Flames (Book 3)

Chapter 34: Aron

I had never been inside a spaceship before. 

However, if Kanyha's old hunk of metal was the standard, spacecraft in general were a huge letdown. The interior was far from the sleek, sophisticated structure that one would expect a modern spaceship to be. In fact, it was quite the opposite. 

We didn't even get our own seats. Instead, the bare, brown-walled cabin was filled with long benches, stretching from one end to the other. The ceiling was low, and lit with old-fashioned tube lights. There were only two windows, neither of which was located anywhere near me. I sat in between Rory and Eleanna, on the first bench, and the Glitches seated themselves in a single, long row to our right. 

As we prepared to launch, the lights dimmed, and thick, silver seatbelts slid over our waists and around our legs. I heard the slight popping noise that, according to my studies back at the base, signaled the activation of the ship's artificial gravity. 

I grew rather tense as the ship began to vibrate, the open furnace below it providing its rockets with an initial boost of Aura-powered flame. There was no telling what would catch fire, with the lack of protection that the furnace had displayed...

Yet, despite my doubts, the ship's nose turned upward slowly, before the motion grew faster as it shot up, blasting out of the atmosphere. An extreme amount of force pressed me down and back into my seat, rendering me motionless, as the ship shot toward the sky. 

After what felt like almost an hour, but was surely much shorter than that, the ship began to stabilize, returning to its original, horizontal position.

"Is space travel always this inconvenient?" I groaned. 

"Not at all," Eleanna replied. "In a real Lessaenite ship, you barely even feel the motion. If only I had access to my gold..."

"You wouldn't have been able to use it, anyway. We all saw what happened to Thorel when he tried to spend his money," Megan interjected.

"Quite fortunately for all of us, I do not share my nephew's stupidity," Eleanna sighed. "Who knows what kind of torture he is undergoing." 

"On the contrary, the Auranews says that he's been allowed to return to his work as Warrior Chief and General of the Imperial Army. The Queen does not wish to punish him until solid proof that he actually committed a crime is found. After all, there's no real way for them to prove that the people he was trying to transport were rebels," Rory said. 

"Most interesting," Eleanna nodded. "Perhaps, that is a good thing. He will be present in Glaisse when we arrive, giving us another eye on the inside. Sophie, have you informed the servants of our advances?" 

"Yes," the quiet Scientist girl affirmed. She still walked with a slight limp, but she no longer needed her crutches. Her recovery had been both miraculous and very opportune. As we had recently discovered, she was an expert in covert operations, and could out-spy even a born Flame. 

"Why the servants?" Rory frowned. "What could they do?" 

"Never underestimate the power of a servant," Eleanna said seriously. "A trusted servant has the keys to almost everything in the house of the person whom he or she serves. He or she also has access to back passageways and secret rooms, the existence of which is not known to others. The last Rhenan royal family was killed by their servants, as were numerous other notable figures throughout history. When you've got the servants...you've got the master."

"That's brilliant," I beamed. "I'm sure that the servants are the last people that the Queen would suspect of being against her." 

"I've given them your name. I hope that's alright with you," Sophie added. 

"Mine? What's so special about me?" I laughed. 

"You're a Faerlen. Every Rhenan worships your family. It's for credibility," she explained. "And, you're a pretty awesome Aura warrior."

"Thanks," I smiled. "Hopefully, Viviana hears something about this. That way, she'll know we haven't abandoned her." 

"You have to give it to that girl, living for so long with the Queen," Eleanna nodded. "She will be instrumental, if we want any chance of stalling the Queen long enough to rescue Princess Tara." 

"Stalling her? You mean, this is nothing more than a rescue mission!?" I fumed. I had thought we were on our way to saving the Empire from the Icehearts, once and for all! 

"The Flameheart Serum no longer exists," Eleanna explained. "We have no hope of killing the Icehearts. The best we can do in this situation is make a point. And, of course, save an innocent princess."

At this, an image of my brother came to my mind. I refused to accept that all hope was lost. Surely, the Serum couldn't have been permanently destroyed with someone like Teren around. He had been obsessed with it!

"The Flameheart Serum does exist," I asserted. "My brother always wore it in a vial around his neck. I'm sure he took some with him when he left the base. Perhaps, if we had some time, we could have it reverse engineered." 

"There are two problems with that plan. First, we do not have time. The Festival of Lumys begins in three days, and we must be in Glaisse, ready to act, well before it does. Second, how are we supposed to get our hands on Teren? He is the last person who would be willing to work with us," Eleanna spat. 

"I suppose that's true," I nodded. "Knowing him, though, he's probably trying to get to Glaisse as well. You know how he is, with his ego. There's a good chance he thinks he can singlehandedly defeat the Icehearts." 

"Indeed," Eleanna smiled. "Who knows? We may accidentally run into him. However, until such an event occurs and we are able to take possession of any remaining samples of the Flameheart Serum- if there even are any- our plan stays as follows: we arrive at the Glaisse spaceport, and remain unnoticed for as long as possible. On the third day of the Festival, a small group of operatives sneaks into Tara's wedding, and another group enters the palace with the aid of the servants and finds Viviana. We get both princesses to safety while doing as much damage as possible. Does everyone understand?" 

"Yes," I nodded, grudgingly. 

This was like being told that you were about to be given a chance to slay a dragon, and then realizing that you were to face a lizard instead. 

A sore disappointment. 

Oh, Teren, you'd better be in Glaisse.