Promises Stronger Than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders

Author:Charlie Jane Anders
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

* * *

Soon we’re all sitting in a big circle on couches, teacup chairs, and space beanbags: Wyndgonk, Kfok, Elza, Rachael, Yiwei, Damini, Zaeta, Kez, and me.

“Here’s the situation,” Yiwei says. “We have the hearthlight, and we believe that if we insert it into the empty space at the heart of that wedding chapel, we can shut the Bereavement down. For good.”

“And then we need to bring it right back to my people,” Wyndgonk says.

“Yes. We gave our word. The trouble is, Marrant’s forces are occupying the ancient temple, and by now they’ve had time to bring in a whole fleet to protect it. They’re going to be expecting us, and the queen also knows we’re heading there.”

“We can’t let Marrant have the hearthlight,” Elza says.

“Right,” Yiwei says. “So we’re just one ship against a whole fleet. And we’re half shed. We need a lot more muscle, which is why we’re going to go rendezvous with Riohon’s rebel fleet and enlist their aid.”

The way Yiwei took charge of this meeting was already fraying my nerves, and now he’s telling us what our next move is going to be. I feel my neck and jaw turn into one big vise. I haven’t exactly forgotten how Yiwei nearly took a shot at Rachael and me.

“So wait,” I say. “You’ve already decided we’re going to team up with Riohon and his crew? Without even discussing it with the rest of us?”

“I don’t see any other option,” Yiwei says. “We’re not even outnumbered. ‘Outnumbered’ is when it’s five against one, or ten against one.”

“Riohon is going to be fighting to restore the honor of the Royal Fleet,” I say. “It’ll be just like when you all trusted Thaoh, and she decided taking down Marrant was more important than sticking to the plan.” I don’t mention that I’m still having the occasional Thaoh nightmare. “If we join up with Riohon, we’re committing to having a big battle. There has to be some way to just sneak into the wedding chapel without throwing down.”

“Marrant will protect that ancient temple with everything he has,” Yiwei says. “We can’t count on his security being incompetent.”

“Why is this even a debate?” Damini bounces with impatience. “Riohon is our friend, and we can’t do this alone.”

Am I remembering the look on Riohon’s face when he realized I wasn’t Thaoh? Maybe, a little.

“It’s a debate because we’ve trusted these people before,” Kez says, “and it hasn’t turned out great.”

“We’ve done okay so far with sneaking around and escaping from the tiger’s mouth,” Yiwei says. (Actually, my souped-up EverySpeak lets me know this is a Chinese expression for slipping out of the jaws of death: hǔkǒu tuōxiǎn.) “But this time, it’s definitely coming down to a fight. By now, Marrant has had time to move some broadswords into orbit around Larstko IV. He’ll have the whole moon covered.”

Elza turns to me. “If we don’t team up with Riohon, we’ll need other allies.”

“My people can help,” Kfok says. “If we get to be part of what comes after.

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