7893 words (31 minute read)

Chapter Two


There must have been someone in the Telel Police Department who had known about the invasion beforehand. There must have been, because that very morning, Anna had received a message from the Chief himself telling her not to come in to work.

At the time, she thought nothing of it. She was twenty-four, and had only been working as an intern at the TPD for six months— and that mostly paperwork and parking tickets. She’d figured she simply wasn’t needed that day and put it out of her mind.

Until later, when the portal opened and the world turned upside down. That was the day of chaos, and shades in the streets. The crashes and the bombs and the running, and the yelling, and nobody knowing what was going on. Anna stayed inside and locked her doors. Not that locks would do any good against shades, but nothing happened and she lived and ate some pre-cooked salami, with her back nervously pressed against the bathroom door, and waited for the Dralinian army to show up.

The next day, she got another message.

You’re wanted at the TPD. Report ASAP.

With much apprehension, she donned her blue-and-white blazer and went out. The streets were still eerily empty. There was rubble along the sidewalks and the bridges were smeared with black. In places the barriers were broken.

It was only a short trip, but she did not see any shades. Nor did she see any Dralinian soldiers. Their activity and the noise had stopped at some point after midnight– they would be hours away by now after their humiliating defeat.

As she drove, she mentally prepared herself for the worst; as she usually did. It might have been a desperate call for help. There might be shades in the station, and she’d have to join with the others to fight them off. (In preparation for this possibility, she’d loaded her gun with the few iron bullets she possessed.) In fact, she was a little surprised to see that the brick building was even still standing.

When she walked inside, however, she stopped just within the door, momentarily stunned. The lights were on. The desks were in order. Officers walked back and forth as though it had been just another ordinary day – albeit with a little more hurry in their step.

While she should have been grateful that the fighting hadn’t come here, and that everyone was still alive, something felt… wrong. She approached the front desk.

“Ah, Miss Demwick,” said the man there, in a strained but cheerful voice. “You made it. We’re a bit busy at the moment. We’re… reconfiguring some things. Why don’t you go to your office, and I’ll send somebody over to talk to you.”

Something about all of this was not sitting right with her; but she didn’t know what it was, and now that she was here, she knew that she had to find out. Anna went back to the offices, and found the small room she shared with Nadia, the other intern. Nadia wasn’t here at the moment – either working on something else, or hadn’t arrived yet. It was too bad; she would have liked to ask Nadia what was going on.

What happened here yesterday? Were you here? Did they fight? Did they defend the King?

She waited at the desk, hands folded, toes tapping nervously. There were no tasks for her to complete. She always felt anxious when she had no tasks to complete.

Finally, Chief Dorson walked in.

Anna straightened up. She ironed out her features and nodded to him as she stood from the desk. The Chief himself seldom spoke to lowly interns like her, but when he did she was careful to mind herself – her parents had taught her proper respect.

“Sir,” she said in surprise.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Miss Demwick,” said Chief Dorson. “Especially after everything that’s happened. I’d hoped not to have to call you in today, or any of the other interns. I thought you might get away with staying home, but they were very particular. I’ve already spoken to Nadia about it.”

Her eyes must have conveyed her question, because he coughed and said, “Oh, I see. You haven’t been told yet.” He avoided her eyes. “Everyone at the police department is required to present themselves at the Palace this morning at eleven-thirty.”

Anna stood stock still. “May I… may I ask what for, sir.”

“To swear allegiance to King Ellatar.” The Chief turned around and promptly exited the room, as if unwilling to face her any longer.

Anna sat down heavily. Her breath felt driven from her lungs. Was that what all of this was about? Was this really happening? She was surrounded by traitors. They were co-operating with Ellatar. She’d been naïve enough to think the invasion was chaos, but it wasn’t. It was suddenly clear that everyone in the city who still had any power was on his side – and the rest would be forced to play along.

Nadia walked in. She was taller than Anna, a young elf woman with jet-black hair, fond of wearing a purple rain jacket. She stripped off the jacket and laid it over the back of a hoverchair.

“Nadia,” said Anna in a dry whisper. She didn’t want to ask, but she had to. Only yesterday she’d have discussed kingdom politics at will, almost taking for granted that they were all on the same side. But suddenly, it didn’t feel safe to speak of these things.

“What is it?” Nadia turned around, giving her typical quirk of an eyebrow. She had strong, gorgeous cheekbones, an envy-inducing contrast with Anna’s acute baby-face syndrome.

“Did he ask you to go to… to the palace?” she knew the answer already, but it was the only way she could think to broach the topic.

“Yeah.” Nadia rolled her eyes. “We have to, I guess.”

Anna pursed her lips together, thinking about what she knew of Prince Ellatar, and what to expect from him. He was King Myra’s exiled brother, apparently calling himself King now. What did that mean? He’d taken the palace. He’d taken the throne. Now he wanted their help – probably to pacify the citizens of Telel. Maybe even root out other dissenters. Ellatar’s control of the city was still delicate, and no one would come out of their homes yet. They were too afraid of the shades. But if the TPD were on his side…

“You look worried,” said Nadia. “The Chief told me not to worry. He said we’ll be fine if we just do what we’re told.”

“But…” she hesitated. Yes, Nadia was safe. They knew each other. They were friends. “But what if I don’t want to swear allegiance to him?” Her voice sounded whiny, even to her.

Nadia wrinkled her nose, and her pointed ears tilted back a little bit. “Well, you kinda have to. You have no other choice. If you don’t, you’ll forfeit your place on the TPD, if not literally die.”

Anna’s heart dropped to the bottom of her shoes.

“Come on, everybody’s going to do it. It’s no big deal. You just have to say a few words. You don’t even have to mean it. I certainly don’t.” Nadia leaned back on her desk with both hands and crossed her legs.

Anna glared. “If it’s not a big deal then why is he going to kill people who don’t do it?” For Nadia to call a serious oath just a few words struck a very bad chord with her. She was used to being totally honest with herself and others. And some of us, she thought, were raised to value loyalties. Prince Ellatar is a traitor to this country – and worse. She knew his story as well as anyone else, perhaps better.

Nadia sighed, more serious now. “Anna… you don’t have very long to figure this out. Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay. I know you’re, like… religious, or whatever. But you’re not a risk-taker. I know you, you’re pretty sensible. Try to channel that, okay?”

Anna nodded stiffly, but she could barely stop her hands from shaking. Nadia was right about one thing. She didn’t have very long to figure this out.


Later that morning, Anna climbed the Great Stair, trailing towards the rear of her unit. The Stair rose from the front palace grounds, up over the main palace complex, towards where the throne room sat perched atop the building. It had stone walls on either side, like a high, stiff collar, blocking the view of the city. A blueish, watery light filtered down from the throne room.

Anna took one step at a time. Nadia’s back was ahead of her. She didn’t even know why she was still here. She should have snuck off earlier, gotten on a skimmer, gone… somewhere. But she was constrained by expectations, as if by an invisible chain.

She’d learned in the meantime that other groups had been coming and going all day. There had already been a sweep of the palace staff. Some of them had been a part of the coup, others were replaced.

The throne room, waiting at the top, was a huge polyhedron, almost a dome, made of triangular panes of glass. That was where the King of Dralina sat enthroned. Ordinarily, that would have been Myra Davarin. She didn’t know where he was now, but she feared the worst. He was not the person they were going to meet.

She had rarely taken the time to ponder the actual character of Ellatar Davarin before. To most people, he was more of a political figure than a man. But now that she was preparing to meet him, she found herself wondering what to expect from a man who called himself king over shades.

There had been no shades on Valerian since forty years ago, at the end of the Shade Wars. Back then, they had been a guerilla force, fighting sporadically and seemingly at random.

Shades were scarcely rational creatures. They were the very monsters which plagued her nightmares as a small child. Their eyes were red, their gait was ungainly, their arms too long for their bodies. But even that was only their natural form - they could shape-shift into the likeness of any living creature.

The unit stopped walking abruptly, and Anna bumped into Nadia’s back. They had not quite reached the top of the Stair, but the front of their line could not proceed any further. The doors cracked open slightly and a man pushed through to the landing. He had on a black cape with a golden sun emblazoned on it, much like the other soldiers.

“Greetings, TPD!” called the man.

Anna craned her neck to see around Nadia. Her heart beat faster, but she held still. Do nothing to stand out, she told herself. He’ll make a speech. You listen, and hold your peace. It doesn’t matter what he says. Hold your peace if you want to live.

“Myra is dead,” proclaimed the announcer. “Today, you will have the great honor of meeting your new King, son of Verick Davarin, and rightful heir to the throne of Dralina, Ellatar Davarin!”

So Ellatar had indeed killed his brother. And Myra had no sons. Did that really make Ellatar the rightful King, as he claimed? She had only a moment’s doubt.

No. I refuse to accept it.

“Each one of you must understand how important you are to the city at this moment. Our new King is benevolent and would like nothing more than to maintain order and prevent the city from falling into fear and chaos. The public’s trust in you will be instrumental in suppressing turbulence and smoothing the tension in this transitional time.”

It was as she’d figured, then. Ellatar understood the danger of mass panic on account of the shades. And who could keep the public in line better than the TPD, who enjoyed a measure of trust?

“The Shade Wars are far in the past. Ellatar Davarin has forged an alliance with the Shades. The Ash Alliance will move our nation towards a better, stronger era, a new peace between humans and shades. Under the Ash Alliance, you will work alongside the shades to enforce King Ellatar’s decrees.”

Anna felt anger for the first time alongside her numb uncertainty. It was one thing to know about the lies he was accustomed to tell, but to hear them spoken in earnest was another. Given the opportunity, she could have argued that the shades were a parasitic species that wanted nothing more than to devour and move on to the next planet. They weren’t interested in peace or helping humans. The only kind of bargain which could have moved them to serve Ellatar would be the kind which she, at least, had learned about from her parents – how could so many people be so ignorant?

Feeling helpless, she looked at the faces of the others around her. Some were grim, others seemed unruffled. Which ones had been on his side all along?

“When you enter the room, you are to align yourselves in two rows, and kneel. Then, you will be required to swear allegiance to Ellatar Davarin as the rightful King of Dralina.”

Anna’s heart thudded dully as a knell. There had to be a way out of this. She couldn’t swear allegiance to him. She knew why oaths were so important to him. He’d made a dreadful oath once. But he wasn’t the only one who found oaths meaningful.

Why hadn’t she run earlier? Anna found herself thinking of her skimmer down in the parking lot—a white, Dralinian issue, single rider hoverbike. What had possessed her to not just break for it? She certainly wouldn’t get a chance after this. They’d kill her. They would kill her. She knew it suddenly and with absolute certainty.

If she entered that room, and she didn’t swear the oath, she would die.

The doors opened before them. The faceted glass dome ahead shimmered in the sun.

“Forward,” said the announcer. The TPD began to walk. Anna walked too, keeping her eyes on the man in the black cape. He swept around to the inside of the door. Her hands were sweating, almost numb. She had iron bullets, but she couldn’t shoot herself out when the shades had already won.

If only they would pass her by, and not call on her, she might be able to resign later. It hurt her to think of leaving the force behind, and with it the opportunity she’d worked so hard to obtain. An internship with the TPD wasn’t easy to get. Her parents had pushed her toward it for so many years. They’d told her she was going to be important someday, and needed to learn to take on responsibilities. Well, she didn’t want this responsibility. She didn’t want any responsibilities. It was too easy to break, and fall into disastrous failure. Maybe Nadia was right. Maybe it would be stupid to refuse. Maybe it wasn’t worth it.

Her mind waffled back and forth, once, twice—she dawdled to the end of the line—then, just as she reached the door, he looked away. Blessedly, he looked away. Anna ducked onto the other side of the door.

It closed behind her, leaving her exposed and alone on the landing. It had worked. She couldn’t believe it had worked. Maybe she could wait here and rejoin the squad on their way out. It was ridiculous, but she had to try.

Her relief lasted only a moment. The throne room was glass. They could see her. She eyed the bottom of the stairs. No, she couldn’t go down. There were guards down there. Anna quickly dropped back and crouched on the stairs, almost on her belly, hoping she was below their line of sight.

The floors of the throne room were wiped clean, leaving no trace of yesterday’s violence. Along the walls stood lines of armored soldiers; she could only guess whether they were humans or shades. If they were human, they would be men from the south, or sympathizers from within Telel, who had rallied to the call of their self-proclaimed king.

The TPD occupied the center of the room, forming two rows. Beyond them was the throne. It was also glass, and glittered atop a narrow flight of stairs. It was empty.

“It is my privilege to introduce to you His Majesty King Ellatar Davarin, hero of Dralina, first of his name!” the announcer shouted.

And he entered.

The doors from the stair burst open behind them, and the two soldiers nearest the doors played a fanfare. He was followed by a further retinue of soldiers and guards, all heavily armed. He wore light armor and silver chain mail, and his blue cloak dragged the floor. His hair was a white-blonde, as light as Anna’s own, shaved close on the sides but oiled and slicked back over the top. The color was a mark of royal descent, although Anna herself had no traceable claim to nobility. All told, he seemed to have aged fairly well.

Ellatar approached the throne, and the fanfare died away. He ascended the glass stairs, a haughty poise in his steps. He at last sat down upon the throne lightly, and his gaze held the TPD in scrutiny.

“Kneel to your King,” said the announcer, and they knelt, all of them.

Prince Ellatar had been exiled in his youth. The reasons why were a subject of controversy. During the shade wars, he’d gone behind his father’s back to strike a bargain with the shades. He’d claimed to be making peace, but in reality, he had given them something terrible in exchange for their service to himself personally. His father Verick had disowned him. If Ellatar ever showed his face in Dralina again, he was supposed to be executed. For decades, no one had known where he was.

“Now,” said the announcer, and he pulled the first man out of line on the far left. “The oath. Repeat after me: I swear allegiance.”

“I swear allegiance.”

She recognized the man. He had been behind the front desk this morning.

“To Ellatar Davarin, true and rightful King of Dralina—”

“—To Ellatar Davarin, true and rightful King of Dralina.”

“—and to the Ash Alliance which he has forged. I swear to obey his commands. Long live the King. ”

The man finished the oath.

“You may rise.”

He stood up and the announcer moved on to the next. He had done it without a trace of hesitation. She continued to watch, stunned.

One by one they swore. Nadia as well—but this time Anna heard the hesitation. She wasn’t really a traitor. She didn’t really believe him. She wasn’t thinking about the fact that people had died yesterday—

Maybe, Anna thought, keeping order in the city is a good thing. I can stay here with Telel in whatever way I can. Try to protect them. But that would be impossible. They’d have none of their former autonomy—they’d only enforce Ellatar’s commands, however unacceptable they might be. And under the supervision of shades, even if she didn’t swear the oath.

The announcer had started on the second row and there were only a couple of people left before they came to the place where she should have been.

A hand came down on her shoulder.

Anna’s instincts had been honed from years of studious training in Zithada, and she reacted quickly. She twisted and had the man by the elbow before she realized it was Chief Dorson.

“Chief?” she whispered.

“Anna. What are you doing?” He kept his voice low as well.

“I thought you were in there.” She nodded back at the throne room.

“I’ve been in and out of there so many times today. I thought you were in there.”

Anna shook her head, struggling slightly, just enough for him to notice and tighten his grip. “Please.” She pressed her sweaty fingers into his sleeve. “I can’t go in there. If I do, I’ll die. He’ll kill me if I don’t swear.”

Dorson’s brow furrowed in greater concern. “You won’t swear?”

“I can’t! Don’t you know who he is? What he’s done?” Once it was out, she bit down on her lips to keep from trembling.

“If you believe in that…” Dorson hesitated. “All nonsense, all garbage of course, everyone with sense has always known Ellatar is the rightful king with the best interests of Dralina in mind. But… moons, Anna.” He ground his teeth. “You’re a good intern. You don’t deserve to die.”

“I… appreciate—”

“Shut up and don’t say anything.”

And before she knew what was happening he had shoved a black bag over her head.

“Hey! What—” she struggled again but he pinned her arms. “I said be quiet.” He kneed her in the back and she grunted.

You don’t deserve to die. But maybe he was going to kill her anyway. Terror surged within her. “Please… don’t do this… I…” tears started from her eyes, but they were hidden. Dorson dragged her down the steps, and she stumbled, blind.

“Excuse me,” said Dorson’s deep voice at the first landing. He no longer acknowledged her pleas. He was too strong to break away, and she had never felt more like a child. Then she felt the cold ring of a gun barrel pressed to the back of her neck.

Oh Inaden. I’m going to die. Her heart was almost bursting from her chest. Couldn’t she have gotten away sooner? It had been such a mistake, joining the TPD at all had been a mistake, and now she was going to pay for it with her life. But how could she have known this would happen?

“Excuse us,” Dorson said again at the second landing, and she could hear the guards move aside.

“No! Wait,” she managed, but they were already at the bottom. “You don’t have to do this…” she had no real argument. They made a sharp turn round a corner off to one side.

Dorson shoved Anna to her knees, and the bag came off, trailing blonde hairs. They were in a tiny walled courtyard, sheltered by the Stair, invisible from the street and the rest of the palace. She twisted around to look at him. “Please, you know me…”

“Shut up,” said Dorson, and smacked her in the head with the pistol. She flinched. “Wait until I leave. Count to fifteen after I go. Then run. As fast as you can. Do you understand? Get out of Telel and don’t come back.”

Anna’s eyes widened with understanding. She nodded silently.

“Good.” Then he fired a single shot into the ground.

Chief Dorson walked out through the doorway of the courtyard. As soon as he disappeared, Anna counted fifteen seconds. Then she ran.


There must have been someone in the Telel Police Department who had known about the invasion beforehand. There must have been, because that very morning, Anna had received a message from the Chief himself telling her not to come in to work.

At the time, she thought nothing of it. She was twenty-four, and had only been working as an intern at the TPD for six months— and that mostly paperwork and parking tickets. She’d figured she simply wasn’t needed that day and put it out of her mind.

Until later, when the portal opened and the world turned upside down. That was the day of chaos, and shades in the streets. The crashes and the bombs and the running, and the yelling, and nobody knowing what was going on. Anna stayed inside and locked her doors. Not that locks would do any good against shades, but nothing happened and she lived and ate some pre-cooked salami, with her back nervously pressed against the bathroom door, and waited for the Dralinian army to show up.

The next day, she got another message.

You’re wanted at the TPD. Report ASAP.

With much apprehension, she donned her blue-and-white blazer and went out. The streets were still eerily empty. There was rubble along the sidewalks and the bridges were smeared with black. In places the barriers were broken.

It was only a short trip, but she did not see any shades. Nor did she see any Dralinian soldiers. Their activity and the noise had stopped at some point after midnight– they would be hours away by now after their humiliating defeat.

As she drove, she mentally prepared herself for the worst; as she usually did. It might have been a desperate call for help. There might be shades in the station, and she’d have to join with the others to fight them off. (In preparation for this possibility, she’d loaded her gun with the few iron bullets she possessed.) In fact, she was a little surprised to see that the brick building was even still standing.

When she walked inside, however, she stopped just within the door, momentarily stunned. The lights were on. The desks were in order. Officers walked back and forth as though it had been just another ordinary day – albeit with a little more hurry in their step.

While she should have been grateful that the fighting hadn’t come here, and that everyone was still alive, something felt… wrong. She approached the front desk.

“Ah, Miss Demwick,” said the man there, in a strained but cheerful voice. “You made it. We’re a bit busy at the moment. We’re… reconfiguring some things. Why don’t you go to your office, and I’ll send somebody over to talk to you.”

Something about all of this was not sitting right with her; but she didn’t know what it was, and now that she was here, she knew that she had to find out. Anna went back to the offices, and found the small room she shared with Nadia, the other intern. Nadia wasn’t here at the moment – either working on something else, or hadn’t arrived yet. It was too bad; she would have liked to ask Nadia what was going on.

What happened here yesterday? Were you here? Did they fight? Did they defend the King?

She waited at the desk, hands folded, toes tapping nervously. There were no tasks for her to complete. She always felt anxious when she had no tasks to complete.

Finally, Chief Dorson walked in.

Anna straightened up. She ironed out her features and nodded to him as she stood from the desk. The Chief himself seldom spoke to lowly interns like her, but when he did she was careful to mind herself – her parents had taught her proper respect.

“Sir,” she said in surprise.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Miss Demwick,” said Chief Dorson. “Especially after everything that’s happened. I’d hoped not to have to call you in today, or any of the other interns. I thought you might get away with staying home, but they were very particular. I’ve already spoken to Nadia about it.”

Her eyes must have conveyed her question, because he coughed and said, “Oh, I see. You haven’t been told yet.” He avoided her eyes. “Everyone at the police department is required to present themselves at the Palace this morning at eleven-thirty.”

Anna stood stock still. “May I… may I ask what for, sir.”

“To swear allegiance to King Ellatar.” The Chief turned around and promptly exited the room, as if unwilling to face her any longer.

Anna sat down heavily. Her breath felt driven from her lungs. Was that what all of this was about? Was this really happening? She was surrounded by traitors. They were co-operating with Ellatar. She’d been naïve enough to think the invasion was chaos, but it wasn’t. It was suddenly clear that everyone in the city who still had any power was on his side – and the rest would be forced to play along.

Nadia walked in. She was taller than Anna, a young elf woman with jet-black hair, fond of wearing a purple rain jacket. She stripped off the jacket and laid it over the back of a hoverchair.

“Nadia,” said Anna in a dry whisper. She didn’t want to ask, but she had to. Only yesterday she’d have discussed kingdom politics at will, almost taking for granted that they were all on the same side. But suddenly, it didn’t feel safe to speak of these things.

“What is it?” Nadia turned around, giving her typical quirk of an eyebrow. She had strong, gorgeous cheekbones, an envy-inducing contrast with Anna’s acute baby-face syndrome.

“Did he ask you to go to… to the palace?” she knew the answer already, but it was the only way she could think to broach the topic.

“Yeah.” Nadia rolled her eyes. “We have to, I guess.”

Anna pursed her lips together, thinking about what she knew of Prince Ellatar, and what to expect from him. He was King Myra’s exiled brother, apparently calling himself King now. What did that mean? He’d taken the palace. He’d taken the throne. Now he wanted their help – probably to pacify the citizens of Telel. Maybe even root out other dissenters. Ellatar’s control of the city was still delicate, and no one would come out of their homes yet. They were too afraid of the shades. But if the TPD were on his side…

“You look worried,” said Nadia. “The Chief told me not to worry. He said we’ll be fine if we just do what we’re told.”

“But…” she hesitated. Yes, Nadia was safe. They knew each other. They were friends. “But what if I don’t want to swear allegiance to him?” Her voice sounded whiny, even to her.

Nadia wrinkled her nose, and her pointed ears tilted back a little bit. “Well, you kinda have to. You have no other choice. If you don’t, you’ll forfeit your place on the TPD, if not literally die.”

Anna’s heart dropped to the bottom of her shoes.

“Come on, everybody’s going to do it. It’s no big deal. You just have to say a few words. You don’t even have to mean it. I certainly don’t.” Nadia leaned back on her desk with both hands and crossed her legs.

Anna glared. “If it’s not a big deal then why is he going to kill people who don’t do it?” For Nadia to call a serious oath just a few words struck a very bad chord with her. She was used to being totally honest with herself and others. And some of us, she thought, were raised to value loyalties. Prince Ellatar is a traitor to this country – and worse. She knew his story as well as anyone else, perhaps better.

Nadia sighed, more serious now. “Anna… you don’t have very long to figure this out. Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay. I know you’re, like… religious, or whatever. But you’re not a risk-taker. I know you, you’re pretty sensible. Try to channel that, okay?”

Anna nodded stiffly, but she could barely stop her hands from shaking. Nadia was right about one thing. She didn’t have very long to figure this out.


Later that morning, Anna climbed the Great Stair, trailing towards the rear of her unit. The Stair rose from the front palace grounds, up over the main palace complex, towards where the throne room sat perched atop the building. It had stone walls on either side, like a high, stiff collar, blocking the view of the city. A blueish, watery light filtered down from the throne room.

Anna took one step at a time. Nadia’s back was ahead of her. She didn’t even know why she was still here. She should have snuck off earlier, gotten on a skimmer, gone… somewhere. But she was constrained by expectations, as if by an invisible chain.

She’d learned in the meantime that other groups had been coming and going all day. There had already been a sweep of the palace staff. Some of them had been a part of the coup, others were replaced.

The throne room, waiting at the top, was a huge polyhedron, almost a dome, made of triangular panes of glass. That was where the King of Dralina sat enthroned. Ordinarily, that would have been Myra Davarin. She didn’t know where he was now, but she feared the worst. He was not the person they were going to meet.

She had rarely taken the time to ponder the actual character of Ellatar Davarin before. To most people, he was more of a political figure than a man. But now that she was preparing to meet him, she found herself wondering what to expect from a man who called himself king over shades.

There had been no shades on Valerian since forty years ago, at the end of the Shade Wars. Back then, they had been a guerilla force, fighting sporadically and seemingly at random.

Shades were scarcely rational creatures. They were the very monsters which plagued her nightmares as a small child. Their eyes were red, their gait was ungainly, their arms too long for their bodies. But even that was only their natural form - they could shape-shift into the likeness of any living creature.

The unit stopped walking abruptly, and Anna bumped into Nadia’s back. They had not quite reached the top of the Stair, but the front of their line could not proceed any further. The doors cracked open slightly and a man pushed through to the landing. He had on a black cape with a golden sun emblazoned on it, much like the other soldiers.

“Greetings, TPD!” called the man.

Anna craned her neck to see around Nadia. Her heart beat faster, but she held still. Do nothing to stand out, she told herself. He’ll make a speech. You listen, and hold your peace. It doesn’t matter what he says. Hold your peace if you want to live.

“Myra is dead,” proclaimed the announcer. “Today, you will have the great honor of meeting your new King, son of Verick Davarin, and rightful heir to the throne of Dralina, Ellatar Davarin!”

So Ellatar had indeed killed his brother. And Myra had no sons. Did that really make Ellatar the rightful King, as he claimed? She had only a moment’s doubt.

No. I refuse to accept it.

“Each one of you must understand how important you are to the city at this moment. Our new King is benevolent and would like nothing more than to maintain order and prevent the city from falling into fear and chaos. The public’s trust in you will be instrumental in suppressing turbulence and smoothing the tension in this transitional time.”

It was as she’d figured, then. Ellatar understood the danger of mass panic on account of the shades. And who could keep the public in line better than the TPD, who enjoyed a measure of trust?

“The Shade Wars are far in the past. Ellatar Davarin has forged an alliance with the Shades. The Ash Alliance will move our nation towards a better, stronger era, a new peace between humans and shades. Under the Ash Alliance, you will work alongside the shades to enforce King Ellatar’s decrees.”

Anna felt anger for the first time alongside her numb uncertainty. It was one thing to know about the lies he was accustomed to tell, but to hear them spoken in earnest was another. Given the opportunity, she could have argued that the shades were a parasitic species that wanted nothing more than to devour and move on to the next planet. They weren’t interested in peace or helping humans. The only kind of bargain which could have moved them to serve Ellatar would be the kind which she, at least, had learned about from her parents – how could so many people be so ignorant?

Feeling helpless, she looked at the faces of the others around her. Some were grim, others seemed unruffled. Which ones had been on his side all along?

“When you enter the room, you are to align yourselves in two rows, and kneel. Then, you will be required to swear allegiance to Ellatar Davarin as the rightful King of Dralina.”

Anna’s heart thudded dully as a knell. There had to be a way out of this. She couldn’t swear allegiance to him. She knew why oaths were so important to him. He’d made a dreadful oath once. But he wasn’t the only one who found oaths meaningful.

Why hadn’t she run earlier? Anna found herself thinking of her skimmer down in the parking lot—a white, Dralinian issue, single rider hoverbike. What had possessed her to not just break for it? She certainly wouldn’t get a chance after this. They’d kill her. They would kill her. She knew it suddenly and with absolute certainty.

If she entered that room, and she didn’t swear the oath, she would die.

The doors opened before them. The faceted glass dome ahead shimmered in the sun.

“Forward,” said the announcer. The TPD began to walk. Anna walked too, keeping her eyes on the man in the black cape. He swept around to the inside of the door. Her hands were sweating, almost numb. She had iron bullets, but she couldn’t shoot herself out when the shades had already won.

If only they would pass her by, and not call on her, she might be able to resign later. It hurt her to think of leaving the force behind, and with it the opportunity she’d worked so hard to obtain. An internship with the TPD wasn’t easy to get. Her parents had pushed her toward it for so many years. They’d told her she was going to be important someday, and needed to learn to take on responsibilities. Well, she didn’t want this responsibility. She didn’t want any responsibilities. It was too easy to break, and fall into disastrous failure. Maybe Nadia was right. Maybe it would be stupid to refuse. Maybe it wasn’t worth it.

Her mind waffled back and forth, once, twice—she dawdled to the end of the line—then, just as she reached the door, he looked away. Blessedly, he looked away. Anna ducked onto the other side of the door.

It closed behind her, leaving her exposed and alone on the landing. It had worked. She couldn’t believe it had worked. Maybe she could wait here and rejoin the squad on their way out. It was ridiculous, but she had to try.

Her relief lasted only a moment. The throne room was glass. They could see her. She eyed the bottom of the stairs. No, she couldn’t go down. There were guards down there. Anna quickly dropped back and crouched on the stairs, almost on her belly, hoping she was below their line of sight.

The floors of the throne room were wiped clean, leaving no trace of yesterday’s violence. Along the walls stood lines of armored soldiers; she could only guess whether they were humans or shades. If they were human, they would be men from the south, or sympathizers from within Telel, who had rallied to the call of their self-proclaimed king.

The TPD occupied the center of the room, forming two rows. Beyond them was the throne. It was also glass, and glittered atop a narrow flight of stairs. It was empty.

“It is my privilege to introduce to you His Majesty King Ellatar Davarin, hero of Dralina, first of his name!” the announcer shouted.

And he entered.

The doors from the stair burst open behind them, and the two soldiers nearest the doors played a fanfare. He was followed by a further retinue of soldiers and guards, all heavily armed. He wore light armor and silver chain mail, and his blue cloak dragged the floor. His hair was a white-blonde, as light as Anna’s own, shaved close on the sides but oiled and slicked back over the top. The color was a mark of royal descent, although Anna herself had no traceable claim to nobility. All told, he seemed to have aged fairly well.

Ellatar approached the throne, and the fanfare died away. He ascended the glass stairs, a haughty poise in his steps. He at last sat down upon the throne lightly, and his gaze held the TPD in scrutiny.

“Kneel to your King,” said the announcer, and they knelt, all of them.

Prince Ellatar had been exiled in his youth. The reasons why were a subject of controversy. During the shade wars, he’d gone behind his father’s back to strike a bargain with the shades. He’d claimed to be making peace, but in reality, he had given them something terrible in exchange for their service to himself personally. His father Verick had disowned him. If Ellatar ever showed his face in Dralina again, he was supposed to be executed. For decades, no one had known where he was.

“Now,” said the announcer, and he pulled the first man out of line on the far left. “The oath. Repeat after me: I swear allegiance.”

“I swear allegiance.”

She recognized the man. He had been behind the front desk this morning.

“To Ellatar Davarin, true and rightful King of Dralina—”

“—To Ellatar Davarin, true and rightful King of Dralina.”

“—and to the Ash Alliance which he has forged. I swear to obey his commands. Long live the King. ”

The man finished the oath.

“You may rise.”

He stood up and the announcer moved on to the next. He had done it without a trace of hesitation. She continued to watch, stunned.

One by one they swore. Nadia as well—but this time Anna heard the hesitation. She wasn’t really a traitor. She didn’t really believe him. She wasn’t thinking about the fact that people had died yesterday—

Maybe, Anna thought, keeping order in the city is a good thing. I can stay here with Telel in whatever way I can. Try to protect them. But that would be impossible. They’d have none of their former autonomy—they’d only enforce Ellatar’s commands, however unacceptable they might be. And under the supervision of shades, even if she didn’t swear the oath.

The announcer had started on the second row and there were only a couple of people left before they came to the place where she should have been.

A hand came down on her shoulder.

Anna’s instincts had been honed from years of studious training in Zithada, and she reacted quickly. She twisted and had the man by the elbow before she realized it was Chief Dorson.

“Chief?” she whispered.

“Anna. What are you doing?” He kept his voice low as well.

“I thought you were in there.” She nodded back at the throne room.

“I’ve been in and out of there so many times today. I thought you were in there.”

Anna shook her head, struggling slightly, just enough for him to notice and tighten his grip. “Please.” She pressed her sweaty fingers into his sleeve. “I can’t go in there. If I do, I’ll die. He’ll kill me if I don’t swear.”

Dorson’s brow furrowed in greater concern. “You won’t swear?”

“I can’t! Don’t you know who he is? What he’s done?” Once it was out, she bit down on her lips to keep from trembling.

“If you believe in that…” Dorson hesitated. “All nonsense, all garbage of course, everyone with sense has always known Ellatar is the rightful king with the best interests of Dralina in mind. But… moons, Anna.” He ground his teeth. “You’re a good intern. You don’t deserve to die.”

“I… appreciate—”

“Shut up and don’t say anything.”

And before she knew what was happening he had shoved a black bag over her head.

“Hey! What—” she struggled again but he pinned her arms. “I said be quiet.” He kneed her in the back and she grunted.

You don’t deserve to die. But maybe he was going to kill her anyway. Terror surged within her. “Please… don’t do this… I…” tears started from her eyes, but they were hidden. Dorson dragged her down the steps, and she stumbled, blind.

“Excuse me,” said Dorson’s deep voice at the first landing. He no longer acknowledged her pleas. He was too strong to break away, and she had never felt more like a child. Then she felt the cold ring of a gun barrel pressed to the back of her neck.

Oh Inaden. I’m going to die. Her heart was almost bursting from her chest. Couldn’t she have gotten away sooner? It had been such a mistake, joining the TPD at all had been a mistake, and now she was going to pay for it with her life. But how could she have known this would happen?

“Excuse us,” Dorson said again at the second landing, and she could hear the guards move aside.

“No! Wait,” she managed, but they were already at the bottom. “You don’t have to do this…” she had no real argument. They made a sharp turn round a corner off to one side.

Dorson shoved Anna to her knees, and the bag came off, trailing blonde hairs. They were in a tiny walled courtyard, sheltered by the Stair, invisible from the street and the rest of the palace. She twisted around to look at him. “Please, you know me…”

“Shut up,” said Dorson, and smacked her in the head with the pistol. She flinched. “Wait until I leave. Count to fifteen after I go. Then run. As fast as you can. Do you understand? Get out of Telel and don’t come back.”

Anna’s eyes widened with understanding. She nodded silently.

“Good.” Then he fired a single shot into the ground.

Chief Dorson walked out through the doorway of the courtyard. As soon as he disappeared, Anna counted fifteen seconds. Then she ran.

Next Chapter: Chapter Four