“Forget entertainment,” Astra said. “I’ll spend all night rifling through your haul. Something about Selenia has always given me pause—if she’s involved in any of this, it can’t be good.”
The bartender stopped before the girls and Ameera glanced to each side.
“We’d like the Vega Special?”
The woman nodded her head and pointed a finger toward the corner where one of the rebels from last night’s gate-crashing sat, head buried in a news leaflet.
She didn’t approach Astra or Ameera as she felt the heat of their stares. Instead, she stood slowly and tilted her head toward a door at the back as she stretched her neck. The woman disappeared and Astra counted to ten in her head before following, painfully aware of the stares her presence drew as patrons tried to figure out if she was really who they suspected.
“We had a bit of an issue, Princess,” the woman murmured as they broke into the alley.
“What kind of issue?”
“You’ll see,” she sighed, yanking on the door of the building next to the pub. It pulled them into the dark underground of Ellume’s tunnels, the cold, damp air clinging to Astra’s skin as they wandered farther and farther into the city’s center.
They followed her through the labyrinth until they arrived outside of a heavily guarded set of doors. The rebel closest to them nodded as she approached, allowing them passage. As they rounded a corner, the clank of a gate startled Astra.
“Are we… in a prison?”
The woman tossed a grimace over her shoulder.
“Shit,” Ameera hissed.
A merlot-stained tension rose in their lungs as they followed the woman down another hallway, this time passing several cells.
Most of them were empty, but not all. Astra’s stomach churned with the despair in the room as prisoners stirred at the sound of their steps. The woman came to a stop at the end of the row, standing equidistant between the final two cells carved into the dirt walls.
Astra hung her head back. “Oh misty Mother above, what did you two do?”
The commander’s head snapped up from his slumped position against the dusty wall, drawing a gasp from both Astra and Ameera. His amber eyes burned against bruised purples and reds that spilled from his nose over the planes of his face. His forearms were covered in shallow cuts and scratches.
“Surely a human didn’t do that,” Ameera whispered as he hauled himself to his feet. Astra spun, her eyes landing on Daria’s sullen glare, her arms folded against herself in the cell across from Luxuros. She looked better off, but still had several short gashes in her forearms.
“We have a very strict code of conduct here,” the woman explained. “No physical altercations are tolerated, not even between high-ranking rebel officers like the commander.” She winced as she tossed Astra a set of keys. “We’ll let it go this time since I understand you’ve done us a favor, but next time he’ll have to pay the fine.”
Astra shoved the key into the lock at the edge of the iron bars, the click echoing off the stone floor and ceiling.
“What the fuck,” Astra whispered as Luxuros stepped from the cell and stood beside her. Her eyes took in every mottled marking against his flesh.
“It’s his fault,” Daria muttered, pushing herself up and leaning against the bars. Astra ignored her, keeping her attention on Luxuros.
“Did you…”
“Did I fight a woman? Is that your question, Princess?”
She frowned at his tone, the bitterness spreading like poison in the air.
“I certainly wouldn’t blame you,” Ameera said.
“Oh, please,” Daria sneered. “Your idiot commander is lucky to be alive. He thought it would be a good idea to get into a scrap with the hatchlings. I warned him they weren’t old enough to be touched! I was trying to save his ass from their mother and the bastard caught me in the eye with his elbow?—”
“I had it under control,” Luxuros growled.
“You reveled in a chance to hit me,” Daria spat. “From the moment I dared to criticize your precious princess, you were waiting for a reason to fight.”
The commander looked away, the heat of his rage rising over the iron wall within him.
“What did she say?” Astra asked. When the commander did not meet her gaze she changed tactics. “What did you say?” she asked Daria, her mind wandering in a billion directions for what she might have revealed to Luxuros. The possibilities sparked in her chest, racing to her fingertips.
