“I’d rather not think about that,” Varga muttered. “That throne is a long way from me right now.”
“Yeah, I don’t see you taking the helm anytime in this century.” I chuckled.
Nevis sighed. “Personally, I look forward to visiting Nevertide. And should Elonora’s father decide to put me through these… Trials, whatever they may be, I’ll gladly take them.”
“Hah. Looks like you got yourself one bold fighter, Lenny!” Grandpa Yuri said.
We all laughed this time, but our moment was short-lived.
The double doors opened, and Ta’Zan entered, accompanied by two Perfect guards. It was only now that I got to notice the beautiful, bejeweled details on his silvery tunic. Diamonds clustered around his neck and on the sleeves—combined with the light refracted through the dome itself, it adorned Ta’Zan in a myriad of colorful lights, as if he’d stepped out of a dream.
This splendor of his was a complete mismatch with the evil festering in his soul. I couldn’t, for the life of me, connect his beauty and elegance to the murders he’d committed, as well as the mass destruction he was about to unleash upon the universe. It just didn’t fit together in the same package.
Even so, I braced myself. Ta’Zan was evil, and he showed no mercy, unless it served his agenda. With that in mind, I was able to take my eyes off him and focus on what he said.
“Derek. I would like to talk to you. In private,” he demanded.
We’d seen this coming, thanks to Isda, but Derek was quick enough to display some surprise. “What? Why? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?”
“You’ll see, once you step outside with me,” Ta’Zan replied, then handed Derek a small pill. “Take this. We’re getting a breath of fresh air today. The sunset is particularly beautiful on the west side.”
Derek looked at Sofia, then gave us an over-the-shoulder glance. He swallowed the pill and went outside with Ta’Zan and his two guards. The uneasiness of watching him go with our arch-nemesis took a toll on my body.
My stomach growled, a dull pain spreading outward.
“Sofia, is he going to be okay?” I asked. “I mean, I get that he’s gone on these walks with Ta’Zan before, but we hadn’t torn down his towers back then, nor had we blown up his ships.”
Sofia sighed heavily. “I don’t know, Lenny. Ta’Zan has a soft spot for Derek, whether he wants to admit it or not. That much I could tell from my own conversations with the guy. I think that, even now, after we’ve repeatedly irked him, Ta’Zan still craves something that only Derek can give him. Whether it’s his approval or something else, I don’t know.”
“It might work in our favor,” Ben replied. “I’m sure Dad knows it, too.”
Sofia nodded. “He most certainly does. He’s kept things civil every time, for the most part.”
“Until he took you, that is. Derek lost it, then,” Xavier chimed in.
“I’m only worried about the timing here,” Lucas added, frowning. “Derek is out there with that bastard now, while our Perfect allies are planting bombs in the colosseum. It stinks.”
Lucas was right. It could throw a wrench in our plan, if Ta’Zan didn’t bring Derek back soon. We had to get ready for the bilocation spell, and we all needed to be present in order for the magical copies to be created. Sofia gasped, then covered her mouth, as she probably thought of leaving this place without Derek. That was suddenly a possibility.
Looking at Nevis, I had to accept the hard truth he’d uttered earlier. Anything could go wrong, at any moment. Nothing was going smoothly in this operation. Derek leaving with Ta’Zan was the first sign of trouble.
More was bound to pop up, and we all had to adapt.
Derek
Ta’Zan’s timing couldn’t have been worse.
Still, I couldn’t refuse his so-called invitation, which was an order, anyway. I couldn’t let him get suspicious of me or my people. Everything had to proceed as usual. I’d go out with him, he’d tell me something to further chip away at my resolve, I’d bask in the sun for a bit, thanks to his special pills, and then I’d go back to the diamond dome.
I had my earpiece on, discreetly nestled beneath my growing hair, and I made sure to stay on his right side, so he wouldn’t spot it by accident. The best I could do, at this point, was to try and keep this conversation short. The sooner I got back to the dome, the faster we’d set up the bilocation spell.
“Rose, Derek?” Araquiel’s voice came through the earpiece, just as I walked up the stairs with Ta’Zan, headed for the upper levels.
“Araquiel! We’re here,” my daughter replied. “Talk to me.”
“We’re inside. I’ll let you know when all the charges are set,” Araquiel said.
“Roger that,” Rose replied.
“Roger what?” Araquiel asked, and I had to press my lips into a thin line to stifle a chuckle. The Perfect knew nothing of our radio lingo.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ben came through the comms channel. “Do what you have to do. We’ll be waiting.”
Ta’Zan’s low voice ripped me from the conversation altogether. “Something on your mind, Derek?”
He was carefully watching me, standing at the top of the stairs. I’d fallen behind, so I climbed the rest of the stairs to reach him.
“Yeah. Just wondering why you wanted me out,” I replied. “You said you had something to tell me, if I’m not mistaken, and you’ve yet to do that.”
Ta’Zan smirked. “I would’ve expected you to at least thank me for sparing Sofia’s life, before anything else. I believe it’s called common sense.”
My blood was already boiling, but it didn’t feel like rage, per se. I was a tad lightheaded, too, and my breathing was faster than usual. My body wasn’t all mine—or, at least, that was the impression I had. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with that sunlight pill he’d given me. But I didn’t want Ta’Zan to perceive any kind of weakness on my part.
“There’s no common sense required, since you’re the one who took Sofia from me in the first place,” I retorted.
“I value this friendship between us, Derek. Please don’t let your pride soil it,” he said, then continued walking.
We stopped at the bottom of the last set of stairs leading up to the terrace. The only thing left between me and pure sunshine. A sliding door had been mounted horizontally above it, operating on a motion sensor. As soon as Ta’Zan climbed the first step, the door slid back, and the raw, unfiltered sunlight came through, warming my skin in a most pleasant way.
