7. Ayana

Istrode through the ornate doors of the meeting room together with Soren, heart pounding in my ears. The fleet leaders already gathered around the massive table, their expressions grim as they studied the hovering display of the Sarroch Cluster.

"We can't abandon our people," one wraith argued, his fist slamming onto the table. "They're counting on us to protect them!"

"And risk the entire fleet?" another captain, a female with long, silver hair, shoved to her feet. "We have to think of the greater good. We should jump to safety while we still can."

The room erupted into chaos as the captains began shouting over one another. I glanced at Soren, seeing the tension in his jaw as he listened to the debate. His eyes met mine, and I felt a surge of determination. We had to find a way to save everyone.

He made his way to the head of the table, pulling out a chair for me before taking his own seat. I sat down gingerly, feeling out of place among these powerful, ancient beings.

Instead of sitting, Soren braced his hands on the chair and loomed over me and the rest of the table. "I have no intention of abandoning our people," he said, voice steady. "I want to know the timing of readying the fleet for an all-out attack."

The room erupted again, each of the captains now united with a different argument. "We can't take on the entire venterran army!"

"And the risk to the civilians..."

"It's not the right move."

Soren raised his hand, and the room fell silent. "We will not abandon our people," he repeated. "Nor will we risk the fleet unnecessarily. We have a weapon the Matriarchs will not expect."

Murmurs rippled through the room. He canted his head, eyes finding mine. I sat up straighter, my pulse quickening.

"Ayana is my Cor Umbra." He paused, giving his words a chance to sink in. "She's a powerful verdant in her own right, but it's a drop compared to what we wield together. Untried, we destroyed half a venterran flight group. With proper preparation and a fleet at our back, I believe we can bring the Matriarchs to their knees."

Stunned silence filled the room for a heartbeat before one captain scoffed. "Impossible."

"That's not a strategy, it's a suicide mission," another snapped.

"No wraith is that strong," a third hissed, throwing up his hands in frustration. "No verdant has that kind of power! There must have been a malfunction, nothing more. We can't risk the fleet on fantasies!"

Soren's eyes flashed with anger, but Rikke was the one who stepped forward with a growl demanding everyone's attention. "You dare question your king?"

The captain stammered, his face paling. "I meant no disrespect, but?—"

"But nothing," Rikke snapped. "I've seen what Soren and Ayana can do together. Their power is beyond anything we've ever witnessed. Our enemies stand no chance against them."

The light caught the charms dangling from Soren's horns, making them sparkle and glint like stars against the backdrop of his dark hair.

I swallowed hard as the room spun around me. The magnitude of those losses settled over my shoulders. Here was a chance to end the violence and cruelty of the Matriarchs and their empire.

Or we would be responsible for adding more charms to the collection.

Soren's hand dropped to my shoulder, his knuckles running over my mate mark. His features were etched in harsh relief, and the eyes he swept over the fleet leaders were pools of molten gold.

The air crackled with power, and my own magic stirred in response.

"We will take the fight to Sarroch," he declared with quiet authority. "Prepare your ships. We jump as one, and we will take this sector back as one."

The fleet leaders nodded, their expressions hardening with resolve. They knew the risks, but they trusted him. And they were willing to follow him into the fire.

The room emptied as the fleet leaders filed out. I watched them go with a tight breath locked in my chest. The enormity of what we were about to do unsettled me. Even Soren's comforting hand couldn't calm my jangled nerves.

We were going to war.

We were going to fight the Triarchy.

I had to believe we would win.

"Cousin, Ayana, a moment, please." Rikke's voice cut through the silence, and I glanced up to see her lingering by the door. Her brow furrowed, and for the first time since I'd met her, I saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes.

Soren nodded. "What is it?"

"I have a theory about how Ashera keeps finding us." She paused and wet her lips. Her eyes fell on me, hardened, and turned to Soren. "I think she's tracking Ayana through her verdant magic."

"What?" I whispered, feeling like the floor had dropped out from under me. There had to be a mistake.

"We ran scans when you brought her aboard the Nightfall. Nothing implanted we could see. Nothing on the shuttle. They found us at Gamarr. What changed?" she insisted to Soren. Rikke turned to me, her expression serious. "Did you use your power before the derelict ship appeared?"

I swallowed hard, my mind racing back to the moments before the alarms had sounded. He'd shifted into the shadows behind me, and I shoved at him with a pulse of power. "I... I did. In Soren's quarters."

Soren's hand tightened on my shoulder, and I felt him step away from me. The loss of his touch left me feeling cold and alone.

"And after we jumped to Gamarr?" Rikke pressed, her eyes boring into mine.

"I used my magic to revive the plants in the hydroponics bay," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.

Horror washed over me as the pieces fell into place with sickening clarity. The derelict could have simply followed Soren's shuttle off Maidora.

Or it could have been captured, those poor souls tortured until they gave up the information on where to find other wraiths in the Sarroch Cluster. All while the ship waited for me to call.

"No," I whispered, my voice trembling. "No, that can't be right."

But it was. It had to be. How else could Ashera have found us so quickly, so precisely? I was the common denominator. I was the one putting everyone at risk.

I looked to Soren, desperate for reassurance, for him to tell me it wasn't true. But his expression stopped me cold. His eyes were hard, his jaw set. It was the same ruthless look he'd worn when he ordered the ship shot down. The look of a king who would do whatever was necessary to protect his people.

Even if that meant protecting them from me.

A knock at the door interrupted the tense moment, and Soren turned to answer it. He exchanged a few quiet words with someone outside before turning back to me.

"I'm needed on the bridge," he said, his voice clipped. He turned to Rikke. "Why don't you escort Ayana back to our quarters?"

He phrased it as a suggestion, but I heard the order beneath the words. Felt the collar tightening around my throat.

Soren strode from the room without a backward glance, leaving me alone with Rikke. She gestured for me to follow, her expression unreadable.

I didn't fight it. I couldn't. Not when I was the one putting everyone in danger.

Gods, had I touched my magic since we left the temple? Since we cleared hyperspace after our timely pickup by the rest of the fleet? Were they now the targets, not Sarroch?

We walked in silence through the ship's corridors, my mind spinning with the implications of what we'd learned. If Ashera could track me through my magic, nowhere was safe. She would always find me. Find us.

And she would never stop hunting the wraiths until she wiped them from existence.

By the time we reached Soren's quarters, my decision was made. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't risk leading Ashera to the wraiths. To Soren. They had already lost so much, suffered so greatly at the hands of the venterrans.

I had to leave. It was the only way.

Rikke opened the door, and I blindly stepped inside. I hardly saw her sympathetic look or heard the door sliding shut with a hiss.

I waited five minutes. Ten. Each second added to the bundle of nerves and worry I shouldered. Too long, and Soren would return. Too soon, and I'd run into Rikke.

I opened the door to Soren's quarters, my heart pounding in my chest. To my surprise, Vester stood guard outside, his imposing figure a silent sentinel. He turned to me, brow furrowed in concern.

"I'm needed in the hangar bay," I blurted out before he could ask any questions. The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but I couldn't risk him stopping me.

I knew the hesitation in his look. I'd felt it many times before when given conflicting orders. Did he risk angering Soren and letting me walk freely? My grudge after being held hostage? Which of the shitty, impossible scenarios we forced on him would be the least horrible in the end?

Vester finally nodded. "I'll escort you."

The hangar bay was just as busy as when we first arrived, but the mood had shifted. Rumors buzzed through the air instead of celebratory giddiness. Uniformed crew and more plainly dressed civilians moved with a sense of focus.

I threw myself into helping. Baskets needed packing, bins needed hauling. Shuttles landed and departed as regularly as the tides. Anything to keep me occupied, moving, and watching for my chance to escape.

I saw my chance when two wraiths exited a newly landed shuttle. As they rolled cargo off the ramp, I ducked between two piles of nearby containers. No shouts. No calls of alarm.

I held my breath. Waited. Then picked up a box and hurried into the shuttle.

The interior was cramped and utilitarian. It felt oddly intimate to be alone inside the little ship, like all the activity outside was part of another world entirely.

I crept to the pilot's seat and froze.

The cockpit stretched out before me, a dizzying array of blinking buttons and screens that I had no idea how to operate.

What was I thinking?

I couldn't fly this thing. I couldn't chart a course.

Verdant. Slave. Those were my lots in life. I wasn't a queen. I was nothing. I couldn't afford to believe otherwise. Not if Ashera truly tracked every hit of my power.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned to find Vester standing just inside the shuttle's hatch, arms folded over his broad chest.

"I'm useless," I admitted, my voice small and broken. "I'm supposed to stand by Soren's side, and I get sick when the stars move too fast. Your people are about to fight a war, and I don't even know how to fly."

Vester's face softened, and he stepped up beside me. "These old rust buckets? They're simple enough for a child to use. And they do. Ferrying packages and wraiths between ships gives them something to do besides trouble."

He grinned, then pointed to the console. His fingers dancing over the controls. "See here? This is how you chart a course. Just input the coordinates, and the autopilot takes care of the rest."

He tapped a few buttons, and a holographic display of Maidora sprang to life above the console. My heart clenched at the sight of my home planet, the place where I had suffered so much.

"Thank you," I whispered. My throat felt tight.

And then I struck.

I swung a heavy wrench at his head with every ounce of strength I could muster. The blow connected, and Vester crumpled to the ground, unconscious. I felt a twinge of guilt, but I couldn't let it slow me down. I had to act quickly.

I grabbed his arms and dragged him down the ramp, grunting with the effort of moving his muscular form.

"Help!" I called out, my voice echoing through the busy hangar bay. "I think something's wrong with Vester!"

As concerned wraiths converged on his location, I gave them room. Backed up the ramp. Slipped into the shuttle.

And sealed the hatch.

I activated the shuttle, my fingers clumsy on the controls. The engines hummed to life, and I felt the craft lift off the hangar floor. I confirmed Vester's input for Maidora, and slammed backwards in my seat as the shuttle shot out into space.

Stars streaked past as I hurtled through hyperspace, each second bringing me closer to my fate.

I thought of Soren, of the way his eyes had looked when he realized the danger I posed. The pain and betrayal etched on his face. But before that, on the Nightfall and down on the surface of Gamarr, he'd looked at me.

Not a tool. Not an abomination.

Like a partner.

Like a queen.

I wanted a chance to learn all his secrets and dreams. His way of life. Morfil and charms were just scratching the surface. He wanted a home for his people. A future. I wanted him to have that, even if I wasn't part of the equation.

I loved him. Enough to do what needed to be done.

The shuttle shuddered as it dropped out of hyperspace, and Maidora loomed before me, a swirling ball of green and blue. I took a deep breath, my fingers tightening on the controls.

I raised my hand, embracing my magic, letting it surge through me like a tidal wave. I felt it pulse outward, a beacon in the darkness, calling to Ashera and the Triarchy forces.

Come and get me,I thought, my jaw clenched with determination. Leave the wraiths alone. Let them escape into hiding once more.

Let them live.

Even if it meant I had to die.