CHAPTER ELEVEN
With my purple heels dangling from one hand and Coal clutching the other, the three of us strode through the gold-gilded hallways, past the sculptures and art, and eventually found ourselves outside the Queen’s private meeting chamber.
“Coal, stay in the hall with Terran, ‘kay? I promise, as soon as I’m done with the Queen we’ll find Zale and see if we can figure out some way to improve your situation.” With a look of mature resignation, Coal released my hand and went to stand next to Terran. It was bizarre how the mere loss of that fragile contact left me feeling bereft.
After slipping my feet back into my shoes and getting a reluctant nod from Terran, I signaled to the two soldiers standing guard. The double iron doors moved the air in silent warning as the room beyond opened to me. The Queen sat perched behind an antique, neo-classical-looking desk. The carvings and details of the Parthenon relic were repeated in the backrest of her throne and in the fireplace mantle. The room itself was refreshingly simple by comparison, with walls hung in ivory damask.
“Well,” said a male voice from the corner behind me. “Are you always this petulant or was that worthless little kopros too stupid to find you?”
I whirled to where Zale stood, arms crossed, in the corner and then glanced to the open doors. Coal blanched at his master’s words. “I was deep in the market shops. I’m sure Coal found me as quickly as possible.”
“Coal? You named the little chit?”
“Hey, don’t call him names!”
A cruel smile curled across his pretty face. “Why Princess, you’ve taken a liking to my pet.”
“He is a sweet boy and you are nothing but a bullying ass with a title.”
Zale moved faster than I gave him credit for. Dazzled by his fury, I almost didn’t duck his hand fast enough to avoid the slap to my face. Almost.
Straightening, I smiled at his confusion. What? Did my ‘sister wives’ just let him go slap-happy on them?
A moment after I righted myself, Coal raced to my rescue. Fast as I was, I wasn’t fast enough to stop the backhand which struck Coal and knocked him sliding across the polished floor.
“You stupid, worthless, scorch,” Zale growled, stalking toward the boy’s crumpled frame. “I am your master, not her—” As he hauled back to hoof a balled-up boy, I swung in a roundhouse and kicked his thigh with all my weight
The bastard spun off balance, but came back at me within seconds. His eyes grew as wide as gold-rimmed dinner plates when face-to-face with my Guardian blade. I leveled the tip of the knife at his sternum and stepped to block his path. “You and I need to straighten out a few things. First . . . I am soooo not yours. Second . . . you strike that boy again and you and I are going to have more than irreconcilable differences. You feel me?”
Coal shuffled behind me and buried his face into my lower back. With his little arms wrapped tight around my waist, I was torn. My mobility with him and the floor-length dress was compromised, but having a solid hold on him ensured Zale didn’t have an opening.
“Enough,” the Queen said. She waved her hand, her eyes glossed over as if the whole scene bored her to napping. I hadn’t noticed the dark circles under her eyes at lunch, but she looked exhausted. I looked closer. The emerald green of her eyes was now closer to the moss green of Terran’s.
“Lir-Zale,” she said, her voice quiet as a whisper, her finger stroking the handle of a letter opener on her desk. “As a token of goodwill for your nuptials, I suggest you allow your boy servant to become the property of your betrothed. They have formed a union and Princess Grace needs people she cares for in this time of transition. This would demonstrate your willingness to compromise in order to gain her trust.”
Compliance was more likely, but I didn’t argue.
Zale’s Mc’dreamy charm evaporated completely at the proposition of letting me have my way. I held my breath, waiting for either his answer or his head to explode. With white knuckled fists, Zale backed himself into the corner he had been standing in earlier. “Of course, Majesty, thy will be done, my lady.”
After adjusting my position to include Zale in my periphery, I turned to the Queen and slid Coal around to my front. I didn’t look down. Busting into a Cheshire grin wouldn’t be prudent, and despite what my siblings thought, I did think before I spoke. Sometimes.
The elephant in the room was the fact that she thought there would be a wedding. Teaching strategic thinking for the past five years had the hairs on my nape up. For her to still believe that, she must be delusional or planning something.
And I didn’t peg her for delusional.
“Thank you, Majesty.” I filled my voice with as much gratitude as I could muster. “I apologize if I kept you waiting. Coal must have searched half the city by the time he found me. I was exploring, getting to know where I came from.”
“Yes, I heard all about that. Which brings us to my nuptial gift.” Her eyes cleared considerably, lit with a sudden satisfaction. “Take your new-found pet and return to your suite. I have arranged a delivery—an incentive, shall we say—toward a new attitude on your marriage.”
With a hesitant nod, I tightened my grip on Coal and the two of us turned on our heels. We hit the hallway and Terran took up my left flank. Walking as quickly as I could through the maze of opulent corridors, I fought the urge to break into a trot. When we’d put some distance between us and the Queen’s private study, I couldn’t stand the silence any longer.
“That was too easy,” I whispered, releasing Coal from my side to take his hand.
“She is a formidable woman, Lexi. You did well not to challenge her.”
“I am not marrying that smarmy dick. I’ll take Coal and run first.”
“You’d leave us?” Hurt laced his voice. “You’ve seen the discord and rising conflict. Would leave your people and go?”
“I wouldn’t abandon you. As a Talon Enforcer, I can do more with my fellow warriors standing with me than I can alone. Coal could be safely tucked away at Haven while we did something to improve the situation here.”
Terran shook his head. “May I speak frankly without incurring your wrath again?”
I stopped outside the carved door of my suite and turned to face him. Attalosean men would be short in other realms, but even so they stood a solid foot taller than the females. At my four-foot-six I had to look up to meet his cautious gaze. “Yes. You can. I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. It’s been a mind-fuck of a day.” My words still hung in the air when I thought of Coal and my tendency to follow Reign’s vernacular. “Sorry, hon. I’ll work on the swearing. My bad.”
Coal’s smile grew wider. I doubted anything would have bothered him at that moment. Gods he was adorable. I kissed his little hand and turned back to Terran. “Let me have it.”
He leaned down to whisper directly in my ear. “I realize you are far more experienced in these matters than I, but I think you’re grossly oversimplifying. The Queen gets what she wants . . . at any cost. Always.”
With Coal looking at me like I’d just hung the moon, I had to disagree. Whatever the reason for her giving me custody of the boy, I had come out on top on this one. “Try not to worry, Terran. We’ll all keep our eyes open. We won’t get cocky and we’ll see what the winds blow our way. Okay?”
Terran sighed and offered me a reluctant nod. “Okay.”
“Now,” I said, wrapping my arm around Coal’s fragile little shoulder and continuing to the door. “Let’s celebrate.”
As Terran opened the door for us and I hit the lights, my moment of happiness transformed into slow-motion horror.
I couldn’t grasp it. The blood was unreal. It spattered the alabaster cream of my entrance wall. Pooled thick over the perfectly polished floor. Like a disjointed sound bite, I heard Terran curse and the hiss of my breath.
“THAM! Oh gods, Tham!”
My mind fritzed. I knelt next to the bloody heap on the floor. The metallic tang of blood slammed me. I gagged. Shards of icy sliced through my muscles, tore through my sinew and bones and shredded my insides.
Unfolding his mangled body, I pressed slick fingers against his throat and wrist. Too much blood. I couldn’t tell if there was a pulse. I smeared my hand across my dress and tried again. Tears stung my eyes. His body was twisted and broken. He can’t possibly be alive.
“She killed you . . . because of me.”
Terran said something and vanished into the hall.
My mind fritzed again. Without feeling my limbs, I tore away Tham’s shirt. There was so much blood. He was shredded, leaking life from a hundred holes . . . impossible to stop. “Jade. I need Jade.”
I stumbled to my feet, slipped on the floor and cracked down on my knee. I ripped my shoes off and scrambled for the sofa. “My phone . . . where . . .” The bag with my clothes had been rifled. My battle vest was there, but my weapons were gone. I grabbed it and searched the pockets as I sank back to Tham.
“It’s gone.” Tears spilled like hot rivers down my icy skin. “They took my phone.” The scream that pealed from deep in my chest was inhuman. I fell across Tham’s chest sobbing, the grief closing my lungs.
With my cheek on Tham’s chest, I stared down his mutilated body. I laced his icy, trembling fingers with mine. Trembling? I reared up.
“Tham? Are you with me? Come on, Hotness, show me you’re alive.”
I searched his sallow expression. There was the slightest movement of his eyes behind his purple, swollen lids. My heart pumped triple time and the thrum of blood thundered in my ears. “Tham, baby, wake up.” I gathered his cheeks in my hands and leaned close. “Tham.”
His eyes flickered, opening behind the swelling in contorted angles. I cried out, brushing back his beautiful flaxen hair, matted and soaked with blood. “Thank the gods.”
Rowan dropped to Tham’s other side.
“What? How are you . . .”
Tham didn’t even glance at Rowan, his clear blue stare stuck on me.
“You’ll be fine now,” I choked. “Rowan’s a fabulous surgeon. Just hold on.”
Tham tightened his fingers and clenched his teeth. “Liar.”
His face blurred before me. “No. You will be fine. You’re way too important to die like this. Rowan, tell him.”
Rowan pressed Tham’s neck for his pulse again, his hands dripping scarlet. Why wasn’t he sewing him up or wrapping the cuts . . . or something. I searched Rowan’s face, waiting to catch some glint of hope shining in his eyes. There was none.
He pursed his lips tight and caught Tham’s gaze. His voice was soothing and steady. “Is there anything I can do for you . . . to make this easier for you?”
Tham blinked fast but his tears brimmed and flowed. “Take care of her. She seems tough . . . but . . . she’s far too tenderhearted.” Tham’s voice cracked and his eyes shut.
Rowan stepped away.
I caught the warmth of Tham’s tears on my finger and eased down beside him. “Tham, don’t go. Don’t leave me. Please. There’s so much happening here. I need you. You’re the only one who loves me unconditionally.”
Tham fought to swallow and coughed blood. “Promise me, neelan.”
“Anything.” I raised our joined hands and kissed his knuckles. “Anything you want.”
He choked again and I wiped the bloody spittle from his mouth. “Treat life as an occasion. Rise to it . . . no matter what anyone thinks.”
My tears broke my dam of restraint and streamed from my cheeks onto his. “I love you, Hotness.”
“You too, my little one . . . you too.”
And then, he died.