by Gwynn White
Thurban chose that moment to taunt. “I warned you, but you chose not to listen.”
Lukan’s entire body trembled as he fought with all his inner strength to maintain his cool façade.
“Admit it, Lukan, you aren’t man enough to handle her,” Thurban’s voice drove through him like nails hammering into his brain.
He had to leave. Now. Before he did something he regretted, something that undid all his years of work on his regal persona. The whole palace knew about his father’s abuse—they’d have to have been blind not to see the cuts and bruises Lukan, Tao, and Axel sported as children, and even into their teens. Lukan had always countered the whispered comments with his perfect control. He could not fail himself now.
Feigning calm, he stood, rocking the table. Lynx’s crystal glass, balanced precariously on the edge, tumbled to the floor. It shattered on the marble tiles, shooting shards of glass across the room. Lynx looked up, first at the crowd at the door. It included Axel. A flush of scarlet swept across her skin, and her eyes dropped to her drum.
Humiliation burst like a storm through Lukan. He strode over and grabbed Lynx’s arm. “I think you’ve played enough. Let’s go.”
Lynx’s flute gave an abrupt whistle as her tune came to an end. A buzz of comment rippled through the watchers. Her face hardened, and she folded her arms around her drum, pressed against her chest. “What? But . . . why?”
“Are you a prince or a low-born?” Thurban demanded. “Drag the Norin out of here. Make her obey.”
Fighting for control, Lukan bent down and hissed in her ear, “Don’t make me drag you out of here.”
Lynx blinked and then demanded loudly so everyone could hear, “Drag me out? Why? What have I done?”
Lukan glanced over at the crowd. Everyone’s eyes—including Axel’s—were on him, watching him being gainsaid by a woman.
Face like granite, Axel’s fists clenched and unclenched.
Lukan didn’t think his cousin would dare interfere, but he had to rescue this situation. And fast.
Then it struck him. Maybe he’d been wrong all these years and regal didn’t only equate to being calm and serene. Crown princes were entitled to get angry, too. It was time Lynx and Axel—and the rest of his watchers—learned that crown princes put rebellious subjects in their place.
His voice rose an octave. “Because I told you to. Now, move.” He fully expected her to obey.
Lynx’s eyes turned icy, and rage mounted on her face. “No one other than my king can give me orders and expect me to obey.”
Her king? How dare she?
She stood and faced him, and he noticed for the first time that they were the same height.
Voice like a whip, he shot back, “There is but one supreme ruler in this empire, and he is not the Norin king. I think it’s time you, and all your kind, learned some respect for the Chenayan throne. My throne.” He grabbed her arm and started dragging her to the door.
Lynx dug her feet into the floor. Still, he pulled her along, making her heels screech across the marble tiles. In a blur of movement, Lynx lifted her drumstick and cracked him across the cheek.
Lukan froze. But it wasn’t just the sting of maple that enraged him.
Lynx had hit him. In public. With Axel watching.
This was worse than anything his father had ever done to him. The ultimate humiliation. And it was unforgivable.
Lukan tore the drumstick from her hand, snapped it in half across his knee, and flung the pieces onto the floor. While she gasped with shock, he lunged behind her and gripped her upper arms. “You’re coming with me. Now.”
She lashed her foot back, clearly intending to impale him with her heel. Her shoe snagged in the hem of her dress. While she wrestled with the fabric—and then with him—Lukan dragged her from the room.
Face blazing with anger, Axel bolted forward.
Lukan preempted any intervention by shoving his cousin’s chest. Before Axel recovered, Lukan propelled Lynx out the door, over to the ballroom, and out onto the veranda.
It was then he noticed her face. It was feral in its fury. Never before had he seen a woman so angry—or so seductive.
It rendered him speechless. He couldn’t fight the compulsion to kiss her.
She punched him on the chin, snapping his head back.
Stunned, it took him a moment to grasp what had happened. It was his childhood all over again, except instead of his father hitting him for missing breakfast, it was a girl!
“You bitch! You’ll pay for that,” he half-slurred, half-stammered. With a last look at her toxic beauty, he fled into the night.
The antlers would have been the far better trophy.
Chapter 24
Axel stumbled from Lukan’s unexpected shove. He found his feet, brushed past the crowds jamming the door, and stormed into the ballroom. It took him seconds to locate Lynx and Lukan on the veranda.
A savage grin slashed his face when Lynx’s fist smashed into Lukan’s jaw. The punch was hard enough to snap Lukan’s head back. Although Lynx could take care of herself, Lukan had gotten off way too lightly for daring to harm her. Without even stopping to analyze his emotions, Axel stalked across the ballroom, cracking his knuckles.
Someone locked onto his arm.
He shook the hand off, but the person skittered behind him and gripped both his biceps.
Then, a voice spoke in his ear. “No, Axel. Beating up the crown prince is not politic, even for you.”
“Stefan. You saw what he did. I won’t tolerate it. Especially not with Lynx.”
His words did nothing to loosen Stefan’s hold. He could have broken free, but that would mean flinging Stefan aside, not something he wanted to do to his best friend. He noticed his coward of a cousin heading away from Lynx toward the stairs leading to the gardens.
Running away, as he always does.
That left Lynx alone on the veranda.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Stef, so I suggest you let me go,” Axel hissed.
Stefan tightened his hold. “I’m aware of what she means to you.” His smooth, calming voice came from behind a snow leopard mask. “I saw it on the train, long before you did. But the risk is too great—for her and for you. Princess Lynx of Norin is Lukan’s betrothed. Not yours. Until that changes, you had better get a lock on that charming Avanov temper.”
Axel sucked in a deep breath. Stefan was right about his temper. The last thing he wanted was to be like his brutal uncle. “What are you saying?”
“Exactly what Lukan saw tonight,” Stefan whispered. “You are in love with Lynx.”
“No!” Axel grimaced at the spike in his voice. Whispering, he added, “You know what this is about. Treven. And I don’t cope well with men beating up on women.” He pulled away, but Stefan tightened his hold on his arms. There was only one way out of this mess. He relaxed his back and shoulders.
“Better,” Stefan said, easing his grip but not releasing him. “Come, let’s get you a drink.”
Axel shook his head. “Alcohol won’t do me any favors.” He allowed Stefan to lead him to the far wall of the ballroom, away from the crowds. It dismayed him to catch heads turning away as he passed; he had made a scene, something he hated doing. Worse, the crowd was already tittering about Lukan and Lynx’s display. His family was in top form tonight.
As it happened, the spot Stefan chose offered him a perfect view of the veranda. Mentally bracing himself, he looked over at Lynx. She paced across the flagstones, her beautiful face crimson with distress. Axel’s fists clenched again because she looked like she wanted to cry.
That was something he never thought he would see.
A flush of heat surged through him. All he wanted was to go to her, to tell her everything would work out. But that would only make things worse for her and dig a deeper hole for himself. While his motives were pure, he was using her to get to Treven.
Am I that different from Lukan?
Why wouldn’t his father just ease up on the
unwanted protection? Axel wasn’t a fool, and he didn’t have a death wish. If anyone could survive Treven long enough to sort the mess out, it was him. Everyone in battle command knew that, too—except his father. If it hadn’t been for Felix, he would never have used his relationship with Lynx as blackmail leverage.
Axel clenched his jaw and then whispered to Stefan, “Forget beating up Lukan. I’ll horse whip myself if Operation Treven backfires and Lynx gets hurt.”
Stefan pulled off his mask, dropped it onto the floor, and faced him. Not that it made much difference. His friend’s face rarely betrayed emotion for the cameras to capture.
Voice little above a whisper, Stefan said, “Axel, you can deny all you want that you are in love with Lynx, but I know the truth.”
Axel grimaced, waving his hand as if brushing away the comment.
Stefan ignored him. “But, regardless of your . . . non-feelings for her, we both understand the risks you’re taking to persuade your paranoid father to do what’s right in Treven. And yes, she” —he gestured to the veranda— “may end up hating you if it all goes wrong. But it has to be done. Someone with brains needs to clean up that mess before any more unnecessary deaths occur. Both ours and theirs. If risking your . . . friendship with Lynx is the price you pay to save thousands, then you must pay it.”
Axel opened his mouth to retort that it was easy for Stefan to say that when he wasn’t the one making the sacrifice, but he stopped himself. The comment would be churlish. Stefan felt things more deeply than any other high-born Axel knew. Typical of him to consider the enemy’s losses as well as their own. Few, including himself, ever considered them. Axel’s tense muscles relaxed even more.
That didn’t stop his emotions roiling as he watched Lynx pounding her fists against the balustrade. He had to berate himself, lest he change his mind and go to her. In the end, he muttered, “It’s some sacrifice, given that I’ve never felt this way about any woman.”
Stefan snorted, an I-told-you-so kind of sound. Then, he added, “That ruby you wear comes with a price. Leadership requires sacrifice.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t know,” Axel said more sharply than he intended. He was nowhere near ready to consider the possibility that he could love her. “I hate being so damn . . . useless. It doesn’t help Lynx, me standing here like a tongue-tied adolescent.”
“Help her?” Stefan asked with a dryness that would snap toast. “Was I the only one who saw her thrash Lukan?”
Axel grinned with pride. “She’s quite something, isn’t she?” His smile faded. “But even someone that ferocious is only as effective as her intelligence. Without knowing how the palace works, how is she to survive, let alone fight back?”
“Bear was supposed to tell her all that,” Stefan said.
“Yes, and he was bloody useless.”
“He was counting on having Lynx and Kestrel stay with him in Cian. Probably no . . . devices at his house. We messed that up for him.”
“Maybe.” Damn Mott and his stupid order to abduct Lynx and her sister. Axel kicked the heel of his boot against the wall. “I’ve got to talk to her. It’s the least I can do.”
“Telling her about the . . . things watching her is too risky, Axel.”
But Axel wasn’t listening. Lynx had stopped pacing, and he guessed any minute now, she would spot him. He wanted to be alone when that happened. Hopefully, she’d be encouraged to come to him, so he could offer her insight into his father’s technology.
First, he had to distract Stefan.
A scan of the ballroom revealed Malika. She watched a pair of knife jugglers with desultory interest. He shot a look at Stefan and made a decision. Axel nudged his friend with his elbow and gestured to his sister. “Look after her for me.”
Stefan beamed—if a slight upturn of his lips could be called beaming. “You’re finally giving me permission to court your sister?”
Axel turned a mocking smile on his friend. “Astonishing, isn’t it?” Axel asked. “Mess with her like I’m messing with Lynx, and I will kill you.”
Stefan smacked him on the shoulder. “We both know that will never happen.”
“What? You messing with her or me killing you?”
“Both.” Stefan started toward Malika and then stopped. He turned to face Axel. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?”
“Do I ever?”
Stefan’s eyebrows twitched, a sure sign of worry. “Please remember what’s at stake here. For all of us.” He didn’t wait for a reply before heading off toward Malika, which was just as well, as Axel hadn’t planned on giving him one.
In an effort to control his wildly beating heart, Axel folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall, waiting for Lynx to notice him.
Chapter 25
Lynx collapsed back against the balustrade, the fire doused from her soul. Since her earliest childhood, everything she’d ever done had been motivated by a desire to protect her family and her people, but now, when her loyalty and obedience mattered, she’d failed them.
Spectacularly.
Her pulse raced as images of imperial guardsmen swarming into the Norin camp, killing everyone, ran rampant through her mind. Could she not have controlled her temper, and her hatred, long enough to give Mott the grandson he wanted? Would it have been so difficult to pretend that she liked being manhandled like a sack of ostrich feathers?
She gagged at the thought.
Lukan was clearly as mad as his father. Nothing in her life had prepared her to be the wife of a man like that. She was a warrior, not a playmate to be abused and controlled. Sadly, despite the oaths that bound her, the idea of killing him was much more agreeable than submitting to him. Her head dropped to her chest, and tears threatened.
Crying helped no one. She jerked upright and looked around, wondering how long before guardsmen arrived to haul her before Mott. Whatever happened, she’d go down fighting. Muscles tensed, she leaned against the balustrade, took a deep breath, and waited.
It was then she noticed Axel, also alone, leaning on the wall on the far side of the crowded ballroom. His raised eyebrows told her he’d been waiting for her to notice him. He grabbed two goblets from a passing waiter and held one out to her.
She turned away and searched the crowd for Kestrel. She was with Tao and a group of his friends Tao was kind enough to include his betrothed in his life.
Instead of introducing her to his friends, Lukan had ignored her all day and then tried to hog her company tonight. She considered taking Kestrel away so they could talk, but her sister would be no ally in a matter with Lukan. Regardless, as soon as the ball was over, she would tell Kestrel what happened.
Her eyes swept the ballroom, looking for her uncle so she could warn him of the emperor’s threats—and apologize for hitting Lukan. He was missing. She guessed he was in the gambling room, petitioning the emperor.
Drawn like a magnet, her attention drifted back to Axel. He looked at her expectantly. With no one else to call on, she made her way through the dancers to join him. From the snatches of whispered conversations she heard, the entire room was discussing her fight with Lukan.
Axel handed her a goblet. “What an entertaining evening, Princess. We’ve had both music and drama.”
She took a gulp of mead and drooped against the wall next to him. “Please don’t mock me, Axel.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not in the mood.”
“Feeling vulnerable, are we?”
Lynx sighed at the notion that anyone need use the word vulnerable in reference to her.
Axel smiled, a genuine one without any of his usual derision. “Cheer up, Lynxie. You’re also a fighter, so I can assure you, the vulnerability will soon pass.” He took a swig of his mead. “Whether Lukan recovers as quickly remains to be seen.”
“If it were only that dolt, I wouldn’t be concerned. But I hardly think the emperor will be ecstatic about our little display of temper.”
He turned to face her. “Don’t worry about him. Not now anyway. He never attends balls. Tonight, he’s busy gambling away the empire’s gold reserves.”
Lynx’s tension eased—slightly. “So when will he learn about this evening’s escapade?”
“You probably have until morning.”
“Wonderful. It doesn’t look like I’ll be getting any sleep tonight.”
What would the emperor do with her? Lock her in a dungeon? Feed her to the wolves? Anything was possible after she’d publicly announced that her first and only loyalty was to the Norin king. And she’d also punched his precious son.
Axel’s cajoling voice brought her back to the present. “Lynxie, you said it yourself, he wants a grandson. He won’t hurt you until you deliver. Now, Lukan, on the other hand—”
“Will probably never speak to me again. And, despite everything I feel about the idiot, that is a serious problem.”
“Not as serious as you think. My cousin is like a trained circus monkey. He will do exactly what his father tells him.” A wicked smile. “So, we’ve sorted out Lukan and the emperor. What else could worry you at such a high-spirited party?”
“High-spirited? Are you ever serious, Axel?”
“Not at balls. I make that a rule. Now what’s up?”
“I’m alone in a world of strangers.” She sighed, knowing how melodramatic that sounded.
“Strangers? So, what does it take to be your friend, Lynx? We shared a week on a train, a delicious palace breakfast. Admittedly, you ate almost nothing. And a brisk morning ride. Yet you find our acquaintance insufficient to elevate me from stranger to friend? This doesn’t have anything to do with my hair and eye color does it?”
Lynx bit her lip to suppress a smile. Funny that Axel’s dark Chenayan looks didn’t worry her at all. Why didn’t she feel that way about Lukan? It would have made life so simple.
But it was never to be.
Lukan wasn’t Axel. No matter his rank or his handsome face and body, Lukan didn’t have the power to send a squadron of tingles fluttering through her whenever he looked at her.
