The Queen's Advantage

by Jessie Mihalik

  When he caught my eye, his scowl deepened. I’d met him in Arx, and I was not his favorite person, mostly because I’d let Ari commandeer his armor. I smiled brightly at him. His eyes narrowed, but otherwise, he didn’t rise to my baiting.

  To Valentin’s left and a meter behind him, three men and three women waited in long black and red ceremonial robes. These were Valentin’s top advisors. I’d researched them, and I was pleased to find that I recognized all of their faces. One or more of them wanted Valentin dead.

  My job was to figure out who.

  The advisors’ expressions ranged from open hostility to fake, plastic smiles. Only one person seemed to be genuinely happy to be here—Myra Shah, the Imperial Guard advisor. She was the only one who acknowledged me with a slight incline of her head. The others stared through me as if I didn’t exist.

  Valentin closed the distance between us, took my hands, and kissed the air next to my cheek. Heat rushed through me as I remembered the last time we were this close, but he kept the greeting formal. “Welcome to Koan, Queen Rani,” he said, his voice warm. “The Kos Empire will do our utmost to ensure your comfort and safety during your stay.”

  He let go and stepped back. The medals on his chest jingled every time he moved. It grounded me in the moment, and I was grateful. He shifted and the medals clinked together again. I bit my lip to prevent myself from snickering at him. From the laughter in his gray eyes, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  I bowed a few degrees—enough to be respectful, but so not much that I appeared subservient. Stella had coached me on the proper etiquette. “The Rogue Coalition thanks you for your hospitality, Emperor Kos,” I said. “I am here on a peaceful diplomatic mission.”

  Someone in the group snorted.

  I leaned around Valentin and pointedly stared at his advisors. “I may be here for peace, but I am well-equipped to defend myself, should it be necessary.” I gave them a cold smile. “Try me and you will regret it.”

  Chapter Two

  Chaos erupted behind Valentin. “You dare—” Oskar Krystopa, the dark-haired military strategy advisor started, but Valentin slashed a hand through the air, and Oskar bit off the rest of the sentence.

  “Your safety will be our priority,” Valentin said. “Allow me to introduce my bodyguard and advisors.”

  “Of course,” I agreed with a smile as fake as the welcome I had received from said advisors. I had to pretend that I didn’t already know far more about each of them than they would probably prefer.

  Valentin swept an arm toward Luka. “You’ve already met Luka Fox, my bodyguard. If your guard needs anything while you are here, Luka will take care of it.”

  I nodded at Luka. I wasn’t an expert in imperial etiquette, but I was pretty sure Valentin had snubbed his advisors by introducing his bodyguard first—a snub I was happy to continue.

  “This is Imogen Weber, my bodyguard,” I said. “Imogen, meet Emperor Kos and Luka Fox.”

  “A pleasure,” Imogen said with a short bow. After a brief glance at Valentin, her eyes returned to Luka before scanning the area. She always kept Luka in sight, and she had the loose, ready body posture that meant she saw him as a threat. Luka’s expression remained impossible to read, but he watched Imogen with steady focus.

  Valentin turned to Oskar, who still seethed over my very reasonable statement. “This is Oskar Krystopa. He leads military strategy.”

  Oskar was older, probably in his mid-fifties, despite the lack of gray in his black hair. He had olive skin, green eyes, and curls that just brushed the tops of his ears. He would’ve been handsome if he hadn’t been so busy scowling, but based on the lines in his forehead—and the rumor mill—this was his perpetual expression. He did not bow, and he managed to make his tone convey his sneer. “Queen Rani.”

  I gave him a bright, sharp smile. “Advisor Krystopa.”

  Next, Valentin introduced Junior Mobb, the medical advisor and chief doctor. A handsome man in his thirties with ebony skin and close-cropped black hair, Junior appeared indifferent to my presence. His curt greeting seemed less like rudeness and more like distraction. He had the distant look of someone conversing via neural link. He was, by all accounts, a brilliant doctor.

  Hannah Perkins was introduced as the head of diplomatic relations. She was a faded beauty with wrinkled ivory skin and graying red hair, but her eyes were sharp. She wasn’t as openly hostile as Oskar, but she wasn’t welcoming, either. She was married to Valentin’s distant cousin and had been an advisor for nearly thirty years.

  Asmo Copley, the advisor for domestic affairs, immediately rubbed me the wrong way. Tan skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes were common enough, but he’d been blessed with exceeding beauty—and he knew it. He laid on the false charm with a shovel. I smiled politely and ignored him. He came from a powerful family and expected me to fall at his feet. When I didn’t, I became a challenge, someone interesting. Before he could try a new tactic, Valentin moved on.

  Joanna Cook, the science and technology advisor and lead scientist, was a no-nonsense pale blonde woman in her forties who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else than standing in the open, in a formal robe, greeting royalty. She wore glasses despite the fact that a myriad of options existed to fix her vision, either with surgery or augmentation. According to my research, she was smart and driven, but mostly kept to herself.

  Valentin turned to the final woman, the only person who had acknowledged me on my way from the ship. “And last, but by no means least, Myra Shah, head of the Imperial Guard.” Warmth infused his voice, a first.

  Myra was around my age with golden skin and a chin-length straight black bob. Her face was more striking than beautiful, all sharp angles and slashing eyebrows, but her expression appeared genuinely welcoming and her dark eyes sparkled with intelligence. “Queen Rani,” she said with a shallow bow, “it is a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to Koan.”

  I returned her bow. “Thank you, Advisor Shah. The pleasure is mine.” And this time, I almost meant it. I hadn’t been able to turn up anything questionable in my research on her—and I had tried. As part of the Imperial Guard, she had the best access to Valentin, so she was the biggest threat if she turned traitor.

  She grinned knowingly. “Please, call me Myra, and let me know if you need anything during your stay.”

  I inclined my head in agreement.

  “Are we done here?” Oskar asked. “I’m late for an important meeting.”

  Valentin stiffened at the thinly veiled insult, but I just smiled. Oskar would have to do better than that if he wanted me to take offense. “I’m sure they won’t mind starting without you,” I said in my sweetest voice.

  Myra burst into a spontaneous coughing fit that sounded a lot like suppressed laughter. Oskar flushed in anger but didn’t do more than narrow his eyes at me. Coward.

  I’d caught the attention of the other advisors, and I covertly gauged their reactions. None of them jumped to Oskar’s defense. Hannah’s expression turned disapproving, as if I were a child in need of discipline, but the others were more circumspect. I got the impression that Asmo also disapproved, but his true expression was harder to read behind the charming facade.

  “You are dismissed,” Valentin said sharply. “My afternoon meetings are canceled today. I will see you tonight at Queen Rani’s welcome dinner.”

  Oskar grumbled something too low for me to catch, but Valentin stiffened and turned to him. “Did you have something to add, Advisor Krystopa?”

  “No, Your Majesty,” he said. “Until dinner.” He bowed and left. The others followed suit, taking three of the four waiting transports.

  “Well, they were lovely,” I said once Valentin and I were alone with Luka and Imogen.

  Valentin laughed. “Those were only my top advisors. There are dozens more just like them who fulfill lesser roles, but they don’t report to me directly.”

  “Anyone I should especially keep an eye on?” I didn’t want to tell Valentin that I’d do
ne my own research until I got his opinion first.

  “I’d put credits on Myra’s loyalty, but I’ve been burned before,” he said. “Everyone else is in play. None of them have made any obvious moves, and they all guard their communications closely.”

  Valentin had neural link abilities I’d never seen before. When I raised an eyebrow in question, his eyes flickered to Imogen before he said, “They are being extremely careful.”

  “Not exactly innocent behavior,” I commented.

  “No, but I need to figure out who is actively working against me and who is just looking out for number one.”

  “You could just fire them all and see who tries to kill you for it.”

  “If I did that, they would all try,” Valentin said drily. He gestured toward the remaining transport. “Shall we?”

  I’d been prepared to walk, but I supposed royalty didn’t walk. Valentin and Luka loaded my trunks for me despite my assurance that I was perfectly capable of lifting a container full of clothes. I returned the sled to Invictia while Imogen waited with the transport and scanned our surroundings for threats.

  Valentin had Luka, but if someone wanted him dead, he was far too exposed out in the open like this. A glance revealed at least a dozen vantage points where a sharpshooter would be close enough for a kill shot, but far enough away to escape detection.

  “Do you monitor the surrounding buildings?” I asked when I returned to the waiting transport.

  Valentin frowned for a second before his expression cleared. “Koan is safe.”

  I laughed at the absurdity. “Nowhere is safe if you have a price on your head. Do you mean to say that you’ve never had anyone try while you were here?”

  “I appreciate your concern,” he said, dodging the question. “Buildings and airspace facing the imperial grounds are both monitored, and we’ve stepped up security for the duration of your visit.”

  I let it go. He’d survived this long without my help, so perhaps he knew something I didn’t. I made a mental note to discuss it with him later, when we were alone. Maybe he would be more forthcoming then.

  The transport hugged the ground on the way to the palace, giving us an incredible view of the colorful gardens. Valentin pointed out the landmarks while Imogen and Luka scanned out the windows and surreptitiously watched each other.

  The trees and shrubs opened, revealing a long stretch of green lawn. Valentin gestured to the circular stone folly in the distance. Marble columns held up a second-level balcony, and a domed third story offered a view of the garden. “My great-grandfather had that commissioned for my great-grandmother, to remind her of the architecture of her home. He—”

  I caught a glint of white from under the dome of the folly. Before I could focus on it fully, Imogen shoved me to the floor and landed on top of me. Half a heartbeat later, Valentin landed next to me, Luka over him, and the transport jerked sideways. Bright yellow light flashed outside and a boom shook the vehicle.

  Someone was shooting explosive rockets at us. “Tell me again how safe Koan is,” I muttered to myself. The distinctive thunk-sizzle of plasma pulses raked the side of the transport facing the folly, but the reinforced windows and side panels held. For now.

  Our attackers were shooting automatic, high-powered, long-range plasma rifles at us. Those types of weapons were expensive and hard to find outside the military. Not impossible, as evidenced by my armory in Arx, but not something amateurs would use. This was a precision strike, not an attack of opportunity.

  The transport lurched sideways, then rapidly gained altitude as more explosions hit nearby. Flattened to the floor, I couldn’t draw my pistol. I pressed up against Imogen, but she held her ground. “Stay down, Samara,” she insisted. I stayed down. I wasn’t sure that the floor was any safer, but at least I wouldn’t be tossed about as the transport evaded the attack.

  Luka and Valentin were strangely silent. I wiggled around until I could see both of them. Luka crouched over Valentin’s prone form, plasma pistol drawn. His expression was intense and distant, but every time it flickered, the transport changed direction. He must’ve taken manual control via neural link, which meant I had him to thank for my continued existence.

  Valentin’s eyes were closed, but they moved rapidly behind his eyelids. A frown furrowed his forehead and his jaw clenched. Whatever he was doing was either difficult or painful. A few seconds later, I had my answer—it was both. A thin trickle of blood ran from his nose.

  “Valentin, you’re bleeding,” I whispered.

  “Almost there,” he murmured. He winced and the bleeding increased. Just as I was becoming concerned, he opened his eyes. “Got them,” he said with a savage grin. He looked up at Luka. “Team of six, in and around the folly, half the team is falling back to the northern edge of the park.”

  Luka nodded, but his expression didn’t change. “I have two squads en route. I will let them know.”

  I rolled over and sat up, despite Imogen’s unhappy protest. I’d never felt so useless or helpless. I burned with the need to do something, but trapped in the armored transport, there was nothing I could do. “How long until we’re down?” I asked.

  “Two minutes,” Luka said without looking at me.

  Two minutes might as well be two decades. The attackers would be long gone by the time I circled back, even if I left immediately, so hurrying wouldn’t help. Hopefully Valentin’s soldiers would catch one of them before they fled.

  Valentin sat up and wiped away the blood. He caught my eye, then a second later, he sent me a neural link request. When I accepted, he said, I’m sorry. I promised you safety and failed.

  I’m still alive, aren’t I?

  You know what I mean. I expected them to try something, but not so soon, and not so close to the palace. They should not have been able to infiltrate the folly without being noticed, either by patrols or drone sweeps. This is further proof that they have inside help.

  That’s why I’m here. Do you trust Luka?

  With my life, he said. He’s had my back for longer than I’ve been emperor.

  I need to drop off my stuff, and then I want to check out the folly, to see if the attackers were careless enough to leave any clues. Unless you have video surveillance. Or trust your people to handle it and agree to answer my questions.

  Valentin paused before saying, The surveillance malfunctioned or was sabotaged. I will show you to your suite and then accompany you to the folly.

  So he didn’t have video and he didn’t trust his soldiers, at least not all of them. It wasn’t entirely surprising, but it would make the afternoon more dangerous. It would be best if I could slip out on my own to do a little undercover recon.

  The transport landed in an enclosed hangar. The door opened to reveal a squad of nine soldiers in Imperial Guard uniforms with weapons drawn. Luka and Valentin exited without hesitation, so I assumed these must be trusted guards and not a group here to murder us.

  A man in his mid-thirties with light brown hair and brown eyes rushed up to us. “Valentin! I’m so glad you’re okay. I coordinated teams to search the garden, as requested, and I’m working on the surveillance video.”

  “Thank you.” Valentin turned to me. “Queen Rani, may I introduce my assistant, Lewis Birlow. Lewis, this is Queen Rani.”

  Lewis bowed low. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you.” Unlike most of Valentin’s advisors, Lewis seemed sincere. He was handsome, in a wholesome sort of way, with a willowy build and neatly pressed clothes.

  I inclined my head. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  My research hadn’t been able to turn up much on Lewis. He’d worked with Valentin for years but generally kept to himself. There were a few old rumors of excessive spending, but I hadn’t found anything recent to substantiate them.

  Valentin and Lewis began discussing search patterns. Under her breath, Imogen asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Thanks for protecting me. You spotted the threat before I did.”

  She sm
iled. “Changing locations is always risky, so I was on alert.”

  “I appreciate it. Valentin is going to show us to our room, then I’m heading out to the attack location to see what I can find. You’re welcome to come with or stay here, your choice.”

  I expected her to grumble about the danger, but she just said, “Consider me your personal shadow for the duration of our trip.”

  Chapter Three

  After his discussion with Lewis wrapped up, Valentin led us to an enormous suite in the main building of the palace. “This is technically the family wing,” he said, “but it’s safer than the guest accommodations. And I’m just down the hall in case you need anything.”

  He said it without inflection, but the shadow of a grin he gave me had a wicked edge. It was the first sign he’d given that he, too, remembered our scorching kiss.

  The living area ended in a wall of glass framing a balcony overlooking the garden. We were six stories up, which would deter casual outside entry but would do nothing to stop someone determined. As I approached, it became apparent that the windows were not actually glass, but were instead a thick, clear thermoplastic. They had to be high quality to look so much like normal glass.

  “They’re eight centimeters thick,” Valentin said. “Rated to stop anything short of a missile. The palace is well defended. It’s just everywhere else that is a concern.” He muttered the last part under his breath.

  I ventured deeper into the suite. It just kept going. A dining room, study, small kitchenette, and guest bath larger than my bedroom were to the right of the living room. To the left were three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Two of the bedrooms were identical, with balconies overlooking the park. The third was an interior room, but it had a wall display simulating the same outside view.

  Valentin and Luka trailed behind me while Imogen swept the suite in front of us, looking for hidden threats. I doubted someone was waiting to jump out of a closet at me, but I let Imogen do her thing.