Chapter 1
“So…” I start. “Which planet are you from?” “They told me not to talk to you.” The guard replies.
“They say you can charm people. Sweet talk them into letting you out.”
“Who’s they?” I ask, a smirk on my face.
The guard just shrugs and keeps his eyes forward, probably because he thinks if he looks into my eyes, I’d hypnotize him. I stifle a giggle.
“I’m from the planet of Mar.” He decides to say, still not making eye contact.
“Mar. I was from Lexter, the dead planet.” I fake a sigh, it always makes them sympathize. “Do you remember it?” The guard does nothing. “Well, I have a home now. Not a planet, but I do have a home. They killed my parents, you know?”
Fake tears run down my face, I pretend to be sad, but inwardly, I’m anything but sad. It always works. He turns around and looks me up and down. What most people see is a frail girl with brown hair and brown eyes. An average girl, nothing special.
“I’m sorry about your parents.” He says, falling for the whole act.
I wipe my nose with my sleeve and offer a smile.
“Really?” I ask. “I just… I was quite curious about this place, it’s supposed to be impenetrable from the outside, and impossible to escape from. Is this true? And, say, if you were to, you know, escape the prison from one of the cells down here, what would you do?”
I hold onto his hand, just to make him feel more obliged to answer my question. I look him straight in the eyes, and flutter my eyelashes. Inside, I belch.
“You mean after I escape the cell?” I nod at the guard, he seems young and naive enough. “Well, I know that the back exit is less heavily guarded and nearby, so I would head there. If I had the strength, I would knock them out. If I didn’t, I’d run for my life. But you need a lurecard, so I would have to steal it off the right guard. If I get it wrong I’m done for. It’s usually on guard Brix, so I would use his. That’s only if you can escape the cell, first, which is impossible.”
“Oh.” I look down and suddenly feel a pang of guilt for the new guard. “I’m so sorry you fell for that.” I pull his arm through the bars and he yelps in pain. I then twist his hand and grab his lurecard. I let go of his hand and he comes towards me forgetting that the bars separate us. As I swipe his lurecard to let myself out, he bangs into the bars and stumbles backwards.
After a few attempts to open the door, I finally exit my cell and punch him in the face, twice for good measure, and he’s unconscious. I quickly run from the scene in case someone else heard his loud yelps of pain. I head towards the direction that he pointed to and I see three big, burly guards in front of the back exit.
I knock them out with no extra effort and think about how surprised people can be when a girl escapes from prison. I look for a nametag on each of them and come up with nothing. I sigh and grab the lurecard that opens the door. Guard Brix would never take off his lurecard like the other two did if it’s so important.
It turns out I’m correct and the door opens. I start to wonder about what the backup security is, but I forget it as soon as a guard comes chasing me. I take off in a sprint towards Fairmont Palace. I take a sharp turn, and the guard follows, shooting at me. I take one more turn and see the truck at the meeting point.
“What took you so long?” Hazel, my driver says, peeping her head out of a truck.
“Ha ha. As if you could do it quicker. I lost my tail, but let’s go quickly, in case.” I enter the truck and am greeted by a lot of hello’s.
“We’ve got a ball to catch.” Hazel smiles and has a mischievous look on her face. “So many royals.”
“I heard the Duchess of Moonshade is going to be there. Remember her tiara? Wasn’t it beautiful?” Kiana, a short, thirteen year old girl asks.
The other girls in the truck murmur in agreement and I clear my throat.
“Remember to wear your earpieces, girls.” I remind them. “I gave each of you one specific item to steal and you get to choose another. Loli, don’t forget to take the medicine from Doctor Rollis. Clear? Also, remember your lines to get in the trucks, girls. I don’t want to have some of you gone by the end of the mission.”
The girls nod and put their earpieces in, then they start testing silly phrases with their friends. I choke on a laugh, sometimes I forget that they are normal girls. Then I remember the most important rules.
“And girls? Don’t forget to have fun.”
“Captain, we’re here.” Hazel tells me.
“Go on, girls. Remember your formation.”
They go off in groups of two and three, and some go in alone. They all look like they really are going to a ball, with their perfect gowns scratchless.
“Let’s get you out of that tunic, captain.” Hazel brings a dress over to me and I gasp.
“It’s… beautiful.” I manage to choke out.
“Yes. Mira wanted you to have this one because, after all, you’re the captain.”
I finger the silk that the dress is made of and sigh. It obviously is spider silk and must have taken forever to make. The color is a beautiful magenta and is absolutely stunning for the eyes.
“She says that it fits your complexion,” Hazel says.
I head to the back of the truck and take off my tunic to replace it with the dress. I remember to keep my leggings on, so I can run without flashing my underwear. I strap a couple knives under my dress on my legs, in case of an emergency.
“Ready,” I tell Hazel.
She smiles at me and gives me a good luck look. I give her one that says I don’t need it back, but she’s already in the driver’s seat in case of a runaway.
I exit the car and walk into the ballroom where the whole party is taking place. All eyes in the ballroom turn to me as I make the entrance.
“Girls,” I murmur in my mouthpiece. “While I’m up here, take what we need.” I smile at the crowd and twirl for them, the men in the room sigh, while the women look at me with jealousy. I walk up to a random man and hold out my hand for a dance. He takes it without hesitation.
“So, beautiful woman, what’s your name?” He looks me up and down.
“Lady Hailey Whit of Netherlander,” I reply, as I practiced many times before.
“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I’m Aiden Archer,” he replies and my practiced face turns into a surprised one. “I thought that’s why you picked me.”
“Oh, it is.” I cover. “I just thought that you knew I knew.” Aiden Archer is one of the most famous people in the galaxy. As the son of the king, he already got a lot of publicity, but with his charm, it made him the most popular man in the galaxy of Glavia. Why would someone with the importance of him be on the tiny planet of Yirin instead of the capital, Glavius?
He twirls me around as we continue to dance. I see people watching us with envy for either me or Archer. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a maid crying while cleaning up what someone knocked down.
“Excuse me, but I need to powder my nose,” I say to Archer who nods in approval.
I can feel his eyes staring into my back as I walk towards the bathroom. I tell myself that I need to complete my mission and not fail when everyone else is depending on me.
I see the girl come into the bathroom and walk over towards her as she washes her bloody finger in the sink.
“Hello.” I tell her as she gasps and makes water fly everywhere.
“I’m so sorry.” She apologizes as she comes to dab my wet dress with a towel.
“No, it’s fine. I’m the captain of the Angels Rising. Have you heard of that?”
“You mean the all girl’s one? It’s just a legend. It’s impossible.”
“I’m here to recruit you.” Her eyes widen and she looks from side to side. I wonder what that means.
“Okay,” she finally says.
“Go outside of the building and there will be a red truck. Inside there will be a driver with really bright red hair and pale skin. You will say ‘the captain sent me,’ and then ‘turtles are the best,’ she will reply with ‘no, dolphins are better.’ You will go into the truck after she opens the door and you will tell her your name, age, and planet of origin. She will put you in the back behind bars. It’s a procedure to keep us all safe.” I take a deep breath. “Clear?”
She nods. I motion her to go and do what I said and hear a voice click on in my earpiece.
“Captain? Are you there?” the voice asks, and I recognize it as Loli.
“Yes, I hear you loud and clear.”
“Umm, my target, Doctor Rollis, is right behind me. What should I do?”
“Did you check out his lab?”
“Yes, and I heard him speaking on his tarphone. It was so pretty.” Loli sighs and I clear my throat. “Oh, sorry. I, um, I stole it. Anyway he said that he’s keeping the prototype antidote in his coat ready for the swap.”
“Okay, peek behind you and check out how many steps away the person is from you. At the second step away, spin and accidentally spill the wine on the both of you. Start dabbing his coat and steal the antidote. Then excuse yourself to clean and exit the door by the bathroom. Remember your line, ‘whales are the best.’ Signing off.”
I sigh and exit the bathroom, heading toward the exit. I see the maid I was just talking to speaking to a guard, pointing at me then outside, then at me again. Uh oh, the guard starts walking towards me but someone blocks his path.
“Lady Hailey.” For a second, I don’t realize the person is talking to me and then remember that it is my cover name.
“Oh, Prince Aiden,” I say, as I look up to face him. “A pleasure to see you again.”
“Captain? Captain? We need to go. Like, right now. Forget your mission, guards are coming. Abort mission, I repeat, abort mission,” Hazel says in my earpiece.
“Um, sorry, Your Highness, I must get home,” I tell him.
“At least I can have your tarphone code. I suppose you have one, being a Lady, and all.”
“I’m sorry, but I left my tarphone at home and, unfortunately, I can’t seem to remember my code.”
“Hmm, but I suppose you would be at Netherlander for the Crowning of Prince Ari? As it is your home planet.”
I nod and excuse myself. In a swift movement, I turn away and take long strides towards the door. I hear a gunshot and swivel around, my eyes widen in shock and sadness. I see Loli lying in a heap on the floor, covered in blood. A guard kicks her in the stomach and rolls her over. I see her face, once full of color, now plain and lifeless. I can feel my eyes watering as ugly sobs threatening to break loose.
“Captain, I repeat, Captain, we need to go, now.”
“But, Loli,” I choke out.
“She served well, but we have to go, now.” I stumble out the big doors and knock on the truck.
“I’m here.” I manage to say, my voice cracking. “Owls are the best.”
“No, dolphins are better.” Hazel says in a monotone.
The truck starts up and we start towards the rendezvous point. That’s when I break down.
