“You’ll have to shave. Don some makeup.”
“I’m more worried about the clothes,” I commented. “I doubt I’ll be able to fit into any of her outfits.”
In unison, Darius and I looked at Princess Marie, whowas a good fifteen centimeters shorter than me and maybe half my weight. She gave a sigh of great resignation.
“You men always make things more difficult than they need to be.” Walking over to her personal computer, she pressed a key. “Colonel? Could you send my shuttle around to my balcony right away?”
“Very good, Your Highness,” a proper voice said on the other end of the line. “Will you require a pilot?”
“No, thank you. I’d prefer to make this a private trip,” the princess said. That accomplished, Marie stepped back, folded her arms, and gave us a withering glare.
Darius lamely tried to recover his pride. “Yes, or… or we could do that.”
Minutes later, a sleek chrome-plated shuttle quietly landed on the balcony outside. The doors popped open and Darius, Marie, Tilly, and I quickly boarded. There was no one else aboard, but Marie expertly took the shuttle’s controls, and after receiving the coordinates from Darius, she took off, rocketing us up out of the atmosphere.
I barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before we were intercepted by Imperials.
The dark, angular vessels took up position on either flank, gimballed heavy lancers swiveling to skewer us with their pyromagnetic blasts. Darius pushed me down, and I went. Princess Marie pointed to a small cabinet, inside which I found a fine warm blanket. Hurriedly, I draped it over Tilly and myself.
“Can they see us?” Darius asked.
Princess Marie shook her head. “The canopy’s polarized, but there’s no sense in taking chances.”
I agreed with Marie’s assessment. For her part, Tilly remained perfectly silent. She knew how to keep out of sight. I peeked out through a tiny slit in the blanket.
The radio buzzed to life. “Stelsylvanian shuttle, state your cargo and destination or be fired upon.”
Marie reached for the comms button, but Darius stopped her, then pressed it himself. “This is Archduke Darius of Yezhidia. I have commandeered this shuttle for a personal errand to theRoyal Darius.”
A voice came over the comms, the disdain dripping from every syllable. “Listen, you borderland whelp. You may have been the previous Emperor’s pet, but now—” The transmission suddenly cut off, leaving nothing but comms static. I could practically see the debate on the Imperial shuttles. What was Darius’s position in the new order? Was he a valuable ally whose nation had provided crucial military assistance during the past war, or an expendable vassal to be abused for fun? Did they know? Could they afford to find out?
I knew the response before the radio crackled back to life. Better to play it safe, and abuse later. Meanwhile, treat the archduke with due respect, and dress him down later if required.
A different voice spoke. “My pardon, Archduke. We’re inspecting all craft leaving the planet, especially in the vicinity of the palace.”
Darius pressed the comms button again, injecting a light note of annoyance into his voice. “What for? I’ve made a half-dozen trips to my cruiser before, and I never had to deal with inspectors then.”
“There wasn’t a fugitive on the loose before,” the new Imperial replied. “We’re worried he may try to stow away aboard any departing vessels.”
The archduke replied testily, “This shuttle’s rather intimate. I assure you, we would notice if he were in here with us, and considering we just hit eighty thousand meters, if he were clinging to the outside, I think he’d be turning an amusing shade of blue right about now.”
There was a brief pause, and then the more respectful Imperial pilot said, “I’m certain he would, but we have orders to board and inspect any vessel leaving the planet’s surface. No exceptions.”
Darius shot a panicked look back at me, but Princess Marie sprang into action. She grabbed the archduke by his shirtfront and savagely ripped it to his waist. Darius started to protest the destruction of his fine shirt, but stopped when Marie took her bodice and expertly twisted it, causing every fastener to pop open, baring her torso. While the archduke was stunned silent, the princess leaned forwards and pressed the comms button.
“We were hoping for a bit of privacy, or do you demonic dullards lack the basic niceties to understand how two nobles consummate an alliance?” the princess demanded, her voice high and haughty despite her state of undress.
“Who’s that? Declare yourself!” the Imperial demanded.
Princess Marie gave me a significant glance, then leaned over the command console. I barely managed to pull back from my viewing slit before the canopy depolarized, revealing the archduke and princess in their creatively compromised state.
The silence stretched on as we gained altitude, until Princess Marie scathingly said, “Get a good enough look?”
I could hear the libidinous grin in the Imperial’s response. “Quite so. Thank you, Archduke. You’ve given us all much to consider in private. Please, enjoy yourself.”
“Yes, I will,” Darius replied, then cut the transmission. “It’s safe now.”
I emerged from the blanket. Princess Marie turned away to do up her bodice. Archduke Darius sat in his copilot’s seat, stunned.
