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KHALL
Khall knelt on the ground, his chest shaking with sobs, arms wrapped around the three most important people in his life.
They were safe. Against all odds they were safe.
There was a thunderous burst as the airship hit the empty building somewhere above, but he barely noticed. He could also hear the murmurs of the crowd gathering around them, but he didn’t care about anything outside the walls of his arms.
“April,” Bo kept wailing, her tears wetting April’s shirt as they clung to each other.
“I’ve got you,” April murmured in her low, sweet voice. “Minerva, are you okay?”
“Fine,” Minerva whispered. “You almost died.”
“I think we have a guardian angel,” April told her softly.
Khall glanced up at her. April was the epitome of a sensible person. It wasn’t like her to speak of angels.
But she didn’t meet his eyes. She was looking over Minerva’s shoulder, to the statue in the park.
The last of the twilight was playing on the metal forms of The Women, flashing on their faces as if they were smiling down on her, on all of them.
I’m not angry anymore, he thought suddenly. I forgive you for dying, Xteniya. And I forgive myself for surviving.
Then the emergency brigade was on them, pulling them up and away from each other to check them for injuries.
A few hourslater they were back in the lobby of The Celestial.
Mrs. Astyr Gingerooox-Toxfylt had taken the girls into her flat to watch television and eat homemade cookies while he and April made their statements to the brigade.
She had also convinced him to call her Mrs. Ginger after he apologized for his rudeness the other day.
And just like that, he had his first friendship with a neighbor.
April had watched the two of them chatting, happiness radiating from her sweet face.
She was transforming them all.
And he was beginning to realize that change didn’t scare him anymore.
Forgiving Xteniya in his heart was starting to open his eyes to other ways in which he could move on. He never imagined that acknowledging his anger and letting it go could be so freeing.
“That’s all for now, Miss Clarke,” the chief said at last, swiping his bracelet to end the recording. “We appreciate you taking the time to explain everything.”
“Have you, er, recovered him?” she asked softly.
“Vlax D’agryx’s remains have been removed from the site,” he said, his jaw clenched.
“I’m sure it would have been better if I had saved him,” she hedged. “But there weren’t even enough chutes for the four of us.”
“Since you and the Rivvors made it off safely, I feel I can say that I’m glad there were no extra chutes,” the chief said grimly. “Off the record, of course.”
“Of course,” she said, looking surprised.
“You’re a very brave young woman,” he told her.
“I was only following Minerva’s lead,” April said. “That girl has nerves of steel. She’s got a bright future ahead of her.”
Khall smiled at her unsubtle hint that he ought to reconsider Minerva’s dream of joining the cadet program. This was typical April, trying to turn a compliment for herself into an opportunity for his daughter.
