I ignored them, pinching my eyes closed and gripping the chest of my nightshirt.
“What are they saying?”
“Nothing, mind your business!” Opening my eyes, I stomped over to my discarded training leathers, snatching them up and shoving my shoulder into Altair as I passed him. All I could hear were his soft chuckles as I slammed the bathroom door behind me.
How had he turned the tables on me like that?
***
“Faster!” Altair screamed back at me, his legs so long that he was practically leaping through the dense greenery surrounding the volcano. Groaning, I pumped my arms harder, willing my chest to loosen and my side to stop aching to no avail.
I ducked under a branch, almost laughing at the way Altair was forced to nearly bend in half at the lower hanging one ahead. Sadly, I was far too out of breath to so much as chuckle. In fact, I was rather certain I was going todie.
Altair slowed slightly after a few seconds of my strained wheezing, his smile so wide it made lines cut through the corners of his eyes.Psychopath.
“My great grandfather—“
“Dorsi Altair.”
“Yes, stalker, that was his name.” His elbow tipped towards me, jabbing me gently in the bicep. Was he…joking with me?“He was the one who first came up with the idea of enslaving the eadi. Well, he probably wasn’t thefirst,but he made a feasible plan.”
I tried not to growl out my fury at the way he so casually discussed the enslavement of an entire group of people. Then again, he probably didn’t care what happened to eadi.
“My grandfather and father were both given the same orders—keep Dajahim pure at all costs. But it wasn’t until my father lost the stars’ essence that the plan was really set in motion. All twenty core families were brought in to slowly start the work of betraying the crown and beginning what my father calledthe liberation.”
At least there was a hint of disgust in his tone. Something that wouldn’t have been there six months ago. A small sign that he was changing, even if slowly. Not that he deserved my patience or understanding.
We slowed more, Altair’s smile gone completely. I tried to quiet my breathing, but I was grossly out of shape compared to him. Which was insanity seeing as I hadn’t stopped training since the year’s start.
“The Royal District will be the first to fall. They are going to slaughter the entire Dremly bloodline. Then they’ll move back east, taking the districts one by one. First, they’ll position more officials throughout each district, policing the eadi and forcing them into submission. Eventually, when any rebellions are squashed and the Altair’s take over the rule, the districts will be split into twenty equal parts, each core family taking possession of one, with the Altair region being the new Royal District.”
Stumbling, I bent over a group of vines and vomited. Whether it was from the run or the reality of the core families’ plan, I didn’t know, but the heaving was violent as my back arched and my knees shook.
Altair sighed loudly, the tips of his fingers tapping my spine in an odd rhythm. Reaching back, I smacked his hand. “Stop that!”
“Stars forbid I try to benice.”
“Don’t be nice, it’s weird!” Standing straight, I wiped my lips with the sleeve of my leathers and waved my hand for him to continue.
Apparently, he understood, because he walked over to a damp log and sat down, the entirety of his face sagging. “From the day I was born, I was told that eadi were like animals. A cat or a dog. Useful, maybe even lovable, but never equal to their owners.”
A chill crawled up my spine as I walked towards him, the words swaying between us like a noose. Perhaps they’d hang us both.
“We were told that to restore the balance, shaytan needed to rule while eadi were enslaved. It was for their own good. For the stars’ entertainment. For our betterment. Whatever they needed to say or do to justify their” —he cut himself off, swallowing with the type of effort that mirrored choking— “ourplight. Sometimes, one of us would ask a question. Why do we need to kill the of eadi? Is there a better way that doesn’t involve torturing and enslaving the majority of Dajahim? None of our parents liked that, and it was beaten out of us quickly.”
“Not Dofrel,” I corrected, sitting down beside him. Sweat dripped down his neck and soaked his hair, almost hiding the single tear that was making a slow descent down his cheek.
“No, not Cal,” he agreed, a small laugh bubbling out of his barely parted lips. Suddenly, he silenced himself, placing his elbows on his knees and toying with his long, ringed fingers. I didn’t miss the way he twirled the snake, his brows knitted together. “I didn’t really care about anyone other than my friends. No one else mattered. What did I care that we werekilling the of eadi? Why would it bother me that we’d be brutally shackling eadi? How did it affect me that we were going to other planets and slaughtering entire populations? As long as I was alive and my friends were safe, I just didn’t care.”
“It’s easy not to care about things that don’t hurt you.” I said it as a reminder for Altair, but also for myself. Because that was what I had done for so long. It was the reason Celeste was always so angry with me. Why I constantly disappointed my parents. I was willing to let other people be hurt in order to save my family. How different was I from Altair, then?
“Yeah, well, it didn’t help me in the end. My father turned on me the second he got the chance. All of Dajahim did.” His head tilted, eyes on mine. “Maybe that was a good thing.”
Daring to stare back, I asked, “Why would that be a good thing?”
“Now I’m here.”
He couldn’t possibly be serious. “And this is such a great place to be? Alone on an island with no where to go and no plan?”
