She had given her husband's crown to Lena.

Lilly Majestic stood beside Hailey. Lena lay beneath a blue comforter. If her eyes were open, they wouldn't see her mother. Or her sister.

The blind ruler wore a white tank top. Yesterday she had donned her father's crown.

Lilly had been a wife when Lena was born, a fierce mother when her girl was blinded, and the woman was a High observer now.

She watched Lena sleep.

"Lena," Lilly said. She caressed orange hair. "Wake up, my High. It's Mother."

Blind eyes opened.

"Mother," Lena said. She yawned. "What do you want?"

She made it seem as if Lilly had wrenched her away from a battle she had been close to winning.

"I didn't come alone," Lilly said. She gestured to Hailey. "Hailey is here, too. And we want to talk to you. We already told Betty everything that she needs to know. Last night Vera came back to the space station, and she brought Jill Key. You knew her as Kara Ascend."

Lena sat up. "Is she weak?"

"Weak or not, you have to be nice to her," Lilly said. "Nick was. He kneeled for Jill, and he even gave her a piggyback ride. He's gone now. Your brother isn't dead, but he did leave."

"Your son left the space station?" Lena said. "Good."

When was the last time Nick had given his mother a hug?

Last night he had flung spite-filled words at Lilly, and he had detached from his home. His ability to insult his mother had left with him.

"Your brother isn't here," Lilly said. "Your mother is, though."

"Why did he have to be one of your children?!" Lena said. She squeezed the comforter. "That boy doesn't deserve to be called my brother. Can you even call him a good son? We both know the answer to that question, don't we?"

As the light glowed against her blonde hair, Lilly ran a finger along the comforter.

"There's one older sibling you like," she said. "You're fond of Zoey, aren't you?"

"If something bad happened to her, tell me," Lena said.

"I don't have an update on Zoey. Sorry. This is about her friends. The Shame children are kidnappers. Pure kidnappers, to be specific. It hasn't been confirmed, but it seems very likely."

Lena ran a pale hand through her orange hair. Her skin wasn't as pale as a Freeman's, but Nick treated her as if she had been born as one.

Not even Free's ruler was a Freeman.

"In that case, good luck, Hailey," Lena said.

"Those Pure kidnappers are going to need good luck," Hailey said.

She had spoken with a High's confidence, as if Theo had told her the Shame children would never take her. Yet Theo couldn't tell her anything.

What awaited Hailey? Would she sit on a red throne? Would the Freemans call her Great Leader?

"The Shame children tried to kidnap Jill," Lilly said. "Vera stopped them."

If Hailey had ended Vera's refusal to find Theo years ago, he might have come to Betty's space station with his wife and Hailey today.

Lilly gestured to the bed. "Can I sit on your bed?"

"Go ahead," said Lena.

"Okay. Just let me take off my shoes."

Lilly took off her shoes. She took a seat next to Lena, and the woman kissed the girl's forehead. She couldn't see a smile, her mother, or her younger sister. Lena could feel.

The interactions between Lena and Hailey hadn't just been hugs.

Not long ago, Lena had tried beating Lilly to death. Now the blind ruler called her Mother.

Hailey leaned against the wall.

"If you need a reminder, me and Mother are going to attack that Freeman base," she said. "Today, Lena. Is there any advice you want to give us?"

"Don't get shot," Lena said. "Don't get stabbed, either."

"I'm going to bring Freeman Killer," Hailey said. "And I'll kill some Freemans for you."

Lena smiled.

"At least I have two sisters I actually like," she said.

"And you're going to like Nova and Anne," Lilly said.

Two of her girls hadn't participated in the assassination attempt.

Lilly and Hailey had brought daggers and a syringe into a space station. The one they were in now.

One Soynite dagger. And a Strife one.

In Betty's bedroom, the syringe's needle had pierced a vein in her neck. It had been Lilly's work.

The Soynite dagger hadn't ripped into Freeman flesh in that throne room, but it had hurt someone. Hailey had drawn High blood with pain-inducing sharpness.

She had wounded her sister, but Lena had carried the Fly surname back then. She hadn't been a Majestic when Hailey hurt her.

Lilly's blind girl had a beating heart, but her eyes didn't grant her vision. She couldn't see the woman in the room.

Mother. Did Anne call Summer that?

She had taken Lilly's baby from a crib. Misty had done that to a different child sixteen years. Not long ago, Lilly had aimed a dagger at Zoey, but the woman would cut the love Zoey had for Misty if she could.

Zoey referred to that baby snatcher as Mother. She had called Boone Windsore Father. When he was alive, had he slapped her?

No.

He had deserved to be called Father by Zoey, and he was dead. Lilly had exchanged hugs with Zoey's actual parents.

Archer and Holly.

Lilly had no right to adopt Zoey, not while her parents lived.

Summer had plunged Anne's absence into Lilly's life. Theo's wife, like Holly, was a mother who had lost her baby. Lilly's blonde and beautiful Anne had left, but the woman had earned the blind and brutal Lena.

Her hair was orange, and her gray eyes had been green. Yet she had the same family name as Lilly and Hailey.

Lena was a Majestic.

Soynites could question whether or not Zoey was Misty's legitimate daughter, but no one could deny Lena was Lilly's.

Beyond the space station and its walls was Anne, who prayed to Lock Tannis, Theo's former friend. A man most Soynites wanted to kill, Lilly assumed.

Regardless, too many Soynites acted as if Lock deserved to see Theo kneeling for him.

Lilly would never be one of those Soynites.

Her daughter Anne would rather smile at Lock than stab him. If she could, Lilly would try making Anne into a girl who wouldn't sob if she had seen Lock die.

If Theo hadn't created the High system, Anne, Nova, Hailey, and Lena would be princesses. In Soy's kingdom, kings, princes, and princesses didn't exist.

Highs did.

Six Soynites ruled a planet. One of them had lost her vision and her powers on Still, and another one had ridden Nick. No High was younger than Jill, and Nick couldn't give her a piggyback ride. Not anymore. The fun had come to an end.

Six Highs had been born. Soy had died.

While Lock's warriors attacked it, Theo had teleported Lilly, Hailey, Nick, and Vera to safety. The Freemans had lost the power to hurt them then.

Today Lilly had to head to Earth, and she would have to open fire on Freemans.

She stroked Lena's hair. She would have to return to Lena after assaulting that Freeman base. Nick had served High Jill by letting her ride on his back. Lilly had called Lena her fifth child, healed her, and gave her Theo's crown.

"Listen," Lilly said. "I want you to know something, Lena. I'm glad things turned out the way they did. The other day, I mean. In your throne room. And I was never lying each time I told you I love you."

"You better have been telling the truth," Lena said. "And you better leave that Freeman base alive."

"That's the plan."

Years ago, Nick and Vera had leached information from two Freemans. One of them, Zale Kin, had seen Lena when she was six. Because of him, Lilly had learned Lena had gone blind. When her mother landed her gaze on her sightless eyes, she had already known the truth.

"You're going to hear our voices again," Hailey said, as she put her hand on the blue wall.

Far from the bedroom were Lilly's other children.

Nova. If she called Lilly Mother, the woman would smile.

Nick. He had embraced Hailey after his return, but he hadn't hugged Lilly. Before leaving last night, he had called Lilly her name. She was his mother. She always would be. Yet Lilly's vicious boy acted like she was only a bit better than Lock Tannis, who had engineered the attack on Soy.

Anne. She didn't sit next to her mother. When Lilly held her baby for the last time, Anne hadn't been able to sit up on her own. Now she could.

Did she sit between a cult leader and his Watcher wife?

"Hailey is a lot better than your son, Mother," Lena said. "He never even kneeled for me."

"Your brother is going to be good to you," Lilly said. "One day you'll need his help. And he'll give it to you."

"Don't be so sure."

Who was Hailey? Lena's savior, almost-murderer, sister.

"I'll always help you," Hailey said. "After me and Mother attack that Freeman base, we're going to see you again."

She and Lilly would leave a space station, which Nick had done.

How long would he be gone for?

After his return, would he embrace Lilly? Or would he act as if she had abandoned Theo inside a Freeman space station?

"Vera trained you," Lena told Hailey. "You're not going to get killed by a Freeman. Or by Lock Tannis."

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"I appreciate your confidence in me," Hailey said.

"And I would appreciate it if Mother started believing I deserve to lead the Freemans."

Lilly brushed Lena's hair with her hand.

"You deserve to be what you already are," the woman said. "A High."

"Stop acting like you'll die if I become the next ruler of the Freemans," Lena said.

"Why should I?"

"Get off my bed, Mother. You can follow that command, can't you?"

Lilly left the bed.

Hailey had refused to share a bed with her last night. Lilly's blonde girl, and her blind one, had acted as if their mother had slapped them.

Was she Misty?

No.

"Listen, Lena," Lilly said. "I chose you. You're still my daughter, and you always will be. One day we're going to be closer. A lot closer than we are now."

"I haven't even been your daughter for a week," Lena said.

"Regardless, I love you anyway. And you're going to meet Anne. One of these days, my High."

Lena had to stay distant from having power over the Freemans. Great Leader Lena Majestic, that was a title she could never earn.

"Lena, it's great that you want to save Anne," Hailey said.

"It is," Lilly said. "She's the only child of mine you haven't met yet. But you will. And my baby was an actual baby the last time I saw her. I wish I knew you when you were an infant, Lena. But Betty is the only one here who had that privilege. She treats you well, and I've noticed it. I'm glad she's your Watcher."

Nova. Her Watcher shared parents with Lilly.

"Hopefully, your uncle is still keeping Nova safe," Lilly said.

Sixteen years ago, Lilly had heard a newborn's wailing. The baby's hair had been blonde and her eyes blue.

She could speak.

When they reunited, what would Nova say to her mother?

"I'm going to see her again," Lilly said, as she sat beside Lena on the bed. They would have the opportunity to sit next to Nova. One day. "I know I will."

"I'll see her again, too," said Hailey. "If I'm fortunate, I'll even get to talk to her. I never have."

"And that's my fault. I'm sorry, Hailey. I'm so sorry. I never should've kept you away from Nova. She's your sister and you've never even hugged her."

Lena moved off the bed. Her white tank top left her arms bare, and blue pants covered her legs. She didn't wear her Soynite pendant. It rested on the desk. Lena's round sunglasses sat beside it.

"Do you want your cane, Lena?" Lilly asked.

"I want to sit in the hall," Lena answered, as her hands roamed the space ahead of her.

In the hall outside the bedroom, Lena sat on the sofa. Lilly sat next to her.

Anne was lodged in a cult, trapped. Lilly and Lena were free, but they didn't have the youngest Majestic with them.

"Anne is with the Lock Tannis Church, and my sweet sister likes a bunch of Pure kidnappers," Lena said. "You need to get your youngest out of that cult, and you have to keep Hailey close. Zoey's friends tried to take Jill. They would love to kidnap Hailey."

"I've abandoned her before," Lilly said. "I'm never going to abandon her again. I'll keep her close. Ever since I reunited with Hailey, I've been with her."

Nova had come before Hailey. But Nova wasn't the blonde girl Lilly had found inside the Majestic family's space station the other day. Lilly's toddler had grown into a thirteen-year-old warrior.

She had yelled. She had shouted at her mother, which Nick had done before. Yet Hailey's anger crumbled. Lilly slept with the girl.

Before that day's conclusion, Hailey had tried assassinating a High. She left that throne room with a sister.

The fourth of March had ended.

It was the sixth of the month, and Theo was missing. Anne hadn't freed herself from the Lock Tannis Church. Lilly hadn't closed the distance between herself and Nova.

And Lilly hadn't seen Anne take her first steps. Summer had stolen the chance for Lilly to witness that.

Summer could've left with Lilly and Theo. And Hailey, Nick, and Vera. Instead of doing that, Summer had shot Theo. She had abducted a baby Majestic. But Lilly would find Anne and Summer, and one of those Lock worshippers needed to take a laser beam to the head.

A new day had come, but Lena's vision and Saves hadn't. She had styled herself as the Blind High.

Would she never see her mother's face?

"I'm going to leave this space station, but I'm going to come back to you," Lilly said. She put a hand on Lena's. "I'll bring you back home."

"After you attack that Freeman base," Lena said.

"Correct. And me and Hailey aren't going to die in there."

"There are too many dead mothers. You need to leave that Freeman base alive."

Lena rubbed the sofa.

"After I met Hailey, I slept right here," she said. "I was asleep when she told Betty that Lock Tannis is a Soynite. Betty has all the Saves, but she didn't even know that Lock Tannis is Reed Pisces. I spent a long time not knowing it myself."

"You also spent a long time being blind," Lilly said. "I wish I could give you back your vision. And your Saves."

"I know you do."

Hailey emerged from Lena's room, and a Watcher arrived.

"It looks like you found your mother and sister, my High," Betty said. Even though she could teleport closer, she walked in the hall. "Are you hungry, Lena? Or thirsty?"

"I can eat later," Lena replied. "Right now, I need to talk to my mother. She and Hailey are going to a Freeman base, and we know what can happen to Soynites inside those places."

Freeman bases.

As horrible as those places were, a Freeman base was where Nova and Anne had met. Their mother hadn't been with them. If she had been, she could have hugged her girls. Her absent daughters.

Lilly rubbed her forehead.

"I should've been with my girls when they met," she said. "Nova and Anne found each other in a Freeman base, and I hadn't been there when it happened."

"You'll see them again," Betty said. She kissed Lena's forehead. "That was me, Lena."

Nova had gone into Low custody. Years after that, Summer had stolen Anne and Lilly hadn't fought to get her youngest child back.

What would Nova do if someone had kidnapped her baby? She would treat the abductor as if they were Lock Tannis himself, Lilly hoped.

Summer had shot Theo in the leg, and Lilly hadn't put a laser beam through the Watcher's skull.

Had Summer smiled when she took Anne? Did the woman consider that abduction her finest moment?

When Lilly murdered Summer, it wouldn't take long for the mother to smile. A disgraced Watcher needed to become a deceased Soynite.

Boris Endman.

How many times had he and Lilly embraced?

Regardless of how many times Lilly and Boris had hugged, that hadn't stopped him from swapping allegiance with Theo for allegiance with Lock. Boris had cut his duel with Theo short, to give Lock a future chance to slay his former friend. His enemy.

Boris had died. Lock hadn't.

Peter had revealed Lock had slain Boris. The note Lilly had taken from the Watcher held the truth.

Why had Lock ended Boris's life, the former High who had replaced him after his exile? Lilly hadn't learned the answer to that question. Peter Wayne never would.

Lilly had made Lena into her daughter, but neither of the two Majestics were with Theo. They couldn't confirm he was alive. Not knowing if her husband was alive or dead made Lilly wish she had been born as a Bloodhound, so she could track down Theo.

"Thanks for taking care of Lena when I couldn't, Betty," Lilly said. "A picture of her was in my home for years. The other day I brought the actual Lena to my space station. I won't give your mentee the same treatment Misty gave Zoey, and I want you to know that. What I did to Lena in her throne room was a one-time thing."

"Let that stay as the truth, please," Betty said. "Lena is as blind as the floor beneath of our feet, and she's as Saveless as I was before I touched that water on Still. She's been through enough."

"She isn't the only one."

No, Lena wasn't the only person who had shuffled through a tunnel infested with happiness-crushing events. And it was Lilly's duty to bring more smiles to Lena's face than frowns.

"Regardless, I understand what our High has gone through," Lilly said. She leaned against the sofa. "And I don't know where her father is, but I'm going to see him again. So will Lena."

"Try to keep that optimism," Betty said. "May good fortune be on your side, Lilly."

"Thank you."

Lilly's younger brother had been with Nova while Freemans brutalized Soy.

Was the uncle-niece pair alive? Or had a Freeman killed one half of it? Did Ken have a stab wound in his heart? Did Nova's severed head rest on a black floor?

Were Ken and Nova dead like Peter and Maggie?

Ken had become Kevin, and Nova was named Sabrina. Lilly might have to call Nova Sabrina in the future, but that time wasn't now. And her High-daughter, the one with blonde hair, didn't sit beside her. One day she might.

"I'm going to put Freeman Killer to use today," Hailey said. "It's going to live up to its name."

"You better live through the attack on that base today," Lena said. "I don't know when Zoey will be back, and I don't appreciate it when I don't have any sisters around to pamper me. Don't get killed on Earth. That's an order, Hailey."

"I'll do my best to obey it."

"You better."

Instead of linking arms with Lena and helping her navigate her latest home's halls and rooms, Nick had assaulted his sister with telekinesis. Lena and Hailey had bonded during Lilly's time away from them. Nick had hurt Lena and treated her like she had participated in Anne's kidnapping.

Nick. Anne. Nova. Three absent children. Nova, who had been nice enough to adopt a Freeman, might be better than Nick and Anne.

Land Preachman. He had named the Ascend Museum after Lilly's former housemate. Don. Last night Lilly had met his daughter. It wasn't possible for Land to meet Jill or Don. Hailey had told her mother what had happened to her friend.

"I hope you find your brother, Lilly," Betty said. "Ken was good to me, back when we were still living inside that spaceship. You've been away from your sibling for over ten years. I know what that's like, sadly."

"You'll see your sister again," Lilly said. "And I'll see my brother. Hailey found me. I'm sure her uncle will find me, too. Eventually."

Ken had sat on Lilly's lap when they were younger. Hailey wasn't the only Majestic with a brother. Neither was Lena. But she acted as if calling Nick her brother would make Freemans invade her home, and Nick treated Lena like she was someone who deserved to be stabbed by a Freeman.

Nick had met Jill, and he had carried her on his back. She had found her uncle. Soynites could reunite with their relatives, and Jill's reunion with Cambridge had proved that.

"Mother, follow me," Lena said.

"Okay," Lilly replied.

Lena stood. She and Lilly headed into the bedroom.

"Hailey, you should come to the cafeteria," Betty said. "You need to eat before you attack that Freeman base. I'll sit with you."

"Sounds nice," Hailey said. "Let's go."

Hailey and Betty's footsteps moved from the hall to a different one. Today Hailey's shoes would slap against gray halls, ones crafted by brutes with pale skin.

"Don't forget, Mother," Lena said. Her back faced Lilly. "If you find Jake, remember that he can't find out what I did to Peter and Maggie. He might try to kill me if he learned the truth."

"That's something I will do everything in my power to prevent," Lilly said. "A Freeman killed Peter and Maggie. That's what we'll tell Jake."

"That Watcher and his friend deserved what I gave them," Lena said.

"I know they did. If I had been in your position, I would've done the same. I'm fond of Zoey."

Lena put her hands on the desk. "But you're not fond of imagining me as the leader of the Freemans. Isn't that right?"

Lilly put a hand on her stomach. Babies had grown in her four times. If Theo were with her, they could make another small Majestic.

Why couldn't Hailey and Nick agree with their mother?

"The next leader of the Freemans will be a descendant of King Hase," Lilly said.

Lena faced her.

"Don't be so sure," the High said.

A Majestic didn't sit on the Red Throne. Lilly was sure of that.

"My name isn't on the list of people you want to kill Lock Tannis," Lena said. "I don't like this. I don't like the belief that's inside your head. It's not right."

Lilly gestured to Lena.

"You can kill me," the mother said. "You can kill me and it would be completely legal. Your word is law. But I know that Free needs a Majestic to rule it, and I know that your status as a High is enough for you."

Lena scowled.

"Get on your knees," she ordered.

Lilly got on her knees. Lena put on her sunglasses, letting round darkness cloak her eyes.

On the day Hailey met Lena for the first time, Hailey had called Lena's eyes beautiful. It was the reason why she had slammed her white cane against the younger Majestic's leg.

Lena snatched her cane away from the wall.

"You said I can kill you," Lena said. "Right?"

"Yes," Lilly said. Her hands didn't tremble. "I did say that."

Peter and Maggie hadn't run when Lena attacked them, and their corpses were buried on Soy. Lilly didn't flee.

"I can kill you," Lena said. "You weren't wrong about that. But I'm not going to do that to you. No, I'll let you live, and you'll regret telling me what you told me. You will be sorry for believing that nonsense of yours. You know what nonsense I'm referring to."

"Are you going to let me stand now?" Lilly said.

"Are you going to be a good mother?"

Lilly nodded, as if her blind baby could see.

"I will be," Lilly said. "You'll see the truth. A descendant of King Hase will sit on the Red Throne, and you will realize that I was right."

"Don't tell me what I will do," Lena said. She tapped Lilly's thigh with the cane. "Stand up."

Lilly stood.

"Okay," she said. "I'm standing."

"If my birth mother were alive, she would love to see me as the leader of the Freemans," Lena said. "In that base you're going to attack, you might end up like Lauren Windsore."

"I'm going to come back to you."

"If you do, you will bring your foolish belief back, too."

Had it been a foolish act when Lilly made Lena into her fifth child? The mother knew the answer to that question.

"You should take these sunglasses off," Lilly said. "Your eyes deserve to be seen. You don't have to hide them."

"Take them off for me," Lena said.

Lilly removed the sunglasses.

Lena's eyes hadn't turned green. Her eyes were lifeless and gray, like the planet she had been born on. Soy hadn't stolen her eyesight and Saves. If Lena became worthy, planet Still would give her what it had snatched.

"I'm going to put them back on your nightstand," Lilly said, holding the sunglasses.

After Lilly returned to the spot in front of Lena, the High said, "Don't be gentle with the Freemans in California."

"I'll only be gentle with one of them."

Lena put her cane on the desk. Lilly had slammed it against her High, but she didn't hurt Lena with it now.

"I wish I could go with you," Lena said. "I lost a father because of one of Lock's minions."

"Me and Hailey will kill Freemans for you," Lilly said. "And then we'll come back to get you. I promise. I want to come back to you. Really, I do. And what happened with your birth mother during the invasion, that was horrible. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"One year after that, I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Lauren. Boone. Land Preachman. Dead, all three, yet Lilly lived. Three people were gone forever because of Lock. And many more people had lost their lives due to his cruelty, too.

"You will see again," Lilly said. "You're going to fly, and you will be able to heal wounds. You've done all of that before. And you will do all of that again."

"Betty offered to kneel for me after my father died, but I didn't make her," Lena said. "I showed humbleness, but I'm still blind. Still powerless. What do you think about that?"

"What do you think about Betty's obsession with you?"

Blind eyes narrowed.

"Betty isn't obsessed with me," Lena said. "She treats me like every Soynite should treat their High."

"Of course that's how you view it," Lilly said. "Back on Soy, I knew a Watcher who was obsessed with her mentee. The woman did something awful."

"What?"

"She took my baby away."

Lilly held Lena's hand. It was paler than the woman's, but the High was still her daughter.

No matter how pale, or blind, she was.

She wore nothing on her feet. And Lilly wore white socks. If the mission became a success, the socks wouldn't share a grave with Lilly later.

"I need Betty to be obsessed with you," Lilly said. "The more she is, the more she'll want to keep you alive. That's what I need to happen."

"If you were half as loyal as Betty, you would love to see me as the leader of the Freemans," Lena replied.

"Lena, I don't want you to die. I want you to see and have Saves again. In order for that to happen, you have to keep living."

"You said Betty is obsessed with me. She isn't." Lena said.

"The fact she let you abuse a thirteen-year-old girl proves otherwise."

The High turned her back.

"It's a statement of truth," Lilly said. She put on her shoes. "If Jake abused Hailey, Peter would've stopped it. Even though Jake was his High. Betty is different. She's obsessed with her High. Regardless of what I said, I like her. And she had the right to be angry at me and Hailey, because of what we did to you."

"You're right," Lena said. "But I don't want to be angry at you, especially when you probably won't come back to me."

"I'm going to come to you now."

Lilly embraced Lena, and she hugged her back. Behind Lena was a blue wall, and her mother was close to her. No Freeman had killed the Blind High. Lilly's daughter was safe.

Seven bottled waters were on the floor, standing next to each other.

One of the bottles was empty.