The view from the top of a moving SkyFortress was always breathtaking, especially to one who thought she’d never have the privilege of seeing it ever again. Ren reached up to unhook her helmet and pulled it away; long black hair spilled out almost immediately, caught-up in the whipping wind of that cold, high altitude. As Furion finally convinced the rest of the Fafnir Flock to disperse and go back to the hangar, she drew in a long, steady breath, and closed her eyes.


    “It almost feels like you never left, doesn’t it?” Furion wondered quietly as he pulled his own helmet off; long blonde bangs and that skinny ponytail came free quickly like hers had.


    Ren opened her eyes, looking at one of the sky’s two moons, “…I always felt like I could think more clearly up here. The air is so cold, and the wind so sharp…it’s hard to think about anything else. A minute of empty-brain really puts things into perspective.” She answered, and turned slightly, those massive red wings tucked-in neatly behind her, “There’s something that’s…been bothering me since you showed me the footage of my last mission.”


    “What’s up?”


    She had a rather sorry, guilty look on her face, and she shook her head, “The way I threw eight years of us away in two minutes…” She started, and pulled her helmet in front of herself to hold it with both hands. She looked into that visor, and at the reflection of her own face thereupon, “…How stupid it sounded that I – someone whose job was defined by neutralizing dangerous Limitless threats – would be so easily fooled by something that should’ve made me stop and wonder. …That Lord Rylen would send us to kill children…that you would press me through the mission like it didn’t matter to you, either. Not just by your orders, or your refusal to listen to me…but by your take-over of my armor to force me to finish the mission anyway. To truly believe - for four months - that I really had their blood on my hands, and that you made me go through with that, despite my begging you to stop.”


    Furion listened carefully, but dared not interrupt. He kept half an eye out for any lingering streaks of light in the night-sky that might interrupt.


    “Seeing the footage of what really happened, hearing the words that were really said… Knowing now that two more missions went ahead to try and stop that guy before you thought to pilot Donivan remotely…and wondering what they saw? How could I have been the only one to not see through it?” Ren wondered, frustrated with herself, “I held it against you so deeply that it made my stomach hurt to think of your face… But…how could I have done that? I know you… I know what it looks like to watch your split personalities; Furion and Captain Rydell are different in such obvious ways, but I never had any reason to believe that either of them would to do to me what I thought you’d done that day.”


    “Personal feelings between teammates - and in particular, Captain and subordinate - are never supposed to be part of the equation. We flout those rules by being together anyway...and that day, we paid the price for it.” Furion noted, and stepped closer to thread his armored fingers through her bangs, to brush them against her cheek, "Hearing you fighting against the fail-safe, yelling at me to stop…it gutted me.  I was trying to save your life, and you thought I was forcing you to commit atrocities.  I''ve never heard that kind of rage and fear in your voice before, and it''s haunted me every day since.  There were a lot of times where I went over the footage on my own, trying to figure out if there could''ve been some other way...but I''ve realized, and accepted, that it was a lost cause no matter what.  We didn''t know what you were walking into.  We couldn''t have been any better prepared than we were.”


    “…Do you think I gave us away with how strongly I reacted?”


    “If you did, it didn’t matter to Lord Rylen at all, given he’s been so keen to get you back this whole time.” Furion shrugged, “I think we were all sympathetic to your situation, given how devastated you were by what you thought you saw. You don’t know how hard it was though. If you hadn’t given us away, I was certain I was going to in the aftermath. Those were a lot of late, painful nights…”


    Ren stepped closer and leaned into his side, one arm threading behind his back, “…I’m so sorry… I don’t know how you could ever forgive me for how I treated you…”


    “There’s nothing to forgive. I never blamed you.” He answered, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, then turned to press his cheek there instead, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and the most important thing in my life. I wasn’t going to give up on you. It was just a matter of time and grit, and now, it’s in the past. While you’re finishing-up your ‘I can fix him’ project, I’ll be here, waiting for you to come home.”


    “Man, I’m getting all emotional again,” Ren puffed, trying not to cry all over. With her helmet snugly-held under her left arm, she pulled out in front of the man, and craned her head back to see his face. She slid her right hand up though, and cupped her palm to that pale face, “Much as I thought I hated you, I…never stopped loving you. I missed you, I missed us…I even missed all those early mornings when one of us had to bail early to keep up appearances, much as I used to complain about them.”


    “No one will be watching for the next two weeks.”


    “And no one’s watching now.” She teased, and stepped up onto her tippy-toes to meet those lips.


    .


    “Prince Aamin wants refuge…?” Duchess Far’nah was stumped to hear the words, “I thought he died?”


    “No, your Grace,” Regulus shook his head, “He fled the Bulwark after the incident, and had apparently been hiding in the wilderness near the border ever since. There were some locals who helped him – patched him up and guided him to the nearest check-point – but once they arrived, they left him there. …From the report I was given, he’s needing additional care. How shall we proceed?”


    The throne room of the Duchy was a large space, floored and pillared in marble, with water flowing gently through elaborate channels. In the middle was a large, U-shaped stone table, with a larger stone pergola above it, laden with vines and a series of bright, sun-like lamps directly above that. It was a peaceful space, intended to illicit calm and careful thinking in the Conclave whenever the Magistrates all met together.


    Far’nah sat back in her throne, to the right of her ‘meek and mild’ husband, and considered it, “Bringing Iresha’s dear brother here would be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, having a royal Sargonian hostage could tip the scales back in our favor. On the other, the Emperor may have no love left for Aamin, after the man’s machinations led directly to the death of his wife.” She leaned from one side of her seat to the other, and in her husband’s direction, “Mardu? Thoughts?”


    Regulus sneered lightly, but stayed quiet.


    The Duke seemed almost surprised by the request for his input, “I…I don’t know. Iresha and I haven’t spoken in some time. I…don’t know his mindset these days. If his son didn’t have the affliction, maybe, but…we can’t provide a viable alternative for him to remove the need for the Council.” He answered stiffly, fingers pinching timidly at the folds of clothing in his lap, “…But…”


    “But?”


    “…I know he loved Rani dearly, and I’m sure he’s reeling from her death. If he knew we had the man who caused it, he…might be willing to do us a favor for his return.”


    “How much is justice worth to your old friend?”


    “…Please don’t ask me to answer that…” Mardu lowered his head.


    Far’nah’s face was written with disappointment, and she sighed as she turned to towards the Magistrate, “I agree to allow him entry. However, for the time being, I don’t want it to be public knowledge. If he needs care, then he shall have it…no sense leaving him under the baking sun to rot when he could be useful later on. Where is he now?”


    “He presented to the check-point at Soothton, your Grace. It’s in the foothills below the border-mountains.” Regulus answered, “He’s in confinement there for the moment, but-“


    “If the Emperor doesn’t know his brother is alive still, there’s a chance he may discover the truth of it before long. It would be too public to simply accept him through the normal way…” Far’nah put a finger to her chin in thought, “Is there a way to get him through unnoticed?”


    The Magistrate looked up slightly, “…I think so, your Grace. Soothton was originally built on a fragmented section of a crashed colony ship. It would be dangerous for the exiled Prince to traverse its depths, but…for the sake of secrecy and spectacle, I could go there personally to refuse him entry, and quietly direct him to where the ruins open on the Sargonian side.”


    The Duchess stood up from her throne and came down the few steps that held it up, “Could a burned man make it through? Do we even know the ruin is open and clear from one side to the other?”


    Regulus nodded, “It’s in my district. It’s been a source of trouble for many years. It’s absolutely labyrinthine below the surface, and it’s been difficult to seal. These days, it’s become fodder for thrill-seekers and explorers who continue to find paths through. I know the Kitezan half fairly well, but…the Prince would need to find his own way through from Sargon’s. Given a day or two, I could meet him in the middle, and bring him through the rest of the way myself.”This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    “He can’t be brought to Oceanside.” Far’nah added, “Not yet.”


    “I have somewhere to keep him until you’ve considered his request further.”


    “Very good. Patch him up and keep me updated.” The Duchess set a hand on the man’s shoulder as she passed, and took her leave through the front doors. When they opened to let her through, she found the masked face of Latheroux there waiting. She gave him something of a smarmy, objectionable look, but scoffed quietly and went by, “…I don’t know what he sees in you.” She mumbled, and carried on.


    As Latheroux lifted his head out of the polite bow he’d given, he turned slightly to watch the woman go, then quietly made his way into the throne room where Regulus was just-then starting to leave as well. They passed one another on the far sides of the meeting table, and neither looked across. Latheroux came up towards the throne-platform then, and gave another polite bow, this time to the Duke, who had yet to leave his seat, “Your Grace.”


    “…Can you believe she asked me to reveal my own friend’s weaknesses?” Mardu shook his head in disbelief, “Iresha and I have known each other since we were kids, and things were far less complicated. What a mess we’ve both inherited…”


    “I have concerning news from Sargon, your Grace.” Latheroux continued, “Concerning the heir.”


    “How much worse could it possibly get?”


    “My sources tell me that the Emperor has agreed to send the young Prince to Agartha after all.” The masked man answered, and lifted his head, that strange, white-eye on the mask peering ahead blankly, “The clock is ticking, now…”


    “…What can we do?” Mardu asked, and stood up to join the man on the base-level, “I’d offer my support, of course, but…”


    “You have to find the courage to assert your authority as half the Duchy.” Latheroux replied, a hint of urgency in his voice, “I know you have misgivings about doing so because you were brought into this family from beyond it, but you are still here, and you have power.” He stepped a bit closer to the Duke, the plain man’s reflection warping on that chrome mask’s surface, “You are all that stands between Kitez and utter oblivion.”


    Mardu shook his head dismissively, and stepped away to follow his wife out of the room, only to pause near the pergola’s side, “Everyone is always so extreme around here. She would never actually start a war with the Council. That ridiculous show on the border was just that…a show. She knows as well as anyone that Kitez stands no chance against the Council and all of its allies. She would have to be plotting the world’s least-believable suicide to believe that all-out war was her actual goal.”


    “…Things have only gotten progressively worse since Sargon called the Council into their lives.” Latheroux warned, “You know as well as I do that her compulsion to provoking the Eidolon has only grown. Her na?ve belief that Lord Xanarken would perpetually hold Lord Rylen in check is making her too bold. Sooner rather than later, she’s going to say something that gives them both the excuse to stop being so unreasonably polite. They only need one acceptable excuse to present to the Hadiran Accord…and then no one will come to Kitez’s defense.”


    The Duke hesitated, and clenched his eyes shut helplessly, “I don’t know what to do. I want the Council to be part of Kitez… I want us to join the Accord. But it’s not my call. It’s not my birthright. I…I have to defer to Far’nah.” He said with finality, and left the throne room in a fog of hopelessness.


    Left utterly alone in that large space, Latheroux could do nothing but listen quietly to the soft flow of water. He waited a moment, but then…tapped his heel down twice on that polished marble floor. The door to the antechamber opened, and Magistrate Oberoi stepped through, and approached with a knowing smile. Latheroux waited for the man to get close enough to speak in a hushed tone, “…What did Regulus have to say? Why was this meeting kept so close to the chest?”


    Tallus stood side-face to the man’s back, “Prince Aamin has resurfaced. He’s requesting refugee status from the border-town of Soothton. The Honorable Judge Regulus Laurier has a mind to help secret him into Kitez. Apparently, there’s a system of pathways that cut through the foothills, connecting Sargon and Kitez underground. It’s a ruined piece of the fleet.”


    Latheroux didn’t budge, but he drew in a breath of acknowledgement, “Mardu is getting beyond my control… He yearns for the Hadiran Accord, and is starting to sound like he’d be willing to let Far’nah go to war to get in, and for the life of me, I can’t fathom where Far’nah herself gets the nerve to believe that’s a good idea.”


    “She’s a fanatic. She’s resisting me. I can’t hold onto her for much longer.”


    “And if Prince Aamin is brought here, that could provoke certain feelings from the Emperor that we can do nothing to curtail from here. He would do himself what the Eidolon can’t.”


    Tallus nodded and took a step around, putting them shoulder to shoulder, “Kitez is slipping away. Protecting it is becoming precarious to our situation.”


    “But it’s not lost yet. Do something about Mardu. I’ll deal with Aamin.”


    “Cleverly-placed intel with your contact in Sargon? What are you going to do this time? Bait Rylen directly?” Tallus mused, and stepped around to leave.


    Latheroux watched the Magistrate carefully, “No sense getting my own hands dirty if I can use the Council against itself instead.”


    Tallus waved as he disappeared beyond the pergola, “It’s always a pleasure reminding you who’s really in charge here, Latheroux. Praise to the Duchess.”


    That unmasked eye flinched, but he smiled subtly to himself as he watched the man pass by the guards stationed at the doors. They both looked at Tallus with reverence, then back at himself with suspicion. He huffed quietly to himself, and stepped away to a different door at the side of the room.


    .


    It was just about noon when the Aegis finally arrived in Trazad, and it carefully descended until it was parked at the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake. With the Imperial palace at the crest of that cliff, it was a daunting sight to the population for a SkyFortress to be parked right next to it, making it look small, but given that the city wasn’t designed with SkyFortress docking in mind, it was the only place that could accept a vessel of that size. And thus, with the lower half of the Aegis hidden beneath the edge of that cliff, it set itself to idle, and accepted the connecting-bridges that the Council had set-up for just that purpose.


    Most of the 4,000 members of the ship’s crew vacated as quickly as they could, abandoning their nanotech uniform-jackets for more casual-wear as they filtered out into the city to start their shore-leave. One who was not yet among them was Ren, who was adamant about finishing that day’s therapy session before doing anything else.


    In the medical wing, in the PT department, she had her left arm up on a table. The gel-sleeve had been completely removed, and the therapist working on the arm set the woman’s elbow down. She took Ren’s new hand into her own, held firm, and nodded, “Go ahead when ready.”


    To the side, Gabriel and Seth were both anxiously waiting to see what would happen. Seth was practically on the edge of his seat.


    Ren closed her eyes, drew in a long, careful breath, and focused. It was her last trial of the day, and she was adamant about trying that one movement. When she thought she could hear screaming, she opened her eyes. The therapist’s arm had been backed-down to the table-top, and Seth could hardly breathe for how impressed and surprised he was.


    “Miss Ren how did you do that?! It hasn’t even been a whole week yet!”


    She quickly breathed in a sigh of relief and made the effort to lift her arm back up the way it had come, and to her satisfaction, was able to do so, “I knew it would help…”


    “Knew what would help?” Gabriel wondered.


    “Everyone’s been so focused on making sure I start to use my hand that my full arm movement hasn’t been checked. I might’ve gone flying last night…and I might’ve gotten a renewed sense of motion from it.” She smiled, “When I saw that I could clench my fist today – even if only loosely – I knew the rest of my arm could probably do more than just flex.”


    Seth sat back fully in his chair with a huff, and a wry worried smile, “I knew you couldn’t stay away for long…”


    “Isn’t that dangerous…?” Gabriel was the only one worried about the obvious, “You’re still on pain meds and all that…”


    “Furion was with me the whole time,” She answered, and extended her arm to allow for a much-shorter gel-sleeve to be put around it. Just the upper arm and elbow then, leaving her entire forearm free to breathe, “Although I didn’t let him keep training-wheels on me the whole time.”


    Seth glowered, both brows up, “You flew off without him right away, didn’t you?”


    She just smirked and laughed, “Maybe. Briefly.” She could see that scolding look on his face, and once the sleeve was set, she stood up, “It was fine, Seth. Relax. We made it back in one piece, none the worse for wear.”


    “I’m not even worried about that. If anyone is going to be able to walk-off a traumatic arm amputation like it was nothing worse than stubbing your toe, it’s you.” Seth pointed out, as he and Gabriel both rose to stand as well, “But if you show that you’re able to fly well already, maybe Lord Rylen will try to use you for something too soon…”


    Ren reached her recovering arm forward and rested it over Seth’s shoulder, drawing him in to playfully muss-up his hair with the good hand, “I appreciate the concern, but I am on recovery. It was just a joy-ride. Lord Rylen can’t just yank me up by my roots like he enjoys doing to you.”


    “Don’t say that where he might be able to hear you…”


    “So, Seth, where are we going?” Gabriel then asked, “You’ve had this whole time to think about it.”


    “I’m an easy date,” The teen answered, and pulled his long-coat a bit higher onto his shoulders, “But I did save my appetite, so! We’re going to this famous little café about 10 minutes from here.”


    Bicolored eyes looked over the Ren, “You gonna change out of your reds at some point?”


    “Heh?” Ren gawked, “I mean, yeah, but…”


    “But?”


    “…I’ve already agreed to go out with Ravan, Jense, and Corbin, so…” She answered warily, “I didn’t know you two had made plans.”


    “Oh.” The pair replied, looking at one another in confusion for a moment, but then Seth shrugged his arms up, “Well, I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll just catch up with you later.”


    “Is that why you both came to hang-out for the end of the session?”


    They both nodded.


    “And you both assumed I’d be leaving with you after?”


    More nodding.


    She stared, “…Well, that was kinda dumb. Assuming makes…”


    “…an ass of u and me.” Gabriel finished, “I know, but I had it on good authority that you might be free, so…”


    “From working maybe, but this is my first break in four months. I haven’t seen any of my friends in that whole time, either…so…” Ren explained, and nervously scratched the side of her jaw with one finger, “Sorry?”


    “No, no…it’s fine…makes total sense.”


    The awkward silence could be felt like a frigid wind.


    Ren pointed towards the door, then waved as she backed-up towards it, “Well, I’m gonna go…change, and stuff. You know, to get ready. For the thing I planned to do. You two have a good time, okay? No sense veering off-course on account of me.” The door slid open behind her; she twirled to get through it and started walking off with urgency, giving one last wave and a guilty smile as she vanished beyond the walls.


    Gabriel stood there, baffled, but then reached up to rub the center of his chest, “…I’m not sure if I’m offended or hurt.”


    “…Yes.” Seth agreed.