Page 27

Elsie

T he visitors from Marikanea—my biological family—have retreated to rest. Aruan tells me they were eager to meet me, but in light of what happened, the king convinced them to let me find my bearings first. I believe it’s just an excuse to win time to investigate the sabotage.

Kian is already reading the minds of the palace residents, and Aruan is questioning everyone in case someone saw something.

So far, we’re none the wiser.

The plan was to leave for Marikanea after dinner tonight, as per my family’s request. Apparently, they don’t want to leave the kingdom unattended for too long. Seeing that the queen is organizing a banquet in their honor, she managed to twist their arms into leaving tomorrow morning.

True to his promise, Aruan keeps me at his side. He even takes me with him when he conducts the questioning in the banquet hall. I’ve been on edge throughout the morning. I suppose multiple attempts on your life will have that effect.

To my surprise, Aruan also keeps his promise to take me to the sacred site in the afternoon. I didn’t think he’d cut his interrogations short. Maybe he thinks the outing will take my mind off this morning’s events. He knows how curious I am about the scrolls.

I’m dressed for the occasion in a clean pair of pants and a shirt with my favorite boots.

As usual, when he’s not taking care of official business, Aruan wears a tunic and dark pants.

We’re strolling hand-in-hand over the hill, enjoying the sunshine and the quiet—and each other’s company, to be honest—when voices reach us.

Laughter comes from the tall shrubs that line the path. Three boys jump out of the thick vegetation with makeshift stick dragons that they fly through the air. At the sight of us, they drop their toys with exclamations of fright and sprint down the path in the direction of the village.

I turn to Aruan. “They can’t seriously be that terrified of us.”

The line of Aruan’s jaw hardens, but he doesn’t reply.

“Or…” A nasty suspicion settles in the pit of my stomach. “Are they just afraid of me because I can control the dragons?”

“Come.” He pulls me along. “They’re just kids.”

“They probably listen to scary stories their parents tell about us at night around the dinner table.” The thought leaves me sad. “How can you blame them for being frightened?”

“It’ll take time.”

Yeah. That doesn’t sound convincing. Which brings me back to the same question.

Is my presence a blessing or a curse? What if the killer eventually succeeds in offing me?

How will Aruan react to that? Will it be the end of Zerra?

And even if Aruan’s dangerous reactions weren’t a factor, what about my parents?

They don’t deserve to be abandoned and left in the dark.

My heart clenches painfully at the thought of them.

Aruan stops and turns me to him with his hands on my shoulders. “Do you miss them that much?”

Of course he knows what I’m thinking. Not trusting my voice to speak, I swallow and nod.

“I understand,” he says, catching me off-guard.

I didn’t expect him to sympathize, and strangely, it helps a little when he acknowledges my feelings without trying to invalidate them.

He stares into my eyes as if he can see into my soul. “If you give us a chance, you can be happy here.”

He sounds so certain of himself. Can I? Will the sword of the prophecy always hang over my head? There’s so much I don’t understand yet. Where do our powers come from, and why are they all different?

He speaks again, interrupting my train of thought. “If you let me, I can make you very happy, Elsie. Let me show you how good it can be for mates when their bond is complete.”

How am I supposed to do that? I’m not even sure about my future here.

“When you hold back,” he continues, “you prevent me from not only being a proper mate but also from protecting you.”

“Aren’t you already protecting me?”

He tightens his grip on my shoulders. “The bond allows mates to be in touch with each other’s thoughts and emotions, as well as their locations, at any given time.

It brings mates great peace and joy. You know as well as I do what we share is vague at best. When you’re away from me, I can’t even tell where you are.

That’s why Gaia had to open several portals to find you when you first arrived on Zerra.

That’s why my mother had to find you when the Phaelix put you up for auction at the slave market.

I can’t protect you if I don’t know where to find you. ”

Why is he always blaming me for the incomplete bond? I raise my chin. “Who says I’m the problem?”

A sardonic smile thins his lips. He drops his arms at his sides and takes a step back, creating distance between us. “I’m not the one holding back, my sweet.”

“Are we back to slinging accusations and blame around?”

“It’s not about blame. It’s about fixing what’s broken between us. It’s about letting me protect you as I should.”

“As you’re not letting me out of your sight, it shouldn’t be a problem,” I shoot back.

He narrows his eyes. “You can let me in and be happy or keep on shutting me out and remain unfulfilled. It’s not going to change the fact that this is where you’re staying.

” He delivers the verdict almost like a threat.

“Indefinitely.” Grasping my chin between a forefinger and thumb and tilting my face to meet his gaze, he adds in an oddly gentle way, “The choice is yours.” He sets me free only to offer me his arm, asking as if nothing is wrong, “Shall we?”

I accept the offer without a fight, putting my hand on the crook of his arm. We continue in silence while I contemplate my options, which, as he said, are limited. By the time we reach the site, I still have no idea what the right thing to do is. All I’ve achieved is giving myself a headache.

The same man from before guards the entrance.

Aruan dissolves the big rock and leads me through the tunnel to the cist at the back, where the strange silicone-like pyramids project flashing images on the walls while the men in white tunics chant.

None of them acknowledge our presence. We stand at the back, watching for a while.

I can’t make out much of the images. They’re moving too fast and with a staccato rhythm. Here and there, I recognize human forms. And… flying cars? I peer closer. Maybe. Skyscrapers? Yep, I catch a flash of a tall building here and there.

Was there an advanced civilization here on Zerra at one point, after all?

The existence of these “scrolls” certainly seems to imply that.

What happened to that civilization? If it existed, why don’t I see signs of ruins everywhere?

I motion at the kneeling men and keep my voice to a whisper. “Aside from the infamous prophecy, what do they believe these pictures say?”

Aruan crosses his wrists behind his back. “All kinds of things. Some that make sense, such as us having mates. Others are rather nonsensical.”

“For instance?”

“Some priests believe that at one point, the Alit were like the humans on Earth, without powers. Then they took tiny smart particles into themselves, made them part of their brains, and gained the ability to manipulate matter the way we do.”

The way Aruan says it makes it clear he thinks it’s all bullshit, but my heart is beating faster.

Tiny smart particles? Like nano-computers? Maybe quantum nano-computers with advanced artificial intelligence?

I suck in a breath.

Could the humans of that long-ago Zerran civilization have merged with AI using brain implants, thus becoming the superhuman Alit?

It’s a wild theory, but it would explain so much.

“Can the priests slow the images down?” I ask in excitement. “So we can better see what the recordings show?”

The red, green, and blue light plays over his face as he studies the wall.

“The priests don’t control the projections.

They run on a loop. The best they can do is watch them repeatedly and try to form a bigger picture in order to decipher them.

” He points at a corner where an image of a smiling couple is already disintegrating before it’s been fully shown. “That part refers to mates.”

I blink at the bright light, trying my best to make out something, but the picture is gone as fast as it appeared. “What do they think it says?”

His voice is gruff. “That every Alit has only one mate, and that mating is for life.”

I glance at him quickly, catching the piercing look in his eyes as he scrutinizes me. Unable to hold his intense gaze, I turn back to the images.

If the Alit are part AI, could this whole mates business be a byproduct of their programming? Ensuring that pairs are perfectly matched to avoid the unhappiness stemming from breakups makes a lot of sense. Maybe some kind of code in the AI part of the Alit seeks a complimentary code in the mate.

I’ve already concluded that Zerra must be a parallel Earth.

Only here, an asteroid didn’t end the existence of the dinosaurs.

Maybe the human race developed in coexistence with the animals which, on Earth, are long since extinct.

They could’ve created powerful super-computers and artificial intelligence, just like humans are starting to do, and merged with the latter to become a new, stronger race with seeming superpowers.

I’m so lost in the incredible possibility that I jump when Aruan touches my shoulder.

“You look pale.” He frowns. “Are you all right?”

My voice comes out scratchy. “Yes.” I clear my throat. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

He strokes my arm before taking my hand. “Shall we go? We have to get ready for the banquet.”

I look up at him as he leads me back into the sunshine. “Aruan?”

He smiles at me. “Elsie?”

“Does Vitai have a mate?”

“Every Alit has a mate.”

“Does he know who she is?”

He steers me around a puddle of mud. “He hasn’t sensed her yet.”

“When does an Alit sense his mate?”

“It happens at different stages of maturity, but for most, it’s during young adulthood. Why?” He stops and gives me a dark look. “You’re not interested in Vitai, are you?”

“Of course not.” I bite my lip, considering how honest to be. I don’t want to betray Eucabeth’s feelings, especially as I haven’t spoken to her and am basing my assumption purely on observations. “I was just wondering.”

“As long as you don’t get any ideas.” He tugs me closer, pulling me into a possessive hug against his side. “I don’t want to have to kill my youngest brother.”

And he’s not even joking.