Empress Game 2

by Rhonda Mason

  “Come on,” Ardin said. “I told my guards to admit Toble when he arrives; we’ll meet him in Isonde’s room.” Then he was back out the doors before she or Malkor could answer.

  One of Isonde’s guards still kept watch over the room she slept in. Maybe Ardin’s guards had decided that “Lady Evelyn” wasn’t in any real danger. Or maybe Isonde’s guards knew more than they ever let on about the situation and refused to surrender the post. Kayla nodded at the familiar face and followed Ardin into the room.

  Things looked as they always did: Isonde’s medical pod quietly beeping away in the center of the room, the lights low, the window tinting turned almost opaque. The labored rasp of Isonde’s breathing barely escaped the pod.

  The tomb of Princess Isonde Veriley of Gangisha, Sovereign Planet Piran.

  Ardin brought the lights to full, his energy breathing life into the room. He programmed the window tinting to transparent, letting in a view of stars and nighttime cityscape, breaking open Isonde’s cocoon. He stood beside Isonde’s pod and peeled off the biostrip that made her look like Kayla. For the first time in too long, hope lit his features as he brushed a hand across her forehead, and Kayla’s heart clenched at the tender gesture.

  Please let this last cure work.

  Toble arrived almost immediately, bringing with him the same hopeful energy that fueled Ardin. He barely gave her and Malkor a hello before propping a silver case on the table beside the medcase he always kept here. He opened both and started setting out his instruments.

  “Results on the last test were the same as the first ten,” he said to Ardin. “One hundred percent disintegration.” He grinned, the expression of a scientist with a breakthrough. “I think you’ve found the answer.”

  What had Ardin found?

  “I wish we had more time to refine the serum,” Toble continued. They all knew that was impossible. With Isonde’s diaphragm solidifying, she could barely draw air into her lungs. Toble had already implanted a ventricular assist device into her heart to keep blood flowing. “There’s no telling how long dissolution will take.”

  “This will work,” Ardin said. He nodded at Toble, giving him permission to go ahead.

  Malkor stepped forward, clearly about to interject. Kayla placed a hand on his arm. She gently pulled him back beside her and spoke low, for his ears alone. “Let Ardin make this decision. He loves Isonde more than anything; let him try this one last thing to save her.”

  Malkor frowned. “I don’t even know what they—”

  “It doesn’t matter. It only matters that Ardin believes in it. It’s right to place her final fate in the hands of the one who loves her best.”

  Malkor finally blew out a breath, shoulders relaxing, and she knew he understood. They went together to stand at the foot of Isonde’s pod.

  Toble punched codes into the console, no doubt setting parameters and serum distribution rates. That finished, he pulled a twenty-centimeter cube from his case. The liquid inside had a ruddy tinge, disconcerting when the previous three formulations of a possible cure had been clear. He plugged it into the specially designed receptacle, double-checked the fit, then started the process. The liquid was instantly sucked into the bowels of the medical pod, leaving an empty cube and four people holding their breath.

  And holding it.

  And holding.

  When nothing on the pod’s monitors changed even after a few minutes, Toble visibly relaxed. “No initial adverse reaction to the modified serum, that’s good.”

  Ardin didn’t take his eyes off of Isonde. “How long before we see a change?”

  Toble flipped through a series of internal scans. “Full dissolution for each of the tests took some time, and that was only a small tissue sample. We could be in for a long wait.”

  “Good,” Malkor said, “you’ll have time to explain.”

  “This is Ardin’s genius,” Toble said.

  “How does the crown prince of the empire acquire advanced medical knowledge?” Kayla asked, looking at Ardin. Not that she had any idea what his education was. He could be a genius for all she knew, born to be a scientist, trapped in the role of politician.

  Ardin finally peeled his gaze away from Isonde, still holding her hand. “I don’t, but I have a mind that can think and too many hours in a day since I can’t rest knowing she’s dying. You at least have things to do, meeting with the Sovereign Council. The Council of Seven is not convening until we have recommendations from the Sovereign and Protectorate Councils to work with. In between necessary public appearances I’ve been going over everything I can about the toxin.”

  Kayla had left that to Toble. Could she have been more help? “What did you find?”

  “Well, Toble’s analysis showed that Janeen’s toxin combined the paralytic effect of dutrotase with the muscle stabilizer known as RDU-7. It should have produced a localized result. Instead, Isonde’s extreme allergic reaction made it systemic. We’ve been assuming all along that the toxin contained a synthetic form of dutrotase. If that were the case, though, any of the other three cure formulations should have been able to break up the paralysis.

  “I started examining Janeen’s whole plan, starting with where she might have gotten the toxin. I think she put the plan together after Malkor’s decision not to let her act as Isonde’s body-double for the Empress Game, the decision announced en route to Altair Tri. Once she’d seen Kayla fight, Janeen realized that disabling her was the only way to stop Kayla from winning the Game. It’s likely she acquired the toxin on Altair Tri itself.”

  It would have been easy enough to do. The slum side of Altair Tri was a catch-all for human filth. All manner of illegal merchandise could be bought there on the cheap.

  “I gained access to Tri’s police records,” Ardin said, “looking at criminal cases that involved poisoning and what substances were used. A few used a natural form of dutrotase refined from the leaves of the coinsis weed. Apparently it’s an invasive species on the slum side.” Ardin shrugged. “Why waste materials and credits synthesizing a pure form of the compound when you can basically get it for free?”

  Toble joined in. “Assuming Janeen got a homemade batch on the slum side, it would contain impurities because a small percentage of plant cells would be mixed in with the dutrotase. Those cells are probably what triggered the allergic reaction.”

  “Whereas I,” Kayla said, “have no allergy to that plant.”

  Toble nodded. “Exactly.”

  “That’s all very interesting,” Malkor said. “How does that help us?”

  Toble gestured to Ardin. “The credit is all his, for tracking the information down.”

  “Being the crown prince does tend to get results when badgering scientists,” Ardin said, with a half-smile. “I can’t tell if I made new friends by pretending the empire was interested in obscure botany studies, or enemies by being an arrogant, insistent, curt bastard with them all.” He shook his head. “Damn, scientists can go on and on about their research.” He patted Isonde’s hand, looking down at her with a mix of hope and love. “If this cure comes through, Father will find I’ve created a new position for a Royal Botanist of the Protectorate Planets. I’ll name our first born after the woman.”

  Kayla barely refrained from saying, “Spit it out already.”

  “The coinsis weed is an invasive flora species taking a foothold in Altair Tri. It moves into an area, then overgrows and chokes out the natural flora that should grow there. One plant—the supposa flower—developed a defense mechanism against the encroachment. It sheds its petals regularly, which break down quickly, releasing an acidic compound into the soil. That compound denatures the proteins in the coinsis’s cells, causing cell death.” He looked to Toble to take over the explanation.

  “Basically,” Toble said, “we’re using that acidic compound from the supposa flower to break down the coinsis cells in Isonde’s body, because they seem to be the ones perpetuating the paralytic allergic reaction.”

  Kayla shook her
head. “You lost me at invasive and I fell off the hover car at denature. You honestly think this will work?” It seemed… far-fetched. Plants fighting other plants with acid?

  Ardin looked at Toble, and she felt Ardin’s absolute need to believe. His hope radiated through the room. His eyes almost demanded that Toble proclaim this cure Isonde’s savior.

  “So far it’s worked on small tissue samples,” Toble said. “There’s no reason to think it won’t work on a larger scale.”

  Kayla kept her mouth shut. Ardin didn’t need her skepticism, he needed her support. It would be what it would be, now that the compound was being fed into Isonde.

  She touched him on the shoulder. “Isonde’s lucky to have you fighting for her.” Ardin smiled in return, and it might have been the friendliest moment ever between them. She moved away before he could remember she was a pit whore from Altair Tri and soon to be his wife if Isonde didn’t recover.

  Even with the serum pumping away, nothing happened. Despite Ardin’s optimism, standing around Isonde’s pod with the others made Kayla feel like a vulture waiting on a dying animal. Toble himself looked to be settling in for a long wait, so Kayla drifted over to a couch on the other side of the room, sank down tiredly and turned on the news vid feed.

  After a few quiet words to Ardin, Malkor joined her on the couch. He sat closer than they had been in weeks, but not close enough to satisfy her chaotic emotions. She longed to be on his lap, his arms closing around her like a safety net as she waited on the cure that would decide her future.

  Who would she be from this day forward—Isonde, or Kayla?

  A picture of Isonde on the vidscreen caught her attention. Today’s proceedings from both the Sovereign and Protectorate Councils had been released to the public, and the news feed was showing Kayla’s mad dash from her desk in the council chamber to the adjudicator’s room in a loop. Bare feet, skirts rucked up, lunging over councilors… Isonde might never live down the moment Kayla knocked Councilor Choo’s wig off and sent it flying.

  “You looked magnificent,” Malkor said in a low voice, with warmth in his eyes. “Quick-witted, graceful, powerful.” He studied her flight on the screen again. “Every centimeter the superb fighter you are.”

  Kayla smiled at his words. How many women would be flattered by the compliment, as she was? His octet thrived on efficiency and execution. To meet Malkor’s high standards… she felt a touch of pride.

  Well-deserved pride, of course.

  The news feed showed the short interview she’d given after the attack, reinforcing her lie that the reason she’d run from the council chambers was because she’d received a death threat on her datapad at her desk and believed it was from someone inside the room. Combining that with Rawn’s actual death made her mad dash legitimate.

  The story flipped again, posting the news that both councils would be closed while security personnel in both seats were re-vetted. Apparently a single security guard from the Sovereign seat had been the instrument of Rawn’s poisoning. The current empress—Ardin’s mother—appeared on the screen, asserting to reporters that the empire would not be cowed by terrorism, and that the councils would reconvene as soon as the councilors’ safety could be assured in both seats.

  “I’m sorry for what happened to Rawn,” Malkor said. “Bredard did us a favor in some ways, though.”

  The news feed showed her fleeing the council chambers again, with the caption “Princess Isonde flees attempt on her life” running along the top. She looked at Malkor. “How’s that?”

  “Your speech. The one you were poised to give at the closing of today’s council session. Now people think your guard was assassinated and a threat made on your life to silence you. They’re breathless to know what you plan to say that’s so polarizing.”

  “It’s nothing Isonde hasn’t said before,” she answered. “Withdraw from Wyrd Space because the tremendous resources going into the occupation are needed here.”

  “Now people will really listen. You have the attention of the entire empire.”

  She frowned. “No pressure.” Her eyes drifted back to the medical pod. “If Isonde wakes, maybe she can—”

  Malkor shook his head. “The councils will reconvene as soon as possible. Even if this cure works, Isonde won’t be up and about by then, and certainly not ready to speak before the empire.”

  So even if this cure worked, Kayla would still be Isonde, at least for a little while.

  Maybe the charade would never really end. Maybe her identity as Kayla would fade into nothingness beneath the needs of her people and the empire.

  The thought was depressing, and with all the day had brought her, she suddenly felt exhausted. Across the room Toble rose to insert another cube of liquid into the medical pod, and Kayla relaxed back into the depths of the couch, settling in for a long, long wait.

  * * *

  She woke hours later, sometime around midnight, to find herself tucked against Malkor’s side, his arms curled around her in sleep. Her instinct was to snuggle closer and drift back to unconsciousness, but voices caught her attention.

  “Did you see that?” Ardin asked. “You saw it, right?”

  “Let me run another scan,” Toble said.

  Had the cure worked? Kayla shook Malkor awake and dragged him over to Isonde’s medical pod. Ardin’s gaze was riveted on Isonde’s hand as if it had performed a miracle.

  Toble studied the readings from the scan, then let out a “ha!” He grinned, so ecstatically, that hope crystallized in Kayla.

  “It’s working?” she asked.

  He nodded, eyes still on the pod’s display. “The princess’s heartbeat is stronger, and strengthening by the minute. Her oxygen saturation is increasing as well.” He looked across the pod at Ardin. “I think we did it. I think we actually did it.”

  A sense of relief so great, a sense of thankfulness so large Kayla couldn’t keep it inside, burst forth. She hugged Toble, then Ardin, then Malkor, then Toble again.

  “There!” Ardin said, and this time Kayla saw it too: Isonde’s index finger twitched. They had done it, they had saved Isonde.

  * * *

  Throughout the night and into the morning, Isonde made slow, steady progress. Kayla spent a few hours resting in her bed while Malkor slept on the couch, Toble dozed in a chair, and Ardin kept watch.

  Kayla snuck back into the room with the sun’s rise, needing to see for herself once again that the cure was actually taking effect. Ardin sat beside the pod, one hand holding Isonde’s hand, while Malkor and Toble snored gently in the background. Ardin seemed weary beyond belief, but content, so content, just to sit beside her. There was a peace about him that she hadn’t known he possessed.

  “How’s she doing?” Kayla whispered.

  He smiled when she approached. “Better all the time. The paralysis is easing.” He shook his head the slightest bit. “I almost can’t believe it.”

  “From what I’ve learned of her, Isonde is too stubborn to be defeated by anything,” Kayla offered.

  His smile turned rueful. “I don’t think anything could stop her, once she’s determined.” His gaze traveled over Kayla’s face, seeing the Isonde hologram she wore. “You’re much like her, in some ways.”

  Perhaps she was. “Thank you.”

  “That’s not always a compliment,” he said. Quiet fell between them, not quite comfortably. He cleared his throat, looking away a moment, and Kayla thought that might be her cue to leave. Instead, his gaze returned to hers. “What I said, yesterday, about hating you… about—”

  She waved her hand. “It has been a tough situation. On all of us.”

  “On you most of all,” he said quietly. “You didn’t deserve that. I had no right to vent my frustration and fear on you, not after all you’ve done for us.”

  They were the first words of gratitude she had ever received from him. His first recognition that she had suffered through this ordeal. Understanding passed between them, a moment acknowledging trials endure
d together.

  A whispered word broke the silence.

  “Ardin?” Isonde’s voice was no more than a breath. Her eyelashes fluttered, her eyes struggling to open.

  Ardin came to attention instantly. He leaned over Isonde, stroking her hair, touching her cheek. “I’m here, darling. I’m here.”

  Isonde’s eyes peeled open slowly, as if with a great effort, and the breath caught in Kayla’s throat. It was really happening. Isonde really was waking.

  “Ardin,” Isonde whispered again. Her gaze found him and the breath eased out of her like a sigh. “You’re here.” Her eyelids swept down as if she couldn’t hold them up.

  Somehow Isonde managed to open her eyes again. Her throat moved as she swallowed. “You’ve been here all this time, with me.” She swallowed again, the effort of talking clearly painful.

  “Hush,” Ardin murmured.

  She looked into his eyes, seeming to gather her energy. “Thank you,” she rasped, “for not giving up.”

  A profound sadness touched Ardin’s face. Clearly, those were not the words of love he’d hoped to hear.

  Kayla tiptoed out of the room. Isonde’s wispy voice faded from her mind when the truth of the situation hit her. She leaned back against the doors, unable to hold all her weight. Her life shifted before her, everything suddenly new and open.

  I’m free.

  6

  THE WYRD PLANET ORDOCH, WYRD SPACE

  The shadows came and went, unpredictable. It was the silhouette of a body on the upper walk here, a momentary cloud over the sun there; each no more than a puddle. If Cinni knew the pattern she could skip like a stone across them all, finding a way in darkness to the street’s other side.

  Instead she hung back under the cover of the eastern flak tower, waiting like a starving child for a crust of bread that would never come. Her blaster’s ion cell would decay before an easy path presented itself.

  Atop the multi-story fortification the imperials had built around Ordoch’s capital city, the indigo and jade pennants of the Sakien Empire undulated in the breeze, their fairly stable shadows offering her the best entry point. They’d betray her in a strong gust, but if the wind held steady she could make it halfway across the street without too many acrobatics.