Born of Silence

  Harren's face turned bright red. "You wouldn't be offended if I asked her out?"

  "Hardly, and neither would she. Her last boyfriend was a mechanic in the Sentella." He jerked his chin toward the open window, then returned to their original topic. "The assassins came in through the north side. Preskitt and Xheris have that patrol. Since they're not due to check in for another twenty minutes, you might want to start with them and make sure they're okay."

  By his expression, she could tell that stunned Harren even more.

  Before Harren could move to obey, Darling turned to get away from Hauk. The moment he did, the assassin tattoo on his back was plainly visible. Harren gasped audibly.

  Darling faced him. "Is something wrong, Captain?"

  He gestured toward Darling's back. "You have a soldier's mark, Majesty?"

  Hauk gave him an arrogant smirk. "Sentella, actually. It's a trained assassin mark."

  "You're a member of the Sentella?" Harren asked Darling.

  It was Hauk who answered. "He's been with us since almost the beginning."

  Harren gaped in her direction before he met Darling's gaze. "I'll have all of the patrols check in immediately, Majesty."

  "Thank you."

  Harren bowed respectfully. "You're welcome, my lord. And I'll personally see to it that there are more patrols added to secure your chambers."

  "I appreciate your diligence, Captain." Darling gestured at the bodies on the floor. "But as you can see, I can take care of myself."

  Harren appeared to want to argue, but as the Sentella medic brushed past him, he gave Darling a formal military salute. "Call for me if you need anything at all, my lord."

  Zarya had a sudden childish urge to say "I told you so" to Harren, but somehow she managed to keep it inside.

  After he left, Fain let out a low whistle. "Either you're winning them over, Dar, or he hit his head. Hard."

  "I vote for head injury." Darling dropped his shirt to the floor so that the Sentella medic could tend him. "Hi, Kerste. How's your daughter doing in her new school?"

  Kerste smiled. "She's adjusting well. Thanks for asking." He pinned each of them with a pointed stare. "Now, if we could have the room, it would be a lot easier to seal this."

  Fain inclined his head to the larger of the two bodies lying on the floor. "I'll take fat ass," he said to Hauk, "if you can grab the other."

  "Uh-huh, give me the bloody one while you get the broken neck. Thanks, big brother." Groaning in protest, Hauk took his by the legs so that he could drag him toward the hallway while Fain threw the other body over his shoulder.

  Zarya started to ask them about waiting for investigators to inspect the bodies, but then reconsidered. It wasn't like they didn't know what had happened.

  While Kerste tended Darling, she followed the Andarions outside. As soon as they had the door closed, the brothers started searching the assassins for credentials and information.

  Hauk took the hand of the one he'd carried and put the dead man's index finger against his mobile. After a few seconds, he cursed. "Not a pro team. This one is... or rather, was a mechanic." He reached for the other man's hand and scanned it. "This was an out-of-work programmer." He glanced at her over his shoulder. "I think they belong to you, Princess."

  "How so?"

  He handed her his mobile.

  Zarya scanned the man's file, then winced. They were both Resistance fighters. Newly recruited. She tried to use Hauk's device to access Resistance files so that she could find out more about them and their mission, but someone had blocked her access.

  So she went to the bounty sheets. Since those were public, she had no problem finding the contract out on Darling's life. It made the one for Kere look like a joke.

  "This is ridiculous." She handed the mobile back. "Who is this Hector?" And how dare he lead her men.

  Hauk slid his mobile back into his pocket. "No one can find out anything about him. And I do mean no one. We figure it's an alias. But we can't link it to anyone."

  Yeah and neither could she. Yet there was something about it that was niggling in the back of her mind. Something familiar.

  What was it?

  Before she could think of an answer, blaster fire sounded from outside, in the yard below.

  Deafening alarms rang out everywhere.

  I've got to do something to stop this. It didn't matter who Hector was. She was still technically the Resistance leader. And this Hector knew it as well as she did. Why else continue to use her name to call their people to action?

  Her mind whirled with possibilities and courses she could take. But no matter what, she kept coming back to one simple fact. If she could get the Resistance to fight with Darling against the gerents as they should, then the gerents would have no choice except to accept him as their governor.

  Easier said than done. Neither side trusted Darling. Nor were they trusting her at the moment either.

  But if she were to show up without Darling...

  Maybe she could talk some sense into them.

  She left Hauk and Fain to their cleanup while she went to her room. As she paced the floor, planning, she could hear the news from Darling's room.

  "Since the governor was pulled out by his security during the meeting"--Could they get anything right?--"the Resistance forces have been setting fires and vandalizing corporate buildings. Entire staffs are staying inside their offices like prisoners since they're too scared to even attempt to leave while under this latest round of protests. As a result, the gerents are begging for League intervention to quell the rebel protestors and bring Governor Cruel into line. Maybe even dethrone or assassinate him."

  Her heart pounding, she tried not to hear any more. This was such a disaster.

  Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it tonight. Darling would never agree to let her go to the Resistance alone and if she took one of his people with her, or worse, him, they would never believe she wasn't under his influence.

  No, this was going to take careful planning and execution if it was to work.

  And time was running out...

  "While the League refuses to comment on whether or not they'll intervene, we did hear from a source who doesn't want to be identified that the League is rallying their soldiers and assassins for an attempt on the palace."

  She could hear the seconds ticking away. If she didn't persuade her people to see the truth, Darling was going to be fed to the wolves.

  God help him.

  To save his life and his throne, she was about to throw herself straight into the heart of his enemies.

  She placed her hand on her stomach as she considered the baby Nero had told her about. She still didn't have any symptoms at all.

  Darling will kill me when he finds out.

  If anything happened to the baby, she would never forgive herself.

  But what choice did she have? There was no way she could stand by while he was attacked repeatedly because of her.

  They'd been lucky this time. His eyesight had been normal when the assassins struck. But what if she'd been with Maris and they'd attacked an hour ago?

  Darling would be dead.

  His nosebleeds disoriented him. His eyesight crippled him. The two combined...

  He couldn't make it to the bathroom alone. Never mind fight off a trained assassin. If those two had been League assassins and not Resistance fighters, tonight's attack might have had a different ending, too.

  There was no way she could stand by and do nothing while he was under attack. It just wasn't in her.

  The door that connected their rooms opened. Darling paused in the doorway, staring at her with an adoring gaze that set fire to every part of her. Shadows played across his beautiful features as he watched her watching him. As always, he held so much intensity and command of everything around him that it sent a chill over her.

  He was every bit the fierce soldier and regal politician.

  Most of all, he was the one person she couldn't live withou
t. If his capture had taught her anything, it was that her life was empty and miserable without him in it.

  And as she stared at him, she remembered how good his lips tasted. How much she loved being in his arms.

  How much she loved him.

  This was the father of her child...

  The only man alive she would kill or die to protect.

  "Are you all right?" He approached her slowly, almost bashfully. Something so out of character for him that it instantly charmed her.

  It also struck her as odd that he'd ask after her well-being when he was the one who'd been stabbed. Her gaze dropped to the bandage on his side that was already marked with his blood. "Worried about you," she admitted.

  "Don't be. I have no intention of leaving you anytime soon."

  But she was going to leave him. She had to. If she was lucky, and the Resistance cooperated, she'd be able to return to his side.

  If she wasn't...

  She would never see him again.

  23

  Two days later, Zarya paused as she navigated her way through the charred remains of a burned-down building. Historical and regal, it had always been one of her favorites. When she'd been a little girl, her father had brought her here for cherished birthday meals.

  Oh how she'd loved the cake they'd serve her with sprinkles and carved chocolate bunnies...

  She touched her stomach, wondering what joyful memories like that she'd give to her child. Please, let every one of them be good.

  Most of all, she hoped that everything went as planned so that she could get back home before Darling realized she was gone.

  Over the last few years, she and Sorche had begun meeting here as well. Since it was close to Resistance headquarters and to the engineering firm where Sorche worked, it'd been a logical place to get together.

  Now it, like most of the people she loved, was gone. Nothing more than a faint memory...

  Her heart ached as she stood at the remains of her favorite table where she could keep her back to the wall and watch the door. She'd been sitting right here, in her usual chair when she'd told Sorche about her engagement to Kere.

  Laughing and crying, Sorche had oohed and ahhed over her ring while taking her to task. "Only you would obligate yourself to a man and not know who he really is or what he looks like. Really, Zarya... Someone must have dropped you on your head as an infant. And by that I mean more than once."

  She smiled at the memory.

  Until her gaze went to the burned remains of a painting that had hung near the register. It was of the owner's daughter.

  Please tell me everyone got out of here alive.

  Saddened by the waste around her, she swept her gaze to the horizon where even more fires blazed from dozens of buildings and homes. Thanks to the Resistance and the gerents, Taranyse--the outpost where the Resistance was headquartered--was being systematically torn apart in a show of power between the two factions.

  For that matter, the Resistance seemed determined to tear down anything in their path. People. Buildings. Furniture. Rodents... It didn't matter what. If it got in their way, they set fire to it. It was like they were drunk on destruction.

  But she knew there was more to it than sheer havoc. Rather than protect the people as they'd sworn to do, the Resistance was hoping to either draw Darling out so they could assassinate him, or cause so much furor that it forced the gerents or League to kill him.

  Meanwhile, since the gerents couldn't use the professional Caronese guard without Darling's approval and sanction, they'd activated the Citizen Army to fight against the Resistance. Something that had resulted in a bloodbath on both sides as the Resistance and CA clashed all over the empire.

  And though Darling condemned their actions, he wasn't officially in control of the CA. Only the CDS was. He could ask his citizens to lay down their arms and return home, but at the end of the day, the only way to force them to stop was to call out his guard and arrest every member of the Citizen Army. Something he wasn't ready to do... yet.

  And if that wasn't bad enough, the CDS kept begging the League to step in and quell the rebels. To throw Darling off the throne and replace him with one of his distant cousins. Nylan, Giran, and crew had promised Kyr that if the League declared martial law here, they would take power and make the CDS fall in line with all League laws and objectives.

  May the gods help them all if the League came in.

  Poor Darling had tried to placate both groups without the League's interference, but neither the gerents nor the Resistance would cooperate. The only allies he had currently were the workers who were unable to convince the other two groups that Darling was a leader worth following.

  At this point, it was only a matter of time before the League came in and enslaved them all. But Darling would be the one most hurt. Once they slaughtered all the Resistance, the League's next course of action would be to imprison Darling for the rest of his life.

  Or execute him.

  I'm the only shot he has.

  "Z?"

  She jumped at the sound of a familiar voice cutting through her thoughts. Ready to fight, she turned to find Ture there. "Oh thank the gods. You scared me to death."

  He checked the time. "Isn't this when you told me to meet you?"

  Trying to calm her racing heart, she placed her hand over her chest. "It is. I was just lost in thought for a minute."

  So glad to see him again, she walked into his arms and gave him a tight hug. "It's so good to see you, Ture. I've missed you so much! Thank you for coming. I owe you one giant whopping favor for this."

  He squeezed her back. "You know I'd do anything in the world for you, doll."

  She kissed his cheek, then stepped back to make sure he was wearing the uniform correctly. May the gods love him, a cook by trade, he wasn't up on military protocol or dress.

  A little over six feet in height, Ture had short brown hair that he'd put reddish highlights in. His vivid gray eyes were a stark contrast to his deeply tanned skin. But as always, he was breathtakingly gorgeous.

  Today however, he wasn't impeccably dressed. Standing up the collar of his battlesuit and then rearranging the order of his "rank," she tsked at him. "You look so uncomfortable right now."

  He patted at the collar she'd fussed at. "Well, this would be like you in a sequined pageant dress and five-inch heels." He stepped back, showing off his battlesuit with a macho swagger. "But I do look smashing in it, don't I?"

  She grinned at his play. "Yes, you do, honey."

  He plucked at his front breast pocket. "I have to say though that I've only dreamed about getting men out of one of these. Never once did I consider how to put one on." He made a face at her. "However, I now totally understand that warrior gait they all have."

  "How so?"

  He reached around and tugged at his pant leg. "This stiff fabric crawls into dark places it shouldn't... if you know what I mean, and after our thong conversation a few weeks ago, I know that you do. Dreadful really. I don't comprehend how they stand it and fight. Then again, it's probably what incites them. Nothing about this drab uniform is comfortable. I would fight, too, if forced to wear it. If for no other reason than to get my butt out of it." He gestured to the blaster at his side. "And this thing only shoots light beams. I was afraid to even attempt to grab a real one. My luck, I'd blow off my leg. Or at least a toe. Probably the one I need for balance. Or worse yet, another part of my anatomy that I'd miss even more."

  She laughed again at his dissertation. He carried on in a way that strangely reminded her of Annalise. But in his borrowed uniform, no one would ever guess that he was gay. Not that many people ever did. It was actually quite comical to watch women come on to him in his restaurant.

  "Just look like your normal self and you'll be fine... but don't reach for the toy."

  Ture put the safety strap over the toy blaster. "I will do my best for you. Now, what exactly are we doing?"

  "The impossible."

  "Good." He wrinkled hi
s nose. "I haven't done that in a while. I can definitely use an exercise in futility. How considerate of you to think of me."

  She let out an amused "heh" at him. "By the way, if we live through this, there's someone I have to introduce you to."

  Ture cocked one haughty eyebrow. "If he's your delicious, but highly insane lover, I think I'll pass. I so don't want to deal with that kind of drama. Thank you very much."

  "Not Darling. You would like him though, I promise."

  He made a noise of profound disagreement.

  Biting her lip, she debated the sanity of doing this... again. The last few days had been agonizing as she went back and forth on whether or not she should even think about attempting to contact her soldiers who seemed hell-bent on ending their world.

  Talk about insanity... Whoever their new leader was, he wasn't thinking clearly. And he definitely hadn't considered the repercussions for his actions.

  You can't run now, Z. You're doing this for Darling.

  She couldn't let herself forget that.

  Please, let this work. She didn't know of another way out.

  With a breath for courage, she led Ture away from the restaurant's ruins and down three blocks until she reached the "secret" entrance for the Resistance offices. To an outside observer, it appeared to be a law office. And there were actually lawyers who subleased offices from them. But if you went to the back lifts from the street level, and punched in the right code, it would take you deep into the basement where they worked.

  As they entered the building, she had no idea how far they'd get before Resistance security stopped them. But she was going to try.

  For once though, there was no security on the door. How weird...

  She didn't stop until she reached the lifts. Then, to her complete shock, the control panel accepted her old access code and handprint.

  This can't be good...

  Why wouldn't they have changed it?

  Nervous, she reached down to touch the new tricom Darling had given her to keep her safe while all hell broke loose around them.

  His ultimate sign of trust, and one that had let her know he'd meant what he said about not holding the past against her anymore.