I’m sitting on the sofa, between Mathias and Hysan, biting my nails as the newscast unfolds. The images are so grisly that I want to cover my face, but I force myself to keep watching. Behind us, Neith stands like a monument.
The total destruction of the city has been confirmed. A passing cruiser recorded an immense mushroom cloud rising over Gemini’s capital, and the authorities are blaming an accident at the nuclear plant. But that doesn’t explain why the entire planet is wobbling on its axis.
Will it crash into its neighbor, Hydragyr, where so many of my own people have settled?
“Ochus,” I hiss.
“Rho,” says Mathias, the word insignificant compared to the way it’s delivered—with the voice of one who’s been blind.
There’s a pounding on the door, and Lord Neith briefly looks toward it. “An agent of the Cancrian Secret Service wishes to join us,” he tells Hysan. “Shall I allow it?”
Hysan nods, and when the door clicks open, the person who enters the living room is Amanta Thais. “Mom,” says Mathias, pulling her in for a hug. “You’ve seen the news?”
“Yes. Sirna sent me,” she says, panning her gaze across us and pausing in surprise on the Libran Guardian’s face.
“Charon will claim more cosmic rays.” I feel myself shaking in the Zodiac’s instability. Any planet could be next. “We have to move our people again. Is someone arranging that?”
“Advisor Agatha has taken charge,” says Amanta, speaking with quiet urgency and looking from Lord Neith to me. “Two Guardians dead in one month. Another comatose. People are beginning to panic.”
“The Plenum session has been extended,” announces Neith. “I shall address them in an hour.”
“Sirna wants Rho there, too,” says Amanta. “This time, she thinks the ambassadors may listen.”
“Can I tell them about the secret army?” I ask.
“Not yet,” says Amanta, “not until we learn who’s recruiting them.”
Amanta is needed back at the hippodrome immediately, so we agree to meet her there. The four of us leave as soon as Hysan and I are dressed. On the street, he turns and speaks a soft word to Neith. Abruptly, the golden android sets off toward the Plenum, running faster than I expected, given his refined manners and regal composure.
Hysan smiles with pride. “It’s quicker to travel alone than in a group. He knows what to say once he gets to the Plenum.”
In case my protestors are waiting for me, we use the veil collars and sprint down the street, trailing far behind Neith. As always, the area around the hippodrome is jammed with visitors from every House, including the rowdy students with banners. This time, their numbers have swollen.
We sneak past the soldiers, and when we enter the arenasphere, the ambassadors and visiting Guardians have already taken their places in their gilded seats. Except today, the makeup has changed.
Overhead, holograms of every color jam the upper half of the sphere, blinking pixilated flashes where they overlap. Micro-cameras hover as thick as smoke. Down below, tawny Geminin have taken over one full section of seats, and I also see many more Virgos than before, plus Taurians, Leos, Sagittarians, even Cancrians. In fact, all the Houses are represented in this crowd.
Many of them are young, student-aged. Surely that’s Nishi’s doing. Lord Neith stands at center stage, holding the speaker’s staff and scrolling Sirna’s data on four large holographic screens that float through the sphere, proving beyond a doubt that the cosmic ray story was a deliberate lie. Cameras alight on his arms, and he ignores them.
We haven’t unveiled yet, but Neith sees us at once and motions us forward. Hysan gestures for me to go first, and this time, instead of hanging back and guarding the door, Mathias comes with me.
The three of us mount the stage, but Hysan whispers that we shouldn’t unveil. “Wait till they beg for you, Rho.”
“Beg for me?”
With a mischievous look, he nods toward the audience, then leans to whisper in my ear. “Someone sent Ambassador Sirna’s data to news stations across the galaxy. I can’t imagine who. And by the way, that’s your second birthday gift, my lady.”
I stare at him with wide eyes, not believing what I’m hearing. “Are you still going to tell the other Houses about Psy shields?”
He flashes his crooked smile. “Patience. That’s number three.”
I’m about to hug him when Charon shoots to his feet and tries to take the staff from Neith. We watch him struggle, but Neith wins easily. “I will not yield the floor to you, sir.”
The students pelt Charon with wadded scraps of food and trash until he’s forced to take a seat. Members of the Scorpio Royal Guard remove him from the proceedings, and cheers break out among the audience.
“I think you’ll yield to me, Lord Neith.” Solemn little Rubidum rises to her feet. “My brother’s been vaporized. That gives me all the grounds I need to address this gathering.”
Under our veils, the three of us trade somber looks. Caasy’s gone.
I think back to his warning that I’m being deceived. Was he seeing Charon’s actions? Or was he foreshadowing his own theft of my black opal just to mess with me?