Chapter 5 - The Gala of Ice and Gold
Infiltrating the Zenith Sector was a suicide mission, but Silas knew the blind spots in the exhaust vents.
Two nights later, Maya found herself standing on a glass balcony overlooking the Grand Solarium. Below her, the elite of Altara danced in silk and diamonds. The temperature in the room was a perfect, balmy seventy-two degrees. Exotic flowers bloomed in the dead of winter.
It made Maya sick. She thought of the Dregs, freezing in the dark, paying for this luxury with their lives.
Silas’s voice crackled in her earpiece. "Governor Kaelen is in the VIP lounge. He wears the command key around his neck. It’s a biometric drive. You have to get close."
Maya had traded her rags for a stolen servant’s uniform. She carried a tray of champagne glasses, her heart hammering against her ribs as she walked past armed guards into the VIP lounge.
Governor Kaelen was a striking man with silver hair and cold, reptilian eyes. He was laughing, swirling a glass of amber liquid. Around his neck hung a heavy, obsidian pendant. The key.
Maya approached, lowering her head, offering the tray.
"Ah, more champagne," Kaelen purred. But as he reached for a glass, his eyes locked onto Maya’s hands. They were bruised, calloused, and covered in faint frostbite scars. A servant in the Zenith Sector would never have hands like that.
May you like
Kaelen’s smile vanished. "Guards."
Maya didn't think. She swung the heavy silver tray directly into Kaelen’s face.
