A Flight of Broken Wings: Aeriel Trilogy #1

Chapter 109

Back in his living room, Ruban collapsed onto the couch, exhaling loudly. "Well, that was something."

Ashwin smirked. "Did you like it?"

Raising one shoulder in a shrug, the Hunter said, "I've seen worse."

"No shit."

Ruban lay in silence for a few minutes, trying to digest all that had just happened. He wasn't even sure he believed all of it himself, that it hadn't all been an elaborate hallucination induced by something he had accidentally ingested on a Hunt. He couldn't imagine how he would begin explaining any of it to anyone else.

Ashwin had folded himself at the foot of the couch, lost in his own thoughts. Well, at least the wings were gone. He couldn't imagine seeing those things in the confines of the flat. Not after he had seen them in Vaan, spread out and luminescent in all their glory. He could almost understand, now that he had seen it for himself, why the Exiles were so desperate to get back in.

He stretched, sitting up slowly on the sofa. "Well, better get to bed, then. Have a train to catch early tomorrow."

"Where to?" Ashwin asked, turning his head.

"Ibanta, of course. Didn't you hear what your sister was saying? That's what we were there for, isn't it?" he sighed. "I have what I need now. All that's left is to do the legwork. Tauheen isn't going to track herself."

"Okay," Ashwin nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not."

The Aeriel frowned, clearly displeased. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm the only reason you know where to look in the first place. I'll be damned if I let you wander off without me. Besides, she's my mother. I have a moral responsibility to see her nice and dead."

"You're morbid."

"And right."

Ruban shook his head, exasperated. "Don't be ridiculous. For starters, you're still injured. You haven't recovered fully yet, not if your sister's reaction was anything to go by. Which leads nicely into my next point. I would rather not be decapitated by Safaa for getting you killed, if Tauheen or any of her lackeys manage to get the better of us."

"Aw. I didn't know you cared," Ashwin laughed. "You're not responsible for my safety, Ruban. Nobody expects you to be. Not even my overprotective big sister who really should learn to mind her own business. Besides, you know as well as I do, you don't have a snowball's chance in hell going up alone against mommy dearest. Taking me with you increases both our chances of survival."

"But–"

"No more buts. Besides, if I have to spend one more day cooped up in this goddamn flat, I might just be tempted to indulge in some terrorism myself. And then you'd have to Hunt me, which will be awkward for everyone concerned."

Ruban rolled his eyes. "Fine, do what you want. We'll have to return Hiya to the house, though, if we're both leaving town."

Ashwin looked thoughtful. "Are you sure she'll be safe?"

"Safer than she will be in Ibanborah with us. I'll tell Sim and Hema to keep an eye on her, maybe even put surveillance on the house until we get back. We won't be gone for long. Unless we end up dead, that is."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just tell your uncle what happened? He's the Secretary of Defence. No offence, but he'll be able to arrange for better security than any Hunter."

Ruban shook his head. "That's exactly the problem. Who he is. How do you think he'd react, if he knew what had happened to his daughter? How close he had come to losing her? And if it's true that Tauheen has an informant within the IAW, they'd know that he knows. There'd be a witch hunt in the Department of Defence for the traitor. Because there has to have been one, for the Aeriels to know where to find Hiya, at what time to get her from school and all that. We would be destroying any cover we might have had in Ibanta if we did that, and with it any chance of finding out what Tauheen's been up to."

After a moment's silence, Ruban continued. "Besides, this is his family we're talking about. His child. His wife. I'm not going to burden him with the truth, Ashwin. Not until I know the whole of it myself. Nobody deserves that, to know that somebody took the thing you loved most away from you, destroyed it forever. And to not know why. To spend your life wondering. I know what that feels like. And I wouldn't do that to anyone. Certainly not to Uncle Subhas."

Somewhere beside him, Ashwin sighed. Ruban had almost forgotten about the Aeriel.

"Alright,we'll do it your way. Off you go to bed, then," he said, giving Ruban a pat onthe shoulder as he made his way to the balcony. "I'll just go make sure none ofmommy's lovely henchmen are lurking anywhere in the vicinity."