Lord Regret's Price: A Jane Austen Space Opera, Book 3 (5 page)

Although with recent events, perhaps that thinking was a mistake. Someone knew she was here, even though she’d only just arrived and had never used her real name.

Was it as easy as assuming a Britannian lady—where no Britannian ships were welcome—must be a threat?

She didn’t think so. No, this attack had been too personal. The assassin had known enough about her shield to try and circumvent it.

Before her, she’d laid out the star that had nearly killed her—still stained with the assassin’s blood—and the device he’d worn on his boot to help him defy gravity. If he was truly an Imperial assassin, she’d love to meet the Imperial doctor who’d created such clever devices.

She wiped the weapon clean of blood so she could set it into her largest portable scanner for evaluation.

One of the maids asked, “Shall we begin packing your clothing, my lady?”

“Yes. We’re leaving within the hour.” She didn’t bother suppressing a sigh of regret. She’d planned to spend days shopping, not just an hour or two. She hadn’t even had the opportunity to explore any of the famous sites she’d heard so much about. Even if she couldn’t have garnered an invitation into the Forbidden City, she could have at least seen the famous walls barring entry to the Son of Heaven’s domain.

Information began streaming across the screen of her datapad. As she’d suspected, a small transistor was embedded in the heart of the star, emitting a steady, charged pulse that had been deliberately keyed to resist the magnetic field of her shield. Fascinating on one hand, yet troubling on the other. If assassins in Zijin had managed to create a device able to outsmart her shield, then surely the Queen’s Runners had as well.

She needed to adjust her magnetic signature to resist such an attack. Perhaps a variable transistor very much like theirs, cycling through a random series of charges. That would make it much more difficult for them to key into her shield again. Even better if she could encrypt that transistor so no one could hack into it again.

“Um, Charlie?” For once, Gil managed to sound awed. She hadn’t heard that tone from her handsome sheriff since the first time he’d witnessed the finery she typically wore beneath her gown.

She turned around to see a stranger in their room. Finely dressed in heavily embroidered, vibrant red silks, the man had to be a very high-up official. Fine lines framed his eyes, giving him a distinguished look, though it was hard to decide his age. She stood and folded her hands together at her waist, awaiting an introduction.

“Honored lady.” The man bowed very low. “I am Prince Gong. His Majesty sends his most sincere apologies that your visit to Zijin has been met with such violence. As a token of his deep regret, he extends an invitation to your party to visit Xuanyuan so he can speak to you in person.”

Prince Gong was the Tongzhi Emperor’s uncle, which made him at least thirty years of age. Many people thought he should have been put on the throne, instead of the much-younger and often-sickly son of the last Emperor, though the boy’s mother had a great deal to do with keeping him in power. Two ladies ruled behind the throne, often together, but rumors said more often than not the Dowager Empresses Cixi and Ci’an might not be working together amicably to keep their son on the throne. In a land where the men had ruled as the Supreme Son of Heaven for countless generations, Cixi in particular wielded an astonishing amount of power.

She met Sig’s gaze and tipped her head subtly at their guest. He took the ancient coin from his pocket and flipped it in a flying arc toward Prince Gong, who caught it easily. “After we found this on the assassins in the square, you can imagine why we might be reluctant to accept such an invitation.”

Prince Gong’s face remained smooth and his eyes were veiled, but Charlie suspected by the slight tightening of his mouth that he was surprised, or very frustrated, that they’d managed to find the coin implicating their supposed hosts. “His Majesty gives his word that he will personally find the guilty party and see they’re punished for attempting to kill the lady.”

“What I want to know,” Sig drawled out in his famous silky, privileged manner that’d won him the nickname Lord Regret, “is who has access to commission
Imperial
assassins?”

Prince Gong allowed emotion to flash across his face and he tossed the coin back at Sig in a hard line. “Anyone in the royal family.”

Sig snagged the coin just as effortlessly, but the message had been clear. Prince Gong was not pleased with his relatives.

“Some would not care to have such an infamous personage anywhere near our system, for fear of drawing Britannia’s wrath, which is a weak excuse when the Emperor has closed our ports to them in the first place. Others would not care to have such a talented scientist exploring the secret realm of Xuanyuan. And yet others couldn’t stomach the thought of a lady of such individual power entering their domain for fear of losing esteem. Yet the Emperor himself expresses his wish to meet the lady and personally guarantees her safety if you choose to enter Xuanyuan.”

Certainly Charlotte had longed for an invitation to go where few Zijin, let alone an outsider, had ever gone. Even the manner of access to the Forbidden City was cast in shadows and secrecy.
City
wasn’t exactly the correct word because Xuanyuan was a separate planet. An entire planet reserved just for the Emperor’s household.

She could only imagine what Majel would do with an entire planet to herself. The intricate and detailed security she’d impose. Charlotte couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.
If I enter Xuanyuan knowing someone beyond wishes me dead, then it’s highly probable I won’t ever be allowed to leave until their wish is granted. I might as well waltz into the Tower of Londonium and declare I’m home.

“His Majesty
personally
guarantees your safety,” Prince Gong reiterated. “Which is why I haven’t referred to your true name, my lady. We don’t know who listens, yes? Hoeng Gong is nowhere near as secure as Xuanyuan itself. When you wish to leave, you will be escorted safely back to this inn at once, or even to your ship, if that’s your desire.”

“That’s all very well and good, sir,” Charlotte replied, “but what if the Emperor is assassinated before we can leave? With Lord Regret’s presence made common knowledge, I can almost guarantee that at least one of the Emperor’s enemies will decide to take action. How could they not take advantage of the opportunity, with the galaxy’s most famous assassin readily available? Therefore this personal promise ensuring our safety could very well be worthless. Lord Regret is very good at what he does, Your Highness.”

Prince Gong recoiled, his face ashen. “Don’t…don’t speak of such blasphemy. No one would wish His Majesty harm.”

Charlotte sat back down at her table and refreshed her cup of tea. With an arched brow, she held the pot up, offering to fill him a cup as well. She was surprised when he inclined his head and moved to join her. When he lifted the cup to his mouth, his hands trembled.

Interesting. Surely, out of everyone in Zijin, Prince Gong had the most to gain if the Tongzhi Emperor died. The people would want him on the Dragon Throne before they’d accept either Cixi or Ci’an, no matter what honored titles they held now. For two thousand years, only men had ruled Zijin. No matter how powerful Cixi had become as the Emperor’s mother, she wouldn’t be able to change so many generations of tradition overnight.

So either Prince Gong was truly a man of honor and sincerely horrified at the thought of his nephew’s death, or he was an extremely good actor.

“You have the galaxy’s most infamous assassin in port, along with a legendary
personage. If your politics were complicated before, be prepared for them to worsen once the contracts are offered.”

Prince Gong took another sip. The tea had returned his color and his hands no longer trembled. As she’d always believed, a cup of tea could improve just about any situation.

“You think one of my family will contact Lord Regret to assassinate someone?”

She smiled. “Count on it. The question isn’t if, but how many. And whom, of course, they may wish to eliminate. We’ve seen that my back has already been identified as a target. Whom else would they find it convenient to kill, if not the Emperor himself?”

“There are many possibilities,” he admitted, but kept his face expressionless, as though determined to hide as many of the Imperial Family’s skeletons as possible. “And who is this other man with you? Someone just as infamous and dangerous?”

Gil grinned and rocked back on his heels, his thumbs hooked in his belt loops. “Aw, shucks, I’m just a sheriff from Americus.”

Some of the rawness humming beneath Sig’s skin was soothed by watching Lady Wyre in her element. Gracious and witty, no one could manipulate a situation like she could. The idea of entering the secret city beyond the gates—Imperial guarantees or not—made Sig’s palms sweat, but he had no doubt of her answer. Her curiosity would eat her alive until she finally unraveled the secrets they tried so hard to keep from the rest of the galaxy.

Masters was doing an admirable job of playing the colonial bumpkin, though Sig couldn’t tell if the Prince was buying it or not. They’d need as much surprise on their side as possible to make sure she exited Xuanyuan alive and well. If the Imperials were fooled into ignoring the sheriff as a threat, they might gain enough of an edge to escape whatever waited ahead.

Of course, he couldn’t deny that some of his dark mood was lightened at the mere prospect of a contract on the horizon. If multiple ones came in, as she threatened, all the better.
If I accept one…or all of them…what will she truly think? Can I come to her bed with fresh blood on my hands?

His stomach twisted so hard at the thought that he caught his breath. It was just a soft sound, not even a groan, but she heard it, her head tipping his direction slightly, though her conversation never wavered.

“I accept His Majesty’s invitation—” she held up a hand to halt the prince’s response, “—with a few caveats. My men must be allowed to accompany me at all times.”

“That’s acceptable, as long as they don’t enter the inner palaces where only women are allowed. Unless your men are also eunuchs?”

Her lips twitched. “No, thankfully, they’re intact. If the opportunity arises where I need to enter those palaces, we’ll discuss my options then. We must be allowed to leave at any time, not just Xuanyuan but the entire Zijin system.”

“Of course. His Majesty has already iterated his desire to return you safely whenever you’re ready to leave and will provide a written order allowing you to leave as you wish without harassment or threat.”

“What assurances is His Majesty willing to provide in the case that Britannian warships arrive?”

Prince Gong didn’t twitch a single muscle, but he radiated sudden intensity. Although he hadn’t made any threats, Sig moved his hand closer to the knife on his hip. That was a dangerous look indeed. “Who says Britannian warships might arrive?”

“Not
might
, Your Highness, but
when
. His Majesty threw down an outright challenge to Queen Majel. Perhaps in his youth he didn’t know that such a challenge will only fuel her determination to sweep away every last vestige of resistance you might attempt to throw up to halt her advance. She is coming. I’d rather not be here when she arrives, and I certainly don’t want to risk getting stranded in your Forbidden City when her warships fill your airspace.”

“We have ways of protecting all of Zijin, my lady.”

“I’m sure you do, Your Highness, but you’ve never had to protect them from Queen Majel.”

Prince Gong stood and inclined his head, as though to say this interview was finished. “If you come inside Xuanyuan, you’ll see how we would prevent such an invasion.”

Ah, but the man knew exactly the right words to say to lure Charlie into accepting the Emperor’s invitation.

“I look forward to seeing everything you can demonstrate for me.”

The prince bowed lower to Charlie and inclined his head politely at both the men as he left. “I look forward to escorting you myself. The Emperor would greatly enjoy it if you would dine with him tomorrow evening.”

She waited until the door shut behind him before turning to Sig and Gil. “How can we protect ourselves? Assuming, of course, that they force us to enter the Forbidden City weaponless. I have plenty of shields and similar toys, but they already know about them and have found a way to bypass my protections.”

Sig opened his mouth but his caller buzzed in an inner pocket, stilling his words. He met Charlie’s gaze.

Softly, she whispered, “Work beckons.”

He nodded, his throat tightening beneath the hypnotic power of her dark, gleaming eyes.

“Go do what you do best, Sig. We’ll continue to discuss a plan of action once you’re finished.”

Tension strained his shoulders and neck, but he strode as casually toward the door as possible. How many questions would she ask about the contract? He hadn’t killed since bringing her with him, committing their lives together. Despite the anxiety bubbling in his stomach, he couldn’t deny the quickened heartbeat and surge of adrenaline already sharpening his senses.
I live for killing.

I just hope
she
can live with that.

“I don’t like it.” Gil tried to keep his voice even, without the sharpness of his concern, but she knew him well enough to see his dismay.