by Gwynn White
“And if I don’t trade with you, I suppose you will lie to him,” Lynx cried, shaking with a mix of dismay and anger.
Felix gritted his teeth to keep calm. “I would hope your professed love would move you to do what is best for Axel. And Malika. But if you choose to act in your own interests, then I consider myself free to say to my son whatever I choose.”
Wild as a winter storm, Lynx leaned in close. “Never! Information is cheap, Felix Avanov. I, too, can call on the dead to answer my questions. I will never betray Axel by denying my love for him. That would hurt him far more than any weapon or torture Lukan can use against him. And Axel is smart. He’ll find a way to protect his sister. After all, he didn’t hesitate to come up with a plan to stop you murdering me.” She raised her arms and called out, “Winds, take my words and wail them in every ear. Let Axel know that I will always be true to him despite the lies his father will spin.”
“So be it.” Hiding his bitter disappointment, Felix turned to Tao. “Your Highness, contrary to what you think, no one will visit you here except your brother. Beyond a fifty-mile radius from this spot, the forest is garlanded with ice crystals. They, and the ones in your necks, will kill you just as easily as any other traveler who chooses to stray too close to them. To survive, you will hunt, fish, and grow your food.”
Tao’s face blanched, but Felix pressed on. “To start you off, your larder and cellars are stocked. If you are prudent, it will see you through to your first crop. Your brother insisted that I provide you with a steam plow, some chickens, and a couple of goats for company. I now understand the purpose of all that. The emperor is determined no one will ever know of Lynx’s confinement or the traitor’s birth. Whether Lukan succeeds, only time will tell.”
Shoulders bowed, Felix stumbled to the driver’s door of the truck. He gesticulated at the cottage. “Welcome to your new home, I have no doubt you are both capable of showing yourselves in. Fifty miles and no more!” He climbed into the vehicle, stoked the engine, and drove off into the dense forest.
Chapter 23
Axel hopped out of the steam carriage that had brought him and Stefan from the airship launch pad to the palace garages. A stab in his shoulder made him wince. He jerked his shoulder blades away from the rough leather tunic rubbing against his half-healed quarrel wound.
“You okay?” Stefan’s dark eyes shined with concern.
“Of course I am. Give Mali a hug for me. Tell her I’ll come see her when I can.”
Stefan grinned, his love for Malika as obvious as the sun hanging low in the watery autumn sky. Axel smiled with genuine pleasure for the first time in days, at least since hearing Lynx had vanished.
“Good luck with Tatiana. Hope she can help.” Stefan squeezed Axel’s arm, and then half-strode, half-jogged toward the palace’s main doors.
“Me, too,” Axel whispered, too softly for anyone but himself to hear.
Tatiana was his mother’s oldest friend, and his father’s friendship with Mott’s ex-mistress went back even longer. If anyone knew what had happened to Lynx and Tao, it would be her. Axel had always gotten on well with Tatiana; they shared the same caustic view of life in the palace. Although not related by blood, as a boy he’d always considered her a favorite aunt, even a go-to mother for when his real mother was being a parent. He hoped she was in the mood for sharing today.
Almost skulking, Axel made his way to a little-used side door that would take him directly to the marble staircase leading to Tatiana and his mother’s sitting room in his parents’ private living quarters.
No cameras had ever watched from the sconces on these walls, but Axel kept his head down. It wouldn’t do for Lukan to know he’d already arrived back at the palace. At the sitting room, he stopped at the door and peered in, praying his mother was out and Tatiana in.
Lynx’s lady-in-waiting sat alone, face unusually pensive and grumpy, even for her. She looked up from the tapestry she embroidered. Tired eyes, lined with crow’s feet, widened with pleasure. “Hello, stranger all dressed up in Norin gear. Who would have thought you would survive? We all believed you were dead meat on a stick. And no, your mother isn’t here. As you can see.”
A hand swirling with henna patterns waved around the bright, canary-yellow room. A vast array of kitsch porcelain puppies squatting in a jungle of potted ferns stared back at Axel from every surface, each competing for the clutter prize with piles of knitting yarn and needles that covered most of the floor. The room reflected his mother’s taste, not Tatiana’s, as Mott’s ex-mistress was always at pains to point out if anyone asked.
Axel stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Even it had skeins of wool hanging from it. “Nice to see you, too, Tatiana, but I’m not looking for my mother. It’s you I’m after.” He tossed his mother’s current knitting project—an ugly green scarf, presumably to go with his father’s even uglier green cloaks—onto the floor and dragged his mother’s armchair right up next to Tatiana’s. He sat.
Tatiana waved her hand in front of her face as if he smelled. He probably did, not having washed for days since leaving Norin on the airship. “You don’t need to get this close, Axel. The room’s not bugged. Your mother would never stand for it. Neither would I, for that matter.”
Axel cracked a derisive smile. “We have a new leader and, with that, no doubt, a new set of rules. Don’t be too sure of anything.”
Tatiana’s eyes darted around the room’s fancy sconces and elaborate stucco cornices. “Have you seen our new leader yet?” she whispered.
“No. I came to you first,” he said, just as softly. “Lukan’s welcome must take its place in my order of priorities.”
“To me first?” Tatiana canted her head, her face speculative. “So what are your priorities, Axel, and how do they affect me?”
“Lynx. Where is she?”
“My, my, my, the day just got interesting.” After a moment, Tatiana said, “She and Tao vanished the day of the coronation.”
“I know. Where are they?”
“The official line is that they defected to Kartania. On a ship, if that is to be believed.” She picked up her tapestry and started shoving the needle through the netting.
Axel placed his hand on hers. “Is that what you believe?”
Tatiana considered for a moment. “Not for a second. I invited Lynx to join me for tea that morning. Not in here. In my own apartment. She agreed. Seemed pleased to be invited, too. That is not the reaction of a woman planning to escape.” Her voice dropped. “We even discussed fleeing because of the problem we both had with swearing allegiance.”
Axel’s eyebrows rose. Tatiana hadn’t pledged to Lukan?
“We both agreed escape was pointless.”
“That sounds like the Lynx I know. She’s not a runner.” When Tatiana nodded agreement, he whispered, “So, where do you think Lynx and Tao are? My mother must have mentioned something.”
Tatiana sighed, then tossed her work onto her lap. “I wish. As we both know, her mouth usually gapes like a courtesan’s legs, but she’s honestly said nothing to me about this. I don’t think she knows.”
Axel bit his lip as he considered that. Then he leaned in closer and asked, “Is it possible Lynx could be pregnant?”
Tatiana started and then tried to cover it up. “How would I know that, Axel?”
Axel glared at her. “If anyone knows, you do.”
Her voice dropped again. “Lukan hasn’t made the connection that, as Lynx’s lady-in-waiting, I had access to her sheets.” Again, a nervous flicker of her eyes as they scanned the room.
Lukan wouldn’t want people speculating on a possible pregnancy. The few in the court, like Lady Tatiana, who knew about the Dmitri Curse would quickly put it all together. Still, Axel couldn’t resist his usual dig at Lukan. “No, he wouldn’t, would he? He’s too stupid.”
Tatiana gasped. “Don’t be so rash, Axel! You cannot go around saying things like that anymore. These are dangerous times. Did you know Katcha has vanish
ed, too? And she’s five months pregnant. Lev is going crazy with worry about her.”
Time was racing, as Axel was all too aware, but he couldn’t let that go unchallenged. “Why? Are you saying I can’t trust you? If so, I don’t believe you. I haven’t forgotten all the mischief you covered up for me and Stefan when we were lads. My father would have slaughtered me if he knew half the stuff we did—stuff you knew about.”
Like coating Lukan’s fancy clothes with itchy powder after Axel realized his cousin considered him nothing more than a mere subject, placed on the planet to bear the brunt of Mott’s fists so Lukan didn’t have to. As boys, he and Stef had laughed for days when Lukan had arrived at breakfast covered in hives. Tatiana had been the one to provide the powder.
A grunt from Tatiana. “With Mott’s beatings you didn’t need more.” She stared at him, her mouth working as she thought.
Axel had never seen her look so conflicted. He softened his voice. “Please, Tatiana, I’m almost out of time. By now, Lukan will know I’m here. He’ll be expecting me to bow and scrape to him. What does it take to be a team, like we were when I was a lad?”
Tatiana’s wrinkled mouth pursed, then she whispered, “She called your name in her sleep. Did you know that? Over and over, I would hear her.” Her face softened. “Do you love her as much as she adores you?”
“Words don’t do it justice.”
“Your mother says you took that quarrel for her. Is that true?”
“Lukan and my father wanted Lynx dead. I’d do it again if she needed me to.”
“That’s my Axel. The boy I helped raise.” Tatiana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her voice dropped so low that Axel had to lean in to hear her. “Lynx is pregnant. I know that for a fact because I was there when Cricket, Lynx’s dead friend, told Lynx so. It is without doubt one of the reasons she’s been incarcerated.”
A tide of anger flushed through Axel that Lukan had slept with Lynx only to mistreat her after he’d taken his pleasure.
Not for a second did he question Lynx’s motives in that sex. As much as Axel cringed at the thought of her with another man, she had a role to fill in the Dmitri Curse that, unhappily, included sex with Lukan. Typical of his Lynx, she had merely done what honor required. He loved her even more for it.
Tatiana gripped his hands. “Please, I beg of you, say nothing of it to Lukan. It will only cause trouble if you do. He’s so jittery, he could decide to finish you off.”
Axel sneered, too angry to care about what Lukan could and couldn’t do.
“Promise me, Axel,” Tatiana pleaded, still hanging on to his hands.
“What else can you tell me? Anything about Tao?”
Tatiana shook her head, making her hair bun bob. “Not another word until you promise. You being a hero and confronting Lukan could just make it worse for Lynx and Tao. If Tao is even alive.”
Even in his fury, Axel could see the sense of that. He nodded, and Tatiana relaxed visibly.
“I’m sure Kestrel must know where they are. Lynx is her sister and Tao her husband, after all.” Tatiana gave a predatory smile. “I’ve been thinking about getting to know her better. You know, make friends and all that. On the face of it, we’re the obvious choice for each other.” Tatiana fingered a magnificent gold-and-diamond necklace, one of many Mott had showered on her before discarding her for her sister. “We’re both mistresses of an emperor. In time, she will become as angry and perpetually grumpy with everyone as Mott made me, because Lukan will, no doubt, be as fickle as his father. Maybe if I can get the silly girl to trust me, she’ll spill what she knows.”
It didn’t surprise Axel that Kestrel had scurried into Lukan’s bed the moment Tao had gone. That didn’t make him any less angry for the betrayal of his cousin and friend. “It sounds like she deserves that brand of friendship. You’ll tell me if you find out where Lynx and Tao are?”
“Of course.” Again a whisper. “Go focus on what our new leader wants you to do, because if you defy him, he will probably kill you.” Tatiana’s voice dropped even lower. “And a dead Axel is of no use to Lynx—or Nicholas the Light-Bearer.” When Axel squinted at her, she added, “Cricket told us that was what Lynx’s boy should be called.”
Axel nodded approval. “Good, strong name. I hope he wears it well.” Then he sighed. “It’s hard to walk away, Tatiana.”
“It’s not walking away, Axel. It’s being smart. Your mother says Lukan told Felix he wants you as his Lord of the Conquest. That will only come if you do what he says. Leave finding our friends to me while you do the war and glory bit with vigor and honor. That way, you may fool Lukan into dropping his guard.”
“I guess you’re right,” Axel said doubtfully. “I must go. If I’m still here at lunchtime, how about joining me, Malika, and Stefan for a meal?”
Tatiana coughed into her hand. “You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
Tatiana dropped her head and whispered into the folds of her corset. “Malika didn’t attend the coronation, either. Thus far, I seem to have survived it, but Malika has not been so lucky.”
Axel jerked forward in his seat, ready to stand.
Tatiana grabbed his arm. “She’s fine, I promise. Morass is watching her, but other than that, she is unharmed.”
Morass, the man programmed to kill Lynx, who had shot him, was watching his sister?
“And that makes it right?” Axel almost yelled. “How am I supposed to work with Lukan after this?”
“Pull yourself together!” Tatiana slapped his cheek, hard. “The same way your father does. You grit your teeth, and get on with it.”
Axel took her hand, partly to stop her hitting him again. “I know you’re right. It just burns me to do it. I detest him so much, and now this.”
“Axel, remember what I tried to teach you as a child about managing Lukan? You have to get behind someone to stab them in the back. You hated it then, and I know you will hate to hear it now. But I am afraid that is the only way you will protect your sister.”
The thought of even appearing to support Lukan filled Axel with such self-loathing, it made him feel physically sick. He stood. “I wait anxiously for any news you may glean.”
Axel let his emotions have free rein as he walked down the passage toward Emperor Mott’s old office. Fear for his sister, fury over Lynx and Tao, sorrow for Katcha and Lev, and hatred for Lukan curdled his stomach. All he wanted was to smash his fists into Lukan’s face.
How could he stand in Lukan’s presence and not fight for Lynx, Tao, and Katcha and live with himself? And what about Malika? He applauded her courage not to bow to Lukan, but she was his little sister, and he couldn’t bear that she had put herself at risk.
He stopped at a large picture window and rested his burning forehead against the glass. Shoulders taut with tension, his wound ached. He looked out over the forest. Autumn nipped through the trees. Most wore robes of gold and red while some had shared their splendid clothes with the passing winds. A few worshiped with enthusiasm in naked humility, limbs raised high in praise of the vast heavens.
The quiet beauty comforted him like a warm embrace.
He closed his eyes and breathed. The throbbing in his back subsided as his coiled muscles relaxed. He stared out to see more leaves fluttering in the wind. Once on the ground, they would decay, only to bring new life in the spring. The thought gave him strength.
Nothing lasted forever. Just as each insignificant leaf had an important job to perform in the life of the tree, he too had a job to do.
Tatiana was right—as she usually was. Lynx did not need a dead hero. He didn’t doubt for one second that Lukan would kill him if he got the chance.
And to quote Tatiana’s maxim: To stab Lukan in the back, he had to get behind him first. Just because he openly worked for Lukan didn’t mean he couldn’t covertly form an alliance against him with the willing and able in the Free Nations to destroy every ice crystal tracker, shocker, and mind-controlling device on the
planet.
And who knew? Maybe one fateful day in the unknown future, Nicholas the Light-Bearer would be thankful for the support of the man who held the keys to the armory.
He was about to set off to meet his cousin when the clump of boots on the hardwood floor reached him. He waited, every sense alert as the sound drew closer. In a flash of Norin leather, Stefan skidded around the corner and slid to a stop in front of him.
“They have Malika under guard,” Stefan burst out with no care to how he looked for the cameras.
Axel grimaced. “I know. Tatiana told me. Did you see Malika?”
A nod. “She’s free, but she has two guardsmen attached to her. She goes nowhere without them.” Stefan ran his hands over his face and looked at Axel with tortured eyes. “One of them is Morass. Your father can do nothing about it. What do we do?”
“We listen. We obey. We get Mali out of here. And then we strike.”
Chapter 24
Lukan leaped to his feet as Axel, dressed like a Norin low-born, entered his office. He snorted back a laugh at how ridiculous the great Warlord Axel Avanov looked, then stood to greet him.
When it was obvious Axel wasn’t going to bow, Lukan smacked him hard on the shoulder, roughly where he remembered the quarrel had hit. “Good to see you again, cousin.”
Axel flinched and braced himself.
“Ah, sorry,” Lukan said with a smile. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m just glad to see you alive.”
“It’s nice having friends one can count on when all else fails.” Axel’s voice was light, and he shot Lukan his usual sardonic smile, but his eyes were most telling: hard, brown orbs that held Lukan’s gaze, chilling him to the marrow.
Lukan swallowed, wondering just how much trouble Axel intended to make over Lynx and Tao. He brushed his worries aside. With Malika under guard and the footage he had to show his cousin, whatever Axel planned would be short-lived. “The Norin knew better than to refuse aid to an heir to the throne.”