Page 191 of The First Spark
The crowd’s applause and thunderous cheers were louder than the cheers for her. Zane had become something of a celebrity after winning the duel.
Kalie beamed as he strode forward, waved to the crowd, and knelt before her with his crooked grin. His eyes didn’t leave her face.
She placed the gold chain around Zane’s neck, where Lysa’s military tag had been. He’d stopped wearing it a few days ago.
“Guardsman Wells, in light of your service, I’m pleased to swear you in as the Captain of my Azurian Guard. Please repeat after me. I, Zander Wells…”
As Zane repeated the oath, Kalie fastened a pin to the collar of his Captain’s uniform. He rose to his feet, and she called, “I now present Captain Zander Wells, Baron of Avington!”
The thunderous cheers that rang out were dull in Kalie’s ears. Zane was inches away and oh,gods, she wanted to kiss him. She wanted the warmth of his embrace, the touch of his lips to hers, whispered promises and sweet nothings—she wanted all of that, and more.
“Come find me later,” she murmured.
Zane winked. Her cheeks heated as he took his spot beside Mylis at the head of her guards.
Taking a deep breath to collect herself, Kalie turned to the crowd below. “I want to take a moment to recognize all those who lost their lives to fight for freedom—fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. I won’t let their sacrifices be in vain, and I won’t let the murders of our people go unanswered.”
A flash of white soared overhead, and Kalie’s mouth fell open as a snowy dove perched atop the Cathedral’s highest spire. Azura’s messenger, a gift from the heavens. A sign that someone, somewhere, was watching her—and approved.
“The days of tyranny are coming to an end,” she called, seizing the replica of Azura’s Scepter. “Our legend is only beginning. We will rise up. We will fight. And we will prevail. That, I promise you.”
With the cheers of the crowd and Zane’s radiant grin bolstering her, Kalie raised her chin and strode through the doors of Azura’s Cathedral as the Duchissa.
Stargate Route 286, Sector 8
Duodecemmensis-1, 817 cycles A.F.C.
A dim hazeshimmered around dark trees as Mira’s boots crunched through drifts of dead leaves. The Dalian sun’s fading orange rays sagged below the distant mountains, but the glade was brighter than any forest could possibly be at sunset. As she stepped into the cave’s gaping mouth, blinding daylight crashed through the canopy of trees behind her.
“You would dare come here?” The Speaker’s raspy voice echoed off the damp cave’s jagged walls.Come here, come here.
Mira didn’t want to move closer, but she was moving anyway.
“Your kind are not welcome!”
Your kind are not welcome, your kind are not welcome, your kind are not?—
Mira wasn’t aware of moving her lips, but her voice reached her ears: “My kind?”
She jolted back as an old hag appeared before her, leaning on a knobbly oaken staff. The Speaker’s golden eyes pierced straight through her.
“You do not see!” the Speaker wheezed, cackling. “Oh, the goddess didn’t tell me you could notsee!”
The ground split open beneath her, and she crashed through a crack, falling through a mirage of shapes and colors—then her eyes snapped open.
Red light shone in the darkness.
Like glowing red eyes,hereyes, shining in the reflection of Zane’s discarded blade.
Mira scrambled away, and the world slid out from under her. She landed on the metal floor, bashing her head against the kaf table. The impact jolted through her bones. Glass bottles clinked, and her pulse thumped in her ears as she pushed herself to her feet, shaking. Every hair on her body stood on end as she looked up at the light.
In red symbols, the chrono on her wall read02:14:51.
The room was empty.
The red light was only the chrono.
But clear as day, she could remember her reflection mirrored in Zane’s sword—hertwisted brown face,herburning eyes, like fiery red orbs.
