The Immortal Crown

  “Someone must’ve thought it was worth the risk,” said Jasper, leaning forward with clasped hands. “Figured they could make a lot of money—or maybe they wanted to keep the girls for themselves.”

  “What’s so special about this group?” asked Atticus.

  Carl leveled a warning look at his sons. “Just a particularly pretty group. Smart thing would be to sell them. They lose half their value once they’re bedded.”

  Justin felt mildly ill, but it was getting difficult to tell if it was from Arcadian gender politics or his continuing recovery from divine powers.

  “Do they just raid salons?” asked Phil. “Any chance that prowler you had here the other night was connected? You said that place is relatively close, and I’ll come out and say it: our women are a particularly pretty group.”

  Carl frowned, not liking the suggestion but unable to deny it. “I already upped the security, but I’ll have the boys do some extra watches too.” Said boys didn’t look thrilled about this but offered no complaint.

  Lucian, however, had plenty to say afterward, once the Gemmans had retired to their guesthouse for the night. He ordered Justin to his room and immediately turned on him, after politely asking Val to step outside.

  “If they increase security, Mae’s going to have a hell of a time getting back in here,” said Lucian.

  Justin shook his head. “Didn’t you follow what I said? Mae’s not coming back.”

  “No!” exclaimed Lucian. “And that’s the problem. I didn’t follow half of what you blurted out earlier. Why would Mae do that? Why would she abandon the mission to raid a salon and—so help me—kill a bunch of Arcadians! We’re supposed to be here to promote peace!”

  “The salon was holding Gemman girls,” said Justin, trying to make a logical argument for something he knew was illogical. “Girls stolen from our country.”

  “Mae couldn’t have known that,” argued Lucian.

  “Come on, you only have to look at them to know! Plus . . . one of them was her, uh, niece.”

  That took Lucian aback, and Justin sketched a hasty explanation of the Koskinen family’s sordid history. He blurred the details of how Mae had obtained her intelligence, though, citing a vague connection to the Swedish mafia, which wasn’t entirely a lie since Mae had once tried to work with them.

  Lucian sat down on the bed, looking about as far as possible from the dazzling and cheerful politician Justin usually saw. “You know, she mentioned that she was looking forward to this trip, and I dared to hope—well, it doesn’t matter. She’s out there now, and I don’t know how the hell she’s going to get back home.”

  “She’ll find a way,” Justin insisted, not that he had any idea either. “And in the meantime, there’s another situation you should know about.”

  Lucian’s head jerked up. “Really? Something worse than one of our soldiers going rogue and forcing us to smuggle a defector back home, in order to save our asses?”

  Justin considered that. “I guess it depends on how you define ‘worse.’ You know I had that meeting with the Grand Disciple, right?

  Well, it looks like Hannah isn’t the only Arcadian we’re going home with. I made arrangements for the Arcadian cultural lecturers to visit us, uh, immediately.”

  For a moment, it almost looked like Lucian thought there was some joke going on, and Justin couldn’t entirely blame him for the mistake.

  “You said they were missionaries in disguise and that letting them in would be a terrible idea,” Lucian reminded him.

  “Turns out I was wrong,” said Justin. “They’re actually hackers in disguise who want to stage an act of data terrorism.”

  And so, he delivered his second bombshell of the night, about how they’d be escorting a group of Arcadians back home, half of which were defectors while the others harbored plans to usher in an attack upon the RUNA. Again, Justin did some serious editing, leaving out Odin and playing up the Arcadian defectors’ motivation to start a new life in the RUNA in exchange for selling out their countrymen.

  “You should probably let Atticus know soon,” added Justin helpfully. “You guys are going to need to get in touch with the people back home to get that delegation into the country.”

  Lucian was quiet for so long that it actually started to become disconcerting.

  You might have really done it, Horatio told Justin. Here’s someone who deals with tough situations and scrutiny on a daily basis without cracking his smile, but you may be what finally breaks him.

  “How,” began Lucian at last. “How could you and Mae possibly wreak this much damage in only a few days? I mean, I know we’ve had our ups and downs, but did you really want to get back at me for something this badly?”

  Justin sat down beside him. “You can’t think of it that way. Think of it as an opportunity.”

  “An opportunity for what?”

  “Greatness. You said you wanted this trip to prove something to the people.” Justin held his hands up in the air. “Can’t you see it now? Lucian Darling, the senator—the consul—who uncovered a plot to undermine our country and who secured the release of innocent Gemman girls stolen from their homes. Imagine how happy their families will be. The RUNA’s never been in better hands.”

  Lucian thought about it for several moments. “The odds are good some of those girls were sent away, just like Mae’s niece. Are their families going to be happy?”

  “The media doesn’t need to know that. All we’ll need is confirmation of their genes in the registry and then an adorable photo op with you.”

  “Good will with my own people is going to worsen things with Arcadia.”

  “The Arcadians don’t vote, and they’re the ones who’ve worsened relations with this media stream plot,” said Justin, warming up to all the spin potential. “And when they’re caught, their government’s going to disavow all knowledge of those hackers. We’ll let it be known that the girls were recovered through the assistance of our new defector friends and leave out the part about a rogue soldier killing Arcadians. The government here’s going to be so concerned about backpedaling and keeping us from retaliating on the data stream conspiracy that they’ll let the girls slide. So, really, we come out looking good, and relations aren’t that much worse than before.”

  Lucian gave him a long, scrutinizing look. “How do you do that? How can you talk people into anything? Do you think of this stuff in advance, or does it happen on the spot?”

  ”Are you impressed?” asked Justin.

  “Kind of terrified, actually. But glad you’re not in politics.”

  Perhaps now would be a good time to ask if he’d like to learn about Odin, said Horatio. You’re on a roll.

  Justin ignored the bird but felt a little unnerved that in many ways, he was doing now exactly what he had back at Gideon’s house: spinning tales and converting hearts and minds. He wasn’t really sure if it was genius or trickery.

  It’s both, said Magnus, almost affectionately. And this is why our god has chosen you.

  “This dream plan only works if Mae gets those girls in without being caught,” warned Lucian. “That border isn’t easy for anyone, on either side, to cross. If the Arcadians find her, we’re going to be the ones having to do a lot of disavowing. And if it happens before we leave the country, there’s no way they’ll let their delegation come with us. Hell, who knows if we’ll be able to leave.”

  Justin thought back to his last encounter with Mae. He’d had no sign that she was planning anything of this magnitude. Her concern had been for him, and if he would’ve let her, she’d have gone to the temple too. Something must have happened, something must have driven her to act. Something that probably had to do with that damned knife. And if that was the case, he had to believe she wouldn’t do this without a concrete plan to get back to her own country. What that plan was, he couldn’t fathom, but he believed in Mae. He had to.

  “She won’t get caught,” Justin said firmly. “She’s been thinking about this. She’s got a pl
an, and we’ll see her back in the RUNA. That being said . . . life will be a lot easier for her when she gets back, even if she’s victorious, if you come out telling our government that you authorized her actions. They’ll spin a cover story for the media, but she’ll still have a lot to answer for behind closed doors.”

  “I’ll have a lot to answer for,” protested Lucian. “I’m not consul yet, Justin. I don’t know why you think I have the power I do.”

  “Because your star’s going to be so high after we sort out this mess that there’s no way you won’t be consul. And no matter how many regulations have been trampled on, no government official’s going to punish you for helping one soldier who’s responsible for a heartwarming victory. No one will come after you when you’ve got that much public love. They’ll grumble, and that’s it.”

  “A consul leads the senate and upholds the law.” Lucian sighed. “You’re basically telling me I can throw all that away if I’m popular enough.”

  “Pretty much.”

  Lucian sighed again. “Then we’d better go tell the others what to expect.”

  Justin had to give his friend credit. Lucian might have needed a fair amount of convincing, but by the time he pulled himself together and called the other Gemmans for an impromptu meeting, it was as though Lucian had personally orchestrated everything from the very beginning. He did a fair amount of editing himself, smoothing out some of the parts where he’d clearly been in the dark, in order to inspire confidence for the plan. He stood by Mae, leaving out the part about her niece, and insisting her actions had been on his orders. He made everything sound easy, so much so that Justin almost wanted to let go of his own doubts and forget that there were actually a million things that could go horribly wrong.

  Atticus, their diplomat, had the biggest problem with it. “This is a disaster,” he exclaimed. “There’s no way this can end well! We’ll start a war.”

  “If what you say is true, they’re already trying to,” said George, who seemed to be taking the proposed conspiracy personally. “Why wait to catch their hackers in a sting? I saw we start dropping bombs as soon as we get home.”

  “Because we need proof,” said Lucian patiently. “We need to find out how much they know and how much they learned from that Gemman defector—what was his name?”

  “Cowlitz,” said Justin.

  George actually looked impressed. “I’ve heard of him. He was pretty high up on the tech side. Had no idea he ended up here. Me, I’d go to South America.”

  That outside verification of Cowlitz’s history soothed Atticus a little, but it was clear his mind was still spinning with all the potential diplomatic fallout. “It’s going to be very hard getting that Arcadian woman back in with us.”

  “We’re going back in with the same number of women we left with,” said Lucian. “So long as we can keep them away from her for the rest of this trip, there shouldn’t be any problem.”

  Atticus groaned. “We’ve got a long two days ahead of us.”

  The group finally dispersed to get what sleep they could, and Val caught Justin’s attention before he retired to his room. “You and the good senator painted us a very rosy picture back there,” she said softly. “How much of it was true?”

  “All of it,” Justin assured her. “We’re going to return to the RUNA as heroes, uncovering international plots and freeing young girls. Hope Dag’s finally ready to make an honest woman of you because you’re going to be hip deep in suitors after this.”

  Val rolled her eyes. “And you’re hip deep in bullshit. Both of you. How much trouble is Mae in?”

  “None, not so long as she succeeds.”

  “Succeeds in getting a group of girls through a hostile country and through a highly protected border, you mean?”

  “Yes.” Justin started to turn away, and Val pulled him back.

  “I’m serious,” she said. “Please tell me Mae has more to go on than a wish and a prayer.”

  “A prayer? I never took you for a religious woman, Val.”

  “After what you guys told us?” Val shook her head. “I just might have to become one if it’s the only way to get us out of this mess.”

  Back in his room, Justin was spared any awkwardness with Hannah since she’d already fallen asleep curled up on the floor. Or at least, he assumed she was asleep. It was hard to say, with all the concealing clothing. He would’ve let her have the bed if given the option, but without it, he gladly sunk into the covers, fully dressed, and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Too much physical and mental exertion, not to mention the Exerzol crash, sent his body to a much-needed slumber . . . that unfortunately only lasted a few hours.

  He knew what was happening, as soon as the shouts outside woke him up. Hannah, sitting bolt upright, did as well. “It’s okay,” he told her, hoping it was the truth. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “They’ll find me,” she whispered. “There’s nowhere to go.”

  ”You’re going with us.” Justin made a half-hearted attempted to smooth his wrinkled shirt, then wondered why he was bothering. A few seconds later, a Gemman knocked at the door, and he found one of the praetorians there.

  “They’re searching the entire compound,” she said, face grim.

  “One of the concubines is missing.” He assumed there were Arcadians within listening distance.

  “We’ll be right out,” Justin replied. He took Hannah’s gloved hand and squeezed it. “It’ll be okay.”

  In the guesthouse’s common area, the other Gemmans were congregating by gender, and Justin led Hannah to a spot beside Val before joining the men. The Cloistered attire was useful for a lot of things, he decided, because he was pretty sure Hannah had a terrible poker face. Concealed as she was, all she had to do was stay quiet and still and hope that no one thought to have her reveal herself.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, stifling a yawn.

  “They lost one of their women and want to make sure she didn’t wind up in any of our beds,” said George.

  Carl strode in, overhearing the comment. “We didn’t lose anyone. She was taken.”

  “Or she ran away,” said a smirking Jasper, following behind his father. “I always told you she was an insubordinate bitch.”

  “She was taken,” Carl repeated, though it was clear even he didn’t really believe that wholeheartedly. “None of my women would run away.” He glanced over the Gemmans to make sure they were all accounted for and then directed his sons to search the bedrooms. The young men took to it with relish, turning over bed and chairs, possibly hoping to find some sort of illicit treasures hidden away. Justin noticed Carl giving quiet directions to Walter, and a moment later, the young man disappeared into one of the bathrooms, presumably to search the emergency escape tunnel they didn’t think the Gemmans knew about.

  After an hour, they declared the building Hannah-free, and Carl stormed out muttering, “I’ll kill her.” Apparently he was having to face the reality that she might very well have run away. It would’ve been far easier on the ego to accept abduction, Justin supposed.

  None of the Gemmans slept well after that, and things grew increasingly weird the next morning when a messenger came from the temple demanding to know everyone’s whereabouts the previous night. Justin was the only one who’d been out, but he had Hansen as an alibi for part of the time and had apparently checked back in at Carl’s during whatever timeframe was of concern to the messenger. At first, Justin wondered if they were under suspicion for the salon raid, but something in the messenger’s manner made Justin think this inquiry stemmed from a different matter altogether. Whatever it was, he was never enlightened, and the messenger left without finding any answers.

  Justin and his companions soon found themselves falling into the long two days that Atticus had warned about. Hannah’s disappearance was a personal problem for the family, one they spoke little of to the Gemmans, though it poisoned the atmosphere for the rest of the stay. Of course, Justin knew
he and his party wouldn’t have been all that comfortable regardless, what with their complicity in the matter. The Gemman men continued the scheduled diplomatic events, and the women went on with their mix of chores and regulated outings, except for Hannah who, posing as Mae, was excused from the former. She wanted to stay behind and hide in the room during the women’s outings too, but Justin pointed out that wouldn’t be in character with Mae, plus he wanted to minimize any chance of someone speaking to her alone.

  Meanwhile, arrangements were made on both sides for the Arcadian diplomatic group to return home with them, and Hansen visited once to brief Justin on the public details, confirming that all was in order. When they had a private moment, the Arcadian man also let Justin know that all was well with his handpicked group of delegates and that those left behind were still keeping the faith to Odin.

  What have I done? Justin wondered after Hansen left. What have I gotten these people into, only to abandon them?

  You did good work, but don’t think they’ll flounder without you, chided Magnus. All-father has been connecting with his followers long before you came along. There will be other priests, other dreams.

  Hansen also reported that no one suspected a set-up was taking place and that Cowlitz’s men were still going to attempt their disabling of the media stream. Lucian looked relieved when Justin relayed that, meaning the senator was on track to get his public accolades when the plot was revealed. The other half of Lucian’s hoped-for fame, Mae’s rescue, remained shrouded in mystery, and all they could hope for was that no news was good news. When Justin tentatively asked Carl about the raided salon one day, the Arcadian simply shook his head and said, “Looks like they got away with it.”

  The day before the Gemmans were scheduled to return home, Justin asked the ravens something that had been on his mind for a while: You’d tell me if you knew which deity was helping Mae, wouldn’t you?

  If All-father allowed us, said Magnus.

  What’s that mean? asked Justin. You do know and aren’t telling me?

  No, we don’t know, and that’s why we aren’t telling you.