Release(90)

She was real. This was happening. He shook his head. “How did you get in here?”

“We charmed our way past the guards and shot one,” said Ariana.

“You’re amazing.” He was in awe of her. And he didn’t think she’d ever looked so beautiful.

“Great,” said Ariana, “but we have to get out of here now.” She was running towards the end of the hallway.

Keirth watched as Tildy ripped a big slit in the skirt of her dress. “It’s not easy to move in,” she told him, running after Ariana.

Still stunned, Keirth picked up his feet and followed them.

They emerged out of the hallway, where Keirth could see a man slumped behind a desk. She really had shot someone.

“The lifts!” Ariana pointed and headed that way.

But at moment the lift opened and two men in uniforms came out. The men took in the scene quickly, their gazes resting on the blasters in Keirth’s and Ariana’s hands. Their hands went for their own blasters.

Keirth switched his gun on and pulled the trigger. Shooting their way out, indeed.

* * *

Tramet hadn’t gotten up from the couch. He spoke in a numb voice. “She called herself Kara Transman. She was supporting herself as a prostitute. All those years, she was right under our noses, and I never knew.”

The prince still stood on the other side of the room. He was visibly shaking. “But why would she do that, Nigel? Why would Cecily run away? Why would she live like that?”

Tramet wished he understood. He wished she’d come to him before she disappeared. She was his only family left. She should have realized there was nothing so horrible that he couldn’t have forgiven it. He hesitated to say the rest of it to the prince. He worried that it would turn the man against Cecily completely, but he couldn’t lie. It was all connected, after all. “I think she was pregnant.”

The prince looked at him sharply. “But that hardly makes sense.” He folded his arms over his chest and looked at the floor. “I mean as a reason to run away. She was distraught over the loss of her family, and perhaps there were...indiscretions on both of our parts. Hers and mine. But even so, we were engaged, and I’m the prince. If she had been pregnant, we could have—” He broke off. “Unless it wasn’t mine.” He turned back to Tramet.

This made things even more confusing. Tramet stood up as well. “I don’t know, Gulien. I admit that I thought that the two of you had never...” He took a breath. It was awkward to speak of such things, especially concerning his sister. “I thought she feared your anger because she’d been unfaithful. But if you two had been...intimate, then it seems even stranger to me.”

“Perhaps not,” said the prince. “She was in mourning, and a hasty wedding would have been irregular. When the child was born too soon, the scandal would have been the talk of the sector.” He sighed. “I can only imagine what my mother might have said about it. She would have hated my involvement in something she would have thought was sordid. Cecily would have known that. After the loss of your family, she might have done something extreme.” He shook his head. Then another thought occurred to him. “Oh. Oh, Nigel, you’re saying that...that Transman, the man who’s supposed to hang tomorrow is...”

Tramet nodded. “If nothing else, Gulien, he’s the only living person with blood from my line. My entire family was killed. Cecily is gone. And I’ve never been able to have children.”

“He’s your heir,” said the prince.

“Even a bastard is something at this point,” said Tramet. “I’ve spent years thinking my title would die with me or that it would be auctioned off upon my death. If there’s a good chance that he’s not a murderer, then I want him alive.”

“Well, if there’s a good chance he’s my son, I want him alive,” said the prince. “We’ll go to the prison immediately. There are things that need to be sorted out.”

Tramet breathed a sigh of relief. The prince was going to help.

* * *

Keirth managed to get off a shot against the first man. The blaster was set to stun, and the man crumpled to the ground.

But his companion had his blaster out, and even though Ariana had fired at him, she’d missed him completely.

Keirth pushed Ariana and Tildy behind the desk, firing at the man again.

He hadn’t been aiming well. His shot drilled right past the man.

The man fired a shot, and his blaster wasn’t set to stun. The room lit up.

Keirth dove behind the desk as well. Resting his head against the wall, he said, “He’s shooting to kill.”