The doors to the lab opened. By the barely audible sound of shifting feet, he guessed before he turned that the newcomer was Iselglith.
“Iselglith,” Ruxbane greeted, his voice quiet, influenced still by awe. “Why are you here?”
Iselglith responded with a flustered, uncertain cycle through Varg expressions, his mouth opening and closing in a chatter. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t incredibly important. I would have sent this through the message channels, but I need to know what to do.”
Ruxbane nodded, though his thoughts still lingered on the negative result and the girl — Tayel. “I’m listening,” he said. Only a partial lie.
Iselglith audibly swallowed. “T-there’s an Argel boy in camp — in the Aishan camp — who has, um. W-well he’s seen one of the guards shapeshift, sir.”
Ruxbane would have found the ignorant kin who shifted and pulled him off planet any other day. Instead, he looked in front of himself, though not at Iselglith, and sighed. He half-heartedly contemplated solutions to the problem. The boy needed to be dealt with, but anticipation fogged Ruxbane’s thoughts. The only thing he cared about was his finding. He would finally be free of this curse — this heat. His search had taken years.
“W-we’ve apprehended him of course. I should have mentioned that right away. We have him in the castle dungeon. I — we all aren’t sure how you’d like us to proceed with this. We don’t know if anyone else saw. The boy had been snooping, see, in the guard barracks. A-and, well. A pair of refugees — unidentified, walked in while the guards were apprehending him. We’re still speaking with our kin regarding the details, but…” Iselglith paused. “Sir? Are you o—?”
“Keep him in the dungeon for now. Make sure he has no family looking for him in the camp. Interrogate him to discover why he decided to poke around, and ensure he had no prior suspicion of our people. Then put him in with the recruits to be processed.”
“Y-yes sir.”
“Is that all?”
“Y—oh, no. I’ve just remembered, since you mentioned recruits…” He pulled a pocket tablet out of his jacket. “You asked me to keep an eye on Shy Akar. She’s signed up for military recruitment. Now that’s a gift, to be sure, considering our intentions for the recruits, but…” He trailed off with a flustered gaze.
Recruits. Ruxbane narrowed his eyes while he mulled over the possibilities. “Is there a girl on that same recruitment list by the name of Tayel Evanarb?”
Iselglith held up a paw as if to protest, but looked at his tablet all the same. His eyes scanned. “Yes…” Iselglith raised his head. “Sir, you seem distracted. If I may, when was the last time you slept?”
Ruxbane gave a gruff chuckle and allowed himself a small, rare smile. Destiny favored him this day. “I’ve found the solution,” he said.
More than that, the solution witlessly put herself on a platter for him every step of the way. She got to Elsha, lived in the castle camp, and signed up for recruitment. Iselglith rose his snout before giving a long, drawn out nod. He might have thought he understood. Ruxbane wasn’t sure anyone but himself really could.
“Iselglith, I want you to rig the recruits tomorrow at the Aishan camp.”
“…Of course.”
“Make sure Shy Akar and Tayel Evanarb are called to the castle. The process will solve our worries regarding the princess.”
“It will be done,” Iselglith said.
“One last thing.”
“Yes?”
“Tayel is not to be processed,” Ruxbane warned. “After the recruits have gathered in the main hall, simply pull her away, and bring her to me.”
Chapter 14
Tayel couldn’t shake the image of Jace screaming for her to run. He’d seen something to make him believe the Rokkir were real, something condemning enough to make the guards confront him. It chilled her to the core to think that Shy had been right — that the Rokkir had infiltrated the government and were running the camp.
Jace was in a lot of trouble.
Shy and Fehn spoke in hushed tones to one another beside her, but Tayel focused ahead. Through the crowd of people finding their seats in the grass, the Elshan military representative stepped up to his podium, his armor’s bronze pauldron reflecting the setting sun. He raised his hand, and people’s chatter quieted.
If Tayel wasn’t called, she would get into the castle the hard way. She’d leave through the tunnel to the fuel tanks outside camp and find a path from there. It would be the only option. Tayel had to get in. Every minute could be the one a Rokkir tortured or killed Jace. He was in the castle. He had to be in the castle. If anything, the guards wouldn’t have interrogated him in camp.
The representative called the first name.
It wasn’t hers. Tayel squeezed her eyes shut. If the first name wasn’t hers, then none of them would be. Her muscles twitched, caught between staying still and leaping to action. If she left now during the calling, the docks might be less crowded. She wouldn’t have to wait until the light shift in the early morning. She could go now.
“Shy Akar,” the representative shouted.
Tayel snapped her gaze to Shy. No. No, Tayel had to go to the castle — not Shy. Shy didn’t care about Jace. She wouldn’t save him.
The representative went on to call another name — another name that wasn’t Tayel’s.
“Do you remember the code to the access tunnel?” Shy asked quietly of Fehn.
He nodded. “Red and I will get to the ship.”
Tayel’s throat tightened, her pulse a thick, pounding sensation in her temples. “Shy.”
“I’m sorry, Tayel,” Shy whispered.
Tayel grabbed Shy’s wrist, ignoring the wandering eyes of nearby refugees. “You have to save him.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Please.”
Shy pulled out of the grip and took a step toward the head of the crowd.
“Tayel Evanarb,” the representative called.
Tayel went rigid. The representative seemed far away, almost like a mirage. Anticipation mixed with fear churned her stomach into a strange combination of butterflies and nausea.
“These are the only people we are calling today,” the representative said.
Shy marched onward without a backward glance, lost from view as the crowd came to a stand. Tayel couldn’t bring herself to move.
Fehn nudged her. “Go.”
What had Jace seen? The one thing she knew for certain was that nothing good waited for her in that castle.
She met Fehn’s eyes. “Fehn?”
“Go,” he growled. “I’ll do my part.” He blended into the moving hoard, gone in an instant.
Tayel’s breaths came in shallow gulps. Her palms sweat. Her mind raced with thoughts of Rokkir, corrupted guards, and raiders with aether-tech guns ready to blast her to pieces. But she also thought of Jace.
“Okay,” she muttered.
Moving forward did not come as easy as she liked, nor were her hands as steady as they should have been, but she moved through the crowd toward the representative at the front, because right now, more than ever, Jace needed her.
She found the gathering of recruits and joined them. Shy stood close nearby, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
“Tayel?” the representative asked, having finished confirming the rest.
She nodded.
He jotted something down and asked of them all, “Are there family or friends you wish to say goodbye to while we’re still in camp? This will be your last opportunity to see them for some time.”