slip to her shoulders. She wasn’t shaking. He put the palm of one hand gently on her chest to feel the rate of her heart. She was nervous, but she wasn’t afraid.
She was okay. What she couldn’t tell him in words, he could tell with his hands.
Before he could take his hand back, she reached for it and brought it to her lips, trailing a kiss across his knuckles and a message across his heart. And he knew without doubt that he’d die for this girl if he had to.
The Colony stepped forward, ready to swoop, jolting Aarow back into reality. They had a job to do and a battle to win.
He went to the front of the crowd with Rani by his side and the curved shadow of the giant wall loomed ahead of them. Aarow longed for the sun to rise so he could see it properly. It wouldn’t be long now.
As they approached the archway that marked the entrance, Aarow felt his gut drop in the same way it did after kicking off down one of the dunes. There was no turning back. Forward was the only way to find his way through this, no matter how scared or exhilarated he was. The decision had been made and the time to back away had passed.
By now, hopefully the reborns had gathered the support of the people. It’d only take one of them to alert the guards and ruin their element of surprise. The reborns had reassured them this wouldn’t happen. They said everyone was as desperate for change as they were. Life couldn’t get any worse. They wouldn’t ruin their one opportunity to break free from the rule of the Board.
They walked silently toward the Round in one large group. Their timing had to be perfect and Aarow was confident they had it right. It’d been Azrael’s suggestion the battle take place on this exact day. She’d seen it in one of her dreams. Dreams that she said were getting more vivid since she’d arrived at the Colony. They were also dreams that made an awful lot of sense. It had to be today.
Because when the morning sun rose above the dunes and shone through the archway, its rays would hit the Orbs of Time and fracture into a billion shards of shining color.
Today was the Shining.
The people would be gathered. The guards would be distracted. The Board would be standing around the orbs with the Emperor by their side—Rani’s father who she was determined must be kept safe.
This was why the people had to be kept out of the Round. If they didn’t, then it would overfill and the guards would be alerted that something was up. It was important they think this was just a Shining like any other. Besides, if the people panicked there’d be mayhem and if they wanted to take control peacefully then they needed everyone to remain calm. Everyone except the Board, that is. There’d be no peace for them.
The guards at the archway paid no attention as they walked through with their scarves tucked tightly around their faces and their eyes cast down. They looked just like any other citizen of the Capital here to witness the Shining. There was no reason for alarm. It was expected that people would gather here today.
There were lanterns placed at intervals around the lawn, casting a dim glow across the circular space. This was Aarow’s first time in the Round and even though it was exactly as had been described to him, it felt strange to be here for himself. Everything was bigger than he’d imagined, making him feel like a small child. The Orbs of Time were spectacular, and they weren’t even shining yet. He could see why they were prized as such a wonder. Who had made them and known exactly how many grains of sand were needed to be encased inside? Rani said nobody knew. Just as nobody knew how the blocks of stone had been dragged to the middle of a desert to create the walls of the Round. It just was.
The Colony spread out once they were inside, some seating themselves on the grass and others hovering around the edges. The reborns had described the Round in such detail that Aarow really did feel like he’d been here before. They all knew what to do.
Rani had told him the guards would close access to the Round when enough people had filed in. If it got too crowded, it’d be impossible to ensure that no shoulders were accidentally bumped. By their calculations, just about all members of the Colony should make it inside the walls. Those who didn’t would need to stand outside the Round and watch the sparks of light pour out over the top of the walls into the morning sky.
Aarow and Rani intended to see the Shining from another vantage point altogether and he followed her now, around the curved path that hugged the lawn, to a doorway on the opposite side of the Round to the archway. It surprised him that accessing the palace could be so easy. With Rani’s face covered, she could be anyone. Did these people live in such fear that even the thought of them doing anything wrong was unimaginable?
It was strange to be inside a building and still know he was above the ground. It wasn’t cool inside, like in the Colony. And there were windows. It made him dizzy to be able to see the sky while having a roof over his head.
There was some furniture scattered around the entryway, the sort made out of trees and he resisted the urge to stop and touch it. It looked so smooth and shiny, not at all like the bark of a tree.
He followed Rani through a corridor to a staircase, not carved into the earth like the stairs at home but built from stone and curving in a spiral up and up and up. Did everything have to be made from circles just because they called this place the Round?
It was all so foreign to him. He could understand now why the reborns looked at the Colony with such wide eyes.
They got to the top of the stairs only to find a guard at the top, about to make his way down.
“Stop where you are!” The guard held up his hand.
Aarow waited quietly, ready to take on the guard if required. Passing him in peace was a better plan, if possible, and they’d already decided if this happened, then Rani would take the lead. This didn’t sit well with Aarow’s protective instincts, but he’d reluctantly accepted it was the way it needed to be for now. When he’d found her in the desert, they’d been on his territory. However, life within these stone walls was far more familiar to her than it was to him.
Rani unwound the veil from her face and the guard held up his lantern to get a better look at her.
“Princess Rani!” He shuffled back a step, his hand flying to his throat. “We were told you’d been released.”
Rani straightened her back and tipped up her head, locking her gaze on him. “Well, as you can see, that’s incorrect. Now, please step back and let us pass. The Shining is almost upon us. We don’t have time for this.”
The guard pressed his back to the wall.
“There’s no need to tell anyone you saw me,” said Rani, as she passed. Her voice was firm and unlike any tone Aarow had heard her use before. “Do you understand?”
The guard nodded and scurried down the stairs.
“Impressive,” said Aarow, removing his scarf, needing reli
ef from the warmth of the air. Rani had an authority about her that came only from being born into a role like she had. She didn’t need to use volume or threats to get her way. It was the confident look in her eyes and level tone of her voice. She’d been right to insist he let her take the lead.
Rani went to a door at the end of a hallway and opened it, motioning for him to follow. This must be her bedchamber. The place she’d told him she’d spent almost her entire life, sitting at the window, watching the sand fall through the Orbs of Time. This room represented her past. He only hoped that he himself could be what represented her future.
For the more he’d gotten to know Rani since she’d arrived at the Colony, the more he’d felt a pull toward her. As the eldest child of the leader of her people, she understood him like nobody else had before. However, it was so much more than that. He’d watched her thrive in the Colony, like a flower that’d been deprived of water and now found itself standing in the middle of a river. At first, she’d been overwhelmed, but now she’d adjusted to her surroundings, she was in full bloom.
As he went to step into the room that held so much history for Rani, she came to such a sudden stop in front of him that he walked straight into the back of her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, restoring the distance between them as she backed out of the room.
She turned to him and stood on her toes, so she could speak directly into his ear. “There’s someone sitting at my window.”
The hair on the back of his neck stood up, both at the warmth of her breath on his skin and the words she spoke.
“Who?” And more importantly, how would this person affect their plans. They had no backup. A hiccup like this hadn’t been allowed for.
“It’s a boy,” she said. “I think he might be my brother.”
RANI
THE BATTLE
Rani stepped into her bedchamber to face the boy she was certain must be her brother—her father’s second eldest child and new heir to the throne.
His eyes weren’t focused out the window now. Instead, he’d turned to face her, waiting for her to return, the startled expression on his face revealing he knew exactly who she was.
Aarow touched her gently on her back, letting her know he was there and offering her the only crumb of comfort he could.
“Hello,” she said to the younger, male version of herself. Did all her father’s children resemble him so much?
He squinted at her as his forehead wrinkled and she decided he looked about fifteen Shinings old.
“I think I might be your sister. My name’s Rani and this is my friend, Aarow. Are you the Emperor’s son?”
“Rani,” he said. “They told me you were released.”
It was only when he spoke that she noticed he was shaking, his dark eyes blinking rapidly.
“You’re scared,” she said. “Please don’t be scared of me. We’re here to help you.”
“My name’s Taavi. They want to make me Emperor. I’m to stand at the window and Father will announce it after the Shining.”
Rani wanted to run to him and throw her arms around his shaking shoulders, but she held her feet firm on the floor. She may have started to desensitize with all this touching, although Taavi wouldn’t have. She didn’t want to scare him away when she’d only just found him.
“You don’t want to be Emperor?” she asked.
He blinked at her, not answering her question.
How foolish she’d been to assume her siblings would leap at the chance to take her place. All she’d done by running away from her troubles was transfer them to someone else.
“Taavi,” she said, taking a few steps toward him. “I need you to trust me. And Aarow. He’s here to protect me. And you now.” She looked back at Aarow who was nodding his head in agreement, the kindness in his dark eyes shining through.
“What’s going on?” Taavi asked, keeping his words simple.
“Something’s about to happen in the Round. Aarow’s people are going to take control of the kingdom. They’re good people. He lives in a place called the Colony and has rescued hundreds of people who were released into the desert and given them a new and peaceful life. Right now, those people are returning to the homes they grew up in outside the Round and explaining exactly what I’m telling you now. The more of them who join us, the better the chance we have of overthrowing the Board.”
“There’s going to be a revolution?” Taavi asked, his eyes widening.
At these words, Aarow stepped forward. “Nobody should live in fear. We need to change all of that.”
Taavi went back to the window and looked out. “What’s your plan?”
“It will all be clear very soon,” said Rani, standing beside him and looking out at the sky. “Don’t worry. You don’t need to do anything.”
The Shining was about to burst into life, the tip of the sun just visible over the dunes.
“Aarow, come to the window,” she said. “It’s happening.”
He joined them and they stood in a line. She let her hand fall and reached for Aarow’s, hearing him draw in a breath of surprise at the contact. He enclosed his hand around hers, the size of his hand making her feel like a young girl.
But she wasn’t a young girl. She was a woman now. A woman about to do something that would go down in history. She was grateful to have Aarow’s support. And that of her brother, who she vowed to protect at all costs.
She looked down and could see the Board marching out of the palace to assume their positions, the eleven of them standing evenly spaced in a circle around the Orbs of Time, leaving a space for the Emperor. They all faced the archway, which meant they had their backs to the three silent observers, watching them from above.
If the Board had paid more attention and treated their people like individuals instead of numbers, they might have noticed the difference in the sets of eyes that surrounded them. It seemed that so far, nobody was any the wiser.
Sharma had been replaced on the Board by a woman Rani had seen around the palace. Rani hoped she’d switch her loyalties to the Colony easily. If indeed her loyalties lay with the Capital right now. It didn’t seem fair that she’d only just stepped into this position and was about to face her first fight. Although, nothing in the Capital was fair. As long as she didn’t fight back, then no harm would come to her.
Rani shuddered as she watched the Chairman walk to his position at the point of the orbs directly facing the archway, thankfully obscured from her view once he was in place. She didn’t need his ugly soul to ruin possibly the last Shining she’d ever witness.
“Is that him?” asked Aarow, having heard what evil this man was responsible for.
“Yes,” she whispered, swallowing hard as he gripped her hand tightly.
The Emperor came out of the palace next and took his place at the rear of the orbs. If he were to turn around and tilt up his face, he’d be looking directly at his eldest two children. Rani sent him a silent message of apology and love, thanking him for trying to save her from a future that spared nobody. She wanted him to know she was alive, to relieve his burden of guilt, but his eyes remained fixed straight ahead, his posture one of a man who thought he’d failed her.
“There it is,” said Taavi, pointing, as the first ray of daylight hit the orbs and shattered into a thousand smaller rays of colorful light, bouncing off the stone buildings and back to the orbs where it splintered again.
More light came pouring through the archway, and soon the entire Round was bathed in color as the rays dazzled and sparkled, turning everything into some kind of magical land.
“Have you seen it from inside the Round before?” Rani asked Taavi.
“Never.” He shook his head without lifting his eyes from the spectacular sight before him.
It was Rani’s seventeenth time witnessing this miracle, created by her ancestors and performed by nature, not that she could remember her first few, of course. However, it was Aarow’s first time and she shifted her attention to him
now.
He was still squeezing her hand, the fingers of his other hand gently touching his parted lips as his head shook slowly from side to side.
Rani wasn’t sure what was more beautiful. The Shining that she’d always cherished, or the enraptured face of this man who’d unexpectedly woven his way into her heart.
There was an eerie silence, with speaking banned during a Shining, as well as touch. This miracle of light was to be respected, and not a murmur was permitted.
As she cast her eyes back to the Round, she looked not at the light, but at the people, noticing members of the Colony getting into position, two of their strongest fighters assigned to tackle each Board member. The rest had their focus on the guards. The Colonel had been assigned to the Emperor and he stood close by, ready to ensure no harm came to Rani’s father as the power of his kingdom was swept from under his feet.
“When does the revolution start?” asked Taavi, his voice a whisper as if he could be heard from the pit of silence below.
“Any moment,” Rani said. “There’ll be an eagle call and we’ll swoop. Everyone is ready now. We need the element of surprise. Nobody is expecting this.”
Taavi leaned out of the window, squinting his eyes as he tried to see who was ready and how.
Rani smiled at her brother and his keenness to play a part in overthrowing this kingdom.
“See there,” she said, keeping her own voice low as she pointed to two men inching closer to one of the Board members.
Taavi’s dark eyes widened, as if the reality of what was about to happen just dawned and he leaned further out the window.
Rani squeezed Aarow’s hand and released it, feeling awkward in front of her brother, who hadn’t seemed to notice their contact yet. Just as her hand broke away from Aarow’s, a noise echoed across the Round, taking Rani a moment to realize it had come from her own brother’s lips.
“Beware!” he shouted, waving his arms wildly. “An invasion’s upon us! Beware!”
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 57
