“They’re already jumpy around me,” my Lord explained. “No need to tempt fate by staying on the ship.” He sighed and looked around with longing. “Have all of our stuff taken over there.”
Seizing an opportunity, finally, to change out of Peabody’s pants, I suggested dressing for dinner first. Mercifully, Lady Redwing’s suit was a perfect fit.
Lord Oswald set off to fetch the lady in her cabin while I arranged with Foster to have the remainder of our clothes and personal effects transported to the palace suite. After he left, I called on the other members of Lord Oswald’s borrowed retinue and explained the current situation, so they could gather useful information for us.
It took a few minutes before Lady Phoenix was ready, but the result was well worth it. She had her hair braided into one long coil, draped over the front of her left shoulder like a red splash on her dress. She wore the dress I had bought her, a long, dark green velvet dress with gold accents framing the end seams, including the low-cut neckline. Her ample bosom and flaring hips filled in the dress in ways that I couldn’t imagine in the dress shop. While the dress didn’t match our suits like the silver and blue gown did, it still looked fabulous on her, and it pleased me greatly to see her wearing my present.
“Ready?” she asked shyly, twirling around for us.
I was relieved to see that she didn’t appear to be taking seriously whatever Noir had told her in the hallway. I nodded, trying to keep my smile from looking like a leer.
Lord Oswald considered her leisurely, then offered a wide grin. “Absolutely. You look gorgeous.”
Lady Redwing looked sideways at my Lord for a moment, but said nothing. Maybe she hadn’t taken Noir’s comments seriously, after all. If she had, at least she was trying to be civil.
The three of us headed off to the palace for dinner, but not alone. For the first time since we’d arrived in New Rome, Prince Oswald had a full retinue with him, not just his Angels.
We swept into the great room, which was alive with activity, the prince’s Angels staying close by in case they were needed, the remainder of the retinue melting into the crowd, the prince’s eyes and ears at court.
After about an hour of socializing, we all went into the dining room. I was about to take my place standing with the Angels again when the emperor’s guards conducted me to the table, instead. Lady Redwing was shown to the seat nearest Empress Jewel, with my Lord next to her, and I was given the seat next to the prince. Everyone else was moved down one place at the table, which I was sure endeared me to the displaced heirs. Some of them still stared at me spitefully, as though I were a dog — a blue-haired dog, that is — that had just jumped up on the dining table and started eating the Sunday feast.
I ignored them and enjoyed my dinner.
During the entire meal, the empress and Lady Redwing chatted non-stop, their arms waving and faces animated, the timbre of their voices rising and falling regularly. I didn’t follow their conversation, which included a lot of whispering, but I did understand the gist of it. Lady Redwing spent a lot of time complaining about Prince Oswald’s lack of attention.
Lord Oswald and I exchanged remarks occasionally, but mostly we ate and watched the other diners. Prince Vere, of course, was deeply engrossed in the emperor’s random recollections; Lady Vere sat next to him, polite but quiet. Every now and then she’d glance over at me, but she’d drop her gaze quickly and her cheeks would color slightly.
The royal couple lingered longer than normal, staying to chat for some time after dessert was cleared away. Eventually, Emperor Seraphim struggled to his feet and made his escape, towing his wife and Prince Vere.
Lord Oswald offered Lady Redwing a glass of Christi port, the finest port bottled since Old Earth’s Portugal had been destroyed in the early thirty-second century.
Lady Phoenix glared at my Lord and left the table without a word.
Lord Oswald looked at me, perplexed. “What was that all about?”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not sure, but I think it may be something Noir told her.”
“Noir?” My Lord’s neck started reddening. “What did he tell her?”
“I’m not sure, but I have a suspicion. I forgot to tell you earlier about something, though; it might help explain. When I went to see Noir off the Phoenix, I found him talking to Lady Redwing by the hatch. He left and the lady glared at me down the hall. She seemed mad about something, and stormed off. I was running after her when Noir popped in again to tell me about the masseuse.”
“I see.” Lord Oswald scratched his fuzzy chin, deep in thought. No doubt he was reflecting on the same realization I had just had, that Lady Redwing hadn’t spoken to him at all throughout dinner.
“Sorry, I forgot to mention it at the time. Do you think he told her about—”
I checked myself, since there were still other heirs in the room, people that didn’t need to know about our visit with the empress.
“I’m sure of it,” Lord Oswald said, and rose to leave.
We went back to the great room, which was buzzing again. Lady Redwing was there, too, politely chatting with Lady Willow Vere. The prince was nowhere in sight, but it was a sure bet the emperor’s favorite would be close to the royal couple.
We crept up behind Lady Redwing casually, flanking her so she didn’t have the opportunity to escape. She greeting me warmly, but ignored my Lord.
Lady Willow looked at me and blushed again. She probably wasn’t used to seeing blue hair.
A few minutes of small talk later, the emperor showed up, leaning on Prince Vere’s arm. The empress trailed behind them.
“Ah, Your Grace,” Lord Oswald called as they approached. “So nice of you to join us.”
“Adrian, lad,” the emperor wheezed, coming up to us and plopping down into a portable chair his retainers carted around so he didn’t overexert himself. “And the delightful Phoenix Redwing again. Good, good.”
The Empress Jewel extended a hand to Prince Oswald. “Hello, Oz,” she said smoothly, “I trust you’ve been keeping yourself busy since lunch.” She glanced at Lady Redwing, who shot the prince a scathing look before pointedly ignoring him.
The empress smiled wickedly and a flash of triumph crossed her eyes.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. I expected the empress to be mad at me — after all, I was the one who had refused her — but she seemed to be exacting some vengeance on the prince instead. Clearly, Jewel had said something to Lady Redwing to turn her against my Lord, but why? If Lady Phoenix challenged her to deny what Lord Noir had reported, and Jewel had told her the truth, why would Lady Phoenix be mad?
Lord Oswald cleared his throat to break up the palpable tension in the air. “I believe you know my secretary, Euclid Ancel.” The prince nodded at me.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, the empress glared at me coldly. “Yes,” she said quietly, then looked away and cheerfully changed the subject.
The emperor glanced at me, muttering, “Indeed,” then returned his gaze to the fetching Lady Redwing.
Over the next few minutes, Lady Redwing continued to ignore Prince Oswald, the empress ignored me, and I tried to ignore Lady Willow, who seemed to be staring at me every time I glanced at her. She’d look away quickly each time, which just made it worse. I felt as if I was being watched constantly, and it made my skin crawl.
The first time my Lord took me to meet some ladies — I think it was at the Shaved Kitty — I was so nervous that my clothes were practically sopping from sweat by the time the prince ordered their famous Cat Tongue treatment for both of use. The ladies that delivered this little bit of salvation came in, glanced at each other, and immediately set about vying for Lord Oswald’s attentions. I was ignored.
The two ladies practically got into a cat fight over who would be allowed to Tongue the prince, with the result that they spent more time giving each other significant cold looks and verbal abuse than in administering what was supposed to be an incredibly relaxing experience.
Ultimately, my Lord had to send them away and call for two new ladies. As the first two made their exit, metaphorically scratching and clawing the whole way, I felt my fists relax, and noticed the pain from my fingernails biting into the soft flesh of my palms. I hadn’t realized how edgy their presence had made me until they left and the tension in the room dissipated.
Then the replacement ladies came in, acting like proper Kitties, and all was forgotten and forgiven.
Unfortunately, forgiveness seemed to be in short supply in New Rome these days. The ladies here were playing some kind of bizarre game with the prince, and it all hinged on an encounter with the empress that my Lord didn’t even have.
Eventually, Lord Oswald tired of the game, and he made some excuse to be on the other side of the room. Once away from the royals, I felt the tension drop away.
“I think,” I whispered, when we were out of earshot of possible eavesdroppers, “we can safely assume that Noir told Lady Redwing about the visit.”
“Yes.” Lord Oswald nodded. “But not the whole of it, I bet. Nor did she necessarily believe everything Noir told her, either, or she’d probably be mad at the empress, too.”
“Or Jewel denied it and told her that the masseuse — Kleva, was it? — was the sole benefactor of your attention.” But that didn’t explain why Lady Redwing would be upset. She never complained about Lord Oswald’s frequent visits to ladies of pleasure. She’d surely put the masseuse in the same category, wouldn’t she?
Lord Oswald paused. “Perhaps I should have a little chat with our Lady Redwing and clear up this misunderstanding.”
I nodded. “The quicker the better.”
We set off in search of Lady Redwing.
She wasn’t in the great room any more. The royal couple was still where we’d left them, but Lady Redwing wasn’t with them. We mingled for another half hour, but failed to find the lady. I was starting to get worried.
We’d just about given up finding her, when a thought struck me and I asked one of the Angels if he’d seen the lady.
“She left some time ago. She looked tired.”
Probably gone back to her suite to rest. I relaxed.
Prince Oswald thought we should pay her a visit immediately, so we set out, but the Angel stopped me.
“Her people went with her,” he said in warning.
I glanced around frantically, but there was no trace of her retinue in the crowd. I got a bad feeling about her whereabouts.
We raced off to Lady Redwing’s suite, but found it empty.
Checking with the palace administrator, we learned that she had checked out of the palace entirely.
My Lord and I exchanged looks, and we both knew what had happened. We dashed to the jumpport, the Angels on our heels.
Lord Noir had definitely told Lady Redwing about his suspicions. It appeared that she had verified them with the empress, and now, true to Lady Redwing’s form, she had taken action to let Prince Oswald know exactly what she thought of his alleged behavior.
Not surprisingly, we found our space in the jumpport empty, the Phoenix — with Lady Phoenix and her faithful retinue aboard — recently departed, bound for Oasis.
Chapter 12
Accidental Kidnapping
ONCE AGAIN, I FOUND MYSELF LOSING SLEEP AT THE PALACE. To be honest, my bedroom in Lord Oswald’s suite at the palace was more comfortable than the chair I’d slept on in the Phoenix, so I should have been getting more rest in the palace. I wasn’t.
My prediction about bad things happening whenever we left the starship had, once again, come true with a vengeance, and I faced yet another sleepless night.
Lady Redwing had disappeared — once again — with no warning. This time, however, I was fairly sure there wasn’t an innocuous explanation waiting for our reunion. This time, the lady was upset, and she had a good reason to be, if she believed what Noir and Jewel told her.
Despite my feelings for Lady Phoenix, I was beginning to get annoyed with her disturbing tendency to run off half-cocked, without waiting for a decent explanation.
My Lord certainly had a satisfactory explanation; I knew that, since I was there, too. At least most of the time, that is. How long was Lord Oswald alone with the masseuse? I couldn’t remember. But it couldn’t have been that long; certainly not long enough to do anything with Kleva. Was it?
Lord Oswald and I went to The Nursemaid once when we were visiting Redrocks, a planet whose overlord was another legion buddy of the prince’s. The ladies there performed their specialty, the Milk and Honey, with such skill that we were in and out of there in about ten minutes, clock time. Subjective time, it seemed like two hours, but that’s why the Nursemaid ladies are so sought after on Redrocks.
So I knew for a fact that Lord Oswald could go fully dressed into a room with Kleva the Masseuse and return ten minutes later looking no worse for the wear, leaving a very satisfied masseuse in his wake.
Was I occupied with the empress for more than ten minutes? When Kleva ran out after my Lord into Empress Jewel’s receiving room, she didn’t seem very satisfied at the time. Maybe it had only been a few minutes. It seemed like less than five minutes to me before Lord Oswald burst in on us. But, as I learned at the Nursemaid so long ago, subjective time and clock time can be very different indeed.
The question remained. How long? At some point, Lady Redwing and my Lord would discuss the incident involving the empress, and there was a strong possibility that the lady would ask me about it, too. I needed to know the truth before she asked.
Certainly, I’d lied to Lady Redwing before, and I’d do it again if Lord Oswald told me to, but I still didn’t like lying to the lady.
The bottom line was that I needed to know the truth for my own peace of mind, and with my Lord snoring lightly in the next room, I wasn’t likely to find peace that night.
***
Somehow, I managed to slip off in slumber sometime during the night. Obviously, it was late in the morning, because I woke still groggy, my eyes glued shut and my head spinning from exhaustion.
All I really needed was a good breakfast, with a stimulating hot beverage that contained chocolate. Nothing started a day better than chocolate, and I had awoken dreaming of it, smelling it.
One of Lord Oswald’s Angels, who knew my tastes well, was waving a chocolate bar under my nose to rouse me. “Breakfast time, Euclid,” he said. “Wake up.”
It was a cruel, inhumane thing to do ... but it worked.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and staggered to my bedroom door, lurched across the receiving room with my eyes still shut, and ran right into my Lord, nearly knocking him down with my bulk and momentum.
“Morning, Euclid,” he said, snickering. “I’m already up, thanks. Get dressed.”
I did so as quickly as I could, and returned to the receiving room, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
Once again, it was just us and the Angels for breakfast.
The usual crowd milled about in the great room. We ignored them all and found the dining room. The royal couple had already arrived, and my Lord was seated quietly according to the new configuration, leaving the chair nearest the empress empty.
Jewel was not amused. She glared at both Prince Oswald and me for quite some time, but she said nothing.
I don’t think the emperor noticed the omission until halfway through breakfast. “Where’s that delightful Phoenix?” he asked abruptly, right in the middle of some vapid response that Prince Vere was giving.
The prince glared at Lord Oswald, too. “Yes, an empty seat so nearby the empress,” Vere remarked caustically. “A deliberate insult, Adrian?”
Prince Oswald colored nearly the shade of his hair. “Lady Redwing was called home unexpectedly,” he said smoothly, despite his obvious embarrassment. “You’ll just have to make do with the pleasure of my company.” My Lord smiled wanly.
Sneering, Prince Vere said, “Wonderful.”
The emperor coughed, and the entire room feel silent insta
ntly, as each heir suddenly realized he was one step closer to the throne if the old man died right there in the middle of breakfast, before naming his successor.
“She’ll be coming to our party, of course,” Emperor Seraphim said, looking to my Lord for validation.
“Of course she will, dear,” said the empress. “I’m sure that Prince Oswald will see to that.” She fixed a steely gaze on my Lord. “Won’t you, Oz?”
My heart slowed, waiting for the prince’s reply, which seemed to take an interminably long time.
“Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” Lord Oswald said at last. “She’ll be at the party Saturday.”
The emperor smiled. “Good, good.” He turned back to Prince Vere. “Now, Hunter, lad, what were you saying?”
Normal breakfast noise returned quickly, as the interchange was catalogued by several heirs for future reference and quickly forgotten for the time being. The time to remember Prince Oswald’s promise would be on Saturday, at the succession announcement party.
My Lord wasted no time once breakfast was over, storming directly to the jumpport master. I nearly had to run to keep up with him.
“Get me the Phoenix on the comlink,” he demanded, red-faced and breathing hard. He glared up at the sky, mumbling obscenities at Lady Redwing while he waited.
And waited.
“Hail them again,” Lord Oswald said, calming down a bit.
No answer.
My Lord let loose with a string of obscenities that would have made Hannah proud; still there was no response.
“They’re not answering,” the port master said tentatively.
“I know,” the prince snapped. “Keep trying,” he said, making an effort to sound calm. “Patch it through to my personal comlink when you get them.”
“They’re probably just in a linksink, Prince,” the port master said. “They’ll answer soon; just leave it to me.”
Lord Oswald nodded and then he left.
I stayed behind for a while, chatting with the port master about the comlink equipment and jumpport protocols and other such small talk, figuring I might be able to get some more information that might help me contact the Phoenix through less traditional methods.
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