His lips quirked up at the words ‘normal person’, but he seemed relieved to have pleased her.
The tea shop had little round tables and quaint wooden chairs. A group of old ladies sat sipping their drinks out of tiny delicate cups, interrupting each other’s conversations with the familiarity of long-time friends.
The atmosphere reminded Kia of the local eating houses in Sestris.
Rial ordered a hot sweetened fruity drink, along with several delicious pastries. “This is for you,” he handed her the package from the bookshop, keeping hold of it as she reached for it. “Promise me you won’t open it before you’re home.”
She lowered her voice, “If by home you mean your palace, yes, I promise.” She left it there. She wouldn’t let him manipulate her into saying something that wasn’t true. His living quarters in his palace wasn’t her home.
“I’ll accept that for the moment,” but the gleam in his eye warned her to be careful.
She raised her chin and pulled the package toward her. “You can’t buy me.”
“It’s a gift, that is all. Don’t read too much into it.” He burst out laughing.
“What’s funny?”
“Book… read…?”
She looked at him askance, but before she could open the packet, he retrieved it, replacing it in his jacket pocket. “I’ll look after it for you.”
She pouted like a child deprived of a promised festival gift. “What kind of people are you Xaruntians? You give and take away at the same time, that’s cheating.”
He ignored the jibe. “Come, it’s time to go.”
They left the tea shop, stepped out into the narrow street, and that was when she spotted Jalux.
Chapter Six: Betrayal
Jalux stood farther along the street deep in conversation with a small blonde woman. He wore a hooded tunic, but she recognized his profile instantly. “Hey, Jalux,” she called.
The next instant Rial’s mouth was bruising hers.
She tried to push him away, but with one hand tight on the back of her head and the other holding her close, she couldn’t move.
A minute later he released her.
“That hurt.” She rubbed her reddened lips, glaring at him.
“What were you thinking? That he’d look at us and say, oh, those ugly strangers are Kia and Rial in disguise,” he said, his cheeks flushed and his eyes flaring in annoyance.
Chagrined, she mustered an apology. “Sorry, I forgot about the mask thing, but you didn’t have to take advantage.”
“Well, it worked. Now we follow him.”
They watched as Jalux’s friend crossed the street, and shortly after, he set out in the same direction.
“Nagavi,” Rial called softly, “tell Cheydii to bring the transport. Where’s Annnen? Tell him to come down Vahan Row, it’s parallel to the road we’re on.”
Kia blinked as the wizened old man leaning on the wall of the building opposite straightened up. “On it.”
Nagavi joined them, and they followed Jalux, slowing as he turned down a side street. “Annen,” he spoke softly into his subvocom, “he’s turned right. No name, but it’s on your left. Can you see him coming? Okay, five minutes.”
Rial seized her arm and hustled her along.
For galaxy’s sake! Did he think she couldn’t keep up? But she let it go. He would be more than annoyed if she disrupted whatever plan he and Nagavi had hatched. What did they think Jalux had done? As they closed the gap between them and their quarry, she spotted Annen approaching from the other end of the street.
Despite the blond hair and teenage face, something about the stranger’s purposeful demeanor warned Jalux something was up. He turned to flee back the way he’d come to discover another stranger pushing a firearm into his stomach and his escape blocked by a third man.
“I’m warning you, robbing me will get you a death sentence. You can’t touch me. I am one of the Heir’s Chenjerai guard.”
Nagavi punched him in the stomach, and as Jalux doubled over, winded and wheezing for breath, the commander brought the butt of his weapon down on his head, knocking him unconscious.
“What—” Kia read the warning in Rial’s eyes and shut her mouth.
The group hurried along with Annen and Nagavi holding Jalux up and Rial gripping Kia’s arm, keeping her by his side.
“He’s getting his inheritance tomorrow,” Annen told a woman who tugged her children close and hurriedly crossed to the other side of the road when she saw them.
Cheydii was waiting with the doors open and the engine running at the end of a row of flits for hire in a nearby parking lot. The second they tossed Jalux in, Rial shoved her forward, and the rest clambered in and the flyer took off.
Nagavi rolled the unconscious Jalux onto his front, yanked his hands behind his back, and snapped magcuffs on his wrists and ankles. Next, he blindfolded and gagged him. “How far to the city flitport?”
“Coming up ahead,” Cheydii answered as the flit descended sharply.
“Park as near to our transport as possible. Anyone following?”
“Not yet.”
Kia sat squashed next to Rial, with Nagavi and Annen behind, guarding their prisoner. “What has he done wrong?” Jalux was one of the few candidates she’d connected with.
“Not now. The priority is to get out of Djem.”
She snorted, ignoring the sideways look Rial gave her. What was the point in being his consort if she was kept in the dark about everything?
Minutes later, aboard their own transport with Rial piloting, Nagavi in the co-pilot’s seat, Annen watching an unconscious Jalux, who’d been tossed onto the floor, they lifted into the air and set a course for the palace.
“Can’t you tell me what’s going on?” She whispered to Cheydii, hoping for some information.
Rial heard. “I said later, Kia,” he snapped.
She gritted her teeth at the sharpness of his admonishment and glowered at the landscape blurring past underneath them.
“We’ve got company,” Nagavi sounded as he always did. For all the tension bubbling in the air, he could have been asking would you prefer soup or a sandwich for lunch?
“Shall I—” Cheydii began.
“Yes,” Rial answered as she pulled a hefty bag from under her seat. “Give Kia the crossbow and a pulse laser pistol.”
“Two are closing. Another one not far behind,”
Kia’s eyes widened as Cheydii handed out weapons, taking the crossbow and weapon thrust at her and checking them over. At least she would have a chance to defend herself against whoever was following them. Her heartbeat sped up. Oh, yes, she was supposed to protect Rial’s life, wasn’t she? Of course, if he got killed… well, she’d probably be dead, too.
“Hold on,” Rial shouted as a blast rocked the transport. “I’m landing. The aierons are damaged.”
The flit dropped rapidly, and Kia wondered if they were making a crash landing. She glanced out of the window and seconds before they hit the ground, Rial leveled the craft and brought them to a skidding halt in a field of ripening silvery green grain.
He pressed a switch, and a small missile soared upward and hit the third craft. The explosion cracked the air, and debris showered the grain field, too far away to cause them any damage.
“Two have landed,” Annen spoke from behind her, “twelve hostiles on the ground. They’ll attempt an encirclement.”
Rial fired, and another warhead disposed of the second craft in the same way as the first.
Kia wondered whether the local authorities were taking notice of the weapons fire; or was this kind of clash common in Xarunta?
Cheydii handed Rial a long thin-barreled weapon as he opened the door panel. Nagavi and Annen checked pulse guns and laser rods.
“Kia, you’re to stay inside. Fire when you have the opportunity, but I’ll cut your legs off if I see you outside,” Rial ordered. “Understood?”
“Yes,” she huffed. She was trained to take orders, and it wasn�
�t necessary to threaten her like that. Okay, he was protecting her, but he didn’t have to be nasty about it.
“Annen, the other side, Nagavi, the nose, Cheydii, the tail, and I’ll take this section.”
Rial slipped out, and she heard the soft pff of his pulse gun firing as he covered the others while they exited and slid into position.
She crept toward the opening, hunkering down to the left, nerves taut, alert, breathing in the fresh peppery smell of the grain. Realization that this wasn’t a simulation beat loud in her brain. She watched Rial duck down, slide underneath the undercurve of the flit, and lie on his stomach, almost invisible. A sneaking admiration emerged as she watched him aim, and each time another body dropped to the earth. She peeped out, spotting a figure running forward. Training kicked in, and she raised the crossbow, fired, and dodged back behind cover, her heart thudding as her target tumbled and lay unmoving.
“Nice shot,” Rial called out. “Take out the ones on the right. I’ll cover the left.”
“I like the way you think,” she replied, sucking in small breaths as she scrutinized the silvery tips of the grain, looking for any suspicious movement. Sunlight glinted off a barrel, and she shrank back as the sharp ping of a shot clipped the edge of the door.
“Kia?” Rial hissed, sounding panicked.
“Fine.” She peeked out, scanned and spotted the attacker slithering forward under the cover of the grain. He was in her sights and she didn’t even have to expose herself. She aimed, fired, and a bolt thudded into his skull.
Ten minutes and twelve dead men later, Nagavi’s “All clear” floated through the air.
“Annen?” Rial shouted.
“All clear,” came the response.
“This side, too,” Cheydii proclaimed.
“Okay, grab Jalux, check the bodies for any identification, and we’ll take their remaining ship before any reinforcements arrive.”
Kia slung the crossbow over her shoulder and traipsed after Rial, chewing over the fact that she had killed another human being, even if it was in self-defense. More than one. Yet if she hadn’t, she would be the one lying dead among the ripening silvery green grain. She looked around, nervy and jumpy after the buzz of action. “Will they send more?”
“We’re not waiting to find out,” he laughed, his eyes fey.
During the flight, they removed the masks, handing them to Cheydii who deposited them in special bags with great care. Rial gave a code when they were challenged at his estate borders, and the perimeter guards stood down.
Kia hadn’t known they were there, despite flying in and out over the last couple of days.
Rial left her in her quarters and disappeared. She assumed he was supervising Jalux’s questioning and relieved not to be involved. Her mind had started replaying the images of her targets’ bodies falling to the ground after she’d fired her weapon, while the words self-defense repeated themselves over and over.
After showering, she’d calmed down and spotted the little package containing his gift lying on the bed. Had he put it there while she was in the shower? He seemed unable to recognize any boundaries, and she was cross with herself for being pleased, but his gesture touched her. You gave gifts to people who meant something to you. She unwrapped the stiff cloth covering and gazed in wonderment at what he’d found for her. The title ‘Love Poems of Emankora’ was engraved in gold lettering. She opened the book to the page with a plain red bookmark. Liking the feel of the smooth material under her fingertips, she stared at the words she’d spoken to him before—With soft eyes, sweet words and deeds and a kind loving heart. Her mind eased, and she blinked a tear away. He was doing his damnedest to make disliking him difficult. She startled at the sound of someone entering her quarters and pulled the towel up to her chin.
Rial stopped when he came in, his gaze going from her bare shoulders to the opened book. “Get dressed,” he ordered. “I’ll wait outside.”
Good, back to business, she thought, pulling her uniform on and pretending she didn’t hear the tease of disappointment strumming a little tune in the corner of her mind.
Arriving at the hospital, Rial palmed open the door, and she followed him into a small windowless room where Jalux sat strapped in a chair. He stared straight ahead as if he was alone and unaware of Shaba standing behind him with a pulse gun aimed at his head. Bruises bloomed on his right cheek, left eye, and chin, and a cut on his lip dripped blood down his tunic.
Kia stopped by the exit, her back pressed against the wall.
“We’ve implanted a device similar to those my father uses on his guards when he wants total compliance. It saves time and effort. He’s nothing more or less than an obedient robot,” Rial told her. “Tell us, Jalux,” he said, his voice soft and dangerous, “what happened the day your screen stopped working on the field exercise.”
Kia looked at him, startled, her jaw dropping as Jalux related how he’d tracked Kia and disrupted her infoscreen transmission. He was meant to steer her away from the group before killing her, but when she ran, he lost her and had been unable to carry out the plan. Three assassins had been sent to the estate to ensure success but hadn’t made it past the perimeter. She remembered how angry Rial had been when the dragoi hounds caught her, but he hadn’t mentioned the men attempting to kill her.
“Tell us how you killed Red,” Rial continued.
She listened, dreading what Jalux was about to say but honor-bound to bear witness for her friend and hear her killer’s testimony.
“I received instructions—”
“Instructions from who?”
The snarl in Rial’s voice scared her, and she shuffled sideways, putting more space between them.
“The Gadno family.”
“Continue.”
“I was to find out Kia’s schedule and reprogram the schematics to deliver a real strike when she was piloting.”
Rial’s expression echoed his father’s stone-eyed gaze as he held out his hand for Shaba’s firearm.
Kia watched, mesmerized as he put the pulse gun to Jalux’s forehead and shot him. She gaped at the horribly familiar sight of the small round hole before his body slumped forward. Nausea pushed bile up, burning her throat. She kept swallowing, driving it down, refusing to let Rial see her weakness.
“Dispose of the body,” he ordered Shaba, seized Kia’s arm and marched her out of the room.
Shocked by Jalux’s summary execution, she made no protest. Rial’s jaw was so rigid on the trip back to the palace, she wondered if he’d damage his teeth.
Back in his quarters, he strode into the living room, poured himself a large glass of the opaque liquor and downed it in one go. “Do you want a drink?” he asked.
She stood near the door, desperately wanting to be anywhere else but around this volatile and unpredictable person. “No,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Three attacks on your life.” He glared at her. “Whether somebody has uncovered my connections to your family or not, they’re seeking to hurt me through you.” He paced up and down by the window, pausing before he spoke. “I have informed my father of the attack. Even I am not allowed to fire missiles at the population without explanation. All the same, I didn’t expect Jalux’s employers to come after us. They may have assumed they could take us by surprise.” He snorted and paced a bit more. “There is some game afoot here that I’ve not yet figured out, but as we depart tomorrow, I must leave it to others to dig into the matter for me. I take it very seriously when I and mine are threatened.”
“I’m not yours.” She hadn’t meant to say it. He was in battle mode, and she shouldn’t have challenged him, but it popped out—and, for her, it was the truth.
His hooded eyes fixed on her. “According to the laws of the empire, yes, you are. You are property gained through annexation, and mine to do with as I wish, and nobody could gainsay me.” He turned away. “Go to bed, Kia, you look tired.”
A considerate master. What more could she ask for? “Would you like me t
o bow when I leave? Or perhaps you’d prefer it if I prostrated myself?” She didn’t wait for his answer, she’d overstepped the line, and quickened her pace toward the passageway between their rooms.
“Don’t push me, Kia. I am in a dangerous mood and not answerable to you. Get out before I do something we’ll both regret.”
Kia was more than happy to leave, even if sleep remained elusive as the day’s events replayed on her internal vidscreen. How had they known Jalux was up to something and not meeting up with a friend from his home planet? She knew the answer. He was already under surveillance, but they couldn’t have known his destination. Spotting him like that had been fate stepping in. Compared to the loss of Red, finding out his friendliness had been fake was a small hurt, but it was a lesson. She’d never discover his motivation or if he was a willing participant in the political games or not.
Her gaze fell on the book of poems, and she thought of Rial’s contradictory faces: Rial, the charming prince, and Rial, the Destroyer, the man hated and feared as the executor of the emperor’s will. Lightness and darkness. If she wanted to be free of Rial, she had to keep him at bay. Her mother had often spoken of the bond sex created between a couple when a strong emotional connection existed. The bond strengthened and deepened when children were born. She had seen it in her parents, but she and Rial weren’t a normal couple. Maybe she should scrap that part of her plan and concentrate on seeking a way to escape when they reached her home planet. She recalled the lines of the poem, with soft eyes, sweet words and deeds and a kind loving heart. He wasn't doing very well in that department, and yet he wasn’t beyond redemption—he did possess a more thoughtful, considerate aspect—but the longer she stayed shackled to him, the more impossible it would become to gain her freedom.
She’d drifted off to sleep but came wide awake as Rial lay down next to her. She sighed, breathing in his clean scent, and for a second it seemed the most natural thing in the world until her brain froze. What was he doing here? How had he entered her suite without waking her? She was lying on her side, facing away from him. If he believed her to be asleep, maybe he’d give up and return to his own bed, but keeping her breathing slow and rhythmic was near impossible. Why had he promised intimacy or friendship if he couldn’t keep his word? She fought the almost irresistible desire to turn around and punch him. It might make her feel better, but it wouldn’t help the situation, and tonight, she hadn’t a clue what his reaction would be,
Awakening Defiance: (The Saoirse Saga Book 2) Page 5
