Page 78 of The Queen

That didn’t explain what I was supposed to do with it. I scanned down the length of the screen, past the history section, and found what I was looking for.

After everything that had happened; the blood locked tomb door, and memories of my tears falling into the Pit where a tree sprung to life, I wasn’t surprised by what it said.

When this was a well, the queen’s DNA, when dropped into the water, would trigger the shield to condense. Technology progressed, strengthening the power and magnitude of its effect.

I slipped past the barrier and out onto the platform. My mates shouted and rushed to snatch me back, but I waved them off. “I know what to do.”

The tip of each hexagonal rod was sharpened to a point. The rods would take my DNA deep beneath the mantle of the planet and deposit it into the very being of Verden. If we had more time, this would’ve been done by a physician drawing blood, but that was one thing we were out of.

I placed my hand over the sharp point of the first rod and pressed down, hissing as it broke skin. The wound hurt, but nothing could ever hurt as much as watching my mother murdered in front of my eyes. This was easy in comparison. A small sacrifice to keep the people I loved safe.

Shadow grabbed Lex around the waist as he charged forward, holding him back from interfering, and Grey’s anxiety sizzled along the bond. They didn’t stop me when I moved to the second rod with blood oozing from my hand. When each one was coated, I stepped off the platform.

“Send it down.”

Lex was growling, but stood back from the edge of the platform. The others eyed me warily, but Ghost went to the control panel, inputting the instructions. We all watched as the rods locked in place and the grid descended out of sight. It felt like ages before the metallic clang echoed up from the depths.

Nothing happened at first, and my heart clawed at the inside of my ribcage. I lifted my eyes to the sky with a silent plea to the Stars.

Protect my people.

Beyond the crenelated rim of the tower, the empty air swirled. Ribbons of rainbows danced and slowly coalesced into a pattern. Delicate, shining hexagons fell like domino tiles from one side of the sky to the other, flipping in sequence, one right after the other, blanketing the entire breadth of blue expanse overhead. The colors pulsed in a brilliant flash of multi-colored wonder as it connected, joining into a whole.

The pattern looked fragile, like the suns’ light catching mist, not strong enough to keep out anything solid, and then it faded to the shadowed indigo of a stormy sky.

“Did it work?” I asked, in shock from what I’d witnessed.

Lex glanced up once more. “I don’t know, but we can’t stay here. Everyone on-planet, or off, would have seen that. We just broadcasted exactly where we are. We need to move.”

Chapter Fifty

Saphyra

The tower echoed with the clatter of metal tools over the sound of the storm. Lex and Shadow rushed, tossing spare equipment that had been used to repair the electrical panel into bags, while Grey disinfected my hand and wrapped it in gauze. Ghost’s fingers flew across the keypad on the black box, copying the code off the duke’s note.

“Got it,” Ghost said, and we all paused.

A crisp robotic voice came through the comms device. “Invalid entry. Enter pass key now.”

“Or maybe not.” Ghost’s fingers tapped out a pattern on the keypad. “Got it?” He sounded less sure.

“Pass key accepted. Please wait for connection,” the robotic voice replied.

“Go for the duke.” It wasn’t the robotic voice this time, but a man’s voice. It didn’t sound like Yannix, though.

Ghost was suddenly grinning. “Maddox, is that you? You’re not the duke. Well, not yet, anyway.”

“Axion, this is a secure line. It’s not for social calls. What do you want?” Maddox sounded annoyed, but if I wasn’t mistaken, there might have been a smile behind his words, too.

“Right, well. You may or may not have noticed, but the shield kicked on for a second. Not sure if it’s still on, but there’s that. Oh, and no one that we left in charge at the capital is responding on comms. So, you’re the last resort.”

A laugh that was poorly concealed by a cough came through the speaker. “The duke says the shield is definitely working. You won’t be able to see it unless something hits it. Usually solar radiation sets it off, but anything it deems a threat would do. As for why no one is responding to comms, they’re in the brig.”

I sucked in a gasp. “What? In the brig? Why?” The volume of my outburst startled me. It was loud enough that it carried to the microphone over the wind.

Hearing my question, Maddox replied. “Hello, Your Majesty. We were wondering if you were there. Yes, in the brig for insubordination. The regent made some staffing changes while you were away. Some of your allies took exception to it.”

There was a shuffling sound before the duke’s voice carried through the speaker. “Where are you?”

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