by Gwynn White
As Tao hopped up, something in the carriage screeched. Lynx jumped.
“Bird!” Tao gasped. His eyes lit with joy, and he fell over the luggage in his haste to get to his falcon. Seeming equally as pleased to see him, she danced about in a large cage. A sob of relief escaped his chest as he tried to open the cage door. The padlock didn’t dampen Tao’s joy.
“Food and water is in the picnic basket,” Felix said, slamming the door. The lock clicked from the outside.
Lynx scanned the carriage for another escape. Apart from the door, it was an enclosed steel cage, much like Bird’s.
The aroma of roasted pheasant wafted up to Lynx. Salivating, she wrenched open the lid on the food basket. As famished as she was, her thirst was worse. Hands shaking, she grabbed a water flask and downed half of it in one gulp. She forced herself to stop drinking so Tao could have some, too. Licking every precious drop off her lips, she handed the flask to him.
Face enraptured, Tao saw only Bird. He ran his fingers through the wire along the falcon’s back, crooning to her like a lover.
Lynx grinned as she nudged his arm with the flask. Speaking in Norin, which she hoped Felix would not understand should he be monitoring them, she said, “You won’t be much good to her if you die of thirst.”
Tao smiled as he took the water. Just then, the carriage lurched forward. The water slopped over his arm. Despite the coating of coal dust, he lapped it up. “We’re headed to the forest. Probably with some space to roam,” he replied, also in Norin.
Lynx’s stomach dropped. She hated the dark, gloomy forest almost as much as the cellar. “How do you know?”
Tensing her body against the vehicle’s rocking, she wiped her filthy hands on her even filthier dress and busied herself breaking the pheasant into two. She handed half to Tao.
“Bird is a forest creature.” Tao ignored Bird’s imperious eyes staring at his food. She bobbed forward to tear at the meat, but Tao shifted away from her cage. “She would starve anywhere else. Cooked meat is not natural for her.” He grinned at Lynx. “I knew Lukan could not have turned totally against me.”
Lynx raised her eyebrows and said around a mouthful of food, “Ice crystal in your neck isn’t turning against you?”
Tao’s blue eyes, bright in his soot-blackened face, fixed on her. “Lukan must know about Nicholas. We both know him well enough now to guess that he has no intention of ever letting Nicholas threaten him. But at least he cares for us enough to give us a modicum of freedom.”
Lynx snorted. “Lukan may care for you, but he doesn’t give a toss for me. Maybe he’s hoping I’ll try to escape so I grill myself with the ice crystal.”
“Please tell me that is not your plan.”
“To kill myself and my son? Of course not. All I have left now is him.” She shot Tao a smile. “And you. Lukan knows that. I’m guessing he’ll do anything to stop me protecting Nicholas.” A pause. “Even without the Light-Bearer bit, that name is such a mouthful.” She glanced over at Bird, preening on her perch, and smiled. “Talon. Now there’s a name that could take a boy far.”
Tao grinned at her. “Then ‘Talon’ it is. For non-formal occasions.”
Lynx squinted at him. “What’s wrong with a Norin name for”—her fingers danced air quotes—“formal occasions? We have those back where I come from, too, you know.”
“Not only will Nicholas be the Crown Prince of All Chenaya and the Conquered Territories, he is Dmitri’s prophesied savior. For that, he needs a name with some kick, the name of prophecy. Prince Nicholas the Light-Bearer is hard to beat.”
Lynx bit her lip and then conceded Tao was right. “But at home, we’ll call him Talon.”
“Bird and I agree. And you are not the only one defending and supporting him. That is now my job, too.” Tao pointed to the picnic basket. “What else have we got to eat?”
Lynx pulled out sandwiches and fruit, which she divided between them. “Tao, I’m grateful for your support, but you might not feel so keen to swear your allegiance to me and Talon after I tell you what I saw.”
Tao stretched out his long legs and braced his feet against the rocking of the carriage on the wall next to Lynx. “Too late, my Norin friend. That allegiance has already been sworn. But I’ll listen to you to pass the time.”
The vehicle jolted over a particularly deep rut, banging Lynx’s head against the metal panel. She rubbed it ruefully. “Remember when I went missing in the maze?”
“Scared the daylight out of me.”
Lynx laughed grimly. “Not just you. Anyway, I saw a vision that you had fathered two boys, twins, by the looks of it, with Kestrel.”
Tao’s eyebrows quirked.
“They were sobbing over your body. You were dead, with a hand axe in your head.”
Tao hissed in a breath.
Lynx didn’t let it deflect her. “At first, I thought Axel had done it, but I know that’s impossible.” Her voice cracked. “It scares me after watching Katcha’s execution.” Lynx took his hand. “Please, don’t be too quick to trust Lukan.”
Tao speared his fingers between hers, holding her hand tightly. “Visions can be scary things.”
Terrified he would minimize what she had seen, Lynx said, “It was real, Tao. I met a woman, Cricket. She’s dead . . . like Dmitri. Only still alive, somehow. Anyway, that’s not what’s important. She told me about the curse. And she came back to tell me I was pregnant with the ordained boy. Please believe me. You can’t trust Lukan. Any of them.”
Tao’s face was unreadable. He poked his thumb through the cage and nudged the bells hanging from Bird’s legs. The tinkling was faint over the roar of the engine. Then Tao looked at her with conviction. “I know what I have to do, Lynx, regardless of the outcome. My reason for existence is to protect you and Talon. Nothing else matters.”
“Not even your own children?” Lynx watched him closely. Tao had once told her his greatest dream was to have a family, doing a better job of raising his children than his own father had done with him and Lukan.
For a brief moment, she imagined his calm certitude faltered, but his voice, so clear and focused, seemed to belie what she thought she had seen. “The chances of Kestrel and me having children are remote. There is no prophecy to say that she’d fall pregnant the night we consummated our marriage.” Laughter, a strange sound unheard since their capture, erupted from his chest. “Unless, of course, Dmitri is a torturing bastard who likes to see people suffer.” He closed his eyes, his face scrunched against his pain. “No . . . that’s Thurban’s role. And my father’s. And Felix’s. Lukan’s, even.”
“The Winds never really leave us,” Lynx murmured, not knowing what else to say. “Always there, blowing the good and the bad into our paths. We can stand strong against them, or we can let them blow us over. Strong is better, I’ve always thought, because even prevailing winds can change. Nothing lasts forever, Tao. Everything is eventually swept away. This empire will be, too. And I plan for us both to be there when it happens.”
“I’ll watch my back, I promise,” Tao whispered, “just as I’ll watch yours.”
Chapter 22
For hours, Felix had forced the carriage deep into the heart of the Serreti Forest. Now, a pink dawn glimmered through the canopy of trees that hid a weatherworn but sturdy wooden cottage, small barn and smoking room, and a chicken coop.
He pulled up the brake and stared out the windscreen at the golden and red leaves fluttering around the buildings. The onset of winter was not the best time to be abandoned in the forest, but Lynx, if not Tao, would know how to survive. It seemed there were some advantages to being a low-born savage.
Felix creaked his weary bones out of the driver’s seat. The last few days had taken their toll. Still, it was not over, because the most important part, for him at least, was yet to come. Before he left here, Lynx had to repudiate her love for Axel. It was the only way Felix could see to protect his children from Lukan.
That dolt of an emperor adored the Norin bitch. To prove
it, he had set up that entire complex escape plan just to fool Axel into believing Lynx had deserted him. Needing Felix’s editing skills, the cretin had called on him to create the damning footage.
With Malika threatened, Felix had had no choice but to obey. But now Felix saw a chance to use that footage to free both Axel and Malika from Lukan’s threats.
Lukan would never believe Lynx could be his while Lynx carried a torch for Axel. If the emperor could be convinced that Axel and Lynx’s relationship was over, perhaps he would calm down enough to release Malika.
And as for Axel? He would be better off without the Norin bitch, too. Given Lynx’s willfulness, it was no easy quest, but Felix would never forgive himself if he didn’t try.
Heart throbbing like a stream train, he flung open the door to the carriage. “Welcome to your new home, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
Tao’s glare bested the one Bird fired at Felix. “I imagine we’re going to be seeing a fair amount of you in the future,” Tao said, hopping out of the carriage. “So how about we ditch the meaningless titles and just settle for Tao and Lynx.”
“As you wish, Prince Tao.” When Tao looked at him in exasperation, Felix added, “Come, Your Highness, let none of us ever forget who you both are. Regardless of the circumstances, you remain the Crown Prince of All Chenaya and the Conquered Territories.” His eyes narrowed, and he focused on Lynx. “Until, of course, the empress delivers her son, Nicholas. The boy Dmitri prophesied would destroy my world.”
Lynx froze half in and half out of the carriage. As threatening as an army with banners, she faced him. It chilled him to say she retained the power to discompose him.
He showed no sign of it. “I share Prince Tao’s view, though. ‘Talon’ for the kitchen and ‘Nicholas the Light-Bearer’ for the great hall.”
“Who translated our Norin for you?” Lynx demanded.
“No one, Your Majesty. With the threat Norin princesses have always presented to the empire, I made it my business to learn the language.” He cracked a sly smile. “I just didn’t bother telling anyone.” His voice turned grim. “Still, Your Majesty, allow me to express my gratitude to you for your disclosures.” He bowed to Lynx—the bitch deserved that much. “They confirmed my thoughts and made sense of my dealings with your husband.”
Lynx leaped out of the carriage. Fists at the ready, she stalked toward Felix. “Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?”
Tao stepped in front of her. The fury in his eyes, once an expression foreign to his nephew’s gentle face, was becoming all too familiar.
Felix pulled his receiver from his pocket. “I do not wish to use it, Highness, so please, don’t force my hand.”
Tao—and Lynx—hesitated.
Felix grabbed the opportunity, pushing a conciliatory tone. “Your Highness, please observe, I traveled alone tonight. The Lord of the Rack was left at the cellar. You see, I was intrigued by your refusal to swear allegiance to your brother. A very different Prince Tao from the person I’ve known since your birth. Now I have my answer. You were obviously set apart by Dmitri to help raise the Light-Bearer.”
“And what do you intend to do about it?” Tao demanded, showing no surprise at that assessment. “And him?”
“Nothing, Your Highness. Visions and visitations from the dead are not a new feature in the Avanov palace. Where else do you think the inspiration of the Dreaded comes from? I was once a crown prince, too, before my dead brother chose to rob me of that honor. I know exactly what will happen if the Light-Bearer is murdered.”
Felix scowled. Should that calamity occur, the empire would be invaded by one of the greatest generals the Avanovs have ever sired. That general would massacre the emperor and his cohorts. Felix’s heart stuttered as he imagined Axel as that man. Given Axel’s treachery during the run up to the wedding, he had to consider that possibility. All the more reason to break his son’s ties with Lynx.
“Not a pretty picture, to be sure,” Felix continued. “Better to just let Lynx and her son well alone, as your brother, with rare wisdom, has decided to do.”
No need to mention any of the technology Felix had in store for the young traitor. But first, he had to convince Lukan that it was in both of their interests to work together to control the boy. But working together did not include holding Felix’s family to ransom. Trouble was, Lukan had yet to admit the nightmare child had even been conceived.
To appease Tao and Lynx, he added, “I will, in all probability, be dead by the time the Light-Bearer is old enough to take Chenaya by the throat to destroy everything I have spent my life building.”
Tao’s eyes drilled Felix, probably trying to determine his sincerity. Confident that a lifetime of mixing truth and fiction would fool his nephew, Felix waited patiently until Tao finally stepped back. Some of the tension bled out of Felix’s shoulders.
Not for long, because Lynx wrenched away from Tao, aggression in every step. The prince frowned at her, his mouth moving as he also sought more words to diffuse her anger.
Felix beat Tao to it. “Be still, hand-reared tigress!” He chortled at her surprise at the moniker. “Have a care for that boy growing inside you! The shocker in your neck will do him no good.”
Chagrined, she stepped away from him. He took her hand, holding it in a gentle but firm grip. She yanked it away, and he didn’t try to stop her.
“Lynx of Norin, I make you an oath, your son is safe with me.” Felix waited, wondering if those powerful words would be enough to sway her.
Lynx’s hand brushed her matted hair from her face, a gesture common to raiders with braids and feathers. “As dishonorable as you may be, Felix Avanov, the Winds have heard you. They will bind those words to your soul. Betray me, and your life will be torn asunder by currents you cannot even now conceive of.”
Despite Felix’s lack of belief in her Winds, her curse chilled him. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders. “I will not fail you.” He paused, took a deep breath, and then got to the point of this discussion. “Now I need something from you.”
Lynx folded her arms, her face supremely disinterested.
It infuriated him, but he kept his voice calm. There was too much at stake to lose his temper. “My son needs to make a choice, and I fear that only you can help him make the right one.”
“Right one? By whose definition?” Lynx asked, voice wary.
“An example from my life may help you understand. I once, like Axel now does, teetered on the edge of choice. I could have gone either way, I suppose. But in the end I chose power. Now I see my son facing the same dilemma. He is our warlord, the youngest in the empire’s history. If he chooses to serve the emperor well, he will be promoted to Lord of the Conquest. That will make him the second most powerful man on the planet.”
He turned his mouth down. “Or he can choose Lynx of Norin. What a choice! Both alluring to be sure, but are they of the same intrinsic worth?”
Lynx straightened her back, looking every inch an empress, despite her ragged clothes and dirty face. “That is for him to decide. Not you, or anyone else.”
“If only it were so simple.” It was time to dribble out some line for his bated hook before he told her what he wanted. “Dmitri’s hateful curse may offer Axel some immunity”—he paused, allowing that to sink into Lynx’s brain and hopefully fire a spark of curiosity—“but it doesn’t help my daughter. While Axel wavers, he holds Malika trapped in his indecision. She follows where he leads. Her life rests in your hands. If she doesn’t come out in full support of Lukan, he will kill her.”
Not to mention that Malika’s current foolishness nobbled Felix as effectively as any noose. That was untenable, too.
Lynx flinched. “This is pure blackmail.” Then her eyes widened. “What did you say? How does Dmitri offer Axel immunity?”
The fish had bit! Delight trilled through Felix, but as was customary with all mental sparring, he showed no sign of it. “A trade, my dear. You give me what I need, and I will tell you what
you want to hear about Axel.”
Lynx bit her lip. “Let’s hear what you want in exchange first.”
Felix resisted the urge to pull out his handkerchief, but he didn’t deny himself the strengthening comfort of a cloak tugged even tighter around his shoulders. “Let Axel go. Release him from whatever bond he has with you. You have a new life here with Tao and your son. You are a family, a de facto husband and wife team preparing to bring up a child together. I ask this of you, both for your own happiness and for my son and daughter’s sake.”
Lynx snorted a laugh. “Deny that I love Axel? Are you crazy?”
Felix sighed. Time to bait that hook again with a meatier worm. “As banished empress of the greatest empire this world has ever seen, you should know that knowledge is power. I have knowledge that will help you defend your son. I will trade it, but only if you make it worth my while.”
Lynx gnawed the inside of her mouth.
Tao broke the silence. “My brother would never harm Malika. She is no threat to him.”
Felix shook his head at his nephew’s naivety. “Maybe once that was true, but Lukan changes by the day. I know the route he walks. I walked it once myself. He will do anything to protect his position as emperor of Chenaya. If killing my daughter secures his foothold, then he will do it.”
Still the Norin bitch looked unconvinced.
Desperation soured Felix’s stomach. He fixed beseeching eyes on her, hating her for making him beg. “Bound to you, Axel will make all the wrong choices. Please, let him go.” He held up an informa, ready to record her voice. “Say the words that I can pass on to my son to free him. Tell him you and Tao plan to leave Chenaya for the Free Nations. Tell him you do not want or need him anymore. I will edit it into the other material we have of your escape.”
A flurry of emotions rushed across Lynx’s face—none of which convinced him she would budge.
Felix closed his eyes and considered. Finally, he sighed. Protecting his children and freeing himself from Lukan’s iron grip was worth any price. With total conviction, he said, “Do this, and I will tell you everything I know about the Dmitri Curse—including Axel’s role in it. It will strengthen your hand immeasurably. Perhaps even putting you back in the game.”