The Red Queen

by Meg Xuemei X

  She looked around. She was in a barren terrain, the sun blocked by vast, red wings. She broke into a run when a predator dove toward her with menacing purpose.

  It struck her, knocking her to the ground. The wings became an endless red, ensnaring her. Air, she needed air, but couldn’t break through the thick net. Someone called her name. It was Kian, her protector! He called urgently at first, then his voice trailed off, as if saying farewell.

  Kian! Lucienne’s senses spiked. He was in danger, and she must go to him! But this darkness, this redness, prevented her from reaching him. No! She screamed. She’d burn it. She’d burn anything that stood between her and Kian. She raised her hand and summoned her power.

  The dark, red predator fluttered away before her power came.

  Lucienne blinked. She was in the hallway in her home with her guards.

  They looked alarmed. Accompanying her was like walking with a tigress that could turn on them at any time. As her frantic breathing slowed, she nodded to them. “I’m okay now,” and watched relief wash over them.

  This was the first time she’d slipped into insanity for mere seconds and come back, all because of her determination to reach Kian.

  “How did it happen?” She fixed her gaze on Duncan, keeping her voice calm.

  “Chief planned his own capture,” said Duncan.

  “Why?” she asked, though she’d pieced everything together.

  Kian had gone straight to the Sealers for the cure because she was running out of time. Who didn’t want Kian McQuillen, Sphinxes’ number one commander and the Siren’s ultimate guardian?

  She’d tried to prevent Ashburn from leaving, so she’d demanded Kian send his best man to search for the last scroll. Who was a better man than Kian? “I’ll sacrifice everyone,” he’d said, “including myself, for you.”

  She’d condemned him without realizing it.

  Her every action caused catastrophe. Kian had once put it in the kindest way: “From the moment you were born, Lucienne Lam, you were at the center of the war.”

  If she hadn’t hunted Ash for his TimeDust, Orlando, Cam, and the other warriors would have lived. The chain reaction also cost Captain Marloes her life. If she hadn’t bested all the boy candidates and taken the Siren’s seat at the age of eight, the decades of the Lam family war could have been averted.

  Seraphen had called her the catalyst. He’d been desperate to erase her for the safety of the world. Maybe the creature had been right? But how could she not be what she was born to be? How could she not pursue Eterne and a new future for humankind after being molded into who she was?

  For Ashburn’s sake, she turned her back on her Siren’s call, and all things went south. War kept finding her and her men.

  She might stand at its center, but she would not cost Kian. She would never lose him. But she might have already lost him.

  Lucienne commanded herself to stay calm—she needed a cool head more than ever—but she couldn’t keep herself from trembling. When she stepped out of the house, in desperate need of fresh air, her guards had gathered outside, waiting for her command. News travelled fast. They’d all heard about Kian’s capture. And she was the last to know.

  Thaddeus moved toward her. He steadied her and let her lean on him. “We’ll get him back, cousin.”

  Tears flowed from Lucienne’s eyes. The tears were clear. She had her sanity in check. She’d succeeded, for the first time, in pushing back the red wave. She wouldn’t allow herself to slip. Not while Kian was in mortal danger. She wiped her tears and stepped away from her cousin. “Chief McQuillen has been taken,” she said, facing her guards. “I’m assembling a rescue team.”

  “We’ll go on your behalf, Siren,” said Adam, the captain of the guards.

  “No, I’ll lead the team,” Lucienne said.

  Heavy silence fell in the air until Adam broke it. “I’ll round up a special task force.” He knew no one could talk her out of this. She’d burn the river dry if anyone put it between her and Kian.

  Lucienne collected her guards and went to see her generals. She outranked them, but she still needed to go through them to rescue Kian. She could no longer do what she wanted, when she wanted, like she did two years ago when Sphinxes was nothing near being a nation. It had a system now, and she had to respect it.

  A heated argument stopped abruptly as Lucienne entered the castle’s underground conference room. Admiral Enberg, General Fairchild, Director Pyon, and other high-ranking officers snapped to attention and saluted her. She waved a hand to dismiss their formality. “I see you’re having an emergency meeting,” she said as General Fairchild stepped down and let her have the head seat at the table. “I’m curious why I wasn’t invited to your big boys’ club.”

  After a slow, awkward silence, Admiral Enberg spoke, “We think it’s best not to get you involved.”

  “You think it’s best?” Lucienne asked. “Am I not your Siren anymore?”

  “You’re forever our Siren,” said Enberg. “Because of that, we can’t risk you.”

  “If you try to make me a figurehead,” Lucienne said, “it won’t work. Many have tried before you and failed miserably.”

  “We won’t try, Siren,” General Fairchild said. “You’re our warrior queen. But while we’re capable of fighting for you, we’re more comfortable when you aren’t on the battlefield where the bullets can hit you. If we lose you, we lose our cause for fighting.”

  The other officers agreed vehemently.

  “Smooth talk and manipulation never work on me,” Lucienne said, ignoring the few officers double-checking her white suit. She’d never talked to her officers like this, but they hadn’t treated her as their leader ever since she’d started having mental collapses. They treated her like a dangerous, mad teenage girl who happened to be highborn. “What happened to Chief McQuillen?” she asked curtly.

  “I assume you’ve heard part of the story,” said Pyon.

  “As I happened to be the last to know,” she said, “I plan to be the first to bring him home.”

  “Chief sacrificed himself for you,” General Fairchild said. “If you throw yourself at the Sealers, then his sacrifice will be for nothing.”

  “Who gave you the impression that I’m just going to toss myself at the feet of my enemy?” Lucienne asked. “And Chief McQuillen’s sacrifice is for nothing! He won’t get what he went for—the cure. There is no need to pretend anymore, gentlemen. You’re wary of me because I can go mental in an instant, but you’re forgetting I always come back. If you can’t deal with a half-mad me, then you shouldn’t stay in Sphinxes. The land is mine. The door is wide open. As long as you don’t align yourself with my enemies, you won’t be mine.”

  “You’re right, Siren,” Admiral Enberg said. “It doesn’t benefit our cause that we keep pretending. Insane or not, you’re our Siren and always will be.”

  “We’re with you to the end,” the officers swore, though not General Fairchild.

  “How can you get your act together if there’s no cure for your sanity?” Fairchild asked.

  Admiral Enberg snarled at the general, but Fairchild kept his cool. “Our Siren just said there’s no need to pretend. I believe she prefers we speak our minds.”

  “I do,” Lucienne said. “However, I won’t tolerate disrespect.”

  “I’d never disrespect you, my Siren,” said General Fairchild.

  “I’m not an invalid, despite my condition,” Lucienne said. “I’ll keep contributing and building Sphinxes. It’s my home.” She looked into the eyes of each officer in turn and let the power of persuasion roll off her. She’d had this power even before Forbidden Glory had marked her. She was extracting it from herself, so the unstable Forbidden Glory had no reason to turn on her right now and send her to the insane land in front of her officers. But she knew she was walking on thin ice. “We’re going through this crisis because I was poisoned, because Chief McQuillen was taken, because we haven’t vanquished our old enemies and the new ones have spro
uted up. Now more than ever is the time to test excellent character and loyalty. Yours and mine. Without honor, we’re nothing. I won’t let any man without it serve in Sphinxes.”

  Lucienne saw awe on the officers’ faces as they bowed to her. They’d felt her power.

  “We’ll walk through fire with you, Siren,” the officers said.

  “You have my loyalty, as well,” Lucienne said. “We’ll be one people and one nation.”

  This was the first time she officially promised them that they would be a nation. She must do anything to keep Sphinxes together.

  The officers pressed their fists against their hearts. Before they renewed their loyalty to her, Lucienne said, “One condition. Sphinxes won’t be a country without Chief McQuillen. Help me get him back.”

  “We’ll use every power we have to bring our chief home,” Director Pyon said.

  “I’ll head to Berlin with the team that accompanied me to Russia and Polynesia,” Lucienne said. “It’s time I pay our captured Sealer elder a visit.” She gestured for one of Kian’s top aides to collect her team outside.

  Adam led the men in.

  “Siren, I bid you to reconsider leading the rescue,” Admiral Enberg said. “We have special task forces and capable team leaders ready to go in your place.”

  Lucienne swirled toward the admiral, eyes burning with fury. “Then why didn’t you act when your chief was taken over a week ago?”

  “We’re waiting for his signal,” Enberg said. “We’re executing his plan.”

  “He didn’t plan to come back in one piece,” Lucienne said icily. “Before you get his signal, he could be dead!”

  “Let our Siren take the lead,” General Fairchild said. “This action can be good for Lucia’s health. She needs to have something to do other than sit in the house.”

  Was her general being condescending?

  “Fine, you lead the team,” Enberg said, “under one condition.”

  “Are there ever no strings attached?” Lucienne said drily.

  “You bring only two of your guards,” Enberg said. “We’ll handpick the best men from special forces for you. They’re specially trained for rescue missions.”

  Lucienne regarded her guards. Everyone looked overzealous.

  “You won’t leave me behind, cousin,” Thaddeus said, using the family card.

  “I’m the captain of your guards,” Adam said. “I go wherever you go.”

  “Wait!” Duncan said. “I’ve been with the Siren from the start. I’m going.”

  The rest of the guards eagerly gave reasons why the Siren should pick them.

  “I’ll bring Adam and Duncan,” Lucienne said. Then over Thaddeus’ look of betrayal and hurt, she sighed. “And my cousin. I have another use for him.”

  “The team isn’t an issue,” Pyon said, locking eyes with Lucienne. “The problem is we lost Chief McQuillen’s whereabouts. The Sealers took out the tracer in him after they transported him to the third location.”

  “Where is the third location?” asked Lucienne.

  “Egypt-Libya border,” Pyon said.

  “Hanz, the head of Berlin ops, said the Sealers sent the chief to Abaddon 5 in North Korea,” one of Kian’s aides said.

  Abaddon 5? Lucienne drew a sharp breath, and fire burned in her blood. “I’ll turn that communist country upside down to get Kian out.”

  “The Sealers have had a change of plans,” Pyon said. “They were supposed to put the chief in Abaddon 5 since it’s where they traditionally put their high-profile prisoners, but they moved him further away from North Korea. The enemy’s intention is unknown. My best guess is they moved him to a military center on the border of Libya. The Sealers have close ties with jihadists.”

  General Fairchild pounded the table. “We’ll bomb the terrorist army!”

  “Send two rescue teams,” Lucienne said. “Team A to North Korea; Team B to Libya. Alert all continental ops. Kian can be anywhere. Wherever he is, we’ll find him. I’m going with Team B. Set it up now. We don’t have time to lose.”

  “Let’s not rush into the fray,” General Fairchild said. “We’ll draw a solid plan, including bombing military bases. Sphinxes can spare hundreds of warplanes. We take out the jihadists’ bases first.”

  “There’ll be absolutely zero air-to-ground bombs,” Lucienne said. “There’ll be no rockets, no nerve gas, and no grenades. We do a conventional ground assault. You can level the place to ashes afterwards, but while Kian is there, we don’t blow the place sky-high. I don’t want any blast to hit him by chance.”

  “There’ll be no air raid on these two holding facilities,” Pyon agreed. “Our ops will attack the Sealers’ thirty outposts and military bases, so our enemy won’t know our true target.”

  “We have a plan,” Lucienne said. “Let’s act.”

  “Hold back a few more days,” Enberg said. “We must give Kian time to obtain the intel for the antidote while he’s in the enemy’s keep. That’s one part of the initial plan we need to stick to.”

  “I don’t care about the cure,” Lucienne exploded. “We need to get Kian out this very minute!”

  “Lucia.” Pyon, who stood at Lucienne’s right side, placed his hand on her arm. His voice had a calming effect, almost like Kian’s. Lucienne evened her breath. If she lost control, a slice of insanity would kick in. And if she had a lapse right now, the officers would fight tooth and nail to stop her from marching out of Sphinxes.

  Lucienne swallowed hard and composed herself.

  “We’ll get him back, I promise,” Pyon said, “but you’ll not rush in. You won’t put yourself and the teams in jeopardy. Can you do that, Lucia?”

  Lucienne nodded.

  “I sent a team to Tibet to retrieve Prince Vladimir,” Pyon said, “but they haven’t returned. I need Duncan to go to Tibet now.”

  Everyone had been avoiding mentioning Ashburn and Vladimir, afraid the topic would trigger her mental meltdown. She hadn’t asked their whereabouts either, not wanting to hear one heartbreaking report after another. Unable to rein in her insanity had brought out her insecurity. So she’d assumed the worst—both Vladimir and Ashburn had fled from her.

  “What is Prince Vladimir doing in Tibet?” she asked, her heart banging in her chest, her face a blank mask.

  Pyon gave her a look. “Seeking the antidote.”

  “I doubt the monasteries have it,” Lucienne said. “I was there searching for a different item a couple years ago.”

  She and Vladimir had taken the second scroll—the holy sentinel of Tibet. The Lama had declared, “When the One uses the holy scroll for his personal gains, he’ll sweep away the old world and its traditions in a maelstrom. His power will increase, but the world will sink into the third Dark Age.”

  It wasn’t he but she who had taken the holy scroll. Did the Lama realize that? None of the Khampa warriors had pursued her and Vladimir after they’d escaped, though they’d warned her that they were the army of light that would purge the world’s dark power at all cost. Guess they hadn’t made up their minds if she was light or dark.

  “You can’t blame Prince Vladimir for trying,” Pyon said. “He was with the monks when he was twelve. He said the seven saints left behind the knowledge of a healing ritual.”

  Lucienne shook her head. It was another futile effort. “What do you need Vladimir for?”

  “To lure the elder’s daughter,” Pyon said. “Miss Bayrose Thorn is the new speaker for the Sealers founder. She’s the most valuable among all the elders. We’ll use her in exchange for Kian if all goes south.”

  Vladimir had once sacrificed Bayrose for her. Would he do it again? The psychopath Schmidt had told Vladimir in the temple, “Miss Thorn didn’t completely betray you, Prince. You used her first, but she’s better at it. She knew you never truly cared about her. You’d hurt any girl for your one true love. We’re much alike.”

  How far had Vladimir gone with the elder girl to gain her trust?

  “And you count on Miss
Thorn’s feelings for Vladimir?” Lucienne asked. “Feelings are a flickering thing. If you bet on them, you might fail to lure the Sealer girl.” She was referring to Vladimir’s fleeting feelings for her.

  “We have to try,” Pyon said. “And Prince Vladimir will do what we ask of him.”

  The subject of Vlad invoked such pain and longing in Lucienne that she fought to stay focused. She turned to the generals, her face remaining neutral. “The jihadists are well-trained fighters.”

  “Our men are better,” Enberg said. “But we’ll need to borrow a handful of experts from Operation Desert Storm Nine for this ground rescue. The US Navy in the Mediterranean has put their most advanced surveillance aircrafts into use for us.”

  “Our old friends, the tribal leaders at the desert, will be our guides,” said Pyon.

  “Good.” Lucienne nodded. “My team and I are leaving for Berlin immediately.”

  “Siren,” General Fairchild called before Lucienne made her exit, “there’s one last problem.”

  Lucienne arched a brow.

  “What if you lapse in the field?” Fairchild asked. “You can’t control your medical condition.”

  All heads turned to Lucienne.

  “Thaddeus will incapacitate me before that happens. I’ve taught him how,” Lucienne said coldly. “I’ll not jeopardize this mission.”

  Thaddeus would knock her out cold at the first sign of a lapse, before she could summon her power. She’d informed him that if he timed it wrong, Forbidden Glory would burn him. She was sorry that she had to ask her cousin to do this, but she was out of options.

  “You can trust me, cousin,” Thaddeus had said. “I won’t let you down.”

  If only she could trust herself and not let Kian and her men down.

  “Anything else, gentlemen?” she asked. Over their silence, she turned to Adam. “Captain, inform the base we’re taking Valkyrie and Chameleon II. We’re leaving in the next hour.”

  CHAPTER 9

  BERLIN

  Lucienne stepped into the sitting room of the Berlin safe house, leaving her team and Berlin agents outside the door. Nickolas Poles was having afternoon tea and snacks and complaining about the teabag.