But the realization had come too late. He should’ve made a run for it before he got in the carriage. Devadas and the stout man made it impossible for him to escape, and to do so from the Ministry of Intelligence, one of the most guarded places in the world, was unimaginable.
Outside the window on the right, he could see the hill of the Senate, the stately white-domed building of the highest political power in the world. And buried somewhere inside that hill was the Circuit of Destiny that would devour the whole city. Cain knew that Safani was in there, trying to create the disaster that would bring down the Empire. He felt the weight in his chest keenly.
The lights of the streets began flickering like stars on ocean waves. Devadas stirred. The stout man frowned and looked out the window.
Suddenly, all the lights went out.
“What’s—”
Before the stout man could finish what he was saying, all the streetlamps lining the street suddenly shattered, raining sparks. Power, having lost its vessel, flowed down the poles, and the pale blue of the street was now lit with violet lightning.
Septima shouted, “Hold on!”
The horses screamed. The world itself seemed to shake, and Cain was soon bouncing in his seat. The carriage leaned violently to the left, and Cain’s body was thrown to the opposite side. He could hear the stout man shouting. Just as Cain turned his head toward Devadas, a huge impact struck his body.
29ARIENNE
In the square at the peak of Finvera Pass, Arienne slowly turned around to face Lysandros. He had not put his cloak back on, the busy gears and pistons of his body apparent to all. He must’ve come up the pass at great speed but did not seem tired in the slightest. Would a machine body even understand fatigue?
Lysandros, in his single-tone voice, said, “Do you now understand that you cannot run from me?”
Arienne gulped.
“Follow me and I will allow you to return to the Academy. It will be like nothing happened.”
Lysandros looked and sounded different—more monstrous, more horrifying, now that Arienne knew that the box that he carried on his back was his infant son’s coffin. She wasn’t sure if the tiny baby’s cry underneath the humming of the Power generator was real or imagined. His strides were huge as he approached her.
The pressure on the room in her mind was greater than whatshe’d felt in the old inn. What would happen to Eldred if the room collapsed? She had not an inkling as to the answer.
“Did not I tell you that you would lose this way?”said Eldred.“Unravel the bandages of my legs. Then, I shall use all my power.”
That must never be allowed. She had not forgotten what had happened when she had first tried to readThe Sorcerer of Mersia.What Eldred had manipulated wasn’t the ink on the page but her very vision. That was before his arms were free. She had no way of knowing what he was capable of doing to her now. Better to not find out what freeing him completely would do.
“Why do you not answer?” said Lysandros, pausing in his steps. “Is the corpse speaking to you?” His gaze lifted from her face and he seemed to look at someone behind her. “You fool a mere student into doing your bidding and yet lack the shame that would keep you silent. You have made a murderer of this child. All you do is bring misery to those around you.”
Suddenly, her lips trembled. Her tongue moved on its own. A terror much like when a hand enters the mouth to rip out a rotted tooth came over her. Arienne tried to cover her mouth, but her arms only came up to her chest. From Arienne’s mouth, in Arienne’s voice, came Eldred’s words.
“Haveyouforgotten the misery you caused Mersia?”
“MiseryIcaused?” Lysandros did not seem surprised Eldred was talking through Arienne.
“Did you not play Mersia’s subjects against their king? Was it some other Lysandros who lied to all of Mersia that if I were gone, freedom and prosperity would come, that they would be free of fear?”
“Lies? You were the one called a tyrant by all. You turned thedead bodies of your own subjects into unliving soldiers. You took what you wanted and destroyed what you did not. Do you know how grateful Mersia was to the Empire after your death?”
“This Mersia, does it still feel gratitude toward your Empire? Does a pile of ash send letters of thanks to you every year?”
“You monster—”
“Youcallmea monster! You must be two centuries old by now. Creating a Power generator out of your own child and living beyond your natural time—if this does not make you a monster then what will? What are youallbut monsters for turning Mersia into fields of dust and ash? Your Empire’s lot is to diminish and consume the world, until nothing of worth is left. Has the Star of Mersia not revealed that about your vaunted destiny of conquest? I failed to stop you once, but you will not rob me of my second chance.”
Arienne was not concerned with the argument at hand. She burst into the room inside her mind, where Eldred sat as usual on the edge of the bed.
“Give me back my body this instant!”
“Silence. Children should not interfere in the talk of adults. Loosen the bandages of my legs. Or I shall kill you.”
Eldred and Lysandros were still sparring with words, but none of it reached Arienne’s ears. Fifty-three soldiers were dying of suffocation in the meantime, but even that was not important to her in this moment. She was most afraid of losing control of her body forever.
