Celindria knew things she shouldn't. No matter how many of her mannerisms I rationalized or the breadth and depth of her linguistic knowledge I excused as inherited from my own—She was impossible. But I didn't know then what I know now of Imminent. In hindsight, everything has become clear.

Celindria folded a million lifetimes into every breath, and she expertly hid this fact from me.

"The Coalition. We need their blood," she announced over breakfast the next morning.

I sat across a lab table from her, eating eggs and Vittle supplements which we shared. I slept and ate to take care of myself, as I'd promised Colita and Lucas. But in my sleep, Celindria had ransacked my libraries and labs to sate her unending curiosity. Presuming she'd gathered the knowledge about the Coalition from the Verses, I asked, "How do you propose we acquire these samples?"

Celindria ate with utensils, not with her hands. It wasn't something I'd introduced her to, she just instinctively collected them along with our plates for breakfast. She peered at me as she glimpsed my examination. Her eyes were as impossible as the rest of her, but they lacked... warmth. She took a sip of freshly squeezed juice before answering, "Umbra's vault."

Nonchalant.

Matter of fact.

Never mind that Celindria suggested we claim samples from the most vital repository of our genetic history.

"That answers where, but not how?" I didn't bother to dispute her assertion, because it was true. The vault was the only logical location to acquire those particular samples.

Celindria avoided eye contact and looked off at a painting, which depicted the Great House framed by Earth's conduit on Cinder. Confidently, she nodded at it. "We go there."

No Verse named the exact location of the Coalition vault. Impressed, I smiled at Celindria, and it brought her attention back to me. She smiled back, and it was...

Inviting and kind.

In my study, Devis muttered, "She was capable of it occasionally."

Andrius nodded in agreement.

Sat against the wall, Korac made a bewildered expression as if he'd found it hard to believe.

I believe Celindria's rare smiles were genuine.

Celindria asked, "Are you ready to perform your tests, father?"

The term startled me. By the contribution of my blood alone, was Celindria my daughter? Were the lives we create automatically our children? Should Umbra receive so much credit?

In the time it had taken me to process it, I worried I'd discouraged her, but when I met Celindria's eyes again, they sparkled. With firm confidence, she said, "Father."

Yes.

I smiled and gestured at the instruments. "How do you feel about blood work to start?"

Celindria held out her arm, and I inserted the IV catheter.

In my study, a sizable dynamic had shifted. People sat forward on the edge of their seats.

Even you look up from your notebook for what would come next.

Red blood filled the vial and the next. I took about four samples from her and filled them with different serums. And I plated a small dot of it on a slide for microscopic observation. All the while, Celindria helped with the centrifuge and recorded her own observations. We spent a few hours checking her DNA, muscular-skeletal structure, metabolism, and potential for upgrades.

No wings, but the possibility was there. No inherent thirst or sensitivity to Sol's radiation. Incredibly strong. I suspected Celindria even withheld the magnitude of her strength and the limits of her speed. I almost asked her questions about her reproductive system, but decided it wouldn't present issues for the time being. Frankly, it felt too invasive to ask, even for me.

"Now that we took care of the formalities, are you prepared to leave, Father?" Celindria waited at the door in a clean cloak and held out one for me.

I glanced at the time to see that it was indeed evening, but I needed to eat and find some way to approach Korac about returning—

"I can go myself," Celindria offered, as if this were logical.

I frowned at her. "To the Coalition vault?"

She nodded earnestly.

Where did stealing our ancestor's DNA fall under the Icarean Prerogative? I shook my head. "We must file the appropriate requests and—"

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"If we go now, we can take advantage of the garrison change."

My blood went cold. How could Celindria know anything about the military operations? None of my notes nor the Verses contained those assignments since we'd colonized Earth. Despite my initial shock, it seemed unfair to immediately assume a threat in her. She was only a dozen hours old. I asked, "How did you come by this information?"

Like a child, a mischievous grin spread across her lips and sparkled in her eyes. She sounded confident as she said, "While you slept, I left and met a soldier with the intel. Clever, yes? He gloated about his station and answered my questions readily. I think the poor boy fell in love during our brief encounter."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. The sly look on her face and the half-abashed pride was endearing. Still, to avail my concerns, I asked, "Why is this so important to you? And why the urgency?"

"Father, we need to move on from your Progeny project onto the Vittle crop or none of the billions of existing Icari stand a chance at surviving, even on Earth. Now, either we practice some stealth and harmlessly retrieve the samples ourselves, or we go before your brother for permission." Celindria's broad smile shifted into a smirk, and a faraway light brightened her eyes as if in distant thought. She mused, "I must admit. I am intrigued to meet King Nox. In that case, let us depart for the settlement—"

I gently gripped Celindria's shoulder. The thought of her finding interest in Nox pried a nerve in me. The same voice in my head which had said to keep Korac a secret told me to keep my brother and Celindria apart. So, I told her, "We will go to the vault. If we are discovered, I can use what sway I still have as Prince to remove us from scrutiny. What could they possibly do to us, anyway?"

The conduit from Earth to Cinder was guarded, but as Celindria said, the garrison was changing shifts. With her on my back, I slipped through it easily. Once in Cinder, she snickered, and I couldn't help but grin as I asked, "What other trouble is on your mind?"

"All of it."

When Celindria beamed at me, I saw how I must have looked to Nox when I was a boy. Incorrigible and with no clue to the consequences I'd brought not only onto myself, but onto others. It lifted my spirits to know Celindria and I had so much in common, including the passion to save our people.

Within fifteen minutes of passing through the conduit, we approached the Great House. Umbra left it unprotected during his time, but when Nox had moved the capital to his Castle across the way, he'd restored the urns to the vault in Elden's hall. No longer a ruined shrine, the roof and walls were secure, with no good points of unauthorized entry.

"What of the courtyard, do you think, father?"

I was about to suggest that. Deflecting any concerns regarding my newly formed daughter, I crept up to the eaves of the courtyard and peered down. "Five guards."

Celindria assured, "Give them a few minutes. They will changeover soon." She angled her face so I could see the certainty in her smile.

She smiled so much back then.

I grinned back at Celindria and shook my head, incredulous. "You have only been here a matter of hours and already you have me in mischief."

"Saving the race should not require mischief."

Oh, finally. Someone understood me. I shouldn't need to fight tooth and nail to complete my work without someone interrupting me every five minutes with a new means of destruction grounded in my research—

"There," Celindria whispered and pointed at the guards shifting.

When they cleared the courtyard, I jumped down and went straight to Elden's chamber. Surely the vault would only reside in such an important location—

"My god..." I gasped when I took in the surrounding urns. Hundreds... "I assumed there were only a dozen at most."

Celindria patted my shoulder. "Put me down, father. We will not have time to take samples from all, and I require four specific ones."

I raised a brow at her, but set her petite form down. Celindria's human-shortness amused me, as she stood up to my ribs. From there, she held her chin high with so much regal confidence.

Celindria pointed, "These," and approached the south wall where four urns were decorated when the others were plain. There were emblems engraved on the bronze.

Rope.

Blade.

Tree.

And star.

"I want these," Celindria repeated. "If only we could find their nacres." She set about opening the first one for a sample.

I joined her with a side glance as we worked. "What makes you think anything is left of their nacres? They burned."

Celindria shook her head. So sure. "I believe my grandfather was right about the nacre chamber—"

"Prince Xelan?"

We both spun to find two guards in the doorway. When we made eye contact, they came to attention and saluted. "Sir."

Celindria whispered, "Take care of them. I will finish."

"Greetings, soldiers. I know this looks conspicuous." Tomb raiding wasn't a crime on Cinder, but maybe after this...

The soldiers glanced at one another before the taller one volunteered, "Official royal business is no concern of ours, your highness. We will leave you to it."

I worried about them reporting this to Nox. "I hope you understand this is for the race."

Celindria added, "To dissolve the caste system entirely."

I froze. How did she know my main objective? I'd never referred to it in my journals or discussed it with anyone. The very notion bordered on treason.

The two soldiers glowed with the premise, and a revolution was born in their eyes. The shorter one assured, "Any business to elevate us is no business of our superiors."

I winced.

In my study, Korac winced.

Tameka squeezed my hand.

Sagan looked across the room at Bones, who was an Icarean soldier at the time, and asked, "Was this far-reaching?"

He shook his head. "Celindria's Rebellion didn't reach my ears until Celindria had spent a hundred years on Cinder with Nox."

Devis said, "We forged weapons to arm the humans against the Icari." He didn't look proud of his confession.

Korac asked, "Who ordered you to do it—"

"We are getting ahead of my Verse."

When my General closed his mouth, he also clenched it shut, gnashing on the unasked question. "Did Xelan order Devis to do it?"

Not yet.

Instead, I asked our group, "Here is the time to ask your questions about Celindria."

Hands went up all around the room, and I felt dizzy. Tameka's warm hand smoothed up my back, and I needed the comfort. I kissed the top of her coiled hair to show my appreciation.

This might take a while.