Garrett maneuvers the car himself instead of programming it to drive and demands to know where I’ve been.
I tell him how Queen Damascena brought Mom to the stadium to slaughter someone I believed to be a stranger in a Scorpio suit. His face tightens as I describe charging into the stadium to rescue Mom and poisoning then electrocuting our attacker, only to discover that he had been Dad all along.
He turns to me. “If this is what the queen does to her enemies, it’s no wonder you became a rebel.”
“She also made me memorize those phrases I said to Prince Kevon,” I murmur.
Garrett’s eyes soften. “On some level, Kevon must suspect you were coerced.”
I gulp. Prince Kevon is merciful but not naive. At least half of what I was supposed to have done was true.
At the end of the parking space, Garrett turns right, and we enter a long tunnel that slopes upward. “It sounds like they controlled your father with a rehabilitation suit.”
“Pardon?”
He rubs his chin. “People who damage their spinal cords have to wear versions of these to control their movements. Kinesiotherapists program the suits to keep the muscles active while the nervous system heals. Someone likely perverted it to make the wearer attack their family.”
I slump back in my seat. We continue in silence toward an exit that leads to a tall bridge that passes over a wide river. The sun shines down from a cloudless sky, illuminating the water’s surface like droplets of gold. I still don’t have a plan for what we’ll do when we reach Rugosa or how we’ll get there, but at least I know the secret entrance to the Red Runner headquarters.
“Forelle postponed our engagement,” Garrett says.
“Why?”
“She believes that the Nobles will attack her and her family next.”
“Will they?” I ask.
“My father is the next in line to the throne, and then it’s me.” He clenches his jaw. “There’s Briar, but the Chamber of Ministers would never let her take the throne because that would create an Amstraadi king.”
Garrett tells me that Forelle has gone into hiding and that her parents are making their way out of Rugosa with the help of his friends. From the tone of his voice, it sounds as though he and his allies are preparing to strike out against Queen Damascena.
I don’t know enough about Garrett’s father to determine if he has a chance against the queen and her supporters, but there’s little point when she holds the most devastating leverage.
“Queen Damascena’s new lady-at-arms has a remote control that affects Kevon’s heart.”
Garrett turns to me and gapes. “She told you this?”
I shake my head. “Dr. Ridgeback had the remote in her hand back when we were trying to escape the Chamber of Ministers. Each time she pressed it, Kevon clutched his heart.” My voice becomes hoarse, and I can barely say the next words. “If he doesn’t find someone to remove that synthetic tissue, he’ll never be free.”
“Leave it with me,” he replies.
At the end of the bridge, the road splits into three lanes. Two overground and another that leads into a tunnel illuminated with amber lights. He taps a command on the dashboard, and the tunnel turns dark. I swallow hard, not knowing what’s happening.
A moment later, he stops the car and presses a button that opens the door.
Warm air from the tunnel’s dark exterior fans against my skin. I turn to Garrett and ask, “Where are we going?”
“This is as far as I can take you.” He taps the cuff on his ear. “Someone else is arriving in a minute. Good luck, Zea.”
His words sound more like a farewell. If it wasn’t for the drug suppressing my emotions, my eyes would probably fill with tears.
“Who’s coming?” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “It’s best that I don’t say.”
I nod. Because Queen Damascena also controls Leonidas Pixel, the man who can access any Amstraad device.
“Thank you.” I step out of the car, and the door pulls itself shut.
Without another word, Garrett continues down the tunnel. I step back, rest a shoulder against its wall, and rub my wrist. The skin there feels strange and tender since the ambassador removed the cuff. I inhale even breaths and stare into the dark for signs of this approaching ally.
Less than half an hour has passed since I last saw Prince Kevon, and I don’t know if the ringing of the alarm meant he tried to break free of the needles keeping him in place or something terrible happened to his heart. If Queen Damascena wasn’t such a psychopath, I might have guessed from her happiness that he was fine.
A sigh slips from my lips. Sometimes, a person acts a certain way during a stressful event and later, the impact sinks into their consciousness. What will Prince Kevon decide to become when he finally recovers? And what does Queen Damascena’s rule mean for the people of Phangloria?
As the hum of an electric vehicle approaches, I swallow around my parched throat and position myself to run. Garrett is one of the few people in the Oasis I can trust, but he still believes I betrayed Prince Kevon and broke his heart.
Dim headlights illuminate a vehicle the size and shape of Queen Damascena’s dressing van. I turn around and sprint.
“Zea,” shouts a female voice.
I glance over my shoulder to find two identical white-haired young women standing in the headlights. They both wear black-and-white-striped jumpsuits. They’re the sisters of Master Thymel, the man who designed the blue ballgown and my palace wardrobe.
A breath catches in the back of my throat. They’re also the cousins of Georgette.
“We’re friends,” says the twin on the left.
The twin on the right beckons. “Hurry.”
My heart soars, and I break into a run.
The back of Master Thymel’s van contains the trunk of vacuum-packed dresses he brought into Garrett’s guesthouse, along with a sewing table with inset cupboards
