by Gwynn White
Tao didn’t even flinch. “Then so be it. Let my blood be forever on your hands.” He turned to Morass, sitting as alert as a guard dog in his chair. “To the executioner’s block, then. Or do you intend to cut me down where I stand?”
Morass looked to Lukan, who ignored him. Face contorted with grief, Lukan took a couple of steps toward his brother. “Enough, Tao. Everything in good time. The least I can do is give you time to say farewell to your wife. Do that . . . and then we will take care of the rest.”
An interesting look, one Felix couldn’t quite interpret, passed between the brothers. It was enough to make him sit up and take note. Then Tao bowed again and strode from the hall.
No one said a word as the door clicked closed behind him.
Felix glanced around at the faces and saw his own emotion reflected in a few: grudging respect for Tao’s integrity.
Finally, Artyom Zarot arose. “Councilmen, if there are no more questions or concerns, let us kneel and pledge our oaths.”
A moment’s hesitation in which Felix’s heart threatened to bore through his chest, and then one by one, the Fifteen began to kneel. Felix scowled as again he went down on bended knee for Lukan, this time on a hard marble floor. He fidgeted, struggling to remain upright, as each man, starting with the most junior members, recited the oath of allegiance.
And to think I will have to do this all again at the official coronation! This is too much to bear.
When the last man had spoken, Count Zarot clambered to his feet and hobbled over to the coffin, his pace slowly increasing. He picked up the sable cloak and swung it over Lukan’s shoulders. Next, he lifted the scepter and orb.
No expression of triumph creased Lukan’s face as Artyom Zarot laid the sacred items in his hands. Slowly, the new emperor walked to his throne, where he sat, no doubt absorbing his sour victory.
Felix leaned back in his chair, trying to fathom what Lukan knew that he didn’t. And how he could use the knowledge to protect himself and his family from the new emperor’s threats.
Chapter 12
With more force than necessary, Kestrel wedged the last of the gold and diamond clips Tao had given her into her tightly curled hair. It scraped against her scalp, making her wince. In frustration, she yanked it out and tossed it down onto her dressing table.
What did it matter what she looked like?
Today wasn’t her day. It was Lynx’s. Her sister was the lucky one who would stand next to the beautiful Lukan and be crowned Empress of All Chenaya and the Conquered Territories.
And my ungrateful brat of a sister doesn’t even appreciate it.
Meanwhile, Kestrel would be left in the shadows with Tao. Boring Tao, who was only interested in poor people, his stupid falcon, and . . . she hesitated, unsure of what else ignited Tao’s passion. He was so dreary, so weak when compared to his dark, brooding brother that she hadn’t bothered to delve any deeper into his character to find out more about him.
Worse, Tao was so interested in her. He kept nagging her to start a painting so he could put it up on their bedroom wall. And the sex . . . Well, he definitely wants it more than I do.
Kestrel sighed with despair, picked up the clip, and was about to loop up a stubborn curl when the door flew open and Tao burst into the room.
“Whatever happened to you?” Kestrel exclaimed, standing to get a better view of him.
His face was pale, his blond hair stood in every direction, and the buttons on his waistcoat hung open.
“You’re a mess! You can’t walk around the palace like that. What will people say?”
Tao strode over to her and grabbed her shoulders. As he leaned down to kiss her, she recalled that he was supposed to be at Lukan’s pre-coronation meeting.
She pulled away. “Is the meeting over? Good. That means the luncheon will be starting.”
With a whirl of silk skirt and petticoats, she dodged him.
“Kestrel, I—I’m sorry,” Tao said in a choked voice. He reached for her and pulled her into his embrace. “I know I’m not what you always wanted in a man. I—I tried to be that person . . . and I would have kept on trying, I promise, but—”
“Tao! Please!” Kestrel shoved his chest, but he clung onto her. “We have to get ready. I want to follow Lynx and Lukan into the great hall.”
Tao’s hands dropped to his side. “Then you will be going alone.”
Kestrel rolled her eyes. “We’ve already discussed this today when you said you didn’t want to go to the meeting this morning. I know Felix had your father murdered, but really, I think you’re overreacting.”
Tao sucked his lip. “I don’t expect you to understand this, but as I have already told you, Felix and Lukan killed my father. I could live with that. Sort of. But—” Tao sank down onto the bed and rubbed his eyes. “They are planning to do horrific things to the low-born.” He leaped to his feet. “Dragon’s ass! I hate that label! They plan to do horrendous things to the majority of the people we share this empire with.”
Kestrel swallowed. “Norin, too?”
“They’re part of the empire, aren’t they?”
Kestrel’s stomach dropped. She may not want to be a Norin, but her family still lived there. “What kinds of things?”
“Inject them with ice crystals.”
Kestrel shrugged, not understanding what that meant. Tao had tried to explain ice crystals to her, but like every conversation he started with her, he had chosen the wrong time. They had been about to go to the palace theatre, and she had been excited to see the play. He hadn’t brought the subject up again.
She took refuge in her usual daydream. “Lukan will sort it out. He’s emperor now. Felix won’t be able to do those kinds of things anymore.”
Tao shook his head, his expression—patronizing, like she was a silly child who didn’t understand what was important. It raised her ire. She was about to snap at him when he grabbed her arms again and looked at her intently.
“Lukan is the one suggesting it. Please, Kestrel, listen to me. My brother is not who you think he is. He is a dangerous man with a cruel agenda. When I’m gone, take care of that heart of yours. I would hate to know you had been hurt. Especially by him.” He gently kissed her lips. “Bird, my falcon—” His voice cracked. “I can’t take her. Please give her to Egor Bador. He’s my huntsman. Egor will know what to do with her.”
“Gone? Where? Why? You’re now the crown prince.” And that made her the crown princess! That, at least, was something.
“I’m leaving. I should have gone already. I should never even have come here, but I couldn’t just skip out without telling you how I feel.” His voice softened. “I–I care about you. Please, think about what I have said about my brother.”
Kestrel sat down on the bed with a bump. “By the Dragon, what are you talking about?”
“Winter’s coming. I need something warm. And some gold.” Tao loped to their dressing room. “Then I must go.” A pause as he looked around the room, followed by a sigh. “They probably do have cameras in here.” He grabbed a clinking leather pouch and a long, heavy coat. “Just buy me some time. If anyone looks for me, say nothing. I guess they will figure out soon enough where I have gone.”
Kestrel stamped her foot. “Tao! Stop right now, and tell me what is happening.”
He paused. “I refused to swear allegiance. I told you, they’re injecting everyone with ice crystals. I would willingly have let them kill me in there, but now—I’d be an idiot not to make a run for it. If I can get to the harbor, I could find a ship.” Tao started for the door.
Kestrel’s jaw dangled. She snapped it closed. “You’re leaving me? Just like that? All because of some ice crystals?”
Tao’s head jerked up, and he stopped mid-step. He swore, words Kestrel rarely heard, even from the most seasoned raiders. “They’re already here! Just–just cover for me. I’ll squeeze out the bathroom window.”
“We’re three stories up! You’ll fall to your death.” Kestrel grabbed for hi
m, but he scrambled across the room. “Tao, stop it. You’re being ridiculous.”
He closed and locked the bathroom door behind him.
Kestrel shook her head in wonder. And then she heard it, too—the sound of boots outside her apartment door. The door flew open, and Lukan, accompanied by a man in a green waistcoat and brown trousers she didn’t recognize, stood on the threshold. The man carried a sword.
She barely gave him a second look. All her attention was focused on Lukan’s beautiful face and seductive body. Her heart sped up as she drank him in. He always looked so mouthwatering in his black-and-silver clothes. The way his chest strained against his waistcoat and the tight fit of his trousers and boots, which showed his shapely legs to best advantage, made her weak at the knees.
Remembering he was now emperor, she curtsied low to him and simpered. “Your Majesty! Sire, I am honored to—”
“My brother,” Lukan interrupted. “Where is he?”
“Uh . . .” Kestrel’s eyes flickered to the bathroom door before she could stop herself.
“In there,” Lukan said to the other man.
Like a dark shadow, the man and his sword glided across the room to the bathroom door. The malevolence bleeding off him made Kestrel shiver. Face expressionless, he tried the door. Finding it locked, he turned to Lukan. “Sire, I have permission to break the door?” he asked in a monotone voice.
Kestrel’s eyes widened.
“You know why I’m here,” Lukan said to her while the horrible man waited for an answer. Lukan’s gorgeous face was hard, almost as unforgiving as the sparkling diamond next to his eye.
She recalled Tao saying he had almost been cut down during the meeting. Her pulse raced with sudden fear. Under the circumstances, another curtsy couldn’t harm her, so she dropped low. “Please, sire, know that I support you. In fact, I will do anything for you.”
“Anything?” Lukan smiled, a provocative one, making her heart skitter with longing.
Was it possible that he fancied her as much as she desired him?
“What about your husband cowering in the bathroom?” He pointed to the door and raised his voice loud enough for someone behind a locked door to hear. He sounded bitter and angry. “He must know he can’t possibly escape, even if he does find a way to scramble down three stories of sheer stone.”
Kestrel considered quickly. Clearly, Tao was in serious trouble. But she didn’t believe Lukan would really kill him. She hated Lynx, but she would never kill her sister, no matter how offensive she was. Lukan would be the same.
Still, the last thing she wanted was to be dragged down with Tao. It would mean a loss of status and prestige. Despite being a princess, she had lived her whole life in Norin as a server, always in Lynx’s shadow. Now, as the crown princess, she was finally somebody. She wasn’t risking that just because Tao had had a fit of pique about something as stupid as ice crystals.
So, whatever Lukan wanted, she would give it him. She spoke loudly, ensuring that Tao would hear her. “My husband seems to have found himself on the wrong side of right today, sire. As such, I will do anything you require to prove my loyalty.”
“A place in my bed in exchange for the spare key to that door?”
Lukan wanted her as his lover! Kestrel flushed with pleasure, the heat burning deep in her core.
Imagine Lynx’s face when she learns Lukan chose me!
Her gleeful butterflies were suspended by a crashing sound from the bathroom.
“No, Kestrel! Don’t give in to him!” Tao’s muffled voice called out. “He doesn’t care for you. He’s using you. He’s going to crush you if you let him.”
The temptation to kiss Lukan’s perfect lips, to have him make love to her, was too great. Kestrel ignored Tao’s desperate plea. She looked down at her clasped hands and nodded at Lukan.
“Say it,” Lukan said. “I want my brother to hear exactly what betrayal in your moment of greatest need sounds like. As always, he chose not to support me.”
“Even better, sire, I will give you the key.” She scampered across the room and opened the drawer in the dresser where Tao kept the spare. She handed it to Lukan with a flourish.
He smiled at her, a long, lazy one that sent another flurry of butterflies careening through her, and then he offered her his arm. “You can accompany me to the coronation today. Then, tonight, when it’s all over, I will pleasure you until you beg for mercy.”
Kestrel gave him a sick smile, unsure whether to be thrilled at that prospect or terrified. Still, she took his arm, reveling in the feel of his muscle beneath the velvet of his sleeve.
Another crash from the bathroom, and then the door flew open. Glass from the window lay shattered on the floor, and Tao’s hands were covered with blood. He strode over to Kestrel and gripped her arm hard, spreading blood on her sleeve. When she realized he was trying to wrench her away from Lukan, she clung all the harder to her new lover’s arm.
“Leave her!” Tao shouted at his brother. “It’s me you want. I’m here for you. Don’t harm her.”
Lukan looked down at Kestrel. “Him? Or me?”
Kestrel avoided Tao’s eyes and whispered sullenly, “Tao, it would never have worked between us.”
Lukan smirked at Tao. But his eyes seemed tortured. “It looks like you’ve lost. Again.” He waved to the man with the sword. “Do what you have to do.” Without giving Kestrel time to change her blood-soiled dress, he led her from the room.
Chapter 13
Lynx woke to the stench of urine, mildew, and rust. The only sound apart from her breathing and the rustle of her clothes—the slow drip of water. A candle stub, burning in a holder on the floor next to her cot, cast such meager light that she could barely see more than a few feet in any direction.
She sat up, groaning against her bruises and scrapes. None of her injuries felt more serious than that. Then it struck her: the manacles and gags had gone. Regardless, it would take a lifetime to forget the terror of that basket. Somehow, Lukan had honed in on her greatest weakness. She would have to fight much harder from now on to deny him the pleasure of her claustrophobic panic.
“How long was I unconscious?” she asked, both in the hope of getting a reply and to break the cloying silence.
Nothing.
She picked up the candle. Grimacing against the pain in her lower back where she had hit the balcony railing, she stood and hobbled to the closest wall. Made of hewn stone, it was slippery with mold. She walked the entire perimeter, finding no windows, not even a chink for her to work her fingers into.
She stamped down on the floor. Hard-packed earth. A metal door streaked with rust, and with a solid lock, offered the only way out—if she had the key. Which, of course, she didn’t. Without tools, there would be no escape. She refused to give into the fear nipping at her.
In the center of her prison stood a low stool next to a rickety table, decked with an oil lamp, a chunk of black bread, and a jug of water with a tin cup. Aware of how small her candle had become, she used it to light the lamp. From the weight of it, the lamp didn’t contain much oil. Soon, she would be in the dark.
She pushed the worry away, focusing instead on the warmer, broader beam the lamp cast. It was instantly comforting. She rubbed her arms; it was not warm in here.
Wherever here was.
She assumed it was a dungeon in the palace. Where else could Lukan have sent her? The idea of cameras watching her made her cautious. There would be no more talking aloud.
Her stomach rumbled. As much as she hated black bread, she broke off a piece and sat down on a wobbly stool. Before she ate, she smelled it to check for poison. It seemed clean. She took a tiny bite and waited a few minutes. When nothing adverse happened, she chewed off a chunk and swallowed.
Why had Lukan brought her here? Did he know what Cricket told her—that she was pregnant? How could he? But it seemed the only logical answer.
Then why didn’t he just kill me?
She frowned, struggling to understand
his reasoning.
Maybe there’s something in the curse that stops him.
It was the only thing that made sense of her reprieve. If you could call being locked in a stinking, dark dungeon a reprieve.
So, if he isn’t going to kill me, how long will he keep me here?
Days? Weeks? Months? Years?
That reality almost crushed her. Her forehead dropped to the table, and she had to breathe deeply to avoid another panic attack. Finally, she looked up. Cricket, if you can hear me, I am beginning to understand what you meant about my life being hell once I married Lukan.
There was no reply other than a guttering of the oil lamp flame in the dead-still air.
It was all the confirmation Lynx needed. Believing she had been heard gave her immeasurable comfort.
Knowing she couldn’t wait years, decades possibly, for Lukan’s prophesied destruction, she burned to escape, to hunt him down, and to kill him. Trouble was, he was now emperor and had the force of the empire on his side. She didn’t even have a pocket knife. As used as she was to fighting impossible odds, she had always gone into battle with some advantages, no matter how small. Here, she had none.
Perhaps it was time to flee.
She sighed. Lukan kept forcing her to do things against her nature. But even as she looked at her tiny light, she knew she could not stay here. To do so would drive her insane.
Nothing was more important than getting out of this dungeon. She stood, determined to escape, even if she had to claw her fingers to the marrow to do it. Where she would go once she was free was another matter. One she would think about once she felt the wind in her hair.
Norin, her inner voice pleaded, but she knew that was impossible. Norin was seven days away by train, three by airship. She had neither a train nor an airship at her disposal.
An image of Axel and his derisive smile sprang into her mind’s eye. Just thinking about never seeing him again gave her a headache. She rubbed her temples, knowing the pain would never truly leave.