“We burned your capital,” I said, relishing every syllable. “We conquered your homeworld and razed your Senate building to the ground, after which you nobles decided to stop antagonizing the Royal Commonwealth and focused on beating up weak, under-developed stellar nations on your other borders instead. If you could not stop us from burning your capital over a minor colonial skirmish, what would have stopped the Empire’s war machine from doing so had the Commonwealth not held them at bay?” I leaned towards her. “What would stop us from doing it again if you insist on annexing our colonies?”
Instantly, I knew I’d made a tactical error. The discomfort left d’Lyre’s eyes, and she slithered back into control.
Lady d’Lyre pressed herself sinuously against me, tenderly wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “Oh, sweet Captain, maybe ten years ago your threat would have held some sway, but today your armies are shattered. You can hardly delay the Imperial war machine. How do you expect to launch an invasion of Federation space with a broken, strung-out military? The Federation’s armies are fresh, well-equipped, and ready to defend our freedom.”
I gritted my teeth. “Your troops are fresh because you let your allies do all the nasty work for you.”
Lady d’Lyre giggled and pushed me bodily against the soft surface of the Emperor’s bed to speak softly into my ear. “But of course. You see how well it works out for us.”
I pushed her back. “You miscalculate. Your troops are fresh, but inexperienced. Ours are battle-hardened.”
“Your troops are weary, and few in number. We would destroy you with numbers alone.” Shifting, Lady d’Lyre straddled my hips, gently pinning my wrists beside my head, grinding herself against me in an attempt to distract me, to get a rise out of me. “Be honest with yourself, Captain. The Royal Commonwealth will agree to these terms because you have no other option. We have you exactly where we want you – pinned beneath us, unable to fight back, and begging us for more.”
The bitch Bridgette was playing off what she had seen me and Astrid do last night, but Astrid was two feet taller and over a hundred muscular pounds heavier than Lady d’Lyre, and she had not just threatened to eviscerate my nation in a time of weakness. I would not be dominated by this putrid facsimile of a transhuman being.
I spread my legs, planted my feet, and thrust my entire body to the side. D’Lyre was not expecting that. She tumbled over my shoulder, face first into the fluffy sheets. I didn’t give her a chance to recover, rolling on top of her. Mindlessly, I forgot my training, and instead of properly pinning her, my hands fastened around her throat. D’Lyre seemed amused at first, aroused by what she thought was rough foreplay, but then she looked into my eyes. Through my burning rage, I saw when she realized I truly intended to kill her.
“Levar, enough,” Astrid said, and her powerful hand pulled me off the Federation snake.
“This is a matter between allies,” I snarled, but Astrid did not let me go.
“We need her information.”
“Screw her information, Royal Military Intelligence can find it now that we know it exists,” I said, but still Astrid held me tight.
Lady d’Lyre scrambled back to the headboard, coughing and rubbing her neck. “Sweet mystical Earth, Boylan. What the Fall is your problem?”
Since I could not reach her with my hands, I tried to burn her with the intensity of my glare. “I’m a Commonwealth soldier. I’m trained to kill enemies of my Queen.”
Lady d’Lyre’s eyes flicked up to Astrid’s face. “I thought she was your queen now.”
The righteous anger which had filled me drained away to be replaced by confusion. I was the Emperor’s Consort, but I was a Royal Commonwealth soldier first. Which was I now? Could I not be both? As I relaxed, so did Astrid, and her grip on me lessened.
D’Lyre found a mirror and examined the dark marks spreading around her throat. Her displeasure turned to interest as she thought of an advantage. “Captain, how do you intend to explain this without causing an incident?”
Inspired, I called for Ingvar.
“Yes, sir?”
Lady d’Lyre jumped, but I had expected the hordling servant’s sudden appearance.
“Tell Wiktor that the Lady Bridgette d’Lyre enjoys autoerotic asphyxiation, and needs a good, hard choke before she can achieve climax. He’ll make certain all the right people know it,” I said, holding Lady d’Lyre’s gaze as I did so. She glared at me, but kept silent.
“Right away, sir.” The hordling vanished as quickly as he had appeared.
“Did I say anything untrue?” I asked. “Now, don’t give me that look. Rub a hypo salve on it and your bruises will fade by dinner. No one will notice a thing, unless they’re looking for it, and if you bring it up, everyone will simply assume I did what you asked. Anything else?”
Lady d’Lyre stood, the corners of her mouth turned down, and walked over to where her panties had been flung the night before. As she slid into them, she said, “Laugh all you want, Captain. The Noble Federation still has troops guarding the Fallspace colonies, and we will still annex those worlds. There is nothing you can do to stop us.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my uniform crumpled on the floor. With it was my leather girdle, and on the girdle were my weapons. My dirk glittered enticingly. I dove.
I didn’t make it off the bed. Astrid grabbed my ankle, bringing me up short.
“Let me go,” I said, but the Emperor ignored me.
“Quiet, Consort.”
I was incensed she dismissed me so completely, but I didn’t know how to respond. I couldn’t fight her even if I wanted to, but I did not want to. I wanted to kill the gaping asshole from the so-called ‘Noble’ Federation currently fastening her slinky evening dress and finding her shoes, but not the Emperor, not my Astrid.
