The Gender War

  Thomas had easily been able to dive into the vehicle’s wiring to start the car without its key, and we’d only driven together a short way since then—right up to an invisible line that Thomas had pointed out as the palace cameras’ blind spot. After this, I would be driving solo, unless you counted the unwilling king.

  Jay shut the door, and then they were moving, running with precision, staying out of sight. I watched them go for a moment, and then turned back and gazed at Maxen’s palace. It was massive, standing several stories high; large enough to make Ashabee’s mansion look like a regular house.

  Leading to the huge structure was a road that ran over the river. The road had a concrete archway and led to the first of the series of open courtyards. I felt a moment of apprehension and gripped the wheel tighter, drawing a deep breath to steel myself for what was to come.

  “I am really sorry about this, Maxen,” I said, looking over at him. “I promise, if I can, I will get you out of here alive.”

  Maxen’s response was both angry and muffled, and I ignored it as I stomped on the accelerator. The car jerked forward a few inches but remained still, and I backed off slightly, confused as to why it wasn’t working. The tires were squealing on the pavement, and I let out an irritated sigh as I realized that I was still pressing down on the brake with my other foot. Giving King Maxen an embarrassed look, I pulled my foot off of the brake and we flew forward, swerving back and forth until I got the wheel under control.

  Within moments we were blazing up the road at high speed, and I had to pump the brakes a few times to slow us down. Maxen made an alarmed noise as I pulled under the arch, slamming on the brakes in time to avoid hitting the platoon of male and female wardens standing in front of a Patrian warden truck, all of it blocking the way in. We skidded to a stop, and I rolled down the window, showing them my hands.

  “My name is Violet Bates,” I shouted, my voice echoing like thunder through the six-foot-long tunnel. “Tabitha is expecting me—I’m unarmed.”

  One of the men—a Patrian warden with flint-colored eyes and a well-groomed beard—stepped forward and waved at me, indicating I should get out of the vehicle. I put the car in park, and then stepped out, taking a moment to hoist the silver egg that had been riding on my lap into my arms. Closing the door, I stepped forward, cradling the egg to my chest.

  The man strode forward to meet me, a handheld in his grip. “Here,” he grunted, thrusting it out. Then his eyes widened as he took in the passenger of my car. “She’s got the king with her!” he shouted, and the group of men and women around him gave a collective murmur of interest, breaking into whispers.

  I accepted the handheld after freeing up my left hand by cradling the egg securely in my right elbow. Tabitha’s face loomed on the screen. Panic gripped me, primal fear flooding my veins, as her image dragged me back to that torture room—but I thrust the fear aside, allowing it to be swallowed by the manic rage that had been building in me since Amber had uttered her name. I focused on that feeling, letting it pour out of me and taint my speech. Usually anger was what I pushed back, but now, it was my greatest ally.

  “Give me my family,” I said to her image. “And I’ll give you the present I brought you.”

  Tabitha smiled maliciously, her voice low and venomous, even through the handheld’s tinny speakers. “How sweet of you—just what I’ve been looking for! Drive through the courtyard and park your vehicle at the guard’s station. I will have the wardens escort you and your… gift to their offices.”

  I shook my head. “No deal—we meet at the inner courtyard.”

  Tabitha raised an imperious eyebrow and smirked at me. “You’re hardly in a position to negotiate.”

  I looked at the man standing next to me and smiled in what I hoped was a friendly way. “Can you hold this for me?” I asked, holding out the handheld. His brows drew together in confusion, but he nodded and accepted it, stepping a few paces back. “Keep it pointed at me… she can see me, right?”

  “And hear you,” Tabitha replied, an irritated edge in her voice. “Really, what is this—”

  I cut her off, taking pleasure in doing so, and turned the egg around. “This is about the explosives I have attached to your precious egg. It’s also about how you have to decide what’s more important—seeing me, the king, and all of these really nice people die, or losing your precious egg.”

  The warden widened his eyes, and I saw him slowly reaching for his gun, impeded by the handheld in his other hand. That was when I whipped a detonator out of my shirt pocket and held it up for everyone to see. “Click boom, people,” I announced, giving a pointed look at the man’s pistol. “Let’s ease up a bit.”

  On the handheld, Tabitha made a tight growl, but I couldn’t afford to look back at her. I needed to keep my gaze on the wardens standing around me in case one of them tried their luck and opted to fire. I really hoped they didn’t—I had no desire to die this way—but they needed to believe I was serious. Tabitha needed to believe I was serious.

  “Five seconds, Tabby,” I crooned with a smile, still not looking at the screen, moving my hand over the button. “Five, four, three, two…”

  “All right!” she bellowed. “We will meet you at the inner courtyard. Guards, allow her to drive through to the guard station in the outer courtyard. No harm will come to her—we have no idea where her boyfriend is, but if he’s near, he might have a second detonator.”

  If only. I kept my face calm and friendly as I backed toward the vehicle. After a few footsteps, I turned and finished the walk as if I did not feel the persistent itch of so many people’s gun sights on the back of my neck. Tabitha’s orders carried weight, and no shots were fired as I climbed back into the car. I placed the egg on Maxen’s lap and put the detonator back into my shirt pocket.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” I said as I started the car again. Maxen squirmed, making muffled sounds through his gag, and once again, I ignored him.

  The crowd pulled away, one of the wardens driving the truck that blocked us out of the way, and I gunned the engine of my vehicle, remembering to take my foot off the brake this time. We jerked forward, speeding up much faster than we should’ve, and the tires squealed, the sound deafening under the arch. I cringed, but kept my eyes on the road. Having crossed the river, we rounded a corner, where I immediately spotted the guard station.

  I pulled up next to it, then reached over to collect the egg from Maxen’s lap and climbed out, closing the door behind me. I didn’t know how to stop the engine after Thomas had rigged it, so I simply left it running in park.

  Carefully, moving slowly, I went around and opened Maxen’s door, not really looking at him. Then I moved to the front of the vehicle and leaned against it, pressing the egg—explosive side out—against my abdomen and staring at the line of guards that was forming in front of us. I heard footsteps as the king clumsily got out, stumbling a little, and I tamped down a vindictive smile as Maxen came to stand before me.

  The guards immediately turned and started walking, their faces reflecting a wide range of emotions at the sight of the king, from rage to fear to surprising pleasure. A quick nod from one of the nervous guards told me we were to follow them. I straightened back up and began to walk. Maxen followed, and then moved faster, so that he was walking beside me.

  I ignored it all, taking the time to run my eyes over the inner walls of the outer courtyard. The drive beneath our feet was composed of smooth, rounded stones pressed together, and all around me there were little manicured alcoves of nature with various trees and bushes growing.

  We came up to the wall that divided the outer courtyard from the second, inner one. This one was not just a barrier, but a long, tall branch of the building, with the second story built atop the wall. The wall was breached by another tunnel-like archway, set off a ways from the one I had just driven through. This tunnel was longer, but not by much, and when I stepped through the other side, I gave a low whistle at the density of the landscaping here.

>   Trees lined the drive on one side, a small swath leading off to my right giving the impression of a patch of forest by the castle walls—but a cultivated forest, with a little walking path through it. Although we had maybe an hour before the sun was fully gone, the garden area was already beginning to succumb to the darkness. The shadows under the branches and leaves were beginning to spread outward, cloaking the warm brown earth beneath like a protective shield. I was almost sad we didn’t get to walk through it, but continued down the wide drive to a more spacious area.

  The guards led us farther in, their presence dampening the majesty of the area somewhat. My left palm was sweating around the metal egg case, my right pulsing with my heartbeat underneath the bandage. Past the miniature forest, a concrete square lifted slightly off the ground. A small fountain flowed into four aquifers that jutted off to the side, feeding streams that I assumed sustained the garden. Beyond that, I could see a third wall of buildings, a full three stories high, with its own arch that probably led to the third inner courtyard.

  Next to the fountain, Tabitha was already waiting, my family lined up in a row beside her. My relief to see them unharmed battled with a rage that spread in my chest at the way their hands were tied behind their backs, the fear in the eyes of Cad’s young son and daughter… From the corner of my eye I saw Cad’s eyes widen in recognition, but I couldn’t spare a real glance his way—I had to keep my focus on Tabitha. She wore black slacks with a purple jacket that looked similar to the dress jackets the men of Patrus normally wore.

  I approached her, stopping just shy of the fountain, which was to my right. King Maxen stopped next to me, and I glanced up at him. His face was hard as stone, but I knew he was afraid. He must be afraid—he’d always been a coward. I, on the other hand, was a crazy woman.

  The group of guards that had escorted us in looked expectantly at Tabitha. “Four of you stay—the rest may go,” she commanded. I kept my gaze on her and my face impassive as they quickly followed her orders. I was grateful for the egg in my hand; it was helping me hide the worsening tremor in my right hand from where she had stabbed me, as though the wound was responding to her presence.

  “Let them go,” I said once most of the guards had left, and Tabitha made an ugly, childish face at me.

  “Not likely,” she said, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

  “The women and children, then, and you can take the king,” I offered.

  Tabitha gave me a considering look, and then nodded to the guards, as if the matter was settled and done. “All right. Take him—”

  “Not so fast,” I said, taking a step forward, willing my voice to stay steady. “You’re going to have your guards escort the women and children to a vehicle, and give them a handheld. Once they radio that they are clear, then you can take the king.”

  There was a flash of anger on Tabitha’s face, and I was suddenly incredibly glad I had come up with the idea of a hostage exchange. “Fine,” she spat. Nodding to the guards, she stepped aside and waited as the women and children were freed from their bonds.

  My aunt was the first up, her eyes spitting daggers at the guards as she helped her daughter-in-law and the children up. Cad’s wife was crying quietly, but she didn’t put up much fight as my aunt steered her and the children toward me, silently urging them forward.

  As much as I wanted to, I didn’t look at them—I couldn’t trust Tabitha not to do something to them. So I kept my eyes trained on her, steeling myself, pretending they didn’t exist.

  They left quickly, and the courtyard fell silent for what was probably several minutes. I didn’t know how long it was. But in that courtyard, staring at Tabitha’s cold face, it felt like we waited forever. Finally, there was a burst of static followed by my aunt’s voice.

  “Violet? We made it out the gates. There are no guards with us.”

  I had to hope that the guards hadn’t forced her to say that. I held out my hand to the guard standing next to me, and, after a tight nod from Tabitha, he handed over the handheld. “Good. Keep driving—don’t wait for Cad, your husband, or myself, all right?”

  “But how do I find them?” she asked.

  “We’ll find you,” I replied, before dropping the radio back into the warden’s outstretched hand.

  I risked a quick glance at Maxen, giving him a somber look. “Sorry,” I said. And at that moment, I meant it. The king, who’d been largely silent since we’d gotten to the palace, was making noises through his gag, the look on his face thunderous, his hands jerking in his bonds. On an impulse, as the guards began moving toward him, I reached up and yanked the gag from his mouth.

  He sputtered for a moment, shocked, then quickly regained his wind. “You’re not sorry, you manipulative bitch,” he snarled at me. “You’re not sorry enough.” He raised his voice to carry across to where Tabitha waited. “And you, you fat, inbred cow! You disgust me. Trying to steal my kingdom out from underneath me! I demand to see Dobin! Show me that would-be king! I’ll tell that traitor what I do to people who stab me in the back!”

  A thick smile curled across Tabitha’s face, perhaps a more terrifying sight than her usual anger. “You’re not in a position to be demanding anything, Your Majesty,” she said. “As far as the rest of the kingdom knows, you’re dead.”

  She nodded to them and the two remaining guards—no doubt Dobin’s accomplices—seized the king and hauled him off, while he continued to shout obscenities. “Traitors!” he cried at them. “You’ll pay for this, you bastards!”

  He was bustled off, leaving Tabitha and me staring at each other like two dogs about to quarrel over the same bone. Two rabid dogs.

  Tabitha smiled at me and took a step toward my cousin and uncle. “We’re all alone now,” she crooned.

  “Yes, well… your other two guards will be back soon enough,” I said, mirroring her movement closer. “Now, for the egg, you and I are going to leave with my family in the car I arrived in. Once we’re safe and sound far enough away, I will let you go with the egg.”

  Tabitha flashed me a droll look and took another idle step closer to my family. “No, I won’t. I think you’ll give me the egg now, Violet.”

  I shook my head. “Absolutely not. Need I remind you that this thing is rigged with explosives? I think I’ve got the better bargaining chip at this point.”

  Tabitha shot me a taunting look. “No, you don’t. You came here trying to save them. You wouldn’t just blow them up. I let the women and children go because I didn’t want to hurt them—they’re really our kind, after all. But these two? These disgusting Patrian males?” She reached out and casually caressed my uncle’s cheek, her smile stained with bloodlust. “I just can’t wait to hurt them.”

  I slipped my hand into my shirt pocket and pulled out a second detonator. “Don’t,” I said, my voice as hard as stone.

  Tabitha gave me a knowing look, filled with some macabre form of pity, and then pulled out her knife. She slipped her hand under my uncle’s chin and jerked it up, baring his throat. I couldn’t help but look at him then—he kept quiet, but sweat dripped from his temples, and his eyes were wide with fright. Tabitha’s eyes never left me, wild with abandon, that sadistic smile on her lips.

  “Just come with me,” I said.

  “Better idea—give me the detonator, and I won’t do this…” Tabitha’s hand flashed out, her knife a silver streak in the air, and my uncle let out a scream, blood springing from a slash that ran across the side of his jaw and down the back of his neck. I couldn’t tell how deep it was from here, or whether it would be fatal… He tried to pull away from her, but Tabitha held him by the chin, licking her lips predatorily, blood beginning to drip onto her fingers as she turned back to me. “To your uncle,” she finished brightly.

  I stared at my cousin and my uncle, feeling myself growing colder. My fear, my emotions, all of them were sinking deep within me, crystallizing behind a layer of cold flame. I met Tabitha’s gaze sadly and shook my head at her.

  Then I pressed
the button on the second detonator.

  35

  Violet

  I felt the air ripple moments before clouds of fire erupted from the tunnel and the windows of the building behind me. All the glass windows shattered as the guard station in the outer courtyard exploded. “Cad!” I shouted. “Uncle Kurtis! Run!” The earth shook, and as I ducked down, pressing myself close to the fountain, I saw Tabitha drop to the ground as well, sheltering herself with her arms.

  When Thomas and I had rigged the second set of explosives to the car I’d been driving, we had never expected such force from Ashabee’s private stash. By the sound, it had certainly taken out more than the guard station the vehicle was parked next to. Risking a glance, I stared as a top section of the building between the outer and inner courtyards shifted slightly. My eyes grew wider as cracks began to form in the concrete. There was a horrible sound of stone grating on stone, a whining creak of metal bending and then tearing, as the topmost level shuddered and began to crumble inward toward us.

  I looked across the space toward my family. In the moment of the explosion, Cad had bolted backwards, pulling my uncle with him as best he could, and now they were backing up farther, putting the fountain between them and Tabitha. I saw Tabitha come up from her crouch, saw her furious eyes flickering from them to me and back again… and then to the crumbling edifice behind me.

  “You want it this bad, come and get it!” I howled at her, and then I was up and running away from the falling building, in the opposite direction Cad and Uncle Kurtis had gone, my hands clinging to the egg. I had to hope that, as furious as she was, Tabitha would take the bait. Behind me, I heard the sound of the structure roaring as it tore apart, and then I was thrown off my feet, hurtling through the air from the massive force of the roof crashing into the courtyard. I curled my body up reflexively, the egg slipping from my fingers as a plume of dust and dirt exploded over me.