I feel our connection fracture into infinite pieces and disappear, and I howl my suffering as the circle closes around me.
24
Ceredes
“Please put me down.” Lana reaches for Kyte, and I set her gently on her knees beside him. She and Jeren wrap him in their arms, and the heartbreak Kyte is feeling verges on physical pain, like a lance through my soul.
As much as I want to stay and comfort my brother, I have more to do. Turning, I stalk down the row of the wounded until I find Tilda and Uaxin wrapping bandages and running healing wands along the lesser injuries.
“Tilda.”
She looks over her shoulder, and there must be something in my expression that worries her, because she stops what she’s doing and hurries to me. “What? Is Lana okay?”
“I need you to find out who Lana’s parents are.”
“Huh?” Her brows draw together.
“It’s a secret, one known to the council. But we need that information now. It may be the only way to keep her safe. And Tilda.” I drop my voice so low that even I can’t hear it. “Don’t trust Bartanz. Make your people aware that he might be compromised.”
Her eyes widen, but she gives me a sharp nod before returning to the wounded.
If Kyte’s mother was right, then Lana is in danger. More so now that Bartanz is the ranking council member. We have to keep her safe, keep the circle intact.
I keep going through the infirmary until I find a row of relatively unscathed diplomats. Stopping in front of the only Bellatian, I greet her with our customary chest thump and forearm grip. “Can you tell me what happened, Ambassador?”
She glances around at the multitudes of wounded, then centers her focus on me. “You’re Ceredes. Son of Wreytha and Lionades.”
“Yes.” I don’t think I’ve ever met her before, but then again, news of the circle went out across the fleet and its galaxies. I’m probably something of a celebrity back on my home planet. Irritating.
“May the circle never break.” She gives me a terse bow of her head, then points to a scar along her jaw. “Wreytha gave me this when we were cadets at the Academy.” She smiles. “But she has one, too. Back of her shoulder from my energy blade. When I heard you were part of the circle, I knew it was ordained by the Pillars.”
That’s a relief. She’s on our side, or at least it seems that way. I hope the rest of my people understand that the circle is a force for good, not a harbinger of destruction.
She sighs and scratches at a cut along her temple. “I suppose I can tell you. After all, the council hasn’t hushed us all up. No order for silence yet.” Her gaze lifts to Kyte and his mother. “Did Councilor Ellarian …”
I nod.
“May she be at ease in the star-filled night.” She closes her eyes for a moment, then refocuses on me. A warrior, she takes her loss and then continues the fight. “We were having a face-to-face about the growing problems with supply lines in the galaxies along the edges of the Rift. Settlements have been going dark, ships arriving with goods but devoid of life. Settlers disappearing. Entire systems going silent, and fleet members that go to investigate never returning.”
“The Sentients.”
“Yes, but the council has been warning us for months not to say the threat out loud. They don’t want a panic, and they thought—wrongly, I might add—” She gestures to the infirmary. “That we could come to some agreement for peace instead of waging another war.”
Though she isn’t looking at us, I can tell Tilda is hanging on every word. Good. She needs to know the whole picture when she starts her own investigation through Granterry channels.
“Can you tell me about the attack?”
“They came through a wormhole into fleet territory. We thought we were safe in the Daboonian Galaxy. After all, it’s a fleet stronghold. Or, we thought it was. But their ship attacked us without warning.”
“They knew where you’d be?”
“Certainly seemed that way.” She grimaces. “The first blast killed a good number of the crew and diplomats. The second—” She shakes her head. “Councilor Ellarian thought fast and piloted us to the only wormhole within range. I don’t think even she knew where we’d end up. Centari was a stroke of luck. Until they followed. And, now, even more are dead. The fleet can no longer keep the whispers from spreading, and the war is here. I’m grateful. She cracks her neck. Fighting is far more preferable to backchannel politics and handwringing. I want Sentient blood to answer for all those we lost, including the councilor.”
I share her bloodlust. How can I not? It’s part of who I am. Bellatians have no qualms about aggression. But since joining the circle, I’ve realized that perhaps fighting first and asking questions later isn’t always the best course of action, no matter how badly I want it to be.
“Keep the circle strong. We’re going to need you in this fight.” She glances at Lana. “And keep that Omega in check. If anyone is going to master her, it should be you.”
I chap at her words, but instead of getting into it, I thank her for her information and pick my way back to Lana and my brothers.
