Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

I peek my head out into the hall from my bed chambers. "Commander Wesley?" I whisper unnecessarily.

"Priestess Ferren." He stands straighter as if a superior has called him to attention.

"Has the courier come with the books I requested?"

"No sight of them." He looks to Commander Yeva posted on the other side of the doorframe. "We would be happy to escort you to the library if you like."

"No, no, I don't mind waiting. I am still not feeling well . . . and do not offer to call the physician again. I am fine," I say, shutting the door.

I'm sure they have noticed my frequent excuse to stay in my chambers since the incident in the greenhouse, only taking ill during the day when 99 is working on the other side of the capital building.

In our cozy room, I know I will not have to deal with the feeling of unease I have had since the horrible conjunction tremor. I'm worried if I leave for too long, it will be obvious just how much the thought of Cosima sending a ship has rattled me, and if I have some kind of panicked episode in here, I will be the only witness.

So, I have set up a small station on our tea table meant for lazy morning meals. It's just enough space to continue my research, and I utilize the data pad to access books in its system and send couriers for the physical copies in the library.

I know I am at risk of slipping back into the isolating habits of when we first arrived and I could not function without being haunted with worry. Logically, I know Cosima is not coming to take me back and punish me for what I have done. They cannot break the sanctuary law that allows me to stay here, and if they were to send a ship, they would have to forward a message through the beacon for permission to land. But my fears do not care much for logic.

In the early days of my arrival, it became a routine to have 99 read me the messages sent from Cosima, demanding that I return, and then there was a sort of addiction to the relief when he read their message accepting the sanctuary order.

He would sometimes read the order at night when my nightmares would keep me from sleeping. He read it so much that he could recite it without looking, sometimes saying it on a loop through our tether to remind me how safe I am, that my presence here is allowed, that I do not have to listen to their demands and go back.

As a curious distraction, I type in the name of the metal used by the Viathan factory into my data pad, craving information but not quite ready for the deep focus my notes and research require.

Viathan is the only place in the three worlds that has the metal needed to make weapons, a perfect target for First Son's regime. 99 has mentioned that issues with the materials at the factory being stolen or sabotaged has always been a problem, but more so during a conjunction year.

My mood instantly lifts when my morning is happily cut short by 99 and his familiar mental caress before he steps into our chamber.

His posture is more relaxed than it has been in days, and he even takes a moment to remove his helmet, placing it onto the downy crimson blanket across our bed. He has been called to council meetings every day since the factory attack, giving me an abundance of time to work but also to fluctuate between worry and forced calm.

"You've caught me." I smile at him and close my notebook and wait for him to say something about my refusal to venture out to the library again today.

But instead, he pulls another chair next to my temporary desk in a loud dragging noise and then grasps my hand, intertwining with my fingers.

" I missed you." His voice in my head feels warm.

I innocently bring his knuckles up to my lips, pressing short kisses on the back of his hand until he captures my chin and slowly runs his thumb across my bottom lip. I watch his eyes trail along with the motion he traces on my mouth.

"I have thought of nothing else today, Priestess."

Through our tether, he sends images of kissing me, the sensation he feels with my lips on him, kissing and nipping at his neck.

"It was a productive day of council meetings then?" I tease.

His smile makes me melt. I love when it only reaches one side, like he is trying to hide it.

"Better than expected," he says, swiping his thumb one last time around my lips.

"Oh? Good news?"

He nods.

I widen my eyes, letting him know I am anxiously waiting. He seems so happy, I can only assume what he is going to say. I don't want to tell him that even if they have found the people who attacked the factory, the stabilizers are fixed, and the abducted woman is now sitting at home comfortably, I still won't be completely at ease.

My true fear was for something else. I thought Cosima was coming for me, and even though that wasn't true, my nerves all but demand proof that I am not in danger. But how do I prove to my body it is safe when my fear has so convincingly shown it otherwise?

"The stabilizers have been repaired," he finally announces.

"That's wonderful. Just broken then?"

"No evidence of tampering, but that doesn't mean they malfunctioned on their own," he clarifies.

His statement is a tad disheartening. First Son attacking somewhere in the distance is one thing. Sabotaging the infrastructure of the capital without any trace of evidence is another.

"More technicians have been sent to further investigate. The factory attack has been dealt with as well. Security will remain heightened, but you can move around comfortably now."

"Oh," I say too meekly and then clear my throat.

"You are safe." He takes my hand again, holding it like something to be cherished. "In all ways."

I give him a slanted look, knowing both his perceptive nature and our tether's strength have revealed I am not fully calmed by the news.

"That is an unfair advantage, Commander." I clear my throat because now that we are on the topic of my safety, I can't stop myself and I hate it. "Have there been any more messages from Cosima?"

"I had to update them on the attacks. Materials were stolen and likely being transported back to the birthlands on Cosima. I also checked if new messages came from the temple," he confesses.

"And?" I know it's part of 99's job to listen to any transmissions between worlds and update them on the matters involving First Son, but hearing that he also assumed there would be more messages from the temple starts a cramping anxiety in my stomach.

"The same as all the others. A repeated recording."

I chew my lip.

"The words are empty. I will take you to the beacon room now if you want to hear them yourself," he says with such tender protection in his voice.

But I can feel my eyes go a little wide at the thought of going to the place where Viathan houses their beacon, where they receive messages. Frith's is in a field, Cosima's in a tall tower that mimics the ones built for the temple bells. I can't even picture what the Viathan version of a beacon room would be.

"They are the same as the ones you read to me before?"

"Word for word, Priestess."

"Then no, I have no reason to listen."

"I am happy to stay here and help you work, or I can take you to the capital's temple," he rattles off quickly, sounding determined to brighten my mood.

He is trying so hard to help, and while leaving this room sounds more appealing now that things have settled, I have no desire to go to either of the places named. Maybe leaving the capital for a while will serve me like it did Calliape, even if it is just for the day.

"Could we go to the settlement?" I can't help but smile. "Calliape sent me a message before the greenhouse disaster and I haven't written back. Could we go see her?"

He furrows his brow in surprise and then smiles. "I will send word."

99 stands by a machine with handles in the front and a leather bench aligned the wrong way down the back. I have seen illustrations of people riding this contraption to travel across long distances but cannot recall the name. He tinkers with some of the buttons that look strangely like the controls on August's ship. With the flip of a switch, the machine comes to roaring life, floating inches off the ground and expelling dust out from under it.

"99, what is this?" I scream over the growling engine and back away.

"It's a hover bike. The settlement is too close for a ship, too far to walk." His voice is so strong, he barely needs to raise it. He swings an armored leg over and straddles the thick bench. It dips down slightly but adjusts to his weight, then he extends a hand for me to join him.

Both Commander Yeva and Commander Wesley stand next to their own floating hover bikes, waiting for me to climb on before mounting.

"I'm not getting on that!" I eye the seat I am supposed to have between my legs.

"Come on, you can hold onto me the whole way," he comforts with a flick of his fingers, enticing me to come closer.

I reluctantly take his hand, feeling the heat coming from underneath the hover bike when I step closer to line myself up.

He turns as I climb on, helping me bunch up the long dress that I did not know would be a burden into a manageable ball.

"Hold tight." He wraps both of my arms around his trim waist until my cheek is pressed against his back.

Maybe it won't be so bad in this position.

I squeeze into him as we lift about a knee height more off the ground and start moving. My eyes are tightly shut and my whole body clenches in response to the sudden forward motion.

99 asks if I am alright over his shoulder, and I nod yes into his strong back.

The sound of the engine is crisper as we pick up speed, now going so fast that short hairs come loose from my braid and dance in annoying tendrils across my face.

By the time I am convinced I'm not going to fall to my death, I crack my eyes open to see the vast landscape. I was taught a dismal version of this world, but this is nothing like that or the description in books I was allowed to read, a barren wasteland with machines that ruin the soil and pollute the air. Viathan is an otherworldly beauty of its own kind.

I peel my face from 99's body to take in more of the scenery. Tall metal structures in the distance line the horizon in strange shapes. On either side of us, the grass mixes with blush-toned twigs sticking up like miniature trees. The flora swishes as we cut over it, peaceful and stretching out as far as I can see, such a contrast from the dusty ground of the Estate or the almost dewy lushness of Frith.

99 reaches back and taps my thigh to capture my attention. I follow the point of his finger to an enormous rock coming into our view ahead.

As we pass it, I realize it isn't a rock but a carved stone. A fallen statue of a haunting depiction of First Mother, one I have not seen before. The full scope of it is hard to see in the chunky pieces of the massive scatter. If it fell or was pulled down, it happened lifetimes ago, the details worn away on the side that is most exposed to the elements. I make a mental note to look up what this place could have been the next time I am in the library.

Commander Wesley pulls in front of us, his right hand resting meaningfully on the weapon secured to his hip.

Our hover bike slows as we fall in line behind him, entering an archway of a fenced-in village. The settlement is made up of modest wooden homes, with the same dovetail design around their metal doors. The textured roofs have flat plates attached to them, black and mirrorlike, all connected by thick-wires webbing into the doorframes.

The only structure without any trace of Viathan technology is an old temple, the doors wooden and ornate, a small statue of First Mother at its entrance visible even from this distance.

This is the temple Calliape lives in, the one 99 offered when she decided she could not stay in the capital. I have only heard her stories about it the few times she came back to visit me, how it was abandoned but livable and how the villagers felt superstitious toward it. I worried they would be unkind to her, but she always seemed to be acclimating well, and from the lush plants and forest in the distance, I can see why 99 thought this was a good place for her.

99 also said his father and August's family live nearby so she would not be alone. I scan the homes close to the temple, trying to see if any of them look familiar from the fragments I have seen in 99's memories.

My attention goes back to the temple when I see Calliape standing in the doorway, making me almost leap from the hover bike. She smiles brightly and waves as she hears us come down the main road of the settlement.

Her beauty is never something I will get used to. She glows golden from within, like sunlight is going to rush out of her pores the moment she smiles too brightly.

99 quickly reaches back to grab my thigh when I throw my hand up in an overly enthusiastic wave. He chastises me about the change in balance and not jumping off the bike, but I can hear the smile hidden behind his mask at my excitement.

He stops us right in front of the walkway, climbing off and immediately offering his hand to help me balance on my wobbly legs.

Calliape walks down the little, overgrown walkway to her temple, no bigger than the size of the homes around it, and shoots her arms out for a hug.

"I'm so happy you're here." Her voice is strained as I crush her against me.

"It was time, and I can't keep making you come to the capital. I know you hate it."

She makes big eyes at me but doesn't deny the statement. "Are they coming in too?" She juts her chin to where my guards are dismounting.

"No." I laugh and watch 99 giving them instructions in the low, stern voice he uses sometimes. "They will probably just lurk around, don't worry."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry. 99 insisted. You heard about the attack?"

"August sent me a message about it."

"Did he say when he would be back?"

She shakes her head and looks down at her feet, averting her eyes. She must be worried about him because he transports supplies in that area often.

"Hello, Calliape," 99's voice booms behind us.

She jumps but then smiles. I love them both dearly and I know they care for each other, but of the four of us, they are the least close so I always find it adorable when they interact for some reason.

"So, um." She fidgets and angles herself to speak to both of us as he approaches. "I should tell you . . . I needed some repairs done. I told him I was having company and then he insisted on doing them today." Her voice is low and more directed to 99.

He looks over our heads, almost into the temple, and nods as if he knows exactly who she is speaking of.

"He's in there now," Calliape continues apologetically.

I look between them utterly confused, they both seem to understand each other, even having said very little.

"Who is?" I whisper like the unknown person can hear me.

99 sighs. "My father."