by Vicky Savage
I groan. “Oh, all right. Do you mind if I shower first?”
“Of course not. I’d join you,” he says suggestively. “But I’m afraid we’ll not make it to the meeting if I do. I’ll shower down the hall.”
I smile at the lovely visual. “All right, but I’ll probably take longer than you, so don’t wait for me. I’ll meet you there.” I scoop up my underdress from the floor and head for the bathroom.
Memories of my night with Ryder send shivers through my whole body as the spray of the shower warms my skin. My mind wanders back to the overpowering magic of last night. The way I felt in Ryder’s arms was indescribable—in mere mortal language. It’s still unfathomable to me that I’m actually married to the most amazing man I ever met.
But it’s only for a few days, a cruel voice reminds me, then you’ll never see him again, never be held by him, never be loved by him—ever again.
The pain of that knowledge slams into me like a fist to my midsection. Gasping, I wrap my arms around myself to stave off the agony. I lean back against the cold marble wall and slide to the floor. Long shuddering sobs of unutterable sorrow rack my body. Tears of grief flow down the shower drain like grains of sand sifting through the hourglass of my rapidly fleeting time with Ryder.
I arrive late and red-eyed for the meeting. Ryder holds my chair for me while the others stand. “Shall I fix a plate for you?” he asks.
“No. I’m not hungry. Please everyone, be seated. Shall we begin? I understand our trackers have a report.”
Adahy stands. “We do, Your Majesty.” He methodically lays out for the others what Ralston and I already knew about the heavily armed Noir encampment. I tune him out after a minute or two. I know how the story ends, and I’m weary of hearing about it.
After the trackers’ report, the others discuss arming the Royal Guardsmen and the role the Enclave and Unicoi armies will play in the battle.
Ryder speaks up. “Commander Greystone will coordinate the efforts on Unicoi’s behalf. I’ll brief him today and consult with the men in Old Unicoi about sheltering the royal family and perhaps supplying us with additional firearms. I shall travel to Old Unicoi directly from here.”
My head whips around to him. “I thought you were coming back to the palace with me.”
“Time is short, love,” he says, “and we’ve much to accomplish.”
“But can’t Adahy and Liam go to Old Unicoi to arrange things?”
He takes my hand, peering deeply into my eyes. “We are asking a great deal from Alexander, Jaden, but we are also offering a great deal. It’s important that I be the one to deliver the news that he’ll soon be reunited with his wife and son, and to seek his pledge of help.”
“Then I’m going with you,” I say. The thought of Ryder leaving me right now is unbearable.
“Jaden, I would advise against that,” Father says guardedly. My eyes stay glued to Ryder.
“You know you cannot,” he says. “You must return to the palace and continue with the wedding arrangements, attending to your normal responsibilities as if nothing is amiss. An unplanned excursion to Old Unicoi would raise many suspicions. It’s your duty as queen, my love.”
Sufficiently chastised, I duck my head. “All right. I’ll go home alone. But when will you return?”
“As soon as humanly possible. I swear it.”
I quietly move my chair away from the table and hurry from the room so as to be spared the additional embarrassment of weeping in public.
EIGHT
On our return to the palace, we find it teeming with frenzied activity in preparation for the royal wedding. Within moments of our arrival, it’s clear I’ll have blessedly little time for a pity party on my agenda today. As Ralston and I cross the threshold, Jennifer Osborne practically accosts me.
“Your Majesty, thank goodness you’re back,” she says, forgetting to curtsey. “At least a dozen items require your immediate attention, and I’d like you to view the progress on the remodel of the Queen’s Suite, if possible. I believe you’ll be quite happy with it.”
Though my mother made significant contributions to planning my wedding before she died, Jennifer has taken over all responsibility for the myriad of festivities leading up to and including the wedding ceremony itself. She has legions of help, but the strain appears to be wearing on her. Orange stains mar her otherwise immaculate pastel blue jacket, and clumps of hair straggle from her normally pristine bun.
“All right, Jennifer. Give me a few minutes to change, and I’ll take a look at what you’ve got.” Her frazzled enthusiasm is gratifying, but I wonder what she’d think if she knew all her hard work was about to be obliterated in a bloody battle.
“Thank you Your Majesty,” she says with a grateful smile. “Shall we meet in your office in, say, thirty minutes?”
Ralston touches my arm. “Don’t forget Your Majesty, you have another important matter to attend to before dinner.” He raises his eyebrows, and I realize he’s reminding me that I need to update Asher this afternoon.
“Oh, right,” I say. “I’ll see you in a half hour, Jennifer, but we’ll have to work quickly.”
“As you wish.” She makes a small dip and scurries off, high heels rat-a-tatting on the marble floor.
Ralston and I make arrangements to meet in my office later. He’ll be my cover again while I shift to Arumel for my first update with Asher.
I quickly change into a gown of royal purple satin and secure a small tiara atop my head. Retrieving the polycom from its hidden compartment in my jewelry chest, I select the directory, touch Asher’s name, and type a little message: Will be there in approx 2 hours for update. Okay? J.
In a surprisingly short amount of time, I receive a one word reply. Yes. I replace the polycom in its plain black case, stuff it back into the chest and lock it securely.
Jennifer waits for me inside my upstairs office. When I enter, she hops to her feet, remembering the curtsey this time. She issues a blustery apology for her appearance, blaming the orange stains on the lobster bisque tasting she conducted earlier in the day.
“It will be perfect for the Wedding Eve Dinner as long as the servants don’t spill,” she says.
We sit facing my desk, and Jennifer opens her enormous file. At this point, dealing with open wedding issues is a senseless irritation for me. Substituting snap-dragons for freesia in the flower arrangements doesn’t seem to rise to the level of needing the queen’s authorization, but it’s obviously terribly important to Jennifer.
“Only a few additional items require your approval, Your Majesty.” She withdraws several sheets of paper from the file.
“You know what, Jennifer? I really don’t have time to look at any more flower arrangements, seating charts, or hors d’ouvere selections. Going forward, you have my permission to make any and all wedding decisions. I’ll put it in a royal decree and plaster it to the palace walls if you like.”
Her face flames red. “Are you quite certain, Your Majesty? I want everything to be completely to your liking.”
“I know it’ll be awesome.” I stand, ready to dismiss her.
“Will you at least see the renovations to the Queen’s Suite?” She rises quickly.
“All right, but let’s hurry. I have another meeting.”
As we step across the threshold to the Queen’s Suite, unbidden memories of Mother lying on her death bed flutter across my mind, but the rooms have been so utterly transformed that the bleak image has no place to roost and quickly moves on.
New window coverings have yet to be installed and the bed is missing, but the overall extravagance of the suite is spectacular. The walls are a soft green with gold accents. The intricate design of the chandeliers is extraordinary. The ceiling of the bed chamber has been painted with a lush pastoral scene complete with a robin’s-egg-blue sky and fluffy white clouds—two things residents of Domerica have only heard about. My stomach clenches with the realization that Ryder and I will never share this room.
I
whirl around abruptly, startling Jennifer. “Are you all right, Your Majesty?” she says.
“Yes. It’s all incredibly lovely, but I have to go. Thanks for the tour.” I lift my long skirts, and practically sprint from the room.
Ralston waits for me in my office, with Patrick standing sentry just outside the door.
“I shouldn’t be long,” I say, after closing the door. “There’s not much to tell them except that everyone’s on board with the plan.”
“No rush, my dear,” Ralston says. “I’ll manage things here.”
I open my TPD bracelet. “See you soon,” I say, before clicking the latch. Zzzt.
Once again, Asher answers the door before I have a chance to knock. His eyes skid across my queen getup. “You’re looking awfully regal tonight,” he says coolly. “We’ll meet in my apartment, unless you’d prefer one of the offices.”
“Your place is fine,” I say.
We take a chilly ride in the elevator to the third floor. Asher’s in some kind of mood and doesn’t speak a word until we step inside his apartment.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asks.
“No thanks. This shouldn’t take long.” I stroll into his black and while living room. “Hey, you replaced your rug.” A new white shag rug sits in place of the previous one that I bled all over after a berserk black knight nearly sliced my hand in two during the attack on my travel party.
He folds his arms and props up against the wall. “Kinda had to. Red didn’t go with the rest of the décor.” His voice holds no humor.
“I wish you’d let me reimburse you for this. It’s the least I can do for all your help that night.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“What’s wrong, Ash? Am I catching you at a bad time or something? What’s with the cold shoulder?”
“How was the wedding? Did you really go through with it?”
I roll my eyes. “Is that what this is about? You’re pissed because I married Ryder?”
“I’m blown away that you’d actually marry the poor schmuck when you know you can’t stay with him.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. I’ve got enough shit going on in my life right now, without you throwing some kind of jealousy-fueled, judgmental tirade at me. If you can’t handle these meetings in a professional manner, I’ll ask Narowyn to assign me someone who can.” I stomp to the door and fling it open.
“No. Wait, Jade, please.”
I wheel around. “What?”
“I’m sorry for acting like a jerk. I shouldn’t have let my personal feelings get mixed up in this. I realize you’re going through hell, and the last thing I want to do is add to that.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“No really. Please. Let me stay on as your contact. I give you my word, I won’t lose it again.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, Ash. This whole thing sucks so bad. I was hoping having you here would make things a little easier. At least you’re my friend … or I thought you were.”
“I am. Don’t ever doubt it. Please, come in and sit down.” He takes my arm lightly. “Do you want a soda or something? I’ve got Coke Lite.”
“You mean Diet Coke?”
“It’s called Coke Lite here, but I’m sure it’s the same thing—without all the preservatives.” We stop at the kitchen and he takes two cans from the fridge.
My mouth waters. I haven’t had a soda for weeks. “Okay, but I swear Ash, if you bring up Ryder again, I’m out of here.”
“Deal.” He hands me a frosty, silver and red can, and we head back to the living room.
“There’s not a lot to report,” I say, flopping down on the white sofa. “We met with Father, Ryder, and General LeGare at my brother’s place. There was some debate, but in the end, everyone agreed that Ralston’s plan probably has the greatest likelihood of success. So they’ve all gone off to meet with their own people to set the wheels in motion.”
I take a few gulps of the sweet bubbly liquid.
“Good,” he says. “Sounds as if things are coming together well on your end.”
“Yeah, so far. I really won’t know much more until Ryder and Father return to the palace. So it’ll probably be a couple of days before you see me again.”
“Don’t run off just yet. I have some good news for you too. Urick’s in.”
“What? Wow, that was fast. How’d he manage it?”
“The members of the Transcender force are kind of fearless … and maybe a little nuts,” he says, grinning. “Anyway, Urick and this guy named Roper from his team discovered this hole-in-the-wall about five miles outside of Warrington Village where the Noirs were rumored to hang out. People go there to bet illegally on fights.”
“You mean like fist fights?”
“Well, it’s more like dirty cage fighting—fists, elbows, feet, whatever. So they got some information that the Noirs have recruited some of the fighters to join their band of thugs. Urick and Roper showed up there last night, and Urick basically obliterated two of the toughest guys. The Noirs approached him afterwards about enlisting with them.”
“That’s awful. He had to fight to get in?”
“It’s all right, Jade. Urick loves that kind of stuff. He grew up on a warring earth. He used to fight for recreation. The point is, now we have someone on the inside, and Narowyn and Captain Watterson feel much better about the whole plan. Urick will bring back intelligence, and he’ll be on the scene to protect you when you make your shift to Arumel.”
Asher’s practically jubilant as he tells me this. His mood swings are making me dizzy.
“That’s awesome, unless he gets himself killed first,” I say. “Those guys sound really nasty.”
“Don’t worry. Urick can take care of himself. I’ll fill you in once we get his first report.”
“Okay, great. I’d better get back now.” I take the last gulp of my Coke Lite. “Ralston’s holding down the fort, and the whole palace is on wedding crack preparing for the onslaught of our foreign guests in a few days. Someone’s likely to come looking for my permission to use Fargen-shaped urinal cakes in the men’s room.”
We get to our feet, and I lift my sleeve, exposing my bracelet.
“Next time, just shift straight to my place,” he says.
“I’ll do that, thanks.”
“And Jade, I’m sorry about before—about harshing on you and all.”
“It’s all right, Ash.”
“Was it nice? The wedding I mean?”
I squint at him like you’re really brining this up?
He holds out his arms innocently. “I’m just asking as a friend.”
“It was okay for a spur-of-the-moment gig.”
“Well congratulations,” he says, planting a chaste kiss on my cheek.
“I’ll be in touch,” I say, and Zzzt, I’m off.
“Goodness, that took no time at all,” Ralston says when I appear back in my office.
“Like I said, not much to report. Asher had some news, though. That guy on the Transcender Police Force has already joined up with the Noirs.”
“So quickly?”
“Yeah well, this guy looks like he belongs on the brut squad except for his choir boy face. But maybe that’s his best asset. He comes across as trustworthy.”
Ralston sets aside the book he was reading. “A useful quality for both a law enforcement officer and a spy. I’ll program this new information into the QP. It should improve our likelihood of success.” He checks his watch. “Now I believe it’s time for you to make your appearance in the dining hall, Your Majesty.” He rises gracefully from his chair.
I groan loudly. “Oh man, Rals, I’m tired. Can’t we just eat up here tonight and say our meeting ran over, or something?”
“No, my dear, we cannot. You have not dined in the formal hall for three nights in a row. Those present at court are already grumbling about the conspicuous absence of the soon-to-be-wed queen. We must not provide them with grounds t
o suspect that something is amiss.”
“All right, but I’m leaving right after dessert. No boring after dinner small talk tonight. I haven’t seen the Skorplings in a while, and I don’t have much time left with them. I’m thinking of having them for a little sleep-over.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.” He opens the office door. “After you,” he says, bowing deeply.
NINE
Fred and Ethel are hyper-excited about spending the night in my room. We have a rousing game of hide and seek. Afterward, I let them both style my hair in exchange for promises that they’ll turn in early—mostly because I’m too tired to play anymore.
