I grab the princess by the wrist and pull her aside.
Then, the games start.
“I have the princess,” I say into Mare’s ear. Nothing. I repeat it. “I have Princess Yanami.”
Nothing, but Mare’s hair continues to blanch.
“I have Princess Yanami,” I try again, and this time I hear the feedback loop of my voice in the main projection in the sky.
I turn my head away from Mare and laugh.
Because it’s happening. My plan is working, and I’m going to save the Inka.
There’s a cacophony of voices, but one breaks through. It’s a feminine voice, not matching any of the figures at the front of the projection. She’s hidden.
“Prove it,” she says, and I wince at the raw form of her voice. It makes me want to scratch a phantom itch in my throat. “Cut the line and come forward.”
I can’t help myself.
“After what we saw you do this morning? No, we will not be coming forward.”
I stare at the visual projection. The bigger people are shuffling around, and a waifish figure emerges from behind them. She sways on her feet, and the group around her doubles over to steady her. It would almost be heartwarming to see them stumble over themselves to help if it weren’t for the Inka and Panaka covered in blood in front of them.
The figure waves them off.
“Then the sun continues to set on your dear Inka,” the figure speaks, confirming it was her voice earlier. She laughs, but it ends in a cough. “We’re not here to play games.”
I look at Mare’s hair slowly whitening.
“Neither are we. We can prove it, but I won’t drop the princess at your feet.”
The group behind her stirs to life again, but she settles them with a raised hand. The projection isn’t sharp enough for me to understand what everyone around her is saying. I just get the murmurs and a desperation I wouldn’t expect from those in control of the most powerful people in the empire.
This is not who I expected the leader of the Aya Runa to be. This is not how I expected the Aya Runa to act. They’re quiet, waiting now. They’re letting us lead, but why? I wish I could look at all of their faces up close. I wish I could see how power-hungry someone has to be to overthrow an empire. The Aya Runa has never acted politically, but I guess everyone gets blinded by hubris at some point.
We don’t have the time to wait them out.
“The princess will talk. Have the Inka confirm her daughter’s voice, and then we’ll be on the same page.”
I should feel nervous here, but I don’t. Suyai always said I had enough arrogance to piss off the Gods, but I never worried about that either. My breath flows steadily when everyone elseholds theirs. From the princess next to me to the Aya Runa members who all stay unmoving like stones, everything comes to a standstill, but not me. I keep going.
“The sun is setting, Aya Runa. We’re not here to play games.”
The main speaker laughs and falls into a coughing fit again.
“We’ll allow it,champion.Let’s hear the princess’s pretty voice and move on.”
The princess flinches out of my hold. She shakes her head and starts to whisper away from Mare. “How could they call you that? How could they know, cha–champion?”
“My mother,” I say, and again feel nothing. My mother is the Inka’s guard. She must have told the Aya Runa it was me speaking the moment she heard my voice. It’s the only thing that makes sense at the moment.
It adds to my legitimacy and proves that she’s here.
I feel the skin on my face flex more than I feel any happiness from the smile that graces my face. Failure is not an option, not with my mother here.
“My mother is here. She must have told them. It doesn’t matter,” I say, except it does. It matters so much. “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
The princess keeps shaking her head, and then I realize that her whole body is shaking.
