WAR STORM (Red Queen 4// Alternate Version)

Chapter 24

Evangeline

The video will be released soon.

And this is the most unbelievable thing Father's had me done all week.

At least I get to spend some private moments with Elane this way, who originally stayed behind at Ridgehouse with Tolly. Brilliant, he called himself, when he announced his master plan. Another infiltration of Archeon, not dissimilar of the catastrophic job Mare and her clan brewed up. It's me and Elane, and there are both pros and cons to this. We're alone, probably, unless my father's hired to have us followed, which wouldn't surprise. But we're alone. I'm competent of defending myself against a couple of Sentinels, and so is Elane... still, in the opulent Nortan city, we don't stand a chance.

"You have to promise me to be careful," I suddenly say to her quietly. "That newblood died in that castle. If you're not careful..." I finish, unable to, unwanting to speak the words aloud.

"We're not going into the palace, Eve." I don't accept the answer, and she finally says, "Yes, I promise."

She takes my hand in hers, and I clench it tightly, the lifeline to my sanity. Elane and my brother, I often think, are the last beautiful things, the people worth living for.

I open my mouth to ask her if she's getting tired, and I shut it then, hoping she won't spot my action. Harrick was new to his power and likely overconfident at his skill level. Elane's manipulated light, hid from her parents for years. She'll tell me if she gets tired.

Won't she?

While I've been gone, Maven's made a few... renovations to Archeon. A stroke of Silence prickles at my senses. Up ahead, the gates to Caesar's Square are securely twisted shut, a particular fire prince not far beyond. They've installed Silent Stone throughout the city, a controversial change, from what the reports say. Either way, everybody's annoyed, whether they believe it's necessary or not. It supposedly blocks newbloods like Harrick and Havens like Elane from slipping into the palace.

Most regrettably for Maven, our side of the war has more clever players than his own. The newbloods didn't need to worry, considering the varmints took advantage of the underground tunnels. But we needn't get close for this. Enough to gauge the reactions of Cal's rightful citizens, before we depart to the manors of Welle and Arven, who have discreetly contacted Father within the last week.

"This way," I urge Elane, Silence pressing too close for my taste. A bit more, and our cloaking might disappear.

"Any minute now," she returns with, leaning against the window of a shop. I have to do a double-take before I realize where we are.

My favorite silk shop.

It certainly hasn't been long since I've last set foot in the store, but it feels like an eternity. They always carried durable, light textiles, excellent to be combined with my metals. Elane came with me, and we could spend hours in there, buying excessive quantities of fabric, brushing hands while I wasn't busy pulling out tetrarchs.

Elane's grip on my hand falters, long enough or me to notice. It grows weak as if the bones and muscles disappear. "Do want to go in? To look?"

I shake my head, hardly thinking about going in. "The owners are rich and stupid, and probably installed Silent Stone in the threshold for shits and giggles." An easy lie. But we don't have time anyway.

Before a moment for thought, somebody gasps nearby, and I jerk my head up from the stone ground.

None other than Iris Cygnet is plastered onto the screen in the silk shop's window. She wears the same dress worn when interrogated by Volo, and vengeance is in her eyes. And in my eyes, she looks so... angry.