“If you wish,” Rigil said dismissively.The Beta’s face brightened significantly with a wicked happiness.
“Let’s go, then, Altair.We have a new toy to go find.”
Altair forced himself to bow to Rigil instead of punching a hole through Hadar’s face.The star was already infuriating, but Hadar had sealed his death when he’d asked for Iyana’s.
Luckily for Altair, the Beta Centauri was silent as they stalked through the halls of the castle.It allowed him to envision all the ways he could murder him, which actually helped to calm his racing heart.
He was jolted out of his daydreaming by someone calling his name.Altair turned to find someone with familiar blonde hair and bright golden eyes hurrying after them in the hallway.A grin broke out on his face.
“Okab,” Altair said warmly, drawing his brother in for a hug.He hadn’t seen his twin since the stars had fallen.Hadar frowned at the show of familial affection.While the Beta and Rigil were technically distant cousins, he didn’t have any other living family, so Altair didn’t expect him to understand the love between siblings—especially a twin.
“What are you doing here?”Altair asked.
“I’ve come to help you search for the Aztia.Really, you should have come to me sooner.”
“We don’t need your help, little twerp,” Hadar sneered.Altair pursed his lips together to keep from saying something that would get him in trouble.While Okab was smaller than Altair, in both height and musculature, his stature belied a silent strength.Okab was proficient with many weapons, but that wasn’t what made him dangerous.
He was able to track magical signatures, then stealing a portion of that power for himself—similar to a Kanaliza, but the power Okab stole never replenished.The source would be forever slightly less powerful than before.Because of this, he was always careful and only took the magic if the situation absolutely called for it.Altair wondered if he was capable of fully draining someone’s magic from them, but was slightly terrified of the answer, so he’d never asked.Okab was also a powerful telepath.Although all stars had the ability to some extent, it was mostly used against the humans.They were taught as children how to build a mental wall to keep others out, but Okab could bypass that wall without anyone knowing.For this reason, only the Aquila siblings were aware of this aspect of his power.It was better to keep it secret, so that they could use it when it was needed the most—like now.
Brother, Altair projected to him.They had done this enough times over the years that Okab didn’t react in the slightest.We need to find a way to lose Hadar.
Understood, came his brother’s reply.Altair loved that his twin inherently trusted him and didn’t ask any further questions.He’d have to fill him in later, of course, but for now it was enough that Okab was on his side.
Once they made it off of the castle grounds, Hadar turned to Okab.“If you’re going to follow us around like a mangy puppy, at least make yourself useful and find the Aztia.”
Okab closed his eyes to focus.
She’s in the outer ring.Is it okay to lead Hadar there?he asked within Altair’s mind.
It’ll be easier to lose him there than anywhere else.
“She’s in the outer ring.”
“Perfect.Meet me there.”Hadar teleported away.
Okab’s golden gaze, so similar to Altair’s own, glanced over at him.“I hope you’re going to tell me what’s going on.Tara was extremely vague after she found you.”
Altair appreciated that Okab had left him alone at first.With his gifts, he could have pinpointed Altair’s location immediately, but he must have known he’d wanted his privacy.In all honesty, he had probably relayed as much to Tara, but she worried about her brothers and would have sought Altair out no matter what Okab said.
“I will, I promise.Where is our dear sister, anyway?”
Okab gave him a strange look.“She was sent out with other small military groups to secure the rest of Athusa.Why don’t you know that?”
Altair held back a wince.He was the general of their armies and should have known where Tara was stationed.But he’d been so preoccupied with Rigil’s direct orders and thinking about Iyana that he had little knowledge of what his army was actually doing.He’d delegated most of the tasks to his captains.
“I’ll explain in a bit, but we should go before he gets suspicious.”
Altair clapped a hand to Okab’s shoulder, and he transported them to Hadar’s location.If Hadar hadn’t been so hasty, he might have realized that it would have been smarter to let Okab teleport them all to where Iyana was.However, the Beta Centauri had never been known for his patience, and it worked in Altair’s favor.
When they appeared, Hadar was standing there with his thick arms crossed over his chest, a deep scowl on his face.“Where to now?”
Okab raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing.He inclined his head towards his right and began walking.Hadar followed, leaving Altair at his back.Perfect.
As silently as he could, Altair drew a dagger and crept closer to Hadar.In a swift motion, he dragged the blade across the other star’s throat.
Hadar’s eyes went wide as his hands flew to his neck, trying to staunch the blood before he collapsed onto the street.Altair and Okab both looked down on the body before Altair crouched to clean his blade on Hadar’s shirt.His twin sighed.
“You know, there were probably better ways to go about that.”
