Chapter 736: Back on Mars

"Who here knows how to fly an Imperial ship?" Alice asked.

The prisoner across the table stopped talking.

She had been planning how they could attack the next ship that came to collect someone sold through the Empire’s channels.

Kill the guards outside, take their weapons, then force their way inside before the crew could leave.

Karr shook his head.

Several people around the table gave the same answer.

They had gathered inside the ancient Sovereign’s hidden territory beneath Mars.

Fairies stood beside Felidaeans, while prisoners from other clans watched from behind their representatives.

The old vampire’s presence had stopped them from fighting, but many still kept a hand on their weapons.

Alice couldn’t blame them.

Karr had been abandoned by his own people, and Silen would have been captured if she hadn’t helped him.

Sharing a prison didn’t make them allies.

"There should be someone who worked on ships before being sent here," Lily said.

"Then we need to find them," Alice replied.

"And the attack?" a Felidaean asked. "Finding a pilot won’t make the guards weaker."

Alice turned toward the ancient Sovereign.

He watched them from the far side of the chamber.

She had seen his strength when they first met, yet even he hadn’t found a way to leave Mars.

"What if you joined the attack?" she asked.

"I could kill the guards. Controlling the ship would also not be a problem, but that doesn’t mean I could take you off this planet."

"Because of the formation?"

"It covers the whole planet. Whatever you do on the surface, you will still be inside it."

Alice frowned.

She knew too little about the formation to suggest a way around it.

Recognizing vampire runes hadn’t even been enough to break the old Sovereign’s illusion. The thing suppressing an entire planet was beyond her.

If Alex were here, he might find something they had missed.

But Alice didn’t know how soon he could reach them, and the people around this table couldn’t wait for him.

"Silen," she said. "Could you put us beside a ship without crossing the landing grounds?"

The Veyr looked at the people behind her before answering.

"Perhaps. I would need to see it first."

She was about to ask who knew the landing grounds when warmth spread through her back.

Alice stiffened.

The feeling came from her wings.

She looked over her shoulder, expecting to find someone standing too close, but the prisoners behind her were several steps away.

Then her qi moved.

It flowed so easily that she almost drew too much.

Fairy dust gathered over her fingers, brighter than anything she had managed since arriving on Mars.

Alice stared at her hand.

She had grown used to struggling for every small use of power.

Now the pressure was weakening, and the difference made her realize just how much strength she had lost.

Lily caught her wrist.

"You feel it too?" Alice asked.

Her sister nodded.

Alice could feel qi gathering around Lily’s hand.

Voices rose around the table.

A Felidaean held up his claws. Energy covered them, and he laughed as he turned his hand from side to side, staring at them.

Nearby, a prisoner pressed both palms against the stone floor and drew a shaking breath.

"My strength is coming back!"

Karr lifted his sword.

He tested its weight, then swung it once through the air.

His mouth spread into a wide smile.

Silen stepped away from the table.

The lines on his body brightened, and space rippled in front of his raised hands.

He lowered his hands and looked at them, almost in disbelief.

For a moment, Alice forgot about the meeting.

She let more fairy dust form and watched it move between her fingers.

With her strength restored, their entire plan might no longer be necessary.

She looked at Lily again.

Her sister was still holding her wrist.

Alice turned her hand and gripped hers instead.

A chair scraped against the floor.

The ancient Sovereign stood, and the pressure coming from him spread across the chamber.

The nearest prisoners fell silent and moved back.

Alice felt it press against her skin before he pulled it back.

He was looking upward, past the stone ceiling.

"What are you planning?" he asked quietly.

Alice released Lily’s hand.

"Who?"

The Sovereign didn’t answer.

Another part of the weight pressing down on her body disappeared, but his face only grew darker.

"Someone is interfering with the formation."

"Could it be Alex?"

"No."

Alice had wanted him to say yes.

Alex knew she was here. He knew the Sovereign wanted to return to Edonia.

It would have explained the whole situation.

The old vampire looked across the prisoners.

"Don’t mistake this for victory over the Empire. Remember how all of you were captured in the first place."

His gaze moved across the different groups.

"If you scatter the moment your strength returns, you will only make yourselves easy targets again."

Karr rested the sword against his shoulder.

"We should leave before the formation returns to normal."

His gaze went toward the entrance.

Alice recognized that expression.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the Marauder leader."

The answer brought her excitement to a stop.

"Now?"

"Do you want to wait until he knows we have our strength back?"

"Karr, we finally have a chance to escape."

"And he has a chance to ruin that escape." Karr lowered his sword. "We should hunt him down first."

Alice knew it was nothing more than justification.

If their power was coming back, then it would be the same for the Marauders.

Except Karr was being an idiot about one thing.

The Marauder leader would probably prioritize escaping too.

It wasn’t like she didn’t understand Karr.

After they escaped into the tunnel, she had told him herself that she wanted revenge.

Alice looked at the blade in his hand.

They had spent their time on the surface hiding, fighting, and dragging Silen away from people who wanted to enslave them.

Karr hadn’t forgotten the exhaustion or how close they had come to being caught.

Neither had she.

She would enjoy seeing the Marauder leader realize he had chosen the wrong prey.

That didn’t make this the right moment to pursue him.

"This is too risky..." she said.

"He’ll come after us again."

Karr glanced past her.

Fairies were gathering around Lily.

The Felidaeans had begun calling for members of their own clans, and several prisoners were already arguing about which path to use.

His expression hardened.

"You have your people now."