Chapter Ten
A mber ate a little and then went to the ice cream bar. A woman near it smiled. The music and display were beautiful.
Thank you.
I am Lidiya. I am Sergei s sister. Our half-sister is around here somewhere. We are your family now as well.
Amber smiled. You are? I thought Litha was all I had.
No. She has married into a very boisterous family with many arms. So, her new sister is now your new sister. Her new mother is now your new mother. Lidiya smiled. May I hug you?
Oh. Certainly.
Amber hugged the woman who was offering herself as a new relative. The hug was warm, and Amber smiled. Thank you.
You are such a tiny thing.
Amber nodded. I was on ice for a while, and apparently, that has an effect on the pituitary gland. The therapies that have been tried have been unsuccessful.
Have you talked to Khytten?
I can t talk to animals.
Lidiya stared. Where are you from?
The capitol. I had to sneak over here for the day.
The older woman laughed. Why don t you move to Aksalla?
I can t get a visa. There are actives that need protection. I just want to move.
The prefect is right over there. Why don t you ask her?
Amber faded to soft grey. I can t do that. It s not my place.
Lidiya looked at her in astonishment. You are fading to invisible.
Oh. Amber pulled herself back. The food is really good.
The other woman nodded. It definitely is.
As if she had been willed over, the prefect walked up to them. Amber looked at the ice cream bar and moved away. Apologies.
No, miss. It was you I came to speak to.
Oh.
Was that solid illusion?
Yes, ma am. Amber nodded.
How long have you been able to do that?
Since I was thawed a decade ago.
I wonder why I haven t heard about such a magnificent activation?
Amber swallowed. I am from the capitol. They don t have a use for it, so no one knows about it.
Would you consider bringing that talent to Aksalla on occasion?
She swallowed again. I would like to, but I don t qualify for a work visa.
What?
I have been denied twice for a work and occupancy visa. I wanted to move close to Litha. She shrugged. Sorry.
Why were you denied?
They stipulated that since I had no family to sponsor me, I was a risk.
I see. Didn t you mention Litha?
Amber felt tears well up. I didn t have her contact information. I couldn t ask her.
The prefect sighed. I am beginning to understand. You two were separated?
I was put in stasis before she was born, and everyone forgot about me. When our parents died, they went through probate and found references to me there. They let me out, but I looked like a toddler. I grew up in care, but they examined me at every opportunity, and this was the final result now that I am all grown up.
Wait. How old are you from birth to now?
Forty-one, forty-two. She shrugged. I am not exactly sure.
Would you be willing to take some supplementation to finish your growth?
Um, sure, but I have to go home in four hours. She shrugged.
You are a fan of the rules?
They keep everything understandable.
Amber, are you an omega?
Amber paused and nodded slowly. That s what the scans indicated. I have weird glands in strange places.
I see. Who knows about that?
The cr che.
Of course. Let me introduce you to Litha s boss, Zera. She employs a lot of young actives, and she knows how to do all the paperwork to get them in.
Amber blushed. I applied to Z-Tech. I don t have any qualifications. Denied.
Let s see what we can come up with.
The prefect put an arm around her and walked her over to where Litha s boss was congratulating the couple.
Zera and Litha smiled at Amber. Litha said, That was wonderful, Amber. Thank you.
You are welcome. It was fun to use my activation for entertainment.
The prefect looked to Zera. Amber is trying to get a work visa but needs an employer.
Zera nodded. What can you do, Amber?
Um, cleaning or courier work, I guess. Maybe working in a kitchen or coffee cart?
Zera s eyes softened. No secondary education?
It was a place to live or a place to study when I turned eighteen. I chose living and a string of entry-level jobs.
Litha looked confused. I could sponsor you. We may have been born in the capitol, but our grandparents and great-grandparents were Aksallan.
Zera brought up a file, and the prefect snorted.
Quiet, Salmet. We are at a party. You aren t seeing this. Zera grinned. Amber watched the woman do something and inhaled. Wow. Well, they are definitely watching you. They have alerted the team to a fugitive and are coming to bring you home.
I play music and show pictures. I am not a security threat.
Litha frowned. Solid light is a weapon. How long will this crown last?
Until midnight or I fall asleep.
And I will explain to you how that can be used as a weapon.
Amber blushed. I know how; I just didn t think they did.
The prefect laughed. Apparently, they did. I am being asked to put a bolo out on you.
Amber paled. I will go home.
Litha wrapped her arms around her. I will keep you here.
I am not causing a fuss on your wedding. I am not going to have a team come in here and extract me.
Zera chuckled. The team is here. They will take you home after the party.
What?
Torun runs my team. Arcady and Kritz s team have no interest in leaving early, Zera stated. Everyone is already here. There won t be a scene or panic or ordering around.
Amber looked around and realized that everyone invited was an active, and quite a few were wearing formal bodysuits. They are all here.
Have you been retrieved before? Zera asked softly.
Yes, they send Morcaddo to get me. He hauls me around like a dumped kitten. He yells at me and shakes me, she muttered.
Litha scowled. I am going to fry him. Why does he do that?
We were in cr che together, and since I stopped growing when I was fourteen, he treats me like I am a teen trying to run from home.
Litha paused. Oh. In that case, I will have Sergei smack him around or maybe one of Dmitri s crowd.
The prefect snorted. Or Salat. He is very protective of young women since he is now father to so many of them.
Litha said, I hadn t thought about it, but they could have brought the kids.
Ekron was playing, and there was an audience around him. Amber looked around, and the amount of power on her sister s property was astonishing. They could mount another attack on Uradda after dessert.
The prefect smiled. They like date night. They are not going straight home. Torene has some plans.
Amber looked in the same direction the prefect was looking, and there was a lovely woman with long brown hair, a pretty dress, and astonishing upper equipage. The other woman next to her was moving protectively as they talked to someone else over puff pastries.
The prefect nodded and smiled at Litha. Please excuse us. I want to introduce your sister to Khytten.
Litha smiled. That is a sensible idea as long as she doesn t have an aversion to people milk.
The prefect kept a hand behind Amber s back and steered her through the crowd. Those that were bumped just smiled and got out of the way. The power of pierogis. The mood was very mellow.
Amber met the woman who was only slightly taller than she was but far more... adult.
Hello.
Salmet, did you make a new friend? Adopting?
Amber sighed. I am twenty-two, physically.
Khytten smiled. Adult adoption. That is how Nelith became the grandma on my side to our little ones. Technically, my adopted mother.
The prefect paused. That is a thought. I have a full house; Khytten has two adopted already.
Amber said softly, Please stop. I don t need to know why it s a bad idea.
Khytten paused. I am sorry. I didn t mean to make light of your situation. Heck. I was in your situation. Are all members of your family petite?
She grimaced. I am Litha s older sister and Kiska s aunt.
Khytten s eyes widened. Oh. Wow.
Yeah, their storage method had some side effects. She sighed. Your mother-in-law brought me by to meet you. Do you know why?
Khytten stared at her. Oh, yeah. I have managed to help other actives regain their missing height.
And she made my son and the good doctor taller as well.
Khytten smiled. Come by tomorrow, and we will work out a course of treatment.
Amber nodded, but her soul froze. Yes, of course.
The prefect smiled. All solved.
Amber nodded and looked around. Litha was talking with Sergei, and there was a sweet expression on her face. He looked toward her and beckoned to her, so she walked over.
Litha started with, Feel free to say no.
Noted.
Sergei smiled. We want to dance for our guests, and your music is so beautifully haunting, we wondered if you would play while we performed.
Amber smiled. Of course.
They named the piece, and she followed them to the barn with the polished floor where the doors were opened wide, and she had one assignment. She was to show their dance, flaws and all.
They kicked Ekron off his little spot by the barn door, and Amber manifested her violin while they got their pointe shoes on. Seeing Sergei having fun with it made Amber s heart warm. Like Litha, he preferred dance to breaking heads. It was a good characteristic.
The moon was up, and as Amber began to play, the moonlight wrapped around the couple and shot off in bright ribbons. They began to move, twist, and leap, and Amber wrapped starlight and moonlight ribbons around them and sent them out to the crowd.
Sergei was shirtless and wearing wide-legged, flowing trousers. He handled Litha easily, and she trusted his hands on her.
They went through the long measures as if they had practiced for years, and each step was in sync. Litha s leaps took her higher than a human could go.
When the song was over, the couple was in a strange pose. Sergei was leaning forward in a lunge, and Litha was draped over his back, facing the stars. It was a striking pose, and Amber smiled softly. It was nice to see her sister so happy.
She dismissed her instrument and the effects that had bound the gathering together.
The hand that clamped on the back of her neck and lifted her was agonizing. She screamed as the contact burned her nervous system. She kicked weakly and shrieked for help that never came. She must have gone over curfew. Morcaddo was here, and he was going to bring her home.
* * * *
L itha watched her sister being shaken like a small dog in the grip of the grey-green male with tusks. He was wearing a capitol team uniform and glaring at Amber.
Litha s eyes were hot. Put her down.
She is past curfew and a dangerous active. She will be up on charges for using her activation as soon as she is booked. He shook her again, and the crying sounds that Amber was making continued.
Stop hurting her!
Zera walked up to him. Drop her. Now.
He sneered.
Zera stepped back. Gentlemen, please rescue the young lady. The ladies today aren t dressed for it.
Sergei stepped forward, wrapped shadows around Amber, and they reappeared twenty feet away.
Litha watched her sister twitching while her eyes rolled in pain.
She hovered, and when the men stepped aside, she burned him with a thin stripe every inch and a half wide on his entire body. His screams made her smile. She hadn t spared any skin.
He was writhing slowly on the ground, and she walked over and crouched on him. She tapped the raw and burned skin. I just want to point out a few things. One, you assaulted my sister. Two, this is a wedding full of actives. Three, there are governmental representatives from five nations here, and four, it was my wedding. Who are you to hurt someone so physically unmatched? I am guessing you knew her as a child, and when you grew and she didn t, you pressed your advantage? They told you that you could do what you wanted as long as the damage wasn t permanent, so you did. Well, you get to go home empty-handed today. Your capitol team members will take you. They are all global class and are going to chat with you on your way back. She smiled. I am smaller than you, but I can turn you to ash with the tap of my finger. I don t because I have self-control and am not a monster. Look into self-control. Next time we meet, I will not use it.
Sergei lifted her off him, and Torun lifted the man, walking out with his team, and they went skyward.
Where is Amber?
Torene was healing her. Figured it couldn t get worse. She s right over... He turned, and she was gone.
Litha sighed and got a ping. She s with Feral. They are on the island.
Salmet looked at her and said softly, We agreed with Khytten that she could come back tomorrow. We hadn t realized what that would mean. I haven t dealt with this in years. The capitol is usually eager to dispose of actives.
Litha murmured, Especially when there are ties to Aksalla. She should have been turned over when she was a toddler.
Salmet frowned. I will have to check her file. I am also bracing for a call from the capitol.
Zera nodded. Me, too.
Litha got a ping. She s safe, and she s napping. Xeva and her family are taking care of her. The seers are saying she s supposed to be there.
Litha sent a message to Amber and tried to make it as loving and supportive as she could.
She lowered her arm and sighed. Well, that is appropriate for me and Sergei. Going along well until we aren t.
Sergei walked over to her. She is well?
She s on the island with Xeva.
Do you want to go?
No. If we went tonight, she would be upset. She wants us to have a honeymoon. As soon as that is over, I am going to ask her if she wants to come home.
He nodded. Where she should be.
Maybe I will get her a tiny house so she can have a quiet zone if she needs it.
Zera said, What if she stays in the islands?
Then, she will be safe from the Sethir. She s an omega, so the island is a good place for her. They aren t in the treaty zone. She s allowed to fight back to her fullest extent.
Salmet blinked. She s an omega? She looks so tiny.
She s the longest stasis case in current history. She started manifesting when she was a toddler, and the radiation freaked our parents out and the researchers, so they put her in stasis, and she remained that way for twenty years. They restarted her when our parents died.
Zera nodded. That gives me a place to start.
Salmet nodded. Me, too... oh... they did it on purpose. When she was legally an adult, they had the right to claim her as a research subject even if she was a child in body. It was a strictly numbers thing. No one would question if she was an adult on paper. They would be able to observe and probe her to a level that would not be allowed in a legal child.
Litha whispered, I am going to be sick.
Salmet apologized. I am sorry. We will look into this, and I think I have an idea of how to demand she be given citizenship in Aksalla. She looked at Litha and said, If she wants a home, she has one.
Litha smiled. Really?
Really.
Sergei hugged her. This will work out, little star. She is safe, she is cared for, and she is on a tropical island. She is having more of a honeymoon than we are.
She relaxed into him. I will try and figure that out.
Zera asked, Have you always been a dancer, Litha?
Sure. Right out of high school. My parents thought it was good for self-control.
Salmet cocked her head. I think Riko and I saw one of your performances on a date. You were spectacular but always soloed.
Yes. I like duets, though. As long as there is no tickling.
Sergei laughed. That is a weird place to be ticklish.
Litha grinned. It s a family thing. Speaking of family, that thug is lucky that Torun hauled him off before Calina got there. She had my big rolling pin and a meat skewer.
He laughed. She s deadly with both. Must have gone to get them as soon as he grabbed Amber.
Are you taking her home?
No, Drin booked rooms for her, my aunt, niece, and Kiska in town. A transporter will take them home tomorrow.
Litha knew Kiska could get around on her own, but she smiled. Good.
Salmet said, As prefect, I would like to offer both of you positions at the training centre. You seem to have control over complicated activations, and it is something the current generation needs to learn.
Can we talk about this in a few days?
Salmet nodded. Of course.
Zera muttered, I would like to be included in on that. We have been looking into creating our own security force.
Sergei chuckled. Mercenaries.
Private army. It can be useful.
Salmet glared at Zera. I will meet with them first.
Litha laughed, and she and Sergei returned to the barn, slowly dancing together with no music. She felt that eyes were on them, but she didn t care. Since the moment she had taken his hand, he felt so desperately right.
* * * *
S ergei held her against him in the small hours of the morning. His mind replayed the first thing he remembered, Warrior, you have survived this long. Let us get you free. The world is bright, and you will be in the open air soon.
He stroked her hair. She was bright. She was his air and his light and the earth beneath them both. With her, he was free, and he would survive to see what their new lives would bring them. If family came, good. If children came, good. If his little star smiled slowly at him and called him a dumbass every day, he knew that he was in the right place for the right woman.