by Casey Lea
Sharpeye pushed forward to snatch the squealing bundle from Amber. He lifted an edge of the blanket to inspect his firstborn and froze. One of the midwives gasped, while another backed away, along with the cleansing strip she was carrying. No one wanted to be near the child. No wonder her poor mother had bled.
Amber was the only one to lean closer, curiosity pushing her forward once the shock had passed. The little girl had clearly thrown back to some primitive mermaridian DNA that hadn't been active for millennia. Amber should never have agreed to help Sharpeye add so many aggressive alien genes to his line. They had both been at fault, but the Arck had refused to admit it. He blamed Amber alone for his daughter’s sad state.
The baby princess was a complete horror. She had tusks instead of teeth, thrusting past the ragged edge of skin that formed her lipless mouth. Her eyes glowed red between ridges of rasped cartilage and those serrated plates rose to form horns across her forehead. Truly a disaster.
Amber shuddered and lifted her gaze from the past and back to the Arck's garden. It was alright, she told herself. That night was long gone and she'd managed to fix her mistake. Goldown had regenerated well as she grew and had looked lovely for years. Not that the Arck cared.
Amber had been unmoved when he refused to forgive the BGP. His response was scarcely surprising, especially once she started threatening to go public with the fact that he carried mermaridian genes. Being blackmailed seldom brings out the best in people. But to refuse to forgive his own daughter for something beyond her control? That was harsh. It almost made her feel more charitable toward Goldown. Almost.
A soft chime told Amber that all of her spy flecks were deployed and she tapped her com to bring up dozens of holograms in the air around her. She studied them with growing delight. She had never achieved such cover in the palace before. However, instead of enlarging any of her new feeds she called up a more familiar image. The largest ship that had ever landed on Kresynt filled the grotto around her.
Amber rose to settle on the edge of a stump. The Alliance mothership was a monster, true enough. She zoomed in to read the name curving over its prow yet again. Soft gray letters glinted with a metallic sheen to spell out a single word. Grace. Amber hugged herself tight and tried to slow her pulse. She hadn't been sure who the Alliance would send as ambassadors, but it had to be them. Had to be.
Amber brushed her hand across her eyes and looked back to the ship. It was sleeker and less bulbous than the first Grace, but just as big. She smiled and zoomed in again for the closest view she could get. It was possible they'd finally be allowed to open the hatch now that the day was almost done. She might catch sight of whoever was on board. However, there was still no movement and she settled back with a sigh, curling her legs up to watch and wait.
Amber's patience was only rewarded hours later, long after sunset. The Alliance embassy finally emerged. The figures that strode from the ship had not yet masked and she recognized two of them at once. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to use her mind to order the fleck to zoom in.
Wing and Free looked exactly the same as when she last saw them, making her gasp and cover her mouth. She tried to calm her unruly emotions. After all, why was she so surprised by that? She must have fallen into senility, despite her new life. Her boys were still young, less than a hundred. No, less than fifty. Of course they seemed unaged. Amber hitched forward again, right off the edge of her perch. She fell to hit real moss, landing on her bottom with scarcely a thump. She blinked and reached back to clutch her rear, but without real urgency. However, her hand froze in midair when the last member of the group finally looked up.
Amber stared at him, locked in place. Now he was really young. So young he made her feel light years past ancient, but he made her feel something else too. Recognition. He was kres, with blue-black hair, amber skin and features that were strangely familiar. She frowned and shook her head, trying to loosen a memory. She was sure she knew him, but had no idea how. He was too young for them ever to have met before. The palace scan she was stealing showed his passport age as nineteen cycles and his name as Falkyn IceFlight. The name was no help at all. She'd never heard it before. So who was he?
He must be one of the wonderful hybrid babies Wing had been expecting- no. The first boy to emerge with the group was, but not this one. The chromosomes her scan displayed were fully kres.
Amber slid forward, chewing her lower lip while she ran an analysis searching for the subject's parents. When the result appeared she gasped and froze, before lurching forward to grab the hologram and draw it close. Her hands flew into the image to seize relevant DNA and run a manual comparison. The result was the same. It was true. Completely impossible, but true. Nightwing had another son.
Amber sank to her knees, while zooming in on that face she was sure she shouldn't know. Couldn't know. The boy looked up at the same moment and his gray eyes seemed to stare straight at her. She shivered, even as she leaned closer. Something about this one was giving her goosebumps. His breeding was a surprise, but clearly it was possible and must have a logical explanation. So why did she find him so unsettling?
Amber rose, still watching the stranger and her hand strayed to the mask that would complete her costume. Her fingers trailed over its jeweled surface, but she had no intention of using it. She was taking a crazy risk as it was. One that already had her trembling and teary-eyed, for gods' sakes. Going out into the ball would be suicidal.
Amber bit her lower lip, then winced and released it.
Going out there, out with Sharpeye, was impossible. She was on her last life and she had to protect it. She certainly couldn’t waste it on juvenile sentimentality, or curiosity, or whatever the hail she was feeling. Still, she stood for a long time staring out through her camouflage, before her sanity finally returned. She shivered and went back to her perch, to safely watch the world go by.
15
Old Acquaintances Should be Forgot
Darsey tucked her arm tighter through her husband's and kept on walking. A strand of flowers fluttered from her hair, but she let it fall. She wondered whether the real Maid Marion had felt this scared approaching Prince John's castle. At least she had her own Robin Hood with her. She squeezed Wing's forearm and kept her eyes straight ahead.
The closer they got to the palace the more it loomed over them, but she refused to stare up at it and gape like a yokel. Jace was supposed to be beside her, but he was lagging behind. Her frond followed him as he wandered along with his head thrown back. He turned while staring up and then did another small circle. So much for playing it cool.
However, her son accelerated to fall into line again. She glanced over at him and he sniffed. "Yeah, but imagine cleaning it."
Falkyn laughed from the other side of Wing. "I don't think it's the owners who do the cleaning."
"Indeed not," Wing agreed grimly, his voice gratingly loud after his sons' quiet comments. Darsey felt his arm tense further, until it felt like an iron bar. Perhaps she should have listened to her husband and kept Jace well away from this place. She’d certainly have liked to, but he’d insisted and she’d instantly known that he wouldn’t be easily stopped. If she hadn’t brought him, he would have come alone. Too late now anyway.
They entered an arch in a massive white wall and followed a golden path lit with fairy lights. The stones under their feet began to move and Darsey clutched at Wing to avoid wobbling.
Behind her Free stood like a statue, while Jace started doing small circles on a heel again. "This place is really something- wow."
The path accelerated and swept them around a bend toward the palace entrance. Two mighty towers rose higher than the cliffs behind them, while between them fell a silver curtain. No, not a curtain, a great sheet of water that plummeted over the cliff. It sparkled in the moonlight and Darsey finally gaped. She couldn't help herself. It was the largest sound-suppressed waterfall she’d ever seen and the energy involved must be incredible.
They all stood silent while
the path carried them forward. The air filled with moisture and a froth formed on their energy fields as they accelerated toward a cliff of water. The path threw them into rapids frothing at the base of that silver hammer and Darsey flinched. Beside her Jace swore, but the rest of the party stood braced and still.
Wing's mind sent reassurance. Sharpeye's trying to force us off balance. It's his style.
They glided under the waterfall and the sound suppression stopped. A roar claimed them at the same moment that the water slammed down on them. Darsey cried out, but she couldn't hear herself at all. Wing's arm shifted to settle round her waist, while Free squeezed her shoulder. The noise was stupefying, claiming all of her attention and it took her a second to realize they were untouched. An unwelcome memory made her shudder anyway and for a moment she was falling, plummeting with the water through the middle of an alien pyramid-
Wing’s mind touched hers, warm and reassuring, pulling her back to the present. It’s kay.
Sure. Darsey nodded against his shoulder and drew several deep breaths, of air, not water. They really were alright.
An energy globe held back the weight of water and they passed through safely. Darsey looked up to see more rapids boiling over the bubble protecting them. It was like being under colliding waves and she shuddered. How much energy was needed to hold back such a waterfall? What if there was a power cut?
Darsey pushed those questions aside when the path finally brought them into the palace. They stepped up onto a faded mosaic floor, gold glinting from the ceiling high above. However, this time Darsey had no trouble keeping her eyes straight ahead. She scarcely heard the disembodied voice announcing the Ambassadors for the Alliance and she let herself be steered through to the main ballroom. Her mind was occupied by a single thought. Exits. Possible escape routes, because one thing was sure. There was no way they would be leaving through that waterfall without permission.
Darsey noted every possible opening that her com could scan and passed them to her family. Only then did she stop to study the people around her. She was completely surrounded by color and noise, as thousands of costumed kres danced and mingled. She checked Jace first and he was bouncing on his toes.
It was impossible to see his face inside the helm of his suit of armor, but his fronds were buzzing with delight. "This is wild," he yelled at her. "Can we do the waterfall again?"
Darsey rolled her eyes under her own flowery mask. No wonder she had to watch the boy. She turned to Wing for sympathy, but he was standing rigid and hardly breathing, while he stared at someone in the crowd. She pivoted to look in the same direction and quickly saw who her husband was watching.
A gap had formed nearby, where the crowd flowed around someone, rather than dragging her with them. She was a striking blonde kres with perfectly chiseled features and a distant smile. Her costume was skimpy, even by Court standards. It was nothing more than some strategically placed leaves and a belt of feathers hanging low on her hips. She clutched a spear taller than herself. It was wood, attached to some sort of stone that had been chipped to form a point, and a fringe of feathers was bunched below that very sharp tip. More feathers had been woven into a delicate frame for her eyes. Her gaze was wandering idly, until it met Wing's. Her eyes stopped and she stood just as still as Darsey's husband.
Darsey had no trouble guessing who she was, but Free leaned down to murmur "Princess Goldown," and remove any doubt.
So that was Wing's ex-fiancé. Damn. Even worse than the royal harlot's beauty was the fact that she had clearly recognized Wing. Despite the mask and the fact that the Princess thought he was dead, she had known him at once.
The staring contest finished when Goldown shook her head, before gazing at Wing again. He raised a hand in greeting and she clutched her spear tighter, then hefted it and strode forward. Double damn. Where was Jace? He and Falkyn were supposed to slip back to the ship before the great reveal at midnight. Before Wing and Free were recognized.
The Princess brushed straight past Darsey, to stop inches from Nightwing. Her lips thinned while she studied him and his hair stirred, as if he was ashamed. A minute passed in silence, before Goldown offered a cool smile. "You look good, Wing. Much better than I'd expect for someone long dead."
The Princess looked him up and down again. Very slowly. The pink tip of her tongue ran over her lips and then she smiled. "An archer seems fitting." Her cold, gray gaze slid past Darsey to settle on the boys behind her. “Your crew chose an interesting range of costumes. Is this pair human too?”
“In part,” Wing said. “They're my sons.”
That definitely shocked the princess. Her eyes locked on the youngsters, while she gripped the haft of her spear until her knuckles turned as pale as custard. “Sons. How intriguing. I offer a future favor in exchange for introductions.”
“Done,” Wing agreed and his com flashed to seal the deal. “Princess Goldown, Serenity of the Empire and Jewel of the royal family, please greet my sons, Jace and Falkyn.”
Jace's helm swiveled toward Wing. “Not really trying, Patri. You didn't even mention our family jewels.” A mental snap from both his parents made him wince, but there was no sense of repentance when he stepped forward to bow low to Goldown. “I thank you for this meeting, Serenity and wish you love and comfort throughout your life.”
The princess inclined her head noticeably and this time her smile brought unexpected warmth to her face. “You remind me greatly of your father. When he was still young and exciting." She spared Wing a sardonic look. "And alive." She offered her hand and Jace raised it to kiss her palm. "Love and comfort to you also, Jace. If I can deliver any part of that love and comfort, please let me know."
Every muscle in Darsey's body was taut and straining. What the hell? If the royal slut kept flirting with her son, any diplomacy left in this mission was about to vanish. Darsey's peripheral vision could see Wing staring at her and his frond demanded calm, but she ignored him, to focus instead on the skanky blonde moving to stand close to Darsey’s baby.
“I love your costume,” Goldown purred to Jace. “Ancient armor and weaponry fascinate me. What type of warrior did this belong to?”
“They were called knights, Princess. I thought it suited my first visit to the kres home world, because knights lived by a code of honor.”
“Fascinating. You must tell me more.”
Darsey opened her mouth to interrupt, but Falkyn spoke before she could.
“Princess.” He bowed fluidly, but briefly, rising as soon as he had Goldown's attention. Darsey could see that harpy's reflection in the dark visor of Falkyn's Harvester blast helmet and the princess was still wearing her ingratiating smile. However, Falkyn's mouth was also easy to see in the half-helmet and he frowned in response. “You're everything I expected.”
“Thank you, Falkyn.”
“It wasn't a compliment.”
Goldown's smile vanished and her lips frowned at the unexpected insult. Wing’s frond stirred wildly, but Falkyn ignored whatever mental message his father was frantically sending. Instead he flipped up the visor of his helmet to reveal his whole face. He studied the princess intently, with eyes as chill as the southern sea.
She sneered in response and flicked a finger at his open headgear. “I see you know me as little as you know court protocol. No one is allowed to unmask before midnight. The Arck always leads the big reveal.”
Falkyn was unmoved and his own lip curled in response. “Etiquette Point 1023.7.9, partial unmasking, as required by the exigencies of the night, is allowed beforehand.”
“You seem most hostile, boy. Perhaps strong females disturb you.”
“I can assure you it's quite the reverse. And I'm not the one who’s disturbed.”
Goldown's lips thinned further, to a single line. “I can see why they call you Hell-kin.”
“It's Falkyn and I doubt you can see anything. You've got your nose so deep in the trough you're blind to all else.” The Princess gaped, speechless with outrage and Fa
lkyn looked pointedly over her head, to raise an eyebrow at Jace. “Shall we go wade in the Court swill, brother?” He stepped forward to take Jace by the elbow and they were gone before Darsey could protest. They were instantly caught by an eddy in the crowd and disappeared. She teetered on the edge of following, but managed to stop herself. They were together and probably safer dancing with strangers than spending more time with Goldown.
Right on cue the princess sidled up to Wing again. “I do hope they don't step in something nasty out there.”
“Oh, I think they should be safe now,” Darsey observed, but Goldown ignored her. Instead she turned to study Free in his full suit of armor.
“Yet another son?” she wondered. “But then I've heard humans whelp constantly and produce litters of young. Doubtless the source of their dubious appeal.”
Free snapped his visor open too and her returning smile faltered. “No. Freefall.” The second knight inclined his head very slightly. “Also ignoring court rules,” she sneered, nodding at his opened visor, but Free simply smiled.
“Bending, not breaking.”
Goldown sniffed and studied his armor, before stifling a yawn. “Your costume is less than original. Another earth warrior?”
“Yes, a hero actually. Sir Lancelot by name. A great swordsman.”
“What a miracle. You've dispensed with that odious modesty at last. As I must dispense with you. Pleasant evening, lords.”
Darsey cleared her throat and Goldown clutched her chest dramatically, before looking over her shoulder. "Don't sneak up on your betters, girl. That's no way to earn a tip. Bring me another sparkling grape and some fortune pastries."
Wing's frond was screaming for restraint again, but Darsey ignored it. "Your fortune is easy to tell. I see a very short future.”