Instead of my father’s Royal quarters, I have been brought before the Council of Elders in the Arresting facility of Prison Ship Ermaea. It is a cold vessel, dark, vast, quiet, and lit only by small blue torches and the chambers of forsaken souls.
Prisoners charge power cells with the Storms the Royals drain, cells that float by on stacked hovercarts that follow paths to cargo ships. Thin veins of light stolen from the caged Amphirans feed the engines of the ghostship.
Pronkus deposits me in a Spark Arrestor ring in the center of a court chamber. It lights up, and Pronkus removes the device from my chest, all the while keeping his boot on my shoulder so I can’t sit up.
It doesn’t matter. I couldn’t if I tried. My Storm is quiet even though I am angry. Weakness grips my bones and shakes my muscles, leaving me a drooling pile of flesh.
Blood drips from my split lips. I can’t help but taunt Pronkus. It’s how I keep my mind out of debilitating fear. I cannot change my course. They have control.
“Hey,puckerass. You forgot to give me a kiss goodbye.”
Pronkus growls, turns back, lugs me up by the front of my ABR race suit, and rears a fist up.
“Do not get any more blood on my floor, Pronkus!” Someone in Royal’s robes walks up to where I lay in the spotlight. I wager it’s King Eshelor, since I’m on his ship. “We are not savages.”
That’s what you think. Shut off the arrestor ring, and we’ll find out who’s the savage.
Pronkus shoves me back against the ground with force and stalks out of view.
“Gotta love that guy,” I say. “Such dedication that he’s willing to sully yourpureship just to get a job done.”
Elder Rowalt joins King Eshelor and peers down at me. His hands remain tucked in the sleeves of his gold-trimmed green robes. He looks disappointed.
“Our fleet is broken because of you,” King Eshelor remarks. “Now, we are at risk because we are divided.”
“How can one person do that? You and all the other kings have been eyeing each others’ thrones forever, but Amphir never came under the rule of any one of you because the others resisted. Well, the people are tired of your shit.
“We have been divided for ages. You just disregard the truth and the people’s needs for your virtues and your goals. And it sounds like they’ve finally hit their limit. So…what? Your plan is to make an example of me to scare others into behaving? There’s something you didn’t consider.” Something my mate taught me.
“What’s that?” Elder Rowalt asks.
“Hope is more powerful than fear.”
“Enough! You are the face of the rebellion, Prince Aurelius.” The king taps his wristband. “So we are taking you off the table.”
A magnet switches on inside the floor and draws my back against the center of the ring. Even if I try to break free, my current will only circle back to me. It’s an inescapable prison for anyone with a Storm.
The platform segments and pushes me upright in rows of pins that grip my body from behind and elevate me so I can see the crowd of kings and Elders who have gathered for this event. On a screen by the gathered Royals, video clips play from ABR and other Rogue assignments where I have broken my cover and shown the universe my power. Elders murmur in disgust.
“You act like a god!” King Eshelor shakes a fist at me. “You are not a god! How can you think this behavior is acceptable? Look what you’ve started!”
They show videos of commoners at night, fleeing the markets with everything they can carry, the time-lapse showing the stores empty when the day-lights brighten in the morning.
“And you think you can just do whatever you want,” he sneers. “Trying to find a mate outside of our species. What is wrong with you?”
I shiver under the prickle of the chilled metal at my back. “It is what my Storm wanted. I trusted it like any other instinct.”
“It’s a shame he took after you,” Elder Rowalt adds, glancing over his shoulder.
What is he talking about?
My father paces around my prison toward the other kings. His hands are behind his back, his crown gleaming on his head. “The difference is I learned my lesson and changed my ways.”
“Your heir just had to go and show off to the whole universe, make us look like lovesick fools with an interest in extragalactic mating,” Sembia’s father, King ofLuridia, snarls.
I am nothing like my father. Am I?“I never hurt anyone. I have proven we are intelligent, powerful, and in control.”
“You have given commoners and Rogues an example of life outside of our finely-tuned civilization, a reason to leave, to disregard law and order!” an Elder shouts from the crowd. “Our society is broken! It’s your fault! You put the rotten ideas in their heads!”
