Was her sister better than Nick?

As Hailey stood, distant from Earth, she thought about Nova Majestic. Reese Low. Sabrina Sam.

Nick had disrespected his mother. With no remorse, too. Nova had adopted a baby Freeman. She, like Hailey's mother, had a son. Ben's people had ruined Soy and driven the Soynite race to near-extinction, but Nova had turned the young Freeman into her baby. Her son.

Hailey stood in a large room with one chair. The Blind High was with Hailey, but not Nova. She wasn't in her younger sister's sight.

Nick. He was in Hailey's old room, unconscious. His willingness to disrespect others with no shame competed with Lena's.

Anne. She had been a baby when Hailey saw her for the last time. She had been toothless, younger than she was now, and her devotion to Lock Tannis had been absent.

Summer Sinister had stolen her.

Whatever respect Anne had possessed for her parents was gone. Admiration for the universe's worst Soynite had replaced it. Lock Tannis, Hailey's enemy, had become Anne's idol. The person she worshipped. She gave Lock more praise than he had any right to receive, and he deserved none of it.

Hailey had last seen Anne years ago. Toothless and younger than she was now, she hadn't been able to speak back then. In the present, Hailey could talk. So could her only younger sibling.

Will I ever hear Anne say my name?

Lena. She didn't have eyesight. She had a throne instead. A crown, too.

Despite her ability to see, Hailey didn't have a throne. She lacked a crown. Nick and Anne were the only birth siblings she had spent time with, but one of them was absent. She didn't stand or sit in Betty's space station. A cult filled with Lock worshippers had her, but her mother and Hailey intended to save her from that horrible group.

Hailey's mother.

She might smile if she saw a descendant of Hase Majestic sit on the Red Throne. If Lena sat on it, maybe the woman wouldn't smile. Hailey and Lena knew a great Soynite needed to kill Lock Tannis, whether or not they were descended from Hase.

Hailey's mother didn't want her daughter Lena to become planet Free's next ruler.

Lena wasn't a stranger to the nearby blue throne. She had sat on it, and Hailey had done the same. Lena had given her permission to. Yet it had been for a reason coursing with selfishness. Lena craved the ability to see, and she wanted the powers Still had stolen from her.

Ben Sam. He was the Freeman nephew Hailey had never met. But she could.

"I'm not going to use Freeman Killer on Ben," Hailey said. "He's my nephew. He's our nephew."

"I know that," Lena said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill that pale boy. I'm pretty sure that your brother doesn't plan on showing him mercy, though. Nick doesn't even respect his mother. He isn't going to be nice to Ben, and you know how awful Nick is. If he gets the chance, he will kill that boy. He won't care that Ben is his sister's baby. He won't care that he's his nephew."

While awake, Nick had flung disrespect at his mother. After he regained consciousness, he would be rude to the woman again, Hailey didn't doubt.

Lilly Majestic was Nick's mother.

Ben Sam was a baby Freeman he hadn't met.

Surrounding Hailey and Lena were blue walls, tall ones. Bright light glowed against them, the solid floor, and the girls who stood close to each other. Illumination bathed the throne.

"I know how Nick is," Hailey said. "Believe me. You slapped him, so he slammed you against the wall, then he used telekinesis to make you hit the floor. I know how violent our brother is. And I don't want him to hurt Ben, but I think he wants to. He probably wants to kill him. Unfortunately for Nick, Ben has an aunt who won't let anyone hurt him."

"Two aunts," Lena said. "Ben is a part of this family. That means that I have to be good to him. Nick is an exception, obviously. He hates me. And he hates his mother."

"I know it seems that way, but that's not true," Hailey said. "He's mad at her. That's all. I was mad at her, too. But my anger didn't last as long as Nick's. I forgave Mother, and we slept together, and everything was fine. Nick will forgive her. He's going to accept what she did, eventually. I don't know when that will happen. Maybe you're going to be blind forever, and maybe I won't kill Lock Tannis. But I do think that Nick will forgive Mother. I forgave her. He will do the same. He has to."

Nick had shown disrespect for his mother.

He had lost consciousness, and Hailey had made it known she wanted to kill Lock Tannis. She wasn't sure if she would become his murderer.

But she planned to.

Smiling had become more common for Hailey. Plus, Nick had returned. With his help, there was a higher chance Hailey, her mother, and Lena would make Anne discard her love for Lock Tannis.

Hailey and Lena had kissed. They had embraced. Bitter conflict no longer raged between the sisters, and they remained on the same side.

"If you want what's best for this family, don't kill Nick," Hailey said. "And don't beat him while he's unconscious again, either. Mother didn't like that. If Nick finds out that you did that to him, he will treat you worse than he did before. He keeps frustrating Mother. You keep frustrating her, too. The two of you need to love each other already. Mother adopted you. She made you a member of this family, and that means that you have to love everyone in it. That includes Nick. You don't even call him your brother, Lena."

Lena had siblings, and one of them was a boy. Nick Majestic.

"Your mother has a son," Hailey said. "You made Betty knock him out, but he's still your brother. Like it or not, you have to accept him. You have to accept him as your sibling. I know that Nick can be difficult to deal with, but we need him. And it's not just because he can help us fight. He's our brother. I know you don't love him. But you love me, and I think you're worthy. I said you are unworthy, but you're only unworthy to Still."

When the spookiest planet viewed Lena as worthy, her sight and her Saves would return.

"I know you weren't going to hurt me because I called you unworthy." Hailey said.

The High in front of her had gripped her blonde hair, but she hadn't yanked on the long strands. The ruler had abused Hailey a few days ago. Not today.

Lena sighed.

"You talk too much, Hailey," she said. "So many words. Do me a favor and tell your brother to get killed in a fight with Freemans. Actually, convince him to join you for the attack on that Freeman base. He'll die there, hopefully."

Hailey frowned, as if she had found herself losing a fight against a pale opponent.

Lena turned. Her hands roamed the space ahead of her as she walked. They found the throne. Lena sat. Hailey went near her.

"I could've led you to the throne," she said.

Lena's blindness made it more difficult to find people and objects. She had touched her mother's breast earlier, back when she tried discovering if the woman was still in front of her. At least Hailey wasn't sightless. She could see.

Hailey had seen her mother after a long separation.

She had seen Lena slap Nick.

Hailey had seen good moments and she had seen horrible ones.

"I can find it on my own," Lena said. "Anyway, that brother of yours is terrible. My mother shouldn't have gotten shot to death when the Freemans were attacking Soy. It should've been your brother. Why do the great people die, while the awful ones live? They live longer than they deserve to. Nick. Lock Tannis. Bane Sinister. All of them are horrible. All of them are alive. I want Anne to live, but I don't feel the same way about your brother. He needed to have his head crash against the wall. A great leader needs to know when to be ruthless, Hailey. If you become the next ruler of the Freemans, you'll have to let them know that you can be brutal. You'll have to show them they have a strong leader."

Hailey nodded.

A strong leader. Would she become one?

She ruled no one. She ruled no planet. In truth, Hailey had as much royal power as her mother.

"I remember what you said," Lena said. "You said that you have to kill Lock. You said that you will make this war end. You want the Freemans to call you Great Leader, and you want to sit on the Red Throne. I want it, too. But I'm blind and you're not. You're also a better fighter than I am. Hailey, you can kill Lock. I can't."

"You really think I'm a better fighter than you?" Hailey said.

"I know you are," the High said. Hailey smiled. "I didn't have to see you killing those Freemans to know you're a better fighter than I am. I heard it. I heard all of them die. You did that. I was only able to kill one of them. You killed all of the rest. If Vera had been there, she would've been proud of you."

"Vera," Hailey said.

She looked at the floor. It matched the color of the space station she had left Vera in. But it was that Bloodhound who had declined to find a certain man. A good man.

"She always refused to look for Father," Hailey said. "If he's really in trouble, it's Vera's fault."

"My Watcher is a better one," Lena said. "If Betty were a Bloodhound, she would've found Father. Vera didn't even look for you. She didn't use her power to find you. And she didn't go back to the space station to see if you went back there. She abandoned our father, and she isn't bothering to find you. Does that Bloodhound even love you?"

Hailey fiddled with her fingers.

She hadn't seen Vera in two days. But the girl was now with her mother, Lena, Betty, and Nick, people who wanted to find her father.

"She has a good reason for not bothering to see me," she said. "I told her to not look for me. It's what Father told her before he went missing."

"He told Vera not to look for him, but you're obsessed with finding him anyway," Lena said. Hailey crossed her arms. "Good. There are times when you have to see if a loved one is okay. If Father really is in trouble, he would be grateful that you want to find him."

"I wish Vera heard you say all of that," Hailey said. Lena's pale arm was on the armrest. Hailey placed a hand on it. "Thank you. Thank you, Lena."

She kissed the High's cheek. She moved her hand off Lena's arm, and sighed.

"I don't want to see Vera," Hailey said. "I already have everyone I need. Almost everyone, anyway. I have you. And there's Mother, and Nick, and Betty. All of you want to find Father. Vera doesn't. She isn't bothering to reunite with me and I'm glad. I don't want to see her anyway. She had years to find our father, and she chose not to. And you're right. There are times when you have to see if a loved one is okay. Vera didn't do that. She didn't look for Father. She didn't look for me."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Vera could find anyone. She had been born as a Bloodhound, but she didn't use her power to find the people she needed to find.

"Vera probably left to help other Soynites," Hailey said. "Or maybe she left to kill Freemans. I don't know. I just know that I'm not surprised that she left our home after I did. I don't think she left to find Father. She made it clear that finding our father is the lowest priority for her. He told her not to look for him, but she should've disobeyed him. She should've searched for him. If Vera loved Father, she would've used her power to find him a long time ago. She never did. And I don't think she ever will. I have my mother, at least. She wants to find our father. She wants to bring this family back together."

Hailey. Lilly. Lena. Nick. They were in the same place.

Theo. Nova. Anne. They weren't in the throne room, and they weren't in Betty's space station.

"That may be true, but Mother doesn't want me to become the next leader of the Freemans," Lena said. She touched her crown. "She doesn't want me to wear a red crown and she doesn't want me to own the Red Throne. A descendant of Hase Majestic doesn't need to be the next leader of planet Free. Our mother doesn't agree, though. Father wouldn't be angry if I became the leader of the Freemans. I said a lot of bad things about him, but I know that he isn't like Mother. In his opinion, the next Freeman ruler doesn't have to be a descendant of Hase."

"Mother loves you, Lena," Hailey said.

"But she doesn't want me to kill Lock."

Lock had to die. But it was he who had managed to avoid his well-deserved demise for so long. Hailey needed to end his life. Vera had trained her, but that Bloodhound might never see her mentee kill Free's leader.

Hailey, Nick, and Nova were Hase Majestic's descendants, but they weren't the only people who could bring peace by slaying Lock.

Anne. She would rather hug him than slip a sword into his chest.

Hailey's father. He had gone missing. Even though his wife had returned home, he hadn't. His absence remained. It stuck.

"No, she doesn't," Hailey said. "But you don't obey anyone, Lena. I know you. You don't follow anyone's rules."

"And I hurt anyone who doesn't follow my rules," Lena said. She moved her hands to her knees. "If I don't hurt them, I make Betty do it."

Betty had gained the power of immortality ten years ago. She looked younger than her actual age.

"And she hadn't been there to hurt Peter and Maggie," Lena said. "I had to do it. I killed them, but I needed to. They were planning on killing Zoey. Maybe she really is going to kill Jake. That's the most obvious explanation for what Maggie saw, assuming she wasn't lying about her vision. But I don't like Jake anyway. If I had to choose between him and Zoey, I would pick my sweet sister. I would always pick her."

Lena didn't hide her fondness of Zoey. And Hailey didn't conceal her desire to meet Nova.

"Nova and Jake are best friends," Lena said. "Nova will always take his side. If she finds out I killed Peter and Maggie, she's going to hate me. So will Jake. Whatever they end up feeling towards me, I'll be ready for them. No one will stop me from defeating who I have to. I killed Peter. And I killed that Maggie girl. I grabbed that Strife dagger, then I stabbed both of those fools to death. I enjoyed it. I really did. I wish I could kill them again. If I let them live, they wouldn't have just tried to kill Zoey. They would've tried to kill me. And they would've tried to kill you and Mother. Nick, too. Peter and Maggie would've tried to kill him."

"You did what you had to do," Hailey said. "I would've done the same thing. Peter and Maggie needed to die, and I think you made the right choice. I know you did. Was Peter the first Soynite you killed?"

Hailey had only murdered Freemans. She hadn't killed any Soynites, but she hadn't forgotten Lock needed to die. He had to become as dead as Peter, as deceased as Maggie.

"He was," Lena said. "I remember when I tried to kill you. I failed to, thankfully."

"And I remember when I called your eyes beautiful," Hailey said. "You hurt me because of it. But I meant what I said. I really think your eyes are beautiful."

A slap didn't come.

"Don't be so idiotic," Lena said. "My eyes are hideous, and my pupils don't even look normal. They're as gray as my irises. My eyes used to be beautiful green ones. Betty remembers when they looked like that, and Nova should remember, too. They're never going to be green again."

Misty had never seen Lena with green eyes.

She was Lena's former stepmother. She had fought Boris Endman a few days after the invasion, and Zoey had been asleep at the time.

"If Father saw me now, he would see his blind daughter," Lena said.

"Do you still wish he died fighting during the invasion?" Hailey said.

"If he died during the invasion, he wouldn't be able to kneel for me in the future," Lena said. "In addition, you were right. Father would've died if he went back to Soy and fought. He did his duty. And I have to do mine. Whatever I need to do to make this family be okay again, I'll do it. Even though I only like two people who are in this family."

"Who are those two people, Lena?"

"You know," the High said. "I have this crown because of one of them. You and her could've killed me, but both of you decided to let me live. Zoey wouldn't have been able to kill you. She wouldn't have been able to kill Mother. Betty was unconscious. I was at your mercy, and I was at Mother's mercy. You wanted me to live."

Hailey had demolished her desire to assassinate Lena. The High lived while other Soynites did not, and it was because Hailey and her mother had spared her life.

The woman hadn't turned Lena into her victim. She had made her into her daughter. Her fifth child.

"Father wouldn't have wanted me to kill you," Hailey said. "I couldn't do it. I could have, but I didn't. I didn't want to disappoint Father. Mother doesn't want to make me do anything I don't want to, so she let you live. Just like I did. Then Mother adopted you."

Hailey rested her hand on top of Lena's.

"I'm glad we're friends again, Lena," Hailey said. "And I'm glad we're sisters. I love you."

"You should," Lena said. "You need to love your High, after all. It's your duty to."

Hailey nodded.

"I love you, too," Lena said. "Be glad that I do. Because it means you are a very fortunate person, Hailey. Many people have died without knowing what it's like to be loved by Lena Majestic. Lock Tannis will die like they did, unloved by me. If I didn't hate him so much, I would pity him."

Lock Tannis had earned Lena's hatred, and the High knew it.

"Lock needs to die," Lena said. "And so do all of his Freemans. But they don't just have to die. They need to be killed, specifically. Peter and Maggie were bleeding when they died. Any person who plans on murdering me or someone I love will die bleeding. They won't get the luxury of dying in peace. They will suffer, and I will make sure they do."

Hailey looked at the door, which stayed closed. Peter didn't open it, neither did Maggie. They had gone into a space station that doubled as a home. Lena had killed the living threats to Zoey. Hailey's mother had taken two corpses to Soy.

"Zoey is fortunate to have a sister who cares about her so much," Lena said. "Before I met her, I spent a long time knowing who Alice Endman was. I knew what happened to her. But I didn't know that she was my stepsister. My sister. When I met her the other day, I had to hug her. And I did. She suffered so much when she was with Misty, but that girl didn't have to suffer when she was with me. That choice I made earlier was so easy to make. Peter and Maggie didn't expect that a blind girl would kill them, and they shouldn't have let me leave my room. They should've seen me as the dangerous and amazing ruler that I am. They decided not to, unfortunately for them. They died as true fools."

Hailey stood near the throne, alive.

A Watcher named Peter had lived with Lena a long time ago. She had slain him on the day they reunited. What had happened to him had never happened to Hailey. Lena had hollowed out the life from Peter's body, but she hadn't murdered Hailey. The girl lived while others did not. She had survived.

Like the invasion, Lena's attempt to murder Hailey hadn't led to the blonde's death.

Lena lived as well. Without shame, she had bared her body to Hailey, their mother, and Zoey. Hailey lacked obsessive self-love. Lena did not.

Without a doubt, Lena Majestic was the most inappropriate High of the new generation of them.

Six Soynite rulers.

One Freeman leader.

Hailey had met Lena, but neither of them had encountered Lock Tannis. Hailey had lived with his fellow former Highs. Her father was one of them. He had disposed of his High status, and six children ruled Soy. Because of Hailey's father. Because of a missing man.

Vera had spoken about the night Hailey's father had presented her to the Bloodhound. It had been thirteen years ago, not yet fourteen. Hailey couldn't remember. But her father had held her when she was a baby, and he had done the same to Nick, Nova, and Anne when they were infants.

Theo Majestic wasn't with either of them, nor was he in the same place as his wife.

"Peter and Maggie were killed by a blind girl," Lena said. She chuckled. "They should be ashamed. Instead of serving me, they tried to convince me that my sister needs to die. Why were those two so moronic? I don't think Peter and Maggie could've gotten any dumber. Zoey deserves to live. She deserves to live almost as much as I do. Peter didn't. Neither did Maggie. Jake is never going to find out that I killed his Watcher, and he's never going to find out that I killed his friend Maggie. We'll tell him that Freemans murdered them. Maybe we'll make him believe that one Freeman did it. Either way, we have to tell Jake a lie. We can't contradict it. If we do, Jake will become suspicious. I don't want that to happen. If Jake becomes suspicious, he might get dangerous. He might become dangerous to us. And you know what happens when someone becomes dangerous to me. Peter was a danger to me. So was that Maggie girl."

Peter and Maggie had been dangerous to Zoey. They might have tried murdering Lena if she hadn't ambushed them. She had killed Peter and Maggie, and Zoey would be grateful.

"I don't want anyone else to die, Lena," Hailey said. "Good people don't have to die, I mean. Jake can live. We can keep what really happened to Peter and Maggie a secret. Jake doesn’t have to find out. I think we can lie to him, successfully. And we'll keep making him believe that a Freeman killed Peter and Maggie. Nova will believe it, too. She has to. She liked Peter and she likes Jake. I don't want to think about what would happen if they found out the truth."

"Jake would die, no doubt," Lena said. "If he figures out what I did, he will try to kill me. We'll be forced to kill him. Nova will live, of course. Mother doesn't want her to die, and neither do I. If I kill Nova, Father will hate me. He wouldn't want to kneel for me. In addition, Nova is my sister. And I can't cause a Majestic's death. I told Mother that I will help her put this family back together. I'm not going to kill anyone who is part of this family. Even if that person is Nova. Or Nick."

Nick. He had spent more time with Hailey's father than her other siblings had.

In truth, Nova was older than Anne. Her youngest sibling. But Nova had spent less time with her birth father than Anne had, and neither of those girls accompanied Hailey's father.

Nova lived with her uncle.

Anne dwelled with Lock worshippers. She had become one of them.

"Your brother did a great job when he made Peter trip," Lena said. "He was unconscious, I know. But he still did a great job."

She had made Nick unconscious. As Lena remained in the large throne room, their brother stayed beyond it. Nick had lost his respect for his mother. No matter what Hailey had said to him, Nick hadn't found the respect he had lost for the woman.

"Peter and Maggie wanted to kill Zoey, but I was the terror." Lena said.

"You were," Hailey said.

A Watcher and a cursed girl had made the mistake of underestimating Lena. The Blind High. A sightless menace.

"I still am," Lena said. She smiled. "I killed them so wonderfully, didn't I? Thanks to me, Zoey doesn't have to worry about Peter or Maggie trying to kill her. She's probably with her parents right now. If she isn't with them, she's probably with that boy she likes so much."

"Hero," Hailey said.

"He might be Zoey's boyfriend now," Lena said. "As for me, the only male attention I get is from that horrible brother of yours."

Before Nick's return, there had been Peter. He had been older than Lena and Hailey, and his goal had been to murder Zoey.

Before Peter's arrival, Lena hadn't seen the Freeman warriors who had infiltrated Betty's space station. They had been there. Hailey wasn't her blind sister. She had seen the pale warriors, and she had slaughtered them.

"If you want a love life, just remember that Jake might be with you again," Hailey said.

Lena clenched her fists. "I'm never going to fall in love with that pathetic boy."

"You don't have to," Hailey said. "You can love whoever you want to, but you should become friends with Jake. In the future, I mean. And that's if you reunite with him."

Lena was miles from Earth. The distance between that planet and the space station was massive, and so was the long gap separating Lena from Jake.

Hailey wasn't far from her blind sister. She was distant from Nova. She and Lena both were.

"If I meet Jake again, he won't kneel for me, unfortunately," Lena said. "I'm not the Supreme High. Jake and Nova aren't going to get on their knees for me. Neither will the other Highs. But I know the truth, and you know it, too. I deserve to be the Supreme High. Mother gave me the crown of the previous one. I have Father's crown, and I need to wear Hase Majestic's pendant."

Even though Hase Majestic's pendant belonged to Hailey's father, the man had tended to wear his own pendant. But he had brought Hase's pendant outside the spaceport. He had placed it against six foreheads.

A long time ago, Hailey's father had put the pendant against the foreheads of six teenagers. He had been one of them. Hailey's father had made himself into a High, and then he had done the same to Lock Tannis.

Hailey's father and Lock Tannis weren't Highs. They had been rulers, once. One of them had given up his status as a High, and the other had lost his High identity. Hailey's father had taken it from him.

"I'm not wearing Hase's pendant, but I'm still the best High," Lena said. She placed her thumb against her chest. "Me. No one else. There are always going to be people who are lower than others, but I'll never be one of them. I'm better than everyone else. If only all the people in this universe realized that. If they treated me like Betty treats me, everything would be so much better. For me."

Her hand came to Hailey's arm.

"Hailey," Lena said. "Tell me the names of the current Highs."

"Lena," Hailey said. Lena smiled. "Nova. Jake. Kara. Aris. Path."

"Who made them into Highs?"

"My father. Theo Majestic."

Lena nodded. Hailey didn't have to lie to her. She knew the Highs' names and so did the blind one. Lena loved when someone reminded her she ruled a planet and its people, and it was obvious.

"Which High is the greatest one?" Lena said.

"You are," Hailey said.

"Unlike your brother, you're smart," Lena said. "Get in front of me, then kneel."

Hailey moved. She kneeled where Lena wanted her to. She bowed her head. Her knees touched the hard floor through her blue jeans, and above her head was the high ceiling. Lena couldn't fly near it. If a dagger sliced Hailey's arm, the Blind High wouldn't have the power to heal it.

Lena had lost her powers, but her royal power hadn't left.

"I'm kneeling, Lena," Hailey said.

"You will refer to me as your High," Lena said. "Do you know what I think about you?"

"No, my High."

"I think you deserve to have Freemans kneeling for you."