Behind the twin thrones, his mother and father stood, their faces carved from stone. But it was Marek who gave him the tongue lashing.
“Your mission is a complete failure. The Guardian has been lost to the Seekers, never to be recovered. Because of your misdeeds, our chances of rescuing Jazmine’s brother are almost nil. Not to mention our ability to survive the Battle of the End.”
Zelup frowned as his father moved out from behind Marek’s throne. “There is no telling the damage you’ve done. It is with a heavy heart that I remove you from the line of succession.”
The room was full of gasps, none louder than his own. Zelup fell to his knees, his head spinning. Everything he’d ever worked for had just been taken away from him. It was a tremendous blow.
But not, he discovered suddenly, a life-ending one. There was something else even more important. Someone else.
“Where is Dawn?”
“Dawn?” His father sputtered, confused. He was clearly not expecting the reaction he’d received.
“Dr. Dawn Illya. The one who was guarding the Guardian. Where is she?”
“Dead,” his sister Kara said, rising and moving closer. “Your ineptitude killed her.”
It felt like the floor was opening, swallowing him whole. “You’re certain?” he asked, rubbing his hand over his chest where his heart was breaking.
“I felt it through the passive link. She’s gone.” Kara’s eyes were haunted. As an empath, it must have been painful when that link was severed.
Link… link…Something started whispering around the corners of his mind. Something about a link between himself and Dawn. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn’t remember what it meant.
“Have you nothing to say?” His father was livid. “You’ve trained since birth to rule this planet, and you’ve done nothing but plan for your time of rule. And now you accept your loss of the throne with no reaction?”
Zelup stood, ignoring his father’s words. “Dawn isn’t dead. And I’m going to find her.” Something inside him said that the words he’d spoken were true. He’d come here seeking the little doctor, and he was bent on finding her, even if he remembered nothing else.
He wasted no time. Pushing past his dumbfounded brothers, he tuned out the shouts of his father and older brother, bursting out of the throne room’s heavy wooden doors and into the blinding sunlight.
And he tumbled into a hole that had no bottom.
