Empress Game: The Empress Game Trilogy Book 1 (8 page)

Isonde.

Malkor himself had worn that same look, longing mixed with furtive hope, when Isonde had walked into the room so many times before. She greeted them casually, as elegant and refined as ever in an emerald gown. Her auburn hair was pulled in a loose chignon at the nape of her neck and a single silver chain encircled her throat.

She chose a seat halfway between the two of them. “What have we been discussing?”

“Your newest attendant, Lady Evelyn Broch,” Malkor said. She gave him a blank look. “The fighter we hired on Altair Tri.”

“Oh, the pit whore?”

Malkor frowned. “The fighter. Her identity is Lady Evelyn.”

“Quite the jump in position. I think Miss Evelyn would do fine.”

After days of recon on Altair Tri, nights spent at the Blood Pit and a trek through Fengar Swamp, Malkor was in no mood to be diplomatic. “You’re not usually such an uptight snob, Isonde. What’s your problem with the lady?”

He had the satisfaction of seeing Ardin wince. Isonde seemed taken aback, but they had grown up together in the emperor’s court. He’d known her too long—and too intimately—to dance around a subject.

“Did you want to do your own fighting at the Empress Game?” he asked. “I assure you that though she agreed to my terms,
Lady Evelyn
is by no means excited about the prospect.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Isonde snapped. “I don’t stand a chance and you know it.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I just—” She made a frustrated sound. “It’s this whole thing.”

Malkor held up a hand. “Hey, you two cooked up this plan. I’m happy to scrap it.”

“There’s no other way,” Isonde said.

“I still don’t see why the two of you don’t just marry,” the word stuck in his throat, but he forced it out, “and damn the Empress Game.”

“We already put forth several proposals to both the Sovereign and Protectorate Councils to suspend the Game,” Ardin said. “No one liked the idea of the heir choosing his own mate. The empress-apparent wields too much power in the Council of Seven for them to give up the hope of placing one of their own daughters in the role.”

Ardin had dreamed of wedding Isonde as long as the three had known each other, almost as long as Malkor had. If there was a way around Isonde needing to win the Empress Game to validate a marriage, Ardin would have found it.

“The plan is fine,” Isonde said, “but how can we trust this … fighter? She’s from a Protectorate Planet, for starters. Most have only been in the empire for one or two generations, their loyalty is tentative at best. And she’s a pit whore. She brutalizes people for money. You want to let a woman like that run loose?”

She glanced from Malkor to Ardin, seeking support.

“You don’t know how she became a pit whore,” Malkor found himself arguing. “It’s likely she had no other choice.”

Ardin agreed. “There aren’t many honorable professions available to a woman on Altair Tri.”

“Is this the kind of woman you want to entrust the fate of the empire to?” Isonde asked.

“I am entrusting the fate of the empire to you and Ardin,” Malkor countered. “
That’s
why I agreed to this outrageous scheme in the first place, because I believe the two of you, working together to control the Council of Seven, are the only chance the empire has to become something worth believing in again.

“If you’re asking me if I believe Lady Evelyn can be trusted to win the Empress Game for us, then my answer is yes.” Or something close to yes, at this point.

Malkor switched his gaze to Ardin. “You both need to let me do my job and trust that I know what I’m doing or this will never work.”

One of Ardin’s guards commed the room. “My prince? There’s someone here to speak to Senior Agent Rua.”

Malkor looked at his two closest friends, gauging their moods. “Are we good here?”

Ardin nodded right away, but it was Isonde that Malkor watched. She’d have plenty to say later. Isonde was as verbose as she was intelligent, and would have strong opinions on how a scheme that could end in her own death was run. Opinions he valued, but he needed to know that she would back him, trust him to handle the details.

She finally nodded.

Ardin tapped the comm panel. “Send them in.”

The doors opened to reveal Shadow Panthe standing in the gap. She looked even shabbier next to the two royals than she had earlier in his room. Her posture, however, was every bit as proud.

Ardin’s guards came in behind her, their attention split between the prince and the daggers Shadow’s hands rested on. Ardin waved the guards back outside.

“Agent Rua. I require a place to train.”

Well, she certainly doesn’t waste any time.

“Lady Evelyn, may I present Prince Ardin de Soliqual, eldest son of Emperor Rengal, heir to the Sakien Empire. I believe you’ve met Princess Isonde already.”

Shadow Panthe’s gaze barely skimmed Isonde. She studied Ardin longer, then gave him the barest of nods. She immediately returned her attention to Malkor. From the corner of his eye he caught Ardin’s surprise at being so easily dismissed.

“I’m assuming you have a suitable space on board?”

“With Isonde available, now is a good time to go over some other aspects of your role. What’s expected of an attendant, the people you’re likely to meet, who to avoid—”

“No.”

Isonde blinked. “Pardon?”

Shadow shrugged one shoulder. “We can go over that later. Right now I need to train.”

“This is important,” Isonde said.

Shadow finally turned her full attention on Isonde, who sat straighter when that cold blue gaze fell on her. “No doubt. All the subterfuge in the world won’t win you your emperor, though. When it comes down to it, the only thing that matters is if I can beat your opponents in the ring, one on one.”

The two women stared at each other, locked in a battle of wills. Something passed unspoken between them. Likely the determination of Shadow’s stare impressed upon Isonde her dedication to the cause. Isonde gave a sharp nod and rose from her chair. “Malkor, find her some place to practice. We’ll talk later.”

M
alkor escorted Shadow through the ship and into a magchute that would bring them to the recreation deck of the starcruiser. The magchute’s module was a little tight for two people when one of them was intent on keeping her distance from the other. Malkor studied Shadow from the corner of his eye, trying to piece her puzzle together.

Her cheaply dyed hair was completely incongruous. Her minimalist dress code and insistence on wearing an
ashk
already played down her beauty, what did she care about her hair? Why color it? His gaze drifted lower, over her body. She needed new clothing, something more fashionable and form-fitting to pull off the Lady Evelyn disguise.

“If you want a black eye you’re headed the right way.” She dropped a hand to her nearest kris but remained staring directly ahead.

The module decelerated and the doors opened, saving him from comment. He motioned for her to precede him into the hallway.

She paused in the entry to the practice room when she spotted Trinan and Vid working out at the far end. Not surprising to find those two here. They had more energy between them than a pulsar. At least they burned some of it off constructively.

Vid and Trinan stopped what they were doing and there was an odd sort of standoff between them and Shadow. Then Trinan grinned, Vid gave a short salute and they went back to working out. That seemed to relax her.

Ardin had outfitted the practice room well, with space and equipment enough for the octet.

“Use whatever you like,” Malkor said.

She walked to the farthest sparring ring, stripping off her tunic as she went to reveal her muscled back and the black halter top he remembered from the pit. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail before starting a warm-up.

He’d meant to escort her and leave, stars knew he had enough work waiting. Instead he perched on a weight bench, watching her, judging the fighter he’d pinned their hopes on. Her warm-up ramped quickly, footwork sequences and light cardio transitioning to hand and foot techniques. Those gave way to full-speed punches and knifehands, spinning aerial kicks and tumbling drops. From there she pulled her daggers and began blade work. Trinan and Vid gave up pretending to work out and came to stand beside him.

Shadow finished her last kata and turned quickly, catching them staring. She lifted her chin with a look that said, “What—you think you can do better?” She twitched her ponytail over her shoulder and made her way back to them. When she reached their group she squared herself off, shoulders front, appraising them each before settling her gaze on Malkor.

“I need an opponent to spar.”

Both Trinan and Vid stepped forward with their typical enthusiasm for action and Shadow shied away minutely. “A female opponent. It is the
Empress
Game, after all.”

“Of course.” Malkor pulled his mobile comm and entered his agent, Janeen’s code. “Care to spar?” was all he needed to ask when she answered the page.

“Uh, Malk…” Trinan said. “You sure about this?” He glanced at Shadow. “It might be a little… soon.”

“Janeen’ll be fine.”

Shadow arched a brow but remained quiet. The group waited in awkward silence until the doors to the rec room opened and Janeen Nuagyn strode through. She greeted the men with a smile that turned predatory when she spotted Shadow Panthe.

One of the three capable women in Malkor’s octet, Janeen could hold her own with the boys, even best some of them, like Gio. She was tough, rough and tumble, and looked built like a boar next to Shadow’s sleek frame. A shorter boar, perhaps.

She heckled Trinan and Vid good-naturedly for standing around doing nothing in the rec room, then turned her attention to Malkor.

“Are you in the mood for a match, boss?” She stood ready to offer a challenge. She’d taken him to the ground more than once.

“Not today. Would you be willing to work with Lady Evelyn?”

“Absolutely.” Something of her light-heartedness faded. “I would love to spar with her.”

Shadow rested her hands on the pommels of her kris, sizing Janeen up. She nodded, as if to say “she’ll do,” and walked back to the practice ring. “Warm up,” she called over her shoulder.

With Janeen heading after Shadow, Vid closed the distance between him and Malkor. “I’m not sure this is a good idea. Janeen’s still sore after your decision.”

“She’ll get over it. She has to learn to work with Shadow anyway.”

“I thought we were going with Lady Evelyn now?”

“We are. It’s just—” He gestured toward the ring. Shadow’s muscled back rippled as she stretched her arms over her head. “Does she look like a Lady Evelyn?”

They fell silent as the women began to spar.

He’d seen Janeen fight a thousand times, knew her style, so he watched Shadow instead. Not because her pants rode low on perfectly curved hips or because her top left nearly every centimeter of her taut abdomen bare. He’d do well to learn her strengths and weaknesses. Any tips he might provide could make the difference in winning the Game.

She was quick, but he’d seen that. What he hadn’t noticed before was her strength. She could hold her own when the fight turned to grappling, and Janeen brought to bear the maximum force a body her size could muster.

She was also aggressive. Where Janeen took her time, circling, waiting for the right moment, Shadow forced an opening. She came first, never letting Janeen get comfortable in her stance or allowing her time to plan an attack. She pounced, springing before Janeen could figure her out, overpowering her before Janeen could counter. After half an hour, Shadow had had enough.

“This is your best?” she called to him.

Malkor winced at the slight to Janeen. Shadow approached, the fabric of her
ashk
moving in and out rapidly as she breathed. Sweat gleamed on her forehead and slicked her ponytail back. “Or do you have someone else?”

“I have only my octet with me.” And while Rigger and Aronse were tough, neither woman would offer her a real challenge.

“I don’t suppose you have a virtual deck on board? Not the same as fighting an actual person, but I need some competition, not a playmate.”

“Try me.”

Her gaze snapped to him. He could only guess at her expression beneath the
ashk
.

“And lose the mask.”

She brushed her fingers against the cloth as if to check its position, shaking her head.

“You’ll have to lose it some time.” When she didn’t comply, he shot a look at Vid. His fellow agents left to check on Janeen. He stepped closer and she held her ground.

“What are you afraid of?”

“Nothing.” She flexed and unflexed her right hand as if stretching her fingers. “It’s just… comfortable.”

“No it isn’t. It makes me claustrophobic to look at you.”

“Then don’t.”

“Shadow—” He caught himself before treating her like a subordinate. “You don’t need it. Whoever you hid from on Tri, whyever you buried yourself in that pit, it’s over.” Was it? Did he need to be looking over her shoulder?

A bitter chuckle escaped her.

“Fight me for it,” he said. “You win, I won’t bother you about the
ashk
until we reach Falanar. I win, you burn it.”

“Deal.”

“Do you need to rest first, or…?”

She shot him a look of disgust and headed back to the practice circle.

* * *

Kayla glanced at Malkor, who walked beside her. She rarely fought an opponent so large, and never males as well-trained as she assumed he was. How tough would he be to beat?

“Shall we say barehanded, first takedown?” he asked, when they stopped opposite each other in the ring.

With his greater mass he’d have that all over her. One bull-rush and his momentum alone would win him the day.

“Best of five.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Sure you have that in you?”

“Do you?”

“Five it is.”

The others might have gathered to watch but they faded from her mind. Only Malkor remained, drawing all of her attention when he sank into a casual but ready stance, arms up, hands loose.