Rainbow Wars

Rainbow Wars Chapter 5

Rainbow Wars, Chapter 5

“You’ll be pushed further than you’ve ever been pushed. Driven further than you’ve ever been driven. Taken to the limit and then taken further. To serve her. The Gay Agenda…”

It’s the Opening ceremony. I’m one of a million.

“At least he’s not Faison…” Tanaka states when I give the president a face.

I could be shot for treason for doing something like this. I’d heard of them doing things like that. Our gay government. There was a time when gay meant happy. Now gay meant desperate, a fascist government intent on causing unrest in the world.

“Don’t get it fucked up,” Joseph Varney interrupts, “Titus is just as bad. Oh for god sakes...Maggot. Can someone fix his tie again?”

We’re in line. We have to sit as a team. 15,000 new soldiers were enlisted in a single day. Standing on stage is King Titus Castle. He’s tall, dark and handsome. He’s a silver fox and his jet silver hair who if he were kinder could have been popular with the ladies. Titus Castle wasn’t popular with the ladies though. He was stern, cold and completely withdrawn. He stands on the stage and I swear he doesn’t move anything but his mouth. Not even a twitch from his eyes. Not a fuckin twitch.

He was a nutso. Just like his brother who he had succeeded---by force which caused this war in this first place. They were all inbred, I’d heard. From Faus on down.

Even Kaiser.

“I’m too far,” Tanaka states.

“SHHHH!”

I look forward and I’m a little surprised when I see Salvatore Mander. He’s tall. He’s standing next to Bashir. Bashir gives me a little nod and slight smile when I acknowledge him but I don’t smile back. Mainly because Salvatore is acting like a real dick.

“Aw, man is that Salvatore Mander--” Joseph Varney starts.

I get embarrassed. Salvatore Mander was big shit in school. He was going to be drafted to the NBA. And now here he was instead. Instead of being the NBA’s first big gay star, he had been drafted into a war.

Not even he was spared the Castle’s madness.

“Can you stop?” I ask Joseph.

“Fix his tie and I’ll stop.”

I look over at Maggot. They want me to fix his tie. It’s all goddam crooked. We’d agreed to make him stay and for some reason, it seemed like Joseph and Tanaka Riku were competing on who could be a better big brother-like figure to this kid. It was stupid and obnoxious but at the same time, I remember the truth.

Above all the others, I owed this kid.

It’s why I bend down.

“Don’t touch my asshole,” Maggot squirms.

The kid had a smart mouth and he was mean as nails. It doesn’t stop me from grabbing him up and fixing his tie.

“Listen. I don’t like you. I know you think I did something bad. But I want to show you that I’m not a bad person. If you give me another chance,” I start.

There is a pause. For a moment his face softens and I think maybe this kid isn’t going to be the bane of my existence while I’m here. I’m wrong though. His face gets hard quick. It gets harder than it did before. He transforms from a kid into a Halloween villain.

“I don’t care, Assholeeee…”

~

The thing is over. We’re standing off to the side during the reception. There is a huge line for soldiers who want to gather to shake the president’s hand.

“What are we even going to war about?” Tanaka sighs.

Joseph Varney shrugs, “One Castle thinks they deserve the presidency more than the others.”

“Throne,” I correct him.

He rolls his eyes, “Even more ridiculous. That’s how the world works. The powerful use the less powerful  as pawns…”

I’m a little surprised at the conversation. Especially from Tanaka. He seemed almost to be a Castle Loyalist when we first got here. Maybe the idea of us going to boot camp is starting to make him turn.

“Guys, can I get a group shot?” Lisa starts, “And then Tanaka, we’ll take you and maggot.”

“Looking Good sexy…” Osiris tells Joseph.

Joseph Varney was looking good. Ridiculously good. I don’t even think he realized it. Truthfully he’d been in a bad mood because he hadn’t had any alcohol. During the picture, he’s just scowling. To the point that when Tanaka and Maggot go take their picture I stay behind to talk to him.

“Everything good?” I ask him.

“I need a swallow,” he shuffles and two steps a bit uncomfortable pulling at his stiff threads and slapping down his haircut a little bit, “I’m not used to all this…”

“Looking sexy?” I ask.

I shoot him a wince and bite on my lip. I had to admit that Joseph Varney was making my heart thump worse than high school. Dressed the all-black military ceremonial jacket with the rainbow shoulders of the Gay Agenda, he seems relatively interchangeable with the guys from Squad A...if not one of the Castles.

“Not you too.”

“Not me too what?”

He gives me a look. It’s a hard look. His chiseled face sets on me. His deep eyes waddle me a little bit like a baby. He leans in close, “You’re flirting...aren’t you. Just like Osiris.”

“That punk wasn’t even interested in you before…”

“And neither were you,” he states, “So keep the same energy. Excuse me.”

He could have slapped me. It would have stung the same. I am standing there with my mouth hung wide open. What sucks is that a trail of guys has their eyes following Joseph Varney. All of a sudden people are starting to recognize who he was and why he was on the Celebrity squad.

I’m kind of shocked and turned on when Joseph Varney walks away from me. I guess he had a little bit more character than just being a local drunk and the truth was he had a point. Something has sparked him to be uncomfortable since he has been at this ceremony and I don’t know what it is.

But he’s on edge.

“Cousin!”

I turn around and I’m shocked when I see Marcus Petty standing there. My cousin has the nerve to walk up to me and hug me. For a moment, I’m shocked. He’d lost weight and did look a lot better than I remembered but at the end of the day, he was still Marcus. And then I remember I can’t be myself. I have to act like I’m Cair.

And somehow my brother got along with this asshole.

“Cous!”

We hug. For a long time. It causes a bit of a scene.

“Your mother had arrived at my mansion right when the war broke out,” he states, “Can you believe it. Titus dropped an atomic bomb on America...they are threatening retaliation…”

I swallow.

It’s not about the bomb. It’s about my mother.

My mother’s side of the family was quite wealthy. I’m not talking big house next door rich. I’m talking about the richest family in the world rich. Gone with the days of humble Bill and Melinda Gates. The Pettys were not known for their charity. They were stingy, money-hungry power takers. I’m sure my mother had gone to seek residence with them in the war. She would have told them about me not being Cair.

But why doesn’t he seem bothered?

“Did she bring news?” I ask.

My entire cover would be at stake if Marcus knew who I was. He wouldn’t hesitate to have me arrested. Even worse…

“No. She was much too wound up. And then the soldiers came and brought me here. HERE! Can you imagine? Anyway. We are allowed one visitor tomorrow. It’ll be Opening Day. She’s coming tomorrow…” he states, “With grandpa.”

Cold sweat beads on the back of my neck from fear, “She is?”

“Oh sure, you’ll get to see her. I have connections here,” Marcus states, “Informants. She sounded wound up. She must have important info. Anyway. We won’t be here long darling. I’m going to get us out.”

Marcus scoops his arm under mine.

“How?”

“My wife Druscilla…” he states, “Druscilla Castle. The daughter of Faison Castle.”

“You’re married----to a woman?”

I’d always thought Marcus was straight. When I first heard he got involved in the Gay Agenda I knew it was a joke. This was the guy who beat the hell out of me for being gay. But like any Petty, he saw money in the Gay Agenda. New Jerusalem was the fastest-growing metropolis in existence. Faus Castle’s technology had caused a financial boom turning us from a new country into a world power.

And most of the breakthrough was because of Faison taking over. If it weren’t for this war I’m scared to think that maybe the old mad king was a better leader.

“Don't’ give me that look. You knew. You were the best man during the secret wedding. Nothing has changed since then. No one can know I’m married to Druscilla. Druscilla has gone to Russia to raise an army. She’s going to attack soon. Wipe your Uncle Titus and take the throne for us. You’ll be the cousin of a king. Royalty. How does that sound Cair?”

I was pretending to be Cair and Marcus Petty was pretending to be gay. I watch how he flairs his fingers in a feminine wave to members of Squad A. He’s full of himself. The worst kind of full.

I have no time to think about it.

“Is that the war?” I ask, “It’s against your wife?

“One war. Enough of that. Let me introduce you to my team.

There’s more than one war?

Then I remember. This had been announced in World War 3. It’d be a lot more complicated.

“Handsome man…” a Spanish guy states.

He reaches out his hand. He is young but he has those dreamy eyes and a dark olive complexion that I love in Latin men. He also has an accent.

“Calm down Luis...he’s in a relationship,” Marcus states, “Where is Bashir…”

I’m desperate to avoid him.

“He’s off somewhere,” I respond.

Marcus seems confused but shrugs, “Well no mind. Cousin, this is Luis Pantaleo. Leader of Squad B, which is my squad,” my cousin explains, “We have the biggest Squad. Over 20 members. Squad B mostly consists of gay children of diplomats from all over the world. They were sent here by Titus Castle.”

I’m confused, “To assure alliances?”

“All of our countries were traitors in the end,” Luis Pantaleo explains, “This is more like punishment. Would you excuse me? My producer wants an interview. I’ll see you later though, handsome…”

I bite my lip and smile a little bit at him. I can’t help it. The Pantaleo guy had this deep sexy Spanish accent that was driving me crazy. I had to admit I didn’t think it was fair that Squad B got that many members and my Squad just got 4.

“Were you flirting?” Marcus asks.

“Huh? Of course not…”

“Good because here comes your boyfriend.”

I turn just in time to feel lips pressed up against mine. I’m kind of shocked when it happens. I turn and realize almost immediately that it’s Bashir doing it. Knowing that my ex-boyfriend was so willing to be happy with my brother pissed me off. It took everything for me not to stand there and grimace. Instead, I smile.

“Bashir,” I state, “How are you?”

“So formal,” Marcus laughs, “Trouble in paradise…”

“Those two never argue…”

“I’m so excited your here baby. I tried to get you put in Class A or B. Tried to explain to them you were a Petty. They don’t care.”

“You’re excited?” I ask.

We had been drafted into war fighting that we don’t have anything to do with. I count four members of Class A. All of them beautiful models and all of them nodding in agreement with the idea of being excited to be here. Even Bashir. I look at Bashir like he has three heads.

“This is an exciting time. To fight for your country,” my cousin interrupts me nudging me a little bit.

“No,” I interrupt.

Bashir turns confused, “What?”

I correct myself, “It is an exciting time to fight for our agenda. The Gay Agenda.”

I sounded awful. Like some fake Gay Agenda Propaganda that came out when the idea of New Jerusalem was being drafted about congress. This is what the big gay hope had been reduced to. An inbred dynasty and the sycophants who followed them.

Salvatore Mander nods, “A true patriot,” he says and extends his hands, “Salvator Mander. Nice to meet you. You must be Bashir’s amazing boyfriend he tells us all about.”

Class A was a true celebrity. They were the A list of Celebrities. Of course, you had Salvatore Mander. But Bashir had become a huge celebrity as well when he Cair had the spotlight. Bashir upstaged him when he was named the sexiest man of the year by the local calendar. Ever since then he had been endorsements gold. I didn't’ know the other two but they were stars just by the look of them and I am sure I was one of the few people who didn’t know who they were.

Bashir nods, “This is my boyfriend, Cair. This is Andre Jasper, Gregory Milo, and Salvatore Mander. The members of Group A.”

“Your competition,” Marcus states.

Gregory MIlo was a pop singer. I knew him well. But the other. This Andre Jasper. The only Jasper I knew was very different.

“Jasper?” I ask.

“As in American President Leon Jasper,” Bashir states, “Who we are also are at war with. This is his son…”

The quiet one Andre Jasper offers me a faint smile. He looked nothing like his father who was the President of the United States. The fact that our government was able to somehow find the gay son of the US president was jaw-dropping. Not only that but they planned on making propaganda videos FEATURING the son of their enemy.

“I’m sorry to hear about your people,” I state.

“What are you referring to?” Salvator Mander asks.

He’s tall. He’s ridiculously handsome but Salvatore Mander has this thing about him. The way he looks down at me at that moment. It’s intimidating. And it’s as though he’s doing it on purpose. The way that he invades my space and just looks at me makes me feel almost uneasy.

“I was talking to Andre…”

“Private Jasper is under my command, as leader of Squad A,” he states, “Plus he’s my boyfriend. So feel free to ask me.”

Weird. I mean not that they were dating. They made a smart couple. Salvatore Mander AKA Salamander was the boy next door who had gone to school and despite being raised in a home without a father became the man of the house all while playing ball. Every kid wanted to be him and he wasn’t even in the NBA yet. Of course, he was dating the president’s son.

We weren’t in the US though. And the Jaspers didn’t run things.

I shrug, “I was just talking about the Atom bomb that dropped on his people.”

“Those weren't’ my people,” Andre states, “This is my land. These are my people.”

Even weirder. It’s how he says it. It’s as though he’s frightened. I look over at Salvatore Mander. He had been watching Andre’s lips move. The whole feeling here makes me uncomfortable especially when Salvatore leans into me and smiles. Just when he says that though Andre jerks.

“Excuse me.” he states, “Damn sorry.”

Just at that moment, I notice Joseph Varney. He had two cups of red wine in his hand but one of them has spilled all over Andre.

“You fucking dumb ass----” Salvatore hits Joseph hard.

I'm shocked he lashes out like him like that. It comes cold out of nowhere. I grab Joseph at that moment. I grab him and pull him over to me away from Salvatore. Joseph is pissed looking like he wants to do something but then I notice the drill sergeants.

“Jo---- stop…”

“I was just bringing you something to drink to apologize for being a dickhead earlier and I tripped. It was a mistake,” He explains.

He didn’t need to explain. I look over at Salvatore Mander, “What’s your problem? Why would you do that?”

“Don’t concern yourself Cair,” he states, “You’re a Petty. I just feel bad they stuck you in the same group as that sex traitor.”

“Sex Traitor?”

Salvatore Mander nods, “He lied about the Phase.”

The secret was out. I look over at Joseph. His face gets red with embarrassment. Everyone else is looking at him too. That’s when he leaves. Disappearing into the crowd. And I can’t help but feel my heart break for him.

~

It’s the next day. Time for our goodbyes. We were going off to Bootcamp. My heart is thumping when I go outside. So many things are going through my head. Would there be anyone for me? Would my mother blow up my spot?

I feel my head start to ache but then Tanaka puts his arm on mine.

“You OK, man?”

“Nervous,” I admit.

“Who you telling?” Tanaka explains, “My family is a bit strict.”

“We have that in common,” I laugh.

We laugh together for a moment. One of those uncomfortable laughs. One of those laughs of two victims stuck in the same predicament wanting to laugh their way out of trouble. It doesn’t work. So after a second or two Tanaka just puts a hand on my arm.

“Listen our lives are going to change tomorrow,” he explains, “I don’t know who you have to talk to to prepare for this, but make sure you talk to them. You may not get another chance to say goodbye.”

It’s grim what he says but at least he can manage to talk. At least he can manage to be here. I turn around and see that Joseph Varney is putting on Maggot’s shoes and tying his laces for him. That’s when I also notice that Joseph Varney isn’t dressed.

“You not going?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer right away. He takes his sweet time putting on Maggot’s shoes and sending Maggot on his way.

“No one to see me,” he explains.

I look at him. My heart breaks a little but I don’t show it.

“No one? No mother?”

“She doesn’t care about me. Stopped showing up for me a long time ago. When she got pregnant with a married man's child, one who already had a family. And she had me…a glorious bastard. Plus Maggot doesn’t have any family so I’m going to hang with him.”

I hadn’t even thought of it. Tanaka and I had spent all night talking about our family. After the reception the previous day we complained. Not considering that there were some people who didn’t have anyone.

“You’re a good guy,” I state.

He turns and smiles at me. We have a moment. It’s an awkward short moment but I have to admit that my heart races when it happens. Why is my heart fluttering a bit?

“Not good enough…”

“What’s that mean?”

He pauses, “At the ceremony...I saw you with Bashir Ballerina from High school. Are the two of you----”

I pause. Damn. For some reason, I want to say no. Everything with Bashir was fake. And I liked him.

And I don’t know why I do it.

I don’t know why I lie.

“No.”

That’s not the truth. The truth was that Cair and Bashir were together. They even had matching fucking names. The truth was even though it made me sick, that was the situation I was in. And unless I wanted Marcus or anyone else to start getting suspicious I had to start acting more like Cair and less like Cicily.

But it’s so hard. Especially when he takes a step forward, licking his lips, invading my space in the best ways possible.

“Tonight is the last night. The Celebrity Squads are going to the grand hall for a dinner with the king. I’m going to skip it…you should too.”

“You want me to.”

He is nervous. I’d always thought the guy that I was going to like was going to be cool and collected. Some prince charming on a horse. But for some reason, this bumbling, careless, unserious addict was making everything about me flutter. He is really in my space now. He has on this tight shirt that shows off his washboard abs.

“I haven’t liked anyone in a long time... not since your brother,” he explains, “When people found out what I did I felt like I wanted to become someone else. I drank myself into a stupor. I became someone else. Now I feel myself again. And now I’m thinking I was drawn to you the same way I was drawn to Cicily…”

“You were?”

His lips hover over mine. They are soft, kissable. His muscular hands grab me uneasily unsure of where to touch as though it was prom night but for some reason, everything about his unease here drew me in.

“An immediate feeling. Not like Osiris. My dick leads the way sometimes. With you, it's like my heart leads the way and everything else is close behind. It's like a marathon. I'm drawn to you. We were amongst thousands today and for some reason, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you…”

“Queeney---” Tanaka calls from the door, “You coming.”

He was broken. He was a broken boy and I wanted to put him back together.

“Is that a turn off that I felt this way about your brother?”

“No…” I state, “And I lied earlier. Cair and Marcus are together…”

I use Cair in the third person. He probably doesn’t hear it but if he does he excuses it. He’s more concerned about why I lied.

“I don’t get it.”

“There’s a reason. A reason we click as you did with Cicily…”

“A reason?”

I’m thinking now was it worth telling him or not. It wasn’t like Joseph Varney was going to go snitch on me. He had no reason to want me dead. But I wonder if Joseph would start asking questions. Questions like WHY.

And I’d have to explain to him something uncomfortable.

“You can’t tell anyone,” I state.

I was about to either do the stupidest thing in my life or gain trust with someone who I’d need to build trust with really soon not just for my livelihood but in war also for my life.

He looks over at me. He leans in, “You can trust me, man…”

“I am Cicily.”

He gets quiet. That’s not the reaction I’m expecting but in that silence I see this fucking smile come across his face. All those questions I was afraid he would ask me don’t come up...not yet at least.

“Damn I knew it. I knew you were him,” he states.

That’s when he leans over and kisses me. I don’t expect it. It comes out of nowhere. I don’t think he means to. It’s some nervous twitch I think and when he notices it he panics and tries to pull back. But I follow him. I grab his face. I mash my tongue into his mouth and awkwardly he notices. It takes us a while to get into the swing of things. I wish I could say that this was the spark kiss of a lifetime.

It wasn’t that.

But it made me feel safe. He meant the kiss. And in this world that was so much more important than anything that could make me feel a spark.

Finally, in the end, he stops, “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“I know…”

“QUEENEY!” Tanaka calls out again, “Lisa Tran says your father is here…”

I was going to stay with Jacob. For the first time, I wasn’t hating the idea of being stuck somewhere. For the first time in a long time, I’m smiling. I have butterflies in my stomach. We are having this cool conversation and things are going great. And then I hear about my father and everything changes. A cold heat washes over my body causing a cold sweat. All of a sudden I wonder if my mother and father would be in the same area at the same time. It might as well have been World War III if that was the case.

Even the comfort of Jacob couldn’t keep me safe for long.

I would be facing something tonight.

I roll my eyes, “I should go. Tanaka is going to have a whole bitch fit if I don’t hurry up.”

“Hey Private Queeney?”

“Don’t forget our first date tonight,” he licks his lips.

~

I want to be excited about Jacob asking me for a date. I liked the guy. He was everything to me at that moment but I can’t focus on that. As soon as I get in the hallway. The celebrity room was decent. Not the luxury that Lisa Tran promised we would be in when we weren’t on the field but not trash either. I see the march of the other celebrity groups.

I have to search through a ton of Squad B members until I finally see my cousin. He’s walking with Pantaleo.

“Excited?” he asks.

“What’s happening?” Pantaleo interrupts.

“His mother is coming,” Marcus asks, “I heard a weird rumor though. Through the grapevine. That your father is here to see you as well.”

So it was true. My father was here. No doubt Kaiser made that happen.

“What’s weird about his father being there to see him?” Pantaleo asks, “He’s probably really proud. His son is becoming a soldier…”

“His father is an RTL extremist.”

Marcus nearly spits out the accusation. His entire family couldn’t stand my father. I knew that much when my mother could ver invite him to the grand Petty Christmas Parties. Halfway through I stopped going as well. I couldn’t stand the thought of my father spending Christmas alone. My brother never skipped a beat with the parties though. Not even one.

“That’s still his father,” Pantaleo responds.

I’m shocked. Marcus and I both are. Marcus looks confused, “He’s an RTL extremist. The fact that he is even allowed in this building means that our government isn’t paying attention…”

Or he had help from Kaiser.

Pantaleo shrugs, “He’s a father. Get over yourself Marcus. This war isn’t everything.”

Pantaleo keeps walking and I watch as Marcus just stands there steaming. He is blowing his fucking lid.

“That’s a weird guy…” Marcus states, “I should report that comment.”

“To who?”

“The Drill Sergeant of course. Pantaleo might be an undercover RTL. I hear that’s a thing now.”

I swallow my spit. Marcus was beyond ready to get Pantaleo put in his place for the comment. Truthfully I didn’t know anything about Pantaleo but I knew that it was weird for anyone, especially an Agenda soldier to be OK with the idea of an RTL being here.

“I’ll report it…”

“You will?”

I nod, “Yeah I can’t stand RTL sympathizers. I want to be the one.”

He nods smiling as I walk off. Of course, I wasn’t going to report it. I just kind of wanted to return the favor to Pantaleo for having my back with Marcus. Marcus was an asshole but he was a Petty. That meant he had resources. Resources such as information that he could pay for. I would have to use him for now as much as I could.

I get in the room.

Sure enough, it’s him.

“Dad.”

“Sit.”

He doesn’t hug me. No smiles. No small talk.

I lean over at the table, “I need to get out of here. Dad. Dad, I can’t take it anymore----”

“We’ll get you out of here… I have a plan.”

Thank god.

I look at him as hard as I can.

“Underneath the table, I have a box. Take it. I need you to take it…place it in a special room that the President is going to be in.”

I look at the box. I didn’t trust my father. Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

He looks around. From his neck, I see glistening wet strands of sweat curling up. This sounds like something that is targeted. He was sweating. He’s nervous. I wonder why.

This was trouble. Real trouble. All my life I felt like I did what my father said. I wanted to make him proud. Who didn’t? There was a special place in heaven for boys who made their father proud. Or so we all think.

So why is there a nervous bubble in my stomach?

“Dad...these people are really serious. This is fucking serious…”

I don’t need to say. My dad knows me. He knows I don’t want to do it. He knows why. I’m scared to death. I’ll never admit that to him but that was the truth.

“Look over there…”

I turn. Marcus is sitting there...alone.

“What is he doing?”

My father was well aware of the Pettys. He and Marcus exchange a quick stare but Marcus looks away first. I’ll say this about my father is that he was tough. He might not have been the most powerful man or the richest, but he had pride in him. I remember when I turned 15 and my mother begged that my brother and I change our names to Petty. She said that it would be beneficial ‘to our futures” whatever that meant. My father wasn’t for it. He had pride in him. And that’s what I’m seeing now.

“Your mother and her family were going to tell him all about you. I stopped her…”

I swallow. Hard.

See my father has been hardened by war. I think it started when the government confiscated some land that his father had left him. In a way, he had become an RTL, even though he never lived directly in New Jerusalem. He never forgave the government and blamed the Castles directly. That drew him into radicalism.

That drew him to the teachings of a radical who went by the name of Seneca Castle.

And that brought him here.

“Where’s my mother?”

"I’ll tell you after you do this for me. After you do what you came here to do.”

It’s at that moment I realize how desperate my father was. I’d seen him down at his bottom. I’d seen him do some sheisty shit to survive. Survival was everything to him. “Only the strong survive” and the weak are left for history. That’s what my father taught me. So now looking at him I wonder if I meet his requirements for survival of the fittest.

I’m not a fan of my mother. But I know my father. He’s threatening her without having to. She’s alive. I do not doubt it. But the look in my eyes tells me that if I don’t do EXACTLY what he said that I’d only have one parent soon.

“Dad please…”

“Take the box.”

There was no conversation. No going back. It was now or never. If I made this choice I’d be turning against the government. I would be an internal spy. I’d be committing treason.

A crime punishable by Death in the Gay Agenda.

My heart is beating. I’m afraid to ask but as I reach underneath the table and grab the package I lean closer into my father. Close enough that no one will hear it. Not the guards who are watching all the soldiers intently for any breach of protocol to Marcus who is still suspiciously eyeing my father down when he thinks no one is looking to Tanaka who was having a rather one-sided conversation with a few of his Uncles.

I ask the question.

“What’s in the box?

My father hesitates but says shortly.

“The way we are going to end the war. You’re going to help kill Titus Castle…”

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com