Queen of Empire: A fantasy romance (The Relic Trilogy Book 1)

by HR Moore

'You mean manipulation.'

  'Call them what you will, but they're powerful skills.'

  They spent the next two hours playing chess, with Marcus teaching Anita the basics of suggestion and idea planting. She was supposed to distract him with their chess game, then casually drop an idea into the conversation. He was supposed to pick up the idea and think it was his own. By the end, she hadn't got very far.

  Marcus assured her the main problem was that he knew what she was trying to do. He told her she should practice on other people. He said it was best to start with people who trusted her implicitly, or who were naturally gullible, and after a brief internal moral debate, she decided Bass was the best person for the job.

  Anita left the castle frustrated. She didn't like it when she couldn't do things, and Marcus had told her to 'be careful with Alexander' as she left. She would do what she damn well wanted, and anyway, judging by what everyone kept telling her, it wasn't Alexander she needed to worry about.

  * * * * *

  Anita had just about managed to throw off her anger by the time she arrived at the Temple of the Spirit to meet Alexander. Her stomach flipped as she thought about his piercing blue eyes.

  She fought to get her energy under control as she climbed the steps into the temple. As she entered, on the dot of seven, she saw Alexander striding towards her. His cloak billowed out behind him and his hair was wild, as though he'd repeatedly run his hands through it in despair.

  Even tired and worn as he was now, he was exceptionally attractive. Her energy responded mischievously to her thoughts and Alexander looked up, no hint of a smile on his face.

  'We'll start here, at the back, where you were meditating yesterday,' he snapped.

  Anita's energy deflated at the curt greeting. Obviously he wasn't as pleased to see her as she was to see him. Or was he hiding it…

  'How do you hide your energy?' said Anita.

  He paused, glaring at her. 'I think we should master the basics first. Seeing as you seem to have particular trouble keeping your energy under control, that may never be something you manage to grasp.' The words were quiet and menacing.

  Anita was hurt, embarrassed, confused.

  'Sit down,' he said, pointing to the place on the mat where she'd sat yesterday. Anita did as she was told, saying nothing. Her energy had plummeted, excitement chased away, now empty and deflated. She wasn't angry, her usual reaction, but instead felt drained.

  Alexander sat down in front of her, the knees of his crossed legs so close to hers that she swore she could feel a tension in the air between their skin. Alexander looked Anita in the eye, and it was all she could do to hold his gaze, searching his lovely blue eyes. They were lovely, but they were cold, like shards of ice.

  'Close your eyes, clear your mind, and breathe deeply,' he said softly.

  She did as he said. She relinquished control, following his instructions to the letter, but felt curiously tired. As she closed her eyes, Anita was almost instantly transported to the sky above the clearing with the yurt, was falling, landed in front of the door.

  Again, Anita pushed the curtain aside and entered the unexpectedly light space. It was exactly as it had been last time, apart from the brass cylinder, which had disappeared.

  She looked over to the bed to find Alexander where he'd been last time too, still topless and disheveled, and she made her way towards him. As she neared him, she felt a warm nudge at the edge of her energy, similar to the nudge at dinner, during the ball. She smiled.

  'So that was you,' she said, encouraged, although her lips didn't move as she spoke.

  'You can feel that?' said Alexander, surprise clear on his face.

  'Of course,' she said, sitting down next to him, bringing her legs up to sit cross-legged.

  'What happened when you got rid of the brass cylinder?' he asked, changing the subject.

  'I don't know, as I didn't.'

  'What?' he said, alarmed. 'Then where is it?'

  'It hit the floor and rolled out of the door, but it wasn't in the clearing outside when I came in a second ago.'

  'Great.'

  'What does that mean?'

  'It means you have a brass cylinder roaming around in your head and we have no idea where it is. Have you ever meditated to other places inside your mind?'

  Anita laughed. 'No. I didn't even believe this was possible until recently. I only had conclusive proof when I saw you here yesterday.'

  'Gods, they really do teach you nothing.'

  'It's looking that way,' she said, testily. 'Where is this place?'

  Alexander looked at her as though she'd just landed from another planet. 'You're kidding?'

  Anita shook her head and frowned.

  'You have no idea where you are?'

  'Nope, none whatsoever.'

  'Anita, this is your Centre.'

  'My what?'

  'Your Centre. The place that comes together around the time you turn thirty?'

  'Well yes, obviously I've heard of my Centre, but I always thought it was bullshit made up to keep people in lessons after school. You're telling me this is the place that will come together when I'm thirty? What does that mean anyway?'

  Alexander took a deep breath. 'This place reflects your most prominent skills, the ones you're most comfortable with and that come most easily to you. For you, it's a mixture of Body and Spirit with very little Mind.

  'There are other places inside your head that represent different combinations of skills, and any of those places can be developed. When your Centre comes together, all the different places in your mind merge into one new Centre that you will have for the rest of your life.

  'Why that happens when it does, no one knows, but from that time it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to truly develop new skills. The reason you're so tired…'

  Anita gave him a questioning look.

  '…and I know because I can read your energy, remember?'

  Oh, yeah.

  'You're tired, because this morning you had a session with Marcus to try and develop your Mind skills. They don't come easily to you, so it takes a great deal of effort to build up your abilities. Like when someone practices Body skills and they're tired and stiff while their muscles recover, your mind is doing the same thing. You'll feel empty and drained until you've had time to get over it.

  'Hopefully, as you already have a lot of Spirit in you, these sessions won't take as much of a toll. Given that the Mind sessions will drain you, you're going to need to be vigilant; you'll be especially vulnerable to attack.'

  Normally Anita would have said Alexander was being ridiculous; who would want to attack her? But she was beginning to believe that he and Helena might be right. The way Austin and Amber had looked at her this morning…

  'And Marcus is probably watching us right now,' said Alexander. 'He will for the first few sessions, until he trusts that I'll behave myself.'

  Anita remembered the look on Marcus' face when they'd said goodbye earlier and knew he was right. But part of her didn't want Alexander to behave himself…

  'At least he can't tell what's going on in here,' she said.

  'No, not exactly, but there are tells that give clues. We need to be careful not to give anything away about that cylinder of yours, but we also need to find it.'

  'Or it might explode in my head and kill me?' Anita laughed.

  Alexander gave her another stern look. 'Yes, and you can find that funny if you want to, but if you die when I'm in here, I could die too. I'd like to take this seriously if you don't mind.'

  Anita went pale. 'You think someone may actually have put it in my head to try and kill me?'

  'Who knows? What I do know is that we need to find it and get rid of it, before we learn the hard way.'

  'But what if it contains something really important, from a friend?'

  'Do you have any friends who need to pass important messages to you through cylinders in your mind?'

  'Not that I know of, but you never know…'


  'And what if it's been put here by Austin or Amber to try and kill you?'

  'I know they don't like me seeing Marcus, but do you really think they would try and kill me because of that? You said yourself they wouldn't risk upsetting Marcus.'

  'Believe me, they've killed for less, and they could use the cylinder any time they like. They could have planted it just in case you and Marcus don't work out, so they have a convenient way to kill you then.'

  'And Austin gets away with things like that?'

  'There aren't many people queuing up to try and stop him.'

  'Are you trying to stop him?'

  Alexander ignored the question, changing the subject. 'We need to find and get rid of the cylinder. I need to teach you how to hide your energy. I'll teach you all the meditation poses, and then we may get on to visiting the Centers of others and extraction, depending on how quickly you learn.'

  Would she get to visit his Centre? Just the prospect sent shivers up and down her spine. 'Where do we start?' she said.

  * * * * *

  Alexander and Anita spent the next hour trying to locate other places in her mind, searching for where the cylinder may have hidden. Alexander didn't tell Anita this, but he was surprised the cylinder had run away. It meant that someone powerful, more powerful than Austin or Amber, and with a mix of Mind and Spirit, had planted it. It would be difficult to get rid of, but they would cross that bridge if and when they got there.

  They located two other places in Anita's mind; one by the river in Empire and another on top of a beautiful cliff looking out over the sea. Alexander knew this place well, the cliffs overlooking Kingdom, but neither showed signs of the cylinder. Both places were steeped in Spirit and Body, hence why they were the first and easiest places to find.

  Anita's energy dipped even further; she was exhausted.

  'We're done here for today,' he said, taking one last look out to sea from the cliff that was so familiar.

  Anita nodded, following Alexander's instructions to lift herself out of the meditation and back to the temple.

  * * * * *

  Anita woke to find her vision filled with Alexander's concerned features. She smiled at the softness he'd hidden before.

  'That was amazing,' she said, groggily, 'thank you for showing me. Who knew all that stuff was in my head?'

  'If I were you, I wouldn't go into too much detail about it with Marcus when he takes you home,' said Alexander, in a low voice, helping Anita to her feet. Blood rushed to her head as she stood, her vision blurry, and she swayed on her feet, grabbing his arm to steady herself. His muscles flexed under her grip, straining to keep her upright as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, supporting her weight.

  Anita's vision cleared as her body recalibrated, and she straightened, finding herself in Alexander's space, his hands still on her. Tingles crept across her skin from where they touched, his woody citrus smell all around her, warmth radiating off him. Her energy leapt, and so did his.

  Marcus broke cover and hurried over to them. He pulled Anita out of Alexander's grasp, slipping his arm around her.

  Anita leaned into him, exhausted; she needed sleep.

  Alexander turned to leave. 'Same time tomorrow,' he said, striding away.

  'Hey,' Marcus whispered, as he pulled her into a hug, kissing her hair as he wrapped his arms around her.

  'Hi,' she said weakly, worried she might fall asleep right then and there.

  Marcus bent, put one arm behind her knees, and scooped her up into his arms. He carried her out of the temple to his waiting car, and Anita couldn't have been happier to let him. She fell asleep in his lap before he'd even closed the door.

  * * * * *

  They reached Cordelia's house and Marcus lifted Anita out of the car without her so much as stirring. He carried her to the back door and straight up the stairs, pausing for a moment to work out which was Anita's bedroom. He went for the smaller of the two, as it had the dress Anita had worn to the ball hanging on the outside of the wardrobe, and gently placed her on the bed.

  She woke as he put her down, smiling a drowsy half smile up at him. He crouched beside the small double bed and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. She reached out and cupped his neck, pulling his lips towards hers, kissing him sleepily.

  'Thank you for bringing me home,' she mumbled.

  'My pleasure,' he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead, then getting up to leave.

  'Don't go yet,' she said, rolling to the other side of the bed, so he had space to lie down too.

  Marcus hesitated for only a split second before lowering himself down next to her.

  They lay there, face to face, Anita struggling to keep her eyes open, his warm breath landing on her lips.

  Anita's eyelids fluttered closed and Marcus kissed her softly on the lips. He rested his hand over the one she had placed on his neck and gently played with each finger in turn, mesmerized by the rise and fall of her sleeping body. He turned his head carefully, lifted her palm to his mouth, and kissed it, before placing it next to her head on the pillow. Then he used every ounce of his resolve to tear himself away.

  CHAPTER 9

  Anita woke early the following morning, feeling drained. She hadn't felt this way in years, not since she'd first started training with Helena when she was thirteen. At least it shows I'm doing something, even if it's not the right thing, she thought, prizing herself out of bed to do some yoga.

  After her workout, she showered, ate breakfast and headed to the observatory. She felt a bit better, but every action was harder than usual.

  Her Mind task for the day was to practice what she'd learned yesterday. She was going to try and plant an idea in Bass' head, but still hadn't decided what it should be. She pondered as she strolled, walking at a more sedate pace than her usual march, as she considered her options.

  She could plant the idea that Bass should invite Anita to sing in his band…but if he took her up on the offer, he might try and make her sing a love song with him…She could try to make him suggest they play a game of chess together…but that was probably a bit advanced for her current level of skill; Bass hated chess with a passion, and it wasn't like Anita was keen on it either.

  Eventually, she settled on trying to get Bass to want to go for a swim in the river. The weather was cooling off, so he wouldn't naturally suggest it. If he did, she could claim the plant a triumph.

  Anita climbed the observatory's spiral staircase and stepped onto the middle floor. Bass and Patrick were having a heated debate, presumably about the current energy predicament.

  'Hi,' she said loudly, so they would have to look up. 'I just came from the river, it's lovely down there today.'

  They looked at her, bewildered, like she must have had a nasty fall and hit her head.

  'If you say so,' said Patrick, looking at her suspiciously. 'We're already seeing adverse effects on crop yields as a result of the energy drop.'

  'Really?' she said. 'Are we seeing effects anywhere else? In the river, for example?'

  'Um, no, not yet,' Bass said slowly, giving Anita an are you alright, kind of look. 'The autumn crop yields are down a bit on last year. Austin's harping on about it being a coincidence. He's apparently convinced it's all down to the weather; idiot.'

  'There's a surprise,' said Anita, sitting down at one of the dashboards. 'How can someone so well educated, who has access to so much information, be such a prat?'

  'I don't know,' said Patrick, 'but he'll have to pay attention eventually, unless he has a way to produce food out of thin air. I'd like to see how he explains away shortages…'

  'Mmm, that wouldn't be pretty,' said Anita.

  They got to work and there was silence for a few minutes, until Anita tried again. 'Thorn jumped in the water this morning; it looked so refreshing.'

  Bass and Patrick looked at each other. 'Is everything alright, Anita?' asked Bass.

  'Of course. Why do you ask?'

  'Because for the entire time I've known you
, which is quite a long time, you've never once volunteered any information you didn't have to. You've done it twice now in one morning.'

  Anita went red. Damn, she thought. She really was hideous at this Mind stuff. 'Sorry for being chatty,' she retorted, furious at herself for failing to plant the idea. 'I'll keep my thoughts to myself in future.'

  'And she's back,' said Patrick, giving Anita an infuriating wink.

  Anita sat in silence for the remainder of the day, angry at herself, and plotting who to target next.

  After work, Anita tried Cleo over drinks at The Island, then Elistair, who she bumped into on her way home, and then Cordelia. Everyone thought she was being weird. Cleo had even realized what she was trying to do.

  Idiot, she chastised herself; Cleo was a terrible choice for idea planting practice. Cleo was, after all, a Mind, and manipulation was one of her strongest suits; of course she'd know what Anita was doing.

  'Sorry,' she said. 'I'm getting Marcus to give me Mind lessons and he told me to practice planting ideas. But as you can see, I'm rubbish at it.'

  'Well, my advice, for what it's worth, is that you've got to play to your strengths. When you try to plant an idea, don't try and simply impersonate what a Mind would do. Use your Body and Spirit skills to help you. You can't be someone you're not; use the skills you have.'

  Anita nodded and quickly changed the subject. She had no idea how to do what Cleo was saying, and was embarrassed and cross with herself for being so easily caught out.

  * * * * *

  The following weeks contained classes with both Marcus at the castle and Alexander at the temple (with Marcus always finding some reason to be in the area). Austin had extended the Descendants' stay in Empire, although nobody knew for how long. Not that Anita was complaining.

  The lessons couldn't have been more different. Marcus was prescriptive and controlling, trying to force Anita to imitate the way he did things, whereas Alexander let Anita find her own way, there to guide if she needed him.