The Captain turned his attention to me. “It doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do. You of all people should not even be on this tour. You were allowed in because of your grandmother’s connection to the Forever Queen. Your presence on the Epoch is an insult to Lady Sonja. Do you understand? The General of the fucking army was ordered to let you in.”
Tears stung my eyes. I hadn’t realized that my request to Wela had become a political fiasco. No wonder Ry did everything she could to keep me either training or out of sight.
“I didn’t know.” My voice had a mousy quality to it. “Please don’t put this one on Ry.”
“It’s too late for that. If you’re found guilty, Ry will go down with you.” The blast of anger he shot my way made me shuffle back.
“What does this mean for us, Eli?” Ry stepped in front of me, shielding me, as she always did.
“My guess? You’ll be charged with treason. Lady Sonja would want to use this to get back at Wela. And you made it easier for her by smuggling a first-year out of the Epoch. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that my little sister needed a break. Does Lady Sonja know Catita is on the planet?”
“I don’t think so.” He rubbed his chest, surveying Ry’s face. “When Lady Sonja started talking of inside jobs and treason, Sierra pulled me aside and told me what you had done. She understood the aesthetics didn’t look great for you.”
“Lady Sonja and Wela rarely see eye to eye on anything. But treason? Lady Sonja wouldn’t take it that far.”
“Wanna bet?” Captain Weston braced his hands on his hips.
In the city of Phoenicis, treason was punishable by exile, which was the same as death. Not many could survive outside the city walls. Mom certainly hadn’t.
“Shit. How was I supposed to know a riot would break out exactly tonight?” Ry paced the length of the room.
“It’s a fucked-up coincidence that Lady Sonja will use to her advantage.” Captain Weston faced Ry.
“Can you help us get back to the Epoch?”
Their gazes locked. After an uncomfortable, long minute, Captain Weston released a breath. “Fine.” He reached for her cheek but pointed at me instead. “But she stays in solitary until we’re back on Mars. This was Wela’s bright idea. She can deal with it when you get back.”
“Of course.” Ry nodded and beamed at me as if she’d done me a great favor, which she had, it just didn’t feel like it.
“Wait here another half hour, then go straight to the mothership. Lady Sonja was called back to the fields, but then she’s due to return to the refinery plant on the other side of the bay. That’s when you should leave.”
“Got it. Thank you.” She smiled at him.
“You can’t keep doing this, Ry. Your sister will be the death of your career if you don’t watch out.” The tone of his voice softened, laced with pity for Ry. This time he brushed tresses off her cheek. “She’s not your fault.”
His words were like a kick to the gut. One, because he wasn’t wrong. And two, because now both Ry and Captain Weston were talking about me as if I wasn’t in the room. No doubt this was why her entire unit hated me. Day in and day out, they all had to live with Ry’s guilt and all the shit she did for me because of it.
I stood at attention, eyes forward, as they carried on their conversation. With slow breaths, I took in the room and all the smells—a memory to keep me company in solitary. My body jerked when the door shut with a loud thud.
“He’s gone. You can relax.” Ry picked up a barstool near the door and shoved it against the counter. “Sit.”
I sat and dropped my face in my hands. “I made a mess of things.”
“Technically, the locals made a mess of things. You just happened to be right smack in the middle of it.” She pulled on the beer tap, filled a glass, and slid it across toward me.
I drank from it with big gulps. Anything to numb my brain and chase away the lingering images Captain Weston’s compulsion left behind. “Thank you.”
“It’ll wear off soon.” She sipped from her glass. “Eli can be intense with his tactics, but he’s fair. I know it didn’t look like it, but he was trying to help. He needed to know the truth. I’m sure he didn’t give you the full-on QEC treatment. Trust me, I’ve seen big, bad commandos cry like babies during one of his interrogations.”
“Yeah, sure. I barely felt any of it.” I snorted. “Do you think he’s right? What he said about Lady Sonja using our little escapade to stick it to Wela?”
“I don’t know. Accusing a founder of treason is not something the Forever Queen would tolerate.”
“Yeah, but Lady Sonja is not accusing Wela. She’s accusing us.” I jumped to my feet.
“Stop that. Nothing has happened yet. She doesn’t even know you’re here. Things will blow over once we get to the Epoch and you’re out of sight. So let’s focus on that.” She took a long swig of beer. After several beats, she relaxed her stance and exhaled. “So how was it? Was the Old Planet everything you thought it would be?”
I smiled at the floor. “It was.”
“Who was the guy with you? Did you meet him at the bar? I saw you giving him all kinds of starry eyes.” Just like that, we were back to normal, talking as we did every night in her quarters. Why wasn’t she mad at me?
“You should hate me.”
“I could never do that.” She regarded me with kindness in her eyes. “You’re too important. One day, my unit, Eli, they will all see that too.” She chugged the rest of her beer. “We
