Diva (Jit'Suku Chronicles)

by Bianca D’Arc

  He stopped before a long couch, raising her hand to his lips and holding her gaze.

  “The moment I saw your vid image and heard your beautiful voice, I thought perhaps there might be something there. It’s why I have invited you here, to me, repeatedly.” He kissed her hand gently, then let go. “But you are not the woman for me. You’ll never know how sorry I am.” He sat so she could and leaned back, sighing deeply. “I would have liked children, you see, and a female to share my life, my triumphs...and my burdens.”

  Tren was surprised when the small woman reached out to touch his hand. His eyes opened into hers, and the compassion he read there nearly overwhelmed him. She understood all too well, his desire for a mate. Perhaps...

  But no. The mate bond could not be forced.

  “Your Majesty,” Maggie began carefully. The man seemed so open, so vulnerable, but she knew it had to be only one facet of this complex ruler. She saw an opening and took it. She might never have this opportunity again. “I accepted your invitation with an ulterior motive of my own, I’m sorry to admit. There’s a man—a soldier—who was captured by your forces. I’ve heard he was taken here to Solaris Prime, and I’ve come to see if you won’t release him to me. Or at least let me see him.” She dropped gracefully off the couch, coming to rest on her knees before the enemy emperor. If begging was what it took to see John, that’s what she’d do, and more. Whatever it took. “Please, Your Majesty.” Tears came to her eyes. “Please let me see him.”

  The emperor watched her for long moments. She could feel his eyes on her like laser sights, but she kept her head down in supplication.

  “What is the man’s name?” he asked a long last.

  Maggie dared a look up at the emperor, hope in her eyes. “Captain John Starbridge.” She saw recognition flare just briefly in the emperor’s eyes. He was so open to her now, when she imagined such a powerful man was rarely vulnerable to anyone.

  “I’ll let you see him, but I cannot release him.”

  Maggie kissed the emperor’s hand. She just needed to know where John was being kept. The rest, she and Binki could accomplish on their own.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Diva performed that night for the emperor and a group of his closest friends and associates. It was a large gathering, in the grand audience chamber of Tren’s palace. Maggie was duly impressed by the room, the acoustics, the security and the emperor himself. He really did seem to enjoy her music. His eyes lit as she sang to him, and while she hadn’t planned it, she decided to play Warrior’s Lament for him. It had just been recorded and was due for release in her home galaxy soon, but as John had suggested, all the proceeds from this particular song would go to military widows and orphans charities.

  The emperor struck her as a warrior—or at least a man who had gone through the training and knew what it meant when he gave the order to invade or fall back. One had only to look at the way he carried himself, the way he moved, to realize he could probably be quite deadly when he chose to be. Having grown up with a warrior father, Maggie respected that in a man, and she found herself respecting, albeit grudgingly, the enemy emperor more than she ever thought she would.

  She played her special song for him, and his eyes narrowed a bit at her, though he was too well trained to display any more emotion that that in public. After the concert though, when the guests had gone and it was just them alone, he brought up the subject of her song and complimented it.

  “Ours is a warrior race,” he said contemplatively. “Your Lament would touch a great many hearts among my people, I am certain. As it touched mine.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.” She accepted the glass of sparkling wine he gave her and toasted the man as he did in return. “I wrote that song as a tribute to my father. Originally, I had no plans to ever release it. I didn’t want to profit by my father’s death. But John Starbridge suggested I donate the proceeds to those who’ve lost loved ones in the wars, and I’ve arranged for it to be done. The recording should be available shortly in my home galaxy.”

  “A worthy cause…” he saluted her with his wineglass, “…and an intelligent man to suggest such a solution.”

  “John is simply the best, Your Majesty.” She feared her heart was in her eyes, but perhaps showing a bit of vulnerability to this man would aid her cause.

  The emperor put down his wineglass. “Please call me Tren when we are alone. So few people do.”

  Maggie looked away. She’d never thought to be on a first-name basis with the emperor of the jit’suku. Would wonders never cease?

  “Tren.” She turned back to him, gauging his reaction. Would he try to seduce her now? Or was he truly a man of honor, as she suspected? “When can I see John?”

  The emperor raised his hand and stroked her cheek. Could she have been wrong about him? Was this the prelude to a forced seduction?

  The emperor sighed heavily. “Do you love him so much?”

  Maggie closed her eyes tight. How could she reveal so much to this man, her people’s sworn enemy?

  But she had no choice. She would do anything to save John. Deliberately, she nodded and opened her eyes.

  “I will never love another as truly as I love him.”

  Tren looked deep into her eyes, seeking something there, but what he looked for, she didn’t know. After a moment, he rose to his feet, and she followed suit.

  “Follow me. I’ll take you to him.”

  Tren led her through the palace to a lower level that had to be several stories below ground. This area of the huge castle looked ancient, and, indeed, he told her this part of the palace dated back thousands of years to the first emperors of Solaris Prime—the planet from which all jit’suku originated.

  The stone was heavy and damp in places, but the lighting and furnishings were modern. As were the cells.

  When they came to one in particular, the emperor and his guards stood back. One went forward to unlock the door.

  And there he was.

  “John!” Maggie couldn’t help but gasp his name when she saw him.

  As the cell creaked open, Maggie ran through the doorway and into John Starbridge’s surprised embrace. He staggered a bit under the force of her loving assault. Maggie pulled back in alarm, but John’s strong arms tightened around her, holding her close.

  “Maggie, my love, you shouldn’t have come.”

  “How could I not?” Tears fell freely down her face. “Are you all right? How bad have they hurt you?”

  “Not bad.” He looked down at her. Wide thumbs reached up to stroke the tears from her cheeks. “I’m fine. But are you okay? Did they guarantee you safe passage? The emperor is a man of honor, if nothing else.”

  “I’m glad you would say so, considering.” Tren Savedra’s voice cut through the gloom of the dungeon as he appeared in the doorway. No fewer than six guards stood between the emperor and the couple in the cell.

  John put Maggie behind him, protecting her from the emperor’s gaze. John was hurt, she could see now, but still, he put her safety before his own. There were half-healed welts on his bare back as if he’d been whipped. Maggie placed her hands on his shoulders, biting back a cry of indignation that John had been treated so poorly.

  “But not to worry. Diva and her entourage are guaranteed safe passage through my domain. I give you my word, Captain Starbridge, one warrior to another, Diva will come to no harm by my order. She is free to go when she wishes to depart.”

  John’s stance relaxed only fractionally, but Maggie could tell from the easing of the cords in his powerful neck and shoulders that he believed the emperor. She did too.

  “Why are you doing this?” John’s voice was a deadly growl that sent shivers down even her spine.

  “If you mean why I allowed her to come, she has long had a standing invitation to play her music for me and my court. If you ask why I allowed her to visit you—” the emperor shrugged, “—she asked.”

  “Why are
you torturing him?” Maggie stepped out from behind John's massive shoulders, accusation in her tone. John tried to reach for her and stop her words, but she would have none of it. “He has whip marks on his back.”

  “And other injuries too, I’d imagine,” the emperor agreed with a sigh. “My men report he is not a cooperative subject. If he’d just tell us what we want to know, all this would be over.”

  “I will never betray my kind.” John’s growl was almost feral, and Maggie felt it down in her bones.

  His phrasing was odd as well. He didn’t say he wouldn’t betray humanity or his men. Instead, he specifically said his kind. Did that mean Tren really was as interested in the Enhanced genetics program as her sources seemed to indicate?

  “John Starbridge is the most honorable, most noble man I know,” she said with some heat. “He’ll never betray his people. You’d have to kill him.”

  Tren’s eyes snapped coldly. “That is still a possibility.” The emperor paused and backed off, verbally at least. “But we are learning many things from the captain, even without his willing cooperation. He heals much faster than any human we’ve ever studied, and his genetics are very close to our own. Interesting, wouldn’t you say, Diva?”

  The emperor’s gaze narrowed on her as if he knew her deepest secret, but she brazened it out. Not even John knew the truth about her heritage, and she’d damn sure tell her lover before she told her enemy.

  “She has nothing to do with any of this.” John tried to tug her back behind him, but she stood her ground, lacing her fingers with his in a show of solidarity.

  Tren smiled slyly. “Oh, there, I believe, you are quite wrong, Captain. Diva is much more than you know. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface, and already, I see there is much more to her than meets the eye. For example…” the emperor leaned negligently against the doorframe, “…her father.”

  “What could you possibly know about my father?” Cold chills ran down her spine. Tren wasn’t just bluffing. He knew something. She could feel it, taste it in the air.

  “I met him once, many years ago. I wasn’t emperor then, of course, merely a young captain manning a warship out near the rim of our galaxy when a small human fighter ship appeared in an unstable region of space. We brought him aboard and had a chance to interrogate him for a few hours before he managed to escape from under no less than twelve fully armed guards. I often asked myself how a mere human could manage that?”

  “My father disappeared.” Maggie’s knees shook as she faced the man.

  “In the Pyramid. Yes, I know. So he told me under interrogation. He also carried this photo in his wallet.” Tren flipped a holodisc toward her that she caught reflexively, startled to see a family snapshot of her mother, father and herself as a young girl. “I’ve had my spies watching his family ever since. Your family, Diva. Or should I say, Magdalena?”

  Maggie felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Tren knew far more than she could ever have guessed. If what he said was true, her father might still be out there somewhere, alive!

  And she’d been watched by the jits for many, many years. Surely the emperor knew she was a spy as well. He seemed to know just about every other one of her deepest secrets.

  “Why?”

  Tren shrugged. “At first, curiosity. I wanted to know how this one human could outwit and outfight a dozen of my best men. I also admit to being curious about the man’s family and the pretty little girl in that photo. I always imagined she’d grow into a beautiful woman, and you didn’t disappoint, Magdalena. No, in fact, you far surpassed my expectations.” Tren smiled fondly, and Maggie felt an odd sort of benevolence from the enemy ruler. “I admit also to feeling a bit of guilt when your father never returned to you. I would have questioned him and let him go, but he escaped and was swallowed right back into that unstable jumpoint. If and where he ever came out, I doubt I’ll ever know, though all my ships have standing orders to notify me if they ever find him. Jit’suku warriors do not leave their women unprotected.”

  “So you’ve been watching me all this time?”

  Tren shrugged. “I felt some obligation for failing to keep him secure. It would have been different if he had died honorably in war, but an enemy prisoner is in a different class altogether. They are to be kept alive and returned in good condition when no longer useful. My duty was clear. If my men hadn’t failed to hold him, he would have been returned to you. As it was, it was my fault you grew up fatherless, and for that, I will forever owe you the benefit of my protection.”

  Maggie faltered, but John was there to catch her, dragging her back against his chest, supporting her with his strength. Tren straightened and stepped back.

  “I will leave you now. Stay as long as you like. I regret I cannot let the captain out of this cell, for I learned my lesson with your father. No prisoner has ever escaped me since.” The emperor winked and left, his soldiers going with him as the door shut behind them.

  She was alone with John, but she knew they’d be listening and watching. Defiantly, Maggie pulled a small device from her pocket and switched it on.

  “Jamming?” John asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned in his arms. His smile warmed her like sunshine after a week of rain.

  She had something to tell him, and she couldn’t go another minute until he knew the truth about her.

  “John, I’m Dalen.”

  He kissed her lips lightly, almost teasingly. “Yeah, I’d worked that out. Magdalena.” He moved in for another kiss, deeper this time and more enticing. When he finally moved back, they were both breathing hard. “Oh, I needed that. I can’t ever get enough of you, Maggie mine, but this can never be.”

  He let her go completely then, moving back to the hard cot at the back of the cell.

  “Why, John?” She thought she knew what he would say, but she needed to hear the words.

  “Maggie, I’m Enhanced. That means I can never marry. Never have kids.”

  “I know what it means, John. And I’ve known for a long time that you were Enhanced.”

  “How?” He seemed truly nonplussed that she’d taken his announcement so well.

  “Oh, Captain, Dalen the infamous spy knows all sorts of things. You’re not the first Enhanced soldier I’ve ever met. I’ve known about the program for a very long time and have come to rely on Enhanced personnel more often than most when I need to get messages through non-standard channels.”

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” The way he looked at her made her feel pretty amazing, that she knew for sure. But they didn’t have a lot of time here.

  “So are you. Now, listen. I’m not leaving here without you. When the time comes, be ready.” She whispered her plea in his ear, unwilling to let her message be overheard.

  Her jamming device would take care of electronic means of detection, but there could still be someone standing just outside the door, listening to their every word. Sometimes, the old tricks were still the best tricks.

  John pulled away sharply, meeting her gaze, a scowl on his face. “No way, Maggie. I don’t want you to put yourself in any more danger than you already have. I want you to get back in your ship and fly away as fast as you can. I want you safe at home.”

  “While you rot in a dungeon?” she whispered, furious. “No way. No how.” She cupped his cheek, looking deep into his eyes. “Besides, I’m Dalen. You know I can do this. I’ve got skills.” She slid her lips over his. “I’m so glad you figured it out. It was never hard to keep my secret before, but since I met you, I’ve wanted to tell you so many times.”

  She lost herself in kissing him then, taking control of the kiss that started out soft and soon escalated into something almost desperate. They had to stop. Anyone could walk in, and they were too vulnerable here. But it felt so good to be in John’s arms again.

  He backed off before she did, breaking the kiss but hugging her close.

  “Maggie mine, you have to go. I don’t want you risking yourself for me,” he tried again, but she wasn’t
budging.

  “Sorry, Captain.” She shook her head, clearly not sorry, but willing to tease him a bit, even under such dire circumstances. “I know you got more than you bargained for when you got involved with me, but now, you’re just going to have to deal with it.” She smiled, hoping to see him smile too, but his expression was grim.

  “I love every facet of you,” he said simply, flooring her with the honesty in his gaze. “I admire your capability, but by the same token, I fear it. I don’t like the chances I know you’ve taken in the past or the ones you’re probably taking right now. Dealing with Dalen was easier before I knew who it was. You’re going to have to give me a bit of time to adjust.” There was a smile, finally. She rallied at his words. He was contemplating the future—and them together, in it. That was a good start.

  “I love you too, but I can’t give you a lot of time to adjust. Sorry.”

  She stayed with him until a meal was served by a curious guard. When the man brought in the tray, Maggie realized they’d spent all night together, talking quietly, touching, and just being with each other. She’d spent a few hours reassuring herself that he was alive, but now, she had to get moving. The time for action was fast approaching.

  She left him with genuine tears in her eyes that she refused to let him see. The guard escorted her back to the guest suite she’d been given and then left her. Maggie found Binki having breakfast and joined him. They had developed their own sort of language over the years, and she was able to give him the signal that they’d move on the plan they’d been forming to break John out, later that night.

  After eating, Maggie went into her guest room and fell asleep for several hours.

  She notified the emperor’s people that she would be leaving Solaris Prime shortly and set her plan into motion after she woke. Dressing carefully, she crept through the halls of the palace that night, her destination firmly in mind.

  The time had come for a good old-fashioned prison break.

  Chapter Ten