Damn it. How did I keep giving her openings like that? I smiled and replied, “Only if the reward is worth the risk.”
The musicians played the final note, and I bowed with relief. “I’m sorry, Lady d’Lyre…”
“Please, you must call me Bridgette.”
“Bridgette,” I continued, “but I am not used to dancing onthe sand. I’m afraid you must let me rest a moment before I take another turn with you.”
“By all means,” Bridgette said, taking me by the arm from the circle of dancers and directing me to an artfully felled log, polished smooth to be used as a bench. “Wait here, and I’ll grab us some drinks.” I wasn’t certain more alcohol would help me keep my wits about this woman. She was undeniably beautiful and skilled in seduction. Doubtless, the fact that the Noble Federation had unleashed her on me meant they wished to develop me as a source of intelligence. I may be able to avoid her bed, but her charms were designed to distract, and I was no spy. I was a soldier. This social combat was a weakness of mine, and I did not want to accidentally betray the Commonwealth’s secrets.
It was as I watched Lady d’Lyre sashay away from me that I realized our dance had taken us away from our original circle, along a sinuous route to the very edge of the revel. I sat in the light of perimeter torches, looking at the dancers circling the fires. Tropical tree fronds rustled in the dark behind me, and ocean waves murmured in a soothing susurrus against the sand below. It was the perfect spot for two lovers to quietly enjoy each other’s company at the official gathering’s edge.
It was a place I most certainly did not wish to find myself ensnared by Lady d’Lyre’s considerable charms. I stood to walk away, but at that moment there was a crunch of sand under paw behind me, and a black bag descended over my head.
I kept my immediate panic under control. No one would dare to black bag me at the Emperor’s jubilee except the Emperor herself. Again. This was probably some poorly thought-out flirtation on her part, a not-so-subtle message that I’d neglected my duties as Consort for too long. I relaxed and resolved to talk with her about allowing me freedom tonegotiate. We were not schoolchildren anymore – we could not skip three days of classes to frolic in bed. In the first place, we had responsibilities, but I also doubted my body could hold up. I wasn’t twenty anymore.
However, when I was roughly slammed onto a hard metal chair and metal restraints closed around my ankles, wrists, and neck, I realized something was seriously wrong.
The blackout bag was pulled from my head, and I was assaulted by an ululating shriek and painfully bright strobes. I tried to shield my face, but my hand was securely locked down, and the lights burned through my eyelids.
The onslaught quickly abated, leaving my ears ringing and spots dancing in my vision. Not all the lights dimmed – one particularly strong spotlight remained trained on my face, flooding my eyes with an obscuring glare. I knew enough to look away from the lamp, but with the clamp around my neck, I could not turn my head away. As a result, the figures around me were nothing more than washed-out shadows.
“Captain Levar Boylan, of the Royal Commonwealth’s army?” a voice asked, faint in my shell-shocked ears.
“Service Number BSC-24601,” I replied.
The gravelly demonic voice chuckled. “Captain, you seem to be laboring under the misapprehension that this is an interrogation. I assure you, no harm will befall you, no tortures applied against you…”
“Aside from the kidnapping, sonic attack, and blinding light show, you mean?” I asked.
“Those were necessary to preserve our identities. We cannot allow you to know who we are. Our Emperor can be a tad obtuse, and she tends to kill what she cannot immediately comprehend.”
I snorted. “Don’t you think it’s dangerous saying such things to the Emperor’s Consort?”
“Which is precisely why we have concealed our identities. Do keep up.”
“I will be missed. Lady d’Lyre was going to fetch us drinks…”
“Your human harlot has been distracted,” the voice growled.
I tried to glare at the shadowy face behind the glare. “Lady d’Lyre and I are not sleeping together.”
“If you say so,” the demon replied in an infuriatingly disbelieving tone.
“The Emperor and I are, though, and if I do not return to her soon…”
“The Emperor has been informed that you retired to the Commonwealth suite with a headache. She will not look for you until the morning. By then we will have all we need.”
I fruitlessly tested the strength of my bonds. “All right, if it’s not to be torture, then what? Cocktails and after-dinner cigars?”
I was starting to make out details of the silhouette behind the light. A large figure, powerfully built, and horned. A demon prince, judging by the size. He leaned forwards, putting his elbows on the desk.
“We want to ask you a few questions, find out who you are, and determine your intentions towards the Emperor.”
“I would have thought it obvious. You demons are not particularly shy about sex,” I shot back.
“But you are not a demon. You are not of the Empire or Voidspace. You are no toy taken from a conquered foe, but the Emperor’s declared Consort, despite being a foreigner, despite being an enemy, despite being human. Why would she choose you?”
“Take a wild guess,” I replied, making a crude thrusting hip motion.
