They stepped up onto a dais that overlooked the enormous space. An extended table with two gilded and brocaded chairs occupied the center of the platform with less ostentatious seats arranged on either side. Facing the assembled diners, they offered an excellent vantage point.
“Stand there.” Nagavi gave the barest nod, indicating a spot a little distance behind the less elaborate of the two chairs in the center. “Hands behind your back and don’t touch your weapons unless there’s a direct threat to Rial. In here the Emperor Teyrn’s guards do the shooting.” He positioned himself level with her to the left of the chair.
Stand here, sit there. Kia wished someone would tell her what was required of the consort, instead of pushing her from place to place, expecting her to submit. Of course, treating her like this left her less able to question. Perhaps that was the objective?
The other Chenjerai, except those guarding Rial’s food, stood with the emperor’s guards in a semicircle at the rear of the dais.
A set of double doors were flung open, the rising crescendo of chattering and background music ceased, and for a millisecond silence reigned. The swish and rustle of costly materials filled the air like the soft wings of a thousand fluttering birds as the room rose to its feet when the Emperor Teyrn swept in, with Rial on his right, followed by his honored visitors.
Rial was taller and not as broad as his father; and, while the Heir must have his mother’s bone structure, he’d inherited the same brown-gold complexion and hair as his father. Except the sovereign’s eyes were cold stones in a face that had to have seen many a rejuvenation treatment, for his skin was almost as smooth as his son’s. Yet, the way he surveyed his gathered subjects, calculating and scorning the threat from every person present, sent a warning shiver down Kia’s spine. This man exterminated, like an infectious plague of gutworms, anything that got in his way. This man was her enemy.
Teyrn strode to the center of the platform; and apart from the Chenjerai and the emperor’s guards, the entire assembly remained with their heads lowered.
“Welcome to the summer ball,” the emperor announced, his voice a gravelly scrape across the skin, “and to our honored guests, the Regent of Azenik, Lord Raupatu, from the newest star system to join our happy union, his illustrious wife and daughters, and the new ambassador from Emankora, the most honorable Bradwir Khayin.”
Kia’s mind went blank, goosebumps rose, and a thick mist quivered at the edges of her vision. She couldn’t see the banquet hall or the people. All she could see was a soldier standing at the edge of a platform, raising his phaserifle, and her father toppling to the ground with a small circular mark in the middle of his forehead. She didn’t have any details of how Khayin was involved in her father’s murder, but the why was obvious. Seeing the former leader of Emankora’s Trade Federation as the planet’s ambassador, and on intimate terms with the monarch, said volumes. The stygian mist thickened, and her hand crept toward her holster.
Rial took a small step to her side, laid his hand on hers and pushed it, a firm inexorable pressure, away from her weapon. “Is my consort thinking of embarrassing me by killing my illustrious father’s ambassador in front of a thousand invited nobles?” He murmured as he moved past her and joined his father.
A quick hot flare of anger toward him ignited. Didn’t he have the capacity to see the world through the lens of any perspective other than his own? Her resentment evaporated as she realized he’d most likely saved her life—which made them quits.
“My son honors his new consort.” Teyrn’s voice, a deep sonorous baritone, slithered over her nerves and froze every bone in her body. Don’t look at him, don’t move, she told herself, hardly daring to breathe as he proceeded toward the table.
Kia stood and slowly calmed as she watched the diners feast on one expertly prepared dish after another, filling themselves to capacity. She focused on her infoscreen, observing the servers and watching for suspicious moves toward the dais. There were none. However, she did catch a lot of surreptitious glances cast her way.
Her nerves tightened when the sovereign indicated he was finished eating.
“Come, Rial, let's finish our business.” As he pushed his chair back and stood up, a bell rang, and conversations ceased. “I have a little family matter to attend to, but I shall return shortly, and my illustrious guests shall see Xarunta’s best entertainment,” he announced and swept out through the double doors and into the anteroom beyond followed by Rial, the Chenjerai, and his own guard.
“Chenjerai, helmets off and line up. Kia, Jalux, Tamaiko, Ohiko, front row,” Nagavi barked.
They obeyed with prompt precision. The four recently admitted entrants stepped forwards, stood straight, and held their helmets in the crooks of their arms.
Rial positioned himself between Kia and his father. He displayed no reaction as his gaze slid over her shaved scalp before introducing her. “This is Kia O’Afon and my consort.”
Kia looked down as Nagavi had instructed, her skin crawling hot with embarrassment at the assumptions the monarch would make about her and his son.
Teyrn examined her for several minutes before he spoke. “You found an innocent. I believe she dances, does she not? How engaging. Not your usual type, but interesting.”
Kia hardly dared breathe, and kept her mind blank, trying not to think of what Rial had said his father would do to her if he discovered his son’s nanobots had built a comfortable home in her blood cells.
“I hear she saved your life this evening. My guards tell me the assassin was from Emankora, traveled here as a crew member on the ship that brought the new envoy. Sort the problem there as quick as you can, Rial.”
“As you wish, Father.” Rial’s voice was expressionless.
Kia continued to gaze at the floor as if she’d never seen anything more fascinating. She was glad the emperor couldn’t see her reaction to his words because, inside her mind, she was doing a jig. Emankora? Was Rial being sent to her home planet? She barely noticed the rest of the introductions, but she did wonder what Tamaiko had done to deserve such a smile of approval from Teyrn. She reined in her relief as, after bowing to the emperor, they followed Rial out of the palace to the private landing port.
After returning her helmet and weapons belt to the armory, Kia’s hope of returning to her new rooms evaporated as Rial gripped her shoulder. He didn’t hurt her, but he gave her no choice. Without a screaming fight in the corridor that she was sure to lose, she had to go where he directed. Once inside his quarters, her courage shrank as his mouth thinned to a slash and his eyes spat sparks. He strode ahead of her into the living room, and she dawdled along the short corridor, reluctant to face him,
He stood by the window, staring out into the night, a tumbler of opaque liquid in his hand. He threw it back, refilled, and downed that, too. “Would you like a drink, my consort?”
Kia thought of leaving, of slipping along the passage to her quarters, but doubted she’d get out of the argument he obviously wanted to have. Well, she could try apologizing. “I’m sorry.”
“Answer the question,” he snarled.
Did she trust him not to drug her a second time? No, but if she refused, the open declaration of distrust would fuel his ire. “Yes, please.” She attempted to sound meek and sent a silent plea to the Goddess. Why me? What was wrong with him now?
He refilled his glass and filled one for her.
“To your continued good health,” he clinked her glass and finished his third drink in as many minutes.
She sipped hers, the vile acidic flavor requiring a serious effort, but she downed it in one gulp, choking and coughing at the burning aftertaste. She didn’t dare refuse when he refilled her tumbler.
“Do you appreciate how near you came to dying this evening? Do you think Teyrn would allow you to live if he’d caught you drawing a gun in his presence? Are you truly that stupid?” His voice was harsh, and his eyes blazed.
“What do you care? Would daddy punish you for making a silly mi
stake and choosing the wrong woman?” Even as she spoke, she couldn’t believe the words bolting from her mouth. The evening at the palace, combined with the liquor, had loosened her tongue and rewired her brain, removing the connection between thinking and speaking.
“I am not a violent man with my consorts, but you are testing me, Kia. I warn you to cease.”
When faced with an angry superior enemy, do not antagonize further, but retreat was a basic srilao tenet. “I am sorry.” This time she meant it, her last remark had crossed the line. “When I heard Khayin’s name, all I could see was the moment my father died.” She drank, coughing as the spirit hit her stomach.
“Sit,” he nodded at the couch and filled a plate for her from the small buffet laid out on the table. “The others are dining right now. Eat before you fall over. I need no further accusations of abuse from you.”
Kia was hungry, and she accepted the plate, munching her way through a few of the delicious savory pastries he’d served her. One perk of the job, she thought, great food, and felt more grounded after eating, even if her thoughts weren’t as clear as she would have liked.
“If we are to work together—and I believe we do have the same aim—and be proper partners in this enterprise, I have to be able to trust you, Kia.”
“What is your final goal, Rial? Kill and usurp your father? And how are you planning to achieve it?”
His eyes were hooded, and his mouth thinned to a grimace. “If you think my vision is to replace Teyrn, you are wrong. Deposing my father and returning autonomy to the star systems that make up the empire would do nothing but give other tyrants the opportunity to exploit the vacuum his death would create—a problem not easily or quickly solved. If the empire is dismantled, chaos will rule and too many innocents will die. But the emperor is a cruel man, becoming worse with age and frustration. Apart from me, his seed is useless, and he’s fathered no other children, and this galls him no end. Especially as his efforts to mold me in his image have failed spectacularly.”
“What did he mean at the dinner when he said you were honoring me?”
Rial gave a bitter laugh. “Oh, that. Forcing him to grant me permission to have relationships of my own choosing is an example of his failure to control me. Everybody knows about it, but the agreement is never publicly acknowledged. No,” he raised his hand as she opened her mouth. “Don’t apologize. I would have warned you Khayin would be present if I’d known, but I’m sure my father knows where you’re from and his omission in telling me was deliberate. My feelings have no place in his plans, and vaporizing my latest companion in public would have provided a wonderful talking point for his guests and a not-so-subtle chastisement for me. I am afraid I have brought you to his attention more than is advisable.”
She held out her glass for more drink, but he shook his head. “We leave for Emankora the day after tomorrow. Instructions have already been given to ready the flagship, and tomorrow the Chenjerai have a free day to do as they wish. I’ll take you to see Djem. Apart from your lack of familiarity with alcohol—not a habit I want you to acquire—it’s better if you have your wits about you when we walk the markets of the Old Town.”
Emankora. She was going home. The seed of an idea bloomed. If she could win a little freedom from his constant supervision, maybe she could hatch an escape plan when they reached Emankora. She ignored him and grabbed the bottle. “And I need you to understand that I am not some doll for you to mold as you fancy. But you’re right. I didn’t think about what I was doing tonight, and it was stupid.” She poured a generous dollop of the opaque spirit into her goblet, not caring it slopped over the rim and splashed on the expensive flooring. She swigged half the glass.
Rial watched with amusement, handing her a snow-white napkin as she choked yet again. “I’m interested to find out why you desire to advertise your status as a slave?”
Kia frowned.
He pointed at her bald head. “None but slaves are shaved in that manner.”
“Well, if somebody bothered to explain the rules around here, I wouldn’t be messing up this way, but I have no choice in anything, and…” she swayed as the alcohol zapped its way through her bloodstream.
He picked up the liquor bottle, walked over to the large pale wooden desk, and opened the comunit. “Here’s a choice for you. Your bedroom or mine, but go and sleep. I have work to do.”
“Thank you, Lord Rial.” She bowed.
“You could make an effort not to sound pleased to escape my company, Kia, and I would appreciate it if, between us, you would call me Rial.”
“Yes, Lord… yes... Rial.” She walked past him,
“Good night, Kia.”
“Good night… Rial.” She shot him a glance, but he was refilling his glass.
Kia closed the door to her quarters, oddly dissatisfied. On Emankora, in a different scenario, a relationship with him might have stood a chance, but in these circumstances, the power balance was too unequal. She suspected she’d end up fighting him over everything and, afterward, resent his decisions. Yet, he appeared to be doing his best to protect her, had worked with her father and saved her brother.
An hour later, her mind continuing to churn over the past and the present and with sleep determined to evade her, she sat up and slipped a robe on. Picking up the comunit she’d found in the bedroom, she padded into the living room, palmed the light, and made herself comfortable on the couch. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well use the time to learn something useful. The device contained a single book, ‘The Origin and Expansion of the Nadil-Kuradi Empire’. She sighed. Had Rial left this for her to study? Okay, this might be useful. She scanned the chapter titles, the word Falaichte catching her eye. Wasn’t that the planet Rial’s mother came from? She hadn’t been reading for long before she realized this wasn’t a sanitized version of history. The meticulously detailed list of numerous bombing campaigns and their resulting decimation of half the population and their environment was surely not public knowledge? Whoever wrote this had comprehensive knowledge of what had taken place. When Teyrn wanted something, he didn’t care whether the instrument he used was blunt or refined. Or even worse, the choice was deliberate.
Chapter Four: New Factors
A noise disturbed Kia’s concentration. It sounded like a wounded animal, but it came from Rial’s quarters. She peered along the passageway, checking. His door was wide open, and she gasped as she saw him outlined in the bright moonlight, lying on the floor.
She sprinted along the corridor. Had someone poisoned him after all? When she crouched down beside him, she could see he was breathing, but he was rigid, tremors shuddering through his body. Then she saw the blood. The glass he’d been holding had smashed as he fell and cut a long jagged slash across his palm. She was in and out of his bathroom in a flash, wrapping a wet towel around his hand. The bruise on his chin had disappeared within a day. How long would the nanobots take to seal a wound? She stroked his hair back off his forehead. His skin was fever hot. She couldn’t leave him untended in this state and was wondering if the guards would hear her shout for help when he opened his eyes.
“Kia,” he whispered.
“Lean forward.” She put her arm around his shoulders, helping him to sit up. “Careful, there’s broken glass. You cut yourself.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you. These… episodes… occur once in a while.”
“Let’s get that cut cleaned.”
He made it to his feet, leaning on her as they crossed the room.
She washed his palm in warm water and applied a generous dose of the anbactigel she found in the bathroom cabinet.
The nanobots were at work and the blood flow had ceased, the wound closing already. He propped himself up on the edge of the sink as occasional feebler tremors ran through him.
“I think you’d better lie down,” Kia said, dabbing at his hand with a clean towel. “Those nanos sure are useful, aren’t they?” She draped his arm over her shoulders and
guided him out of the bathroom. Sitting him down on the bed, she removed his jacket and took off his shoes.
“Thank you,” Rial’s voice slurred as she pushed him back and swung his legs onto the bed. “You'll save me, beautiful Kia. I know you will.”
She covered him with the sheet, the silk sliding over her skin. Nothing but the best for the Heir. “Sure, I’m your guardian angel, aren’t I?” Dear Goddess, please let him not remember this conversation in the morning.
“Kia, I promise this is not a ploy to entice you into my bed, but…” He tugged several of the pillows from the pile behind his head and pushed them down by his side. “Bring more from the couch. A barrier should make you feel safe. I would request you stay in case of another incident.” As if to reinforce the truth of his words, a series of shivers shook his limbs, though they were weaker than before.
She blew out a breath. “Some men will go to any lengths to get their way, won’t they?” she joked. She needn’t have worried, he was asleep when she returned from the living room, her arms piled with enough pillows to create a substantial barricade. The thought of slipping back to her own quarters popped into her mind. But what if he had another turn? Did this count as fulfilling her oath to protect him? She settled the cushions, made herself comfortable, and blew out a breath of frustration. She was spending another unwilling night in his bed, even if it was as a nursemaid.
Sleep was no closer in Rial’s bed than her own. If the nanobots enabled him to sleep without difficulty, that wasn’t a benefit they’d gifted her. She rolled over and studied him.
Awakening Defiance: (The Saoirse Saga Book 2) Page 3
