Chapter 7
Prince Xarin
I stood close to the primary medical bay door. Hovering.
I was a prince of the Arterian Royal Family.
I did not hover. Never lingered. Always moved with singular purpose. And yet here I was, lacking the courage to move inside or walk away.
Not for the first time, I brought my hands up and stared at them.
And I didn’t know why.
There was no earthly reason to focus on them so clearly, and yet I could not push them down.
… Over the past several weeks, I’d felt a strange, ghostlike, niggling sensation in my palms and fingertips. It was almost as if they were moving without my permission. And yet every time I glanced down at them, they remained steady.
Leave, you’re making a fool of yourself, I tried to tell myself, but there was little point.
I could not be reasoned with.
A minute later, it didn’t matter.
I received a call, the implant lodged in my jaw clicking to the side with an unmistakable tingling feeling.
“Who is it?” I snapped, taking my anger out on them.
There was a moment’s pause. “It’s me,” came Arteria’s delicate tones.
I stiffened immediately, for more reasons than one.
“Arteria,” I said, my usually calm voice pitching with emotion. “I am sorry. These are trying times,” I added quickly.
“I understand that,” Arteria said, never raising her tone.
She paused.
Though her call and the mere sound of her voice should have cut through my tension, it did not; it made it worse.
I brought up a stiff-fingered, white-knuckled hand and rested it tensely on my chest. “Why have you called?” I asked directly. I winced as soon as I heard how harsh my voice was.
Before I could mollify my words, Arterian gave a light sigh.
“There’s something important I need to talk to you about,” she began.
The medical bay doors opened from behind me, and I suddenly lost all concept of what she was saying.
Shar walked out, a hand clutched at her stomach, but her footfall still steady.
I was not a man who was ever lost for words, and yet, as I stared at her, my mind drew a blank.
At first, she frowned, expression dark, then she clearly became confused at my startled reaction. She watched me warily. “Prince Xarin, are you okay?”
I couldn’t say there was true compassion twisting in her tone, but there was something.
….
I suddenly realized that I was still on the line to Arteria.
I cleared my throat and straightened my back.
“Your highness?” Arteria asked carefully.
Shar continued to look at me warily. I could tell she was seconds from asking what the hell was wrong with me when I turned sharply and directed my back at her.
I heard her let out a terse breath of air.
If she were any other soldier, I would pull her up on that.
Instead, I continued to stride down the corridor.
I told my mind to settle. I’d seen her, and she was clearly okay. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been released from the medical bay.
So I strode away. Arteria kept asking if I was okay, but I could not reply until I was well out of earshot of Shar. Even then, that unfamiliar trace of nerves kept crawling up my back.
“Your highness, it is critically important that I speak to you,” Arteria continued.
“What is it?”
“I need your help,” she said in a fluctuating tone.
There was something about that tone that made me stop on the spot. My mouth suddenly became dry.
“What is it?” I asked quickly, voice punching from my throat.
“I need your assistance to get off the homeworld.”
My brow crumpled. “What?” I hissed.
“I’m no longer safe here,” the longer Arteria spoke, the more strangled her words became.
I put a hand up to my suddenly beating chest.
“Certain factions are moving against my family,” her voice now shook so badly I had trouble discerning the words.
“What?” A metallic taste filled my mouth. It felt as if I’d been struck on the head.
“I don’t know which family it is, all I know is that I’m in mortal peril. I need your help. Please give it to me.”
There was the sound of rustling fabric.
The skin along the back of my neck prickled.
“My prince, I am down on my knees. Please, say you will help me. Please,” she pleaded one final time.
“I will send a ship for you,” I said, determination punching from my throat.
I heard her sigh with relief. “Oh, God, I knew I could rely on you.”
“You must keep yourself safe until my guards arrive. I will transmit coordinates to you. They will lead to my family holdings. You will be safe there,” I said with a great deal of conviction and hope.
“Oh, Xarin, I will never be able to thank you enough.”
“You mustn’t mention it. Endeavor to remain safe. You will hear from me shortly.”
With that, I ended the call.
That’s when I discerned footsteps behind me.
Shar.
It took a while for her to come into view, but with my extended hearing, she sounded close enough to touch.
Several seconds later, she rounded a corner and came into full view.
She stopped, boots skidding to a halt.
At first, I wanted to be angry at her interruption, furious at the prospect she may have overheard me, but the anger couldn’t last.
I felt my expression soften as my gaze darted over her form, locking on her stomach. My lips parted, and I asked what I should have asked before: “Are you well?” For some reason, I spoke with more conviction than I usually did. I couldn’t control my tone. I was like a child learning to speak.
Again she looked at me warily, but I fancied her expression softened until she nodded. “I’m fine. The medical technicians managed to repair most of the damage to my body.”
“Most?” I locked on that word, for some reason terrified by it.
Again she looked at me warily, there were flickers of… something beginning to burn in her gaze. “I’ll be fine. It’ll just take some time.”
My mouth was so dry, I couldn’t stop swallowing. “Good,” I forced myself to say. “Good,” I repeated awkwardly.
Then silence swept in around us. I should ask Shar – no, demand of her – whether she’d overheard my conversation with Arteria. Even though she could not have heard Arteria’s words, she could have learned a lot simply from my responses.
Shar turned away, giving a brief nod. “I’m sorry for taking your time, your highness, I’m sure you’re busy.”
For some ungodly reason my hand jerked out, and my fingers spread wide as if I wanted to lock her in place.
Thankfully she didn’t see. She simply turned and continued down the corridor.
I got the strangest compunction to follow her.
But as soon as she was out of sight, I realized with a violent shudder what I’d just learned.
Arteria was in danger.
I turned and jolted forward, determined to bring her safely to this ship.
…
Shar
Who the hell was Arteria? And why was she in danger?
And more to the point, why did he keep reacting like that around me?
He was almost acting like he… cared.
Before I could foolishly convince myself of that fact, I reminded myself who he was. The most arrogant bastard I’d ever met.
As I continued down the corridors, heading toward my room, somebody intercepted me.
Mark.
His expression was at odds with his usual carefree smile. He was wearing that same hard edge I saw when he was giving the other soldiers orders.
At first, I cringed, worrying that I was in trouble.
Then he reached me.
He clenched his teeth together and let out a heavy sigh.
I paused and looked at him. “Are you alright?”
He continued to bare his teeth for a few seconds before he locked his hand on his eyes. He stared at me from between his fingers. “Do you really want to know?”
I frowned.
He appeared to stare at me carefully. His lips partially parted, an odd, directed quality to his stare.
After a few seconds, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I ticked my head to the side and let my gaze slide up until it locked on his eyes. “What is it?”
He suddenly took a quick step next to me, the movement so fast it could have been an attack.
Just before alarm could plunge through my gut, he placed a hand carefully on my shoulder. “Can I trust you?” he said in the quietest voice.
“Trust? What’s this about?”
He locked that wary gaze on me once more. “Can I trust you?” He suddenly brought his face close to mine. Too close. So close his lips almost pressed up against the plaits beside one of my ears. “Come to my quarters tonight.” With that, he removed his hand, turned, and walked away without another word, and without a goddamn explanation.
I was left standing there, eyes wide with alarm and curiosity.
And yes, my stomach clenched with pleasant tingles as his offer rang in my ears and the memory of his breath against my cheek tingled over my skin.
It was not enough, however, to make me forget what I’d learned from Xarin.
I walked back to my quarters, confusion fogging my mind.
Confusion, and a subtle, growing sense of dread.
…
Princess Arteria
She walked back and forth, pacing the room, stomach clenched in a knot.
A second later, the holographic emitters blinked into life.
Cortina appeared.
Arteria clutched a hand on her stomach and tried to ignore the pain and fear that flooded through her gut.
“Have you done it?” The assassin tipped her head to the side, her cloak partially obscuring her lips.
They couldn’t obscure the smile, though.
The cruel, exacting smile.
“I’ve done it,” Arteria managed, hand still locked on her stomach.
“Good girl,” the assassin said, lips snarling around each word. “But this is only the beginning, you understand that, don’t you?”
Princess Arteria paused.
The hologram of the assassin pressed forward. She inched her head down until she inclined her neck at such an angle it looked like she was trying to snap it clean off. “You understand that, don’t you, princess?”
Arteria removed her hand from her stomach and forced her stiff neck to nod.
“I understand,” she managed.
The assassin pressed forward one more time.
“Good,” she whispered coldly. “I don’t need to remind you what will happen if you disobey me, do I?” The assassin’s tone was languid and slow.
Arteria shook her head.
The assassin smiled, and in another second, the hologram flicked out.
Arteria turned away, dropped her hand from her stomach, and arranged her hair neatly over her shoulder.
“No,” she said to no one in particular, “No, you don’t have to remind me what will happen.”
She smiled.