“Of course,” Ari said, head spinning. This was how she’d die so fast. She’d run straight at Mercer for burning her planet, capturing her parents, and claiming all of Gwen’s people.
And Mercer would win.
So there really was no hope.
She found herself tripping out of the cockpit, moving through the home flavor of Error’s recycled air. The place had been distinctly Jordan-ized, with piles of weapons and armor where there had once been stockpiles of Kay’s favorite snacks. Ari made it to the back window of the cargo bay, looking out at the orange and red stripes of Ketch. Even bombed and burning, the planet was a damn beauty. Ketch might yet become a new home, a place of life and laughter, of stinging spices and soft, vibrant cloth. Of clashing Lionelian swords and herds of roaming, wild taneens. But she wouldn’t live long enough to see it.
“Good-bye,” she whispered.
“Oh, we’re coming back. Of course we’re coming back,” someone said, messing up her rather important farewell. The newcomer was definitely the warrior-type, with knives strapped down both of their long legs. “You don’t recognize me. I get it. It’s been a long time.”
Ari turned toward them, annoyed that this person was interrupting her last view of Ketch. “Look, I just need a minute to…” Her voice dwindled as she let her mind cross the gap that had been a stone wall moments before. “Yasmeen?”
The girl’s face split with a smile, wrinkling her nose and showing off handsomely spaced front teeth. “Hey, Ara.”
They hugged hard while Ari sputtered words that wouldn’t add up. “How are you… Where did you… What’s going on? Did we change the time line? Are the Ketchans alive?”
Yasmeen took her shoulders. “That’s like a hundred questions with a thousand answers.” Gwen and Val came toward them, and Gwen took in the way Ari and Yasmeen gripped each other’s arms.
“Umm, introductions?” Val asked.
“Val, Gwen, this is Yasmeen,” Ari managed.
“Mostly Yaz these days. She/her. I’m a good ol’ lesbian.”
“And I’m oh so delighted.” Val held out a hand and they shook. Gwen looked at Ari in a way that demanded further explanation.
Ari stumbled on the words. “She’s my… cousin.”
“Just cousin?” Yaz draped a long arm around Ari’s neck, pulling her into a sibling-styled headlock. “What? I am, like, fake dead for a few years and I lose my best cousin status?”
“Fake dead?” Ari and Gwen said at the same time.
Yaz seemed impressed by their synchronization; Val smirked and added, “We’ve got some baggage there.”
Ari wrestled out of Yasmeen’s hold. “Tell me how you’re alive. How did you escape during the siege?”
“I should probably wait for the others.”
“There are more Ketchans?” Ari asked, breathless.
Yasmeen’s wide smile dropped. “Not as many as we wanted.”
“Good. You’ve caught up,” Jordan said, jogging over in that unhelpful way she had. “We’re connecting with the Ketchan ship Amal in three hours.”
“Amal?” Ari asked. “There’s an entire ship?”
Yasmeen smiled again, such a crinkly, welcome sight. “We’ve got an entire jaysh.”
“Jaysh?” Val asked. “What’s jaysh?”
Gwen gripped Ari’s arm, translating for them. “Army. Ketch has fighters.”
“Not bad, queenie.” Yasmeen winked. “Hope you’re all in the mood for rebellion.” She gripped the back of Ari’s neck with a strong hand. “And, fuck, are we jazzed to dismantle Mercer with you.”
Three hours was not nearly enough time, and yet it was also an eternity. Ari paced the main cabin of Error, having a mind-altering talk with her cousin.
Yaz let slip that a few thousand Ketchans were still alive on board Amal. They were the lucky ones who hadn’t consumed poisoned water before the others started to die. Fleeing into space, they traveled beyond the Ridges, hiding out and waiting for the day when there might be a fight to win against Mercer. When they heard about Ari and Merlin and the battle on Heritage, they came back to help. “By the time we’d gotten to Ketch, you had all vanished,” Yaz said. “We took care of the people left there… until the Mercer ships arrived several weeks ago.”
Ari sat on the edge of the small, round table. “I can’t believe we missed you by a day. It would have changed everything.”
Yaz shrugged. “Doubt it. We’re still massively outgunned and outmanned and out–everything else, too.” Jordan grunted in agreement. These two had an interesting rhythm. Like they’d been locked up on Error for several weeks together. And they both liked it and hated it.
Val entered from the bathroom, swirling on the spot. “Smell me. I’m magnificent. There’s a lot of bullshit on medieval Earth, but I’m saying right now the lack of showers is up there as the worst. No wonder those people are bored with sex. No one likes to get it all grimy.”
“Were you really in Old Earth’s past?” Yaz asked. “That’s wild. And terrifying. That planet was hella problematic. It’s why our people left in the first place.”
Ari sighed. “It’s worse than you know, but there are good people there, too.” She thought of Lamarack, Roran, Arthur, and Morgause. And baby Kairos and little Merlin.
Jordan approached Gwen formally. “My queen. I tracked this down for you.” She held out Gwen’s crown from Lionel, and Gwen looked at it as if she wasn’t ready for the weight of a new kingdom.
Ari took the crown for Gwen. “Thanks, Jordan.”
Gwen took Ari’s arm. “We should get cleaned up, too, and treat this burn before it gets infected.” She touched Ari’s cheek lightly, and Ari jumped a mile.
Everyone noticed.
Particularly Val, who arched his newly sculpted eyebrows.
Without a word, Gwen tugged Ari into Kay’s old room. The pilot’s cabin was the only place untouched by Jordan. It still smelled like him. It was still a poignant mess like him. Gwen didn’t wait a moment after shutting the door before launching into her observations. “You’ve just found out that there are still Ketchans alive, that we might have a force to stand against Mercer, and you look like you’re a
