Korac and Sagan searched all over Cinder for the mythical nacre chamber. Searched meaning they Seamswalked to a place, made out for a few minutes, glanced around, and then made out some more. The kind of making out with obnoxiously loud lip smacking and moaning. Precious alone time on the eve of war. She couldn’t get enough of his hands on her, and he refused to keep them to himself. Win-win.

In a random old stone building, she grew weary of the similarities in architecture that Cinder shared with the Seam. Monochrome, vast, and simple with cathedral ceilings and long halls. This one smelled of ash and water. The waterfall nearby streamed into a black pool dividing the walkway into sections. They shared one such division in the dim glow of the tinted windows, filtering Li’s light.

Time grew short. Responsibilities of a Lt. General and all that. Amid his kisses, she asked, “How”—kiss—“long have we”—kiss—“been at this?”

The Icarean General surrendered his hands from her hair and opted to press their foreheads together as he answered, “About three Earth hours, I believe.”

She groaned, “We need to find this place, babe. No more kissing until we get there.”

“Babe?”

Sagan blushed at his all-too-pleased grin. The trademark of this deadly soldier. Deadly to her resolve. Shaking her head, she devised some motivation for him. “If we stop and find this place, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

The smile vanished, and he stepped back from her. She reached for him, and he shook his head with a haunted shadow in his eyes. Korac cleared his throat before he could speak, “You can’t know what you’re saying.”

Admittedly, Sagan offered that to him a little casually, but she knew his tastes. She meant it. Unsheathing her axe, she sliced her palm with only a slight wince cramping her style. A crimson stream dripped to the floor. Blood on bone. “Under the Tenements of Volition, I forfeit my will to you without argument or complaint with one restriction: my consent is always required. Korac of Cinder—”

The man crushed his hand over her mouth. His gray stare filled with intense purpose and longing. “First, I am not from Cinder. Second, you’ll never know what this gift means to me.” He lowered his hand from her mouth as he continued, “But I want you to wait until after the war. After we see which side wins. If I accept now, you’ll have no right to yourself. You might want that in case Nox wins.”

Sagan brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she processed it all. Softly, she confessed, “If Nox wins, I won’t want to live.”

Korac recoiled from her. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“It’s the end of my world. My friends… I don’t want to be subjected to what he’ll do to us. To Rayne. To me.” She shuddered without hiding it.

Korac hung his head. Against the black and white backdrop of the temple, he cut a striking figure in his black recon gear.

The constant distraction of his aesthetic let her compartmentalize some of the more serious shit. Sagan took his hand as she said, “When this is over, I want to find out what invoking the Tenements of Volition means to you.” He peered up and squeezed her hand as she finished with a shy smile, “But I’m sure we’ll need more time than a day and a half.”

“For what I want to do to you, it would take weeks just to prepare you for it.”

She shivered in the good way. He took it with a smirk. And like that, the mood was fixed. Well, except for one curiosity.

“You’re not from Cinder?”

Korac laughed and cupped her chin as he admired, “I should know better than to think you would miss something like that.”

Feeling provocative, she led his thumb into her mouth and teased him. “Where are you from?”

He clenched his jaw as he watched her play. “Anywhere. Nowhere. I was found on Gait. About human-age four.” His eyes hardened to steel.

Sagan relented the teasing as his mood shifted. Never had she imagined another history for him than a typical Icarean upbringing on Cinder. But he was found on a prison planet and— “No family?”

The way Korac stared at her made her think of a great cat measuring the distance to pounce on its prey. Even his voice went remote, “No.”

Cautiously, she stepped into his space and put her arms around his waist. “You have a family, now.”

He didn’t return the hug, and his eyes closed as if in pain. Sagan buried her face in his undershirt. A deep vibration startled her, followed by a rhythmic rumble. Amazed, she cried, “Are you actually purring?!”

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Korac chuckled. “I look forward to exposing you to so many surprises.” The refreshing scent of him thickened the air.

She pushed away. “No! No. You’re trying to distract me. We’ve got work to do.” Clutching him by the shirt, she stepped into a conduit, through the Seam, and out another conduit. Again, Korac saw the Seam, but could not set foot in it. When she released him they stood on the edge of Cinder and stared into Li.

Korac peered up at the sphere and muttered, “We’re getting close, but it’s still not quite right. Where—”

“What will we do when we find the Progeny?”

He glanced back at her. “That depends on the state we find them in. Knowing Celindria, we won’t be able to free them without some puzzle to solve.”

Sagan crossed her arms. “I don’t understand her. She was the first, and she helped Xelan create the rest, right?”

“That’s correct.”

She threw her arms open and stomped her foot. The lack of compassion in the First Progeny frustrated her. “Then why is she hurting them? Is that why she and Xelan don’t like each other?”

Korac narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you mean?”

Sagan cleared her throat, afraid she gave away details Rayne wanted to keep secret. “Before you and Nox attacked us in the Spire—before—before Xelan…” Swallowing did nothing for the emotion clogging her throat. “Celindria came into the tower and then escaped. He uhm… he didn’t look happy to see her.”

A few minutes passed before Korac said, “There’s much in their relationship we never understood. Will never understand.” His voice grew firm and cold. “But I know she is capable of real evil. And Xelan wouldn’t hear it from me. He never listened—”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

With the bloated star burning behind him, Korac gaped at her.

Sagan smiled sadly as she went on, “I don’t think anyone else knows or would think to say it. But you lost someone you loved. For all the same reasons we mourn him, I know you must, too.”

Some of the shock wore away as he admitted, softly, “I do.”

She fiddled with her axe and carried on, “I don’t think an Icarus like Xelan ever stops loving someone. I’m sure not you. I’m sure not his First Progeny. We’re lucky that way. We were lucky… to have him. The two of you being exes is an unending thing. I’m not sure if it’s that way for all Icari, but I’m sure all of you accrue a few former lovers and children.”

“Yes.”

She stepped over to an old building and leaned on it. “How many children have you had?”

Korac’s eyes twitched, but she caught the surprise in them. He answered, “I was not allowed children.”

“Not allowed? Why not?”

He stared hard at her. “Because they believe I’m a contaminant. An exotic one, but a contaminant nonetheless.”

“Those prejudiced assholes. Why would they think you’re—”

“There are no people like me.” He threw his white hair over his shoulder for emphasis.

She gasped. Almost the exact words Xelan used to describe her as a Seamswalker. But T.A.O. might yet live. So maybe they were wrong about his people. “I can go anywhere. We can look together.”

“Who made you so perfect?” He said the words like he meant them.

“I mean it.”

He nodded. “Oh, I know you do. T.A.O. and I looked once. We found nothing.”

She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Did you find Hell?”

“Well… No.”

“Then there’s plenty of places you haven’t checked. Now come on. I want to go flying.” She pushed off the wall and took a few steps away.

Korac looked up to the sky then. He whispered in shock, “That’s it.”

“What?”

He peered back at her and gestured with his hands as he spoke, “The curvature of sphere and the angle of Li is all wrong. It’s not on the ground. It’s in the sky. Sagan, take my hand. The chamber is above. Think North Pole.”

She clasped his hand and smiled at her name from his lips. They Seamswalked into the air. Both prepared to engage their wings. When their boots met solid floor, she squealed, “Yes!”

They shared a high-five. That’s right. A high-five with General Korac.

He beamed down at her as they stepped the rest of the way through. Surrounded by nacre glass, they gazed into the chamber. The floor stretched along the top of the sphere. The star flamed and scorched so close. On stratified tiers, nacre glass formed pedestals. On these pedestals laid nacre of varying size and color. Ten smaller pedestals surrounded a larger one in the center. One pedestal stood empty. At the highest elevation laid four rectangular boxes reminiscent of the Martyr Complex. Bingo.

Sagan charged up the tiers. “You were right.”

Korac followed to the central pedestal and stopped. He peered out at the view into space, standing beside the central nacre, larger than the rest. Concern ladened his voice, “There’s something familiar about this…”

Staring into the nacre glass caskets, she called to him, “I need your help. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He gave up on the view and warned her, “Touch nothing.” Approaching her side, he assessed the boxes. “That’s Andruis. We thought he went off to live with his family and died of old age. And Devis—” He pointed to a sleeping brunette. “Celindria framed him as a traitor for Nox to use, not unlike Kyle. But Nox knew true betrayal was beyond the man’s capability and let him go.”

Sagan couldn’t help herself, “What did you just say? Nox was kind to someone?”

“I won’t lie to you. We are killers. But evil wasn’t in us until this bitch fucked us over.” At her popped eyebrows, he shrugged, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you someday. But…” He gestured at the boxes. “It looks like it’s not over.”

She looked at the container behind her. “There’s a nacre in this one.”

Korac stepped over and peered in. “That must be T.A.O.”

“Does that mean she’s dead?”

“It should, yes. But… I’m uncertain why Celindria would keep her inside one of these if that’s the case.”

“How do we open them?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’m sure we can’t do it without her.”

Sagan threw her hands up in frustration. “Great. Now what?”

He peered around the chamber before his eyes locked onto hers. Wide. Frightened. “We need to get you out of here.”

The chill in his voice rose the hair on her arms. “Okay. Yea.”

“I don’t want you near Celindria, and I’m sure she tried to take you when Rayne woke up in the pit.”

She smiled warmly at him. “I like that you worry about me.”

With a smirk, Korac brushed her hair behind her ear. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Especially to her.”

They moved into kiss, but Sagan scanned the room. “I don’t mind an audience, but maybe this isn’t a good place for kissing.”

“No. But that gives me an idea.”