Niya
It’s the blue rain, which happens a couple of times a decade on Engra. I hear it before I see it, but even its sound is distinctive.
I’m lying in Joston Lynar’s arms. He’s still asleep. Quiet.
I open my eyes to see the fluorescing blue streaks as they fall across the windows. Joston should see this, I think. He may never have a chance to see it again.
I may not either, but for different reasons. Because I’ve come up with a plan to save Chlo and Lasson. As long as the transport raft on the palace roof is still there and still working, my plan has a chance—for Chlo, Lasson, and Joston.
Chlo will take care of Aeryen, as I’d originally intended. She’ll make sure to find him a good home. Maybe in the Triangulum, which he seems fascinated by.
“What’s that?” Joston says. He opens his yellowish eyes, nearly green in the reflection of the rain.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” I say. “It doesn’t happen that often. The blue rain.”
“It’s not a myth, then?”
“Not at all,” I say. “Unlike some things.”
“You mean like our being life mates,” he says.
“Yes, like that,” I say, holding back a twinge of regret. But of course it was a slick lie made up by my friend Ozker—and nothing else. Yet it saved us and I was happy to pretend it was true, just for last night.
But that was last night. This is today, the day we must make sure that Chlo and Lasson make it back to the Marinax.
“How long does it last?” Joston says.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I’ve seen it only twice before.”
“It’s beautiful,” he says, and we both go quiet, just watching the blue rain as it lights up the sky.
“Do you want to have breakfast now?” I say.
“We’d better,” Joston says. “Can’t hope to get anything done without some fuel in us.”
We get up, and I realize I have nothing on just as Joston also realizes it. He’s staring at me.
“You don’t really want to settle down in the Triangulum, do you?” he says.
“Of course not,” I say, even though I’ve heard there are some wonderful worlds there. But I’ll be here, on Engra. Where I belong. And Aeryen and my friends will be where they belong—far away from here.
“That’s a relief,” Joston says, smiling. He pushes his white-blond hair back from his face and I’m suddenly unbearably emotional. That simple gesture has stirred something in me that I’ll never be able to negate.
Fighting back tears, I say, “Did you mean what you said last night?”
I hadn’t intended to ask him that. I’m standing here, naked, in my living room. I have to get dressed. I have to make breakfast. I have to get Chlo and Lasson out of here while I still can.
“I mean everything I say,” Joston says.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I say, and I do. As I’m drying myself off, Joston comes into the bathroom and says, “We don’t have time for anything else, I’m sorry to say.” Then he steps into the shower and I resist the urge to join him there.
I get dressed. The rain’s stopped.
In the kitchen, while I put together some grains and fruit, I turn on the newsfeed.
Martial law declared. Anyone not required for military duty or essential services is to remain in their homes until further notice. Rebels will be shot on sight. Engra, your world needs you. A bounty of a hundred thousand to every Engra who turns in a rebel, dead or alive.
Joston comes into the kitchen and I turn off the newsfeed just after the loop restarts. Martial law declared. Anyone not required . . .
“I heard all of it,” Joston says. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
“What?” I say. I can’t think of one ironic thing about this mess we’re in. That Chlo and Lasson are in. That Engra itself is in.
“The Chengdry founded Engra because of how harshly they’d been treated by the Choryneans, who stole their lands and their lives. Now they’re even crueler themselves.”
“Engra don’t even know about Chengdry,” I say. “But they despise anyone who . . . who’s . . .” I can’t finish the sentence, but Joston finishes it for me.
“Who’s like Aeryen, you mean,” he says.
“Yes,” I say.
“Aeryen’s the most amazing kid I’ve ever met,” Joston says.
“I know,” I say. “He is.”
“Your fellow Engra are despicable,” Joston says.
“Don’t say that,” I say. “It’s not everyone.”
“It’s enough of everyone that the palace isn’t being raided and burned to the ground right now,” Joston says. “Because surely there are legions of Engra who side with the rebels—and very few who want to keep your strict laws and support the royal government.”
“But they’re afraid,” I say, even though I agree with Joston.
“Everyone’s afraid,” Joston says.
“You’re afraid?” I say. The devil-may-care Joston Lynar seems like someone who’s never afraid.
I finish cooking the grains and put two bowls out on the table.
“I live off fear,” Joston says. “It’s my fuel. I thrive on it.”
“I guess that explains the speed,” I say.
“Eat your breakfast,” Joston says. “It’s going to be a long day.”
I pick up my spoon and sneak a glance at Joston, who’s already downed half of the grains. Like Aeryen, Joston has a huge appetite, unaffected by anything as ordinary as fear.
Allowing myself just this moment, I indulge in a fantasy where Joston Lynar is my life mate, where Aeryen is playing out in our backyard, where we’re living together in a safe, beautiful place, where the day I’m about to live is far behind us and grand new days are in our future.
But I’ve had my reverie for too long. Joston looks up from his nearly finished meal, glares at me, and says, “I’d rather spend the rest of my life on Majnia than get anywhere near the Triangulum.”
Caught dreaming of the impossible, I look away, embarrassed.
Then Joston says, “Niya, eat your breakfast,” and starts laughing.
I try out a laugh too, but I can’t manage it. Nothing is funny about today. I stuff a few spoonsful of grain into my mouth and force myself to eat even though my fear outstrips my hunger, which is enormous.
Joston, ignoring me and looking past me, out into the backyard, absentmindedly eats two pieces of fruit.
“What are you thinking?” I say.
“I’m thinking we have to get the hell out of here right now,” he says as he gets up and grabs my hand.
That’s when I look out the window and see what Joston’s been focused on: the troopers who are sneaking their way through the backyards of all the houses on the block. I reach into my pocket and feel for the card to Ozker’s s-car. It’s there, and I grab on to it while Joston and I start running.