Ranse, p.24
Ranse, page 24
“Bones! How?”
“When we die, we crystalize. Our bones do. Most important is the heart bone.” She rests her hands there, then drops them to her pelvis. “There are holy sites on Eruvis where the ground has been scraped clean and we cannot die. Our bodies have nothing to fuse to. We scatter like pebbles, buried in dirt, alone.”
“So those pebbles…you were fusing the dead to the wall?”
“Their crystalized heart bones, yes, so the dead will commune with their ancestors once more.”
The ambassador hisses again.
I turn to Jian. “What is he saying?”
“Do not increase the Arrisan’s wealth for free,” he translates. “You are the reason we are weak.”
Okay, sure. I ignore the ambassador. “So that’s why the ones attacking Humana are lost? Because they can’t die in peace?”
“We must soak in the essence of the ancestors to take a mate, to conceive. The lost generation cannot. They are scattered among the stars, unable to form connections, unable to make families. They fill their empty hearts with anger.”
Wait, wait. “What do you mean, they have to ‘soak in the essence of the ancestors’ to take a mate? Like, this is the Eruvisan version of lusteal, and you have to eat it or rub it or breathe it in to, uh, get hard?”
“Touch and breathe,” she confirms. “It is not the same as lusteal because we can perform the sexual act without it. But to form a loving connection, to create a viable baby, we require much exposure to the ancestral stones. That’s why when we die, we must give it back. A small group on Eruvis collects the scattered dead and sends their heartstones to me. I try them in the different places until I find a match, like that day at the wall.”
“And yet it’s still for sale.” I turn to the ambassador. “You’re mining the literal future of your own people for profit.”
“Arrisans want the stone.” He tries to hold my gaze while inexorably being drawn back to the greenstone chunk on the pedestal. “They demand the color. It’s not our wish. We just satisfy their demands.”
“One group sells another’s nesting grounds,” Seera says in disgust, “and then cries when someone sells theirs. The rulers direct our angry, mateless young men to attack for their own ends while our young women toil, age, and die alone. We can be very short-sighted.”
It’s a terribly familiar story. “This ends now.”
She studies me.
“That’s impossible,” the ambassador says. “The Arrisans will never give back all the greenstone.”
I connect my data tablet, which goes directly to Ranse’s.
He answers in an instant. We’ve timed it perfectly. His background shows the confirmation hearing pavilion. “You’re safe.”
“And angry.” I blow out the gust of air. “The greenstone is like the Eruvisan version of lusteal. Whoever has theirs controls the next generation.”
He’s grim. “That explains a few things.”
“Seera’s taking it all home. Can you arrange for her safety? I don’t want any convenient accidents.”
“You’re just going to take it?” Ranse grimaces. “I don’t like this plan.”
“Jian will keep me from getting shot.”
Jian twitches, but doesn’t contradict me.
Ranse blows out a gust of air that ruffles his shaggy silver hair. “Okay. An escort is ready. Wait a click.”
Overhead, the entire sky goes black. The Eruvisans mutter in the sudden darkness, and beads of light blink on, highlighting the edges of buildings and roadways.
The imperial seal flashes, and then Ranse’s face fills the sky.
He orders, like the booming voice of a firm god, “This shift, I will be confirmed as your emperor, and I will defend the empire until I die. When a criminal steals our lusteal for their own nefarious purpose, I will hunt them to the ends of the universe to take it back. And this extends to our allies and our lessers. You belong to the empire. This shift, I return the Eruvisan greenstone in all shapes and forms back to Eruvis. It can no longer be bought or sold as an item of commerce. It is an essential biological metal, and it belongs to its race.”
The imperial symbol flashes again, and then the sky fades to a normal peach-morning color.
I hold my breath.
There’s no follow-on transmission.
Perhaps Orunfax really is distracted enough by the confirmation hearing. Satisfaction thumps in my chest. Good.
“How did you do that?” The ambassador gapes at me, then at the ceiling again. “How…?”
“Unchain her,” I order one of the stunned Eruvisans.
He releases Seera.
She rubs her bony wrists. “There are many greenstone sites on Arris Central.”
“Let’s start with the one that matters most to your lost sons converging on Humana.”
“That is the largest source. The wall.”
We take her in our ship, along with the imperial greenstone, and the ambassador follows us in a diplomatic transport. Jian touches down on the street in front of the greenstone wall. It’s emblazoned with the signifying crest of House Cullus.
The noble head is supposed to be at the confirmation hearing.
Heavily armed guards line the wall on both sides.
I square my shoulders and exit the ship, Jian at my side, Seera standing at a safe distance behind me.
“Get out of here!” An older man—his manager or head guard?—glares down at us from the second floor. “This greenstone belongs to House Cullus.”
“Did you miss the massive announcement Emperor Ranse just gave?”
“You think you can take it while the noble head is gone, but no, you won’t take it without a fight.”
I sympathize with his situation. “Call your noble head, then, and I’ll talk to him.”
“Is this how a lesser advises an emperor?” the man sneers. “Did you tell Ranse to chip away at the noble houses because he’s too weak and stupid to get confirmed on his own?”
“This greenstone is the Eruvisan equivalent of lusteal, and you’re hoarding it.”
“House Cullus paid a reasonable price.” He jerks his chin at the Eruvisans, who gather behind Seera. “Their lives mean nothing to me.”
“Have it your way.” I climb on top of my ship, turn my back on his armed guards, and address the gathered Eruvisans. “Emperor Ranse returns your greenstone. I declare this wall a new Eruvisan nesting ground. Do your thing. Use it like it’s meant to be used.”
No one moves.
It’s not working.
I’m not enough on my own. I need Ranse, or the fiery lusteal-me who can command armies but never settle down.
Then, Seera steps forward.
Disapproval hisses through the crowd.
She holds her head high and touches a small greenstone to the wall. Sparks shoot across the interior of the wall as the stone melts, absorbing into the others. A low hum fills the air.
The manager squints into a viewscreen to see what’s happening beneath him on our side. “I should shoot you all for trespassing.”
His closest guard aims at me.
I snort. “Are you really going to disobey the emperor’s orders in front of a blade?”
Jian steps forward and ejects his blades, a crossed warning.
The guard lowers his gun.
The manager glares. “You can’t be here all the time. The instant you’re gone, we’re leaving a stack of bodies.”
“Honestly though, so are we.”
“What?”
“This is their cemetery. Ranse will open the borders to them, and they’ll come in legion to die here, right in front of your wall.”
“I’ll kill anyone who comes,” he snarls.
“And that’s just what they want! To die and give birth and die. Look at how long this wall is. Imagine it buried ten deep in bodies. Viscera everywhere. Death and birth. Circle of life.”
He shakes his head. “Nobody will come here just to die.”
“They’re dying across the empire already. Haven’t you seen the riots? The fights? They’re killing themselves to thwart you, only now, they can do it right in your face and they’ll die where they belong. In their nesting ground.”
More Eruvisans, emboldened by our long conversation, join Seera. They touch the wall with their palms, then rub on it, turn their backs and scratch on it. Sparks flash, intensifying the hum and colors.
“This isn’t their nesting ground!” the manager shrieks.
“You won’t let them carry it back to Eruvis. This is the consequence. The invasion you brought on yourself when you stole their lusteal.”
“You want our sacred metal, you tainted human?” He lofts a black ball. “Have it.”
He throws the ball.
Jian leaps, and his blades slash the ball into pieces.
But glittery black powder puffs out and envelops me in a sparkly choking acid.
No! Not lusteal!
The burning hits me at once. It goes up and through my veins, and all my doubts blow away like clouds in a hot summer sky. My blood pumps.
This is good. I have all the confidence I need to…
The heat grows. The itch burns in my brain, choking off my reason. Warnings flare across my mind.
And I’m on the ground. Somehow.
Jian stands over me in concern.
As it fills my veins, my head detaches, floating a foot above my body. That can’t be good, but I also don’t care about it very much. My focus shatters into fragments. Only one thought mirrors the glassy slivers in my mind.
I have an overwhelming need to see Ranse. “The palace.”
“We’re at the greenstone wall,” Jian says.
White light floods my vision.
How dare he disagree with me? How dare anyone keep me away from Ranse? I need to fight, to destroy, to tear this world apart. Forget the noble house, the vulnerable Eruvisans, the armed guards. I run at Jian and claw mindlessly. I’m going to tear his scarred eyeballs out.
Twenty-Eight
Ranse
“The Eruvisans are rioting at the greenstone wall,” Captain Ishula tells me. “Look, they’re tearing it down.”
She shows me a viewscreen of Eruvisans dragging away chunks. The wall collapses while the noble’s house manager stands back, watching in dismay behind the protection of house bodyguards.
Ishula freezes the view. Her voice is hard. “You told me Allie wouldn’t pose any more threats to security.”
I eye her through heavy lids. “You never told me why my brother thought you were disloyal.”
“I took care of the problem.”
“Oh? Ready to share?”
But before she can answer, my private viewscreen dings.
Vaier is in his safe room surrounded by blades. “I assume you know how the nobles are reacting to your generous announcement. You’ll never guess who approached me to become emperor when you’re voted out.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “It won’t matter because I’m not going anywhere.”
“You almost sound like our father.” He studies me for a long, hard moment, no longer the easygoing younger brother who laughs at my jokes, but a man fully capable of ruling. “If you are ousted, I’ll perform my duty.”
“They’re going to have to pry me out of this palace.” I grin. “But I will be confirmed today.”
“How are you so confident?”
“I’ve got Allie on my side.”
He pushes his lips to one side, then gazes up thoughtfully. “You know, when you rejected Orunfax to favor her, I was prepared to take your place. I’d heard you would be pushed out within a shift. And yet, here we are.” He finally breaks into that familiar grin, suppressing his laughter. “Are you really going to end this? Nightclub owner to emperor?”
“Watch me.” I cut the call on his smile and stride to the doorway.
Ishula floats behind me. “Do you really know what you’re doing?”
“I know exactly when I’m doing.” I step out in front of the guards and enter the confirmation hearing pavilion.
Murmurs die down, then rise again as I swagger in, increasing in pitch with every confident stride.
Orunfax stares at me. The high commanders, everyone. Because I am the emperor. It doesn’t matter whether I’m confirmed today. I’m a force of nature, my best self, never holding back again. If I lose, then I’m serving Vaier. I’m gunning for Orunfax as a private citizen. I’m going nowhere. They’re going to have to deal with me.
I complete my tour and stand behind the armored podium.
Everyone falls silent.
“Some of you are shocked that I’ve made it to this confirmation hearing,” I start off, straight to the blunt, hard point. “You say that I’m powerless, locked in the palace, that I no longer control the empire. But so what?” I clamp the podium. “I’ve ended multiple wars without military intervention. I’ve changed the face of trade without ever leaving the palace. And I’ve done it all alone.” I press my hand to my chest. “Take everything away. Strip me bare and pit me against any other man in this empire. Won’t I be the one who triumphs?”
The floor opens to allow the Arsenal and High Command to speak. Obviously, there is no one from the Arsenal. As soon as I’m emperor, we’re finding Zai or I’m appointing a new general master.
Orunfax represents the High Command with a snicker. “You’ve lost control of Arris Central. You gave away our nobles’ valuable resources and then begged them not to hurt your favorite fringe planets. And you’ve been mastered by a tainted lesser from a useless dirt planet.”
He displays a viewscreen of Humana space invaded by tiny dots. The dreadnought floats nearby, dangerous but limited. The orbital mover, interestingly, is not as far away as I expected. Did it turn back?
“You prioritize lessers over Arrisans,” Orunfax accuses. “We will defend the universe against the Harsi. We will sacrifice ourselves for these planets, and yet you want to bring us down to their level, plunge us into their mud. Now Arris Central is assaulted by unruly Eruvisans and you reward them? Your reckless acts will bring down the empire.”
“Down? I’m not bringing the empire down.” I laugh, and it’s a fierce, real sound that causes the nobles to shift and rustle. “If something is taken, I’m going to give it back. If someone is threatened, I’m going to smash that threat. If the Harsi attack right now, I am going to assume my rightful place and fight back with my entire being. And I am going to do all that because I’m lifting everyone up.”
“You’re an emperor of lessers. If you take away the respect we’re due, why should we sacrifice?”
“Because stealing from a lesser isn’t getting ‘the respect we’re due,’ it’s just theft.” I slap the podium. “We agree to preserve lesser planets. This city is built on the fragments of our old home world. We protect them so this will never happen again, yet if we reduce lesser planets to the same paltry rocks, are we the saviors?”
This is the same argument Allie once used on Takoba. The nobles are more aware of it than the average Arrisan, but we all like to pretend we’re the saviors. We really do.
“Yes,” Orunfax argues, making my point. “Of course we are. Look at how strong we are, how well we thrive.”
“Thrive? The Harsi destroyed us, and we don’t even remember what we’ve lost. Who’s read the strange things found in our origin myths? That richness still exists on the lesser planets.”
The mutters increase.
Fine. I know my audience. “Listen well.” I study each noble in turn. “If injustice is done to you, I will right it. If something has been taken from you, I will return it. I don’t care if you’re the top commander of the military or the lowest rank in the entire empire, I will give you justice.”
There is a long, poignant stillness, broken by Orunfax’s chuckles and head shakes. “You expect us to believe that? After you’ve taken from us? It’s greenstone today. Tomorrow, our lusteal, and the next day, our lives?”
“I will hurt myself and allies standing for what’s right. But I am a blade.” I rest my palm on my chest. “I was trained to withstand pain, petty appetites, and greed.”
Orunfax chuckles. “You stand for nothing. Let the nobles tell you how you’ve wronged Arris this shift.”
The stillness is deafening.
Orunfax’s smile fades. He looks around with a frown as if the others missed the cue to chime in, to heckle me. His self-assurance disappears, and a black cloud settles over his expression.
This is the moment the nobles should scream at me. Tell me I’m a terrible emperor. Declare me unfit.
But no one says a word.
Is this real? I would love to see Vaier’s face right now. My chest lifts. Was it really so easy? I want to laugh.
The silence continues.
“It is the time for noble houses to air grievances and concerns,” the master of ceremonies prompts, and even his eyes are wide, his normally stoic expression tinged with disbelief. “No one?”
No one speaks.
“Then…” The ceremonies master clears his throat. “We begin the vote.”
“Ah.” Orunfax nearly growls. “We must wait for the Arsenal representative to appear to do a final vote.”
And yet he was willing to proceed only a short time ago without Zai. A short time ago, when he thought the nobles would eviscerate me.
“I will.” Captain Ishula steps forward. “I will represent the Arsenal.”
Orunfax taps his tongue against the top of his mouth, somewhere between a click and a tsk. “You know that violates the order. We must contact the Arsenal and have the other masters swear you in as their representative.”
The ceremonies master looks at me.
I shrug. I’m in no hurry. “Sure.”
He taps his podium. “We will adjourn for a brief break to locate the masters and swear in Captain Ishula as representative of the Arsenal.”
I exit first with my entourage of palace blades and move to a secure room to rest.
The room smells vaguely of Allie. A low-level spice, like her, but different. It hooks into the back of my throat, and I cough. A few others do as well.
