“You know you are having my baby, Jax. That is why we are working on this plot.”
We can’t just go running up to the palace and demand it back, of course. We have to be careful. We have to form a base of power. There are some soldiers who are still loyal to me, or rather, to my line. The whispers among the korabi who drink in the city suggest that they are not happy with Tusk’s coup, or Rath K’zar. He is not of a golden lineage. He is something else. Made for other tasks. He knows it, and they know it.
“I need to get some things, Krush. We need some supplies.”
“I’ll go with you.”
"You can't. There's still a chance you’ll be recognized. We can't risk it yet.”
* * *
Jax
The rightful king of Megaris huffs at having to stay behind in a shanty while I go shopping. He’s cute when he’s feeling emasculated.
I am at the Blindspot. This illicit market is where I will find the bits and pieces I need to execute our plan. Krush and I are working at an extreme disadvantage. I’m okay with that. I've always been working at an extreme disadvantage.
So far, I have managed to trade his hair for a bag of drone parts, including an almost intact circuit board. I've almost got enough to build my very own drone.
Suddenly, I become aware that someone is hovering close to me. Too close for my liking. I don't want to look at her directly and invite confrontation, but I can see enough out of the corner of my eye to tell that this is a woman.
Her hand closes around my wrist. I panic for a moment, before recognizing the person touching me. Someone I thought I'd never see again.
"What are you doing, Lyric?”
“Finding you,” she answers simply.
“We’re not doing a very good job hiding if you could find me.”
“I know all your tricks," she smiles at me. Lyric is pretty. She has curling hair and dark eyes and an air of gravitas and certainty which once made her my absolute idol. I trusted her so much I put my own life at risk to save hers before my own. I no longer feel that way about her.
She takes me by the elbow and guides me out of the crowd. She feels entitled to do this to me because she thinks I am a pawn in her game. She doesn't seem to notice the way I tense when she touches me, or how I am not throwing my arms around her in welcome relief.
“What are you doing with Krush? He’s not a good man.” She gets right to the crux of her complaint without bothering with any niceties. It has been a year since I’ve seen her in person, and she knew who I was. This should, by all rights, be a very happy reunion. But it isn’t. Not even a little. It is fraught with tension. She and I may still be family, but we are no longer on the same side.
“He's not a man at all. And you’re still fuzkin’ the guy who wiped our family out,” I point out. Lyric always thinks she has all the answers. I used to bow to her will, but I’m not in the mood anymore. I have my own loves to care for. I have a life inside me who must be the priority.
“Rath has tried to make amends.”
“By leaving me as bait to be taken after you escaped and letting the worst happen to me. Do you know what happened when you ran? They came for me. They crushed my leg. They took me to be executed. I should be dead right now. And I would be if you hadn't come back to kill Krush.”
"That's not why we came back…”
“Good. Then tell your man to get off my man’s throne. Krush is coming back. And none of you can stop him.”
“Jax…”
She starts in on me with that tone. The tone she uses when she wants to bend others to her will. Lyric has traces of the tyrant in her. I didn’t notice it so much when we were all dependent on each other for our very survival, but I don't need her anymore.
I bite my tongue, because what I really want to say is that it is not Rath's fault that our family is dead. The poor slaughtered infants buried beneath the mountain are not to be laid at his feet. It is her fault. She made a series of stupid, selfish, reckless decisions and she put us all at risk in doing so.
Now that I am growing new life, I swear I will never allow Lyric to put my son at risk. My allegiance is not to her. It is to Krush, and to the budding of our new family.