Ad Astra

Chapter 42

"Now I will ask you questions," I snarl. "You told me that the assassination was next Sunday. Why did it happen two days early?! I had to flee for my life this evening after the news broke. I was suspected within minutes." I, of course, leave out my sloppy work in hiding the knife and the letters that were transcribed to my mother, but Kiana and Mama do not deserve to know these details now, not when I am feeling more betrayed than ever.

"Kiana wrote to me shortly after I visited you last week," my mother explains. "She said that you would not kill the princess."

I turn to glare at Kiana. " And what compelled you to write that?!" I exclaim, seeing my sister flinch from my anger.

"Leave her be. She is in too much pain to think right now," my mother snaps. "She said that when you were both in Magewell together, she sensed you were not wholly committed to the mission. She and I both agreed that you did not have the guts to do it."

I am seething with rage now. Perhaps their words ring true, but they only confirm what I feared earlier – that I was never trusted to begin with.

"You would not even give me the chance to prove myself?" I whisper angrily.

"We had to make sure the mission would succeed, Fetia," Kiana speaks up. "We could not rely on someone who could not commit with their entire being."

"Well, it didn't succeed, did it?!" I exclaim angrily. "And it starts with all of you lying to me. I won't deny that you're right. The princess is still alive, but it was not my duty to kill her to begin with! And it certainly did not help that the entire estate was turned against me after Zofia's death, which was your fault, Mama!"

"That maid would have turned you in immediately," my mother snarls. "The entire plan would have been jeopardized."

I sulk and stare out the window. In the distance, I am just beginning to make out the Landiani Jungle looming towards us. I am seething with anger, but at least I will be home soon.

"What happened in Magewell?" I murmur.

"Kiana, Taika, and myself went to take down the king and prince. Kiana succeeded in killing the king, but she did not buy Taika and me enough time to kill the prince before the guards arrived," my mother explains.

"Because that was my job!" I exclaim.

Kiana finds her voice again. "Would you have really killed him, Fetia?"

"Yes! He made a fool of me in Magewell!" I exclaim. "I would want nothing more than to see his blood on my knife." And yet, even I know what Kiana says is correct. Perhaps Prince Stephan filled me with rage, but even Zofia's death was not satisfying for me. I have doubt that Stephan dying my hand would have made me feel any more fulfilled.

"The soldiers came shortly afterwards. Kiana thankfully knew the castle like the back of her hand and helped us escape," my mother says. "We have been driving since. Nearly lost a tire at one point while being pursued down the streets of Magewell. Thankfully, the guards ran into a traffic jam, which bought us time."

"Hang on. You said Taika was with you. Where is he now?" I ask. I look in the back, though I know he is not there. Fear begins to grab hold of me, and my blood turns cold when Kiana opens her mouth.

"He is dead," she says simply.

"He was killed by one of the guards on our way out," my mother says. "But he bought us enough time."

My anger, already high, skyrockets to new levels. I let out a screech of agony that I never thought would leave my lips before. Even when I learned my father died as a child, the grief I feel in my heart does not compare at all to what I feel now. Angered, I lunge at my mother. She loses control of the wheel, and Kiana screams as the car spins out on the wet road and drives downward into a ditch. The front of the car crushes against a rock, halting our momentum. Glass shatters onto my body, cutting me up more, but when the car stops, I am unharmed.

The doors to the car open, and we each crawl out, thankfully not more injured than we already are. I look at the crushed vehicle that will no longer be able to take us to Landiani. In the moment though, I don't care. I march towards my mother, ignoring the pain in my ankle, and feel about ready to wrap my hands around her neck.

"How dare you!" I scream, tears streaming down my face. "You should have left Taika out of this!"

"He would not have needed to come if you had done your job to begin with!" my mother shouts back. "Besides...he knew the risks."

A part of me cannot help but think Taika only agreed to join them to protect me. If he did, I feel even more guilty, and I think sadly how I barely showed him any attention the last time I saw him. He was the only person I would have greeted with open arms, but now, he is gone, and my mother and sister, who I can barely stand to look at, stand in his place.

"You—"

"You are going to tell me I'm wrong?" my mother asks. "I clearly laid out my expectations, Fetia. Why you did not follow them, I may never understand, but I know this. The prince and princess still live, Taika is dead, and we are going to be murdered if we do not continue on our way."

"How can we get home? Fetia wrecked the car," Kiana complains.

"We should travel on foot anyway as we near the border," my mother says. She looks at me, annoyance in her eyes. "Now is not the day to fight, Fetia. Unless you would like to be captured by the Magnuvian soldiers. Be my guest."

I open my mouth to tell her I'd love to, that at least I'd probably be able to see Asteria one more time before they sentence me to death, but even I cannot pretend I am not scared of my own mortality.

"Fine," I grumble. "But my leg may give out before we get there."

"You must endure it. I will not stop," my mother says.

She begins walking, and Kiana quickly follows in suit. I linger a few moments. Why now am I still thinking of her? I must know there is nothing left for me in Magnuvia anymore. Asteria is alive, and she faces no chance of being harmed now that I know my sister and mother have escaped. In the end, that was all that truly mattered to me. But she will not take me back when she learns of what my family and I have done.

So I take a step forward, though it pains me. I have lost all my loved ones – the father figure who I cared for more than my own deceased father, and the one woman I can say I ever truly loved. Tears roll down my cheeks, mixed with the rain of a new storm that has begun brewing.

I have no idea what my life holds in store for me. I have no idea what I will come back to in Landiani. I steal one last glance at Magnuvia, at the memories I made in this country, and then return to looking back at the Landiani Jungle.

In the dark and stormy night, I walk alongside my mother and sister, a new anger flooding through my veins.

END OF BOOK ONE