Kartega

Hiding in the shadows of the throne room, or as much shadow as she could find in the colossal room, Sid tried to stay quiet and inconspicuous. Per Ashlan’s instruction, she had left the droid outside, but standing here in the circular room with nothing separating her from Queen Leona but air and uncertainty, she wished she had someone metal and strong to lean on. There was a lull in conversation and Sid held her breath, worried that even a gasp of air might catch the queen’s attention. The guards at Leona’s side stood motionless, their eyes drifting to survey the throne with piercing concentration. When their collective gazes turned, Sid drifted her eyes in their direction, taking note of each detail of their appearance. Unlike the Starblades, the queen’s guards dressed moderately. Their suits — though made of the same material as those of the Starblades — were as dark as a black hole, a blue so deep it was almost void of color. Each suit glimmered as the guard’s chests rose and fell and Sid felt mesmerized by their shine. She searched for their blades but quickly realized that not one of the guards possessed one. Instead, strapped to their backs like second skin lay large, curved swords with glass hilts. Squinting, Sid noted the energy that sparked across the handles, flowing all the way down the razor-sharp edges. No wonder they hide these guys, she thought. The guards were the scariest thing she’d seen in Neostar thus far.

Leona straightened her back on the throne, burying her weight deep into the thick glass backing and carefully flipped one of her gilded braids behind her. She looked every bit the picture of royalty: perched high above the rest of them. The glass of the throne reflected each speck of light and at times, when Leona shifted her weight, Sid had to squint her eyes from the glare. The queen rearranged her legs, sending the slit of her gold colored skirt higher than Sid felt comfortable with. Everything that Leona had on looked uncomfortable to her. From the dragging skirt to the bronze corset, all the way to the metal collar that grazed just beneath her ears. Sid had no idea how the queen managed to move in the attire but if she was in any discomfort, she did not let it show. There was no doubt that Leona was the most powerful person in the room. On the entire star, really.

“The situation has gotten out of hand, general.” Leona addressed Abbot calmly, “You have given me your personal guarantee that these incidents in the domes were nothing more than acts of frustration from the workers. It seems to me that their frustration is growing, wouldn’t you agree?” Her lips pursed into a thin line and she dug her gold nails into the edges of the throne.

“Yes, my queen. I assure you; we are doing all we can to stop it once and for all. We have increased security in the domes and I have men scouring the streets to find the ones responsible.” Abbot explained with more pride than Sid imagined him having. “We will find them.”

“And yet you haven’t found them yet? That’s disappointing, to say the least.”

“My queen, we are working on this day and night. There have not been any signs that show an organized group effort.”

Sid chewed on her bottom lip, remembering the face of the woman she saw in the telescreen footage. That woman was a clue that could help the queen capture the rest. Or at least get some answers. Sid was almost giddy at the thought that information she had might be of use to Leona. She could be of use to Leona. She took in a deep breath and a small step forward and opened her mouth to speak.

“Bring in the traitor!” Leona shouted before Sid had a chance to utter a word. “Bring him to me now!”

Panes of glass slid apart next to her and four Starblades entered the room. Behind them, tied at the wrists and neck, the Domer who was captured was dragged forward by a lightline. One of the younger Starblades yanked at the chain and the Domers skin hissed at the touch, a burn mark forming immediately on his neck. Sid could see tears forming in his hazel eyes from the pain but he shook them off and stood tall again. His tanned skin was riddled with scars, the likes of which Sid had never seen. He looked like a warrior. Like a wild thing she had only read about in stories as a child. He was tall and muscular and proud. The belt of his tunic was tied loosely and she could see the scars that ran up his arms crept along his chest and stomach. Although the more she studied them, the more she realized they weren’t scars at all. Scars didn’t take on the shapes of stars. He was marked from head to toe with symbols; circles and lines that Sid didn’t understand. It was beautiful and comforting and so familiar. Sid could almost remember touching those symbols and giggling from how they felt at the edges of her fingers. Rough but soft at the same time. She could see it so clearly, the chubby little fingers of a child scratching across this man’s arms. Her chubby little fingers. She snapped her attention back into the room and pushed the image away.

Sid’s eyes raced between him and the queen in fear and anticipation.

“Who are you working with?” Leona demanded.

The Domer stood silent yet his gaze was fixed on Leona defiantly. He shuffled his feet and raised his chest, appearing to be even taller now.

“I suggest you answer, young man.” Abbot nodded at one of the Starblades that yanked on the lightline again in response. “Your queen demands the truth.”

The Domer took a step forward, cocked his head, and spat at the base of the throne. “She is no queen of mine.”

Sid nearly collapsed from stifling a shocked gasp. She expected Leona to rise from her throne and slap the prisoner across the face. It’s what she would have done if someone had shown her such an adamant lack of respect. Instead, the queen chuckled quietly, her lips curling into the same smile Sid saw in her dreams.

“Foolish, stubborn creature. If you think you’re protecting the rest of your group, I must tell you that you’re highly mistaken,” she drew lazy circles with her nails across the throne’s glass. “I will not stop until I find out everyone who is responsible and make them pay for disrupting our peace.”

“You call this peace?” The Domer yelled back. “This is not peace! This is enslavement! You take what isn’t yours and expect us to kneel at your feet. Well, we’re done kneeling!”

A gold nail pointed to the ceiling and a Starblade pulled on the lightline so fast that the prisoner fell to his knees. His hands wrapped around his throat and he rubbed at the burn furiously.

“Looks like you are not quite as done with kneeling as you may believe,” she laughed. “Tell me who you’re working with. I won’t ask again.”

On shaking legs, the Domer pushed himself up to stand. His eyes travelled past Leona to Abbot, then to Ashlan, finally landing on Sid. Her knees buckled and she begged him to look away, to draw attention to anything but her. But his gaze stayed trained on her, as if he was magnetized to her presence.

“She is not your queen,” he said, “she is your death.”

The queen’s calm demeanor faltered and Sid took note as her lips tightened into a thin line. Though she tried to hide it, Leona let the Domer’s words pierce her with their intensity, cracking the all-powerful facade she had earlier displayed. Sid felt for her. The woman was only trying to do what’s best for the star and this man was acting like she was a murderer. If Sid wasn’t frozen in her spot in the room, she’d have rushed over to hug the stoic ruler in front of her.

Before another word could escape the Domer’s lips, Leona tapped her raised finger to the throne and all four Starblades raised their weapons. They pointed the tips of their blades at the back of the Domer’s neck and lunged. The blades barely grazed his skin but Sid could see the electricity in them humming and itching to get out as they reached the edges of the chip in his neck. Light burst on impact, driving the Domer to the ground, his body convulsing as a dark burn spread across the back of his neck and down his shoulder blades. The room smelled of burnt skin and hopelessness. Sid wanted to look away, she wanted to scream, run out of the room and keep running until she was nowhere near this place. But she stayed put. Her eyes wide and staring at one spot only. The charred remnants of raised markings on the Domer’s back.

Leona got up from her throne and brushed invisible dirt from her skirts. “It seems we have a guest with us tonight!” Her fierce eyes locked onto Sid who was still gasping for air and staring at the body of the prisoner. “Would someone like to tell me who this is and why she’s here?”

“I’m sorry, my queen,” Ashlan jumped in front of Sid as if to shield her. “This is Sid, she’s from dome one twenty-eight, here to help Professor Cevil. She’s quite a gifted mechanic from what I gather. I’m just showing her around.”

Was he nervous? She hadn’t heard Ashlan stumble over his words like that before. He was either nervous or scared and she didn’t like either of those options. They both meant she could be found out and end up just like the prisoner laying dead in front of her.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sid.” The queen cooed and Sid wondered what the protocol was for this.

Should she curtsy? Do they curtsy here? She cursed Colton for not teaching her more about the customs of the city. It was then that she realized it, he never taught her the customs because he had no intention of bringing her down here. Her heart felt larger in her chest and every beat was like a building pressure that threatened to. Her eyes stayed down, steering clear of the dead body in her peripheral. Did he keep her away from here because he was afraid she’d suffer the same fate? Her breaths were short and shallow and hurt like a punch to the chest. Everything was wrong and everything was broken. She was completely alone. More alone than she had been on the ship. At least there she had Rusty. Sure, he wasn’t a real person but she never wondered if he wanted her or not. And she definitely never wondered if he was going to shoot thousands of watts of electricity into her neck and kill her.

“Sid,” Ashlan whispered back to her and she blinked her eyes wildly. “Say something.”

“Right. Of course. My apologies, my queen.”

Leona paused for a moment and Sid instinctively covered the back of her neck for protection. A foolish notion since there was no chip there for the queen to destroy but something about it made her feel slightly comforted. After another excruciating second of silence, Leona broke into a laugh.

“Oh, my. You’re absolutely adorable! And helping the professor? That must be quite the challenge in itself. He’s a bit of handful, isn’t he?”

Sid nodded which seemed to satisfy the queen for the moment.

“Abbot!” She howled and the general was at attention by her side before Sid had a chance to blink. “I want another group sent into the domes. As soon as possible. In fact, sooner than that.”

“Yes, my queen. Of course, my queen. I will put my team together and have them-”

Leona put a finger to his mouth and pursed her lips. “No, you will not.” Her gaze turned to Ashlan. “I want him to lead this.”

“Me?”

“Him?”

Abbot and Ashlan’s shocked faces looked like mirror reflections. Neither man seemed to be able to understand the order.

“Yes, him. You.” Leona specified and pointed to Ashlan as if she wasn’t clear before. “You will pick your team and leave immediately. Abbot’s had enough time on this and we are nowhere closer to finding the rest of these vile creatures. We need new eyes on this and what better than the eyes of the son of our most accomplished general!”

Sid turned to Abbot to see if he was remotely offended by the queen’s words but he did not seem to mind. Instead, the look in his eyes was more fearful than angry.

“Are you certain, my queen?” He asked.

“You’re questioning my decision?” Leona roared over him.

“No. Of course not, not at all. Forgive me, my queen.”

The tight smile returned to Leona’s lips and she turned to look at Sid over Ashlan’s broad shoulders. “And you will take the Domer with you.”

Muck.

“Sid? Why?”

“Because she may prove to be useful in getting the rest of the population to trust you,” she said confidently, “and because she can help fix your blade. Should it happen to break again.”

Ashlan’s cheeks reddened and he rubbed the spot on his back where his blade would usually be holstered. Sid had no idea how the queen knew his blade was broken or why she hadn’t bothered to punish him for mishandling his weapon but she was relieved nonetheless. At least she didn’t have to explain how it broke in the first place.

She expected Ashlan to retort with one of the annoying, self-assured comments she was used to but he simply nodded and looked down.

“Wonderful. It’s settled then,” Leona clapped her hands in front of her chest and turned back to the throne. When she was just about to climb onto the glass encasement, her head turned partially, revealing the intoxicatingly perfect shape of her profile.

“And clean this mess up, the smell is unbearable.”

Sid didn’t stay to watch the body get dragged out of the throne room. She had enough nightmares as it was to deal with.