Relinquish: Book II of the Rising Trilogy (22 page)

The soldier who remained coolly indifferent to my painful state of undress shakes his head, his laser gun lowered. “Drakon’s orders are that she remains here until we land.”

Alesta’s smile melts away as she steps forward. “This is your future queen. Who do you think should be giving orders? The commander or her?”

He casts a glance toward me and then meets Alesta’s gaze head-on. “She’s not my queen yet.”

I glare at the soldier before me who openly caresses my chest with his gaze. Feeling electricity spark against my wrist, vining around my fingers, I strike out, smacking him across the cheek. His cries out as he stumbles back, the flesh of his cheek red. The hum of a laser and the warmth of its swirling core attracts my attention.

I turn to look down the barrel of the other guard’s gun. I smile, feeling the sparks rise along my forearm. My next punch will send him through the wall into the next room.

“I said return the prisoner to her room.”

Alesta’s eyes narrow and she reminds me of a cat with sharply pointed claws about to swat at a dog. “How dare you—”

I reach out and place a hand on her arm, oddly touched by her defense. The man’s gaze never leaves mine as I step forward, nearly pressing the barrel of his gun against my chest. I know it would burn should I touch it so I stay just far enough back.

“Do you know who I am?” He nods once. “And you know what I am capable of?”

He hesitates this time. I smile. “If you don’t move out of our way, I will break you over my knee like a twig. Is that understood?”

The man’s gaze darkens as he fingers the trigger. My chest is awash with green as he prepares to stun me.

“No!” Alesta shouts.

I thrust out my hand and send the guard toppling backward. His shot goes wide and leaves a scorch mark along the wall and ceiling, and he lands on his back. He gasps, the wind knocked from his chest. I walk forward and kick away his gun. With the tip of my heel, I slam my foot down on his neck, pressing it into his skin. His lip curls into a snarl as I knick his flesh. Blood trickles down into his collar. That is when I hear screams of agony stabbing at my mind. My gaze narrows as I listen, shuddering at the shrieks of this man’s past victims.

With a twist of my heel, I snap his neck. Alesta cries out, her hands fluttering over her mouth as she stumbles forward. I ignore her as I turn to find the first guard pressed up against the wall in a seated position, his gun trained on me. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I can see his indecision, but he powers down his gun and tosses it aside. Alesta reaches me and tugs on my arm, staring in horror at the man below me. “You killed him.”

Grasping the wall, I twist my ankle and wipe his blood off my heel on his chest. His head rolls to the side, eyes wide and staring. “You would have too if you could read his mind.”

Eighteen

I follow Alesta down a long and winding corridor, through arched doorways and glass-paned elevators. I clench tightly to the railing as the small cube rises with heart-dropping speed. Although I realize it is irrational to be worried about an elevator crashing when I am stuck zipping through space in a ship, the fear is still present.

When the doors hiss open, I unlatch myself from the elevator and stumble out, inelegantly tripping on my heels. I glance around to see if anyone noticed, but all eyes are turned toward a large glass-like dome. Releasing the hem of my dress, I straighten and my mouth gapes in wonder.

Streaks of white light flash past too quickly for me to really glimpse the stars. If I focus too long, I begin to feel dizzy and am forced to lower my gaze. “This ship is too big,” I whisper to Alesta, clutching to the silver railing that separates us from the lower deck. The loft area we stand upon hangs over what I assume to be the command center of the ship.

At least two dozen men and women man stations, brightly lit with flashing green lights and vivid blue consoles. Strange symbols scroll over large screens before me, but I can’t figure out what they mean. “Too big for what?” I hear her questions beside me.

“This isn’t the same ship I tried to steal, is it?”

She laughs, her curls bouncing as she shakes her head. “Of course not. The commander would never let you arrive in such a small craft. “This is the
Pegasus
, the largest transport in our fleet. You should feel honored. It is the king’s personal transport.”

That is hardly the emotion I would choose as I watch a man below me raise his hand and tap the air. I gasp as light illuminates beneath his finger and realize there is some sort of a screen hanging in the air before him. I crane my neck to see if I can spy the edge of it, but at an odd glance from Alesta, I lean back and resume my cool, disinterested gaze.

I take it all in, feeling my heart thrum wildly in my chest. Everything feels so cold and foreign to me.
I want to go home. I want to see Bastien

The sound of boots upon the metal floor alerts me to a presence. I turn to find Drakon approaching, having just stepped from the elevator. His eyes trail slowly and pointedly over my dress. I resist the urge to cover myself. Instead, I press my shoulders back and stare him down.

A smile curls his lips but doesn’t reach the cold calculation I see in his eyes. “You are a vision. Our clothing suits you rather well.”

Saliva begins to pool in my mouth and I have to grit my teeth to keep from spitting at him. The only thing that holds me back is knowing that Bastien would pay for my actions. I turn away from him and look to the stars once more, focusing beyond instead of directly at them. “Alesta informed me that we’ll be arriving soon.”

He appears at my side. I shift my hand away so it is out of reach as he curls his fingers around the rail. “Yes. You are obviously excited to see your new home, I’m sure”

Ignoring his snide remark, I notice the flashes have begun to slow. The hum of the engines has changed. “How long?”

“A minute. Perhaps less. We use spatial anomalies to travel, a wormhole as you may have heard it called, to make the jump between worlds. Without it, it would take years to reach Calisted.” He pauses, leaning forward as the ship slows. The stars seem to crawl past now. “You will want to see this.”

A burst of blue erupts before my eyes. I gasp, taken aback by the giant sphere that hangs before me. It is perfectly round against the black sky. Swirling aqua mists seem to hang over the planet. “It’s beautiful,” I whisper, mesmerized by the sight of my home world.

All this time I judged Calisted with thoughts tainted from my visions, but in reality, standing here with this breathtaking view, I know Aloysius can’t ruin the beauty of an entire planet for me.

“Welcome home, Illyria.” Alesta smiles as she clasps my hand in hers.

I grip the metal railing before me as the mists swirl around the ship as we descend straight down through the cloud cover. The sunlight below is blinding. I raise a hand to shield my eyes, grateful when I feel the ship touch down and I am able to turn away.

A strange longing floods through me, almost as if coming home isn’t truly a terrible thing. Kyan said I have family here. Will I be able to meet them? Ask them why I’m so different from everyone else?

Although Sariana cleared up the mystery surrounding my relationship with Bastien and Eamon, I have yet to hear what makes me unique. Perhaps no one really knows.

“This way, my dear.” Drakon holds out his hand, motioning for me to walk toward a door that sits beyond the elevator. Below me, men and women rise from their seats. I can hear the engines power down and real terror begins to seep into my bones.

I am here. There is no turning back now.

The seal on the door breaks and sunlight streams in. I feel warmth upon my skin as I approach the door, marveling at the prism of light upon the floor, broken and molded into multifaceted spheres, although I can’t see anything that would create this phenomenon.

I take a deep breath and follow Drakon into the light.

What I see beyond the doors steals away my breath. Rainbows dance across my skin, hovering in the air before me. Everything seems draped with a warm, hazy glow, like clouds ringing a full moon. “How is this possible?”

Alesta answers. “Calisted has three moons. When the sun reflects off of them, it creates a fascinating display.”

I follow Alesta’s finger as she points to the sky. Hovering above us are three spheres of different sizes, all revolving a brilliant white sun. The smallest moon is ruby in color, the medium glows as brilliantly as a newly mined emerald, and the third reminds me far too much of Bastien’s sapphire eyes.

I take a deep breath and realize the air feels lighter here and has almost a sweet taste. I look to Alesta and she simply smiles back.

“The gravity is different than on Earth,” Drakon says as he ushers me forward. “You will get used to it after a while.”

It is difficult to maneuver the stairs in my high-heel shoes, but somehow I manage to reach the bottom without breaking my neck. As I step onto the ground, I realize we have landed on a wide bluish patch of grass. I stare at it, confused.

“It is the mists,” Alesta informs, like my own personal guide to Calisted. “The planet is draped in the aqua color you saw from space so it alters the colors you see here on the ground. What might be green on Earth appears darker blue here.” She lifts her hand toward the town. “Welcome to Calahorra, City of the King.”

As I look at the city stretched out before me, I realize the light sparkles with the same wondrous glow off of buildings, cobblestone streets, and a gushing stream that winds through the town, carving the road in half.

It is the most enchanting thing I have ever glimpsed. No words could truly describe the sense of peace and beauty this place possesses. I stand, staring all around me in awe, until Drakon snatches my hand and yanks me forward. “There will be plenty of time for you to look around later. Someone is waiting for you.”

I work hard to smother my fear as I smile sweetly back at him. “Let us hope he is in a forgiving mood. After all, it did take you over a year to finally bring me to him. I’ve heard he isn’t the most patient man.”

With a flick of my wrist, I shake him off and walk ahead with my head held high.
Let him chew on that for a bit.

Dozens of men and women flow out of the ship behind us. I can hear shouts of welcome as several break off from our landing party to hug a loved one. Craning my neck back around, I search over the group for Bastien, but he has yet to be brought from the ship. No doubt Drakon wants to keep us separated for as long as possible.

It is hard to appear aloof and disinterested as we walk through town. The streets are bendy and the homes built in endless rows. The roofs are thatched and droop over the edge. Everywhere I look, flowers grow. Some drape from low-hanging trees that bend so low their fronds grace the ground. Yards, neatly spaced and contained within metal fences, are bursting at the seams with wide blue petals, vivid purple sprouting vines that weave a pattern across the stone house face. I can see heart-shaped flowers, starbursts, and shaggy black balls that I’m not entirely sure what they are.

Orange moss hangs from the trees, tickling my cheeks as I pass under. Footpaths run on either side of the stream banks, littered with pastel-colored stones rubbed smooth over time. I cry out in delight as a small orange-and-blue fish leaps from the stream and dives back under its cool, lavender surface. I hear the gushing of greater waters up ahead but am unable to spy a river before Drakon pushes us off down a different road.

The streets are made of stone. Sand weaves between the rocks, and as I take a closer look, I notice white glass pressed into the handmade pavers, glinting in the sunlight. Birds swoop from above, looping and cawing as they spiral through the sky.

Up ahead I can hear laughter. It spurns me on. I can’t help but grin back at the children who stand along a fencerow, waving wildly as we approach. They are each beautiful. Tiny noses. Small hands. Eyes with every color of the rainbow and some with a swirling mixture, like paint splattered on a canvas.

There is an overwhelming sense of wonder here. “Where are the transports? I don’t see any vehicles.” Dozens of people mill about. Some lean against tree trunks and chat with neighbors. Others walk with packages under their arm, whistling and dipping their head in greeting as they pass. They act as if they have all the time in the world.

“We don’t use them here. There’s no need.” Alesta waves as a young girl steps out from a small wooden bungalow-style home. This roof is woven with what looks like palm leaves. The door is wide open. There are no coverings on the windows.

I realize as I look all around me that this is a tropical climate. I stare at sun-kissed faces and browned arms. Their clothing, although far less flimsy than my own, is made of lightweight material in whites, yellows, and soft blues. A warm breeze unsettles my hair about my neck as I turn my face up to the sun. “Is it always warm here?”

“Yes,” Alesta says. “Earth is one of the few planets
that has a winter. You have seasons because of how your planet revolves around your yellow sun. Our sun is white and we are closer to its surface, providing us with year-round warmth.”

“But how is that possible? Surely when you are on the back side of the sun, this city would be farthest away.”

“Yes, but we have those.” She points to the moons again. I look closer and notice how the sunlight seems to reflect off their glossy surface.

Our party winds through the city, soldiers lining up on either side to clear away the crowd that grows with each street we pass. Shouts ring out as kids grab hold of their parents to bring them near. I stare down at the little children and realize that no matter how terrible this past year has been, it was all worth it for this moment.

These are my people,
resonates loudly within my soul as I wave back.

Lines of people now edge the streets as we begin to climb a small hill. My shoes have hardly any traction as I attack the stones, praying I don’t fall flat on my face in front of all these people.

From somewhere behind me, a song begins to emerge from the crowd. I pause and look back over my shoulder, trying to make out the words. “What are they singing?”

“Hail to the queen, a savior born,” Drakon growls. He motions his hand toward a soldier and the man surges back through the crowd, commanding loudly in a tongue that I’m unfamiliar with. Soon the song cuts off and I feel saddened by the silence that follows.

“It was a beautiful song,” I say.

Drakon’s cheeks are flushed as he turns back to glare at me. “It’s forbidden to sing it. Treason by penalty of death.”

“For a song?”

“No.” He shakes his head and raises his hand out before him, pointing ahead of us. “For what it stands for.”

I follow the length of his arm and come to a halt. Before me, a giant palace looms behind a towering stone wall. A massive gate resides at the end of this street, blocking our path. Drakon calls out and the gates begin to swing open. A group of men dressed in cloaks of royal purple rush forward and form a line directly behind me. Large, curved swords of gold, silver, and bronze are drawn, their backs toward us to face off with the crowd.

More guards line up on the other side of the gate. Towering spiked spears rise beside them, clutched in gloved hands. On their other side, I see shields of hammered metal held aloft by leather-like straps. I can’t imagine what Drakon thinks I need protection from, but I remain silent and we walk beneath the gates.

Although no less beautiful than the city below, a chill seems to lie over this land. Sweeping grounds lie before me, rising ever so steadily toward the palace. “Why are the walls so high?” I ask. “Is there some beast that roams your lands that would seek to harm your king?”

Drakon appraises me before speaking. “There are always enemies seeking to gain access to the palace. If you think this is impressive, just wait until you see the palace.”

“I can’t wait. Oh, never mind,” I reply sourly. “I can.”

He smirks and shoves me forward. There is a guard on either side of each step as we rise toward the palace. Each bows low as I pass. This sign of undeserved reverence grates on my nerves.
Do these people actually think I came here of my own free will?