The first thing Rainus saw when he woke up was the drab gray of the ceiling above his head. It matched his mood, to say the least, and made him close his eyes so he might go back into the blackness of oblivion. In that place, he didn't feel the pain. It was all-consuming. His entire body burned within. It was like all the blood pumping through his veins was on fire.

The next thing he noticed was the tall silver cylinder resting near the foot of his bed. It gleamed as if it had a light of its own that was trying to escape the metal capsule, and it nearly hurt his eyes to look at it. He turned his head away and noticed a third thing.

Sitting in a chair next to his bed sat Markus, slumped with his legs sprawled out before him, his arms resting on the armrests, and his head leaned back against the back. His eyes were closed, but what really caught Rainus's attention was the paleness of his face. The man looked like he'd either been recently sick or suffered days of sleepless.

The King felt an urge to reach out to his eldest son, but refrained. He didn't think he could move. Everything hurt. Everything felt broken, none more than his mind. Rainus lay there as he was washed with the memories of captivity, sure that this was yet another trick to get him to break. This wasn't real. Markus wasn't really here. This thing that looked like his son was the enemy in disguise.

He felt the wetness of a tear fall down his cheek, and then another and another. When would it end? When could he just die? He had hoped it had been the end, but he supposed the bastards wouldn't allow it, not until they got what they wanted. The fact that he was still alive was the only proof that he had at least been successful in denying the enemy what they desired. He just wasn't sure how much longer he could keep doing so.

"Pavi?"

The soft sound of Markus's voice broke the heavy silence in the room. Rainus refused to look at his son. He didn't know if he had the strength to go through one more masquerade with the creatures. He just wished he could die without giving up his secrets.

"Pavi?" Markus said again. His voice was a little more forcefully this time.

"Go away. I'm not going to give you want you want." Rainus finally rasped out of a throat that felt as dry as the desert on Sora X.

Rainus felt a warm hand settle gently on his shoulder. Still, Rainus refused to look at his son. He wasn't going to give in, not now, not ever.

The room was silent for a long time. So long, Rainus might have thought the faux Markus had left, except the firm hand remained. Finally, Rainus turned his head to face down the enemy. It was better than waiting. He was so sick of these charades. His gray eyes met Markus's matching set. They were liquid with unshed tears, which only fortified Rainus's resolve. The Markus he knew would never look at him that way.

"Go ahead. Ask me about the border beacons. See if my answer changes," Rainus said defiantly, not that his tone was very effective in a half-rasping whisper.

"I don't care about the beacons," Markus replied.

Rainus grunted. Surprised at the words. "Changing your tactics won't work on me."

"I'm not the enemy, pavi. It's me, Markus, and you are safely aboard the Quortous."

Rainus studied the face before him, searching for any telltale signs of deception. The creatures had been so convincing before, mimicking those he knew mannerisms with disturbing accuracy. But this one... there was something different about the exhaustion etched into those familiar features. The way the shoulders carried a weight that spoke of genuine worry rather than calculated performance.

"The Quortous," Rainus repeated slowly, testing the words. It was his flagship, but that meant nothing. The creatures had pulled information from his mind before, using it against him in their elaborate deceptions. "And I suppose you're going to tell me you rescued me? That this is all over?"

Markus's grip on his shoulder tightened slightly. "It is over, pavi. You've been unconscious for two days. You've had five treatments in the Remaker." He paused, his voice catching. "Thaddeus wasn't even sure after the first two you were going to make it."

The raw emotion in those words gave Rainus pause. The aliens had been thorough in their mimicry, but they had never quite captured the subtle inflections that came with years of shared history. Rainus had witnessed such emotion from Markus only twice in his son's life––after Adar had left the Empire and after Markus's mother had died. He remembered those moments like they were yesterday, but he wasn't quite sure why his son was displaying them now.

"Prove it," he whispered.

Markus was quiet for a moment, then leaned back, removing his hand from the King's shoulder. "I don't need to prove it. You're a stubborn old man. Too stubborn to die when you should have and definitely too stubborn to believe anything I have to say no matter how many times I say it. So I'll save my breath."

His son sat back in the chair. He placed his elbows on the armrest and the flat of his palms against his midsection with fingers intertwined. On Markus's face was a look Rainus was more accustomed to seeing from his son. It was a look of pure obstinance.

Rainus found himself almost smiling. Almost. Something about that look was so familiar, so uniquely Markus, that doubt began to creep into his certainty. The aliens had never quite managed to replicate that particular expression the handful of times they'd masqueraded as Markus—the stubborn set of the jaw, the slight narrowing of the eyes.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Relief began to spread through the King that this was real and not yet another attempt by the enemy to break Rainus's will. The nightmare was finally over.

But with that relief came something else—a crushing weight of shame that settled in his chest like a stone. The tears that had been threatening spilled over freely now, and Rainus found himself unable to stop them. His body shook with silent sobs as weeks of suppressed terror and pain finally broke free.

"Markus," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

His son's expression immediately softened; the stubbornness melted away to be replaced by concern. Markus leaned forward again, his hand returning to Rainus's shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for, pavi. Nothing."

"I couldn't tell them apart," Rainus gasped between sobs. "They... they looked just like you. Like everyone. I thought I was strong enough, but I couldn't—"

"You were strong enough," Markus interrupted firmly. "You survived. You're here. That's all that matters."

Rainus shook his head weakly. "I almost broke. Near the end, I almost told them everything. If you hadn't found me when you did…"

"But you didn't break," Markus said. His voice carried a steady resolve. "And we found you. That's what matters now."

"How?" he finally asked. His voice a little stronger. "How did you find me?"

Rainus didn't say that Jamiss was most likely dead. He had seen the way the enemy had attacked his Protector to get at him in the auditorium. It wasn't something a person was likely to survive, even with the help of a Remaker.

"It was a group effort led by Adar. He was determined to get you back," Markus said with no small amount of pride in his voice.

"Adar?" Rainus felt the surprise course through him.

Markus nodded and then gave the King a brief account of the rescue mission. He started with telling him about Adar's new ability as a dream walker, which led him to finding out the possibility of creating a tracer bond. He then spoke about Adar and the scientists coming up with what turned out to be quite an effective weapon against the enemy's ships. Then about Markus creating counterattacks to face the warriors and their ability to quickly adapt to new battle tactics. About speaking with Havoreat and recruiting a small fleet to come to Rainus's rescue. And then the actual infiltration led by Markus, with Gayle pointing the way.

"The Shixxaminti," Rainus said as he tried out the word. "All the time I spent with them and not once did I pick up a name that they called themselves. I got other information or perhaps impressions of who they were and what they wanted, but nothing as specific as what they called themselves or even the name of the ones who interrogated me. They were very good at keeping themselves veiled from me."

A surge of disappointment filled him. He had been given a task by the Emperor to find out as much as possible about the new enemy threat, and while Rainus had discerned some of what the enemy's intention was, he feared the Shixxaminti had gotten far more information out of him than he them. It would have been better if he had not spoken face to face with the Shixxaminti at all.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Markus said, reading the self-recrimination in his father's expression. "The fact that you learned anything at all about them while withstanding their interrogation for two days is remarkable."

Rainus closed his eyes, his breathing still uneven. The burning sensation in his veins had subsided somewhat, but a deeper ache remained—one the Remaker couldn't touch.

"They wanted a way to disable the border beacons, which I refused to give them," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "At least, I hope I did. It's all so jumbled. I'm having a hard time determining what was real and not."

"Havoreat suspected as much. He had been keeping a close watch on the border. He's even requesting help from the Vanguard. If the Shixx come through, we will be waiting."

Rainus wished his son's words were enough to help push back the feeling of impending doom that had taken residence inside him, but they did not. He knew how much of a threat these creatures were. If they decided to put their full attention onto Ethia, then there would be little they could do to stop them. One thing he had gleaned from his enemy was that, for now, the Shixxaminti had only sent a small scouting force to test Ethian defenses. The main fleet remained elsewhere, occupied with other conquests. But that could change at any moment.

"They're looking for something," Rainus said, struggling to organize his fractured thoughts. "Something they believe is hidden within the Empire. Something the Emperor has or has access to. I don't know the specifics. I just got impressions, but I think it might be Dome-ni related."

"Might be?" Markus asked.

Rainus shook his head as if that action would help him put the shattered pieces of his mind back together. In his mental landscape, he could catch glimpses of images and information, but they quickly escaped him once he tried to reach for them.

"They are collecting. Territory. Resources. Information. But more than that. Patterns. Connections. Mapping the capabilities of other species. It's like they are cataloguing and studying how specific gifts manifest across different species. But in their search, I think they are looking for something specific. Or someone. And they definitely are seeking the Emperor."

Markus's face darkened at those words. "The Emperor? They're specifically targeting him?"

"I believe so," Rainus said, though his voice carried uncertainty. "The impressions I received... they seemed to regard him as more than just a political leader. There was something about his bloodline, his abilities. It seemed to me that he was the key to something larger."

"Like his particular Dome-ni ability?" Markus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rainus tried to focus through the fog in his mind. "Perhaps. Or something tied to the lineage itself. The Shixxaminti... they have a system of belief that guides their conquests. A form of divination they call the Sheema."

"Divination?" Markus's brow furrowed. "You mean like fortune-telling? Prophecies?"

"More structured than that. More... absolute." Rainus winced as a sharp pain lanced through his temple. "They follow its guidance without question. The Sheema directed them to come back to the Ethian galaxy. Something about it being time to reclaim their first home, where they would also find something vital to their… collective."

The effort of speaking drained what little energy Rainus had mustered. He closed his eyes, breathing shallowly as the room seemed to tilt around him. He tried to grasp hold of more of the impressions left in his mind about the enemy, but it was too difficult to hold a thought.

Markus noticed immediately. "You need rest. You still have many treatments to go before you are back to your old self. Rest. We can talk later."

Rainus didn't want to rest. There was more to discover. More to tell. Some of it even felt urgent, but the exhaustion that filled him was absolute, and before he could even think to object, Rainus felt himself being pulled into the oblivion of unconsciousness. The last thing his mental landscape registered was the image of his tormentor. Those violet eyes and the determination inside them to get what they wanted, no matter the cost.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.