Zoe Thanatos (14 page)

Eva knew she would have to select
her words carefully and take great care to not say anything to upset her. They
weren’t particularly close, and despite her knowledge of the affair with Evan
she didn’t dare presume to be friendly with the Queen.

“The original family is gone, Your
Highness. Even if one of them had survived, why would they wait until now to
make their presence known? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Indeed,” the Queen replied. “Do
you remember anything about them?” she asked.

The question surprised Eva; The
Queen never asked her personal questions. It was strange for her to even care
what anyone else thought.

She searched her mind, trying to
place the name Thea with any long-lost memories. There was the faintest flicker
of recognition but no memory resurfaced. She remembered little before the death
of her parents, shortly before going in to Crown custody.

“No. I know the stories,” she
admitted. “The original family ruled for generations. They’re credited for our
advancement. Other than that I don’t really remember anything. I doubt anyone
else does either.” It helped that they had all been forced to forget by the
first Straton Queen.

The Queen nodded. Eva wondered what
else she would be asked. She was naturally talented at keeping confidences
private but didn’t exactly trust herself around the Queen.

The doorway opened and a Crown
Soldier walked briskly through, stopping just short of the Queen before bowing
his head.

“Your Highness, Evander Nero has
left with eighteen soldiers. They should be arriving shortly,” he announced.

“Thank you, Adeipho,” she replied,
dismissing him with a wave of her hand. When the soldier didn’t leave she
looked to him again, irritation lining her face. “Is there something else?”

“Yes, Your Highness. We ran a
cybernated subterranean scan of Last City and found an anomaly. They’ve built a
gate.”

Eva watched as the Queen
straightened in her seat, the illusion of her composure slipping. The only
gates on Terra were controlled by the Crown Soldiers - several at the Royal
Transport Station and one used privately, the one she and Evan arrived in from
Earth. The technology to build them belonged exclusively to the Crown and no
gate had ever been built by anyone other than the monarchy.

“How is that possible?” the Queen
asked, her voice growing in volume.

“We have no idea, Your Highness.
Based on the outputs we detected the gate is powered and fully functioning.
There was a trace biological signature so it is likely a resident has used it.”

“Where is it programmed for?”

“The signal indicates Gaia.”

Eva had to keep herself from
gasping out loud. Gaia was so named because of its unique likeness to Terra, a
universe where only one planet was known to contain human life: Earth.

“Shut it down!” the Queen
commanded. Eva was ripped from her thoughts at the sound of the Queen’s voice
searing through the room. “I want all residents outside of Terra brought back
immediately. Hold them in the Military Complex and then suspend all gates
programmed for Gaia.”

Eva felt her heart leap in her
chest. If the Queen de-programmed the gates for Gaia there would be no way to
ever return, no possibility of going back to Earth. She thought immediately of
Evan. If he found out he could never go back... She had to do something before
that happened.

Adeipho looked positively
frightened by the Queen. “It will take some time to find everyone, Your
Highness,” he stammered.

“Then send everyone we have to get
them. You,” she pointed at Eva. “Find out if someone from Last City is in Gaia
and bring them back at once. Go!” she yelled at both of them.

Eva felt a ripple of fear in her
chest. The Queen would expect her to return with only one person from Gaia: a
resident.

The inhabited cities of Terra
spread out like a chain of steel and glass islands, each one connected to the
other by long corridors of transport stations. The Royal City was the pinnacle,
situated the farthest from Last City with private transport stations that
allowed the Crown Soldiers to travel twice as fast.

Evan had never been to Last City.
Many of the cities were built during his childhood when the first Straton Queen
and King held him and Evadine captive. The Queen and King kept a very tight rein
on them, and always insisted on knowing their whereabouts and keeping them
close by.

I shouldn’t even be here
. He
never had an interest in the Crown Soldiers or their work. Before the Stratons
took possession of the Crown the same soldiers had belonged to them, owned and
controlled as a source of power. Terra never had an army before the Crown
Soldiers; there was never any need.

Evan watched as Alcander addressed them,
his demeanor having changed significantly since their debriefing with the
Queen. Each soldier was armed; they looked frighteningly like the guns, small
and potentially lethal. He had no taste for violence. From the way Alcander and
Hector described their encounter with the Elder and the residents of Last City,
there was no need for such force. The King’s involvement, however, made the
presence of weapons a necessity.

One of the soldiers stood abruptly
and pointed beyond the walls of the transport. “Sir, look!” he demanded.

The transport was decreasing in
speed as it approached the entryway of the Last City Transport Station. Evan
looked in the direction the solder pointed in and saw a large crowd gathered on
the platform. The King stood in the middle surrounded by residents.

Evan looked to Alcander and Hector.
“Do you remember the faces of the residents who took the King?”

“Yes,” Hector replied.

“Good. Have the others take them.
You two take the King and check him for injuries. Secure him in a private car
away from the other prisoners. I’ll take custody of the Elder woman and the
book.

Alcander exchanged looks with
Hector. “It’s our job to protect the Queen and her assets, Evan, even dusty old
history books,” he scowled.

“And if you were meant to so much
as breathe on it then it wouldn’t be locked away to begin with, would it?” Evan
argued. “I will take the book and you can explain to the Queen how you failed
to protect her
assets
in the first place.”

Alcander’s face turned bright red.
He adjusted the armed device he carried and turned his attention to the crowd of
residents and the King.

The transport doors opened to
silence. Each resident stood in silence, their facial expressions neutral at
the sight of Evan and the armed Crown Soldiers. The King did not appear to be
hurt. In fact, he didn’t look the least bit concerned with his circumstances.

Ten of the soldiers dispersed
around the large crowd while another six took possession of the presumed
kidnappers. Hector and Alcander went straight for the King with Evan following
behind.

“Have you joined up with the Crown
Soldiers, Evander?” asked the King, a cocky smirk on his face. His charms were
lost on Evan, who didn’t appreciate the King’s humor in light of the
circumstances.

“The Queen asked me to come get
you, Your Highness,” he retorted. Owyn’s chin lifted and Evan thought he saw a
faint smile of defiance.  “Which one is the Elder?”

“I am her,” a woman spoke. She did
not have the face of an Elder.

Evan was not convinced. “Your
Highness is she woman who stole the book and held you captive?” he asked.

“She is,” the King replied. “She
has given her word that no resident will act in violence against us. Let’s show
her the same courtesy.” His eyes were on Hector and Alcander, his words a
command they heeded without question.

“Hector, Alcander,” Evan called to
the soldiers. They looked to the King and moved only after he nodded in
approval. Evan turned his attention to the Elder. “Where is the book?” he
asked.

A male resident stepped forward,
the book clutched tightly in his arms. He held the book out to Evan with great
care, his eyes never leaving the elaborate royal seal stamped in the center of
the hard cover. Evan took it and was surprised by its heavy weight. One by one
the residents turned and left, vacating the platform.

 “What’s your name?” he asked the
Elder woman.

“Thea,” she answered, never once
taking her eyes off of him.

 “What’s your
real
name?” he
clarified. She didn’t answer. “Whether or not you lie makes no difference to
me. Nothing you say is likely to influence whatever punishment the Queen has
planned for you,” he remarked.

The Elder woman’s expression seemed
to soften as she examined the features of his face. “Owyn called you Evander.
Are you a Nero?” she asked.

An indignant flame burst beneath his
skin, first at her informal use of the King’s name and more so at the
recognition of his.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?”
she asked, her head crooked to the side.  “Evander Nero,” she whispered as if
she couldn’t believe her own words.

His heart rate increased and he had
to fight to retain his composure. “Come with me,” he commanded.

He moved a few paces behind her and
urged her towards the transport door. As they boarded he directed her to a
private room opposite the Crown Soldiers and their prisoners. Once settled, the
transport began the return trip to the Royal City, picking up tremendous speed
with each passing moment.

The Elder sat down gracefully as
Evan took the seat opposite her with the book secure at his side. They sat in
silence as the transport moved, Last City fading into the distance. He glanced
at the book and tried to recall the woman’s words. ‘
Forgotten truths’
came to mind immediately. His eyes traced along the raised impression of the
royal seal, wondering what words were contained within the pages that she
risked her life for.

“I’m guessing you’ve never read
it,” she interrupted.

Evan moved the book to his side and
out of her view. “It’s not mine to read,” he answered. The longer he looked at
her the more he realized she looked too young to be an Elder and too refined
for a resident of Last City. Untamed curls of golden brown hair spilled out
from her head, with dark close set eyes perched on top of a narrow nose and
full mouth, and skin that radiated golden warmth. She was an exotic contrast to
the other residents. She stood out amongst those who stood at her side on the
platform, and he knew she was not truly one of them. She did, however, look
like someone who had lived luxuriously, who spent their life surrounded by the
comforts of the Royal City.

“It is a chapter of Terra’s
history; of course it is yours to read. It would change your perception of the
Stratons if you knew how different the story in the book is from the story you
remember. From what you were
told
.” There was a strange kindness in her
voice, a matronly gentleness that reminded him of his own mother.

“You have no idea what my
perception of the Queen and King is,” he disputed.

“I know a lot more than you think I
do, Evander. About you, your Queen, and the King.”

He bristled at the familiar way she
spoke his name, but couldn’t place the direct source of his discomfort. “If
that were true then you would have had no reason to take the book.”

“I didn’t take it for knowledge,”
she replied.

“For what then?” he asked.

“To get Kyra Straton’s attention,”
she confessed.

“Well, you got it. You’ll be lucky
if all she does is lock you away for the rest of your life,” he warned. “I hope
you had enough sense not to share your conspiracy with the other residents.”

“It isn’t a conspiracy,” she
replied sternly. “The book is evidence.”

“Evidence of what? If that were
true then why would it be on display in the Media Center for all to see instead
of hidden or even destroyed?” he asked incredulously. “Do you really think they
would hide it in plain sight?”

“You mean in a container programmed
with technology so advanced only one or two people in the world could open it?
Yes, I do think that.”

“Then how did you manage to steal
it?” he countered.

To his surprise she smiled. “My
family created that technology.”

He shook his head in disbelief.
“Right. Not only are you claiming the Stratons are frauds, but also that you
are the last surviving member of the original family.”

“I never said I was the last.”

A cold chill struck a nerve in his
spine. Nothing she was claiming was possible. “The original family is dead.
They have been for nearly a generation.”

She stiffened in her seat as a
pained expression breached her face, and for a moment Evan regretted his words.
Her reaction surprised him. No one could fake the emotional toll a loss like
that would take on a person. She was genuine.

“Yes, most of them are dead,” she
said after a long moment. “My sisters and brothers, my husband, maybe even my
children. They nearly killed me, too.” She seemed to struggle with the words.
Evan watched as she fought to keep her emotions from spilling out of her
control. “What purpose were our deaths meant to serve?” Her voice wavered as
she spoke.

His memory of the past had faded
considerably, though some memories of his parents had remained. His mother and
father had close ties to the original family, and he would have recognized her
if she were who she claimed to be.

“How did you know my name?” he
asked.

“The same way I know that your
sister is Evadine and that you’ve been held prisoner by the Stratons since your
parents died. I know that your mother was Calla, and your father was Damon. I
know because you used to play with my children.” Her eyes filled with tears
that never spilled. He could see she was powering through her resolve, keeping
her head up in spite of her circumstances.