Galactic Gale

Chapter Thirty-Five (Part Two)

The Krome Federation 

Pressing the cold pack one of the medics had given her to her lip, Nona hurried into the palace through one of the back entrances. Her tunic was ruined, her leggings torn, and her hair a wild mess. The last thing she needed was a lord or high lady catching sight of her.

It had to remain a secret. All of it – from the Krome Federation's first contact with Uterca, to what had gone down on Un-Takin.

She was almost at her room when a messenger found her. Nona pursed her lips when the elderly man stopped before her and looked her up and down. Fortunately, he was a servant of the palace, and had no authority to question why his princess was so dishevelled.

He was also sworn to secrecy. She sighed when he passed her a neatly folded note, bowed his head, and without saying a word hurried back down the corridor. For once it seemed she had been lucky.

Her fingers left dark marks on the paper as she opened the letter. She didn't allow herself to consider whether it was traces of blood or dirt that was left in the wake of her touch.

The corridor shrunk around her. Nona's breath caught and she lost control of her hands. She was shaking as she reread the simple message printed into the centre of the page. Shaking without reason and without any signs of stopping.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and she found the strength to duck into her private quarters. The door clicked shut at her heels and she dropped onto the bed.

It was easy to crumple the paper between her fingers, but it was impossible to erase the lettering from her mind.

As the door cracked open and Traen swept into the room, she found herself unable to raise her eyes. Instead, she stared at his boots. The material had been ruined from water exposure on Un-Takin and his laces had been snagged in several places.

"It is time," she said. The words stung her dry throat. Somehow making the claim out loud brought tears to her eyes.

It was wrong – so terribly wrong – for her to want to be in his arms. After everything she had done to him, she still wanted him. She wanted what she did not deserve. No matter if it was Traen or the crown or for her brother to be at her side, Nona always desired what she had not worked to earn.

In the thick of things, she had not cared to dwell on how she would feel at the end of it all. She had believed she did not care how she gain Uterca's crown. The Trials had been a waste of time, she'd said, when it was inevitable that she, not Kael, would become Uterca's ruler.

Yet now the Trials were gone, and she had reached the end of the road without truly knowing if she deserved the honour rather than Kael. Nona found herself longing for the competition she had so quickly dismissed.

She could talk and stand proudly in the assembly chamber all day. She could spend years in the palace's office, share as many lunches with politicians as she cared to. But there would always be something missing from her rule, and that something was the care that Kael brought to everything that he did.

The mattress sunk slightly as Traen sat beside her. He placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently against him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm sorry it had to be now."

"She always wants to upset me." Nona took a deep breath but failed to steady herself. What a mess she had become. What a mess she had created. "I don't know if she knows that's what she wants or not, but it's always her intention."

His hand smoothed a cluster of untamed curls back from her face. "No. I don't think she wants to hurt you. I think it's simply an unfortunate turn of events."

"I don't know why this is happening. I don't know which god I've made hate me."

He pulled her close again. For a while they said nothing. She curled herself against his strong form, letting him shield her from the galaxy with his arms. The fabric of his shirt bunched in her grasp. If he was bothered about the damp patches her tears left on his clothes, he didn't mention it.

Then, as a ship rattled the roof on passing, he took her hands in his own and held them to his chest. "I'll help you. No matter what, I'm going to help you. We'll fix Krome and we'll fix Uterca," he said. "You told me before that we're in a cycle. You save my life – I save yours."

"The cycle is gone. I ruined it." Nona pulled a hand free and wiped her eyes. She failed to remember the last time she had let herself go like this. Not even when her life had been threatened by the Sorii had she wept so openly.

"Taking one hit doesn't break the strongest of bonds."

She snorted. "After everything, you still sit here and give me some kind of motivational talk. Why bother?"

"Because I know you did what you thought was right. I know things haven't been easy – I know all too well what it's like to be desperate. But we learn from our mistakes. We have to, otherwise we'd never get anywhere." He pushed her hair back again and place a palm against her wet cheek. "This can wait. Telion is more important right now."

Nona nodded, more to herself than to Traen. She stood stiffly and dragged her body to the bathroom, switched on the shower then practically dropped herself under the stream of cold water.

For months she had been envisioning what she would wear to her coronation. What dress would best match her favourite shoes. Which pair of earrings would frame her face best. She had been drawn between having her hair tied back and braided or straightened and left down to cascade over her back.

No thoughts of clothes filled her head now.

The only thing she saw was her mother's face. How the woman must have been filled with disgust as she called her people to her side and told them it was time for Nona to be crowed. Telion must have been truly desperate, or the royal advisers in a state of panic beyond reproach for the date to have been set so soon.

Nona had always thought Telion would die before she became queen. It was a cruel, morbid thing, but she had considered it on more than one occasion. Telion was too stubborn to give up her crown before she gave up her life.

Or so it had seemed.

The water stopped suddenly. Nona stayed where she was, staring at her reflection in the glass wall surrounding the wet zone.

It was time.

And she was not ready.