Bonds of Brass (The Bloodright Trilogy #1) - Emily Skrutskie Page 0,126

my zip ties, and I strip out of my wingsuit, shrug off my deflector armor, and hand it over. The six of them leave me alone, facing a mirror that pretends it’s only a mirror.

I sit down at the table to wait, eyeing the ring in the middle meant to be threaded with a pair of handcuffs. The fact that they haven’t seen fit to chain me to it bodes well. It means that they don’t suspect that I let the Archon soldiers go.

Or it means that they have bigger fish to fry. The muffled rumble of scrambled ships is near constant, and thundering footsteps fill the hall outside. War is coming to Rana again. Archon has risen, and they’re inbound with dreadnoughts of their own. No one believes there will be the mercy of another Warning Shot. The base is in chaos.

When silence falls outside, I know I have only seconds to compose myself. I sink back into the chair and try to relax my shoulders. Try to look like the loyal Umber soldier they need to see, not the shattered kid. Not the truth.

The academy head sweeps into the room. He’s dressed out and ready for battle, deflector armor on, a coat trimmed in brass over it. “Where’s the prince?” he asks, setting his datapad on the table. With quick movements of his fingers, he flickers through communications, tracing his replies instantaneously. He doesn’t look at me, but I can feel the usual contempt radiating off him like the heat that clings to a bombing site.

“The prince is safe. He has orders for you.”

The head scoffs. “The only reason you’re still alive is because we need to find the Umber heir. There’s only one order that will be passed in this room. It’s simple, and it’s already been stated. Tell me where the prince is.”

“The only reason you’re still alive is because Gal emp-Umber thinks you can be useful,” I shoot back, and that earns me his eyes. The head’s pointed brows lower. “He’s confident that you want to earn his forgiveness after the way you tried to hold him here a month ago. And no one wants the empress to find out about that little accident with the automated defense system, do they? The Archon fleet approaching is the least of your worries. You aligned yourself with Berr sys-Tosa, and the system governor has made himself the worst of enemies. There’s no need for Tosa to drag you down with him.”

His lips twist sourly, and he locks his datapad. “I’m listening,” he says. It might be the most grudging way I’ve ever heard a man save his own skin.

I steel myself. This saves Gal. It saves Hanji, Ollins, Rin, and Rhodes. It spares the former empire from being torn asunder by a new war. It’s worth the cost of my soul.

“The Archon attack is Gal emp-Umber’s doing,” I start, and can’t help but savor the look of confusion that flickers across the head’s face. “He discovered Maxo Iral alive and mustering an army in Corinth, and he ingratiated himself with the Shield of Archon. Convinced him to use our knowledge of Rana’s defenses in an assault against the planet. Iral is inbound with his fleet of commandeered dreadnoughts and every ship the resistance has collected over the years. And Gal emp-Umber is making ready to impale them on the planetary defense. How would you like to win a war in a day, sir?”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have to. I see it in his eyes—the heady mix of fear and hunger that drives people to fight wars in the first place. And it didn’t hurt to address him as a superior. The head leans forward, holds out his datapad, and fixes me with an expectant stare as he unlocks it.

So I lean forward in turn and tell him everything. Exactly how Maxo Iral plans to attack. Every way in which Gal’s deceived the Archon general. The codes and call signs necessary to trick the fleet into thinking they’ve managed to destroy the communications relay, to bait them inward, thinking the planet is theirs for the taking. I spill my guts, and somewhere in the middle of the process, I learn to love the freeing lightness that comes