I AM MAN, page 10
She knew what it was. Her big eyes never left the little glass jar, watching the black liquid slosh around inside. It was called shade, because it pulled a veil over your senses, over your mind, over your pain, your guilt, your hurt—over anything you wanted. Augments took it to veil their suffering in the dark alleys of New Earth, Aliens took it to blot out the voices telling them they weren’t worthy of the life they’d been gifted. There were even some Purebloods known to enjoy it; wearing heavy lipstick to cover their tainted black lips, smearing makeup over their swollen black veins. They took shade to cover up their lies, though it was the truth that needed to remain hidden.
Clora stared at the vial, her eyes flicking between the needle and her older brother. This wasn’t possible. This couldn’t be her sweet brother—silly, goofy Leo who only knew how to laugh. She was right. It wasn’t Leo. This man before her was Crown Prince Helios au Valetia.
Silly Leo was dead.
“You would use shade on me?” she whispered.
For a moment, Helios didn’t speak, as if hearing the suggestion had somehow alerted him to the absurdity of the idea. His eyes met hers and he took a breath, a gentle inhale—like a baby’s yawn—and he exhaled the last of himself.
“I will do what I must to protect the Crown and the Pyramid, Clora. That is my duty as the Prince of the Vale.”
“You’re very good at your job,” she complimented dryly.
Helios passed the bottle and syringe back to S14, taking the black bag instead. He smiled down at his little sister, but it was not his usual wily grin, like the one he’d worn when he’d first placed her in her cage. This smile was different; sad, despite its form. Like watching someone laugh while crying. It was strange to see such an image on her brother’s face. If it weren’t for the cage sitting just a few feet away, Clora would have reached out and offered a hug. But she knew her brother.
He lifted her chin, brushing his thumb along the line of her jaw. Then he kissed her.
“What was that for?” Clora whispered when he pulled away.
“To remind you that I still love you.”
She would have said more but Helios put the bag over her head, hushing her voice and turning out the lights. She was suddenly blind and nearly deaf. Everything around her sounded muffled beneath the heavy material.
A hand grabbed her roughly and guided her toward the door. Clora knew right away it was a Skel. This must be S14, the princess thought. X04 wouldn’t treat her so roughly, not after their conversation. Clora was the only person who knew the truth about the Guardian—the free woman, as she’d described herself. But she hadn’t come to the room, and Clora didn’t hear more than three sets of footsteps as she walked.
Where are we going? Clora wondered. Think. She began counting her footsteps, trying to map out her location in her mind. She was wearing a bag over her head and had been threatened with shade if she didn’t cooperate. Wherever she was going, Helios didn’t want her to know the way there. Wherever she was going, he preferred to have a Soldier by his side, instead of a Guardian.
Two lefts, Clora counted, rounding a corner. A short staircase … then a right … another left—we should be near the kitchens. Except she didn’t smell any food, not the fragrance of freshly baked cornbread or the buttery smell of grits, not even the faintest hint of fruit or honey. All she smelled was the familiar scent of her brother walking beside her.
Clora inhaled sharply; they’re walking in circles, trying to confuse me. And it was working. Had she miscounted her steps? Had she missed a turn? Misplaced the staircase? There were too many factors to consider.
She came to a sudden stop. Someone grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her, and guided her down a staircase. This is new, she thought, carefully walking forward. Maybe this is the basement? Before she could form another thought, the bag was removed from her head and all her questions died on her tongue.
All her life, Clora had been told that Skel were killing machines. The creature before her certainly looked like one. It stood taller than any Skel she’d ever seen, with pools of black shadows sitting in its face where its eyes should have been. Its mouth was covered with a metal mask—no, she thought, staring at the device, it’s covered with a cage. And its body was hidden behind spiked armor that made X04’s armor seem a child’s costume in comparison.
“This is D-twelve,” Helios said. He stepped around his sister and peered right into D12’s dark eyes. “It’s a Destroyer, and it belongs to me.”
“What are you doing with a Destroyer?” Clora whispered. She’d heard of the monsters, literal killing machines, but she’d also heard they were difficult to contract because of their nature. Supposedly, only military officials had clearance to obtain one and even then, it was hard to justify their use without a declaration of war. Then again, the Pureblood nations were at war and while Prince Helios wasn’t a military leader, he was the crown prince of the Vale Republic. His influence stretched further than Clora had ever guessed.
“It is my bodyguard—though my body isn’t what it’s been guarding.” Helios glanced over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. When Clora didn’t get it, he nodded toward the metal bars before her, and she realized the Destroyer was positioned in front of a prison cell.
With a gasp, she ran to the metal bars, blinking at the inky darkness of the little room. “Exfive!” she said, voice cracking.
The cell was covered in shadows, without windows or lights it was impossible for Clora’s human eyes to see. But she could hear well enough. Something heavy took a step closer, the noise echoed through the cement covered chamber, sending a chill up Clora’s spine. Another step, slow and steady; suddenly, Clora could see two piercing blue orbs glowing in the pitch dark. In the next moment, a seven-foot-tall robot stood before her. He emerged from the blackness of the room, like a soldier peering through fog, though he held no gun and had no knives.
“I’m so sorry,” Clora said softly. Her eyes roved his frame, frantically searching for signs of injury, but she quickly realized she had no idea what she was looking for. What did an injured Skel look like? A tired one? A stressed one? She turned back to her brother. “How has he been treated? When was his last recharge? What have you told him about the trial?”
Helios frowned, offended by all the questions, but before he could speak, X5’s voice cut him off.
“Princess…”
She turned to him; her brother’s presence suddenly forgotten. X5 extended a hand, intending to reach through the bars of the prison cell, but as soon as his gloved hand got close, an electrical wave pulsed through the metal and shocked him.
He jerked back, withdrawing his hand, and glaring at the Destroyer on guard.
Fury sank its fangs into Clora. “Why are you doing this!?” she screamed at her brother, whirling on him. Her dress flowed with the motion, throwing up a curtain of material as she charged him. “You monster!”
S14 stepped in front of the prince. It grabbed her by the wrist and painfully twisted her arm behind her back. “Cease your struggling,” it commanded.
Clora thrashed in its grasp. “Let go of me! I am a Pureblood princess of the—” it hit her in the back of the head. Stars danced in her vision as darkness began to cloud the room. With the last of her will, she clung to consciousness, searching for her brother, hoping he would intervene.
Helios stood in the corner by the staircase, watching the ordeal with a blank expression on his face. “That’s enough, Fourteen.”
Clora felt the Skel’s grip shift as it lifted her into its arms. “Shall I carry her to your room?”
“Yes, it’s time we leave.”
“Wait,” a voice called. It was X5.
In her weakness, Clora struggled to turn her head, trying to get a glimpse of her Guardian. He stood at the bars of the cage, as close as he could get without being shocked, and glared at Helios and S14.
The prince chuckled, like this was all a joke. “What do you want?”
“You are my client’s brother,” X5 said in a voice Clora barely recognized. It was tainted by anger and laced with hatred. “She loves you dearly, for whatever that’s worth. But I don’t like you at all.”
Helios laughed again, his smile stretching wide. “Good to know, Skel.”
“I’m going to kill you, Prince Helios.”
The prince stepped closer to the prison bars, his smile gone, his laughter but an echo in the room. “Excuse me?”
“I’m going to kill you,” X5 repeated. “And I’m going to make sure you know it’s me when I do.”
“Do not threaten my client,” S14 said.
X5 ignored the Soldier. “Enjoy your day, Prince Helios.” Then he stepped back, disappearing into the shadows of his cell.
------X------
Slowly, consciousness returned. Clora blinked back tears as her vision cleared; to her surprise, she was not in a cage—like she’d expected to be. The material beneath her body was soft and warm, she gripped it as she pushed herself up and realized she’d been lying in her brother’s bed.
S14 gripped its weapon, drawing her attention. It stood at the end of her bed, watching with unmoving eyes. Clora swallowed, trying to shake the feeling of unease that crawled over her skin. Then S14 flicked its steady gaze to something beside her; she followed its eyes to find her brother sitting in a chair next to the bed. His eyes were half closed and unfocused, staring at absolutely nothing.
Clora shifted on the covers to face him, her lips pulling back into a snarl, but the prince spoke first. “I know,” he murmured softly. “I hate myself too.”
Clora blinked at him, taken aback by his confession.
“Leave us,” Helios said to S14. It obeyed without question, shutting the door behind itself. Her brother caught her gaze. “You’re finally awake.”
“How long—”
“Long enough,” he said. Then he looked away, down to his own hands, at the vial wrapped in his palm. Shade.
She took a shaky breath. “Leo…”
“Your Skel threatened me, Clora,” he explained. “Its intentions are clear now. We cannot allow it to live another second.”
“What are you saying?”
“We’ve decided to move forward with the execution without a trial. Your Guardian will be dismantled within the hour.”
She started shaking her head. “No, no, no, no…”
“Yes,” Helios said, reaching for a syringe from the bedside table. “You will attend the execution.”
“I won’t!” she hollered, tears flowing.
He looked at her, his expression blank. “Sweet one, you will only hate me for a time. Soon you will realize this was necessary.”
“I will never forgive you,” she spat.
Helios paused, he’d been in the middle of filling the syringe with shade, but now he was looking at her, his brows scrunched together. Genuine confusion mottled his perfect features. “That’s not very Christian-like,” he said honestly.
She spat at him. A big glob of saliva trailed down his face, but he only wiped it away, amused by her anger. “Sit still,” he whispered, bringing the needle closer.
Clora screamed and turned to run, but Helios grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her back across the bed, yelling as he handled her. “This is your fault!” He threw her onto the covers and sat on top of her, using his weight to keep her pinned in place. “Before I sent Pygmalis to your room, what were my last words?—To trust me, Clora. That’s all I’d needed from you.” Surprisingly, gently, Helios reached out and stroked her face, running the back of his hand over her cheek. “Did you really think I would let that monster touch you?”
She swallowed, her mind racing. Had those really been Leo’s last words to her? Did he have some sort of plan in place she hadn’t known about?
He sighed. “But you went and did things on your own. And I’ve been cleaning up your mess ever since.”
“Leo,” she pleaded, staring at the syringe in his free hand.
“There is no trust between us anymore.”
He grabbed her by the face and forced her head to the side, exposing her neck. Helios was stronger than her—as he was older and taller and bigger—but she was angrier. Clora bit the hand that held her, taking his knuckle between her teeth. Helios yelped and jerked away, shocked by the pain. She took advantage of his surprise and punched him right in the gut. All the air went out of his lungs as he screamed. He dropped the syringe and grabbed his stomach; this was probably the worst pain he’d ever felt as a pampered crown prince. There was more to come.
Clora reached up and grabbed her brother’s hair, yanking hard as she rolled them both off the bed. They landed with a thud! and Clora immediately turned to scramble away. Helios grabbed her ankle and dragged her back, but she’d gotten what she’d needed by then. When he pulled her to his eye level by her own hair, she stabbed him in the neck with the syringe.
His eyes went wide as he realized what she’d done. “Clora,” he whispered, his grip falling limp. And then he fell to the side, shade running through his system, wiping away his reality and replacing it with pleasant hallucinations.
The door crashed open at the sound of the scuffle. S14 held its gun at the ready, locking on to Clora without hesitation. But before it could pull the trigger, streaks of electricity crawled over its frame, and it crumpled to the floor. Behind it, X04 stepped into the room.
“Where have you been?” Clora said, straightening her new gown. She suddenly realized Helios had changed her clothes while she’d been unconscious; probably an outfit he thought fitting for the execution.
“Your brother ordered me away,” X04 explained. “I had to obey or else risk him finding out about my freewill.”
“And now?” Clora marched past her and into the hall.
“I was ordered back to escort you to the execution. I decided to intervene when I heard all the noise inside.”
“I didn’t kill him,” she said quickly.
“And I did not kill S-fourteen, but I will return and kill them both. If you’d like.”
Clora turned a corner, in search of a certain room. “No. I gave Leo a dose of shade, he’ll need his Skel to take him to the medical wing when it wakes before him.”
“Good thinking, princess. But we have more pressing matters now.”
“I know.”
“Your Guardian was set to immediate execution. Rescuing him is our priority.”
“I know!” Clora turned to speak over her shoulder. “We can’t rescue Exfive until we know where he’s at. I went to visit him earlier—it was beneath the palace, but I don’t know the way. Maybe a secret staircase or passageway.”
“I can cross-check the pyramid’s blueprints for unexplained gaps in the map,” X04 offered.
She nodded. “Check for gaps within a ten-minute walk of Leo’s bedroom. It was close. While you’re doing that, I need to speak with my sister.”
Clora stopped before a large set of double doors. Two Skel peered down at her, confused by her presence. “My brother needs help in his bedroom, please go assist him,” she instructed. They glanced at each other in bewilderment, unsure what to do. “A Pureblood princess has just told you the crown prince is in danger. What are you waiting for?”
“Princess Sunder gave us direct orders to stand guard,” they said in unison.
Behind them, the double doors opened and Sunder herself stepped out. She wore her undergarments, veiled by a thin robe. The Skel stood at attention. “At ease,” she instructed. “Please go help my brother. Apparently, he’s in danger.” Sunder watched her sister closely, not convinced about Leo’s danger in the least bit.
Little does she know, Clora thought.
“Now what is it, little sister?” Sunder said, turning to walk back into her bedroom.
Clora followed her inside, shocked by the simplicity of it. Bare walls, a bookshelf and wardrobe in the corner, and a small desk to work at. There was a useless fireplace in the wall that’d never been used, it was always scorching hot in the Vale.
“I need to know what’s going on,” Clora said.
Sunder went to the small desk and poured herself a drink from the display. When she saw Clora watching, she held up the glass. “It’s only chilled tea.”
“Sunder—”
“Alright,” she said quickly. “Since you’re here on your own, you must have run away from Leo. Won’t be long before he finds you.”
“You knew he had me locked in a cage.” That wasn’t a question.
Sunder didn’t respond right away, keeping her eyes locked on her little sister over the rim of her glass. “I knew a lot of things, Clora.”
“Yet, you did nothing.”
“That’s exactly right,” she said sternly. “I did nothing, and I will continue to do nothing.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” she snapped. “Helios runs this palace—he runs this nation, right beneath the noses of our parents. Heck,” she laughed darkly, “right in front of them. He is their making, after all.”
“So you’re afraid of him.”
She set down her glass and took a deep breath. “It’s like this … Our cousin Bastion wasn’t killed by the Savish. The assassin was Savish, but he’d been hired by the Nation of Kishra.”
“That means Kishra killed our cousin and their own prince,” Clora muttered.
“That’s right. By the time I found out, the Vale Republic had already been locked in war against the Savish for years. We couldn’t escape and we couldn’t prove Kishra’s part in it. So the war continued—but wars are expensive. We ran out of living soldiers to sacrifice, so we created an entire army of Skel. The acquisition depleted our economy.” She paused, Clora couldn’t tell if she was upset or not. “The other nations weren’t better off, but no one was willing to give up ground. That’s when Kishra approached with a marriage proposal in their back pocket. But we didn’t want to be tied to Kishra.”
“Helios said we needed Kishra to end the war,” Clora said.
Sunder chuckled. “I’m sure Leo said a lot of things to you—whatever he needed you to believe. In the end, he wasn’t willing to accept an alliance at the cost of his favorite sister. They would have taken you to Kishra and put a baby in you as quickly as possible. You and your child would have been hostages the rest of your lives, forcing the Vale Republic to obey their every command in order to protect you. Leo wouldn’t have it.”
