Rivers of Orion by Dana Kelly (a court of thorns and roses ebook free .TXT) 📕

“See you soon,” whispered Torsha. She lay down the crankshaft and moved to the door. Using the card to unlock it, she peered through the gap.

In time, the lift chime clanked. The doors opened, and Eridani stepped onto the bridge. “Bloodtusk!” she shouted, and the chair creaked as Bloodtusk whirled around. “I’m here to make you pay for the murder of Thuraya Mir! I demand your surrender, to answer for your crimes, and I hereby execute a citizen’s arrest!”

Bloodtusk got to his feet. “How did you get on my ship?”

“I was right behind you in the luggage compartment the whole way here,” said Eridani.

“I thought I smelled something when I was in the lounge,” said Bloodtusk. “Destiny always favors the righteous. Ostonk, seize her! Throw her in the brig. Schurke will know exactly what to do with her.”

“What? No!” Eridani struggled as Ostonk pinned her arms behind her back and dragged her to the lift. “Let go of me!”

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” said Ostonk.

“I demand to know your name,” said Eridani.

Ostonk chuckled, and he shoved her inside. “You’re not in a position to demand anything.” He pulled up on her forearms, and Eridani yelped in pain. “Tell me where we can find Orin, and this’ll go a lot easier for you.”

“Not on your life,” said Eridani.

“It’s not my life you should be worried about,” said Ostonk, and the lift doors drifted closed.

Chapter 29

Friend or Foe

Eleski stood on the other side of a prison cell. Gripping a mop with a long wooden handle, she set it aside with a quiet tap. For a moment, she ran her fingertips along the door’s steel grid, and she sighed as she gazed upon Eridani, sound asleep on the lower bunk, back pointed toward her. “Excuse me,” said Eleski, but she received no response. “Excuse me!”

Eridani stirred awake and rolled onto her back. “What?”

“I am sorry to wake you,” said Eleski.

Eridani glanced sideways at her visitor. “My mysterious benefactor, we meet again.” She propped herself on her elbows. “Hello, Eleski. Is there a nom de technologie, or is Eleski your public name?”

“You have deduced I am denshi-tengu,” said Eleski, and she blushed. “How?”

“I took a guess based on your speech patterns,” said Eridani. “But thanks for confirming my suspicions. I take it your friend is also denshi-tengu?”

“Your deception was unnecessary. I would have volunteered the information,” said Eleski. “And yes, you are correct in deducing Katsinki is also denshi-tengu. As to the matter of my name, Eleski is my public name, and despite the context, I am glad to finally meet you in person.”

“Wow, same here!” Easing back down, Eridani stared blankly at the underside of the upper bunk. “I’ve been totally dreaming about this moment my whole life.”

“That is wonderful!” said Eleski.

“No, that’s sarcasm,” said Eridani.

“Your unkind words are not unwarranted,” said Eleski, and she glanced away. “I wish to apologize.”

“For what?”

“My failure at the forward lift,” said Eleski. “I was unable to deliver the intended command scripts before you exited. There are no cameras in the stairwell, and although I detected you again at the bridge deck’s emergency exit, I was not able to implement a revised strategy in time.” Nervously, she rubbed her thumb against her palm. “I did not expect you to turn yourself in.”

“Oh, I imagine that’s the last thing anyone expected,” said Eridani. “Especially after all the trouble you went through to keep those brutes off our backs. Unfortunately, after what I heard them planning, I didn’t have much of a choice.”

Eleski looked downcast. “I am pained by my failure.”

“Ah, you did fine,” said Eridani. “Still, I can’t help feeling like you skipped over the part about why you helped me. Also, I’m a little unsettled by the ‘glad to finally meet you in person’ part, because now I’m thinking you’ve been stalking me, and since you’re denshi-tengu, you literally could’ve been almost anyone I’ve interacted with.”

“I will explain,” said Eleski. “Like me, many of my people can perceive the entirety of a given moment’s temporal pathways, how they intersect with nearby individuals and the scope of each person’s immediate purpose. We call such convergences ‘truths.’ Some of us are chosen to elevate the common truth. It becomes our purpose.” She placed her hand against the bulkhead. “For years, it was my purpose.” Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against the prison bars. “When I learned your name, my purpose changed.”

“I’m surprised Bloodtusk told you who he was going after,” said Eridani. “Well, I love my name. It’s a reference to stars that form the constellation, Eridanus—the river that flows from the foot of Orion. You can see it from Earth.”

“I am familiar with Eridanus,” said Eleski. “Perhaps you will find this difficult to accept, but I knew your name before my time with Husthar.”

“So, you were stalking me,” said Eridani, and she sat upright on the edge of her bunk.

“No,” said Eleski. “I first saw you when I met your brother.”

“He never mentioned having any denshi-tengu friends. Not close friends, anyway. Did you go to school with him?”

“I did not,” said Eleski.

“Ah, then it was magical happenstance,” said Eridani. “Let me guess—you were there when he ripped that truck in half, and now you just can’t stop thinking about him.”

“It was not a chance encounter,” said Eleski. “Very few events can be attributed to the forces of chaos. Our initial meeting occurred three months and seventeen days ago, aboard a Metroliner civilian shuttle—a full six weeks before the events in Van Alder. After exchanging introductions, we shook hands. As I looked into Orin’s eyes, I glimpsed his binary form and through it beheld every temporal pathway in all the cosmos.

“Overwhelmed by the experience, I abruptly disembarked at the wrong station and spent several hours at a nearby diner trying to understand what I had seen. Throughout my analysis, distinct from