Page 128 of Stars in Nova

A pair of Corilian guards dragged Samira forward, their grips unyielding on her arms.

Her boots scuffed on the smooth, polished floors, and the sharp clinks of their metallic steps echoed around her like the hollow ring of a death knell.

The royal chamber room was a stark embodiment of the cyborg emperor’s rule: icy, clinical, devoid of life.

Massive steel columns lined the hall, etched with lines of pulsating energy that snaked upward to feed the throne itself. It was a monstrous creation, a grotesque fusion of metal and organic tissue.

Tendrils of wires and tubes crawled from its base, connecting the emperor to the stronghold’s structure.

Emperor Marius sat upon it, his once-proud visage twisted into something unrecognizable. His body was more machine than man, his limbs encased in blackened alloy, and his head crowned with a circlet of glowing nodes that pulsed rhythmically. His eyes, dull and devoid of humanity, locked onto Samira as she was forced to kneel before him.

‘Samira,’ his voice rasped, reverberating with an unnatural echo. ‘So, the rebels think they can defy me.’

As Marius leaned forward, Samira’s gaze swept the room.

Her breath hitched as she recognized faces among the cyborg guards lining the walls: former friends, allies, and even icons of Orilia’s past glory.

Her eyes fell on Duke Revan, whose regal demeanor had been replaced by cold precision. Then Viscountess Elira, who had once hosted glittering galas, stood motionless, her features marred by metal plates.

At the far corner of the room, she saw Lyanna, the famous songstress who had been a beacon of hope during the early days of the war. Her formerly lyrical voice was now a mechanical drone, and her delicate hands had been substituted with clawed appendages. Samira’s stomach churned.

Then her eyes fell on the Emperor’s daughter, Celise, her youth and vibrancy extinguished. The young woman’s frame, once full of life, now moved with the robotic precision of a puppet.

Samira clenched her fists, memories surging like a tide.

Her parents had sacrificed themselves to avoid this fate. Their bodies burned before the Corilians seized them.

Her husband, Ryen, had fought valiantly. His final stand cost the Corilians dearly but left her a widow.

The faces of countless comrades flashed in her mind—each a life lost, every soul a reason to resist.

‘Tell me,’ Marius rasped, his tone devoid of warmth. ‘Who aids you? What technology do your allies wield that disrupts my forces?’

Samira lifted her chin, defiance burning in her gaze. ‘You’ll get nothing from me.’

Marius’ bionic eyes flitted, his mechanical limbs twitching.

He rose, towering over her, his shadow stretching across the cold floor. ‘You mistake this for a negotiation. You will speak, or you will become one of us.’

Samira said nothing, her silence infuriating him.

He raised a clawed hand, gripping her jaw with surprising force. ‘You think your rebellion will save you? Your people will fall. Your allies will betray you.’

Something flickered in his countenance as he spoke—a brief glitch, a shifting cloud, a stutter in his movement.

His body jerked, his voice distorting. ‘They— I— will— control—’

Samira froze, realization dawning.

Marius wasn’t the true master here. Something darker, something unseen, had its claws in him.

Tis what Kaelith had warned her about, Samira thought in horror.

Marius’ Corilian guards moved fast, steadying their emperor as his movements became erratic.

Samira seized the moment, wrenching free of her captors and bolting toward the nearest exit.

Her heart hammered as she sprinted through the palace, alarms blaring.

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