Page 67 of Stars in Halo

‘Don’t blame the scions of House D’Hanna,’ the King rumbled, tagging the sneer on Xion’s face. ‘They had insurmountable debts to pay back to the crown. Their father had no way of paying them back. So, we came to a mutually beneficial arrangement. They lured you from Eden II, got what we needed on Enia, and now we’re on the home run.’

The revelation hit Xion like a physical blow.

More puzzle pieces fell into place, painting a picture of betrayal and manipulation that cut deep. He’d been gamed from the start.

Xion’s lip curled with scorn. Fokk, if he’d let this play out how they wanted.

He may have been outmanoeuvred and cornered, but he refused to go down without a fight.

Xion created a silent neural link. Mirage?

Here. What do you need me to do? We’re outnumbered in terms of firepower. I can call Kainan, and he can deploy the Sable fleet.

Nada, he warned. It’ll surely kick off a regional panic, so hold off for now. Let’s see what K’Sumi wants.

A spark of defiance ignited in his eyes as he met His Highness K’Sumi Hinata Alamaq’s smug gaze.

‘Well played,’ Xion growled, his voice laced with venom as he turned to face the royal’s holographic visage. ‘I may be just a pawn in your game, Supreme King, but even pawns can become dangerous when pushed too far.’

His Highness chuckled.

The sound grated on Xion’s last nerve.

‘Oh, I do love a good threat,’ the Royal crowed. ‘But remember, in this conflict of power and deceit, only the strongest survive.’

‘Ain’t that the truth,’ the Rider murmured.

Privy to the banter between her own King and Xion, Katya’s eyes widened in horror as she realised the extent of her kinfolk’s fokkin’ treachery.

She swung her eyes to two-faced siblings and, for the thousandth time, asked herself how they’d been born from the same womb.

Her eyes locked with Xion’s for a moment, and she was beset with guilt at her naivete and fury at their helplessness.

Minutes later, Fortuna’s Grace was boarded by a group of hard-faced Iccythrian royal sentinels.

Her brothers handed over control of its navigation to the gendarmes.

With a heavy heart, she witnessed the monarch’s sentinels cuff Xion.

He sliced one look at her and then dragged his mocha-jade eyes away.

The party fell silent as they gave in to their new normal, and Fortuna’s Grace was guided towards the crimson and purple shattered skies of Pegasi’s most tumultuous planet.

Evil Hearted You

Iccythria was a temperate yet tortured world that suffered from a harsh tug-of-war between two moons.

Xion gazed at the view as the Fortuna’s Grace’s flyer descended through a purple shattered haze to the surface below.

He raised a brow at the landscape’s wild-hued andesite rock and rhyolite basalts that had erupted from underground volcanoes.

Its exterior was pockmarked by violent volcanoes, energised by tidal forces due to the proximity of its two moons, EKRT (Ekarat) and SCRT (Sucarat). As such, it experienced intense volcanic activity.

Because it orbited within its star’s habitable zone, it was close enough for liquid water to exist on its surface—and could maintain an atmosphere. The temperature wasn’t hot either because its host star was so small and cool.

It was tidally locked, with a permanent day and night side.

The planet was also showered with ionised energy particles from the nearby uninhabited planetoid XYRI (Xyeri) and its radiation belt, which resulted in stunning purple-laced auroras in Iccythria’s thin atmosphere.

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