Gambit

by Kim Knox

The scream of interceptors cut across the sky and Chae cursed. She dragged Daned past the splintered bark on crushed trees and into the dark safety of the forest. Easing him onto a soft pile of leaves, she let her hands slip free. Everything ached, her arms, her shoulders, the small of her back, and she dropped down beside him for a few moments. Just to catch her breath. That was all. To rest her body. Not to grieve.

  She teased her fingers though the cool darkness of his hair, drawing it back from his forehead. A thin shaft of sunlight cut through the canopy and gilded his face. He was so beautiful and his kind of beauty hurt to look at.

  Her throat grew tight and she pressed her fingers to her eyes to deny the run of tears. Damn it, she had to move, somehow find her way off the planet. She pushed herself to her feet. A vast tower of black crystal made her the richest woman in the quadrant and she had no way to enjoy her newfound wealth. Just her luck.

  The air around her vibrated and the squawks of the birds mixed with those of the interceptors’ engines. Chae stared down at Daned. He looked almost peaceful. A lump thickened her throat. She’d had to leave her mother in the same way. Dead in a little room, where they were hiding from an enemy Chae couldn’t remember. Damn it, she needed to move, but instead she knelt in the damp earth and pressed a soft kiss to his cool lips. Her chest hurt with held breath and the choked sob trapped in her throat.

  His death was wrong. Daned was everything she wasn’t. So much better than her, level-headed, fearless…Hell, mixed in with that, he was loyal to his traditions. She never thought she’d admire that in anyone, but he’d forced it on her. Her heart twisted at the image of him as emperor. Shining. Incredible. She would’ve been fiercely proud to have her thoughts change to reflect his shape. Now he was gone from her.

  Tears splashed and she scrubbed them away with the heel of her hand.

  She would kill Aleph-Nun for this. Push blunt spikes into his hearts. The heat of her anger kept back her sob and she willed herself to leave him, to find her feet and back away from his body.

  A warning burst of air and noise, and the tau-class exploded in a white rush of light and heat. It knocked her to her knees and instinct had her fling her arms over Daned, protecting him from the spray of branches and soil thrown into the air.

  The roar of the ships’ engines throbbed against her ears and she bit back a groan. One last screech and they pulled away, streaking across the blue sky. She closed her eyes and let her body flop with relief. They’d gone. And she was still alive.

  “Can’t resist me?”

  Chae clapped a hand to her mouth to shut off the cry. Her heart pounded. That had sounded like Daned…but it couldn’t be. There’d been no heartbeat. There still wasn’t. She shoved her hand into his loose robe, pressing her palm hard against his chest. What she found had her scrambling away from him until her spine hit a gnarled stump.

  His heart was beating. Slow, weak, but beating.

  Chae stared at his face, covered in soil and leaves and still gilded by a shaft of sunlight. She had to be imagining the flutter of the leaves. He couldn’t be—

  “A little help?”

  She hadn’t imagined his voice, raw, choked, but most definitely his voice. “Daned?”

  “Did you try to bury me?”

  A snort broke from her. “Be happy I pulled you from the tau. You’d be a cinder right now.”

  “Appreciated.”

  His shoulders twitched and the action propelled her forward. Her hands met his as he wiped the mulch from his face and then she was kissing him, hard, fast, her tongue seeking his parted lips, melting into him, his taste, his heat. Daned groaned—a good groan—and stroked his fingers over her hair, his other hand tugging at her tunic to find bare skin. He chased his fingertips along her spine to the cleft of her arse.

  Sensation flared under her skin and she wanted nothing more that to get naked with him. Right now. In the muck and decaying leaves. Because he wasn’t dead. He was gloriously, gloriously alive. “How are you not still dead?” The words burst against his lips. “I mean…”

  “I put myself in restorative sleep. All autonomic functions slow.”

  “And you trusted me to get you out of the ship?”

  His dark eyes held hers and the emotion clear in his eyes squeezed her heart. “I trust you.”

  Damn it, she was not going to cry again. “We should get moving. Have to plant that perfect arse of yours on a throne.”

  Daned let out a slow sigh. “Rolling around in the earth, with you hot and naked, so much more appealing.”

  “After.” She gave him a wicked grin. “When you’re the richest man in the quadrant.”

  He laughed. “You only want me for my money.”

  Chae stole a quick kiss, teasing his bottom lip with her teeth, his sweet, dark taste making her want to agree to his idea of making out right there. She closed her eyes and pulled away. She licked her lips, savoring his taste. “You promised money and incredible sex.”

  “Yes, I did.” He groaned and sat up, leaves and soil falling away. “We get to the citadel, I sit on the sunder-seld, become emperor and then I drag you into a room and do unspeakable things to you.”

  A bright grin curved her mouth. She couldn’t help it. “Unspeakable?” She wet her lips and drew Daned’s gaze to her mouth. Heat spiked hot low into her belly. “Promise?”

  “Oh, absolutely.” He pushed himself to his feet and took her hand. His strong fingers squeezed hers, and warm relief eased through her. She didn’t do this, this…attachment to someone else, but with Daned, it felt right. “Come on.” He tugged her deeper into the forest.

  “Wait, how do you know which way to go?”

  “Can’t you feel it? The tug in your blood? Black crystal calls to us, Chae. It’s a part of who, of what we are.”

  Chae stumbled after him, absorbing his words. Her body was a riot of emotion and residual ache. She hardly knew what she felt. The sliver had thrummed under her fingers, she remembered that much. “How is it a part of us?”

  “It’s why our creators—the Founders—built our race here.” He waved his free hand around the trees surrounding them. “Something in black crystal stabilizes the changes they made, and they bound it into our genes. This was a remote colony millennia ago. They had no clue that black crystals’ rarity and versatility would make them so coveted.”

  “Nor the Ladaian aristocrats quite so rich.”

  His eyes narrowed on her. “We’re not all rich.”

  “So you are an aristocrat.” She smirked at him. “A sexual snob.”

  He gave her a wicked smile she felt down to her toes. The need to shove him up against the nearest tree and strip him bare swept over her, hot, fast. “I could say I’m slumming.” He paused. “But that would be a lie.”

  She’d been ready to thump him, but now she had to suck in a breath and deny the stupidly warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest. “So funny.” She took control of her emotions with a distraction. “And what does an emperor do, Daned? Make a virtue of gluttony and debauchery?”

  Daned’s eyes narrowed and humor sparked in their darkness. “I’ll have to pass a test of pain before I can fling myself into my vices.” His fingers touched her shoulder and the chase of his touch through her flesh broke a gasp from her, dispelling her sudden fear for him. “An emperor is bound by more traditions than I can name. His control can be absolute.” He paused. “And the position comes with certain unpalatable duties.”

  “Unpalatable?”

  He put his finger to his lips and she bit back more words. Ahead the trees thinned, light splashing over a stone-floored yard. It stretched out to the wide, curving steps of the citadel. The area appeared empty.

  Daned looked up to the sky. He frowned. “Not long until the sunder-seld thrums for the first time in a hundred years.” His fingers tightened around hers. “We have to risk it.” He glanced back at her. “Ready?”

  “Probably not. But running on stone in bare feet has to be better than twigs.”

  �
��Then that’s a yes.” Daned broke into a run, taking her with him.

  She stared around, her instincts sharp for the first sign of movement…but she found nothing. The massive structure of the citadel drew her. Ancient, pock-marked, but the black crystal gleamed in the warm sunlight. Once, it would have been beautiful. And its worth? Her gut cramped at trying to calculate it. She snapped her attention back from its temptation. “Where is everyone?”

  “Inside or dead. The sunder-seld only banned bloodshed here.” Daned laughed, something harsh, bitter. “We’re late.” He looked up at the sky again. “But no one’s claimed the throne yet. I have time.” He tore up the steps to the vast open archway.

  He paused and looked at her. Something pushed against her mind…but then it was gone. Was she picking up on his thoughts, so close to so much black crystal? Whatever answer he sought, he found it. He squeezed her hand and stepped under the high arch.

  She shivered, the air pressing pins into her skin, and she curled her toes against the cold crystal floor. She had this stuff in her blood? It was a good thing she’d never known. The need to distill her blood would’ve been beyond tempting.

  Daned urged her forward down the wide corridor. A single lantern splashed yellow light over the smooth walls, casting shadows into shallow alcoves. There was only the sound of their bare feet and the soft sound of breathing echoing in the chilled air. Her heart thudded in her ears. Hell, were they the only ones to make it this far? Would it be as simple as Daned flopping onto the throne and then unspeakably fun things?

  The corridor curved, and light cut across their path from a wide, open archway. Beyond it, lanterns hung from the high, rounded ceiling, and steps dropped away to a low rectangle of carved black crystal. At its center sat a plain white chair, the golden light from the lanterns gilding its smooth surface. But that didn’t have her staring—though she did wonder what the strange crystal was—it was the three men standing in front of the huge chair.

  So…not simple. What a surprise.

  The elder of the three, silver streaking through his brown hair and wearing a suit that mirrored the one Daned had worn, took a step forward and bowed to the chair, the sunder-seld. “I am Eiryn Don of the House of Ewiren.”

  The throne thrummed, a dull dissonance that had Chae’s teeth on edge. She winced. As the Founders had bound black crystal into their blood, had they bound flesh and consciousness into the slab of carved rock? Her gut tightened. That was just…disturbing.

  Another man stepped forward, tall, young and whip-thin. He gave a quick, fluid bow. “I am Corryn Adda of the House of Enan.”

  So he represented the people who would turn them all into an unstoppable war machine. The ones who had bribed her friend to kill her. Chae’s gaze slid over him. He looked like a strong wind would snap him. But before she could offer a snide comment to Daned, the third man bowed to the throne. Shorter than the others, he was as muscle-thick as Corryn was skinny.

  “I am Garim Vau of the House of Creador.”

  “What are they doing?” She pitched her voice in a low, quick whisper.

  “Making themselves known to the sunder-seld.” Daned squeezed her hand and padded down the wide steps, his bare feet silent on the cold crystal. “When the sunlight hits the chair on this day, the next dynasty will be chosen.”

  “But they’re just standing there.” Nerves crawled under her skin. And she simply followed Daned down the steps to meet them with no weapons—hell, and hardly any clothes. “I don’t understand. People have been trying to kill us all day.”

  “No blood can be shed in the citadel. Not after last time.” His smile was wry. “Not today anyway.”

  “And you respect that?”

  “The sunder-seld won’t tolerate it. We’re here by its grace.” He pulled in a deep breath. “Gentlemen, I’m here to represent the Ara Family.” He gave a low bow to the throne. “I am Daned Traern of the House of Ara.”

  The men turned as one, boot heels scraping against the crystal floor. Eiryn narrowed his eyes as he appraised first Daned’s loose Samekh robes and then her tunic, which only just stretched to mid thigh.

  His gaze lifted to her face and she smirked at him. “Seen enough?”

  “What is she?”

  “She’s Ara Family too. She has the right to stand here. My House made it to the citadel.” He gave the man a thin smile. “I could have an army from Ara outside. One or a thousand. It’s allowed.”

  “So you say.”

  Daned padded down the last few steps. “So says the sunder-seld. Without its permission, she’d be trapped in the archway.”

  Chae squeezed his hand. He’d risked bringing her in here without telling her there was a risk? But she knew better than to question him. The three men who’d made it to the citadel had to be like Daned, trained killers, the best their Family had produced. She glanced at Corryn, thin, gaunt. Even him.

  Corryn snapped his fingers, the sudden sharp sound cutting the silence. “Where’s your crystal? The agreement all the Houses reached was that only representatives carrying the embedded sliver would find recognition—”

  “I don’t need it.” Daned broke smoothly into Corryn’s rant. “The sunder-seld knows my heart.”

  Eiryn and Garim exchanged an angered look and Corryn’s fingers flexed around the slender crystal he held in bony fingers. The click of his nails itched under her skin.

  The hint of a smile touched Daned’s mouth. “So if there are no further objections?”

  “The list of attendees must be reread.” Anger lined Eiryn’s voice. “Before that…”

  His gaze was pointed and a prickle of unease ran over her skin. She resisted the real need to step back.

  “Present yourself,” Daned said.

  Chae stared at the sentient chair and the thought almost made her laugh. Her day probably couldn’t get more crazy than introducing herself to a rock. She gave a flourishing bow. “I am Chae Beyon of the House of Ara. Pleased to meet you.”

  The sunder-seld thrummed and the discordant noise vibrated against her skull. She straightened and Daned glared at her. She frowned. “What?”

  “The Houses of Meroga, Bren, Valens, Charag and Haderyn have fallen.” A disembodied voice, deep, sonorous and seemingly unconcerned with what “fallen” could mean for the couriers, flowed around her. She twitched, the voice somehow pressing under her skin.

  “The time is at hand.” The elder of the three men looked toward the sunder-seld and his tongue wet his lips. He pointed to the thin line cut into the crystal. The gold buried within it began to glow and the floor vibrated, thrummed through Chae’s bare feet. Her toes curled against the warming crystal. Something about the feel of it through her flesh increased her twitching, almost as if a whole army of miniscule truth-crawlers had invaded her body.

  The man waved a gloved hand around the rectangular pit. “Take your places.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Chae’s whisper was raw, tugging at Daned’s arm as he stalked across the rectangle to take his place at a marked corner. “I could’ve been trapped like a fly? And the feel of this thing…” She shuddered. “It’s deeply unpleasant.”

  Daned stopped on a cut square of white crystal. He straightened his shoulders, his face stark, professional, but his gaze swept the length of her body. That look and the increasing, weird, freaked vibrations? Her flesh was hardly her own. “We’re matched genetically, Chae. If I can be in here, so can you.”

  “That is just…” She pressed her hand to her face, her eyes shut against the fire licking through her body. She had to pick her fights with him later. “What now?”

  “Now we wait to see who the sunder-seld chooses.”

  Chae ran her fingers up to grip her tangled hair. How the hell was he so calm? She stared at the other men. Each stood at a white square, chins lifted, eyes shut. Garim held the sliver of black crystal in a fist pressed against his heart.

  “That’s it? Aren’t you going to…you know?” She pulled her hands free o
f her hair and waved one at the throne. Her skin was crawling, an unnatural rush that felt as if she’d raided her long-dead drug boss’s hidden stash. She leaned in close, her mouth against his throat. “Sit?”

  “When it’s time.” He pressed a kiss into her hair and her heart squeezed. Damn, she could get too used to him. Daned released her hand. “Now, stay back.”

  “Daned…” The vibrations of the tower ran too fast through her flesh and her focus was almost liquid, shifting like a film over her vision. She crushed her eyes against it and pinched the bridge of her nose. The pain cleared her brain and she stumbled back from him. Her foot hit the bottom step. “This place is fucking insane.”

  He didn’t answer, just stood in his borrowed robes and stared straight ahead. The others did the same and the vibrations thickened. Her flesh screamed at it. This was it? A few men standing around…waiting. And they accepted that? They’d tried to shoot her, burn her out of the sky, so that a chair could make a fucking decision? Why the hell didn’t they just grab the throne, bend the damn thing to their will? It was a lump of rock with genetic sentience grafted to it.

  A wild laugh escaped her. Hell, she could sit on the damn thing—

  “Good. The idiots are in position. Immobile.”

  A man in a black suit trotted down the wide steps, armored and heavily armed men following him, their boots clattering against the crystal. The thick whine of Ar-20s cut through the thrum of the sunder-seld. Fuck, her brain was going to melt.

  “It’s time.” The man stopped at the last wide step. His head tilted and a dark smile touched his mouth. “Shoot them. Shoot them all.”

  Chapter Seven

  White blazed through the riot of her thoughts and Chae screamed, screamed as the sunder-seld screamed. Garim disintegrated, dissolving into a cloud of gray ash. Her stomach churned and instincts took over. She ran. But not up the wide curve of the steps. She ran toward the guns.

  Chae didn’t question where she was going. Her body, her thoughts weren’t her own. She felt the grip of something ancient, something that lived within the heart of the citadel. Eiryn vaporized into a cloud of hot, bitter dust, and fear and anger surged power into her legs. Somehow she knew the man dressed in black leather, his laughter echoing over citadel. Kynon Drew, the head of his House of Enan. He’d desecrated a sacred day and that could not be tolerated—