“They were ready. Now they have Changelings fully prepared for the war ahead. There’s a whole war frigate over the town!”
“Don’t underestimate our people,” Qale said, voice a little tight.
“I refuse to send them to the slaughter just for honor,” I said. “When the perfect time comes, when they least expect it—”
“There’s never a perfect time!” Qale said. “No one is ever fully prepared. And when they are, it’s already too late. We have to attack now. Today. Before it’s too late.”
“So why don’t the Titans attack already?” I said.
“Because they need a leader to follow,” Qale said. “They need you. The beacon, preferably. But they need someone to follow.”
I turned away from my brother.
“I’m already doomed,” I said. “They’re going to kill me. I don’t want to lead everyone to the same fate.”
Qale looked me over.
“This has nothing to do with us or honor, does it?” he said. “It has to do with that girl. She will come back to you.”
“This has nothing to do about her,” I said.
But it did.
She had everything to do with this.
She betrayed me because she didn’t believe in me. She didn’t think I could lead my people. Who was I to argue? I didn’t think I could either.
“She’s heading back to her homeworld,” I said. “She’ll go there and I’ll rot in this cell—along with you. And nobody will come to rescue us.”
“I got a good look at your female. She’s got a stubborn look to her. She’ll return. You just watch. She’ll surprise you.”
“She’s already surprised me,” I grumbled.
At the top of the hall, a key turned in a lock and the door swung open. A team of Changeling guards entered.
Qale lay back on his cot. He spoke in a hurried whisper out the corner of his mouth so the guards couldn’t hear.
“Listen to me,” he said. “We don’t have much time. In a minute, the guards are going to take you. I don’t know where and I don’t know the exact process but I do know what it will consist of. They’ll make you admit to the people that you betrayed them. It is all a lie. They will threaten you with everything they can. You must tell them what they want to hear—but not too easily—we don’t want you to look weak. Then, when the time comes, don’t do it. No matter what they threaten you with, don’t give them what they want.”
The guards drew up outside my cell.
“What about you?” I said.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a homeless bum who means nothing to them. They’ll let me go eventually.”
Qale lay with his eyes shut as if he were asleep.
The guards entered my cell.
“You’re wanted,” the Changeling guard said.
So much for respect and honor, I thought. The guards attached the restraints to my wrists and ankles. I shuffled out and they shut the door behind me.
I couldn’t help but glance back at my brother, who vaguely raised a hand as I passed. He might be trying to act nonchalant but I could tell he was nervous.
So was I.
It took some time for me to shuffle through the long empty hallways. I wondered what happened to the servants. They’d better not have been harmed. My anger was impotent. There was nothing I could do even if they had been.
As we drew closer to the ballroom, I became aware of a low murmuring noise that sounded like a hive of bees. As I passed the main entrance, I noticed a large crowd gathering outside, just beyond a newly-erected stage. It was so new it hadn’t been painted.
I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach it wouldn’t be painted until I stepped out there and they opened my throat.
“Keep moving!” the Changeling guard ordered, and shoved me forward.
I hadn’t seen the set up by accident. When it came to the Changelings, nothing was by accident. They wanted me to see it, to dwell on it.
They ushered me into our great ballroom. Paltry compared to the finery of the palace perhaps but it was the most beautiful room in the castle.
S’lec-Quos was reading something when I entered. He handed the tablet computer back to his helper, who backed away with a bow. S’lec-Quos sat down in a throne-like chair that’d been brought in especially for him. He motioned with a single foot.
The guards pushed me forward. My feet strained against the restraints. I stumbled to the marble floor on my knees and hissed through my teeth.
“Now this looks familiar,” S’lec-Quos said. “You got to your knees before me at the palace. Do you remember? You made me an unbreakable pledge on your honor as a Titan that you would be loyal to me and no others. And you lied to me. Have you no honor?”
“The unbreakable pledge is used only between Titans,” I said, leaning back on my heels. “And it is Changelings that have no honor.”
“Insolence!” S’lec-Quos said, banging a foot on the arm of his chair. He nodded to a guard. “Not the face.”
The guard kicked me in the gut. It forced the wind from my lungs and I could barely breathe.
“The crowd is out there awaiting your execution,” S’lec-Quos said. “Did you know? Your people are excited to see your traitorous blood spill. They’re still angry for what you did to them, for stopping them from dying with honor on the battlefield.”
His eyes were black and small. Impossible for me to read much emotion into them. I could only guess at what he was feeling by the cadence of his voice. He was angry that I hadn’t sent our people in to die. He wanted to slaughter us. Not all—that would be
