The Celestial Code

Chapter Six

Maybe the torture really had gotten to Dessa because that was the only explanation she could give for the insane laugh that bubbled out of her. "A partnership? What does that mean?"

Zaire' lips pulled together in a thin line as he sat back in his seat, his gaze unwaveringly on her. "It means that I want this war to end."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you bombed our cities and murdered my mother," Dessa spat, putting every ounce of hate she could into the look she gave him.

If he was phased, he didn't show it, which only made Dessa hate him even more.

"No matter how this war started, I want it to end. We can't keep going on like this."

Dessa's eyes narrowed on him. "What changed between when you kidnapped me and now? None of your soldiers seemed to have a problem killing my kind and taking me a few days ago."

"It's been a week," Zaire fact checked.

A week since she had been taken? It felt longer and yet shorter all at once. Swallowing around the dryness in her throat, she shifted in her seat. "It doesn't matter how long I've been here. What changed in a week?"

For the first time since he entered the room, she saw a flicker of worry in his eyes. "They used another H-bomb. Destroyed Trisdain."

Dessa's eyes widened. Trisdain was where the Celests kept most of their wounded, women and children who weren't able bodied enough to fight. The Tarrans had known this for a year, but out of respect for not wanting to make the war worse than it already was, they had refrained. Now it seemed the generals weren't pulling their punches anymore. Dessa wondered if it had something to do with her being missing. Had her father loosened his restrictions and convictions because he thought she was being tortured... or had been killed?

"I can't stand for this any longer," Zaire said, his voice cold and bitter. "I want it over."

Dessa surveyed him, saw the pain in his features and the worry for his people in his eyes. Bombing the innocent had done a number on him and as much as Dessa hated the Celests and the prince in front of her, she couldn't blame him. Celest or not, they had been innocents and hadn't deserved to die.

"What about your father?" she asked, her voice going soft. "He's the one who has the power to surrender."

Zaire glanced at a corner of the room and Dessa followed his gaze. There was nothing there that she could see. Just a spot where two metal walls met, but maybe there was a camera they had hidden. Maybe there was more to this room than Dessa had first thought.

He shifted in his seat until he was practically leaning over the table and something about the severity in his quicksilver eyes drew Dessa in. "He won't be for long," he whispered on a single breath.

Dessa's eyes widened when she met his and saw the truth in them. A cue. That was what she saw in his gaze. The ruthless determination to escape this war, even if it cost him his father.

"You would do that?" she whispered. "You would have the authority?"

Zaire gave a slight nod. "My father will not be king for much longer. I will travel with you to Tarra and I will sign a surrender contract. I'll do anything, swear anything. I just want this war to end."

Dessa watched him, searching him for any sign of a lie, but she found none. All she saw was the broken and hurting and pained boy behind his princely mask he had worn when he'd first entered. She saw someone who really meant what he was saying, with true conviction behind his eyes.

Dessa didn't let her gaze waver from his. "You really mean it?"

He nodded resolutely. "I swear upon the seven holy houses."