“I don’t care,” she snapped. “But if your government’smachinations cause you harm, the Emperor will be displeased.”
We left the stables in search of the Emperor’s party, the massive demoness running alongside my mount with impressive speed as I considered Ankhelina’s remark. My first impulse was that Astrid would never be so impulsive, but a memory from our Academy days flashed in my mind – Astrid holding another cadet against the wall by her throat after the poor student had made a disparaging remark against me. Astrid, despite her attempts at Imperial aloofness, was a creature of emotion. She was already on edge. Push her over, and who knew what she would do? Maybe that was why Boleslaw had asked me to watch Prince Selnikov. She outranked me by several levels – the colonel could have ordered me to spy on the demon lord if she wanted, but instead she’d suggested that doing so would improve Prince Aureli’s opinion towards me. It was a clever move, but would it protect the Commonwealth delegates if Astrid decided they had got me killed?
We had not gone far before a voice broke into my thoughts, calling my name. I turned to see Princess Marie-Christina as she soared gracefully over to me on her sleek silver-and-pearl-cowled hoversteed. “Captain Boylan, it’s so good to see you, well, alive.”
“Indeed,” Archduke Darius said from behind me. I spun in alarm, and Tilly backed up, forming a triangle between me, Princess Marie, and the archduke on his sleek black charger of a hoversteed as Ankhelina took up a position behind my left knee. I calmed upon seeing a familiar face. Darius grinned with genuine affection as he pivoted his steed to face me, placing himself nearly next to Princess Marie as he said, “Word around here was you’d been killed defending the Emperor.”
“Your Grace,” Marie said, her voice dropping a few dozen degrees as she addressed the Yezhidian archduke.
“Your Highness,” Darius replied, inclining head and shoulders in a respectful bow. His tone was still charming, but his eyes showed a level of apology. For what? Betraying the League, or something more personal?
“Sadly for some, the reports of my demise are fortunately premature,” I said, cutting the unspoken conversation short.
“Tilly was so worried for you, weren’t you, Tilly?” Marie said, addressing my steed directly. Tilly beeped affirmatively, which surprised me.
“When did you see Tilly?” I asked.
Marie sat back, sudden concern drawing her eyebrows down. “Last night, after you did not return following the attack. I went to make certain she was unharmed. We had a lovely night. She taught me how to apply and buff polish.”
“That was you?” Marie nodded as Tilly warbled happily. “I’m surprised she let you.”
“I’m surprised it didn’t tear your belly open and spread your entrails across the stable floor,” Ankhelina said with a huff.
Marie looked aghast, but I waved the comment away. “Forgive the demon’s manners. She thinks Tilly’s a violent beast.”
“It’s an abomination, unpredictable and murderous,” Ankhelina clarified.
“How could you say that? Tilly’s a big sweetie once you get to know her. Isn’t that right, Tilly?” I’d never heard anyone baby-talk my war machine before, but judging by the pleased beeping Tilly emitted, I decided I might have to start.
“I don’t know how sweet she is, but she is a work of beauty,” Darius said. “It would be a shame to destroy such a magnificent machine just because it thinks a little more than we’d like it to.” Tilly rumbled appreciatively at that, too.
Ankhelina scowled at the unified opposition to her views.“Come, we must join the Emperor,” she said to me, then stomped away.
I looked at the two enemies, united in their concern for me, and nudged Tilly after the Imperial champion. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you both at tonight’s ball,” I called back over my shoulder.
“You’d better. I expect to hear everything that happened,” Darius said.
“You can tell me during a dance,” Marie called as I began gliding after the Imperial champion.
“Me, too,” Darius shouted with laughter. Marie giggled slightly at the thought, and I smiled to see the two in detente.
“I hope you’ll have room on your card for me,” a voice purred nearby. I whirled to my right and saw Lady d’Lyre floating not a full arm’s length away from me, dressed in impeccably tailored blue and tan flying leathers. She had an artless grace about her posture, lounging upon more than straddling her hoversteed. Even in the bright sunlight, Lady d’Lyre seemed designed to recline in smokey shadow, sensuously sipping champagne while seductive songs slithered over from a nearby ballroom, beckoning me to pull her into the dance and press her body to mine. She looked like an invitation to do something dangerous and delightfully fun.
I distrusted her immediately.
However, I could not think of a polite way to turn her down, so I merely took her proffered hand, brushed my lips across her knuckles, and said, “Of course. I’m certain we can find at least one dance to share.”
Lady d’Lyre gave me a smile which spoke of salacious joys yet unrealized and said simperingly, “Until then.” Then she flew off, curving away in such a way as to give me the best angle from which to admire her. I noticed the motion and the intent behind it, and stared after her, trying to discern hergoals. Lady d’Lyre had ignored me for a week, and now she was turning on the seduction full blast. What was she after?
Ankhelina cuffed me upside the head. “If you’re done flirting with every half-pretty passerby, we should go join your true love.”
“I wasn’t flirting,” I protested, but Ankhelina snorted, smirking in a self-congratulatory way. I gave up on convincing her and zoomed away fast enough to make the demon sprint to keep up.
The call of an Imperial hunting horn made me stop, slewing around to see the Emperor atop a nearby hill surrounded by her retinue. Astrid looked resplendent in her flying leathers astride a gleaming gilded hoversteed. The hunting horn’s call drew everyone’s attention, and chattering conversations died as every head turned to regard the Emperor. Squeezing Tilly’s flanks, I moved to join her, leaving Ankhelina to run after me.
The Emperor raised her hands. “Honored guests, you have enjoyed Imperial cooking for several nights, but today, you shall provide your own dinner. Tonight’s main course shall be braised Imperial swiftling. It is a rare delicacy, a treat to consume, and a challenge to hunt.” She gestured behind her, and several demon princes stepped forwards, each one dragging a cage almost ten feet square. Inside each cage stood a single brightly plumaged bird, looking something like an ostrich crossed with a parrot, but with the predatory beak and eyes of an eagle. They glared out at the demons surrounding them, almost as if they considered their captors as potential next meals.
The Emperor gestured to the swiftlings. “The swiftling hunt is an Imperial tradition. Ordinarily, we would hunt with steel blades and without shields, to prove our prowess. However, in deference to the gentler sensibilities of our guests,shields shall be allowed. Lancers, however, are still explicitly forbidden for all except approved Imperial personnel, including my guards, myself…” Astrid caught my eye as Tilly drifted into position next to and behind her, and she smirked “… and my Consort.”
