Sally strode back down the halls of the palace, towards the royal family's wing. Her auburn hair and skirts trailed behind her and she held her chin high.
As if she was not afraid. Others were watching.
She arrived at the archway leading to her tower wing. Her entourage took their places outside the door, leaving her to pass through, alone. They shut the door behind her.
She stopped and spun around, clenching her fists hard. Passion flared in her gaze as she glanced over her shoulder at the door, her lip curled. She trembled and fear pricked through the anger in her blue eyes.
If she made one wrong move, everyone would die. Sonic, her mother, her, the whole city.
Sally started stamping up the flight of steps before her, her fists clenched.
When she reached the top of the stair and parted the curtain to her sleep chambers, she yanked her circlet from her head and shook out her hair. The thick locks fell into her face hiding her chipmunk markings and blue eyes. She blew them out of the way and began braiding with nimble, small fingers.
She had not even found the opportunity to relay her plan to Sonic. He had no idea what was going on. He didn't know it would be all right.
If everything went according to plan, it would be all right.
Of course everything would go according to plan. She and Bunnie had been planning all night. They were rebels. They had spent the last years of their lives sneaking out at night and breaking into an enemy city and shooting down attack jets over villages. They were skilled. They were trained. Their plans worked.
Sally strode out onto her balcony and looked down at the series of towers, parapets and balconies dotting the roof of the palace of Aero. A glass dome rose at the far, open end of the cliff—the People's Council Dome.
Sally pinched her lips again in anger, and a shudder ran through her shoulders. The first tears welled up in her eyes.
She stopped herself, letting her braid fall unfinished.
Sally sank down to the marble floor, her head bent, hair falling loose over her shoulders and knees. A strangled sound broke free from her and she pinched her eyes shut.
"Alright, alright, be quiet up there, Grounder!"
Grounder fell silent at once.
Eggman took one look at the small fox bent over the rail, limp and quivering with exhaustion. "We're done with him," he said.
"Yes, sir," Grounder said.
Without warning, Grounder whipped Tails upright and shoved him forward to the floor.
Tails' legs buckled beneath him and he fell onto his face. He crouched on the floor, shaking with suppressed tears, waiting.
"You did a great job, Tails!" Eggman said.
Tails managed to lift his head, his eyes out of focus. He almost rocked off balance.
Eggman caught his chin, steadying him. "Did you hear me? You've passed the test!"
Tails blinked, sucking up the remnants of his strength, "No!" He shouted. "I…I don't know! I promise you, I promise I don't know-!"
"It's okay, foxy, you don't have to know," Eggman patted his cheek. "If I'd really wanted information out of you, I just would have hooked you up to a lie detector or given you truth serum or something."
Tails stared at Eggman.
"It would have been nice if you would have slipped us some information, but that's not what I really wanted." Eggman said. He grinned. "I wanted Sonic."
Tails' eyes widened, his vision beginning to focus.
"I knew he'd come for you." Eggman explained. "Once he saw there was no way he could physically rescue you, he surrendered so I wouldn't drop you over that rail."
Tails stared, a new kind of terror piercing his eyes.
"Oh, and thanks for the lump." Eggman grinned, touching the back of his head. "Of course, I had to punish you for that too. Your transparency is priceless. Especially the crying. Wish I could have filmed that. All in all, I think things have evened up between us."
Tails began to shake his head. As if hadn't even heard Eggman's words.
He choked on a sob. "What?"
Eggman snickered and pinched his arm.
