Page 26 of Broken Triad
Khra walks to the window. He looks out, staring at the same point as me. He looks up at me, then back at the manor, his lips drawing back. “You feel her there, too. Not with the others. She’s alone, deeper in the lower levels.”
I grunt in anger, gripping the cold metallic handle of my Orb-Blade. It thirsts for blood. I long for the war call. To be put into battle, against men of the Aurelian Empire, so that my tortured thoughts can rest, so that every moment is spent in the fight for survival, not plagued by the woman.
“How can you feel her? Why does she smell right? Our Mate died on Abascus. This cannot be. She cannot be ours!” Krazak’s voice booms, echoing in the silent night.
Khra licks his stone-pale lips, the moonlight making his face look like a ghost. “The Bond is not understood. Is it possible the blood-ritual of the Priests was flawed. I was told the true story of what happened in that ancient temple. A woman named Sawoot, pregnant with an Aurelian babe, her blood used. But she survived it. She was not sacrificed. Is it possible…is it possible that the bones we found on Abascus…”
I’m angry enough to speak. “Silence!” My voice rasps. I cannot let him continue his train of thought. That Lola could be our Mate is insanity. When the Bond thrummed, we felt our Mate so clearly, her thoughts, her emotions, the entirety of her being. That was the woman who was meant for us. Khra is only going to drive us insane.
“Can you leave this planet without Lola?” Krazak turns to me, asking the question simply. I swallow, my mouth going dry.
Ra’al ordered her to be off-limits to us. Our own Generals gave her to us, then snatched her away. Krazak waits for me to answer, but I cannot, and finally, he speaks.
“We left the Aurelian Empire. We’ve got a target on our heads. Go against the Legions of Obsidian, the Priests…there will be no respite for us. There would be no refuge in the entirety of the universe.”
I can’t believe what he’s suggesting. Taking her. Against the orders of our General. Against the Priests, who told us that we were a focused arrow, without distraction, without any hope except to fulfill the prophecies and place the War-God on the throne of Colossus.
I close my eyes tight, screwing them shut, and put my hands on my temples, as if I can push the image out myself, but she is all I can see, not helpless and pressed down on the table by my hand, but in the cellar, the tiny knife in a clenched fist as she chose a warrior’s death against the Scorp.
I open my eyes. A flash of color, like the sun rising over a bleak expanse. Khra and Krazak look at me, waiting, feeling my tortured aura.
“She is ours.”
10
LOLA
Ijolt awake from a dreamless sleep as if I am born anew, and my first sensation is panic as the footsteps approach. I bolt upright, reaching for my knife. Only the chatter of servants calms me as there’s a knock on the door, light and hesitant. The Aurelians wouldn’t even knock.
“Lola?” It’s Summer’s voice, gentle and soft.
“Yeah?” I say, groggily, putting the knife down and wiping my eyes as I yawn hugely.
She opens the door and strides in, wearing light brown pants and a buttoned shirt. There’s a leather belt cinched around her waist, and a pistol is holstered. It fits on her athletic frame like it was meant to be. “I thought you were in here. The transport wagon is here. It’s got a timer—heading back to the city in fifteen. We let you sleep as long as we could.”
“Thank you,” I say, looking around for clothes. I slept in a pile of sheets and blankets. Summer averts her eyes politely as I open up my bag and pull out sweatpants and a hoodie, throwing them on and going to the little soldiers’ bathrooms. There’s still razors and shaving cream left over, the mirror dirty with toothpaste. I splash ice-cold water in my face and screw open a half-filled tub of tooth wash, which I swirl in my mouth, the bubbly chemicals working their way between my teeth as I freshen up.
I come out of the bathroom. Summer’s still standing by the door. She looks like she wants to say something, so I wait.
“I slept in Brianna’s tower,” she says. “Well, it was hard to sleep. Kept looking out the window for Scorp. I saw you in the garden, and then I heard footsteps going up the other tower…” She clears her throat, awkwardly. “Those three left early, before the wagon came. I guess the planet is safe now.”
It’s like a weight off my back. I’d been worried about seeing Krazak and his triad this morning, after last night. “I went up to ask for their help. My dad’s up north, in the mining camps. But they wouldn’t listen.”
“That’s brave of you.”
I bite my lip. “It was…nothing happened. I don’t understand those three. They thought I was a spy. They accused me of making some potion with herbs, or coating my body with…” I trail off, not sure how much I want to share. “They won’t help me find him. I’m going alone.”
“You can’t try to get into their minds. Fanatics.” Summer spits out the last word with a curse. Then she runs a hand through her curly hair, and nods, as if she’s come to some decision. “I’ll go with you.”
“What? Summer, it’ll be dangerous. There’s Scorp up there, and Krazak said the mining camps were lost. No Aurelian will come with us.”
Summer shrugs. “I’m a free woman. I don’t have to work in the fields or factories, or offer myself up to the auctions like the others. You go alone to the mining camps, you’re not coming back. But the two of us have a chance.”
I shake my head. “I can’t let you do that.”
“I grew up in Ridgetown. I know those mountains better than you... and I get to choose where I go.” She pauses for a second. “When I picked up the rifle, something changed in me. I was going to be an accountant before I had to take this shitty job. What a waste. Numbers. This feels real,” she says, running her hand over the pistol at her belt. “Let’s go. Wagon’s leaving soon, and it’ll get us closer to the north.”
There’s no arguing with her, and I don’t want to. I can’t help but smile. Going alone to the mining towns, walking through the icy passes and trails, my eyes peeled for Scorp and mountain lions, was a tall order. With Summer by my side, we’ve got a chance.
