I was back in the manor, waiting on my mistress. I thought it would be a regular night, no stress, just waiting on her, doing the dishes, making the bed. But that wasn’t the case. Madam Galena came storming down the stairs, her purple skin flushed a light shade of magenta, as her race got when they were mad.
Before I could even blink, she slapped me across the face, which spun me around and made me see stars. I was on the ground, my lip bleeding and swelling, tears beginning to sting my eyes. I looked up at her. She showed me strips of cloth that I recognized to be some of her fancy dancing dresses. Very expensive.
“You little brat!” she roared and threw the fabric at me. “I house, clothe, and feed your insignificant mouth and this is how you repay me?”
I touched a trembling hand to my lip. My vision was blurry. “I– I don’t…”
“Jezza said she saw you tearing up my dresses.”
Ah, there it was. The madam’s daughter Jezza was a year older than me and was an entitled little monster that liked to do whatever she wanted. She tormented us slaves as much as she could. Usually innocuous things that got us yelled at, but sometimes, she did things that got people killed. I feared this was one of those times.
I gathered my wits as best I could. “Please, Mistress, I swear I didn’t…”
She backhanded me again. I yelped. “Liar!” she barked.
She dragged me outside into the humid night. Out through the tall glass doors. Through the garden full of moonlillies that glowed blue as they reached for the heavens. Out of the house walls and into the fields beyond, where the pits were.
No…not the pits.
Short of execution or whipping, the pits were where they put disobedient slaves that they didn’t want to ruin their bodies physically, because that was our only value, wasn’t it? Our ability to work. So the pits were dug, and inside were inserted metal soundproof boxes.
No light came in. No sound could be heard. The only reason you wouldn’t suffocate was from the air pumped in through the vents in the floor, but only enough to keep you alive. It still could leave you lightheaded.
Madam threw me in there, left me there for Materelle knew how long. Long enough for my stomach to scream for food, for my lips to be chapped and cracked and bloodied. Long enough for my throat to be raw from screaming. For my knuckles to be broken from banging on the metal walls.
I thought I would die. I flitted between waking and sleeping, though it was impossible to tell from the pure blackness around me. I went mad, as all did who were put in the pits for long. But of course they were then whipped for being useless because of their damaged psyche. Because it was our fault.
That was what happened to me…once she took me out.
So anytime I was in a confined space, or held down, I was back in the pits, my nightmares turned to reality.
And I. Don’t. Like it.
I couldn’t breathe. I gulped down air, but it didn’t seem like any of it reached my lungs. I struggled against the leather straps holding me down. They didn’t budge.
I screamed. And screamed. Pure terror in my voice. Please someone get me out!
The door suddenly opened with a whoosh. Footsteps pounded against metal as they rushed towards me, and then Jax was suddenly by my side, his eyes wide with panic and concern. Or were they? It was hard to tell through my own breakdown.
“Materelle, hold on, Jinx.” He worked frantically to undo the restraints. They came loose one by one, until I was free, until I could move and breathe. I flung myself off the bed or table or whatever he’d had me strapped to and to the floor. I coughed, choked on air, crawled away from him. Crawled to the corned so I was covered in darkness save for my legs illuminated by the hallway light.
Jax approached me cautiously, his hands up like I was a cornered animal, dangerous and savage, ready to defend myself. Wise move on his part. That was how I felt.
“Easy, girl. I’m sorry about that.”
He knelt in front of me slowly, so that we could be eye level. Dumb move. I bared my teeth and lashed out. My fist connected with his jaw. With a stunned cry, he flailed back, and I bolted forward.
I was out in the hall, in the light, my bare feet running along the cold metal. The halls were a dull, dirty gray, with panels missing and wires exposed. This was an old ship, a ship on its last leg. But no matter. I kept running. It was a small vessel, just one long hallway that led to the cockpit. I barged in. Another Torgoran man sat in the pilot’s seat. He whipped around when I entered.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed.
He was older, maybe middle-aged, with bits of gray in his auburn locks. His skin was paler than normal for a Torgoran, and wrinkles had begun to set in, even though he didn’t seem that old. Or perhaps they were scars. Or perhaps he’d been aged by a terrible trauma. That was when I noticed the scars around his neck, the same scars I bore, and Jax too. The mark of bondage. The mark of a former slave.
But that didn’t make me want to punch him less.
I wound back, ready to strike, but then Jax was there again, arms around my waist, pulling me back. I yelled and kicked and bit, but it was no use. He was strong. Stronger than I expected.
“Calm down, Jinx. You’re not in danger.”
He turned me around so that his back was to the pilot. He released me. I pushed him.
“Why was I tied down?” I demanded. “And never do that to me again, or I swear on Materelle’s name, I will gouge out your eyes and feed them to you with a spoon.” My voice broke and trembled and it was then that I think he finally recognized the pure hell he’d put me through.
He put a hand up in peace. “I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t— I didn’t mean to scare you. We had some turbulence and I didn’t want you to hurt yourself while you were out.”
I narrowed my eyes. Took deep breaths. My heart still screamed inside me, my chest aching, but I was calming a bit. Still, I wasn’t sure I bought that answer out of him. That may have been true, but why was I here?
The tears kept coming, which I couldn’t stop. “Start talking,” I demanded, my voice catching again, the pain obvious. “Why did you— Why did you drug me, Jax? Where have you taken me?”
He looked like I’d just shot him. Good, I wanted him to feel some hurt, like I felt. We were friends. We’d survived the trials of slavery together. And now he was gonna pull this nonsense on me? I’d been betrayed by close friends before and would not abide by that again. No, no, no.
With a huff, he dragged his slender fingers through his mane of red locks.
“Can we— Can we talk about this elsewhere? I’d rather let Powell focus on piloting us to safety.”
I didn’t want to listen to any suggestion or commands he had. But I also didn’t want to hash this out in front of a stranger, so I obliged him. He sucked in a breath and led me back down the hall. Blessedly, we walked past the room of my nightmare and to a small little common area with a leather booth and a circular metal table. Pure luxury.
We sat opposite each other. I put my hands on the table. Balled them into fists and glared at my “friend.”
“Well, start talking.”
Jax looked panicked, like I’d backed him into a corner. He didn’t want to talk about this. Even though it was clear that whatever was going on, he wouldn’t be able to avoid it. He probably just thought he had more time. Well, no more waiting. I wanted answers and I wanted them now.
His head dipped, his shoulders sagging. He took in a long breath.
“Okay. Here we go…” he groaned. “I don’t even know how to tell you this—”
I banged my fist against the table, making him jump. “Just tell me!”
“The inquisitors weren’t after me, they were after you.”
I blinked. My mouth fell open. Then closed. I leaned back. Blinked again. “I— Um, why? Why would they be after me?”
His hand fell to his neck and itched at the scars there. Something he did when he was nervous, I noticed. He’d done it as a kid too, though of course
there had been a collar there at the time. I still did it sometimes too.
“You aren’t Jinx, okay?”
That really took me back. “You lost me.”
Jax snorted and shook his head. “N-no, you are. I mean… You aren’t just Jinx.”
My brows pinched together. “You better start making sense or I’m gonna break your nose, Jax.”
“You are Jinxenna Taolin III, rightful heir to the Torgoran throne. Your parents were the king and queen.”
That hit me like a grav-hammer to the face.
So many thoughts. I couldn’t grasp onto any. Too many questions, not enough answers. Consequences, implications, life-changing issues that threatened to consume me. All I could manage was a simple squeak of a word in response.
“What?”
“I know, I know. It’s a lot. But you are the crown princess.”
I barely heard him. I could hear the blood coursing through me, hear my heartbeat like the galaxy’s loudest snare drum, but I couldn’t comprehend what he was telling me. Was it the truth? Did I want it to be the truth? I barely remembered my parents, just vague details. A scent of lilac, a smile, some ruby red eyes. Nothing concrete, no memories to truly grasp.
“How— How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked in a hitched whisper. The implications were starting to choke me.
Jax put up a finger for me to wait as he jumped from his chair and ran down the hall. There was a woosh of a door, the sound of rummaging through old metal draws with rusty innards. Then a loud aha! followed by more pounding footsteps. Jax came back in.
In his hands was an old tablet—not a data-pad. He flipped it on and started looking for something in the files, his fingers dancing over the screen. After a few silent moments, he smiled and turned the tablet for me to see.
“Here,” he said and handed it to me.
I took it in hand, shaking.
Pictured were a man and woman, standing beside a gorgeous golden throne. Both wore the regalia and finery of royalty, and their smiles showed that they were so happy. Not the faux happiness people used when they had their pictures taken, but real, full joy. It was warming to see. And as I looked at them, as I raked my eyes over every detail of their features, I realized with cruel certainty that Jax was telling truth. They looked just like me. Or I looked like them.
These were my parents. I was there in my mother’s arms, still just a babe swaddled in a red satin blanket. I had a little baby smile, toothless but wide and radiant.
These are my parents.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. My chest ached at seeing this. There was no doubt this was them. My mother and I couldn’t have looked more alike if you’d thrown us into one of those illegal cloning vats from Kyanloss.
I looked at Jax, at the man I thought was one of my closest friends, but now I was wondering differently. He’d drugged me, kidnapped me, and just changed my life in a matter of hours.
My hands lowered. “How long have you known?” I asked him, my voice low.
“Come again?”
“How long have you known, Jax?!” I roared this time. “How long have you known the truth about who I am?!”
He frowned, his forehead creasing, which told me everything. “I’ve always known.”
“Then why—”
“To keep you safe!” He stood suddenly, his hands balled into fists. “When the coup happened, I was still a kid. You were maybe two or three. My father was one of the king’s advisors. Your father knew that Tarvath would wipe out the entire royal line, so he gave you to my dad. But before he got us to safety, he was killed and we were sold into slavery, but they didn’t know who you were. If they did…”
He walked away from me. I could see his back muscles tense through his shirt. He sighed. “I always wanted to tell you the truth, but the less people that knew, the better, even you. I wanted to spare you the pain.”
I gulped. I supposed that was a good enough reason. And would knowing as a kid really have made a difference in my life? I grew up without parents regardless. But I thought I was born a slave. To know I was a princess… I would have lived in constant fear of being discovered, more than I’d already lived. My masters would have sold me to Tarvath without a second thought.
“So, Tarvath knows I’m alive.”
Jax turned back to me, a single tear running down his cheek. “I think he always thought you were. He would have known that the king and queen at a baby girl. If you weren’t found with them, then he’d have assumed you alive. He’s probably been hunting you for years.”
I nodded. This was all too much. I thought that maybe now that Yan didn’t have to worry about his family, maybe we could start anew, try for new goals, new dreams. But here we were, hunted again—this time because of me.
“Why now?” I asked. “How did he find me?”
Jax sat across from me again. “I don’t know. That’s the worst part. There should be no record of who you are anywhere. I should be the only person who actually knows who you are and where you are.”
“No one else knew?”
He sat back. “I was young, terrified, so perhaps it was possible the king told someone other than my father about you. I don’t know.”
I swiped at my eyes again, my chest still aching. This really sucked. “Maybe… Maybe one of his agents saw me somewhere and recognized me because I look like my mother.”
“That would explain how he knows you’re alive, but those inquisitors were there for you. It wasn’t just an accidental run-in where they saw you and assumed your identity. No, they knew you’d be there.”
That made me want to cry. Materelle help me.
The ship groaned and rumbled in that tell-tale sign of coming out of jump. I fixed Jax with a hard gaze. “Where are you taking me?”
“Halyon. There’s a resistance base there. You’ll be safe with us.”
“I’m not joining the resistance, Jax!”
“Fine, but you’re coming with us whether you like it or not. You are a top-priority target of Tarvath, and he will stop at nothing until he has you. Join or no, but you will be safe with us.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to be with the resistance, Jax! Take me back to Yan and the others!”
He slammed his fists against the table, which made a bang and caused me to jump. I’d rarely seen him so furious.
“I can’t do that, Jinx! I can’t let you get hurt, don’t you understand that? It’s not even about you being the heir. You’re my friend and I can’t—I won’t—lose you again. I thought I lost you once and I… I just will not allow that to happen again.”
Those words wrenched at my heart. I hadn’t considered how hard this had been on him. We were both young when we were separated. He couldn’t rightly do much to prevent it. I was devastated, but I’d been so young, I’d moved on eventually. He was a few years older, plus he knew who I really was. It probably crushed him.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Okay, I… I will come with you. But you will not force me to do anything I don’t want to, and you will allow me to contact my friends. That is nonnegotiable.”
He stared me down for a long time, mulling over my words. I could see the gears churning in his mind, but I wasn’t going to budge on those. I would not have my friends worry about me.
Finally, Jax nodded. “Fine.”
“Okay, good.”
He smirked and shook his head. “You’re very stubborn, you know that?”
I shrugged. “It’s one of my lesser qualities.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” He started for the cockpit and waved me after him. “Well, come and strap in. We’ll be arriving soon.”
“Alright.” I followed him. My mind drifted as my feet carried me forward. I had no idea where this ordeal would take my life, but I prayed to Materelle that it would work out in the end.
6
Yan
When I woke up, I didn’t find it surprising that Jinx wasn’t next to me. We’d only started sharing
a bed a month ago, so I wasn’t exactly used to it—though I loved it. Even so, she often got up before me. Jinx liked to run in the mornings whenever when we were planet-side. She was an early riser more often than not. So again, it wasn’t shocking to wake up alone.
I soon realized that this wasn’t like those other times.
I’d thought she’d come in the middle of the night since she stayed outside and skipped dinner. I went to bed and waited up for her, but fell asleep before she arrived. When I awoke, her side of the bed looked undisturbed. Still, I wasn’t about to panic.
I went and ate breakfast with the others that were up, but Jinx still wasn’t there.
“Have you seen Jinx this morning?” I asked Amara, since as a Zarthian, she needed very little sleep and always got up at the crack of dawn.
She frowned and shook her head. “I haven’t seen her all morning. I thought she was with you.”
I stopped eating. “No, she wasn’t. You’re saying you haven’t seen her once?”
“Nope.”
“I haven’t seen Jax either,” El added as she chugged a whole glass of peralidon milk. It was an eerie white-green and ran down her chin. She unapologetically did not care in the slightest.
“I saw him go outside last night to check on Jinx, but if he came back in, I didn’t see him,” said Rayvan.
None of this sounded good to me. Jinx and Jax were both in a fragile state of mind yesterday due to the obvious. We all were a bit on edge, but the arrival of the inquisitors affected them most of all. Could they have… Could they have left? No, no, Jinx wouldn’t just leave without saying anything. I didn’t think she would leave period, but if she did, we meant too much to her for her to just sneak out without a proper good-bye.
No, something happened. Could the inquisitors have shown up last night and taken them?
The Torgoran Revolt (Plundering the Stars Book 3) Page 4
