by Emma Alisyn
He whirled and kicked, countering blocks and using his speed to advantage. They tried to enclose him in a ring, unsuccessfully. Niko took out one, and then a second until he faced the last warrior who sighed, and shifted as well. They fought hand to hand—a silent agreement that there would be no blades in this round. Someone barked, Kausar’s voice, and the males split apart, the guard nodding curtly and stepping back to the sidelines.
And then, Prince Malin stepped into the circle.
20
Bea held her breath until Surah clapped her on the back. “Breathe, girl,” the princess said.
Bea coughed, staring. They were a thing of beauty, the two warriors. The first round was like watching two ancient Olympians, skin slick in the moonlight, muscles flexing. When Prince Malin took up the duel, Niko’s skin darkened and his wings sprouted from his back. The transformation always fascinated her, the subtle widening of shoulders, thickening of bones under skin. Savage, elegant, and dangerous.
They launched into the air, blades flashing, the clang of metal an eerie melody. They whirled, rising and diving. A few times Bea jerked, wincing, certain someone’s wings had been clipped.
“Relax,” Veda murmured. “They’re both too experienced to draw blood accidentally. This is just a show of skill to satisfy the court.”
“If you say so.” She didn’t bother to hide the doubt in her eyes. She squinted when someone’s blade caught a particularly bright flash of moonlight. Next to her, Surah snapped to her full height.
“Geza,” the princess said. “Do you see that?”
Bea blinked, and saw the flash again. Geza began cursing, a string of guttural words in their ancient language. At the same moment, the two duelers whirled and dove towards the Prince as others took up the alarm.
“Bea, run,” Veda snapped, grabbing Aeezah and swinging the child up into her arms as she took off.
Bea ran after them, the weeks of conditioning spurring her muscles into obedience to the order. She saw Niko, sparing a precious second to instinctively look for him and across the field met his eyes, saw the stiff, aborted movement he made towards her.
She shook her head once, and focused on following Veda. She know what Niko’s duty was.
But she heard a snarled command. A warrior swopped from the sky and fell in next to her, several others following suit to form a loose guard around all the females.
“Drones,” someone yelled.
Bea looked up into the sky and for a moment froze. The round metallic balls flashed as series of green lights, whirling in the air as they flew. She knew those balls. She’d seen them before.
Small metallic missiles hit the barracks they were running toward, and it exploded in a shower of brick, metal and wood. Aeezah shrieked, Veda flinging her to the ground, covering the child with her body as Bea was crushed under the heavy weight and tent-like protection of a gargoyle, wings fully extended.
Another explosion, and shouts.
“They’re following the Prince,” someone said, voice grim. “Get the females to safety and then to the Prince.”
“No!” Bea said, standing as the warrior rolled off her and gave her a hand up. Niko was with the Princes, and Malin was a friend as well as a boss. “Take Aeezah to shelter, Veda and I will come with you.”
Two of the guards looked at each other, one opening his mouth to protest.
“This is what we’re training for,” Bea said, cutting him off. “If they have drones programmed to at least a 60% match to his DNA, you’ll need all the bodies you can get to scramble.”
“Nikolau will murder us,” someone muttered.
“Is Niko your Prince?” Veda asked, voice slicing.
That decided them. One of the males glanced at her, though, eyes narrowed as he nodded at the other to take Aeezah away. “You know you could be hurt, or killed.”
“I’m a warrior’s mate,” Bea said. “This is the warrior’s life.” But she whirled, grabbed her daughter in a hug and whispered fiercely, “Go with him and follow orders. I’ll be okay, sweetheart.”
Aeezah saluted, and let the warrior fly her away.
“He’ll take her to the city,” the warrior next to her said, “to a rendezvous point. Fall out.” A few of the other female trainees decided to go with him, but a handful remained to fight for the Prince.
They ran, Bea grimly aware that she was the one slowing everyone down. They turned the corner of the field onto the park-like grounds of the Ioveanu garden’s. Drones hovered in the sky, holding hostage a group of at least twenty warriors who gathered around the Princes in a body shield. Her heart clenched. Niko would be in the center, directly in front of Prince Geza. He would be the first one killed if a drone broke through.
“They won’t go into the house,” the warrior said. “The drones would be programmed to attack structures if their target goes behind walls. As long as he’s out here, the people inside are safe.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Bea asked.
“The Mogrens can’t start a war with all the Clans. As long as they only target the Ioveanus, there is a chance the Council will choose to allow them to rule by virtue of greater strength.”
“Whoever is piloting them will be rethinking their strategy right about now,” Veda said, grim. “A standoff isn’t a victory.”
Ironically, they were able to slow to a walk approaching the group. “Get in the back,” the warrior ordered.
She and Veda complied. Bea heard the harsh tones of Malin and Geza in discussion, Niko’s voice slicing through every few sentences. She didn’t understand a word, but she understood inflection. Niko rapped out a few short words and a warrior broke from the ranks and began to jog. One of the drones whirled, greens lights flashing in a sequence, and pulses of light slammed into the scout. He flew back several feet from the force of the blows, smoking holes in his chest.
Veda cursed. “Fuck, fuck, they’re going to start picking us off now. I knew they wouldn’t let us sit here. So much for not starting a war with all the Clans.”
Niko exclaimed. “Veda?”
“I’m here,” she called out, curt.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“What I was goddamn trained to do.”
They seriously hadn’t noticed the females approaching? Probably because all eyes had been trained on the drones. Bea kept her mouth shut, hoping he wouldn’t ask.
“Bea.”
His calling of her name was low, furious command. “Present.”
“Godfuckingdamnit. I’ll fucking rip your wings off, you son of a—”
She knew he wasn’t addressing her, but the male assigned to watch over her and the others.
“Warrior, focus,” Malin snarled.
Niko shut up. The males switched to English, a courtesy she would later realize was a sign of her rank among their personal circle.
“If we move, they’ll pick us off one by one,” Malin said.
“I’m not cowering behind my guard, so come up with a plan,” Geza snapped.
“You’ll do what you’re told,” Malin replied, older brother dripping from his tone. “We won’t give the Mogrens what they want.”
“The death of every member of my guard plus the trainees, and the females, in order to make a feeble attempt at preserving my life?”
Bea cleared her throat. “Prince Malin? Don’t we have similar drones in prototype?” She scrambled to recall if that information was under NDA, but even if it was…it probably didn’t matter at this point.
The males went silent. The middle of the circle rippled, and she saw a dark-haired head turn towards her. “Let her inside,” Malin said.
They moved as little as possible, so as not to trigger the drones, but Bea managed to squeeze to the center. Niko refused to look at her, jaw granite, gaze trained above.
She turned to Price Malin, who stared down at her, eyes hard. And tired. “What are you getting at, Bea?” he asked quietly. “Do you have an idea?”
She couldn’t worry
about sounding stupid. Besides, she knew she wasn’t. This was her job, damnit. “I’ve got two ideas. One, if someone has a comm unit we can contact your tech department and have them patch in a satellite feed to get the coordinates. They can hack the signal and take the drones down.”
His eyes narrowed. Geza glanced at her. “And the second?”
She hesitated. “I saw the demo vids of the models you have in prototype. They can only shoot so many people at one time. That was one of the flaws you sent them back to design for. In theory, if a swarm confuses their sensors, it will slow down the lasers long enough to take them down. And you guys can fly. With swords.”
The quality of the silence changed. Someone pulled a comm off their wrist and handed it to Prince Malin. “Lord.”
He took it and made the connection. “Let’s hope option one works,” he said calmly. “We don’t want to lose another warrior.”
He spoke briefly, some of the technical jargon over Bea’s pay grade though she was pleased at how much she did understand. The communications between Prince Malin and his R&D department were some of the most challenging, but the most rewarding once she figured out what was going on. And with his Executive Assistant handling the various Boards and his finance departments, Bea taking over point on some of those experimental projects had been natural.
“How long?” Gera asked, terse.
“10 minutes.”
“If we’re being monitored, the Mogrens will make a move soon,” Niko said, voice expressionless.
“Prince Malin, do you think this is your tech, or just the coincidence of convergent research?” she asked him, trying to keep her voice quiet.
“If we survive this, we’ll find that out.”
Bea suppressed a shudder. She would never want to be on the receiving end of the merciless death in his voice. And then it occurred to her.
“Where is Surah?”
He must have heard her alarm, because he touched her shoulder. “We got her away. She’s pregnant again. We couldn’t allow her to make the same sacrifice you’ve chosen to risk.”
And if the Princes were murdered, she would be the ruling Princess until her child was of age.
“Your mate is worthy,” Geza said to Niko. “You chose well, and your children will be welcome additions to the ranks.”
For once, all irony was shorn from the Prince’s voice. Geza spoke the words and meant every single one of them. She stood a little straighter, the pleasure at being honored by her Prince stiffening her resolve.
“If we survive,” Niko said, still impassive. But, he wasn’t immune to the praise. He reached for Bea’s hand, squeezing her fingers and then released her with a final caress of his thumb. Her heart settled a bit. He may be angry with her. Stone-cold angry. But he loved her. She was certain.
“This isn’t an attempt to sow discord between the Princes anymore,” she heard someone mutter. “Guess it’s civil war.”
The comm blinked and Prince Malin read the screen, face taut.
“Report,” Geza said.
“They can give us a two minute window. I’ll count you down in 60 seconds.”
“Kausar,” Geza said, and her teacher rapped out orders.
“Apostol, Viorel, Stefan, on my command you’ll launch to disable the drones. Warriors on the Prince’s right, cover them. Warriors on the Prince’s left, get the Ioveanus out of here. Female trainees, remain on the ground and watch for further attacks and assist with removing wounded from the scene.”
“Princess Surah texted, the infirmary is on standby,” a male near Kausar said. “Prince Malin, she requests you not leave your comm unit at home anymore.”
A smattering of laughter, the kind to break the tension of knowing death and pain could be imminent.
“15 seconds,” Malin said.
Everyone snapped to focus. As he spoke, the drones whirred into activity, green lights flashing into yellow.
“They’re being reprogrammed,” Bea said, forcing her voice to remain level. “They’re attempting to fight the scramble.”
“10 seconds,” Malin said, “and the two minute window is now one minute. 3, 2, 1.”
“Move,” Kausar barked.
21
Bea understood, in those moments, the value of obedience in war and the reason they trained all their lives, and never stopped training. They moved as a unit, flowing to execute orders with no hesitance. The drones attempted evasive action, but they couldn’t evade and still target the Princes, who drew the drones in separate directions.
The warriors had exactly one minute, enough time to launch, attempt to get within striking distance and get off a blow while under fire. Three went down, the scent of burning meat and leather strong in Bea’s nostrils. The trainees ran, dodging the last fire that peppered the ground and dragged the wounded out of the way, the gargoyle females having the strength to pick up the warriors into firefighter lifts and run with them. Bea didn’t have that strength, and hated her physical weakness, vowing she’d dive headlong into a strengthening regime if she got out of this alive.
A female cried out.
“She’s hurt!” Bea yelled. A streak of fire exploded clumps of dirt on the ground. She dove, rolling away and gaining her feet then continued to run to the injured female.
“I’ve got her,” another said. “The male, there—“ she pointed. “He’s bleeding bad. We can’t get him yet.”
“I’ll cover him until you get back.”
Bea ran, hunched over and swerving to avoid fire and did what she could for the warrior. Fingers trembling, she yanked off her t-shirt, grimly glad she’d worn a sturdy, frumpy sports bra that covered everything, and used it to make a tourniquet for the bleeding wound high on his thigh. It was near an artery, and she worried. There was nothing she could do for the damage to his wings.
“We’ve got him,” a cool, professional voice said.
Bea glanced up. A slim male with a head of multi-colored hair and slanted, dark eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses knelt. He wore a white medic’s coat and looked vaguely familiar. Her eyes widened. She’d seen him at Surah’s before, in passing. “You’re the Princess’s lab assistant. Is Surah here?”
“Yeah.” He ignored her, busy with his patient. A second medic joined him, this one with wings, and helped lift the injured warrior onto a stretcher.
“Get out of here,” Cole said. “We’ll take over.”
“I have my orders,” was her sharp reply. He only shrugged, and left.
One drone went down, the remaining two trying to break through the thinning horde of gargoyles and go after the Princes.
But the warriors used their minute wisely and formed a living net of wings and bodies. Whenever a drone tried to power through, it ran into a sword. Bea watched, tense. If another warrior went down, it would leave a gap.
Movement flickered in the corner of her eye and she turned her head to see the group that had been guarding Prince Geza flying swiftly. In another moment, they closed the gaps and strengthened the living shield, and then the group of warriors over Prince Malin joined.
Scanning faces, she saw both Princes, and knew where they were, Niko would be. She didn’t know why or how the Ioveanus had talked their guards into turning back, but it was likely the information that they now had slim advantage, if they could increase their numbers.
And then the newly arrived guard opened fire, laser rifles clear proof of why they’d returned. It was forbidden to carry projectile weapons on the grounds during time of peace, she’d learned that as part of her basic education to go with the marital instruction. They must have fled to the armory and picked up weapons with the intent to return all along.
The third drone went down, and the war cry of victory thundered through the sky. The males—and the females joined them now that the danger was contained—dove and flew in victory formations until someone, likely Kausar, gave the order to stop crowing and get to cover.
A gargoyle separated from the flight and swooped towards Bea, lan
ding at her feet, and grabbing her around her waist before powering off again, taking her into air with the host. She clung to Niko, arms around his neck, relieved he was safe and in awe that this day would not only be the anniversary of her official handfasting, but of her first real battle.
Niko ushered her into the tower after the Princes. Veda remained with them simply because he didn’t want to let his sister out of his sight either.
“I need to find out where Aeezah is,” Bea told Niko.
His head whipped around. “Was she taken to a rendezvous point?”
“In the city, but I didn’t get the warrior’s name.”
He was already on his comm unit. A moment later it beeped. “She’s secure. We’ll retrieve her in an hour.”
Once they were in Prince Geza’s office suite, she and Veda moved towards a seating area away from the males, who gathered around the giant worktable/desk and began arguing, a mixture of their home language and English. She followed the conversation, but barely, and the attempt gave her a headache.
An aide knocked on the door and was allowed entry. He bowed to the male at the table then approached Bea, handing her the communicator. She thanked him, surprised someone had found time to think of such a little detail, but grateful. She spoke to Aeezah in a low tone, who assured her she was well and had been given pizza and ice cream. She and Veda sat in silence mostly, though after a time the female stood up, and approached her brother, speaking in low tones. He stiffened, then nodded.
“I’ll take Bea with me,” she said.
“No,” Prince Geza said, voice sharp. “Leave her here for now, Lady.”
The salutation softened the harshness of the command. Veda bowed then trotted back to Bea.
“I’m going to the infirmary to see if there’s anything I can do,” she said. “You heard you have to stay here?”
It wasn’t really a question, more a warning to obey. Bea nodded, and Veda left. After a time, the conversation seemed to come to a standstill. Geza straightened, and glanced at Bea, beckoning for her to approach.