“That’s all I need.”
Seeming to accept this, he nods, and a moment later our connection bursts open. His emotions flow through the back of my mind like a gentle wave, washing away the uncomfortable feeling of detachment. He’s full of shame and sorrow, but nowhe doesn’t have to carry it alone.
We sit in silence, just holding each other and breathing deeply, until I fear we’ve been here for too long.
I lean back. “We should probably get out of here. And I need to patch your shoulder.”
He frowns. “I have something I need to tell you first.”
I feel the distressing sadness that accompanies those words, and anxiety tightens my gut. “Ok,” I say slowly.
“My sister, Aelrith, was working with Gaius…”
40
WOULDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING
VEXAR
“IS THAT IT?” Amara asks.
“For now,” I say as I start up the autopilot system and release the controls.
On the view-screen, Calidus shrinks behind us, a textured sphere of oranges and browns losing its detail as we head into the darkness of space.
Amara rubs her eyes and leans back in her seat. “It went faster than I thought it would.” Her face, lit by the cool glow of the view-screen, scrunches. “Wait, we’re in space, right?” I nod, and she lifts one of her arms into the air before letting it fall to her lap. “Then why is there still gravity? Shouldn’t we be floating or something?”
“This ship has a gravity generator.”
“That’s a real thing?”
“Yes. As I understand it, the generator bends space-time by exploiting the thing that gives particles mass.” She raises a single brow, and I shrug. “I do not fully understand it myself. The technology was stolen, so I doubt even our engineers reallyunderstand it.”
“Stolen? From who?”
“The Tusku,” I answer. “It is how we obtained most of our technology. They tried to invade our planet a long while ago, but they were overconfident and unaware of our own capabilities. It took less than a year—a Vhorathi year—for my ancestors to take control of multiple Tusku ships and turn their weapons against them.”
“You didn’t have weapons of your own?”
“Nothing like what the Tusku had. They had been engineering stars for longer than our people had language.”
“And you still managed to overpower them?”
I shrug and narrowly avoid wincing as the action makes my shoulder burn with a fresh intensity. “The Tusku might be technologically advanced, but that has made them overconfident and soft. We allowed our warriors to be captured and imprisoned on their ships, and then we took their ships from the inside.”
“That’s … wow. That’s impressive.” She bites her lip and asks, “What did the Tusku want?”
“I do not know.”
She hums and her eyes flick from the view-screen to my shoulder. “It’s weird that no one’s come after us,” she says as she unclips her harness and pulls the medical bag from beneath her seat.
“It is,” I agree.
After learning that both Gaius and Marius are aware of our bond, my mind has been mulling over the strangeness of our escape. It feels like we are still missing something. My sister. Gaius. Marius? They must all be working together, and that does not bode well for us.
When I told Amara about my sister’s probable involvement, she was concerned, and I cannot blame her. At this point, it is clear that returning to Vhorath would be unwise. For all we know, my sister has alreadyclaimed my throne. The thought is disquieting. Aelrith is dangerous, not just to us, but to everyone. I cannot allow her to rule the empire.
Amara hoists the medical bag into her lap and starts digging through it. “I still don’t know how Gaius figured it out. Our bond, I mean.”
