Gambit

by Kim Knox

  Like she gave a shit! She fought back against whatever-it-was making her run into the path of Ar-20s, the thing that pumped information into her brain. Thing…Fuck, she would not be controlled by a chair.

  She slowed, stumbled and then something jerked to her left. Her pulse spiked. The blur was Daned. His hands grabbed her, took her down and she hit the crystal floor, air bursting from her lungs.

  White heat seared above her, striking the crystal floor behind her. Acrid smoke rose through the dust-choked air and Chae had no choice but to pull it into her aching chest. Daned met her gaze, his hard and professional, the one that still protected her…even from herself. She twitched a smile. He winked and that connection eased the wild rush of panic through her veins.

  “Stand, House of Ara.”

  Chae turned her head and found a pair of heavy leather boots bound in metal only centimeters away from her nose. She should’ve known. Since when would she get to have sex with the richest man in the quadrant? No, her luck had drained away as usual.

  Daned pulled her to her feet and she rubbed at her chest. The press of his strong fingers around hers warmed her, eased the manic thud of her heart and pushed the sunder-seld’s shrieking to a dull roar at the back of her skull.

  Her gaze flicked over the leader of the Enan. Tall and thin like his representative, Corryn, he had a hard, sharp face. Her mouth twitched. His genes had not been kind to him. She met his dark gaze and found it soulless. Yes, he would happily take them all to the slaughter as the Host. She straightened her shoulders, ignoring the cold chill the word brought with it. She smirked. If she was going to die, then her last act would be an annoying one. “So…you think you can control a really pissed-off chair?”

  Kynon’s gloved hand swung too fast for her to duck, and it impacted her jaw, snapping her head back. Daned surged forward, but the increased whine and the sudden clack and creak of too many Ar-20s pointed at their heads stopped him.

  Chae spat blood onto the crystal floor, pain still ballooning through her skull. “Interesting conversational technique. You must throw fun parties.” She snorted and slid her gaze over his emaciated body. “Or don’t you get out much?”

  “I am Kynon Drew of the House of Enan.” He straightened his shoulders and his tight leather tunic creaked. He looked up to the stone buttresses of the tower, light carved in arcs of black crystal. “You can call me Your Imperial Majesty.”

  “The Families won’t stand for this.” Daned took a step forward, ignoring the heavy barrels shifting to follow him. “You’ll be deposed.”

  Chae found herself pushed behind him, pushed closer to the sunder-seld. She grimaced. Damn chair.

  Kynon laughed and stalked away from Daned. He stroked the arm of the chair and his contact with it screamed through Chae. Daned squeezed her hand and she took strength from his touch. He had a plan, somehow she could feel it, the half shape of it pushing against her thoughts. She wanted to laugh. Great time for her to get telepathy. She was the walking dead with only minutes to live.

  “I’ll sit on the sunder-seld. Full body contact. The way we’re supposed to. Not some stupid crystal.” His gloved hand closed tight around the carved arm and his touching it seared under Chae’s skin. She bit back a whimper. “A pitiful petition at its command. ‘Please choose me. Pretty please.’ It’s a fucking chair. We control it. Not it us.”

  Well, she had to agree with him on that…but not the fact that Daned was moving forward and taking her with him. His plan had been to plant his backside on the chair, to make himself emperor. That’s what she could feel. She trusted Daned, as he had trusted her. She sucked in a steadying breath, pushing down the annoying whine of the sunder-seld. So, she would provide a distraction again. Time to do something stupid. Yes, here was her very last annoying act.

  “Please don’t kill me!” She wrenched herself free from Daned and dropped to her knees in front of Kynon. She grabbed his leg, and the growls of the surrounding men had her heart beating hard. “I was tricked into coming here.” Her fingers dug into the thick leather, her face mashed up against his bony thigh. “I’ll do whatever you want!”

  Kynon kicked out at her, but she clung to him. He broke contact with the chair, and the wild screaming in her blood eased away. One plus, at least. “Who are you?” He waved at his soldiers. “Remove this and shoot it. Now.”

  Daned surged forward…and rammed into Kynon.

  What the fuck? What about his plan to be emperor?

  Chae landed on her back, the crystal jarring her spine at the foot of the sunder-seld. The soldiers erupted, shouted, threatened, but Daned and Kynon were a tangle of limbs and rolling bodies with no clear target. Everyone was distracted. Daned had done this deliberately. Why? Her mind screamed afresh with the vibrations of the chair. Why the hell wouldn’t the thing get out of her head?

  Her attention snapped to it. Everyone was distracted. No one was watching her.

  Three of the guards threw aside their weapons and yanked Daned free of their leader. Panting, bruised and battered, Kynon gave the order for them to obliterate Daned. No time to question why the hell Daned wanted her on the chair. She had to save him.

  Chae jumped to her feet, turned and plonked her bare backside against the thrumming white crystal of the sunder-seld.

  Fire raced under her skin, and the crystal warmed, bled color, a deep, rich black flowed up from the base to completely coat the white crystal, veins of gold writhing under the new surface. Chae’s hands moved of their own volition to grip the smoothly carved arms. A new wave of fire surged through her body. Her spine arched and she bit back a cry.

  Maybe it didn’t like a non-aristocratic arse planted on it. Too bad. It could complain later. Right then she had to save Daned. Sensation crawled under her skin just like a truth-crawler, and she’d always controlled that wildness. She pushed the insane roar of the sunder-seld back until it was a dull rumble at the back of her skull and focused on the men frozen before her.

  “Drop your weapons!” Her voice resonated throughout the citadel. In the brief silence that followed her order, squawking birds burst in a wild flutter from the buttresses and streaked out toward the surrounding forests. Chae shifted on her warming throne and settled back. The fresh scent of cloves eased into her lungs and a smile curved her mouth. She resisted the urge to lick the black crystal, because hell, this throne was the real thing.

  Chae lounged. And really it was quite comfortable. She stared at the frozen men and lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”

  The Enan soldiers’ weapons dropped to the floor with a clatter and each one stood to sharp attention. Being surrounded by so much black crystal gave her complete control over the men. Chae grinned and wriggled her backside against the hard crystal of the chair. Damn, it was like playing with bought flesh, and she’d always loved that control. No wonder Kynon had lusted after the throne—the power would be addictive.

  “Chae.”

  She blinked and fixed her gaze on Daned. His thoughts were obscured, not the clear shine like the minds of the guards. All right, that was freaky. She frowned. No, there was something…Ah, yes, controlled surface thoughts, thoughts he was allowing her to see. And how was he doing that? She controlled them all.

  Chae shook her head and concentrated. “You planned this. Me. Here.”

  Daned ran his fingers through his tangled hair, wincing as he touched the bruise growing dark under his cheek. “The sunder-seld chose you. It drew you toward it when it was under threat.”

  Chae rolled her eyes. “How annoying is this chair?”

  “How annoying will you be on it?”

  A bark of laughter escaped her, but then she stopped. “You’re unaffected by…” She waved her hand at the silent Kynon stuck in a half crouch, to the mindlessly saluting guards and at Corryn still standing at the same spot, the sliver of useless crystal clamped in his bony hand. “Well, me.”

  “Sometimes we’ve been lucky.” He moved on silent feet and her pulse spiked at the hot gleam in his
eyes. “Sometimes the sunder-seld accepts a dynasty that allows advisors.”

  “A dynasty?”

  Daned gave her a slow smile. “Thought you’d like that.”

  He stopped before her, close enough that if he stretched out his hand he could touch her bare knee. His expression sobered and his shoulders straightened. The air stilled, grew heavy with waiting. Her skin tingled and even the pressure of the sunder-seld eased in her thoughts. It was waiting too.

  He gave her a respectful nod. “Your Imperial Majesty.”

  A smooth warmth filled her belly, and the thrum of the sunder-seld changed, the discordant vibration softening into a rich, full sound that flowed from the chair, easing through the crystal. Chae pulled in a breath, the magnitude of what was about to happen filling her. She was the Empress; from her all Ladaians would now take their mental form. She could almost feel it stretching out from the planet, finding every one of her people, filling them, breaking through the stolid initial pattern and creating what? She smirked. Really annoying smart-arses?

  “You are unique.” The soft, warm voice wrapped around her and she recognized it. It belonged to the chair, the consciousness at the heart of the citadel. “Something about you reminds me of the old emperors, of the first ones who sat here. They could hear me too.” It paused. “It’s been a long time.”

  The words were almost sad, an aching loss that tightened Chae’s chest. Daned frowned, sensing her discomfort but she gave him a quick smile.

  “The old ones had a freedom that gave strength to our people…but also found corruption in the Host. I tried to install an advisor, someone beyond the emperor’s pull. It wasn’t always possible. But you have that with Daned Traern.”

  The flow of the sunder-seld eased through her. “I can feel a change—someone used the ancient knowledge of the Founders. You were manipulated, I think.” It paused. “Yes, definite markers for interference. An adept altered you.”

  Chae’s brow furrowed. “Altered me? I had a natural birth…” Her mother. Her mother had always promised that she’d never share the insanity of the Ladaians, the control of a distant emperor, but her mother never thought, never dreamed her daughter would one day sit on their ancient throne.

  “I honor and thank her for her work.”

  Chae pressed her fingers to her lips. Damn it, now a chair had tears burning. “Thank you.”

  “I’m here to serve you, Your Imperial Majesty.”

  The pressure in her mind pulled back and the silence was easy and pleasant. She knew that she only had to think it and the sunder-seld would speak to her again. Ancient, sentient, it held the wisdom of all the emperors who’d sat on it. A wry smile lifted her mouth. Hers was the only naked backside, though.

  Chae ran her hand over her face and swept it over her tangled hair, expelling a heavy breath. She met Daned’s concerned gaze and her smile deepened. “Time to get this empress some underwear, I think, Imperial Advisor.”

  He offered his hand. A smirk lurked on his mouth. Yes, her advisor was going to be a handful. She looked forward to it. Chae put out her hand to his and the brief, warm touch flowed through her. The rightness of their blood, of how they complemented each other, sang through her flesh. Hell, where was that side room and Daned’s promise to do unspeakable things…?

  “Imperial advisor?” His smile faded and, before his mind threw down an impenetrable shutter, she caught something. His fear. A tight fear that gripped him and sank hard down into his gut. And then it was gone. The hard professional slid down over his features. “Yes, as you wish, Majesty.”

  That wasn’t an agreement to get naked. Chae frowned. “Daned…?”

  He ignored her question. “Kynon will have a ship.” He gave a bleak smile that twisted an unexpected knot in her gut. “It’s time to announce your accession.”

  “And that’s it?” Chae stood and as one all the men, including Daned, swept down into a low bow. “Daned.” She growled his name and tugged at the shoulder of his tunic. He straightened, but his eyes remained focused beneath her gaze. She would’ve liked to think he was riveted to her breasts, but his gaze turned inward…and still his mind held the smooth, sanitized gleam of a metal casing. What the hell had that fear been about? “No getting naked with me?”

  He looked up. “Is that what you wish, Majesty?”

  A fist closed around her heart and coldness spiked under her skin. There was a deadness in his gaze, as if he’d simply erased the man she knew. Chae willed herself not to take a step back, away from him. He sounded and acted like flesh, like so many of the flesh-pets she’d paid for and discarded. The warmth of the sunder-seld rose through her body and eased away the stark pain of Daned’s…compliance.

  Chae jerked her head. “No. It’s not what I wish.” She lifted her chin, grabbing at the power of the chair to help her move forward. What the fuck was going on? Was he acting like this for the benefit of the men, who still strained their backs in low bows? “What are you playing at?”

  “Majesty?”

  Chae gritted her teeth at his pliant tone. “A minute ago you would’ve been more than happy to turn me over the arm of the throne and fuck me.” Color slashed under his cheeks and that vein jumped in his temple again. She took his arm, his muscles hard and tense under her light fingers. She ignored the twist in her gut. “Is that image burning through your thoughts?”

  He wet his lips. “I forgot my place, Majesty. I’m your imperial advisor.” His voice was low, controlled, and he focused on the rise of the broad, crystal-carved steps that led to the arched corridor and the outside world. “Historically, to remain impartial, anyone holding this post never shares the imperial bed.”

  A heavy stone hit the bottom of her belly. The sudden flare of pain called on the warmth of the sunder-seld. “You didn’t tell me.”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “I didn’t ask?” Between the chair and Daned she felt the fierce urge to strip mine the entire system and leave the lot of them to their bloody fate. “Is he right?”

  “To you I can offer counsel, when you ask for it, Majesty, drawn from the history of all who have occupied the throne.” The warmth of the sunder-seld’s touch didn’t ease the tight knots of pain in her gut. “He is correct. Your bond with him could not stop Daned Traern from becoming your advisor. And down through time, all emperors have followed the path he stated.”

  For a long moment, Chae closed her eyes. She stopped on the steps and listened to her breathing. They were perfect for each other, but that perfection made it impossible for them to be together. Hell, her luck was supposed to be getting better. Not worse. And this was Daned. Even with the new irreverence flowing through the Ladaian people, he would follow his orders. Silent curses rolled through her mind, fouls ones learned on the streets of Ulan Bator.

  “Majesty?”

  Fuck, she hated that title, especially when Daned used it. She pulled in a slow breath. She was the richest, most powerful woman in the quadrant, and the one thing she couldn’t have stood right next to her. Worse, she’d tasted him, a brief tantalizing glimpse…

  Enough. This wasn’t her, wallowing in the pain of what she couldn’t have. She opened her eyes. The minds of the soldiers shone with obedience and, from the most senior, the location of Kynon’s ship was a bright gleam. “The ship is only a klick from here.”

  She stared up into the shadows of the citadel, feeling the power and life of the crystal. The old emperors had sat on the sunder-seld and enjoyed the ultimate control over their subjects. When she left, the soldiers’ blind, almost-flesh-pet obedience would fade back…but she would still hold them. Every planet in the system held a replica of the throne, and from there her will reached out to her subjects. That innate knowledge rose up through her.

  She found no comfort in her control.

  “The men need to secure Kynon.” She met Daned’s gaze and a thin smile cut her mouth. “Once I leave here, they won’t be such easy puppets to my whim anymore. Not till I get close to more cryst
al.”

  His hard, professional mask still held his face. “Understood, Majesty.”

  Chae dropped her hand from his arm. She forced her fingers not to curl into a fist. Being genetically matched burned her last nerve. It did. “And you can stop with the uptight suit act, Daned. Don’t worry. I’m not going to jump you. I have the control to stop and just walk away…You have nothing to fear from me.”

  He blinked, paused and gave her a slow nod. “Thank you,” he murmured. “I—”

  “Kynon.” Chae bit out the reminder. She didn’t want to hear explanations, regrets—she almost snorted—or his relief.

  Daned gave her another silent nod. He glanced back at the throne and the mass of men. As one, they picked up their weapons and the senior personnel swarmed around the frozen prince. The others tramped up the steps, the clatter of their boots, armor and guns echoing across the citadel. Just as quickly they stopped, their formation around her perfect protection.

  Chae let out a slow breath. “My mother never said Ladaians were telepathic.”

  “Only the first caste and the royal Houses were.” A brief smile broke through his mask. “Now? You’ve given it to everyone.”

  She ran a hand over her hair, dislodging twigs and a dried leaf. “Well, it obviously annoyed me. The secret looks you shared.” She dug her fingers into the back of her neck, rubbing a suddenly tight muscle. The sunder-seld hadn’t repaired all of her aches from the crash. It wanted her to live with the reminder that she was still mortal. “Let’s go, Daned.”

  He gave her a short nod. “Yes, Majesty.”

  The men moved as one, clanking up the steps at an even pace. Chae moved with them, her imperial advisor at her side. She flicked a glance at him. Light gilded him from the streaks of sunlight breaking across the citadel. He was beautiful and he should’ve been hers. She wouldn’t get over that fact anytime soon.