Bridgette managed to snuggle closer as we walked. “Not asfriendly as I made with you,” she purred. “But we’ve pursued every opportunity this war offered us.”
“Even a coup?” I asked. “You know this will mean civil war in the Empire. You don’t know who will win, and the next Emperor may not honor the deal you struck here.”
Lady d’Lyre squeezed my arm. “There will be no instability. Nobody outside the Crystal Palace knows what happened. By the time the treaty is signed, the story will be complete, and so believable everyone will accept it. The Empire will be stable, the Federation prosperous, and the Commonwealth allowed to survive.”
Despite my distaste for the current events, I was curious. I asked, “What is this story in which you place your faith?”
“The plan is to blame the Fall event on the former Emperor. Prince Selnikov’s allies will say she started the war purely to rid her Empire of political opponents and weed her court of dissidents. As soon as she felt comfortable in her power, she ordered the Fall device detonated so she could bring the war to a swift end. She never cared about the conquest and does not respect the deaths of her warriors. She was only concerned with her own power and glory, like the Mad Emperor before her, so her replacement was necessary.”
“So Astrid lives,” I said, a tiny moth of flame fluttering to life in my breast as we turned a corner and entered the Crystal Palace’s main hall.
“I honestly don’t know, and truthfully, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter, anyhow. The usurpers will execute her before long if she survives her wounds. They can’t have an ex-emperor hanging around to focus dissent against their authority.”
“Then why arrange my release? I’m a loose end, a connection to the Emperor. It makes more sense for you to leave me to die.”
“Consider it a thank you for a wonderful night and enjoyable morning.”
“Enjoyable for you, perhaps,” I said.
Lady d’Lyre scoffed. “Don’t act as though the evening was not pleasurable for you as well.”
“Oh, it was,” I replied, “but I don’t see the Emperor here, and she was more responsible for the evening than I.”
Lady d’Lyre placed a finger gently against my lips. “The Emperor is dead, her fate consigned whether her heart still beats or not. I cannot save one so influential, but you? You I can spare.”
We rounded the corner into the Great Hall, where the Commonwealth delegation was assembled. I looked at the hard, implacable faces of Prince Aureli, Colonel Boleslaw, and the other Commonwealth diplomats and officers. Clearly, they were not in a forgiving mood. “You may spare my life today, but I doubt I shall ever see daylight as a free man again.”
“Then I shall have to make do with conjugal visits. Perhaps we’ll find a female prisoner to fill the empty position.” Before I could stop her, Lady d’Lyre took my head in her hands and kissed me, passionately, full on the mouth, and in full view of Commonwealth, Federation, and Imperial delegates. I was certain Archduke Darius and Princess Marie were both in the crowd. Somehow, their opinion of me mattered more than the rest of the assembled notables combined. Yet I was unable to pull away. The Federation senator held me tight, and it was only when she withdrew her tongue from my mouth and let me go that I was able to straighten up.
“Au revoir, Captain. May we meet again soon,” Lady d’Lyre said. Wordlessly, I turned on my heels, and with as much military stiffness as I could muster, I marched to the Commonwealth delegation.
Colonel Boleslaw stepped forwards to meet me, but it was not she who spoke. Instead, it was a sergeant-at-arms.“Captain Levar Boylan, you are under arrest for acts of treason, including conspiracy against the Commonwealth and consorting with the enemies of the Queen.”
I raised my shackled hands. “So are we to exchange handcuffs, or will these bindings suffice?”
Prince Aureli glared at me, but Boleslaw smiled slightly. The sergeant-at-arms looked confused, but eventually settled on slapping a magnetic cable on my existing cuffs. He gave a strong pull, but I pulled back, standing firm. Had I been an ordinary cavalry captain, the sergeant would have forced me to come, but instead he paused. During my time here, I had become something else, something more, something worthy of consideration. Something noble.
My heels together, I faced my prince and his colonel. “What’s the situation, Colonel?”
Boleslaw raised her eyebrows and glanced at the prince, but Lynwyzc said nothing, so Boleslaw answered me. “We’re in a holding pattern at the moment. The Imperials are arguing amongst themselves. Thus far, Prince Selnikov has kept his various dogs from biting one another, but we cannot count on him keeping his nobles leashed. The Noble Federation has thrown their lot with the usurpers and abandoned the Alliance. They’ve arrested and imprisoned the entire Despotate delegation at the usurpers’ behest.”
“And the Emperor?” I asked, my demon heart pounding steadily despite my anxiety.
Boleslaw paused, raising my tension before she said, “Alive, for now.” I breathed a sigh of relief as she continued. “She was wounded in the fight, but our intelligence indicates her condition is stable. The usurpers are keeping a tight cordon around her while they decide what to do with her.”
“They’ll kill her,” I stated.
Boleslaw nodded. “It is the only outcome which makessense, but when, where, how, and why are yet to be decided. She may have time yet.”
“What happens now?” I asked.
Boleslaw spread her palms. “Now we pick up the pieces, see what we can recover from the chaos, attempt to improve our diplomatic situation.”
Prince Aureli stirred, then spoke. “Meanwhile, you return to the capital for your sentencing.”
Military discipline did not require courts of law. A superior officer could hand down sentencing as they saw fit. However, as an officer, I had one recourse.
“I demand a court-martial,” I said.
