Adina Mistolta stood on her balcony above ground, the flickering light of the torches outlining her body through her thin white robe. Her eyes travelled the length of the land as they did every night, as though other survivors might come stumbling from the darkness. She had searched long and wide, and fiercely protected the remaining few with her dwindling powers.
But it had never seemed like enough, and now, as she had gazed into her niece’s green eyes, knowing that one should be the colour of deepest night, she knew that her time had come. She felt no sadness at that. All of her grief had been spent a long time ago.
It was time to pay for what she had done and to take charge of the life she had created.
Hearing the door open and close gently, Adina smiled. She had waited a long time for this. Hurrying was not necessary.
She had all the time in the world.
As much as he would give her.
“Adina,” she heard him say her name. It fell on her ears like the sweetest honey. He did not say it harshly, nor passionately. But he had said it. That was all that mattered.
She breathed in deeply, taking count of her image. Her long hair was freed from any restraint, outlining her upper body as he had always preferred. She remembered every detail of their relationship, even if it had been so long ago.
Closing her eyes, she turned around. She wanted to smell him first. He approached her slowly and she raised her head, bathing in everything her senses could tell her before she could lose herself in the sight of him.
He still smelled as good as he always had, a sweet and masculine aroma that only a lover could truly learn to appreciate and crave. She had always imagined him as a wild creature, untamed except in her arms. His smell reminded her of it. The wildness.
He stood so close that she could hear his breath now. It was calm, as it had always been. The sound that had reassured her during so many sleepless nights. And the sound she had missed the most.
Lightning coursed through her body as he gently brushed the side of her face with the tips his fingers. Tears escaped her and he gently wiped them away, one by one. His coarse skin felt wonderful. So real. So warm.
Bringing up her own hand, she took his and kissed it. She could taste her own tears mingling with earth and sweat. He had always been so real to her. Her anchor in this wild, crazy world.
She fought to control her tears. She felt like a young, foolish maiden again, being courted by the most handsome man.
But that time had passed long ago.
Finally she opened her eyes, looking up at his. They were dark, as dark as the day she had first seen him. The day she had fallen in love with him so deeply that even her soul had cried out for him.
He was still beautiful. Older, with more scars and pain etched on his chiselled features, but those didn’t matter. He was still the most handsome man on Mirial. To Adina, her husband, Zortan Mistolta, would always be the most handsome man in the universe.
“Adina,” he repeated, more softly now. She knew he had expected the worst. It was simply the kind of man he was. But she still loved him, no matter what had happened.
It made her feel good to know that he still loved her, too. Even though he tried to hate her. She put her arms around him, her mouth reaching for his. He did not resist. She didn’t think he could have.
The bitter taste in her mouth was washed away with his honey. How she wished she could stay here, forever. Burn their past and fly towards the future, together.
Perhaps in another life, she could meet him and they could love each other as they had been meant to, simply as two individuals. She wished she had been born a peasant, free from the cares and hatreds that had led them here, to this moment.
How could she explain to him what she had done? How could she explain to anyone her pain?
Her pain had begun when her younger sister, whom the ether courted more strongly, became queen in her stead. It was a pain that had intensified each night her husband, the captain of the Royal Guards, stayed late, helping her sister in her queenly matters while Adina ached for his presence. It was a pain that culminated the day her sister gave birth, and called her captain to her side, instead of her sister.
How could she explain to him the anguish she felt at the queen’s death, at what one moment of anger had done to them all? And the anguish of learning the truth: her sister had given birth to twins. And her sister had known Adina, unlike her soft-hearted husband, would do her sworn duty and kill one of the children.
How could she explain to the captain of the Royal Guards that she had killed the queen because she loved him too much?
She couldn’t. And so she didn’t try. Instead, she lost herself in him one last time. When the kiss ended, so gently, she saw the pain in his eyes. He had tasted the bitter poison that coated her lips. He knew she was dying.
He didn’t ask why. He took her in his arms instead, hugging her so fiercely that his heartbeat became the only sound in her world.
They had become lovers the day they had met. The stars themselves sang at their union. Words had never been a necessity. They communicated on a much deeper level.
Twenty years of separation had not dulled their link. She had known he was aboard the Victory from the first moment the ship penetrated the atmosphere and fought against the wraiths of Mirial. She had known he was coming for her. To kill her for what he knew she had done.
She had killed the queen he had been sworn to protect.
He should have understood back then, as he surely did now, that everything she had done had been for him. And it still was: she would take her own life, rather than have him live with the knowledge that he had killed his wife.
She felt herself slip away. His heartbeat became hers. She was dimly aware of him lowering her onto the bed, lying down beside her and holding her.
She thought she heard him whispering to her. That he loved her. That he always had. And that he always would. No matter what.
But she could barely hear him.
All she could hear was his heartbeat.
Until her own heart stopped beating.
***
Dunkat landed his shuttle near a cave. His father’s soul lingered at the entryway, a shadow of what he had once been. Dunkat opened the door without hesitation and stepped out, following the soul into the cave.
Rocks crunched under his boots. The glow from his father’s spirit was enough to light his way, as long as he kept his pace brisk.
He was not surprised that his father, or at least a piece of him, had survived. He had always been strong, and stubborn. Dunkat had modelled his own behaviour after him, admiring his quick and steep climb into politics. And his luck: when Mirial was uncovered, as it was once every twenty to thirty years, his father had happened to be leading a survey mission of the area.
It would have led to great heights, had it not all gone so foul. Now, Dunkat could barely convince the council that Mirial existed at all, much less that it posed a threat.
The air in the cave was growing a bit thin, but despite being middle-aged, Dunkat kept himself in superb form and his body maintained its strength.
A faint glow could be seen approaching his father. Dunkat’s gut turned. What if it was his mother? He would be surprised if she had lived, being a weak creature, and he wondered how he would react if he saw her again. He had loved his mother, but had hated her at the same time. It was she, he was certain, who had created his father’s weakness — his love of art.
Dunkat was certain his father had accepted Mirialers so easily because he shared their passion. Everything on Mirial had been finely manicured, from her ships to her gardens, all meticulously tended to and cared for. Had he been more suspicious and not lingered on the planet, even bringing his family to take in the sights…Dunkat stopped his thoughts from heading too far in that direction. What was done was done, and who knew what kind of man Dunkat would have been, had he not had to fight for his survival these last twenty years.
The tunnel ended abruptly in a cavern with an odd yellow glow bouncing off the walls, although Dunkat could not see any source for the light. A small pond, three metres across at most, rested in the bed of the cave, shimmering with yellow highlights and some hints of greens that Dunkat assumed to be algae.
His father’s soul came to rest above the pond, the light of the cavern giving him a sickly yellow look.
“Dunkat,” his father said, his mouth moving just a bit after the syllables reached his ears. Dunkat concentrated on his eyes. They were as stern and hard as he remembered they had always been...except when he had been looking at a fine piece of art, of course.
“Mirial must not be allowed to revive,” his father said, and Dunkat bit back his reply — I told you that twenty years ago, when you were still flesh and blood! His father had been a terrible enough foe when he lived. Now that he was some form of wraith, Dunkat dared not make an enemy of him.
“I can give you the means to stop Mirial’s rebirth.”
Dunkat braced himself for the words that he knew would follow.
“It will require the use of ether.” Of course. Dunkat felt himself flush, his anger boiling high in his throat. Ether was the source of all their problems.
“There must be another way,” Dunkat spat out. He felt like a teenager again, about to be scolded by his father. But the anger did not come.
“I have looked. It is the only way. If you stop Mirial, all of us will be allowed to rest and we will no longer need to worry about the terrible threat of ether.”
Dunkat clenched his fists. His father had looked, and his father would have been meticulous. Dunkat wanted to ask about mother, but feared that might draw his father’s wrath. He wondered if she lingered in some form, waiting to be reunited with her family, alone and afraid. He wondered how hard his father had looked for her, and he imagined the night wind carrying his cries of anguish when he could not find her.
“How do I stop it?” he muttered, then braced his feet and spoke again. “How do I stop Mirial?”
His father seemed to smile for a moment. It sent a shiver down Dunkat’s spine.
“You must kill the heirs. Two little girls, both on this planet, both heading to the same place. We can do it together, Dunkat.” The shade hissed, and its voice grew smooth again. “My powers in death can take form in your living body. I cannot approach them, but in you, we both can. If we join, an army will follow you, and the opportunity to win is ours.”
Dunkat nodded and walked towards the shade, trusting as he always had that his father would not lead him to his doom.