“You mean because you didn’t kill her, this is your fault.”
“If I had killed her when she was a child, Rafe would’ve survived.”
“Do you really believe that? Do you think Excelsior Ensin would never conceive of a plot to gain power if Kricket hadn’t come here?”
“Of course, we don’t know. We only know that if I had been able to eliminate her, she would no longer play a role in it. Now we prepare for the events that are coming. Kricket’s role in the future isn’t finished. There’s still a chance that we can shift the events to the best-case scenario.”
“How do you propose doing that?”
“Kricket will have to get close to Excelsior Ensin.”
“For what purpose?”
“Assassination.”
“Kricket is not a killer!”
“Then we’re all dead. Excelsior knows about the threat to his future from Arissa. She gave him the information when she was a child. He was like a nice uncle to her. She had no idea who he was until later.”
“And who was he?”
“He was Arissa’s creator. How much do you know about Amster?” he asks, looking around the beautiful Gothic cathedral-like building they are in.
“It’s been a ruin for around a thousand floans—ever since the Black Math plague swept through most of Ethar,” Trey says.
“That’s right. What most people don’t know is that the plague had its origin here . . . in this building. Did you know that this used to be an institute that was founded and run by Excelsior Ensin?”
“No.”
“He worked extensively in genetic enhancement. He also dabbled in germ warfare.”
“You’re suggesting that Black Math was not an accidental mutation?”
“It wasn’t. It was a well-designed plan to rid the world of masses of people while he secretly worked on an enhanced race. He and his team designed and perfected genes—powerful genes and deadly viruses. Working in conjunction with a small group of leaders, Excelsior and his extensive connections administered the plague to their own populations and held the antidote aside only for those who they deemed worthy of it. This building is the place where the virus was conceived. Here—”
Pan stands up and pulls an orb from his pocket that’s no bigger than a large gumball. He touches the top of the orb. It glows golden and lifts from the center of his palm to float in the air above his head, casting soft light around them. Pan walks to a nearby pillar and uses his shirtsleeve to rub a brass plaque on the wall and wipes away the dust from it. The plaque now clearly says: ENSIN INSTITUTE.
Pan straightens and says, “The headquarters that you awoke in after you were brought here is Excelsior’s ex-residence. I enjoy irony, Trey. I thought it would be fitting that the very place that spawned him would also be the place from which to stage his demise. This city was his domain. He owned it, but he grew tired of it, so he decimated it. That’s who he is.”
“Give me a team. I’ll take Excelsior out.”
“You’d have a difficult time getting close to him. Even the gifted men I have ferried out of Alameeda aren’t able to get close to him. Priestesses guard him. Kricket is in a much better position to assassinate him, because she won’t even have to try. He’ll bring her to him.”
“When?”
“Soon. Excelsior grows malcontented. He wants another New World Order with just himself at the helm. He’s finished with the shared power of the Brotherhood. He’s willing to seize it all from the very people who were his allies a thousand floans ago.”
“Why not use germ warfare again, since it worked so well last time?” Trey asks.
“He can’t risk it. Two plagues? Too many leaders who were involved in Black Math are still alive to realize the similarities in the situation. No, he needs a distraction from what he plans. Kricket is that distraction. She’s the prophecy, come home to her people. He can use that to his advantage to keep the focus on her while he devises a way to take the throne from her. There’s still one small problem for him, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Kricket is fated to kill him.”
“What happens if she succeeds?”
“We’ll use New Amster’s military to place Astrid in control of the four remaining Houses. She’s also the daughter of Arissa—she’s a priestess born of two houses and two worlds, as the prophecy indicates. They’ll accept her as their leader.”
“Why Astrid, why not Kricket?”
“Astrid has been raised to be empress her entire life.”