“Tilly, run!” I ordered. Tilly’s engine roared. My legs were still firmly gripped in her magnetic stirrups, and Tilly dragged me along, plants disintegrating in showers of blue sparks against our shields as we blasted from underneath the demon executioner’s blade. The net about me tightened, pulled me back, but Tilly was stronger than any demon. My assailant sprawled as Tilly dragged him bodily through the ferns.
Tilly burst into a canopy-shaded clearing, rightedherself, and flipped around into attack position. As the net’s cords loosened, I wormed my right hand to reach my dirk and slashed through the lines binding me. Tilly pushed my greatsword into my hand, and I drew it from the sheath. I glared into the dense foliage, searching for shadowy attackers as my eyes recovered from the sudden strobe of shield flares. As shade resolved into broad, concealing leaves, I heard the two demon assassins speaking somewhere in the greenery.
“Get up!”
“Where’d it go?”
“The beast must be nearby.”
“Be certain not to damage the Consort.”
Then, Ankhelina’s voice joined in, filled with a level of venom orders beyond what she had reserved for me.
“Fools.”
Ankhelina blasted into the clearing atop her massive gunmetal hoversteed, swordstaff raised. A dark line slashed twice with phenomenal speed, neatly slicing the other two silhouettes from shoulder to hip, then hip to shoulder. Their bodies fell in twain, and spoke no more.
It was an impressive display of martial prowess, one I knew I could never match. Should this demon decide to kill me, I would surely die.
I sat on Tilly, slowly bringing my panting back under control as my eyesight cleared. Ankhelina hovered between the two bisected bodies, cleaning the blood from her blade with an ultrasonic scrubber before returning it to the sheath at her hip. Then she turned her steed to me.
“They weren’t after me. They wanted Tilly,” I said.
Ankhelina nodded. “You are beyond their reach, but doubtless the sight of their Emperor seated next to that monster caused patriotic fervor to override their common sense.”
Tilly chirped. Looking down at her display, I saw thesame question I very much wanted answered. “Tilly wants to know why you saved her.” Ankhelina did not respond. “I’m rather curious myself. It’s not like you don’t agree with them. You could have sat aside and let them remove Tilly from your life.”
Ankhelina’s face was as stoic as I’d ever seen, on demon or human. “That steed, horrific mockery of life or not, is loyal to you. I am sworn to protect you. You have few enough allies as it is. Saving the few you do have can only help keep you alive.”
I rubbed Tilly’s upper cowling in a reassuring manner. “Well, regardless of the reason, I thank you.”
Ankhelina sneered. “Do not bother. They were so weak, even you could have taken them.” Then Ankhelina pulled out the datascroll. “Now, shall we kill a swiftling for the Emperor?”
I nodded, sheathing my greatsword. “For the Emperor.”
RETURN OF THE BLACK BAG
THE EVENING’S BALLwas not held in the ballroom, but on the beach below the Crystal Palace. Bonfires and torches burned upon the pink sands, and the caught swiftlings were spit-roasted over trenches full of glowing coals. The delegates were treated to a truly glorious sunset as the binary suns descended beneath the horizon, giving way to a black sky banded with the world’s shimmering rings and studded with winking diamond stars, interrupted only by the trilobed shadow of the Imperial suborbital surveillance station. As I watched the delegates eat and dance in formal beachwear and tropical uniforms while bioluminescent waves rolled in, I remarked that it was a strange venue for a diplomatic dinner.
Astrid smiled. “But you forget – this is not a treaty summit. This is my twelve-year jubilee.” I gave her a searching look, but she just smiled and sipped her drink.
“You know, now that you’ve declared me as your Consort,many people believe me to be one of the most powerful people in the Empire,” I said.
Astrid chuckled. “Nonsense. You have no more power as my Consort now than you did as my Consort at the Academy.”
I pressed the topic. “There are some, my prince and your Champion amongst them, who believe my influence over you gives me more power than a grand duke with a legion of demon warriors.”
Putting aside her cup, Astrid pointed at one of the many moons hovering overhead. “Your power is like that of the lighted moon – a reflection of my light, much diluted, and were you to be seen in the sky next to me, your illumination would not be noticed.” She patted my thigh in what I thought was supposed to be a comforting gesture. “Worry not, Consort. I shan’t burden you with any official duties which would put you in danger.”
I was discomforted by Astrid’s blasé refusal to acknowledge what everyone around her seemed to believe – that I was somebody of note and importance, whether she wished me to be or not. Still, now was not the time to try and convince her. She was in too good a mood, and unwilling to debate the subject.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Princess Marie-Christina gliding through the crowd, her white bikini and patterned emerald-green sarong striking against her copper skin. “If you’ll excuse me, I should talk with my allies, see if I can get back into their good graces,” I said to Astrid.
Astrid looked confused. “But you’re my Consort now—”
“And still a loyal subject of the Royal Commonwealth,” I said, cutting her sentence short before she could put me in a compromising position. Then I placed my hand underneath her chin. “Don’t worry. I can be both a Royal sky captain and the Emperor’s Consort while we’re here.”
Astrid did not look so certain, but she let me pull her intoa kiss. It was meant to be quick, but as happened with most kisses between Astrid and me, we were both breathless when we broke apart. “Don’t be gone too long,” Astrid said, her chest heaving.
