Shades of Empire (ThreeCon)

by Carmen Webster Buxton

  The two of them pulled and prodded and managed to loosen the thermaplex mask. Antonio finally pulled it off in one quick tug, and revealed Alexander Napier’s features.

  “That’s him!” Antonio said exultantly. “That’s Sentinel, isn’t it, Sergei?”

  “Indeed it is, Excellency,” Paznowski agreed, frowning. “The question is, why did he come here?”

  “He came to kill me,” Antonio said, indignant at the audacity of the plan. “He would have succeeded if Vinnie hadn’t awakened in the middle of the night.”

  “Yes, Excellency,” Paznowski said impatiently, “but why? Why did he come back? He must have known it was a suicide mission. The first time we didn’t know about him; unlike the other raiders, he could get in and out without detection because of his guardsman’s tattoo. This time it was different. Why was it so important to kill you?”

  Antonio always found other people’s motivation’s a tiring subject. “Well, what do you think was the reason?”

  “I think we can deduce it, if we think about it a moment, Excellency. This man was a guardsman in good standing until he fell into disgrace trying to help one of your father’s concubines to leave the palace. We know from his interrogation that he was never her lover, and yet he risked his life to try to help her.”

  “So?”

  “So, he’s a romantic, Excellency—a dreamer. Someone who was soft-hearted enough to listen to a peasant girl’s homesick meanderings.”

  It didn’t sound likely to Antonio. “A guardsman?”

  “Yes, a guardsman,” Paznowski said. “Now think about it further, Excellency. We don’t know how Sentinel met up with the revolutionaries, but we do know they paid him to get their raiders in the door. Perhaps it wasn’t the money he was really after, or even revenge against your father? He may have had some idea that the concubine could still be alive. Perhaps he wanted to try again to get her out.”

  “So,” Antonio said slowly, “he went along on the raid to save her, and when he found out he couldn’t, he took Cassandra instead?”

  “Precisely, Excellency,” Paznowski said, as if Antonio were a bright child who had done well in school. “He may even have been responding to her request. I believe she asked him to do it.”

  “And then?”

  “Suppose there were no other revolutionaries in the farmhouse where we found Lady Cassandra, Excellency. Suppose it was just the two of them—a disgraced guardsman and a young, attractive woman who appealed to him to protect her.”

  Antonio let out a stream of obscenities when he understood Paznowski’s suggestion. “The bastard raped her! It wasn’t my father who took her virginity, it was this scum!”

  “I doubt very much that it was rape, Excellency.”

  “Of course it was rape,” Antonio said, waving one hand impatiently. “Cassandra belongs to me. I didn’t consent to it, and therefore it was rape. I’ll kill him myself.”

  “It will certainly be necessary to kill him, Excellency.” Paznowski sounded almost stern. “I can do it if you wish, or you can if you prefer, but first we must get information from this man. We must know if he still has connections with the rebels, and how much he told them about what he learned from Lady Cassandra.”

  Antonio paced back and forth a few times, trying to contain his indignation. “Very well, Sergei. But I’m going to make Cassandra pay for this!”

  “All in good time, Excellency. Let’s bring her in, and see what she does when she sees this man.”

  Antonio set his jaw. The bitch would pay if she had betrayed her own blood. “Yes, let’s do that.”

  • • •

  Cassandra tugged on the rope that bound her arms to the chair. Sergei Paznowski had brought the rope with him from his house, along with an energy pistol, and Antonio had complimented him on his efficiency.

  Cassandra looked up, dread in her heart, when she saw the two men come back into the sitting room. The summons to visit Antonio had been delivered by her nominal husband before she even got out of bed. At first she had thought Antonio planned to rape her again, but it seemed an unlikely hour for it, and that itinerary didn’t account for Paznowski’s nervous tension as he walked her across the compound.

  Antonio’s expression had changed from his earlier restless apprehension to murderous rage. Cassandra could see it in his eyes as he walked toward her. She flinched from it, and her brother smiled.

  “Well, you little whore,” he said, “there’s something waiting for you in the bedroom.” And with that he struck her across the side of her head.

  Cassandra cried out and reeled sideways in her chair.

  Paznowski wrung his hands in distress. “Not yet, Excellency! Please, restrain yourself, I beg you!”

  Antonio breathed rapidly. “All right, Sergei. Untie her and bring her into the bedroom.”

  Paznowski undid the knots that bound Cassandra’s wrists, and then took her firmly by the arm.

  “Come along, Lady Cassandra,” he said as politely as if he were leading the way to breakfast.

  Cassandra walked reluctantly. She didn’t have pleasant memories of Antonio’s bedroom, and she knew nothing benign awaited her there. As soon as she stepped through the doorway, Antonio moved to one side of her and Paznowski the other.

  “Well, Cassie?” Antonio said expectantly.

  Cassandra stared at the bound man with horror. In spite of the fact that he hung limply in his bonds, his face half in shadow, she knew who he was the second she saw him. She noted the wounds with fear, but she didn’t have time to worry about them now. Her mind worked rapidly on the problem of what to say. What could she do or say that would help Alexander now? There wasn’t much, but she could try.

  “Oh!” she said, letting her surprise show as she thought furiously. They must know who he was. They had mentioned his name to her, once they had gotten evidence from the farmhouse. They must know what he looked like. “It’s Sentinel!”

  Antonio and Paznowski exchanged glances.

  “The man who kidnapped you?” Paznowski asked.

  “Yes,” Cassandra said. “At least,” she added, interjecting doubt into her tone, “I think it’s him. He looked different the first time I saw him because he had a sort of mask on. He took it off back at the farmhouse, and I saw him a few times before he went away. I’m pretty sure it’s him.”

  Antonio looked confused, almost frustrated. “Well, Sergei?”

  “I don’t know, Excellency,” Paznowski said. “But I think the time has come to bring the renegade around.”

  “Do you think the same hypo will work on him?” Antonio asked, pulling a hypospray from his pocket.

  “It should, Excellency. A stimulant is a stimulant. There’s not that much difference between being stunned and being drugged.”

  This exchange mystified Cassandra, but she was too worried at the thought that they would bring Alexander to consciousness to worry about it. “What are you doing?” she said, letting her very real anxiety show. “I don’t want to be here if you’re going to wake him up. He kidnapped me once already.”

  “He can hardly do anything to you now, Lady Cassandra,” Paznowski said, his tone sharp with suspicion.

  “Stand right there, Cassie,” Antonio ordered, stepping behind Alexander’s chair. “Right in front of him.”

  Paznowski dragged Cassandra into place and then he, too, moved out of Alexander’s view. Antonio pressed the hypo to Alexander’s neck.

  The wounded man stirred with a deep groan of pain. Cassandra bit her lip and prayed that he wouldn’t betray himself.

  Alexander lifted his head with difficulty. He opened his eyes and focused them blearily on her face. Cassandra realized with a sinking heart that he was too far gone to be careful of what he said.

  “Cassandra,” Alexander croaked. “Cassandra, are you all right?”

  Cassandra threw herself at Alexander, weeping in his lap as she clutched at him. “You shouldn’t have come back, Alex! You shouldn’t have come back!” It was over. An
tonio knew, and Alex was lost.

  • • •

  Alexander could feel Cassandra’s tears soaking through his uniform trousers. He wanted very much to stroke her hair, but he couldn’t move his arms at all.

  “Very affecting, Cassie,” the Emperor said, his voice filled with an icy rage. “You’ll pay for what you did, you whore!”

  Alexander strained at his bonds but they held easily.

  “And you,” Antonio went on, “you bloody traitor!” He yanked Alexander’s head backwards by his hair. “I’ll make you scream for mercy, but I won’t grant it, you bastard!”

  Alexander grunted with pain, but he was too dazed to respond.

  “Please, Excellency,” the man Alexander recognized as Sergei Paznowski said in agitation. “Before you damage him irretrievably, we must find out what we need to know!”

  Antonio released Alexander in disgust. “Go ahead, then. Find out what you need to find out. Once you’re done, I’ll start in on him. Or,” he said, his eyes lighting up, “I’ll start in on her. I’ll torture her and make him watch. I’ll violate every orifice until she’s torn and bloody, and then I’ll smear her blood on his wounds.”

  Cassandra caught her lip between her teeth and held back a sob.

  Alexander tried desperately to think of some way to help her, but his mind seemed caught in a fog.

  “Please, Excellency!” Paznowski said.

  Alexander groaned as he strained against his bonds. They were both lost, but at least he could tell her how he felt. “I’m sorry, Cassandra. I’m sorry I failed.”

  She looked up at him. “You came back for me.”

  “We need to immobilize Lady Cassandra, Excellency,” Paznowski said, “before we do anything else.”

  “Very well,” Antonio said. “Let’s tie her to one of the bedposts. That’ll be handy for what I have in mind later.”

  He took Cassandra by the arms and dragged her to her feet. She hung limply in his grasp until she was standing, and then she pulled away and lashed out at him, trying to grab his energy pistol.

  The Emperor screamed in anger and the two of them struggled over the weapon until Paznowski hit Cassandra on the side of her head with his own pistol, and she fell backwards. Alexander cried out in protest, but his bonds held, no matter how much he strained against them.

  “You stupid whore!” Antonio shouted at Cassandra. He lashed out with the rope and whipped her across the face.

  Cassandra screamed, and Paznowski caught both her wrists. The two men subdued her quickly, dragging her to the bed and tying her hands together with her arms around one of the tall bedposts. The posts went all the way to the ceiling, so she was unable to move very far.

  Alexander panted from exertion, but he couldn’t otherwise move. He couldn’t see any way out of this. There was nothing he could offer Antonio that would make the man release Cassandra. And even if the new Emperor agreed to let her go, his word was worthless.

  “Now, Excellency,” Paznowski said, “let’s see what we can find out.”

  He stepped in front of Alexander and stared down into his face. “You will tell me how you knew about the hidden door into this suite.”

  Alexander glared up at him and didn’t answer. Paznowski punched him in the shoulder, right where the wound was deepest. Alexander grunted in pain but said nothing. Paznowski hit him again. Alexander gasped. If anything the pain made his head clearer. He was lost. All he could hope for was to help Cassandra in some way.

  “Stop it!” Cassandra shouted. “Stop it! I told him about the door! Stop hurting him!”

  “Ah!” Antonio said. “You were right, Sergei. You always are, I know. They are lovers.”

  “Let him go, Antonio,” Cassandra pleaded. “I’ll do anything you want me to do—I’ll say anything you want me to say. Just let him go.”

  “Don’t be so stupid, Cassandra,” Antonio scoffed. “I have no intention of letting him go—of letting him live for that matter.”

  “Please, Antonio!”

  “Hush, Cassandra,” Alexander said. Antonio was unlikely to kill Cassandra outright, and if he could make the new Emperor angry enough to kill him now, quickly, Cassandra might be saved. He had to stop her from doing anything to try to save him. “They’re going to kill me. They have to kill me because I saw Princess Vinitra in her brother’s bed.”

  “Who else knows about the Emperor’s feelings for the Princess?” Paznowski demanded. “Whom did you tell?”

  “You can go to hell,” Alexander said, trying to keep his voice strong. “You’re halfway there already if you’re this pervert’s creature.”

  Paznowski turned purple with outrage. “You will speak of your Emperor with respect!”

  Alexander gave him a mirthless grin. Paznowski was armed and could be provoked as easily as Antonio. “Is he fucking you, too? You seem overly fond of him to me.”

  Paznowski took his pistol and leveled it at Alexander.

  “Now who’s losing it?” Antonio said in disgust. “Get a grip on yourself, Sergei. It doesn’t matter what he says. He’s going to die soon, anyway.”

  Paznowski seemed to shudder for a moment, as if it took him an effort to gain control of himself. “I’m all right now, Excellency.” He let out a deep breath.

  “I just thought of something, Sergei,” Antonio said suddenly. “I told Vinitra to go to breakfast with Barranca as usual. She may try to come here afterwards. You need to go tell her to keep away until I send for her. I don’t want to have to stop what we’re doing to answer the door, and we can’t take a chance that the guardsmen might open it for her if we don’t answer.”

  Paznowski looked perplexed by this request. “But, Excellency, I can’t leave you alone here with the two of them!”

  “Nonsense,” Antonio said. “They’re both well confined. I can handle them by myself. Go ahead, Sergei. Find Vinnie and tell her what’s happened. Make sure she knows to wait in her rooms until I send for her.”

  “Very well, Excellency,” Paznowski said, his reluctance still apparent.

  He insisted on checking Alexander’s bonds before he left, as well as Cassandra’s. Alexander was silent the whole time, trying to determine if the other man’s departure could be used to advantage. He couldn’t think of anything, but with Paznowski gone, he should be able to provoke Antonio into killing him quickly.

  As soon as his adviser was gone, Antonio pulled a small sofa away from the wall and moved it close to Alexander’s chair. He lolled back on the sofa and studied his two captives.

  “I sent Sergei away on purpose,” he said, his tone as confiding as if he were speaking to his best friends. “I want to try out a toy I thought I’d never get to use, and I was sure he’d try to talk me out of it.”

  He held out his hand and displayed his seal ring to Alexander.

  “See this?” he said, still in the same chatty tone. “It’s the Imperial seal—the exact same pattern that appears on your cheek. Watch what it can do.”

  Alexander said nothing as the Emperor took the ring off his finger and fiddled with the inside of the band. Alexander spared a quick glance at Cassandra and saw that she was watching her half-brother with horrified fascination. A moment later, a hologram shot out of Antonio’s ring, identical to the one that made up Alexander’s tattoo. It danced in the air about a meter above the Emperor’s hand, jiggling as Antonio played with the ring.

  “Do you know why you have that tattoo?” Antonio asked Alexander. “Every member of the Emperor’s Own Corps gets that tattoo because they guard me, and I have to be able to trust them. Someone was thinking, you see—some past emperor. The Corps can get closer to the emperor than anyone, and he’s very vulnerable if there’s a traitor in their midst—like you.”

  Antonio smiled engagingly at him. Alexander couldn’t take his eyes off the ring in the other man’s hand.

  “So I have this,” Antonio went on, waving the ring wildly so that the holographic projection leapt around the bedroom. “It’s not precisely a w
eapon. It won’t hurt anyone else. But the chip that makes the hologram on your face also has an implosion device and a detonator. Did you know that?”

  Alexander didn’t answer. He was remembering that long ago in Sahn Denie, his captain had said that the Emperor held all his guardsmen’s lives in his hands. Alexander hadn’t known what he meant.

  “You see,” Antonio said, “it works like this. As soon as I aim this directly at your tattoo so that the patterns match, the detonator will be triggered. I always wondered how it would look when it went off. I never thought I’d get to actually see it.”

  “No!” Cassandra whispered.

  “Yes,” Antonio said happily. “You’ll get to watch, too, Cassie. After he’s dead, I’ll drag his body over to the bed and rape you with his brains spilling out over the covers around us. Won’t that be fun?”

  “No!” she shouted.

  She twisted and turned, trying to reach him. Antonio laughed at her efforts. He stood up and walked closer to Alexander so that he could aim the hologram more precisely. The image flickered in front of Alexander’s chest and then crept up to his chin. In spite of his earlier resolution, Alexander couldn’t fight his repulsion at dying in such a horrible way. He lifted his chin in an effort to avoid the hologram, and Antonio laughed.

  “No!” Cassandra screamed at the top of her lungs. She twisted herself around and lashed out with a backwards kick that caught Antonio in the small of his back with just enough force to make him drop the ring.

  “Damnation!” Antonio shouted in annoyance. “You little bitch! I’ll make you pay for that!”

  He dropped to his hands and knees and began to crawl around on the floor looking for his ring. He was still grumbling, and he didn’t seem to hear the bedroom door slide open.

  Alexander heard it, and he looked up expecting to see Sergei Paznowski returning. Instead, he saw the man he recognized from the news bulletins as Count Barranca. The door closed behind the Count, and he advanced silently into the room.

  Alexander stared in surprise, and Cassandra turned to see what had caught his attention. Just as Alexander noted that the Count was carrying what looked like a stylus, except he pointed it as if it were a weapon, Antonio gave a triumphant cry and held up his ring.