Malcolm (Book 1, The Redemption Series) (4 page)

My father and I cross swords, and I take the first swing.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me Malcolm Devereaux was the one who paid for our titles and my dowry?” I ask, catching my father off guard to the point that he almost drops his weapon.

He soon recovers and doubles his attack against me.

“It wasn’t something you needed to know,” he tells me, the ferocity of his attack forcing me to take a few steps back.

My father was strong, but he could never match my strength no matter how hard he tried.

I twirl around him, making him falter and twist his torso in an awkward position to block my next strike.

“Did the empress tell you that today?” My father asks, knowing the information had to come from someone.

“Yes,” I say, ducking a swipe of his sword at my head. “She told me everything.”

“I seriously doubt that,” my father says knowingly. “Because even she doesn’t know the whole story.”

This brings me up short and the tip of my father’s holographic sword pierces my mid-gut.

“Ha! I finally won!” He declares triumphantly.

“I’m not sure that one counts,” I say, stepping up to him. If anyone had been watching, it would have looked like I was impaling myself further onto his blade.

“Who is this Malcolm Devereaux to you?” I ask. “Why would he care about my future? Does he plan to extort special favors from me once I’m on the throne?”

“Of course not,” my father says, sounding completely appalled I would even think of such a thing.

“Then why? Why would someone like him spend so much money to make sure I was placed in a position of power?”

“Because we both wanted to make sure you were safe,” my father says. “Swords disengage.”

Our swords disappear, and we just stand there facing one another.

I can tell by the set of my father’s jaw that he doesn’t want to talk about the particulars of his relationship with Overlord Devereaux, but I want answers.

“If he’s such a good friend of yours,” I say, “why hasn’t he ever visited us here? As far as I know, he’s never stepped foot in Cirrus.”

“He doesn’t like to involve himself in the politics up here. Honestly, I don’t blame him. If conditions were better, I would have rather raised you on the surface. But, life is easier up here, a fact you yourself reminded me of just this morning at breakfast.”

“Do you have an image of him?” I ask. “The empress doesn’t have one. She said he didn’t like having his image rendered.”

“No, I don’t have one of him.”

“Do you talk to him very often?”

“I talk to him once a year.”

“Why only once a year?”

“It’s the arrangement we made to commemorate the death of your mother.”

I pause in my interrogation because I know what that means.

“You talk on my birthday? He knew my mother? How?”

“Malcolm was friends with your mother’s family. He was devastated when Amalie passed away. He always felt responsible for her death.”

“Why would he feel guilt over that?  She died in childbirth.”

My father shakes his head at me. “Can you just leave it at what I said? Why are you asking so many questions, Anna?”

“I just want to know more about him,” I say. “And I want to know why I had to hear about his connection to our family from the empress instead of you. You should have been the one to tell me, Papa, not her.”

My father nods. “I agree. You should have heard it from me, but I honestly didn’t think it would matter, and I’m not sure why the empress told you in the first place.”

“She doesn’t seem to know much about Overlord Devereaux either. Maybe she thought I could provide her with more information since you obviously have a close connection to him.”

“Well, the less she knows the better. Malcolm likes his privacy. As long as he pays the tribute she extorts from the overlords each year, I don’t see why she should care.”

“Extorts?” I ask, slightly confused by his use of the term. “You don’t think they should pay tribute to the royal family?”

“Not when it amounts to fifty percent of their earnings.”

“It’s that much?” I ask, having never known the taxes imposed on the down-worlders was so exorbitant. “How can they afford to give so much?”

“They don’t have a choice,” my father sighs. “Maybe when you and Auggie take the throne, you’ll be able to find a way to make their tributes more reasonable.”

“Then this Malcolm does want something in return for putting me on the throne.”

“No. He wants you safe, Anna,” my father says, and I know he’s telling the truth because I’ve always been able to tell when someone is lying to me. “He doesn’t want a thing from you.”

Ok, that was actually a small lie, but I don’t call my father out on it. I feel as though I’ve probably questioned him enough for one day.

However, I did learn one thing.

Overlord Devereaux did want something from me. I just didn’t know what.

CHAPTER threE

The Tribute Ball was usually the pinnacle event amongst the royals of Cirrus. Though, this year it would be eclipsed by the celebration ceremonies surrounding my marriage to Auggie. Nevertheless, everyone was looking forward to it. This year I would be allowed to attend my very first one. Most royals were able to attend by the age of eighteen, but the empress decided I shouldn’t go until I was twenty-one. Since my birthday was only a week away, she relented to my father’s plea that I be allowed to attend this year with him. He argued that if I was to oversee it the following year, I needed to bear witness for myself what the protocol of accepting tributes from the overlords was.

“I can tell you why she didn’t want you there,” Millie grunts as she brushes out my hair, preparing to braid it for an intricate bun she plans to style it into. “She knew you would be the most beautiful woman there instead of her.”

“Oh, Millie,” I say, rolling my eyes at her in the mirror of my vanity. “I seriously doubt the empress considers anyone her equal in the beauty department.”

“True enough,” Millie agrees with a hearty laugh. “That woman is about as vain as they come. Watch your back, my sweet. I have a feeling the empress doesn’t relish giving up her throne just yet.”

I feel my brow furrow. “Do you think she would do something to prevent my marriage to Auggie?”

“That, I don’t know,” Millie says with a worried frown of her own. “All I do know is that women like her don’t like being cast aside so easily. She’s been the belle of the ball for a long time now. I can’t say I blame her for not wanting to give it all away because of some silly law that says only men can rule Cirrus. If you want to know the truth, I’ve heard she’s basically been running things since she married the emperor to give him free reign to go play whenever he wanted.”

“Unfortunately, it was his playing that got him killed,” I say.

“Just be careful,” Millie advises. “Remember to watch your back when you’re around the empress. She didn’t get to where she is without being smart and cunning. Did you know she was once a down-worlder?”

“No,” I admit, “I had no idea.”

“Her father won a lottery to go off-world and apparently made enough money to buy her a title. From what I heard, she had her eyes set on the throne from the moment she got here.”

“Everyone says she and the emperor were actually one of the few royal couples who loved one another.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Millie says. “But love can come because of different reasons. I think she loved the idea of being empress more than she actually loved the emperor. Being given that much power can make anyone imagine that they’re in love with the person who gave it to them.”

“I’ve never felt threatened by her,” I say. “I don’t think she would harm me.”

“She never thought you would be taking her place this soon either. I seriously doubt that woman thought she would have to give up her power for at least another twenty years or more.”

“I didn’t either if you want to know the truth. If I could, I would let her keep it.”

“No, my sweet. It’s time for a change around here, and I think you and Auggie are just the ones to do it,” Millie says resolutely.

“Don’t let anyone else hear you say that,” I say in a low voice, “or you’ll be brought up on heresy charges, Millie.”

“Hmmph, I’d like to see them try.”

Vivian and Eliza walk into my bedroom then and my conversation with Millie is put to an end by their presence.

Vivian has a dress I've never seen before draped across her outstretched arms.

“This just came from the emperor,” Vivian says, obviously in awe of the extravagant gift the emperor has sent me.

“Hold it up and let me see,” I tell her.

Vivian holds up the dark purple dress against her torso and twirls around like she’s the one who will be attending the ball in the gown. I see a look of envy cross her face just before she meets my eyes in the mirror. I have always had a feeling Vivian thought herself too good to just be a lady's servant, but that's the way her life has turned out and there isn't much that can be done about it.

When I view the beauty of the gown in the reflection of my mirror, I see why she’s in awe of it.

Not only is the gown made of the finest silk, but it’s decorated with a myriad of small diamonds making it sparkle in the light of the room. It's sure to draw a lot of attention at the ball. If the diamonds don’t get me noticed, the plunging neckline most definitely will.

“What was Auggie thinking sending me a dress like that to wear?” I ask, turning in my chair to look at the gown fully.

“I’m not sure, my lady,” Eliza says walking over to me, “but this message was sent with the dress.”

Eliza hands me a small neural patch. I take the translucent square and place it behind my right ear. Auggie appears to me in way of a neurally-transmitted hologram that only I can see and hear.

“Since we’ll be having five men who you haven’t met yet coming to the ball,” Auggie says, hands clasped behind his back and looking extremely excited about his gift, “I thought this dress might make you stand out to them. Not that you wouldn’t have stood out anyway with your beauty, but they would literally have to be blind not to notice you in this dress tonight. Good luck!”

I giggle and shake my head at Auggie’s master plan. Only the man I am marrying would try to play matchmaker for his future wife. In my heart, I wish Auggie and I had been able to break through the friendship barrier to truly become man and wife in every way, but neither of us felt that particular attraction for one another. We simply weren’t meant to love each other romantically.

“Well, we'll have to change the color of your eye shadow now,” Millie says, picking up the make-up wand, which looks like a simple silver tube, from my vanity. “Close your eyes, Lady Anna.”

I close my eyes and know that Millie is waving the wand down my face once again to change the green eye shadow she applied earlier to purple to match the dress.

“There. All done,” Millie tells me, as I open my eyes and see her set the wand back on the table. “Now, let's finish your hair and you'll be ready to go to the ball with your father.”

Once my hair is perfectly coifed to Millie's rigid standard of perfection, Vivian and Eliza dress me in the gown Auggie sent.

Afterwards, I seek out my father in his study to let him know I’m ready to make my first appearance at a royal function.

When I walk into the room, I find him sitting behind his old fashioned wooden desk. Papa is the only person in Cirrus who still prefers wood over the polymerized desks most people use which can transform themselves into any shape the owner wants with a simple verbal command. I think he likes the feel of the solid, textured surface of the wood against his hands instead of the smooth surface of the polymer desks. He said once that his desk reminded him of a simpler age, but I had no idea why he was so attached to a time period he had never himself seen.

My father looks up from his holographic interface terminal and smiles proudly when he sees me.

“New dress?” He asks, knowing full well that it is.

“A present from Auggie,” I tell him.

“Is he trying to show you off or find you a lover?”

“Both I think.”

My papa stands from his chair and walks over to me.

“Well, I can't say I approve of either,” he tells me. “However, I can't say I totally disapprove. All I want is for you to be happy, Anna. I think that's all a parent can ever want for their child.”

“I'm not sure I'll ever be as happy as I have been here with you, Papa.”

My father cups my face between the palms of his hands.

“Then I will do my best to make sure you are happy wherever you go. And I've decided that, if it will make you happy, I will move into the palace with you after your marriage.”