Hotbloods 5: Traitors

Ronad opened the heavy blast door of the prison, and we stepped out into the chilly night air. He threw the ID device into the foyer of the prison before striding over to Kaido’s ship and running up the open gangway. The rest of us followed, a solemn mood descending across the group.

Navan took the controls, flying us back to Sarrask’s cottage. During the journey, Ronad took out the black box device and tried to contact Bashrik, Lauren, and Angie. Just once, he managed to establish a connection with Brisha’s control room, but it was terminated shortly afterward. Nothing seemed to be getting through.

“Maybe if you send nudes, you’ll get her attention. Something coy and tasteful,” Mort suggested unhelpfully. “I can morph into you, if you’d like, make a few things bigger?”

Ronad scowled at him. “Is all of this a joke to you?”

“Listen, Venice Beach, everything is a joke to me. When you look the way I do, it’s the only way to get through life,” he replied brightly.

I sighed. “If you’re going to be with us for a while, Mort, I suggest you rein in the comedy act.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal, princess. If you wanted that, you should’ve put it in the fine print!”

Ignoring Mort, Ronad continued trying to get a transmission through to Brisha’s control room. He sent a few messages, but they bounced straight back, the channel no longer open. I could see the frustration moving across his face, but he wouldn’t be defeated. His hands moved across the controls, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“Has there been any word from the darkstar seller?” I asked Ronad, wanting to distract him.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Transmissions are a bit skewed, so maybe it’s taking longer to come through.”

“I don’t suppose it matters now, anyway,” I murmured.

Mort leaned in. “What naughty little number did you buy, in the end?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh, come on, sweet cheeks, put me out of my misery! What did you buy for the Titans? Was it a Vinubian sea nymph? A pan flute made of Sonoran windpipes? The preserved middle eye of an ambaka?”

I shot him a warning look. “It was none of those things, Mort. I don’t want to talk about it—it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’m guessing this means you don’t need me to sneak around the palace mailroom?”

“Your powers of deduction are blowing my mind,” I said mockingly, leaning against the wall of the ship.

He waggled the skin where eyebrows should have been. “That’s not all I can do to blow your mind.”

“Touch me, and I will push you out of the hatch.”

He was saved from that fate by the ship descending toward Sarrask’s cottage. It landed with a soft bump, and the four of us got out, Mort transforming into a generic coldblood in case any neighbors were watching. I moved to take Navan’s hand as we walked toward the house, where lights glowed in the windows. Somebody was home.

When I pushed open the door, the sight of Kaido and Sarrask welcomed me. They were sitting at the kitchen table, playing a board game I didn’t recognize. It looked like Kaido was winning, judging by the number of chips on his side of the table, but Sarrask was still smiling; he just seemed to be enjoying the game. They turned in surprise as we entered.

“Where have you been?” Kaido asked. “I only gave you the keys to my ship because I thought you were coming straight here. I wouldn’t have, had I known you were going to take a lengthy detour. I need to water my plants. Let us hope you haven’t disturbed their absorption flow!”

I smiled sadly. “There was something we needed to do, Kaido. We’re sorry we kept you from your plants. Did you manage to get Lorela back to the hospital okay?”

“I did, thank you for asking. My brothers were of no assistance, of course. I was forced to take the Shunter—and, you must know, I detest being stuck in a metal tube with people who do not understand the finer details of personal hygiene,” he muttered, pulling a face. “I am glad you are back safe, but you should always ask permission in the future if you plan to go gallivanting off with someone else’s ship. I hope you weren’t doing anything dangerous.”

“Not particularly,” I lied. “Although, it might be a good idea for you to move your plants somewhere remote, until the war blows over.” I wanted to take him with us, but I knew he wouldn’t want to leave his mother, especially not when she’d taken a turn for the worse.

Sarrask frowned, scraping back his chair. “Why?”

“Queen Gianne is about to take the war to the next level,” Navan replied. “She’s planning to attack the North. We’re leaving now, if either of you wants to come with us.”

I hadn’t expected him to offer a place to either of his two brothers, but maybe he already knew that neither of them would accept. Kaido was dutybound to his parents, while Sarrask was dutybound to his nation. Even so, I flashed a hopeful glance in Kaido’s direction, but his face was unreadable.

“I think not, Navan,” Kaido said bluntly. “I will do as Riley has recommended and seek alternative accommodations for myself and my plants, but I will not be leaving the South. I cannot, as you well know.”

“Forget them, Kaido,” Navan urged. “Lorela and Jareth don’t care about you. Come with us. Forget what you think you owe them, because you don’t owe them anything.”

Kaido dipped his head. “I do, Navan. You will never understand. I would not expect you to,” he replied quietly. “If I take away my core reason for being, what remains? I must stay and see to it that our mother is safe and well. No matter what she has done, or what she thinks of me, that does not change the fact that she gave us all life. That should grant her a sliver of respect, even from you.”

“You do whatever you feel you have to, Kaido, but you’re making a mistake. You should come with us and forget all of this,” Navan insisted, shaking his head.

Kaido smiled. “You must do what you have to do, as I must. That is all there is to it.”

Sarrask nodded. “I won’t be coming with you, either. I made my choice today, on the way back from the chapel,” he explained solemnly. “The ceasefire made me realize that I wasn’t doing enough to bring peace to Vysanthe. So I sent in my papers to join the fighting. Kaido and I are both heading back to the front line.”

“What? Why?” I gasped, dreading the idea of either of them entering the fray.

“Navan might be able to forget his ties to this planet, but I can’t. My loyalty will always remain with the South, even if a crazy ruler sits on the throne. We can’t choose our queen, but we can choose to restore peace, and hope that, one day, someone better sits in her place. The only way to do that is to win the war… and that is what I’m going to help do.”

Navan sighed wearily. “You’re both idiots for doing this. You should get out while you still have the chance.”

Sarrask squared up to his brother. “I don’t want to fight with you, Navan, since I’m guessing this is going to be a goodbye. But the truth is, I won’t run from my responsibilities here. You can disappear into the depths of the universe, but always know that you deserted your home in her time of need.”

“I’m not deserting anyone!”

“I hope you can tell yourself that when the guilt kicks in,” Sarrask murmured.

I stepped up beside Navan. “Your loyalty should be to a united Vysanthe, not one that’s split apart by two warring queens.”

“That’s not realistic, Riley. You haven’t been here long, so I don’t expect you to understand the history of our planet,” Sarrask replied, not unkindly. “Even before the queens came along, a truly united Vysanthe didn’t exist. There were royalists and anti-royalists, loyalists and defectors, anti-monarchists and anti-parliament. There has never been a united Vysanthe, and there never will be. The reality is, it’s kill or be killed. I know which side I want to be on.”