Freya.
He’d promised to bring back the daughter she pined for. How could he do that if he didn’t know who she was?
He ran his finger over the names in the book, each line tearing at the cracks in his heart, for each line in this book represented a mother being taken from her child.
After many lines on many pages, eventually he saw it.
Her name was right. The timing was right. The gender of her child was right.
He ran his finger across the page to find the name of the child, added in a different color ink, and felt his legs weaken when he recognized her name.
AZRAEL
THE AFTER
Azrael watched the sun dip below the horizon and decided it was safe to go and look for Rani. It felt like such a long time since she’d let go of her friend’s hand in the dunes that morning.
Azrael’s job during the battle had been important. Not one person she’d spoken to outside the Round had wanted to defend their kingdom. Not even the guards. Everyone had had enough. They were all ready to take their chances under a new ruler. It couldn’t be any worse than the life they were already subjected to.
The revolution had been the biggest thrill of Azrael’s life. Even bigger than running into the desert with Rani and Sharma by her side. Because when she’d left the Capital, she’d been a victim. When she’d returned, she’d been a victor. A reborn, rebirthing citizens of her own.
During the Shining, she’d stood outside the archway with the other reborns, listening to what was happening inside, ready to run in and help if needed. But they hadn’t been needed. The battle had morphed into a celebration. It was hard to fight someone who was already on your side.
When the Board had been captured, Azrael had fought her way through the crowd, looking to Rani’s window to see how her friend had fared. She’d arrived just in time to hear Rani speak to the people and her heart had swollen with pride, filling her chest until it felt like it might burst. Rani had come so far from being the quiet girl who’d ground her teeth as she’d prepared to leap from her window.
Aarow had been right to insist that Rani remain in her bedchamber during the Battle. It was crucial to keep her safe, so the people could see she was firmly on the Colonel’s side. This wasn’t so much a takeover but a merger of the cities in the kingdom and having the Princess so visible to everyone in the Round, standing in her window offering words of support for the Colonel, was a very clear message.
Azrael walked through the Round and went to go into the palace, distracted by the crowds of people lining up to get into the Conception Center to review their birth records. She’d do this in time. It would be nice to know who her parents were and find out if they were still alive. Maybe she’d go later with Rani, who’d surely also be curious to know her mother’s name. She’d waited this long for the information. Waiting a bit longer wouldn’t hurt.
It was dark in the Round now, although Azrael doubted anyone here would be getting much sleep.
Two guards stopped her at the entrance to the palace. Not guards from the Capital, but guards appointed by the Colony. She quickly recognized one as Jinn, the friend of Aarow’s who’d paid her far too much attention in the Colony. He smiled to see her now.
“What business do you have in the palace?” the other guard asked.
“It’s okay,” Jinn said. “She’s Rani’s friend. Remember?”
“Oh.” The other guard quickly lost interest now that she posed no threat.
“How are you?” Jinn asked, seeming genuinely concerned.
“Good, thank you.” She looked away, not comfortable meeting his eye for too long. “You?”
“Good thanks.”
“Oh, for goodness sake!” said the other guard, shaking his head and laughing. “Ask the girl out on the date and be done with it! I can’t stand this another moment. It’s painful to watch.”
Azrael took a step back. “What’s a date?”
“Forget about it,” the guard said. “Let me check if the Princess is happy to see you. We were asked to check first before allowing anyone in.”
He walked away, still shaking his head, leaving Azrael more confused than ever.
“Ignore him,” said Jinn.
“What did he mean? He wants us to eat dates together?”
Jinn smiled, not mocking her like his friend had done, but seeming to find her endearing. “A date is when two people go out and do something together.”
“Like when you and Aarow rescue people in the desert?”
“No.” His face was serious now. “Two people who like each other…as more than friends.”
“Oh.” She knew people in the Colony had romantic relationships, although she hadn’t given any thought to how they got started. It wasn’t something she’d thought would ever apply to her.
“So, would you like to? Go on a date, I mean.” He gave her a shy smile.
She shook her head, wiping the smile from his face.
“I’m sorry. I’m just not…I don’t…I mean.” She gave up trying to find any words to explain how she felt. Jinn was a nice guy. But she wasn’t interested in any dates.
“Is it because of Rani?” he asked.
“Rani?” Just when she thought things were starting to make sense, he had to confuse her again.
“You know. Are you and her…ummm….Well, you know. Do you go on dates with her?”
“You mean…two girls can go on dates?” The thought had never occurred to her and the way the idea of it pulled at her stomach caused her yet more confusion still.
But before Jinn could answer, the other guard returned.
“In you go,” he said. “The Princess is keen to see you.”
“Thank you.” Azrael scurried away, trying to push away the conversation she’d just had with Jinn to digest later.
She entered the Boardroom, unsure what to expect, not having ever been in there before.
Rani and Aarow were seated at a round table with the Emperor. They looked up expectantly at her.
“Azrael!” said Rani, leaping from her chair and standing before her.
They didn’t embrace, for that was a gesture that still didn’t come naturally to either of them. Instead, they took each other’s hands and squeezed them tightly.
“Are you okay?” Rani asked. “I was starting to get worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” Azrael said, letting go of her hands, now that the innocence of this simple touch had been shattered by Jinn’s words. With this new knowledge and Rani standing before her, she wondered if perhaps Jinn had seen something she’d been blind to. “It couldn’t have gone any better out there. Your speech was incredible.”
Rani waved her hand as if to wipe away her words and took her seat back at the table, gesturing for Azrael to do the same.
But Azrael hesitated, the presence of the Emperor making her nervous.
“Azrael, this is my father,” said Rani, realizing what the problem was.
The Emperor smiled warmly at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for looking after my daughter out there in the desert.”
“I assure you that it was the other way around,” said Azrael.
“Please, sit down,” he said. “We’re just waiting for the Colonel to return. He had some urgent business to attend to. It couldn’t wait.”
Azrael took her seat, noticing the way Rani was sneaking glances at Aarow and knew without a doubt that whatever confusing feelings had been running through her own mind, they were only flowing in one direction. Something had passed between Rani and Aarow. There was an obvious shift in the way they related to each other, like an ease or a closeness that puts up walls for everyone else.
“Thanks so much for everything you did,” said Aarow, his handsome face smiling warmly at her. “I’m told the reborns were incredible out there, the way you recruited so many people so quickly.”
Azrael smiled. “They recruited themselves. It was easy.”
“Well, you’re appreciated,”
said Aarow. “And we’ll never forget that the idea of doing this on a Shining was yours either. That was inspired.”
“Thank you.” She took the credit, although didn’t feel as if she deserved it. The idea had come to her in a dream and she’d somehow known this was what they were meant to do. It’d come to her with the same force as when she’d known she had to stop Rani jumping from her window.
These visions and dreams had been getting sharper since she left the Capital, as though once control over her body had been returned to her, so had her mind. But she wasn’t sure what any of it meant and if this was some kind of gift or a sign that she was going insane. She was hoping to talk to Freya about it when she returned to the Colony, having had a sense that she was the only one who could possibly help her understand.
The Colonel burst through the door, his face pale and his eyes darting around the room, taking in who was here.
“Good,” he said. “You’re all here.”
Azrael stood. “I’ll leave you all. I know you have a lot to discuss.”
“Stay,” said Rani and the Colonel at the same time.
“Please,” said the Colonel. “You were an important part of what happened today.”
Azrael sat back in her chair, still unsure that a few dreams were enough to earn her place at this table.
“How did you go?” asked Aarow. “Is it done?”
The Colonel nodded, his face solemn. “He’s been released.”
Rani let out a loud breath that told Azrael exactly who he was. Good! Let the Chairman suffer the same fate he’d inflicted on so many others. She couldn’t find any sympathy in her heart for him.
“Thank you,” Rani said to the Colonel, her eyes filling with tears.
The Colonel nodded and folded his hands on the table as he sat down.
“It’s been a long day,” he said. “This meeting can wait until morning. We all need some sleep.”
“We have enough beds in the palace for all of you,” said the Emperor. “But something will need to be figured out for the rest of your people.”
“They’re content to revel through the night,” said the Colonel. “Tomorrow we’ll figure out who we need here and who can return to their families at the Colony.”
The Emperor nodded and Azrael realized for the first time just what this invasion meant. It wasn’t just a case of seizing power, it was what you did with it afterward that decided if you’d failed or succeeded. Many decisions were going to need to be made. She’d do what she could to help but was glad she wasn’t the ruler of this kingdom. She wouldn’t know where to start.
“I looked at the Registrar’s books just now,” the Colonel said.
Azrael furrowed her brow, wondering what he could possibly have found of use in there. He was born in the Colony as were his two children. She remained, quiet, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“My wife, Freya, was born here in the Capital,” he said, looking around the table.
“I didn’t realize,” said Rani. “I just assumed…”
“I rescued her in the desert, in the same way Aarow rescued you,” said the Colonel. “She was released after refusing to give up her baby without holding her first.”
Azrael shook her head, unable to imagine the pain Freya had been through. It was no wonder she carried Aarow’s baby sister around with her everywhere she went.
“I brought Freya back to the Colony and she bonded immediately with Aarow who was a small child at the time, having lost his mother not long before.”
“I didn’t know,” said Rani, looking at Aarow with tears spilling from her eyes.
Aarow patted her on the hand. “I couldn’t tell you that she’s not my mother, because she is. I was blessed with two mothers.”
“She never gave up on the daughter taken from her,” said the Colonel, shaking his head as he looked toward the darkness spilling in from the window, the lanterns on the table casting shadows across his face. “I promised her that I’d find her one day. And although this revolution happened for many reasons that had nothing to do with that child, I confess that for me, today was also personal. I had to get Freya’s daughter back.”
“Did you find her name on the registry?” asked Aarow, sitting forward.
“My mother was released after giving birth to me,” said Rani, her words neutral, almost as if she’d disconnected her heart from her mouth as she prepared herself for a shock. “And I’m three Shinings younger than Aarow.”
Azrael’s hand flew to her mouth as she realized what Rani was thinking. Was Freya the mother Rani had been missing all her life? It made sense. Rani’s mother had been released shortly after giving birth to her and the Colonel just said the same applied to Freya. What relation would that make her to Aarow? No blood passed between them but sharing a mother with the man you loved didn’t seem right.
The Colonel shook his head. “No, Rani. I’m sorry, but it wasn’t you.”
Rani’s mouth fell open. “Then…who is it?”
“Azrael,” said the Colonel, causing her to leap at the sound of her name. “It is you. You are the daughter of my wife.”
It took Azrael a few moments to process what he’d just said. When the words unscrambled themselves, all she was able to do was let out a gasp.
FREYA
THE EVERNOW
Freya paced the entryway to the Colony, pretending she was waiting for Miro and Aarow. She knew they wouldn’t be back so soon, but it helped if she fooled her brain into thinking their return was close.
She could go to the Capital to see them, except…no, she couldn’t return there. The memories were still too sharp. She didn’t want to ever go back there again.
Spector had returned to the Colony faster than anybody could’ve imagined. The Colonel had sent him home to tell them the revolution had been a success. He’d run into the Colony calling like an eagle until everyone had gathered to hear his good news.
Spector’s mother had fallen to her knees and wept at the sight of her son’s safe return and Freya realized she’d thought she was never going to see him again. It was a feeling she could relate to. Aarow’s absence was like a sharp pain in her heart. Hearing from Spector that there’d been only one death in the battle had restored the oxygen to her lungs. Especially when she found out it wasn’t one of their own. The battle had apparently been swift and Spector said the people in the Capital had welcomed them with open arms, treating them more as rescuers than revolutionaries.
Aarow was safe. Miro was safe. And her daughter must be too. If indeed she was still alive in the first place. Of course she was, Freya told herself. She’d know if her daughter was dead. She’d be able to feel the loss in her soul.
Spector had returned to the Capital almost immediately, insisting the Colonel needed him. Freya had smiled, wishing things were different and she could go with him, not because the Colonel needed her, but because she needed him. He’d crept his way into her heart so slowly that she’d barely noticed, and now his absence left her feeling empty.
It was early morning and Freya decided to step outside the Colony entrance to watch the sun rise over the dunes. Bindi was still asleep in her bed, not due to wake for some time yet and Freya had asked one of the healers to watch over her. The walls of her family’s quarters had been closing in on her, which was strange because she’d thought with fewer people to share the space with it would feel larger, not smaller. For the first time since arriving at the Colony, she’d wished to sleep above the ground, instead of entombed underneath countless grains of red sand.
She walked out on the sand now and went to the spot that she and Miro favored when they woke early and came outside to see what marvelous performance Mother Nature would put on for them.
Sitting down, she smoothed out the fabric of her skirt and tilted her face to the sky. It was the most spectacular pink color with wispy blue clouds crisscrossing in lines and contrasting with the dunes that looked more black than red in the budding light. A brilliant orange ball burst
over the dunes sending sparkling rays across the sand.
It was breathtaking, but today it failed to steal Freya’s breath. It wasn’t the sun she wanted to rise over the dunes. It was her family.
A shadow appeared in the distance and Freya scrambled to her feet. She squinted into the morning sun, trying to get a better look.
Two people. Definitely two people. And the way one of them was darting about, she was certain it was Spector.
She focused on the other figure, wondering if it could possibly be Aarow or Miro, disappointed to realize the figure was shorter than Spector. It couldn’t be either of them.
As they came closer, it was clear it was a female.
She waited, figuring she may as well greet whoever it was in case they needed healing. Perhaps Spector had started to bring the injured home.
As the sun climbed higher in the sky and the figures came closer, she soon realized it was Azrael with Spector. How odd they’d traveled through the night to get here. What could possibly be so urgent it couldn’t have waited? They could’ve gotten lost, walking at night like that. Although, not Spector. He could walk through the desert blindfolded and he’d still know his way.
Freya had liked Azrael immediately upon meeting her. She was the opposite of how she herself had been when she’d arrived at the Colony. Talkative. Inquisitive. Excited. But there was more to her than that. She’d admitted to having dreams she didn’t understand and some of those dreams had led to ideas for the revolution that’d helped them enormously. Freya had dreams sometimes too and hoped one day to speak to Azrael about this. It was through her dreams that she’d learned to be a healer.
She’d also noticed how Azrael looked at Rani and wondered if she was aware of how deeply her feelings ran. But Rani seemed to only have eyes for Aarow. Relationships were so complex. That was perhaps one advantage of living in the Capital—you didn’t have to put any energy into thinking about these things. Nobody could break your heart when you weren’t allowed to give it to them.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 61
