I was ready for what would come next.
Chapter30
Silver Bells
Araxis looked like he might cry with relief when we met him outside, all of his pretty composure unravelling as he took us in.He caught himself, though, straightening as if someone had tugged a string connected to the crown of his head.That came as a relief: I couldn't handle any more tears today.Talvi let out a delighted cry and crawled into Araxis's waiting arms the moment Elethenn set them down.
Elethenn, for his part, turned and surveyed the crowds of Verdant Ward, which were calm and unbothered as always."We will not wish to linger," he said distantly.
Araxis nodded, holding Talvi while I stepped in close and ghosted a kiss against his cheek, inhaling the smoke and incense scent of his skin and willing that to temper the deep muscle ache pulsing in my body.As we returned to the tiny inter-ward shuttle, folding all four of us inside the sleek body, I made sure to wedge myself against Araxis, needing the weight of him next to me to smooth out some of the more frantic edges of my thoughts.
Rodil had betrayed us – although could someone be a traitor if they'd been a dishonest shit from the start?They'd been sent to Sozamia in order to get inside of Creche Thiel, and it wasmyfault that had happened.The rumours were my fault.No matter what Elethenn had said – that this was Xitera doing what Xitera did – if I hadn't been the weak point, we might have avoided all of it.
Then again, Araxis hadsaidthat if someone took advantage, that was on them.Rodil had fooled us all.And I'd dealt with them.I'd cleaned up my fucking mess.
Well, some of it.There was more to come.We weren't even off-station yet.
"What's next?"I asked as the shuttle jostled gently, sliding into the queue winding from the transport station toward the tunnel that would return us to Ballast Ward.
"We will make a formal complaint at the Hall of Records," said Araxis.Talvi, who hadn't been in the inter-ward tunnels before, had slipped from his lap to press their face against the polymer and stare at the tunnel ahead."But first we must travel to Xitera.We are very vulnerable at the moment.Creche Naival has behaved deplorably; they will be sanctioned, but we must first make the challenge.They would be pleased if we were to simply… vanish on our way to Xitera."
Elethenn shifted to crouch closer to Talvi and started murmuring about what was out the window, trying to give us a moment to speak without a child who'd just been in such a precarious position hanging on to every word.I couldn't think about Elethenn then.I didn't know what to do with him, and I hated that I feltgrateful.
"So, what?They could still come after us?Theywill?"I pitched my voice low, hoping it would be beneath the gentle rumble of Elethenn's voice and Talvi's fluting excitement as they were able to peer into the windows of a number of other shuttles.
"I wouldn't have anticipated anything they've done so far," Araxis admitted."This is far beyond the scope of a writ of propitiation.Even if Xitera is very different than I was led to expect, this defies decency and custom.I listened to some of what you sent –" He shifted his head closer to mine."My concern is that, until we are all back on the ship, they might attempt to silence us.These revelations will be disastrous for their creche, and Naival is first among all Concord houses.They have many allies who would be eager to protect them from public shame.And – Sashen, I am not certain how best to gather what we need from the warehouse and to keep everyone safe and secure while we wait to leave.I would suggest we simply leave the station but wemusttake what we have waiting in the warehouse.This is how we will pay for what we require in Xitera, and we are honour-bound to fulfill our writs."
I chewed on my lower lip, turning the situation over as our shuttle slipped into the dark tunnels and Talvi cooed excitedly at the flashing lights that slid past us, a dazzling array of colours that painted the inside of the shuttle in blues and purples, greens and pinks."What if we had leverage of our own?"I asked."I have the recording.What if I sent it to Silver Sea, to hold on to if things get dicey?"
"We cannot," Araxis said with a shake of his head, resolute."It is private –privileged; it cannot be shared with any outside of the empire."
God, that was stupid.What good was blackmail if you couldn't use it?"I'd like to tell you to just load everyone on the shuttle and go get the ship, and then the two of us could come back and grab everything from the warehouse," I said."But the guards are all Hanalthi, right?Or at least Hanalthi is footing the bill?"
"Yes," Araxis said, grim."You understand."
The only thing we had going for us was that the Concord creches, and apparently whoever else they'd roped in, wouldn't want this to be a big spectacle on station.Hanalthi might be heavily invested in Sozamia, but they didn't own it, even if they could be a problem if we tried to leave.They could detain Araxis for whatever bullshit reason they made up; they could make him disappear and claim it all fell under the writ of propitiation.They could doanything, and we'd – what, fight our way out on the public concourse in Ballast Ward?
At least it wasn't Glimmer Ward, I thought distantly, staring out at the lights streaking past the window.If thingsdiddevolve into a firefight, we wouldn't have to worry about hitting tourists, which was something of a relief.
Although –
I straightened.I turned and looked at Araxis."We can't talk about what Creche Naival has done, or what they're doing," I said carefully."All of that is privileged.We can only talk about it once we're in Xitera."
"Yes, that is correct," Araxis said.
"But what about if we were able to get media down to the docks in Ballast Ward?What if we were able to get enough eyes on us down there that anyone who made a move would be showing their hand to all of Primus?Wouldn't that be enough to discourage them?Wouldn't that mean theycouldn'tact while we brought the ship here and we got it loaded?If Ballast Ward was suddenly overrun by media…"
He stared at me, head tilting."I do not follow," said Araxis."What is it you're thinking?"
So I told him and once he stopped looking at me like maybe I'd hit my head in the altercation with Rodil and something had come permanently loose, and once I'd promised up and down that I was okay with it and it was my idea anyway andno,I didn't feel like I was being backed into a corner, Araxis reluctantly agreed.
"Although, Sashen," he said, his body a firm weight against mine, his fingers pressing hard into my thigh as if, by touching, we could keep each other on course, "it is rather different than what we had discussed."
"I know."And I did."But, well.Isit so different?"
And then, agreed, we got to work setting everything up.
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