Any Price (13 page)

They raised their heads to look into each other’s eyes. Lore frowned at the shock on her face. “So now we know not to joke about such things,” he stated quietly. “I’m not going to minimize it. It’s one of those things we can’t change, even if I wanted to.”

“What we really need to know, Lore,” Kenna slid her elbows behind her so she was propped up and could look at him steadily, “is how this is affecting you. I get the feeling that being the One is more involved than anyone’s bothered to tell us. We’ve been concerned about what’s happened to me, but what about you?”

Lore acknowledged that the changes in him seemed to be accumulating.

Just then they felt Yuri use the mental path to send his thoughts to them. Their eyes widened as they jointly answered on a new sort of channel.
“Yes, Yuri?”

“I apologize, your highnesses,”
he replied to them.
“My Lord Leionoff has become agitated. He believes the king is restrained in some fashion. Leionoff is forming a rescue group to enter your apartment by force.”

Kenna fell back on the bed in amusement while Lore jumped up.

“He thinks I am holding Lore hostage?”
Kenna asked on the new channel the three of them shared. Her humor remained high at that thought as well as the naughty delight of watching a bare-assed Lore dash into the bathroom to industriously wash his face.

“Not you, my lady, more like I am the one imprisoning him,”
Yuri answered, obviously uncomfortable with the accusation.

“What? He thinks you’re hiding something?”
Lore demanded. He hurriedly buttoned up his shirt.

“Yes, my lord,”
Yuri responded.

Suddenly Lore froze.
“Look at him again, Yuri,”
Lore directed. The smile melted off Kenna’s face as she joined Lore looking at exactly what Yuri saw. A red-faced, pacing Gregory on his cell phone telling someone to get his or her ass in here.

“Shit! Did you know we could do that?”
Lore demanded of Yuri.

“No, but there hasn’t been a royal first couple for so long, sir, we will have to relearn those things we once knew,”
Yuri responded calmly as ever.
“The gifts left us by the gods were many.”

Lore continued dressing as he pressed Yuri.
“Are there other things that you do know about? Things we haven’t discovered yet? And who are the gods?”

“Ah, that is a discussion we must have at a later date, my lord,”
Yuri replied.
“His personal guard is assembling to enter your apartments and liberate you.”

“Fuck!” Lore spat out succinctly as he shoved his shirt into his pants and shrugged into the suit jacket. Stepping over to the bed, he dropped a kiss on Kenna’s lips and headed for the door. They didn’t need to chat about when he’d be back or what she’d do next. They both knew it wasn’t as if they’d really be apart. Their communication continued on a private level. She was trying to calm him and he was showing her exactly how irritated he was with Gregory and his control tactics.

Lore strode out of his apartment to find Yuri and a line of men in the wide hall, some of them royal guard, some regular guard. He now knew the blood of Keepers flowed in each of them. Across the wide hall were the men Gregory called. Not surprisingly, none were Keepers. Tension swirled thick and volatile through the expansive corridor.

Lore felt the battle about to erupt and bit back his disgust at Gregory for whipping this situation to such a dangerous pitch where violence could explode.

There was no question Keepers knew they guarded the real heir to both thrones. They also accepted him as their own with a brand of fidelity beyond his being their monarch. He glanced down the line and found he could acknowledge each man with the speed of a thought on a common channel. He even knew which other Keepers were on their way while all apparently watched from wherever they were. The common path, or communication, was strengthening with use.

This could easily blow up into civil war, well, more like a civil rejection. Gregory’s countrymen were quite willing to remove him from the vicinity of the One and their first daughter. The manner they collectively thought of the One struck Lore as odd in a way he wanted to question. Of course odd was a relative term at the moment. It would have to wait ’til they weren’t contemplating pulling weapons on the obviously confused men across from them.

Again it seemed to escape Gregory that it was his own countrymen who blocked his entrance to the royal apartment.

“Gentlemen,” Lore verbally acknowledged as he stepped through the line of Keepers and faced Gregory. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“My lord!” Gregory fairly yelled. “I have been trying to reach you for the last two hours! I grew concerned for your safety when the commander would not respond as to your whereabouts or allow us to search for you.” His flushed face twisted as he gestured at the line of men. “Then these started showing up as if they were part of some plan. They just appeared. They lined up before the door without even speaking to each other.

“I became gravely worried,” Gregory continued. “The woman is missing as well. We thought she might be in league…”

The line behind Lore shifted as Kenna stepped out of the apartment door. Lore calmly held out his arm and Kenna slipped under it, he molded her to his side and returned his attention to Gregory.

“You were saying?” Lore questioned. His eyes narrowed and every remnant of polite civil tolerance was wiped off the king’s face as that half-formed sentence hung in the air.

Gregory stepped back a pace. His face darkened and he stepped forward again, bringing himself closer to Lore and Kenna. In smooth motion, Lore shifted Kenna and moved his body fully in front of her. Yuri and Thomas immediately stepped up and two more men positioned themselves a little wider apart behind them. They formed a wedge around Kenna as the other men in line moved to create a human shield. It was all done so swiftly, barely a tic of time passed from the moment Gregory could see her to the moment he couldn’t.

The men behind Gregory shifted back in instinctive retreat from the grim faces. They’d come because they were ordered to, but none had an emotional investment that could pit them against both their commanders and the king. The mood of the room was one they didn’t understand.

“What the hell is going on here?” Gregory demanded. “That woman shows up yesterday and the entire world is turned upside down. She enthralls a multitude of men at a glance, it appears. What? Are you all fucking her? Is that why you can’t do your duty, Lore? You and your buddies sharing a little cunt?” Gregory waved his hand at the men surrounding her.

Shock at the vulgar attack flashed across almost every face.

Lore’s hand and leg flashed out at the same time. The hand clamped around Gregory’s throat as his leg swept behind the advisor and took them both to the floor with Lore pinning Gregory. Lore’s large hand tightened on the windpipe under it as the room shifted again. Behind Lore, Yuri had stepped up to cover his back and Thomas was shielding Kenna as Lore took Gregory down.

Gregory sputtered and gasped, his eyes bulged up at Lore, who truly appeared willing to crush his windpipe.

The only sound in the room was the collective gasp from the men who’d stood behind Gregory. They stepped back even farther from the heightened menace before them. Kenna clung to Thomas’ back as she closed her eyes and desperately reached into the deadly intent in Lore’s mind.

“No,”
she whispered to him mentally.
“I beg you. Do not kill him over me. We all need you both. Don’t do this. He’s hurt, insulted, embarrassed and jealous. He is not himself.”

Kenna used the common channel so every man and woman listening could hear her commitment to both Lore and the peace between the two peoples inhabiting these lands.

“He has no way of knowing who or what I am. He never will,”
she continued.
“His insults were flung in ignorance. Don’t respond in a way that will injure us all.”

Lore released Gregory and bounced back to his feet with the innate athleticism that flowed through his big body. Gregory lay there a second and stared up at him, he then scrambled up himself. By this time, twenty more men had glided silently into the wide corridor. Gregory’s eyes darted around at the crowd who’d witnessed his humiliation.

“I’ll say this in the hearing of these witnesses, once,” Lore growled. “Kenna is to be my queen. Any slander against her will be construed as treason. I don’t believe the laws on the charge of treason have changed in over five hundred years. I will vigorously uphold those laws, regardless of station or rank,” Lore continued. “I warned you not to force this issue in public, Gregory. You chose to ignore that warning. Now, I have responsibilities to see too. We will talk when I am free to do so.”

Lore turned slightly to Yuri. “I believe these men have posts they are supposed to be at. See to it that they are where they belong.”

The crowd didn’t move, each man remaining rigidly in battle mode. Yuri bowed slightly to the king.

“Of course, your highness,” the grim commander murmured. “We will also be happy to see my lord advisor to his door. I believe it would be best to ensure his safety at this point.”

Lore had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from saying something truly damaging about what they could do with Gregory. Yuri, and every Keeper present, had a violent desire to finish the job Lore started. In this new world, calling their royal first daughter a whore was possibility the most insulting thing one could say.

It would be impossible for her to be with another man secretly, just as he couldn’t hide anything from her. Also, each male present had participated to some degree in the changes Kenna and he experienced. The importance of the family unit could not be overstated.

Kenna felt the men surrounding her. It was not like she connected to Lore, and not quite how she felt Julianna, Yuri and Thomas. Much like how the common channel link materialized because she reached for it, so did her ability to read this group.

Instincts were rising sharp and fast, and they were not civilized impulses to negotiate respect. The drive to physically demonstrate displeasure with Gregory’s crude accusations was as old-fashioned as their views had become. They seemed in favor of some sort of public flogging.

Kenna firmly disapproved and the men found they were unwilling to offend the little woman in their midst when she forbade them that pleasure in no uncertain terms. Yet they were unwilling to leave the scene until the threat had been removed.

Yuri stepping up to take the heat for placing Gregory under house arrest gave Lore freedom to repair his relationship with Gregory while still keeping the livid advisor in check for the time being. Lore pointedly glanced around at the dark faces and then looked at Gregory. “I agree, perhaps a little caution would be in order. Please see my friend home for me.”

Gregory remained silent though waves of rage colored the air around him. Kenna couldn’t look at the dark cloud roiling around him. Turning, she slipped back into the royal apartments.

* * * * *

Seething internally, Gregory left, accompanied by three royal guards. In the short trip home, he could hardly assimilate the last few hours’ events impact on his life. He was certain the catalyst was something that involved Kenna.

The very fact that he could not put his finger on exactly what was going on indicated a plot. When Lore disappeared this morning with hardly a word and remained absent through two more critical appointments, Gregory had become genuinely concerned.

The brick wall that Yuri presented at his every attempt to reach Lore infuriated him. Up until yesterday, Gregory had been the one who knew exactly where Lore was at all times. He’d rightly believed himself ranked above every individual save the king.

Kenna’s appearance dislodged him from that position. Not a fact he’d been willing to acknowledge until this moment. She’d somehow moved him below the guards, a very expensive fall down the power ladder.

The enormity of his change in station unfolded in stark reality as he was seen home and the three men remained outside. They stationed themselves with a clear line of sight to every exit from the building.

Queen? That fucking bitch was about to be made queen?

Gregory fairly boiled with humiliation and malevolent determination to put an end to this idiocy. Whatever she used to control Lore, and he had a very good idea what that was, it did not cloud Gregory’s perception of her. She had to be a con artist. She’d inserted herself at the highest level of power in less than twenty-four hours. Kenna had obviously planned it over a very long period of time, enough time to enlist the support of a great number of men. That cunt had another think coming if she thought he’d roll over and let her not only take all his power, but Lore’s as well.

Gregory paced across his study as he formulated a strategy. Thirty minutes later he’d come up with a workable plan.

Discrediting her publicly was the first step. It would take time to research her background and arm himself with the facts he needed. So he must delay this wedding. That could be accomplished by ensuring the wedding plans were embroiled in official arrangements for a couple of months. He could use those old laws Lore had threatened him with. The requirements for a royal wedding hadn’t changed for hundreds of years either.

To ensure political stability, Lore must appear to reconcile with him. He would pretend to go along with the events as they unfolded. But behind the scenes he’d rally Kersonov to finally demand its independence. They’d spent long enough under the thumb of Covia and its rulers.

It would appear a groundswell of sentiment from the Kersonovian population. One he was forced to bow to as head of the former ruling family. It would be a simple operation.

Lore did not want war, of that Gregory was certain. The split would occur peacefully between friends. No need to battle over borders since there never had been any question about those.

If an argument did arise, he’d easily put it down by pointing out the events of the rightful queen’s abduction had been desperate. Her instructions to her lover as she was dragged away by kidnappers had certainly been honored, but times had changed dramatically. There was no indication she’d meant for the guardianship of Kersonovia to last this long. The renaissance festival had served as a means to remind his people that at one time they had been free of any overseer.

It was a very logical argument and he was pleased with how it flowed so naturally from current events. Hardly any need to manipulate at all. So much the better.

A few minutes’ research on the computer found him the number-one company specializing in researching heritage and lineage, as well as investigating personal background information. Gregory’s title would get him a response to the computer inquiry. Ten minutes later the phone on his desk rang.

A very proper British voice greeted Gregory. “Good afternoon, My Lord Leionoff. This is Simon Dahshur, president of Dahshur Enterprises. We are happy to assist you in whatever manner you require. I would like to extend my personal services to the first advisor of Kersonov. Please, what can I do for you today?”

Gregory relaxed into his chair. This was the response he was used to. “I require information of a delicate nature. The situation calls for a face-to-face meeting, Mr. Dahshur. However, I would prefer no one other than ourselves realize we are involved in an investigation. You understand the need for discretion on occasion?”

“Of course, my lord,” the polite voice agreed. “I assume you have a way to accomplish this?”

Gregory smiled. Indeed, this was exactly how things should go. He was in control and would naturally have thought of all the nuances required to execute his plan. “I have. It would be best if you visited this country on the pretext of looking for a new site to build a facility. Your organization is large enough to lend credence to this possibility. We can discuss my requirements at that time. I’d like to start as soon as possible.”

“Excellent, my lord,” Mr. Dahshur confirmed. “Would two days from now be convenient for you?”

“Yes, very good.” Satisfaction rolled over Gregory. “Your arrival must go through official channels. However, I will make sure you are directed to my office for assistance. Thank you for your prompt attention, Mr. Dahshur, I am sure we will do well together.”