Behind the Throne

by K. B. Wagers

  “Don’t try to drag me into this,” I said before Mother could reply. “Let’s get a move on here.”

  The other three members of the Raksha arrived only minutes later. The Raksha was the military council of Indrana, consisting of the heads of the armed forces, the Tracker Corps, and the BodyGuard Corps.

  “Your Royal Highness, we haven’t met. I’m Esha Suvish.” The commander-general of the BodyGuard Corps was a no-nonsense-looking woman with a shaved head and piercing dark eyes. She nodded briskly at Emmory and Bial after shaking my hand.

  Mila Vandi, the head of the Imperial Tactical Squads, was the only woman I’d had a lot of contact with before my flight. My father’s old friend extended her hand with a smile, bowing at the same time.

  “Your Highness, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

  “You’re the first person I think who’s actually meant that, General.” I shook her hand, feeling more than a little guilty that I didn’t trust her.

  “Have you met Generals Saito and Prajapati?” Mila gestured at the two women next to her.

  “Yes. They were at the briefing I was at the other day. Generals.”

  “Good to see you again, Highness.” General Saito bowed.

  “A pleasure, Highness.” I didn’t know Prajapati at all, but the tiny dark-haired general couldn’t quite meet my eyes every time we’d been in the same room together, putting one more mark in the case against her.

  “Admiral Hassan is joining us on-screen. Ambassador Yen has been notified, but obviously with message times what they are, it’ll be tomorrow most likely before we hear from her. If you’ll all have a seat.” I leaned on the table, wishing briefly I wasn’t dressed in such a gods-awful color. Thankfully no one had said a word about it. Admiral Hassan nodded and cleared her throat. “As you all know, Saxon Shock troops hot dropped into the capital of Canafey Major at 0300 hours local time. The governor’s palace security was overwhelmed. Governor Phillus issued the lockout order for the forty-seven ships of the Vajrayana Initiative in dock before he took his own life.

  “Canafey Minor suffered a simultaneous assault, and Governor Ashwari was taken alive. Caspel tells me he has an operative on the ground and they are attempting to retrieve her.”

  No one stated the obvious. If Caspel’s agent couldn’t get the governor out, he would need to kill her and dispose of her head so the Saxons couldn’t access the lock codes.

  “How many ships do they have in the area?” Mother asked.

  “Unknown, ma’am. Admiral Shul and the 2nd Fleet are two systems away. I could have him move and be at Canafey the day after tomorrow, but we have no idea what he’d be wading into.”

  “A slaughter most likely,” I murmured, not mentioning out loud that we probably couldn’t trust Shul, and heads nodded around the table.

  “I shouldn’t have moved that battle group. I’m sorry, Hail, you were right,” Mother said.

  “I wish I hadn’t been.” I knew there wasn’t anything I could do to lessen the guilt my mother was feeling. “General, do you have contact with the troops on the ground at Canafey?”

  According to my smati, there was a large contingent of Army personnel on Major and a smaller outpost on Minor. All told, we were looking at close to half a million soldiers.

  Trapped on the ground with enemy forces. Bugger me.

  “We’ve gotten running commentary; that’s about it,” General Prajapati replied with a shake of her head. “There have been pitched battles in both capitals and probably throughout most major townships.”

  “If you can get in touch with your people on the ground, you tell them to keep fighting. Protect the civilians. We haven’t forgotten about them. They have the right to keep themselves safe by any means necessary.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Highness—”

  I held up a hand, cutting Caspel off before he could get started. “We can’t go toe to toe with the Saxons,” I said. “Everyone is thinking it, but no one will say it out loud.”

  “We got hurt badly in the war,” Hassan said cautiously. “Then came the treaty talks, the Conglomerate’s interference, and your empress-mother’s failing health. The naval budget has been slashed for the last five years running by the Ancillary Council. I was lucky to keep the Vajrayana Initiative on the table.”

  “I know.” It didn’t escape me that this was the second time she hadn’t disagreed with me outright over this, but it just made me feel sick to my stomach rather than vindicated. We were in trouble, serious trouble, if I couldn’t convince the Saxons to back off.

  Which was the reason for the Vajrayana Initiative in the first place. These state-of-the-art ships would help narrow the imbalance with the Saxon Alliance. But now they were all locked down in dock above an enemy-controlled planet.

  “We’ve got three ships that were out on maneuvers. I sent them messages to bug for home as fast as they could. Hopefully they did.”

  “Your Majesty, Ambassador Toropov is here,” Emmory said quietly from behind me.

  “Hail, you go. I don’t want to speak to the man.”

  “Highness.” Caspel’s quiet voice broke into the uneasy silence that dropped as I got to my feet. “You will not be able to declare war. Until the coronation, the empress is still the only one who can do that.”

  “I have no intention of declaring war. Despite whatever rumors you all might have heard, I have excellent control of my temper. I care about our dockworkers, our military members on those ships and the ground, and our citizens. Our priority, ladies and gentlemen, is to keep them safe. Right now that means we use diplomacy until there is no other choice.”

  Emmory opened the door. Cas and Jet were on the other side, eyeing the ambassador and his men warily. I slipped between them, ignoring Emmory’s hissed protest and gestured for him to close the door.

  “The Saxon Kingdom wants nothing more than peace with Indrana, isn’t that what you said, Ambassador?”

  Toropov paused, mid-bow, and glanced up at me. “I expected a call from your mother.”

  “She is indisposed, Ambassador, and as the heir, I have been tasked to handle such things.”

  “Until your coronation, you are still under her authority.”

  “So everyone keeps telling me. And yet the shit is conveniently hitting the fan before that can happen. Now tell me, Ambassador, did I mishear you when you said the Saxons only wanted peace?”

  “I spoke truly, your Highness.”

  “So why are there Saxon Shock troops on my sovereign soil?” Keeping my voice level and low was a challenge, but I managed it.

  The ambassador straightened, his pale eyes still on mine, and he lied straight to my face, “I have heard of no such troop movements, Your Highness. All our ST battalions are accounted for.”

  My hand flexed at my hip, looking for a weapon that was no longer there. Toropov saw it, and so did his guards. All three of them froze, though the ambassador didn’t look nearly as worried as his men.

  I smiled coldly. “Be grateful, Ambassador. Today you got the princess instead of the gunrunner. My people are dying and someone is responsible. I suggest you call your king and find out just what in the fires of Naraka he thinks he’s doing attacking my people right before a holy day. Because next time it might be the gunrunner you’re staring down.

  “As of right now, I’ve authorized my troops on the ground to return fire in the protection of themselves or civilians. Since it’s not Saxon troops they’ll be shooting at, I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that decision. I would love to resolve this as peacefully as possible, Ambassador, but I will not allow my people to suffer for the sake of diplomatic dithering.”

  “Your Highness.” Toropov’s bow was a lot stiffer this time around. “I will beg your leave and consult with my king. Though I warn you, expecting the story to change will result in disappointment. The Saxon Kingdom signed a treaty; we would never violate that without expressly informing you of our intent first.”

  “So go
od to hear.” I dipped my head. “I look forward to hearing Trace’s side of this.” I watched Toropov and his guards move off down the hallway before I turned and went back in the War Room.

  The conversation cut off when I walked back through the door and I raised an eyebrow with an amused smile. “I don’t think Ambassador Toropov will be inviting me to dinner anytime soon.”

  I recounted the conversation, leaned a hip on the table, and looked at Caspel. “He was lying to me. I just don’t know which part, if any, was true.”

  He shook his head. “It would be hard for me to say for sure without having seen his face. I’ve gotten confirmation from my agents on the ground about the Shock troops, Highness. But I would hazard a guess that any decisions made were not passed on to the ambassador. Plausible deniability goes a long way.”

  “Makes sense.” I nodded.

  Now that the adrenaline rush was fading, the indecision struck hard and fast, paralyzing me like the venom of a Viperidae. I was ridiculously unsuited for this. I wasn’t fooling anyone. Any suggestions I had about this would probably be met with the same derision I’d faced at the military briefing.

  Words dried up in my mouth. I lost a piece of my nerve, and watched it skitter over the floor, where it curled into the corner and died.

  Bugger me, I couldn’t do this.

  “Liar.” Portis wasn’t bothered by my glare, meeting it with a cheeky grin as he smoothed down the lapel of my jacket.

  “I can’t do this, Portis.” I hated the panic in my voice, but the thought of walking through those doors was now more than I could stand. “I’m not diplomatic enough. I’m a gunrunner. This is important. I’ll screw it up. I’ll ruin everything. I’ll—”

  “Cress, hey, look at me.” His smile faded and he took my face in both his hands. “Hao wouldn’t have suggested you for this, and Po-Sin damn sure wouldn’t have agreed to it if they hadn’t thought you could handle it. I know you.” His hands tightened briefly for emphasis. “And you can do this.”

  “Highness?”

  I blinked, realized that everyone was staring at me, and cleared my throat. “Sorry.” Forcing a smile, I sat down and said with a confidence I didn’t feel, “Let’s get a game plan together, people. I want every possible scenario discussed.”

  23

  Four hours later I left the War Room, my head swimming with facts and possibilities, rumors and fears, plans and potential outcomes.

  “I need a drink,” I muttered to Emmory as we headed down the hallway.

  “You need some food, Highness. Alba had lunch sent to your rooms.”

  “Can I have a drink with lunch?”

  He didn’t crack a smile and waited until we passed a group of young nobles—all of whom stopped their excited chatter about the news long enough to bow and curtsy to me—before he answered. “You don’t have to play the uncouth gunrunner with me, Highness.”

  “Who’s playing?” I asked, and picked up my pace. I was desperate to get out of this hideous sari. “I am an uncouth gunrunner.”

  “I would prefer not to remind them of that.”

  “Yes, it would upset their delicate sensibilities.”

  Now he did smile and it was amused. “I am thinking more of the fact that I’d rather not remind them how dangerous you are. The events of the other day notwithstanding, several enterprising reporters have already discovered that many of the rumors about you are not rumors at all. I don’t want our enemies figuring that out for themselves before we have a chance to show them.”

  “You’re getting bloodthirsty, Ekam,” I said, pausing outside my door as we ran through the security check. Amazing how something could become so routine in so little time. Willimet stayed at my side with Emmory as the other two went through the door.

  “It’s a necessity, Highness. My job is to keep you safe. I can’t do that when there’re people out there trying to kill you.”

  “They die or I die, huh?”

  “No, Highness. They die. There is no or.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to his deadly quiet certainty, so I swallowed and headed into my rooms.

  “Highness.” Zin nodded at me as I came through the door.

  “Welcome back. We missed you.”

  “Your lunch is ready,” he said.

  “I want to get out of this first.” I pointed a finger at him. “Then I want your report.”

  Zin bowed.

  I stopped short in the doorway to my bedroom. “What in the fires—” I swallowed the curse back as Stasia straightened and stared at me in shock.

  “Ma’am?” The flowers trembled in her hand, steadied. “You don’t like it? Zin said you’d—”

  Spinning back around, I jabbed a finger in Zin’s direction. “You did this?”

  He looked as shocked as Stasia. “Emmory mentioned that you’d—yes, ma’am. If you don’t like it, we’ll take it out.”

  I shook my head, tears clogging the words in my throat, and turned away again. Striding into my room, I dropped down in front of the statue of Ganesh that now rested on the dark wooden table in the corner.

  It was gorgeous. Perfect. Exactly what I would have picked out for myself. My hand shook as I reached it out and touched His lifted foot.

  Emmory and Zin had done this. Like Portis, they understood me—the real me—and I couldn’t even blame it on the extensive file they’d compiled on me as Trackers. They just got me. Emmory must have heard my vow to Ganesh and passed the information on to Zin before he came back to the palace.

  Tears slid down my face, but I didn’t even care as the last piece of my broken heart slipped into place with the quiet snick of an unlocked door. The statue did exactly what I needed, cutting through the bands of tension and anxiety wrapped around me with effortless speed.

  My Trackers had turned into my touchstones in such a short time. Zin would never question me like Emmory did, but I was starting to suspect he’d keep me sane even in the darker days.

  In just a few short weeks I trusted these men as much as I had trusted Portis after years of being together. I couldn’t explain it, didn’t even want to question it and risk the whole thing crumbling around me. It wasn’t logical, it was just life.

  The sounds of Stasia quietly shooing everyone out of my room filtered through the ringing in my head.

  “Ma’am?” The smell of chai preceded her words, sweet spice and steam chasing away the memory before I could fully recall it.

  I took the cup with a smile. “They did good.”

  “They did, ma’am. Should I tell them?”

  “If you would, please. Tell Emmory I’ll be out to eat in a moment, too, or he’ll fuss.”

  As soon as the door closed, I bowed low before the altar, whispering a chant I knew by heart. I kissed my fingertips and patted Ganesh’s foot before I rose and started unwinding the mile-long pink atrocity I’d been suffering in since daybreak.

  I didn’t bother to call Stasia back into the room, dressing myself in a pair of black pants and a plain white shirt. The fabric settled around me, a far better fit than the sari I’d just discarded.

  “Alba, what’s the likelihood of a huge outcry if we had the coronation tonight?” I asked the question as I came back into the main room.

  I was a little surprised my chamberlain considered my suggestion instead of dismissing it outright. She cocked her head to the side, her eyes focused on the window to my right and her lips pursed. I’d come to recognize it as a sign that she was running through options, so I took the opportunity to grab some food.

  “Highness.”

  I took the glass of Alcarix whiskey from Emmory with a grin. He gave me the Look and leaned a hip on the table. I cheerfully ignored him, flopping down into my chair and grabbing a fork.

  “I just don’t think it’s doable, Highness,” Alba finally said. “Technically, all we really need is for someone to put the crown on your head and the matriarchs to swear their allegiance. But the logistics of that and the subsequent rumors that would
accompany such a rush job…” She trailed off with a tiny shrug.

  We were in limbo here, vulnerable as long as Mother was still on the throne in her unstable mental state. Worse, I didn’t have a huge power base and I couldn’t afford to start off my reign under any suggestions of impropriety.

  Knowing exactly what she meant didn’t make it any easier. If the Saxons decided to really start something in the next forty hours—

  “Alba, what happens if the Saxons declare war on us? Officially, I mean?”

  Bless my chamberlain, but she didn’t even blink. Even in this short amount of time she’d started to figure out how my brain worked and could follow along without missing the beat.

  “We’d be at war, Highness. The Articles of Conflict would be in effect.”

  The articles called for zero confusion in the chain of command during times of war. One such provision dealt directly with the scenario we were facing here: that if the current empress was in the process of abdicating the throne, the heir would automatically assume control. No coronation, no fuss, no approval from the Matriarch Council.

  “Good.” Sipping at my drink, I waved the other hand in the air. “We won’t worry about it then.”

  Maybe it was arrogance on my part, but I already knew I had the backing of a chunk of the military and of most of the Matriarch Council anyway. They would do what was necessary until my coronation to keep the empire safe, and if not, I had a legal excuse to put my ass on the throne without all the pomp and circumstance.

  “Yes, ma’am. If that’s all?”

  I stretched my legs out and nodded at Alba. “It is. You go on. I know you have a lot still to do for tomorrow.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning.” She bowed and left the room.

  “Emmory?”

  He spotted my gesture, answering it with a nod. “We’re clear, Highness.”

  “What did you find out?” I asked Zin. “Quick and dirty version.”