Chapter Five
“Ellora,” Athan said as he stepped into the kitchen.
Ellora wouldn’t turn around. She didn’t want to face him right then or deal with anything that he might have to say. Instead, she focused on preparing food for those who had traveled from the distant planet to return to Uoria. Though she didn’t want to know more about what they were facing on that planet or the plans that they might have for returning, she could see that they were in need of sustenance that would help them to recover from whatever they had suffered in the time that they were away, and prepare them for what they might need to do moving forward. She could only hope that she could somehow convince them that they needed to let this go, to stop the horror that had been carrying on for much too long.
“Ellora,” Athan said again.
His voice made Ellora’s muscles tighten. Though he had been a treasured and trusted part of her life, as close to a member of her family as she could ever want, he was also a painful reminder to her. Every time that she heard his voice say her name, she could only think of the night that he appeared at her door to tell her that her husband was gone. Aegeus had been precious to Athan as well, but as soon as she had heard this news, Ellora felt like something within her had closed. She wasn’t able to feel the empathy that she knew that she should. She hadn’t been able to reach out to him, to comfort him, or even to fully accept the comfort and support that he had tried to offer her. As much as she would have liked to rely on him more for herself, it was too painful. When she looked at him, she saw the eyes that had seen Aegeus after she had. When he spoke, she heard the voice that he had heard after he had heard hers for the final time. When he reached out to touch her, she could only think of the last time that she felt her husband’s touch and didn’t want to replace it with his.
“Athan, I don’t want to talk about this,” she finally said, knowing that he wasn’t going to back down or leave her alone until she spoke to him.
“You have to,” Athan said.
“Excuse me?” Ellora asked, turning toward him.
“You can’t pretend it isn’t happening, Ellora,” Athan said. “You’ve spent years refusing to talk, and you don’t have that option anymore.”
“And who are you to tell me what I’m allowed to do or what I have to do?” she asked.
“There was a time when you would have trusted me completely,” Athan said. “You would never have dreamed of turning me away or refusing to talk to me.”
“That was different,” she said, turning back to the pot on the large black stove and stirring it absently.
“How?” Athan asked. “How was that different?”
“That was when I knew that what was happening was inevitable and that there was nothing that I could do to make it any different. I knew what was going on and why, and could see the reason behind it.”
“Could you?” Athan asked. “Did you really understand what was going on?”
“Of course, I did,” Ellora replied, even though she didn’t even trust the words coming out of her own mouth. “I always trusted that Aegeus knew what he was fighting for.”
“And did you know what that was?” Athan asked.
Ellora poured the vegetables that she had chopped into the pot and sprinkled in some of the fragrant herbs from a canister on the counter beside the stove.
“He never gave me all of the details, you know that, but when he told me that he needed to go fight against the corruption in the Order, I knew that what he was doing was right. I knew that he knew what he was doing, and that no matter what he was facing, he was doing what was right for the Mikana, and for Uoria.”
“And do you believe that now?” Athan asked.
Ellora fell silent. She wasn’t sure what she should believe any longer. It had been so many years she couldn’t remember everything that her husband had told her about the struggle that they were facing or what he wanted to accomplish when he went into battle.
“I don’t know,” she said. She looked at him sharply. “Why are you still a part of the Order?” she demanded. “How could you continue to serve the group that was so corrupt Aegeus went into battle against them and lost his life?”
Athan took a step toward her, shaking his head.
“You don’t understand, Ellora,” he said. “The Order is something far beyond each of the people who make it up. It is something that stretches beyond us, beyond the Mikana. It has always been and always will be, and until my death, I will serve it. I was chosen when I was a child. It wasn’t my choice, and I don’t have the choice of whether to continue.”
“But you can betray them?” she asked coldly.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice falling softer now that she seemed to have broken through a barrier that had existed silently between her and the Order since he found out about the mysterious organization that her husband served with unwavering loyalty and devotion.
“You gave the vehicles to the Denynso and their team,” she said. “You allowed Maxim, Ivy, and Kyven into the tunnels. Don’t think that the members of the Order who remained here don’t know what you did. They have already been here to question me.”
“What did they ask?” Athan asked.
“They want to know where you are,” she said. “They want to talk to Maxim and Kyven.”
“Why would they want to talk to them?” Athan asked. “They aren’t a part of the Order.”
“I know,” Ellora said. “That has always been one of the greatest comforts and reassurances of my life, but now I’m not as sure.”
“Why?” Athan asked.
“Why weren’t they chosen?” Ellora asked. “Their father, their grandfather, his father before him. They have all been in the Order. How could Aegeus’s sons not be chosen?”
Athan shook his head.
“I don’t know,” Athan replied. “I always expected that if Aegeus had any sons, they would be accepted into the Order immediately. None of us, though, not a single one of us, knows how the Order is built. We don’t know who makes the appointments or why.”
“But how is that possible?” Ellora asked. “How is it possible that none of you know who selects the members or determines what the Order does? I know that there is a hierarchy. Even Aegeus said that the corruption was in the upper levels of the Order. If it is that clear, how can you not know?”
“It isn’t that simple,” Athan said. “Yes, there is a hierarchy. There are those who are leaders within the Order and who are respected to guide and provide structure, as well as uphold the laws and regulations. Many of those were the ones who had become corrupt and who Aegeus wanted to eliminate. Even within that hierarchy though, it isn’t the end. It’s well-known within the Order that there is more than just those on Uoria that we know and who we encounter in our operations. I can only assume that it is those who we never see who make the decisions.”
“They didn’t choose Maxim and Kyven,” Ellora said, starting to feel desperate and worn. “They left them alone. Why do they need them now? What could they possibly want with them now?”
There was something in Athan’s eyes. It burned there, waiting to be spoken and yet pushed away.
“What is it, Athan?” she asked.
“Ellora, your sons are brave. They are stronger than you know. It’s in their blood. They might not have been chosen by the Order, but that doesn’t change who they are. From the moment that they came into existence, it is has been within them to do what they need to do to protect the things that matter to them, and to do what is right. I know you don’t understand, but what they’re doing right now is exactly what they should be doing.”
“The war ended,” Ellora said. “After the battle when…” her voice trailed off and she drew in a breath to calm herself and steel against the emotions threatening her control, “when Aegeus died, everything went quiet. I didn’t hear about any more battles. It was done.”
“It wasn’t done,” Athan said. “This has never ended, it just went quiet. It’s come back now, stronger than ever, and it’s Maxim who is leading. Even Pyra, the strongest and most powerful warrior in all the galaxy, has given his trust and loyalty over to Maxim. They are leading together. You should be proud of him, not resisting what he’s doing.”
“I can’t lose anyone else,” Ellora said. “There’s nothing that could make me willing to offer up my sons.”
“Even for the safety of the galaxy? Of the entire universe?”
“The galaxy can continue without me losing anyone else that I love.”
The inexplicable emotion flashed over Athan’s eyes again and Ellora focused on it. There was something there, something that he wasn’t saying, but that she needed to know.
“What is it, Athan?” she asked again. “Tell me.”
The man took another step toward her. It was a movement that was both comforting and intimidating. At once she felt like he wanted to be closer to her to provide comfort and reassurance, but also that he may be closing her in, blocking her in so that he could control her movement when he finally spoke.
“You haven’t lost anyone you love,” he said.
“How could you say that?” she asked, angered at Athan’s words. “I lost my heart, my love, my life.”
“You haven’t lost anyone,” Athan repeated. “Aegeus is alive.”
His voice trembled slightly when he said it, and Ellora thought for a moment that she had misunderstood him. She had to have misunderstood him. There was no way that what she thought he had said could possibly be true.
“What?” she asked breathlessly.
“Aegeus is alive,” Athan said again. “At least I hope that he is.”
“What does that mean?” Ellora asked.
“Shortly before we left Penthos to return here, we found out that he is still alive, but I can’t promise that that is still true. That’s one of the reasons why it is so important that we get what we need and get back to the planet and the others as quickly as possible.”
“I don’t understand,” Ellora said.
The revelation had overwhelmed her and she was feeling dizzy. Blackness crept into the edges of her vision and small points of light burst in front of her eyes. She felt herself shaking and the strength in her legs slipping away. Reaching for one of the chairs at the table where she had sat with Maxim and Ivy when they first visited, Ellora took a few steps across the floor. She dropped into the seat, but continued to grip the back to stabilize herself.
Athan lowered himself into the seat across from her and dipped his head down to look into her face.
“Aegeus didn’t die during that battle. He was captured and brought to Earth to be used in experiments by a man named Ryan. He has been held captive ever since. Now Ryan is after the others, but Maxim and Kyven especially.”
“Why?” Ellora asked.
“He is working to breed a master race of soldiers that have the powers and capabilities of every species he can find. He wants to take over Uoria and use his soldiers to then conquer the universe. Maxim and Kyven stand in his way. It is their destiny to unify the planet.”
“How?”
Athan shook his head.
“They’ll fight.”
“My husband is alive?” Ellora asked.
“I hope that he still is,” Athan said.
“Did you know?”
“No,” Athan said. “I promise you, I didn’t know. I thought that he died that day, just as you have since then. I had no idea what he was planning to do during the battle, or what happened to him after. If I had known that he was still alive, no matter where he was or what was standing between us, I would have found him, or died trying. You have to know that.”
“I do,” Ellora said, nodding. She took a breath. “And now it’s our chance.”