“Every Zodai picks out their tent and chooses where to place it,” says Skarlet as we wind through them. I keep waiting for her to slow down, but her pace stays brisk. When I finally think I’m going to pass out, I see flashes of blue, and excitement replaces exhaustion, quickening my steps.
“Hysan set yours up,” says Skarlet, and I almost stumble when she says his name. “He thought you would want to be by the water.”
As the golden trees thin out, we step into a clearing, and blue overtakes the view. A sparkling cobalt sea hugs the forest, and on its banks, on the outskirts of the woods, stands a silky sapphire tent that’s larger and lovelier than all the others I’ve seen.
I follow Skarlet through the entrance flap into a beautiful domed space with a central, star-shaped ceiling window where the tent’s fabric becomes clear and daylight shines through. The ground is blanketed in white feathers, and there’s a wide bed with deep blue sheets. There’s also a polished wooden desk and a small area that’s blocked off by a sapphire curtain; on its other side is a floor-length mirror, a vanity, and a rack of hangers with silky clothes I don’t recognize in bright reds, blues, and greens—the primary colors Librans love.
My Wave sits on the vanity’s tabletop, my traveling case is on the white-feathered floor, and beside it is Nishi’s lavender levlan bag.
Tick, tock, tick, tock, crab.
My gut knots up, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“Bathrooms are at the keep, so unless you want to rough it, grab your toiletries and head back up there when you’re ready,” throws Skarlet over her shoulder as she walks out. “I have to check in with my troop, so I’ll see you in the dining hall in an hour for dinner.”
I’m starting to see why Arieans are so physically fit if just going to the bathroom is this taxing. When she leaves, I try to gather the energy to trek back up to the keep to bathe, but I can’t. My muscles are more drawn to the sea.
So I strip off my Lodestar suit, leave the tent naked, and walk into the cobalt water.
I lose track of the minutes as I float freely on my back, hoping the orange sunlight can penetrate the darkness coating my skin. I want to inhale the salt of the sea and the musk of the trees, but Phaet might as well be another nightmare world. I can touch it, but I can’t taste it.
When my fingers look like prunes, I finally swim back to shore. Since I didn’t bring a towel with me, I’m naked and dripping wet when I slip inside the sapphire tent—where Hysan is already waiting for me.
7
GLOWING IN HIS GOLDEN KNIGHT suit, Hysan holds a red robe open in his hands. His vivid green eyes fill with light as I approach, and his happiness weighs so heavily on me that I have to drop my gaze.
My head is still bowed as I reach him, and I twist around to slide my arms into the silky red sleeves. “I’ve missed you so much,” he murmurs behind me, his breath brushing my ear as I cinch the robe’s belt closed.
Even though he’s right here, his cedary scent smells faint, like I’m only remembering it. I pull away quickly and pad to the tent’s opening. Then I breathe in a lungful of fresh air and stare out at the darkening day.
Helios’s dimming light combined with the Ariean sun’s red rays now dyes the water bloodred and saturates the sky with combustible clouds. It looks like we’re boiling inside a cauldron, only I can’t feel the fire’s flames.
I can’t feel anything.
“How are you, Rho?” asks Hysan, who’s still standing where I left him. Since he was careful not to touch me while he helped me into the robe, he must already realize something’s off between us.
He probably picked up on it as soon as he learned I was awake and didn’t go straight to him.
“Can I get you anything?” His tone grows tighter in my prolonged silence. “Would you like some food? Are you in any pain?”
“What happened at the Cathedral?” I ask, still staring at the infernal world beyond this tent.
“Mathias and I reached the hall in time to watch you and Aquarius fall. His soldiers were stunned to see him go down, and all they cared about was hauling him to safety. They left you and Ophiuchus behind . . . but they took your mom.”
I close my eyes, snuffing out what’s left of the daylight, and the first real feeling since awakening tugs on my chest as I think of my proud, strong mother being held captive. I have to help her after I’ve saved Nishi.
After all, she only came to the Cathedral to protect me. She had a life she enjoyed among the Luminaries, and she abandoned it to help me with my cause. Because she’s always placed her duty to the stars above her own happiness.
Above her House.
Above her family.
“The Marad also took Aryll.”
Hysan’s voice brings me back to the present, and I repeat the name in my head until I remember.
Aryll.
It tastes like venom, and I’m tempted to spit it back out. Swallowing the impulse, I keep my gaze focused outside, on the scarlet sea. “I shot him.”
“Yes,” says Hysan, the word so soft I barely hear it. I can’t tell if it’s pity or disappointment dampening his voice—nor do I want to turn around and find out.
“Since the Scarab’s poison has a twenty-four-hour grace period,” he goes on, “I’m sure the Marad was eager to get out of there and administer the antidote to both Aquarius and Aryll.”
“And Nishi?”
At last I spin around in anticipation of the answer I’m seeking above all others. “Where is the Tomorrow Party keeping her? What’s the rescue mission? Is Brynda helping with the plan?”
Something like understanding flashes in Hysan’s gaze, and his expression clears. Like he’s been rifling through all the possible explanations for my mood and has finally found the one that syncs up. Now he can adjust his act accordingly.
“We know the Party left Primitus,” he says, bringing up the warmth in his voice, like a musician tuning an instrument. “But we don’t know much more than that yet. We’re in the midst of forming a galactic army for the first time in a millennium, and new Zodai volunteers are arriving daily. There’s a lot going on—but we haven’t forgotten her.”
I don’t know what’s going on inside me, but somehow the fact that Hysan thinks he has me all figured out bothers me. I feel like I’ve become one of his devices: He just has to say the right sequence of words, and I’ll fall back in line and follow his lead.
I’ll just accept that he’s been too busy to put any thought into rescuing Nishi.
“Rho . . . I know you need time to recover, but this base needs you,” he says, and even from a few paces away I can see the vulnerability softening his incredible eyes. “The Houses unanimously voted that when you recovered you would be leader and tiebreaker of our operation, reinstating the power of the Wandering Star position. So I’d like to get you caught up on everything as soon as you feel up to it.”
Part of me is listening, but most of me is marveling at how he even knows that I need him to stay completely stationary right now. His feet have been locked in place this whole time, like he’s trying to limit his presence in my space.