Empress of a Thousand Skies(79)

Tai Reyanna touched the holoscreen to enlarge a map of the universe. “I think we should follow the lead that puts Princess Josselyn on Derkatz,” she said, zooming in. “An allied Fontisian territory, too far out for Kalu to attack directly.”

“How many times have I told you?” the Fisherman insisted. With a flick of his hand he shifted the map to the other edge of the universe and zoomed in to nothing. “She’s in hypersleep, stored in a black hole here.”

“The intel isn’t dependable either way,” Dahlen said quickly. They’d been arguing for days. “What would you have us do, Princess?”

He turned to look at her with those cool gray eyes. He’d killed Seotra, for reasons that seemed perfectly justified and perfectly honorable to him. Rhee still mourned the former regent’s loss, and all the opportunities she’d squandered to learn about her family and the political machinations pushing her father off his own planet. There was a part of her that could never forgive Dahlen, though he hadn’t sought her forgiveness. And likewise, she’d never apologized for abandoning him in Navrum. The two of them were the same, relentlessly chasing down their vengeance. It was an understanding Rhee had with no one else.

And like her, Dahlen wished to be his highest self. But Rhee strove for honor because her ancestors looked on—whereas Dahlen did so because Vodhan saw his every move, knew of every intention in his heart, so he claimed. Which is why she wouldn’t ask Dahlen to break his vow and turn on his cube, no matter how desperate she was to know what memories were hidden deep in the folds of his brain.

Say you’re sorry. Rhee thought painfully of Joss, and how her mother had demanded they sit forehead to forehead and look one another in the eye until one of them was willing to apologize. And it was always Joss. It was never worth it to her to hold a grudge.

Say you’re sorry.

“I’d have us reprioritize,” Rhee said instead. The Fisherman and Tai Reyanna looked at her.

“What’s that now? Reprioritize?” the Fisherman asked.

Rhee was scared. Scared she’d lose her sister forever, if she hadn’t already. Scared what everyone would think of her, and what she’d think of herself. But there were choices to make.

As empress you must be fair, but decisive, her father had said. Not to her, but to Josselyn.

But Princess Josselyn was lost, and it could take weeks or months or years to find her. And the galaxy needed her now.

Dahlen nodded, very slightly.

“I have to come forward and take the throne,” she said. Get up, she heard Josselyn say, an echo from all those years ago. Get up. “I’ll find Josselyn. But first I have to stop the war.”





EPILOGUE


    KARA



IT was market day on Nau Fruma, but there were twice as many vendors as there were patrons. Kara scanned the monochromatic landscape of browns as far as the eye could see, wondering if they’d come to the right place. It didn’t seem like a hotbed of secrets and intrigue.

“I imagined it differently,” she admitted. But it was only a small town with a modest palace that looked more like a large house on a hill. Surrounding them were flat desert plains, and in the distance a sunken volcano crater. Crown’s Rock, she thought it was called. Had she seen that on the holos once?

“I guess I thought it would be a little more lively, too,” Aly said, wiping the sweat off his forehead just under the duhatj. He streaked pale dust across his brow like war paint.

They walked side by side. Kara could still feel the heat of his lips—how he’d cupped the back of her head and pulled her in, how the rest of her body followed and she’d felt the muscles of his chest against her own. They didn’t hold hands. It felt too weird. But when his arm brushed hers, it was like electricity shooting up her skin. Pavel wheeled a few steps behind them like some old-timey chaperone.

“The region has been economically depressed for some time, as it has no major exports to speak of,” the droid said. His tire treads left a trail in the dust behind him. “Rhodium mines were tapped several decades ago. The area was sustained mainly on tourism when Princess Rhiannon resided here, but in the last few weeks, the region has seen an all-time low.”

“Well, at least people are minding their own business,” Aly pointed out. “Not a bad place for some criminals on the run and a smart-ass droid,” he added quietly.

Why here? Kara wanted to ask her mom. In fact, there were a lot of things she wanted to ask. Who am I? Where do I come from? Why did you lie to me?

But there was no time for dwelling on her past. She needed to focus and find the Lancer, whoever he was. Find out about this other family and about the nightmares.

Part of her was sure they couldn’t be real. Especially the one that had always come back to her—whipping through the air wildly, clawing at nothing and afraid the rushing wind would tear off every limb. It wasn’t real. Even if the whoosh in her ears and the scream caught in her throat felt like a memory, it couldn’t have been real.

Whenever it started to feel like too much she remembered what Aly had said. I’m not going anywhere.

The most crowded part of the market was near the center, where dozens of people had gathered before a shrine to Princess Rhiannon. They’d left drawings of her and wrote letters—all on real paper. Flowers, berries, painted rocks, and knitted dolls too. Even sticky candies that had melted in the heat were scattered among the things.