Page 108 of Exiles on Earth
“El-len. Please, I need to speak to you before you go.” Her voice wobbles like her projection.
“Hi, Shara,” I say, not bothering to hide the misery dragging down my tone.
She hesitates, her form flickering as if her emotions are affecting even her light particles. Her hands twist together, restless. “I owe you an apology.”
My stomach knots. “What for?”
“When Ilia entered the Games, I believed in him. I knew his qualities, his strengths, and while I knew he’d face immense opposition, I trusted he’d overcome it. I was so confident at first, excited, picturing him succeeding, imagining him being chosen.” Her voice falters, the projection looking away as she blinks rapidly.
Blinking back tears.
And when she meets my gaze again, the raw heartache there makes my breath hitch. “But I underestimated just how severe the opposition would be. Ilia was nearly executed before I could intervene.”
“I know, he told me.” I swallow hard, the cold water sitting like a stone in my stomach. Death. Who could bear to destroy him? The idea of his massive caring hearts gone before I’d even got the chance to know him makes my stomach curdle.
She nods, her face twisted with regret. “I stopped it in time, but it shook me to my core. And it made me fearful of what the Prif had seen to make her act like that. He wasn’t an experiment now, but a symbol, and if Ilia failed, it wouldn’t just be his failure. She would use it as evidence against all clones, that they’re unfit to be mates. She could pass a law forbidding clones from entering the Games, or worse, ban their mating entirely.”
I nod slowly in understanding, but the nausea in my stomach’s growing. “So, what did you do?”
“The enormity of this made me… panic,” she admits, her voice cracking. “I conceived a plan. I contacted Imaya, an old friend, someone I trusted deeply, and asked her to choose Ilia no matter what. Regardless of his scores, regardless of his performance. I needed to ensure he had a chance.”
There it is. My stomach drops. “You what?”
Shara steps closer, her light flickering faintly as if the weight of her confession strains even her projection. “And when I retrieved him from exile, and you came along… I’m afraid I saw you as a distraction. Worse, I thought you might jeopardize everything I’d worked for.”
Her words sting like a slap.
She reaches out to me, as if her light particles can touch my arm. “I was wrong, El-len. In my panic, I failed to see what was right in front of me. I didn’t realize… Ilia had done exactly what I’d hoped he would. He found a mate. A true mate. Someone who would fight for him, against all odds. And you selflessly tried to help him at every turn, even when you thought you’d lose him. He found you.”
Her words hang in the air. My chest tightens, emotions warring within me. Anger surges, hot and fierce, demanding to scream at her for manipulating Ilia’s life like that. As I look at the bright buildings flashing by and think of the clones working tirelessly beneath them, something colder and quieter coils in my gut—an understanding I don’t want to feel.
I can’t deny that from what I’ve seen of their world, and as much as I hate it, I see why she felt she had to act the way she did. But it doesn’t make it right. It doesn’t erase the ache in my chest or the fury burning under my skin.
“I know I don’t deserve forgiveness,” Shara whispers. “I hope it helps you understand. And I called to tell you where Ilia is.”
All my anger evaporates in an instant. I bolt forward so fast I headbutt the hologram, getting an eyeful of bright light. Rubbing my eyes, I demand, “Where is he? Is he okay?”
“He’s at Imaya’s town house. He’s safe, Imaya’s taking care of him, although she can get a bit distracted and she has three other very protective mates. I’ve left missives for her already to contact me… ah! Here she is.”
Imaya’s flickering shape joins the All-Mother on the couch in the car. “Well met, Shara. And El-len, hello.”
“Where’s Ilia? I want to speak to him, is he okay?” I demand.
Imaya’s face scrunches. “My, that clone has some passion in him.”
That needles me. What does she know about his passion?
“He begged me to let him go. Of course I did, so he could try to reach you before you left.”
“He’s on his way? Great! Where is he, I’ll meet him.”
“I don’t know exactly.”
Shara snaps, “You don’t know where he is?”
“He left, Shara. Belora took him as far as he could to the starfield, before the mandatory scans. Ilia assured him he’d be fine.”
The All-Mother leans in, looking like she’s a hair away from leaping at her friend. “His chip still has his execution order on it. If he gets scanned, even casually, he’ll be… be…”
