Page 31

Marinah

“Labyrinth wanted a family. He wanted peace,” I said to those gathered to honor him. “The only way we’ll ever have peace is if we make it.”

Eight Shadow Warriors rested on tall funeral pyres along the shore, their bodies illuminated by the flickering light of the torches. I had ordered that every adult on the island attend the funerals. My speech for Labyrinth was the last one.

I told the islanders and Warriors about the Federation’s atrocities, about how they were turning their soldiers into hellhounds.

Ava, the young soldier we had saved, had shared the horrors I was still struggling to process. Captured as a child, she had been forced into military service. The injections began when she was sixteen. The Federation had experimented on her and others, unsure how much of the poison their bodies could endure. Many of her friends died.

She described the punishment for refusing injections or refusing to fight: execution followed by something worse. Those who resisted were placed inside cages after death, and the red stripes were forced to watch their transformation into hellhounds. According to Ava, death became an even bigger fear. They would do anything to avoid becoming one of the monsters.

After hearing her account, I immediately issued an order: every Federation soldier we kill had to be beheaded immediately.

The weight of what Ava shared still lingered on my mind. The Federation had been experimenting on humans for years. We had thought they attacked outposts to conscript young men and women for their army. In a way, they did. But once those soldiers were no longer useful, they became fodder, then tools and controlled killing machines.

I looked at the people gathered around me. Translators repeated my words in Spanish for those who hadn’t learned English. Most of the islanders were bilingual, but I wanted everyone to fully understand the gravity of what we were facing.

Ruth stood next to Missy in the crowd. Che wasn’t with his parents, and I was grateful for that. He had seen enough death in his young life.

I spoke about Labyrinth the man and Labyrinth the Warrior. Somehow, I managed not to cry.

“If you have a boy, name him after me,” repeated in my head. I silently made that promise now. Regardless of gender, Labyrinth would be my child’s middle name. He or she would grow up knowing who this great Warrior was and what he had sacrificed.

King leaned in close as I lit Labyrinth’s pyre. “I’ll stay if you need to sleep,” he offered.

It was because of the baby, but I shook my head and threaded my fingers through his. This was our job, and Labyrinth deserved our respect. I stood by King’s side as the fires burned through the night. Near dawn, Labyrinth was gone.

The walk to our room felt like miles, but I made it. Once inside, I unbuckled my leather straps and tossed them aside. I was about to strip off my pants when King stepped up behind me, his hands resting gently on my stomach.

“I love you,” he whispered.

I turned to him, and he pulled me into his arms. The tears came again.

“I promise you,” he whispered against my hair. “Our child will know peace.”

We had Mrs. Barnes as a bargaining chip. We had Shadow Warriors at our side and humans ready to stand with us. We had allies at the outposts. And we had my Nova.

The Federation had no idea what was coming.

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PRINCESS releases 7/29/25