They left me in the storage room all night. I’d lived in a tiny room my whole life, so the room itself didn’t bother me—but the wall around my mind did. I couldn’t even hear Finn. I’d never wanted the connection with Missy so much as I had last night, and there’d only been silence.
She brought me dinner, and in the few minutes we had together, she told me everything would be fine in the morning, but that was all. They locked me in the closet because Natalya knew I’d escape my room. Considering my flight pack, she wasn’t wrong.
At least I’d had Fiarre to keep me company—though he couldn’t offer any insight into what was happening. I knew the law and knew I’d technically broken it. By morning, Fiarre had me convinced it wasn’t murder when it was necessary to save the lives of those uninfected by the pathogen, but in the light of day, my conviction wavered.
When the door to my little room opened, it wasn’t Natalya at the door like I expected, but Missy, Dom, and Finn.
I rushed past the Servants and threw myself into Finn’s arms. My mind flew open, and Finn’s presence poured in, soothing all my fears.
Is it over? I asked him, my face pressed to the warm skin on his neck.
Though he stroked my hair and back, I felt him stiffen just a little, and I held my breath.
I’m to take you to the council room now. So many emotions laced Finn’s words. This morning should have been our second symbiont exchange, but I had a feeling that wasn’t where we were going. Wylie, I—
Through our bond, I knew he feared the worst. I buried my face against his neck and tried to send him all the comfort I could offer. I had to believe Fiarre and I had done the right thing and that any examination of the facts would prove it.
I wished I’d gotten into the lab Birch and I found. There might be information in there that could help me. Once I told the Prem’yera, I was sure they would understand. And maybe the Brahmin could find a way to use whatever properties were in the frigid fire more humanely.
Finn’s embrace tightened as if letting go would mean losing each other forever.
“Dì èr, Preferido,” Missy said softly behind me. “They are waiting for you.”
I drew my fingertips down Finn’s cheek, then pressed a kiss to his neck. When I stepped back from him, I did my best to smile. It’ll be okay, I told him. But I don’t think either of us fully believed it. Something was in the air, something dark and heavy, and I wasn’t sure anything—even Finn—could stop it.
He reluctantly broke the circle he’d made with his arms around my waist and nodded. With his hand wrapped securely around mine, we got into the lift.
I don’t know what’s going to happen in there, Wy. His voice was drenched with fear and impotence. I tried talking with my father, and I would have talked to more people, but Natalya locked me in my room. I couldn’t even get through to Dom.
I squeezed his hand. They cut me off from Missy too.
I tried all night to reach you. I’m so sorry. He kept his face forward, staring blankly at the lift’s walls. I didn’t know how he could look so calm when I knew he was a mess inside. I’m positive I didn’t hide my feelings nearly so well.
It’s okay, I said again just as the door opened. I took a deep breath, then stepped into the tower’s foyer. People milled beyond the clear walls, probably expecting to witness the second bonding. Even through the crystallized glass, their confusion was clear.
While his anguish and fear poured over me, I did my best to respond with confidence, strength, and hope. All that bravado faltered when I saw Natalya standing by the door to a room I’d never been in.
Finn abruptly stepped in front of me. “I can’t let them do this.” Panic made his eyes shine with a strange light. He looked around as if trying to find an escape route. Is Fiarre nearby? Call him. Tell him to come get you. You can run away, Wy. And then I can find you.
Fiarre stirred, shoving his presence into my mind in fierce agreement.
My gaze slipped to the side, where citizens watched us. If I broke the law now, where would that lead me? Where would that leave me and Finn? I could never be his partner, nor return to our society, and the people needed two rulers.
I shook my head. “I don’t believe what I did was wrong.” Saying the words aloud made my heart beat faster, and I straightened my shoulders. I hadn’t been wrong. I’d done what needed to be done. “They’ll have to give me a fair trial, so I’ll get to tell them the truth about the pathogen.” I pressed my hands to his chest, felt the wild beating of his own heart beneath my palm. “Maybe this is the best way to tell everyone what’s going on.”
Fiarre rumbled his approval while Finn searched my face. I felt his emotions whirling and spinning, wanting to hope but fearing the worst.
“Bring the prisoner forward, Dì èr Finn.” Natalya’s impersonal voice fell like a hammer between us, and I jumped.
I moved past Finn, but he grabbed me and crushed me to him. His kiss was a fervent prayer, echoing his thoughts: You are mine, you are mine, you are mine.
I followed Natalya into a large indoor amphitheater, with seating cascading upward in a semi-circle and three walls of glass. We had few trials on ship, but our laws dictated they had to be public, so it didn’t surprise me that the seats were filled. Of course, I should have had a syn counselor by my side. That should have been my first clue that things would not go my way.
Natalya pointed to a chair set to one side and facing one of the three glassed walls. It was a relief because I could look outside instead of at the audience, which I now realized wore mostly Kshatriya red. Among them, one face stood out—Laila. She held my gaze as she placed a hand over her heart. It could have meant anything, but to me, it meant everything. She had forgiven me, and she believed in me.
Since the audience predominantly wore red, with only a few Brahmin and not a single Vaishya or Shudra, she seemed to be my only ally. A shiver of dread tickled the back of my neck. The audience should have included representation from every caste.
As I sat, my nanos busily cataloged everyone in the room, which only made me feel small and trapped. It only got worse when my nanos were hijacked and used to bind me to the chair and prevent me from speaking. Fury and fear felt like embers of fire as they swept through my body.
On the other side of the room, three chairs faced the main back wall, just as the audience did. No sooner had I thought they were for the Prem’yera and Finn than the door on that side opened, and the three of them filed in. The Prem’yera didn’t even acknowledge me, but Finn couldn’t keep his eyes away. This time when I smiled, it wobbled, and tears pressed against the back of my eyes.
I tried to reassure him, but I couldn’t reach our bond. Even Fiarre’s presence seemed absent. Goosebumps flashed across my skin as foreboding took hold of me.
Before the fear could lay its mad claim on me, Serantha leaned forward just enough that our eyes met. Her health had deteriorated even more since last night and my heart ached for her. Though she wore a gauzy scarf over her head, I still saw the white spots dotting her jaw. Her eyes seemed as clear and intense as ever though, as they bore into mine across the distance, but I couldn’t guess at her meaning. After a moment, she smiled softly and nodded, once.
I still didn’t know what she wanted to tell me, but I believed she meant to encourage me and give me hope. I grabbed onto that hope like it was oxygen. Like it was life.
A chime sounded through the chamber—a signal for silence. On ship, ignoring that sound could mean the difference between life and death.
Now, it was only my life that hung in the balance.
The room fell silent.
“Citizens.” Natalya’s amplified voice rose in the quiet room. “Thank you for gathering here on such short notice. We have discovered a threat to our people, to our Prem’yera, and to our way of life, and so it behooves us to act with all haste and expedience.” Natalya paused just long enough for the audience to murmur and speculate, which couldn’t have been very hard since I was the only one sitting down here all alone. I resisted squirming or looking up at them, but it was hard.
Natalya stood tall and straight, dressed in her tailored black uniform, the Prem’yera’s insignia proudly displayed over her left breast. The Prem’yera’s Servants often acted as prosecuting counsel, but where was my representation? Everything felt off-kilter, which didn’t give me any reassurance as to the veracity of this trial.
“We have evidence that Wylie Shudra knowingly colluded with an alien species to murder one of our citizens as a precursor to the systematic end of every human being.”
If I thought her first statement had elicited concern, this one was like a bomb. The room erupted with shouts of outrage and fear. No one had been told of the alien species she might be referencing. No one knew they were in danger. But since I sat before them, everyone knew who to blame.
Natalya calmed the chatter, but not before one voice rang out with, “Guilty.”
The word hung in the air, and suddenly I knew no amount of hopeful wishes would save me.
“Our purpose today is to illuminate the truth of the events that occurred twenty-four hours ago and to determine the girl’s fate. Our law is clear: the penalty for murder is execution. However, given the involvement of an alien sentient being, we consider other alternatives. We will review the information and the Prem’yera will make their determination.”
She paused and waited, as if expecting a response, but of course, none came.
I wanted to stand up and shout that I deserved counsel, but I felt glued to the chair. The Prem’yera sat across from me. Hundreds of people—the best and most knowledgeable people among us—sat near me. They had all deemed me unworthy of representation. How could I, a Shudra girl, make any of them listen?
Natalya paced to the far side of the chamber and indicated the glass wall that faced the audience. “The following video may be difficult for you to watch, but we ask that you bear with us. It is the easiest and most reliable way for all of us to see what happened.”
The light in the room dimmed as the glass walls became opaque. When the entire room was as dark as space, a digital readout appeared on the screen.
01/30/3140
That was the night before last—the night I flew with Fiarre. And the night we quelled Suzette.
Quelled. That’s what Fiarre called it, but we called it murder. Maybe there was a better way to stop the pathogen. Just because that was how the Fierens and Xel did it, didn’t mean we couldn’t find a better way.
“Begin playback.” Natalya didn’t have to say it aloud, as she controlled the screens and playback with her mind, but her voice in the utterly black stillness of the room increased the fear factor.
The screen lit up with the view out of a shuttle’s front window.
“This video is a direct download from Servant Dominic’s database. Servant to Dì èr Finn,” said Natalya.
My gaze shot to Finn, but I couldn’t see him past his parents. Did he know about this? Why didn’t Dom say anything when we came here this morning?
“According to Servant Dominic’s data, ayah Suzette Vaishya informed Dì èr Finn that Preferido Wylie had left her room at approximately one a.m. and had not returned.”
Guilt and embarrassment made me squirm in my seat, but it was Suzette’s name that made me flinch every time. I had promised her no one would know I was gone, and that she wouldn’t get in trouble, and I hadn’t kept either of those promises.
“Stars and space,” Finn’s voice said in the video.
The driver, Dom, leaned down and looked up so he could see what Finn saw— Fiarre, just coming into view from the other side of the tower.
“What?” Suzette asked.
“Look—” Finn’s voice again.
A proximity alert and potential threat alarm sounded within the cabin, then shut off.
“What is that?” Suzette asked.
“A dragon.” Finn’s voice again.
The shuttle hovered, while the occupants watched Fiarre circle the tower once more.
“Preferido!” Suzette shrieked.
Dom zoomed in his vision, and there I was, hair and clothes streaming behind me.
“What’ll we do? What should we do?” Suzette practically screamed.
I wondered why Finn and Dom didn’t speak until I realized the technology didn’t record telepathic conversations.
“We’ll follow her,” Dom said with calm assurance. “We’ll catch her if she should fall.”
Fiarre and I came into view again, then took off so fast the shuttle rocked in our wake.
“Follow them!” Suzette yelled, though Dom was already falling in behind Fiarre.
In the auditorium, the ripple of conversation rose into a crescendo. While they saw their first dragon, they weren’t judging me. I couldn’t decide if that would work for or against me.
As I watched Fiarre’s wings move us through the air, I felt amazed all over again. I looked like a child sitting on him as he dipped below the cliffs, his wings beating with steady elegance.
The shuttle approached the edge of the cliff when we rose above them again, slowing as Fiarre moved toward Birch’s ledge.
“Earlier in the day,” Natalya said, “Wylie Shudra and Birch Vaishya broke into a building and stole two light bikes, which they rode out to this ledge. Servant Dominic identifies it as Birch’s Ledge, but since Birch’s discovery was unsanctioned, that will not be the official name of this rock feature.
“As you can see, the ledge is a natural formation, and there appear to be approximately twenty-four creatures that call themselves Fierens.”
Fiarre landed and immediately turned to face the shuttle, giving Dom and the audience his first head-on view. The audience gave a collective gasp, and a handful of people screamed.
“At this point, the creature launched a psychic attack on Dì èr Finn.”
Dom must have said something to Finn telepathically because he shot Finn a glance, looked back at Fiarre, then back at Finn. “Finn.”
Dom placed his hand on Finn’s shoulder, giving him a quick shake. Finn roused from his trance, then gripped the dashboard.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I remembered the way it had felt to feel the deep connection like the bond, thanks to Fiarre. I’d felt such joy, then fear, as Finn opened his shuttle door.
“Despite continuous warnings from his Servant, Dì èr Finn exited the shuttle, putting his life in extreme danger.” Natalya’s occasional narration gave the experience a horror-movie feel, and I hated her for setting things up this way. I couldn’t wait for my chance to speak because there were a lot of blanks that needed filling for the people to get the full picture.
“Get. Out. Of. Her,” Finn said.
Dom scrambled out of the shuttle, but so did Suzette. Dom kept swiveling his head from Finn to Suzette, obviously conflicted over what he should do. Fiarre looked at Dom, their eyes locking for a moment. Even over the video, his green orbs were mesmerizing. Then they shifted away from Dom.
I knew he was looking at Suzette, but Dom’s attention was on Finn and me, who he could now see behind Fiarre’s boney frill. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fought nausea that threatened to overtake me. I knew what would come next, and I hated it. I didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to be reminded of the terrible thing we’d done. Even though I knew why we did it, I wished it hadn’t happened.
Fiarre growled, a low rumbling sound that shook the ledge and caused bits to break free from the rock wall. Dom looked down at his feet, showing rocks and gravel skittering across the surface.
Fiarre lifted his head high, his mouth opening wide. Pulses of blue light emanated from beneath his scales and Finn lunged forward—toward Fiarre or Dom, it was hard to tell.
“Dom!” Finn shouted.
A beam of blue light shot from Fiarre’s mouth, overexposing the playback. Then the screen went black.
“The creature emitted a targeted burst of powerful electromagnetic radiation. Its target was not Servant Dominic, but ayah Suzette Vaishya,” Natalya said coldly. “The blast was so powerful it affected Servant Dominic’s power supply, causing him to power down for a moment.”
Dom’s vision blinked back online. With apparent effort, he pushed himself away from where he’d lain across the shuttle and straightened. He focused on Finn, who was hauling my unconscious body off Fiarre’s back, then he glanced behind himself to where Suzette had been standing. She wasn’t there.
Dom crouched down and touched a patch of gray ash that stood out against the ledge’s native red stone.
“Servant Dominic analyzed this ash,” Natalya said, and to me, it sounded as if there was the tang of victory in her voice. “It proved to be the remains of a human. Specifically, the remains of citizen Suzette Vaishya.”
The crowd responded as Natalya probably expected. They shouted and cried out for justice for Suzette. I clenched fists, wishing I could wrap my arms around myself as I listened to the outcry.
The lights slowly came up, and the people retook their seats. The entire atmosphere in the room had changed. I felt it, knew it. A citizen was dead. The punishment for murder was death.
Even I thought I should die after watching that video.
Natalya walked slowly to the center of the room. “Citizens, thank you for your attention. I am sure you have many questions but let me start by telling you what we know.
“Dì èr Finn was unharmed during the attack; due to his superiority, Servant Dominic self-healed and the damage was repaired. However, the creature’s attack annihilated Suzette Vaishya, leaving no trace of her behind.
“Wylie Shudra, though rendered unconscious during the attack, is physically unharmed. The creature created a kind of bond with her, similar to that created between the Dharma caste. Even now, the creature watches and listens through Wylie Shudra’s eyes.”
The audience reacted even more violently than before. Shouts of “Jail her!” were punctuated by projectiles flying through the air.
“The Fierens are not native to this world,” Natalya continued. I did my best to sit upright with my hands in my lap, but it was difficult with the whispers of hatred echoing around me and the occasional item smacking the side of my head. “They created a psychic bond with the natural inhabitants, as one did with Wylie Shudra, that coincides with the utter disappearance of the people of this world.”
This shut the people up as they came to realize that if what Natalya said was true, they were in danger from the Fierens. I longed to stand and speak for myself and for the Fierens, and to warn them about the pathogen that already had purchase in the people, but the hold on my body and mouth were complete.
“Because the evidence in this case is untainted by human imperfections, no counter-arguments are needed. Therefore, we await the determination of the Prem’yera.” She bowed low toward our rulers.
I frowned and my heart raced wildly in my chest. What?
“That is not the whole story.” Finn shot to his feet. He looked first at Natalya, then the audience as he swung to face them. “Wylie is not a murderer. What happened to Suzette—it was not an accident, but a quelling—the only way to destroy the patho—”
Finn’s body jerked, and he collapsed. I frowned, wishing I knew what was happening.
“As the Dì èr said, an alien entity murdered Suzette Vaishya on its mission of dominance. And that creature has created an unbreakable psychic link with Wylie Shudra, Dì èr Finn’s former preferido.”
Amidst the outcry, my heart cracked. Former preferido?
How could I have believed anything different? Regardless of the outcome, it should have occurred to me that remaining with Finn would not be an option.
“Please remain silent while the Dharma discuss the case and determine Wylie Shudra’s fate.”