Above World - By Jenn Reese Page 0,25

adapt faster to the altitude.”

“How?” Hoku asked.

“There are messengers in our blood that carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. We will tell the girl’s body to make more messengers.”

High Senator Electra gripped Aluna’s shoulder and clipped something to her earlobe. It stung, but no more so than pricking a finger on a sea urchin. She disliked earrings, but then again, the City of Shifting Tides didn’t have any that could save your life.

Her headache receded. She fisted her hand, relieved to feel its strength returning.

“The worst has passed,” Electra said. “Continue using the breather until you can do twenty push-ups without straining.”

Aluna had no idea what a push-up was, but she understood all the same. Keep it on until you’re ready to fight.

The Aviar whistled and four guards stepped forward, their spears clutched at their sides.

“Escort our guests to their chambers on the prison level,” Electra said. She turned to Aluna and Hoku. “I have saved you, but only for now. I will inform Her Royal Greatness, President Iolanthe, of your presence. It is she who will decide whether you ever leave this place alive.”

ALUNA’S PRISON CELL had walls of stone and a door of metal bars. She wrapped her hands around two of the bars and shook them once, then again, then again with all her strength. Nothing. No sign of weakness. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the coolness of the metal.

“I can’t see you,” she whispered to Hoku.

“No,” he said quickly, “but we can still talk. And we don’t even have to yell. The artifacts in our ears still work up here.”

“Unless they separate us,” she said. “This place is huge.”

She released her grip on the bars and turned around to survey her new home. The room was small, but still bigger than her nest at the colony. The pile of rags in the corner was probably her bed. She walked to the other corner and lifted a small hatch. It hid a hole and, farther down, some running water. The smell tipped her off as to its use.

“I don’t even have a window,” she whispered to Hoku. “I would have liked to watch them flying.” Hoku didn’t respond, so she kept talking. “And this is supposed to be a palace? If these prison cells are any indication, it isn’t a very nice one.”

Still nothing.

“Hoku?”

“Hm?”

“What are you doing?”

“Combinations,” he said, as if that explained everything. She waited. “The water safe,” he added. “I’m trying more number sequences on the lock.”

“Are you almost done trying them all?”

Hoku snorted. She didn’t ask again.

Her hand went to the small pouch she wore around her neck. She longed to take her mother’s ring out, to roll it in her palm and admire how it shone. She tucked the pouch back into her shirt to keep it safe and hidden, along with the Ocean Seed.

Her hand drifted up to the earring High Senator Electra had clipped to her earlobe, then down to the base of her neck. The holes where her breathing shell had burrowed its tails were closed, as if the necklace had sewn her back up on its way out of her flesh. The skin there was sensitive, like a bruise, and her throat felt raw and angry. Aluna pulled out the breather device that had saved her life. Could she use it to return to the water?

“What kind of food do you think they gave us?” Hoku asked. He must have gotten frustrated with his water safe. Aluna walked over and picked up the pouch of water the Aviars had tossed in her cell. She took a long swig while eyeing the meat at her feet.

“It’s probably not one of the Deepfell,” she said, trying to keep the smile from her voice. “It smells cooked, and they didn’t have time to do that.”

“Barnacles!” Hoku said. “I didn’t even think of that. Maybe I’m not hungry after all.”

“Don’t be silly. You have to eat.” She picked up the meat by its protruding bone and sniffed it. “Mmm,” she said, pretending her mouth was full. “Tastes great!”

“Ha ha,” came Hoku’s dry reply. “I’m not a youngling anymore, you know.”

She laughed. “I’m starting to figure that out.” The meat’s aroma tickled her nose. She took a tentative bite and then another, much bigger, bite. “Hoku, you have to try this. I’ve never tasted anything like it.” She finished her piece and gnawed on the bone to get every last scrap of food from it. “If