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No one was happy to see the soldiers die. Not even the Changelings. They could care less if a Yayora had died but Changelings were not supposed to die, especially not on air.
It was a hollow victory, one I felt had been too expensive to pay. The soldier shouldn’t have died.
Not for me.
When I saw Cik-A press the detonator and watched as the fire enveloped her body, I was reminded of Chax consumed by his wreath of flames.
“Well?” Grandpa said. “Did we get it? Did you track down the Control Room’s location?”
I couldn’t focus.
They had a right to know what the sacrifice of one of their soldiers had bought them, but I couldn’t recall how I was supposed to know the answer to his question.
I glanced at the details on the machine’s monitor. A string of numbers that made up coordinates.
“Yes,” I said distantly. “I have it.”
Grandpa and his generals erupted into cheers of jubilation. With how many Yayora the Changelings had killed over the years, I supposed a single death in exchange for the means of their destruction wasn’t such a high price to pay.
But it was for me.
Because I was meant to be the one that died.
Unable to face their cries of excitement any longer, I turned and ran.
I bolted down one hallway after another with no idea where I was heading. I was immediately lost.
Good. That was the whole point.
“Maddy?” Stari shouted as she chased after me. “Maddy? Hold up!”
I came to a dead end. I turned to run in another direction and slip past Stari when she held her arms out to either side, cornering me. I tried to dart past her but she moved, lightning quick, and snatched me in her arms. She held me close as I struggled to escape.
“Calm down!” Stari said. “Calm down! We know the Control Room’s location thanks to you!”
“No!” I yelled. “It’s thanks to Cik-A! She gave up her life. For me! No one should ever have to die for me!”
“She died for all of us. Thanks to her, we stand a chance against the Changelings now. We can beat them.”
But it wasn’t only the soldier’s death that played on my mind. It was someone else’s…
“He should never have died for me!” I said. I no longer struggled, but Stari didn’t relax her grip. “He never should have been taken from me!”
I burst into tears and pressed my face to her uniform.
“Sh,” she said, gently running her fingers through my hair. “Sh. It’s all right. None of this should have happened. But it did. And now we have to come to terms with it.”
“Why did he have to die?” I said, tears streaming down my face. “Why did he have to be taken and not me?”
Stari held me close. She had tears in her eyes too and she could barely bring herself to look at me.
“You really love him, don’t you?” she said. “It wasn’t just an act for the cameras. It was real.”
My heart was in my throat and I could hardly breathe.
“Yes,” I said. “I loved him. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
And now he was gone. Torn from me.
