Gen glanced at her brother within the healing pod and whispered, "Please wake up soon."
"Ready?" Aether asked as he leaned into his seat. His tired eyes seemed to have relaxed.
"Okay, Boss. What's so important about this meeting?"
"I assume Dessy told you what had occurred at the gala? This might be a shock, but it was staged by Prince Janus."
Not a shock at all. Gen guessed, "An assassination attempt on the empress dowager?"
"If only it was that simple," Drake sighed and before he said more, Aether silenced him with a bit of frost.
"I'm speaking to Gen." Aether knocked the side of his own chair then smiled at her. "No. It was an attack on a weaponized fashion gala hosted on South Star."
Gen forced a smile, her cheek twitching. Was that supposed to mean something?
"Explain," Joule said with a small nod and smile. Was he being smug for knowing nothing? Gen found herself understanding her three comrades less and less.
Drake eavesdropping through the door, Fenri receiving a bloody nose, and Joule celebrating his lack of knowledge... What would happen next? Reya bursting into the room and tossing cursing at Aether?
"South Star is a military planet and my home base of operations," Aether said. "So an attack, whether it fails or not, undermines my authority, which has weakened ever since I lost the position of general. In a few days there will be movements to replace the officers I had once appointed. That or they cut ties."
Gen nodded, mind filled with muggy clouds.
"Aether, you need to explain things from the beginning. Everything," Joule said. His smile grew large, and if Gen had to guess, he was expecting a large bonus or an extended vacation.
"You call him 'Aether'?" she asked.
"Aether, Prince Aether, Boss, Your Highness. It depends on the context."
That wasn't confusing at all... Gen slicked back her hair, and she gazed at Aether, hoping for an explanation.
"You can call me 'dear,' " he said, and Drake coughed then covered his own mouth with his hands. His eyes, however, told of an unfounded excitement.
Gen shrugged. If led by a playboy, what should she have expected from his subordinates? "I'll call you 'Boss' or just 'Aether.' "
"You call Prince Janus 'prince,' " Aether said, the corners of his lips sloping.
"Yeah, and I don't like the guy."
The room warmed, and Drake asked, "But you're from Planet Name."
"And Planet Name hates him."
"Wait..." Fenri spoke, breaking his silence. "I thought Planet Name was his second largest supporter, right after West Star. I mean, he's married to Princess King, and they have two children."
Oh right... Gen's stomach bubbled with loathing, and she scoffed, saying nothing. If she didn't fear the Star Lines and the harm they could do to Mind, she would have killed Janus. Princess hated him; it was plain, simple coercion, not unconditional support.
Aether asked Gen, "Do you know what's happening within the Puresoul Galaxy?"
"Not really," she replied with a shake of her head.
"Every fifty years the Puresoul Galaxy has a competition to replace the current star emperor or star empress. The participants only consist of the star princes and star princesses who rule their own constellations. The common people call them the emperors and empresses, but we call them either the representative star prince or the representative star princess. My branch's current representative star prince, the Emperor of the Compass Constellation, is terminally ill, but the competition is in six years.
"The competition focuses on one's power as an aura-breaker. My grandmother hopes for me to participate and become the new star emperor, but unless I become the Compass Constellation's emperor and representative star prince, I won't gain the right to participate. Prince Janus is my one contender."
"But his aura break is weak," Gen said, crossing her arms.
Aether shook his head as he inhaled a deep breath. "But he has the power to influence others. The Dewberry Galaxy has a special rule for its Star Line succession, which the Puresoul Galaxy sometimes follow. A participant can have someone else fight for them, as show of their strategic mind and leadership."
"Umbra Keith," Gen said. The constellation approved of Prince Janus because he had Umbra. And many people suspected Umbra could force a draw with Aether.
"And Lukani Ender and Emily Zore. He also has the support of super-hackers Acid Rain, Net Clanker, and The Byter. I can contend with them individually, but together—" he shook his head.
"What are the requirements to become the Compass Constellation's emperor?"
"Among the Star Lines, there are two methods. The first being to slaughter the competition, but the Puresoul Star Line has forbidden this for half its constellations, including this one. The second is to gain the support of the constellation's leaders. In other words, more than half of its non-anarchy planets."
Gen rubbed her chin and glanced at Mind. He would have known this. "Planet Name, D'nathal, North Star, East Star, South Star, West Star... Six planets. You'll need four planets supporting you."
"D'nathal and South Star are my only supporters, but D'nathal is tentative and not to be trusted. I'm also losing the support of South Star. The gala attack allows Janus to launch campaigns against the military might I once possessed."
Grim, unless he married Reya. A sticky feeling washed over Gen; her stomach twisted, and her lips pursed. Stop thinking about Aether and the way he comforted you, she told herself. "But marrying Reya would fix that."
"Not happening." Aether's eyes met hers, their glimmer instilling an odd wanting within her. But it wasn't going to happen; they would know each other for a year, and then she'd be gone. Or maybe she'd disappear once Mind awakened—if he did.
Gen's throat tightened, and she pulled at her collar, swallowing hard. Before she realized her own hopeful self, her mouth asked, "Why not?"
"There's something I want more than the galaxy," Aether replied. He then faced Joule, reminding her that the others were still present. "What else?"
Joule nodded. "Gen, Prince Janus has the support of West Star, East Star, and Planet Name. North Star remains neutral, and when Aether went to negotiate with North Star, they turned him down. Furthermore, the assassins you both faced had no relation to North Star's political climate. They came from elsewhere."
"Assassins?" Gen glanced at Mind. "The same ones who destroyed Sexy the Fourth?"
Joule nodded.
Aether said, "North Star won't join Prince Janus. They were once close to Planet Name due to their close proximity and trade agreements, but when they discovered Princess's secret marriage to Prince Janus and their trade agreements with West Star, they were furious. North Star took it as betrayal and so cut ties with Planet Name. They hate each other, and both fear that the other has more methods of ruining them. The two planets have shared too many secrets to not be wary of each other."
Something was odd about those planets, Gen thought. She was sure the answer was simple and was only difficult for her to understand.
Princess had invited a few high-ranking elites of North Star to her wedding with Law. In other words, North Star should have known that Princess's so-called secret marriage to Janus was fake and that it had been Law she had married thirteen years ago. So why would they hate each other?
"Hypothetically," Gen began, "if Prince Janus threatened Planet Name to side with him, and North Star was still best friends with Planet Name, then, would they both support you?"
Aether wrinkled his brows, and he sent a glance at Joule, who then shrugged. He said, "North Star would support me, and with no choice, Planet Name would support Prince Janus."
"Then, isn't that like now?"
"No. North Star is trying to receive the most benefits by dragging things until their decision becomes immediately important. They have little hope of either me or Janus inheriting the galaxy, so they don't care if they ruin the constellation's chance of becoming the galaxy's crowned capital. D'nathal has similar thoughts, but they're desperate for me to execute Umbra, so they openly support me. Gen, do you think Prince Janus and his wife have a poor relation?"
Not just poor. Gen opened her mouth but then shut it. Her gaze lingered on Mind. She couldn't tell Aether about Law's murder. Law, as far as the galaxy knew, didn't exist, and Gen wasn't confident what Janus had told others.
Why were so many people still chasing her and Mind? Did they know Mind was Phantom Mind, or did they hunt them because Janus put a bounty on their heads? Was Aether after them too? Did he know of Law?
Aether may be open to her: recruiting her, sharing secrets about his life, and inviting her to this meeting. But Gen didn't know what else he was hiding, of what secrets resided within this estate and whether he had told her the truth. So she lied:
"I don't know. It was a hunch."
She glanced at Drake, Joule, and Fenri, examining them as quickly as she could. Their expressions showed patience. No interest. They had known of everything that had been said—Joule had feigned ignorance, the reason for his smug smiles.
The meeting was for her, and maybe Aether knew she was Gender Bender. Her palms turned sticky. The four men leaned into their chairs, gazing at her as she sat opposite them and on the center of the healing pod.
An object of scrutiny; that's what she was. She pulled her sideburns.
Aether tapped his chair, directing her attention to him. "Whatever vendetta you have against Janus, I support you. We'll be together for years."
Her lips rose into an awkward smile, affected by his words. A thought crossed her mind—that in addition to her brother, she could speak to Aether—and it stung her. Years... She doubted they had years. One or two at most, and what type of star prince recruited a subordinate with such little thought? Did he do so for her driving skills? Her aura break?
Aether could dispose of her as easily as he had recruited her.
Joule, possibly using the awkward silence as his cue, made his report: "After the gala attack, General Bluelight petitioned for the reorganization of aura knights. He has proposed the idea of dissolving the fifth field army—Gen, that one was Prince Aether's. He says it's to use them to protect the public.
"Concurrently, East Star and West Star have come forward with trade deals to supply South Star with the latest of medicinal drugs and with a few sponsored festivals, so as to subvert public dissent with the constellation's contraband items. In exchange, they want a part of the army to be divided into their public security sectors."
Aether rubbed his temples "Where they will then be stifled into being simple security guards, which will discourage my other connections from helping me. There will also be problems on North Star."
"Yes," Joule said. "Without the fifth field army we'll lose control of Anarchy Planet C3 and the resources we had planned to use for bargaining with them. D'nathal also fears we will lose Anarchy Planet C9, specifically the ethereal steel mine. Gen, that's the main mine that supplies them with the material to build their newest sky island. Without it they wouldn't be able to complete the island and would have wasted almost ninety billion star credits.
"Your Highness, D'nathal is also very distraught that you didn't kill Umbra during the gala's confusion. They've proposed some preposterous ideas such as breaking Thorne Maximus out of the Maelstrom Vortex Prison and have him contend with Umbra."
"Wow," Gen said. How did the planets propose everything so quickly? Not even twenty-four hours had passed, and if Aether had scheduled the meeting for last night... How the hell did they do it? She asked, "Why Thorne Maximus of all people? Isn't he ten times worse than Umbra?"
Aether sighed. "Gen, it seems we won't be able to get drinks tonight."
Oh, she had forgotten about that. "Don't sweat it. Wasn't in the mood. So, Boss, how are you planning to fix things? Seems like none of the planets like you."
The room grew cold as Aether frowned. "The bodyguard and spy operation. It will buy us some time and hopefully give us some information. We'll be escorting Prince Janus's son to one of the anarchy planets for the boy's rite of passage as a star prince."
Gen's heart jolted. Her fingertips clutched the smooth surface of the healing pod, releasing a small squeak as they slid. Janus had one son, his step-son, her nephew. How could Defender receive the title of star prince? He didn't have the blood. Was he the hostage who kept Planet Name loyal to Janus?
"Our main goal is to glean information from either him or Umbra, who will also be protecting the kid. If that fails, we'll kidnap the boy and force him to reveal Prince Janus's secrets," Aether said, and her face paled, perspiration gathering at her temples and within her palms. Torturing a thirteen-year-old boy...
Joule added, "I'll be questioning him. And afterwards, hold him ransom."
"Right." Gen tugged at her sideburns; all their words about relations and alignments slipped from her memories. Mind was enough for her to worry about, and now she had to save her nephew from both Aether and Janus.