{Enki | Cinder’s Shrine}
Three years ago, Sagan had recited the Tenements of Volition for Korac. Before Razor—Before Imminent reared its ugly head. It was a beautiful and selfless act. The gesture came from a place of love meant to share her experiences at his hands.
What an ugly thing which became of something so beautiful. This was why the Shadow fought against Imminent. Xelan was right. The order leeched the goodness out of everything and left the worlds with nothing but despair.
Xelan hung his head with it, pressed to a wall while Korac leaned his side against it within reach, in case the Prince of Cinder required restraining. Andrew pulled Sagan closer against him as she cried into his chest, warm tears for Pax. Corrupted so young and for the rest of his life. Tameka’s ability to soldier on garnered more respect than Korac thought possible for the young mate of his ex.
Celindria escorted Tameka to the rest of her mission while the Shadow waited for her signal. Once given, they’d migrate the armies to the Pantheon and stage the battlefield. They couldn’t afford for Xelan to lose his composure in some half-cocked rescue—
For fuck’s sake. The strangest look had been on Kyle’s face for a few minutes now, and it had ruffled Korac’s feathers. “What’s on your mind, Story Taker?” He knew the codename would rankle the other man.
With a grimace, Kyle joined them in the present, irritated. “The same as what’s on all our minds, Silver General.”
Xelan muttered into the wall, “Please, not now.”
Korac shot him a pitying look before mouthing to Kyle, “Truce.”
The younger man flipped him off on his way to Xelan’s side. “Wingmaster, I… I met with Silence in her memory.”
Stiffly, Xelan turned to look at Kyle. “Go on.”
Overhearing, Andrew and Sagan drew closer, with her joining Korac against the wall. Korac shifted slightly to conceal the pocket containing his secret. To say right now wasn’t the right time to ask was an understatement.
Tumu acted as sentinel to their small reprieve, and Lamassau looked ready to breathe some fire. Iuo and Pehton had returned to their armies to maintain morale, which was honestly where they all should be. Both Xelan and Tameka were hurting, but they both had roles to fill. Korac was familiar with supporting the leadership through unbearable obstacles, but Elden, they seemed to get more unbearable with each hurdle.
Kyle looked like he finally decided how much he wanted to tell. “I saw Silence’s life, who she is and some of why she’s like this.” He licked his lips in a nervous gesture before continuing. “She was the Tritans’ main attempt at reviving their species—”
“Project Surra,” Lamassau gasped on a whirl. “She was a real experiment?! And that’s Silence?!”
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Tumu sounded grim as he spoke with his back to them. “No one deserved her existence.”
Xelan pushed. “You know of her?”
Sober as hell, the Primary said, “Ugly gossip rumored that Remorse and Quet hid a secret experiment gifted to them by the Exalted himself for destroying our females. I investigated, but found no trace of such an endeavor.”
Lam’s face soured. “But if that’s Silence, she’s ancient and threadbare—”
“That’s exactly how it was for her,” Kyle argued. “They used her up, and she populated all the planets with their initial species. That’s why they call her ‘the Mother.’”
Korac looked down to see if Sagan looked how he felt. Overwhelmed and exhausted. This news of Silence certainly illuminated some of her motives. Except… “Why is she working with Remorse?”
Xelan nodded his agreement with the question. “Why so many things?”
Kyle rubbed his forehead and groaned. “It’d be easier to show you, but I…”
Andrew softly confirmed, “You don’t want to break her trust.”
Everyone went quiet and looked away. Korac didn’t want to touch that with a Primary-sized pole. Each of them was guilty of trusting the wrong people at one time or another. It left scars. He squeezed Sagan closer against him, grateful for the honesty between them. Korac was ready to ask her the moment things were right.
Xelan mustered his best reasoning voice, warm and reassuring. “Kyle, I know your relationship with her was complicated. My relationship with her isn’t exactly straightforward, either, but if there’s one iota of something useful in the memory you downloaded—Something that could save Pax, help Tameka, take down Enki, or even help us retrieve Silence for our side—then please. Trust me to be open-minded. I’m willing to hear her Verse.”
The Prince’s arguments were always so damned convincing. It was endearing and annoying all at the same time.
Kyle thought so, too, because he grabbed Xelan’s shoulder, and they both fell still.
Tumu confessed, “I hate my brothers the more I learn about them.”
Lamassau rubbed his back consolingly. “It’s okay, Tumi. I always knew they sucked.”
Korac suppressed a smirk. That was one thing about the Shadow. They could make him smile even in the most dire of straits. A little furrow formed in Sagan’s brow, and her nose scrunched as she concentrated, listening to the quiet on the other end of the earpieces.
Nothing much was happening, aside from Celindria and Tameka’s footsteps. New Cinder must connect to the Pantheon for them to simply walk there. Unless Celindria could Seamswalk, which might explain why she suddenly came over the earpieces, despite the Shadow saying she’d left the room. Of course, Korac knew about the Seamswalking capsules. He and Nox had bought them from Celindria’s arms-dealer back when they’d invaded Earth the second time, but those capsules’ capabilities were limited. Maybe Celindria reserved the heartier stuff for herself—
Kyle and Xelan returned on a gasp, both of them separating. The Prince’s eyes shone with tears.
Korac raised a brow and asked, “That bad?”
When Xelan met his eyes and nodded, it was with a broken expression. He breathed. “Yes.”
Kyle pushed his hair back from his face. “So, you understand? Silence isn’t evil; she’s dying.”
Tumu and Lamassau exchanged a look.
Xelan pressed his bent arm to the wall and rested his head on it, staring at the corrugated floor. “Not just her.”
Sagan separated from Korac and took a step toward her guardian. “Who else?”
Xelan swallowed hard and turned his haunted eyes to Sagan. The destroyed look on his face said it all.
Sagan cupped her hand to her mouth and gasped, “Rayne.”
When Tameka’s voice came over the earpieces, Xelan melted away his anguish into a separate compartment and transformed into the supportive spouse. “Fury, I’m here. Just say the word.” Liquid in his responsibilities.
Korac could see Xelan’s meltdown approaching on the horizon and vowed to do anything in his power to diffuse the bomb that was the Prince of Cinder.