Morning Star (Red Rising Saga 3)

“Then the execution was a ruse meant to make us stop looking.”

There’s so much more to say, so many questions and accusations that could fly between us. But I didn’t want to see her because I don’t know where to begin. What to say. What to ask for. “I don’t have time for small talk, Mustang. I know you came to Phobos to surrender to the Sovereign. Now why are you here talking to me?”

“Don’t talk down to me,” she says sharply. “I wasn’t surrendering. I was making peace. You’re not the only one with people to protect. My father ruled Mars for decades. Its people are as much a part of me as they are part of you.”

“You left Mars at the mercy of your brother,” I say.

“I left Mars to save it,” she corrects. “You know everything is a compromise. And you know it’s not Mars you’re angry at me for leaving.”

“I need you to stand aside, Mustang. This is not about us. And I don’t have time to bicker. I’m leaving. So either you move or we open the door and fly through you.”

“Fly through me?” she laughs. “You know I didn’t have to come alone. I could have come with my bodyguards. I could have lain in wait to ambush you. Or reported you to the Sovereign to salvage the peace you ruined. But I didn’t. Can you stop for a single moment to think why?” She takes a step forward. “You said to me in that tunnel that you want a better world. Can’t you see that I listened? That I joined the Moon Lords because I believe in something better?”

“Yet you surrendered.”

“Because I could not watch my brother’s reign of terror continue. I want peace.”

“This is not the time for peace,” I say.

“Goryhell, you’re thick. I know that. Why do you think I am here? Why do you think I’ve worked with Orion and kept your soldiers at their stations?”

I examine her. “I honestly don’t know.”

“I’m here because I want to believe in you, Darrow. I want to believe in what you said in that tunnel. I ran from you because I didn’t want to accept that the only answer was the sword. But the world we live in has conspired to take everything I love away. My mother, my father, my brothers. I will not let it take the friends I have left. I will not let it take you.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“I’m saying that I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m coming with you.”

It’s my turn to laugh. “You don’t even know where I’m going.”

“You’re wearing sealSkin. Ragnar’s on board. You’ve declared open rebellion. Now you’re leaving in the middle of the largest battle the Rising has ever seen. Really, Darrow. It doesn’t take a genius to deduce that now you’re using this ship to pretend to be a Gold refugee to escape and go to the Valkyrie Spires to beseech Ragnar’s mother to provide an army.”

Damn. I try not to let my surprise show.

This is why I did not want to involve Mustang. Inviting her into the game is adding another dimension I can’t control. She could destroy my gambit with a single call to her brother, to the Sovereign, telling them where I am going. Everything relies on misdirection. On my enemies thinking I am on Phobos. She knows what I’m thinking. I can’t let her leave this hangar.

“The Telemanuses know as well,” she says, knowing my mind. “But I’m tired of having insurance plans against you. Tired of playing games. You and I have pushed each other away because of broken trust. Aren’t you tired of that? Of the secrets between us? Of the guilt?”

“You know I am. I laid my secrets bare in the tunnels of Lykos.”

“Then let this be our second chance. For you. For me. For both our people. I want what you want. And when you and I are aligned, when have we ever lost? Together we can build something, Darrow.”

“You’re suggesting an alliance…” I say quietly.

“Yes.” Her eyes are afire. “The might of House Augustus and Telemanus and Arcos united with the Rising. With the Reaper. With Orion and all her ships. The Society would tremble.”

“Millions will die in that war,” I say. “You know that. The Peerless Scarred will fight to the last Gold. Can you stomach that? Can you watch that happen?”

“To build we must break,” she says. “I was listening.”

Still, I shake my head. There’s too much to overcome between us, between our people. It would be a qualified victory, on her terms. “How could I ask my men to trust a Gold army? How could I trust you?”

“You can’t. That is why I am coming with you. To prove I believe in your wife’s dream. But you have to prove something to me. That you are worthy of my trust, in turn. I know you can break. I need to see that you can build. I need to see what you will build. If the blood we will shed is for something. Prove that, and you have my sword. Fail, and you and I will go our separate ways.” She cocks her head at me. “So what do you say, Helldiver? Do you want to give it one more go?”

I help unbuckle Mustang’s pulseArmor in the cargo hold. “Cold gear is in here.” I gesture to a large plastic box. “Boots in there.”

“Quicksilver gave you the keys to his armory?” she asks, eying the winged heel on the boxes. “How many fingers did it cost him?”