Gambit (16 page)

The guards stood to sharp attention and Daned opened the wide doors with a press to the plate beside the senior guard. With a soft whine, metal doors parted and sank back into the thick bulkhead.

The control center of the alpha-class was a vast curve, its transparent alloy opening the area up to the blackness of space. Ladaia-Ara, a blue-green world edged with wisps of brilliant white cloud and wrapped in sunlight, filled the center of the curve. It stilled Chae. Something about the planet tugged at deep memory, though her mother had always said she’d been born on Arkhengai. Maybe it was its beauty. Her time as a runner had taken her to industrial worlds filled with heat and stink. Never one like this, a clean, fresh-aired world.

The whisper of the engines changed again, the thrum of them increasing through her slippered feet. Her fingers itched to take the chair and pilot the beast into the upper atmosphere, feel herself one with its incredible power. Chae pulled in a breath and the constriction of her ribs reminded her that it wasn’t her job anymore. A wry smile touched her lips. She’d also blown her license to shit.

“Your Majesty.” One of the command crew jumped from her console and offered a quick, low bow. More heads bobbed up, startled, faces bleached by the stark light of their stations.

“As you were.”

Daned’s low, authoritative voice rippled a shiver under Chae’s skin. He waved her toward a wide platform to the side of the pilot’s heavy chair. Above that station, the commander looked up from his console and gave her a short, deferential nod. Good. He wasn’t stupid enough to leave his position for the sake of a nosy dignitary.

A bitter smile cut her mouth and she gripped the rail in front of her, her fingers flexing around the cold metal. The idleness, the having to stand by while others worked irked her…but the stillness of the command center eased that away. The occasional murmur, the whirr and beeps of monitors and the whisper of the engines almost calmed her bitter thoughts. The alpha-class was a thing of beauty.

“What happens next, Daned?” She leaned against the rail and watched the mass of the planet grow against the clear curve of the ship. Her gut tightened at the thought of having to disembark to find the princes naked and waiting…Shit. She did not need that image. Chae kept her voice low. “What with the sleeping, the washing, the dressing and finally the snacking, it was never made clear.”

“You will sit on the Throne of Ara, and the princes from each of the Houses will recognize your power.” She heard the short smile in his voice. “Every Ladaian already knows who you are. This is simply…”

“Tradition?”

“As always.”

“Do I have to screw them today?” In the dimness of the command center, she caught the jump of a vein in his temple. “It’s a fair question, Daned. And I’ve had a bath. Shame to waste it.”

He ignored her sarcasm. “It’s always proven best to secure the succession as quickly as possible.”

“So that too is a yes.” She let out a heavy breath and tapped her fingers against the rail. “I should’ve realized that one day I’d have to pay for enjoying myself with beautiful bodies.”

The flicker of silver over the clear shell of the hull distracted her for a moment. The pilot had engaged the entry shield. From habit, Chae braced her body for the first buffeting as the ship broke into the atmosphere…but it never came. The alpha-class simply glided, shields and the incredible power at its command, protecting them from the riot and heat. Damn, she wanted to play with one of these ships.

“And after.” Chae didn’t let her mind dwell on what was to come. She couldn’t stop her wince. “What do I do exactly as an empress?”

“You’re the essence of who we are. Our figurehead.”

A soft huff of disbelief escaped her. “I’m decorative. Nice.” She let a silent moment slide by, watching the glisten of the sunlight against the waves of an unknown ocean. Breaking into the atmosphere of a planet warmed her. Especially when it wasn’t Arkhengai. And she needed that right then. “Though I pity the poor Ladaians having me as their…essence.”

She wet her lips. “And that’s it? That’s all I have to do? Provide a choice for the sunder-seld and be an accessory?” Her body moved on instinct as the ship swept low over the ocean, the churn of spray flickering splinters of silver light over the outer shield. “Why would any of the princes want to give up the power of their Houses for this?”

“Control. A caste will follow a House from centuries of loyalty and duty. An emperor controls with a single look.”

Chae narrowed her gaze on him. Her lips pursed. “No, didn’t work.”

“On everyone but me, obviously, Majesty.”

“Obviously.” She turned her attention back to the ocean, the dark head of land rising up out of the water. The ship surged up a wide estuary toward a shadow-thick mountain and swept effortlessly up the sheer rock. “I’m being given the scenic route.” The alpha-class hovered over a flat outcrop of rock. Engines cut and it touched down, forcing dust-thick air to billow over the clear curve of the command’s hull. “Oh, very nice landing.”

Chae grinned at the pilot and the woman blinked, a slow flush burning under her cheeks. The pilot’s gaze dropped and the bright shine of fear in her thoughts swept, unwanted, over Chae. Fear? Of her? She wet her lips. She was the empress, able to command every Ladaian to her slightest whim. She pulled in a slow breath, chastened and unnerved. Dipping into the pilot’s mind opened her up to the others and the rush of emotions—fear, ambition, lust for her title—and the mix of garbled thoughts fired adrenaline through her flesh.

Shit, she didn’t want this. She had to move. Now. “Let’s get off this ship, Daned.”

“Majesty?”

Chae turned from the rail and stopped with a frown as the crew now rose from their stations to perform low bows. Hell, where was their irreverence? She’d never bowed to anyone in her life. She strode from the deck, her gaze fixed on the door. One of the nearby officers scrambled to press his palm to the doorplate and the heavy metal doors slid back into the bulkhead. Chae didn’t break her step. She hiked up her skirts and trotted down the stairs. The exit swung off to the left.

“Majesty?”

She wanted to get out, breathe in open air, not have the crush of the ship—and damn it—the nerves of the crew thick in her thoughts. Her palm hit the airlock plate and with a slow grind, the door rolled back.

“Chae?” Daned stood behind her as the inner airlock door thunked back into place. He was too close in the cramped space, his warm scent wrapping around her.

Chae’s fingers curled into a fist over the panel that would open the exterior lock, her heart pounding in her ears. She ached to feel the brush of his fingertips against the bare skin of the shoulder…but it never came.

His breath touched her hair. “You are the empress. People will always burn with fear and envy around you. You can’t open your mind to it.”

“Now you tell me.”

“This is new to me too, Majesty.”

Chae slapped her palm against the dulled metal and light flowed around her hand. The door whined, a low groan cut after it and, with a gust of air, the heavy door pushed out and back. Cold mountain air smacked her and she sucked in a startled breath. It tasted fresh after the warm, sanitized atmosphere of the ship. There were hints of pine, stone and other delicious scents she couldn’t recognize.

Steps formed from a rush of metal and hit the ground with a dull clang. Chae broke free of the ship. She wanted to run, feel the pull of the alien world’s gravity, escape the minds on the ship. Escape Daned. Mountain air pricked her skin, cold and sharp, and brought her to her senses. She couldn’t run. She was as bound to them as they were to her.

Chae gritted her teeth, suspecting the sunder-seld of implanting that last thought. She caught her fingers in her hair. Fuck, she didn’t even know where she ended and a sentient chair began. “This should’ve been you, Daned.” Her gaze flicked to him, the heavy shadow of the ship masking his expression. “Though possibly not with the frock.”

“I’ve worn stranger things, Majesty.”

The scent of living gold and his skin wrapped around her thoughts, a warm and bitter memory, and it exorcised her panic. He’d deliberately swapped her panic for regret. Nice. “You suited gold. Maybe you should wear it to celebrate your new position.”

“If that is your wish, Majesty.”

She wanted to smack him. She really did. Could no threat break him? The clunk of metal hinges dropped her hand to her hip, searching for the Sel-9 she no longer wore. Stark sunlight sliced across the plateau in front of her and cut shadows around the great arch of a wooden doorway. The wood moved, sliding over ancient grooves worn into the black stone.

“Your welcoming committee.” Daned’s whisper prickled her skin. He stood behind her, so close only hot millimeters separated them. “Stand straight. Empresses don’t slouch.”

“So funny.”

An entourage strode out onto the plateau, guards in the ceremonial colors of Ara surrounding a knot of dignitaries. Their boots clanked against the smooth stone, beating out in a fast rhythm that mirrored her thudding heart. The sunder-seld whispered names, labeling each man and woman. There really wasn’t anything the chair didn’t know.

She stared through the knot of soldiers to the tall man behind the prince’s left shoulder. The chair had said he was a Traern and curiosity had her wanting to see if Daned had spoken the truth. Were they really all bred for beauty? She caught a glimpse of dark hair, smooth, flawless features and vivid blue eyes. His gaze held her. A brief wickedness shone there and Chae felt her skin flush. Yes, Daned hadn’t been lying. Bran Traern was beautiful.

The sunder-seld broke into her thoughts.
“Bran is half brother to Daned. They share the same father.”

“Helpful as always, thank you.”

The guards stopped and the sudden silence broke her fixation on Daned’s brother. The men parted and Odgar, the Prince of Ara, strode toward her. He wore colorful silk robes that sallowed his skin and flattened to his lean body in the sharp winds. His bow was graceful and low and when he straightened a thin smile touched his mouth. Chae’s instincts screamed at her and, ignoring Daned’s advice to keep her mind shuttered, she teased her thoughts over the superior prince.

It was still alien to touch the mind of another, but Odgar had telepathy grown into his flesh. His mind was ordered, not the wild chaos of the crew. Hints of his belief that his descendents would occupy the sunder-seld still pricked her, though. Those thoughts he couldn’t contain. She slammed her mind shut. He thought that with her being Ara, the choice of him as the father of her dynasty was absolutely right and natural.

“Majesty.” His rich, round-voweled voice forced a shudder under her skin. “Welcome to your ancestral home.”

Shit, every flesh-pet was having his revenge on her. In her panic, Chae sought the sunder-seld.
“Can’t they wank into a cup? Why do I have to have sex with them? With your technology, that has to archaic.”

“I need to understand how your energies merge—”

“That’s a load of shit.”
Chae cut the connection, quick and sharp. She gave a brief nod to the prince. “Thank you, Odgar.” The liveried guards moved to surround them, and tension itched up her spine. Old habits died hard. And being surrounded by armed men had always meant trouble for her.

Daned stood at her shoulder. Hell, from the mass of useless history the sunder-seld had poured into her brain, she knew as imperial advisor he was Odgar’s equal. “Are the other princes assembled?”

Chae didn’t miss the slight narrowing of the prince’s dark eyes as Daned spoke. The lack of his use of title stung Odgar. Damn, these people were touchy. Had that been her problem too? She kept her pace even. Was she going to see her worst attributes reflected in every person around her? That would get old fast.

Odgar’s accent made a meal of his reply. “The throne room is prepared. Everyone is assembled. Greid is now Prince of the Enan.”

They also acted fast. Kynon still festered in the hold of the alpha-class, only just deposed. “Let’s get this over with then.” Her ears couldn’t tolerate any more of his voice. She wanted the ceremony over with, done. She frowned. And when he fucked her, she was going to gag him.

“Majesty?”

Daned’s voice echoed as they crossed into the cavernous entrance hall carved from the rock. The golden glow of hidden lights shone down over the smooth rock, and the subtle taste of cloves touched her tongue. Slender veins of black crystal threaded over the curve of the ceiling, and the mercenary in Chae itched for a pickaxe.

She glanced at her imperial advisor and found that vein jumping in his temple again.
“Can you read my mind?”

“Yes.”

His thought in her mind startled her. She’d felt shapes, emotions, but the sunder-seld had been the only one to speak to her. Her earlier thoughts hit her.
“Is that what has that little vein jumping? You think Odgar would enjoy being gagged?”

Daned’s mouth thinned, but he didn’t reply.

“You’re no fun, Daned.”

He didn’t reply to that either.

“The ceremony will be short,” Odgar said. He’d used her title once and stopped. It irked him. He couldn’t help it. “Then the decision about who will father your successor must be made.”

The gleam of interest in his eye made her skin crawl. None of it was for her. He lusted for the title, not her body. “Yes,” she murmured. “The sunder-seld will examine you with interest.”

Odgar’s gaze narrowed on her and his thin mouth turned down at the corners. “Your blood is from Ara, Majesty.”

And there was her title again in an effort to coerce her. “My blood is how my mother made it.”

Liveried guards saluted and pushed open another set of heavy wooden doors onto a long open courtyard. Sunlight gilded a stone gallery lining the right, arches glittering with hints of gold from the veins of black crystal. The crags of the mountains loomed over the south terrace of the palace, and the shimmer of a force shield sparkled against the deep blue of the sky. Warm, still air wrapped around her, the scent of lush plants mixing with the subtle hint of cloves. Guards marched them toward a curved staircase lit by large lanterns.