Defender of the Empire 2: Facades (6 page)

He could have snuffed the little Defender out then if he had only known… and his little wife had kept that knowledge from him. Not only that, she had lied to him. She had said that day when he had come for her that she lived with her niece until the poor girl died in an accident. He had been so distracted, apparently, when he was possessing Michel that he hadn’t made the connection between Sylvia and Rylynn’s last names. He smiled at Sylvia before kissing her breathless. Sylvia blinked in a daze when he released her lips. He laughed and said, “So the Defender and I are going to play a little game, eh? I love a good challenge.” With that, he let go of her head and turned on his heel.

“Stop! What are you going to do?!” Sylvia cried after him. The lass even went so far as to follow him to the door. He ignored her sobbed questions. There was a reason, after all,
why
they were sobbed. She already knew what he was going to do. And the most horrible thing for her was that she could do
nothing
to stop him.

              The door to his Pet’s chambers slammed shut in her face.

***

              Imperial System

              Spectral Empire

              Adrian Knight fumed. His entire life’s work, the work he had continued since his brother’s untimely death, was now ruined. The day of the Movement had been so close he could taste it. So, the young prince had been rescued. But, there was still a chance to take him, since his family allowed him to remain at the Academy. The problem was, evidence had been found against him that forced him to run in order to continue his work. But he needed a new name, as his first one was now a curse.

              How humiliating was it that he had been stripped of his title based on evidence that supported the witness of a thirteen cycle old girl? A thirteen cycle old that he had been so sure had been under his thumb.

              It wasn’t the loss of his title that angered him. After all, he didn’t have to go to those horribly dull soirees anymore. No, it was the fact that the Movement no longer had its greatest asset anymore. All of their plans were set back
years,
if not cancelled. All because of Rylynn.

              He had thought all of his hate was reserved for Spectrals and their Shades. He was wrong. He hated Rylynn.
Don’t worry Samuel,
Adrian thought to his deceased brother,
the Movement will not fail. I will not let it. She will pay for her crimes,
he vowed.

              Suddenly, Balen collapsed. The thin man had been standing near the small kitchenette in the Movement safe house they were using. Now, he was crumpled on the ground like a puppet whose strings had been savagely cut. Adrian stood to help, when a black mist rose from Balen’s flesh. As the last tendrils drifted free, the body began to… well, there really was only one word for it: disintegrate. At an alarming rate. Adrian stared in horror as his loyal friend went through the whole process of decomposition in a matter of seconds, instead of years. All that was left was pile of dust, a few brittle bones, and a lingering odor that threatened even Adrian’s well trained stomach.

              “Don’t be sad, old friend,” a female voice whispered consolingly. Adrian dragged his eyes from his rotted friend to the black mist that obscured the wall on the other side of it. “I am the one who has been your loyal friend all this time,” the impossible voice continued. “The mask just fell off.” The mist lifted slightly before sagging again, like it had shrugged. It drifted closer as it continued, “The problem is, now I need a new mask. One that will hold together for some time. You are a strong man, Adrian.” It paused contemplatively before continuing. “Determined. I always wondered what it would be like to live in your skin…” The black mist shivered slightly. “And now that you no longer hold your place of power…”

              Adrian backed away from the oncoming cloud. He needed to find the door and get the hell out of there.

              The female voice chuckled. “Come now, Adrian. What are friends for, if not to lend a hand… a foot… or a body?” Blackness became all Adrian could see as the mist shrouded him. He couldn’t see to escape. He couldn’t run. He could no longer feel anything. “Mhmm. You are
so
strong. I knew you would be,” Balenna, as he now knew the voice to be called, murmured to him in a seductive tone. “We are going to do so much
good
together, you and I,” she promised, before Adrian lost all sense of self.

Chapter 6 – Personal Mysteries

             
Near Lenti-Solum System

             
Spectral Empire

              Rylynn

              Finally, the
Hail Mary
was off. I was beyond grateful. That fence I had been sitting on while we waited had been getting increasingly uncomfortable. Now, I was finally on the other side and happy about it. Who wouldn’t be, considering
what
the other side was? I was back on the ship that had saved and changed my life so much. And she was healthy again.

              Ironically enough, our destination was back where I had started. It seemed that suddenly everything in my life was focusing on my home world. First, there had been my ever-present need to return at some point, but with help. Then, Ace had come a-calling with the message that things were about to get even worse. And
then
he gave me a letter my aunt had written a while ago saying that ‘the heart of the problem was Lenti’ and that I needed to talk to Jack Fairhand, a person I had never heard about before. But what was the ‘problem’ my aunt referred to? She had, of course, written the letter before she died, and that was a day before the Telmicks had arrived. To compound everything, I had a dangerous enemy that would kill me just because I existed. Heartwarming, isn’t it? But what ended up sending me back to Lenti were orders from the emperor to go and see what could be done against the Telmick threat, which was great because I no longer had to figure out how to get there.

              Now, all I had to do was complete my ship duties and figure out the various riddles of my life in my free time. Not that I have a lot of that. Sadly, I think I had more free time with the gang between raids, which was crazy considering it was a good thing to look like you were always busy. It was even better when you were truly busy, because then you were useful.
Then
you would have a chance of survival that was better than anything outside the gang.

              Luckily I had an hour before a briefing with the superior officers. I and my companions were nowhere near being superior officers, but Admiral Wingstar decided to include us. I figured it was for training purposes, as well as the simple fact that I was the most familiar with Lenti. I knew I would be asked to tell them what I knew, which was a couple months out of date unless I used what Ace had told me. Only problem with that was, how would I explain my visit with him when the only person I had told was Marius? I had been so stunned by seeing Ace, and the fact that he had left so calmly, and receiving the letter, that I had forgotten he had made it both in and out of the Academy. There was also the disturbing fact that I didn’t know if he actually
did
leave.

              But I
had
told Marius, and he had probably said something.             
Well. If I get in trouble, I get in trouble. I don’t think that anyone will get hurt for my lapse except for me,
I thought. To be honest, I was used to that happening. I could reasonably guess that Ace had visited for me, since I had been in his gang and had left. He was the one who would followed ‘deserters’, as he called those who moved on from the gang. Since my roommate hadn’t signed anything, I really was the only one who could get burned by my own forgetfulness. Ace tended not to get too many people involved when he went after one of his own.

              I figured being away from the Academy made me safe, and I could stop wasting my dwindling hour of free time on ‘what ifs’. Instead, I thought to focus in on searching the Shade database for information on my parents.

              As Marius had told me, any device could access the Shade database. Now, before people believe that security is truly lax, let me tell you that while
any
device
can access the database not
everyone
can read what is there. The code was written in the Spectral language. It is a language corporals couldn’t even see. Only someone who had a link to a Spectral could make it out. The link would automatically enable the person to read it. Of course, it would be strange if someone was staring intently at a blank screen, so some sort of cover page was in place. So, what I was looking at on my tablet, to anyone else would seem to be some mundane site. I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t know. I’m not even going to ask how that works. Jason probably would know, being the whisperer of all things tech. But he wouldn’t be able to see what I was really looking at.

              It took a little time since the information I sought was thirteen years old, but I was able to find what I was looking for. It was a report on my parent’s final mission. They had been investigating rumors of a militant group on Coronaius. It was a long term assignment. The assignment itself was not explained in detail, but what it did say was that they were to verify the existence of, and stop the threat of said group. It sounded very familiar to what Luna’s Shade, Nico, had been doing more recently. Since Luna had been in the
Lous-eci’dalb
and Knight wielded that blade, I reasoned that the militant group was his organization, which would base it on Coronaius. If it wasn’t based there, then at the very least it was a hub.

              THAT, AND PERHAPS IT IS A TRAP, Kylesst murmured weakly over our link. My eyes widened. It had been weeks since I’d heard Kylesst’s voice. Though it still held his usual dry wit, it made me cringe at the inherent wrongness of hearing it weakened. I still didn’t know what creature Kylesst took the form of, but it was not weak.

             
Are you okay?
I asked silently.

              He grunted. I’VE BEEN BETTER. After a pause he continued. YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR YOUR PARENTS, I SEE.

              I focused back on my reading and nodded.
I am. Not to sound rude, but you’ve been around for a while. What do you know about them?
I asked. I would have asked him sooner, but this was the first time I’ve heard from him since I found out their names.

              THEY WERE YOUNG, RYLYNN. AND WHILE I AM OLD, AS YOU POINTED OUT, I HAVE BEEN TRAPPED IN THE
LOUS-ECI’DALB
FOR A LONG TIME. WHEN I WAS LAST FREE, THEY WERE PROBABLY YOUNG CHILDREN AND NOT SHADES. NOT YET.

              I slumped. It seemed Admiral Wingstar really was the only one who had actually known my parents.

              SORRY, LITTLE ONE, Kylesst murmured. I could tell that he meant it. I nodded and continued searching through the files. There was a report filed by the Shade who had led the recovery team. My mother’s Spectral, a snake named Sylth, had gone to share the sad news that his Shade had died. His return was what sent the recovery team. He led them to where she had died. The sad part was, she had been left there to rot. Amber was found to have been pregnant when she died, which was a detail previously unknown to the Order. The investigating Shade, a Paul Grayson, didn’t seem too surprised to find that out. The two were a married couple and they had been gone a month shy of a year. A lot could happen in that time period.

              What
did
bother Shade Grayson was that she had been killed while pregnant, and it was obvious that the baby had been cut out. Who took the baby? And where was Joseph, because there was no sign of him. Any doubts about Joseph’s integrity were shattered when Sylth explained that it hadn’t been Joseph who had killed Amber. She had been mortally wounded when they were ambushed. Amber had died in her husband’s arms. Sylth was not surprised that the baby had been taken, as he assumed Joseph had done what he could to save the child.

              The recovery team returned Amber’s body to her family, and she was buried on her homeworld of Forestrium. No leads had been found to point the investigating Shades to Amber’s murderers, which was another point that strongly bothered Shade Grayson. The Shades might not have be able to find anything, but the Spectrals should have been able to. But they couldn’t. Finding nothing, they had to return to their previous duties.

             
What could do that?
I asked Kylesst.
What could keep Spectrals from finding something?

              AN ANCIENT ENEMY, Kylesst replied. SOUL SHADOWS COULD ERASE EVIDENCE OF THEIR PRESENCE SOMETIMES, ESPECIALLY IN A CROWDED PLACE LIKE CORONAIUS. IF THEY WERE INVOLVED, THEN IT IS NO WONDER THAT YOUR PARENTS WERE CAUGHT UNAWARES, AS IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY WERE.

             
How do you figure that?
I asked, scanning over the report again. I was afraid that I had missed something between the lines.

              Kylesst chuckled at my reaction. PARENTS MAY SEEM DISTRACTED BY THE UPCOMING ARRIVAL OF A CHILD, AND IN MOST CIRCUMSTANCES THEY ARE BLISSFULLY SO ENGAGED. THAT SAID, PARENTS ARE MORE AWARE OF WHAT COULD POSE A THREAT TO THEIR CHILD THAN MOST WOULD BELIEVE, ESPECIALLY IF THAT CHILD IS A FIRST. CONSIDERING WHO AND WHAT YOUR PARENTS WERE AND
WHERE
THEY WERE, IT WOULD NORMALLY BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR SOMETHING TO SNEAK UP ON THEM.

             
If that is the case, why were they there? Why didn’t they leave when they knew I was on the way?
I asked. And I will admit there was a lot of wistful pleading in my mental voice. If they had left Coronaius before the ambush that Kylesst was sure had trapped them they would still be alive. I would have
known
them and wouldn’t have to beg others for any scrap of information about them. As much as I loved Aunt Sylvie, I often wondered what it would have been like to have parents like some of the people I knew did.

              LITTLE ONE, Kylesst murmured in a soothing tone, THEY WERE SHADES. IT WAS THEIR DUTY AND HONOR TO CONTINUE WITH THEIR MISSION. THEY WERE NOT THE FIRST SHADE COUPLE TO CONTINUE A MISSION EVEN IF THEY WERE EXPECTING. I’M SURE THEY WILL NOT BE THE LAST. I shook my head and Kylesst continued. WOULD YOU WANT TO LEAVE YOUR PARTNER IN DANGER WHILE YOU WENT HOME BECAUSE YOU WERE PREGNANT AND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAPPEN?

             
I’m not in a relationship like that,
I pointed out.

              Kylesst sighed. I WAS BEING HYPOTHETICAL.

             
I know. And I understand your point, too. It would be hard to leave someone I care about to be safe while they remain in harm’s way.
I sighed.
I can’t help asking ‘what if’, though.

              SO DO ALL WHO LOOK BACK AND WONDER AT THE CHOICES THEY MADE.

              I grunted and continued scrolling through the file on my parents. I knew what had happened to my mother. And I knew that my father had taken me to be raised by my aunt. So what happened to him?
Since he cut me free on Coronaius, does that mean I’m a Primary Citizen?
I wondered while I searched.

              There was quite a bit on my mother. Pictures of her were all over, and I paused to stare at one. I’m sure it was said a lot, but my mother was beautiful. Her red hair was long, and gleamed in the picture like a newly minted coin. In this particular picture her moss green eyes, similar to Aunt Sylvia’s, seemed to glitter with life. I looked nothing like her. Where she would draw attention, I would fade into the background. The only thing I seemed to have inherited from her was her courage, if Admiral Wingstar was correct. Looking at my mother’s image, I could see that courage he mentioned. But I wasn’t so sure that I
had
inherited it. Courage was something I struggled with, since it was the name for the ability to accept one’s fear and still do what needed to be done. Shaking my head slightly, I continued scrolling through various documents. There were news reports on the passing of a distant relative of the imperial family. In those, she was said to have been an ambassador. In a way, that wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth.

              Eventually, I discovered what happened to my father. A few weeks after my mother’s death, Joseph Raven reappeared in the Medrais System. He had been in a small civilian trade ship that had bypassed the Medrais Space Station. After many attempts to contact him, he had finally responded to announce his name, before cutting all communication and flying straight into the star. It had been so public and obvious what had happened that no Shade investigators were required to find the body. There was nothing about Raj, his Spectral Raven, other than to say what it had been. Nowhere in the report did that sound atypical, considering that Spectrals spend some time to mourn their companion’s passing before finding a new Shade, which meant that Raj was out there somewhere… Was it possible for me to find him?

              I frowned as I continued scrolling. I found some news reports that told of the tragedy of a broken hearted Joseph Raven committing suicide. There was no mention of a baby, probably because only the Order knew there
had
been a baby. I guess they figured that I had been with my father when he flew into that star but hadn’t wanted to share that horrible tale with the public. Since that hadn’t been true, I’m really glad they kept my existence to themselves. But had it really been a broken heart that led my father to commit suicide? Had I not been enough to hold him to this existence? Is that why he gave me to Aunt Sylvia? How had he found Aunt Sylvia when she hadn’t even told her family where she was?