31 – Secrets

We train through the day. Bennett has Isaiah lead us through calisthenics, then we train in hand-to-hand combat, and finally, after a lunch of dried rations, we get to weapons training. Bennett assembles us at the end of the day and tells us we will work on tactics and field operations tomorrow. The possibilities wash over me and fill me with excitement. I have always excelled in these realms, but having formal training is helping me see how to apply myself and work more efficiently as part of a team.

The sun hangs low in the sky by the time I return to the barn. Inside, I find Asher tinkering with something mechanical while Seven observes, occasionally offering precise measurements and calculations that make Asher smile and shake his head. Amari sits nearby, grinding herbs in a mortar.

“Your muscle fatigue indicators suggest intensive physical exertion,” Seven notes as we enter. “Though biomechanical augmentations appear to have maintained optimal functionality throughout.”

“He means you look tired,” Asher translates, glancing up at me with a quick smile before returning to his work. Something in his gentle focus reminds me of Papa.

“What do you do all day?” I ask, settling onto a nearby crate. “When we’re training?”

Asher sets down his tools, considering. “I grew up here in Graven Pointe, actually. Not much family left now, but I know my way around. Work at the mechanic shop mostly, fixing mining equipment.” He gestures to the parts spread before him. “Nothing as impressive as your father’s work though. I’m still learning.”

“Based on my observations,” Seven interjects, “Asher’s mechanical aptitude has increased by approximately 3.67 percent since our arrival. Though he still exhibits unnecessary emotional responses to failed attempts, unlike your father’s more methodical approach.”

“Seven,” Asher sighs, but there’s fondness in his voice.

“Has anyone seen Papa?” I ask Amari. The day’s revelations about tactics and teamwork have made me realize how little time we’ve spent together since arriving here. We’re both finally relaxed enough to have our own spaces, our own pursuits.

“He was walking toward the lake earlier,” she says, not looking up from her herbs.

I find him sitting in a chair by the water’s edge, sipping kiju from a glass that catches the evening light. When he sees me, his face lights up the way it always has, as if I’m still that little girl taking her first steps on mechanical legs. I wrap him in a tight hug before settling on the ground beside his chair.

“Lydia’s special reserve,” he says, offering me the glass. The kiju tastes like sunshine and secrets.

We sit in comfortable silence for a while, watching the light change on the water. Papa’s hands work at something invisible, the way they do when he’s building up to something difficult.

“Neeka,” he says finally, his voice carrying a weight I’ve rarely heard. “Do you know why I’ve kept certain secrets all these years?”

I look up at him, suddenly alert. “Because Solomon would have us killed?”

He nods slowly, staring out across the lake. “Some secrets… they’re not just about staying alive. They’re about protecting the people we love. Even the ones we’ve never met.” His voice catches on the last words, and something in my chest tightens.

“Papa?”

He takes another sip of kiju, his hands trembling slightly. “You remember the stories I told you about the Xulguns? About their queen?”

“About Solomon stealing her baby,” I say. “Killing her in a fit of rage and jealousy.”

“I didn’t tell you everything.” His eyes meet mine, and I see tears gathering there. “I was there, Neeka. Not just as a witness. I was there because…” He sets the kiju down, pressing his palms against his knees. “Because I loved her. The Xulgun queen. I was the the reason Solomon killed her. I was the reason…” Papa pauses, wiping his tears with trembling hands. “I was the reason he took our baby.”

The world seems to stop. Even the lake holds its breath.

“What?” The word comes out as barely a whisper.

“You have a sister, Neeka.” His voice breaks on the word ‘sister’. “A little sister who would be sixteen now. Three years younger than you. If she’s still alive. If Solomon hasn’t…”

“All this time?” My voice sounds strange to my own ears. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“To keep you safe. To keep you both safe.” His hands tremble as he wipes his eyes again. “I’ve been waiting all these years, hoping the Xulguns would become powerful enough, or we’d find some way to rescue her. If she’s still…” Again, he can’t complete the thought.

“Why didn’t you try to save her?” The words burst out before I can stop them, carrying years of unspoken pain – not just mine now, but my sister’s too. “All those times we were in Eden, all those chances…”

“I did try,” Papa says, his voice raw. “So many times. But Solomon keeps her close, protected. The few times I got close enough…” He shudders. “The things he threatened to do to you, to her, if I ever…” His hands clench into fists. “He knows who she is. Knows she’s mine. Uses that knowledge like a knife against us. And against the Xulguns.”

I stand up suddenly, needing to move, to process. The lake stretches out before us, its surface painted with sunset colors that seem too beautiful for such painful truths.

“What was her mother like?” I say finally, turning back to face him.

Papa’s eyes go distant, seeing something – someone – from long ago. “Serenna was… imagine starlight given form. The Xulguns aren’t the monsters Solomon makes them out to be. They’re different, yes, but also similar. They love, they dream, they…” His voice catches. “They die. Just like us.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Before Solomon’s madness, the Xulguns lived among us. We became friends first – she would walk in the gardens where I spent my afternoons after work.” A faint smile touches his lips at the memory. “The Xulgun queen was curious about everything in Thaloria, saw beauty in places the rest of us had forgotten to look. That’s how it began. Simple questions, shared moments. Then suddenly I found myself in love again, in a way I never thought possible.”

Anger flares again. “Did you ever plan to tell me? Or would I have lived my whole life not knowing I had a sister?”

“Every day,” he whispers. “Every single day I wanted to tell you. When you’d talk about feeling alone, about missing Eli… but the more time passed, the harder it became. How do you tell your daughter that you failed to protect her sister? That you left her in the hands of a monster?”

I sink back down beside him, my anger dissolving into something more complicated. “You didn’t leave her, Papa. Solomon took her.”

“But I lived,” he says bitterly. “I lived while Serenna died trying to protect our child. I lived while Solomon raised our daughter as his captive prize. I lived while the Xulguns were driven into exile, their queen murdered and their princess stolen.” His hands shake as he reaches for the kiju glass but doesn’t drink. “Some days, living feels like the worst kind of cowardice.”

“No,” I say firmly, taking his hands in mine. “Living was the bravest thing you could do. You stayed alive for me, for her. And now…” A thought strikes me, terrible and wonderful at once. “The resistance. Could they help us? Could we finally…”

“It’s not that simple,” Papa cautions, “Solomon keeps her close. Some say she never leaves the royal quarters. Others say she was stolen from Solomon and isn’t even with him anymore. No one knows for sure.”

“But she’s alive? You know that much?”

Papa nods slowly. “The Xulguns would know if she wasn’t. Their connection to their own… it’s deeper than anything we understand. They say she lives, but in shadow.”

I try to imagine her – my sister, part human, part Xulgun, raised by the man who murdered her mother. Does she know about us? Does she look up at the stars and feel that there’s more in the same way I do? Does she have Papa’s gentle hands, his gift for making broken things whole again?

“What does she look like?” I ask, remembering Xulguns have iridescent skin.

“Like scattered starlight,” Papa says softly. “Silver and gold, dancing across her skin like constellations. Serenna said she’d never seen patterns like them before. Said they marked her as something new – not quite Xulgun, not quite human, but perfectly herself.”

The night has deepened around us, stars reflecting in the lake like echoes of my sister’s skin. I lean against Papa’s chair, feeling the weight of this new knowledge settle into my bones. Everything has changed, yet nothing has. Solomon is still my enemy, perhaps even more so now. But the thought of vengeance has transformed into something larger, more complex. Not just revenge now, but rescue. Not just death, but deliverance.

“We’ll find her,” I promise again, and this time the words carry the weight of destiny. “We’ll bring her home.”

Papa’s hand comes to rest on my head, the way it did when I was small. “My brave girl,” he whispers. “Both my brave girls. Stars help anyone who tries to stand between you once you’re together.”

We sit there by the lake until the stars fully emerge, each one a promise, each one a piece of the sister I never knew I had, waiting somewhere in Eden’s towers for a family she doesn’t know exists.