Rebel's Honor(21)

"Now, I suggest we get moving. The emperor and his sons are expecting  you." Axel started toward a sweeping set of red-carpeted stairs at the  end of the platform.

Kestrel dutifully trailed behind him. He glanced back to see Lynx still  frozen to the spot, watching Stefan propel Bear away from Saskia.

Axel had just lost the upper hand.

With her uncle out of harm's way, Lynx demanded, "You mean they would  have met us while we were unconscious?" Her hands had now found her  hips. But her face was most telling. She leaned forward, eyes pleading  with him to deny that Saskia intended to shock her and Kestrel.

He had no choice but to dash her hopes. "They'd have waited for you to revive."

At least she'd figured out he'd spared her the indignity of being fried.

"Now come, Princess. We're on a schedule here." Axel moved forward.

Lynx didn't budge.

Axel sighed. "Now what?"

"The least you could have done was tell me you planned to abduct me. After all, where was I supposed to escape to?"

Mentally scrambling around for patience, he said, "Now why would I have done that, Princess?"

"Dragon's bloody testicles!" Lynx stamped her foot. "Stop calling me ‘Princess.'"

Axel glanced at Kestrel to see how she was taking her sister's tantrum. Kestrel looked bored.

He suppressed a smile. "So what am I supposed to call you, then?"

"I have a name. Use it."

"Okay, Lynx. But you call me ‘General' once more, and I'll feed you to the wolves."

"Wolves?" Kestrel asked.

"Instead of a moat, our new home comes complete with an enclosure filled  with half-starved wolves," Lynx said to her sister in a brittle voice,  "or did the she-witch forget to mention that little fact during all your  discussions on how wonderful life would be?"

Kestrel raised her eyebrows at Axel. "Is that true?"

"Yes. They chomp anyone who dares enter the palace precinct without an invitation. Lynx, Kestrel, let's go."

"You can call me ‘Princess,'" Kestrel said pertly, without moving.

Axel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The whole situation had taken  on a surreal quality. "Okay, ladies, titles and wolves aside, can we  please get going?"

"No." Lynx took a threatening step toward him, tugging at her  knee-length black dress. "I still want to know why the hell you didn't  warn me, so I could change out of my training dress?"

Training dress?

Then Axel understood. His shoulders slumped. This was definitely not how Lynx was supposed to appear in front of the emperor.

If he hadn't interfered, Saskia would have knocked Lynx unconscious and  dressed her in yet another hideous monstrosity she had arranged for the  princess. He looked toward the train car, where the crates of Lynx's  discarded clothing were stored. It was useless even thinking about  getting them. The moment the door opened, Saskia would be on Lynx like a  lightning storm. The only way he could stop her would be to fight with  her. A shouting match with the Great High Priestess about protecting  Lynx would be a poor start to Operation Treven.                       
       
           



       

"I said you shouldn't have rejected all of Mother Saskia's lovely gowns," Kestrel observed.

Axel looked at Kestrel-sadly, she was right, but it was too late to fret  about now. He turned back to Lynx. Fury rode in her eyes.

He would have to placate her to get her moving. "What does it matter,  Lynx?" he asked, far more gently than he'd intended. "What you wear will  never change who you are. You'll always be you, and that means you'll  never be one of us. The sooner Lukan and the emperor learn that, the  better."

He obviously said the right thing because, for an instant, Lynx's whole  demeanor changed. Her fists unclenched, and her face relaxed. Even her  eyes took on a softer glow. It was quickly replaced by a stiffening of  her back.

Her voice was icy as she said, "Don't you ever forget it."

He definitely liked this woman. More than was good-for both of them. He  flashed her a lethal smile, designed to conquer her heart. "Fat chance  of that."

He headed for the stairs and the princesses' first meeting with their future spouses.





Chapter 15





Lukan straightened his black velvet waistcoat, lining up the silver trim  encircling the solid silver buttons. He examined himself in his huge,  ebony-framed mirror and liked what he saw: a supremely confident male of  the species, born to rule. A man no woman could refuse.

Just as well, he thought wryly, because today, looks are everything.

Lynx was arriving.

Correction. Lynx was here.

His bowels rumbled as if his insides had turned to water. Axel had  brought her straight to the palace from the hub. She was waiting for him  in the Bronze Hall.

Lukan was late, a small act of protest against his arranged marriage.

It was all he dared risk when even this much rebellion would incense his  father. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his father's fists today.

No one knew better than he that his tardiness made no sense. It was  common knowledge that he wanted Lynx. Trouble was, want didn't equate to  marriage. It was one thing to sleep with an alluring woman-that, after  all, was one of the few perks of being crown prince. It was altogether  another to be forced to marry a savage whose only obvious desire was to  knock his teeth out.

A sharp rap sounded on his door.

Only one person ever knocked like that. Tao. Despite everything, Lukan  chuckled. So, his brother was late, too. It seemed he wasn't the only  one showing his disapproval.

Without waiting for a reply, his brother poked his head into the room.  "You ready yet? Our old man will be spitting blood by now."

"Exactly what I intended," Lukan said, with false bravado. He caught Tao's eye in the mirror. "You too, it would seem."

Tao grunted, and Lukan smiled, making no move to vacate his spot.

"Relax, Tao. Spitting blood is what our congenitally insane father does  best. Pity he doesn't cough up enough to kill him." The words were  enough to sign a death warrant for any Chenayan-well, any but the  emperor's own sons.

"Like we would ever be so lucky. A knife in the lung would work, though."

Lukan sniggered at his own image in the mirror, and the diamond next to  his right eye glinted right back. "If only life were so simple." He eyed  his brother's reflection critically. Then, because he cared more for  Tao than anyone other person on the planet, he said with concern, "You  look terrible."

"Wonderful. Just what I need to hear right now."

"You could at least have brushed that straw you call hair."

Tao blushed scarlet. Lukan instantly regretted that remark. Tao hated everything about his looks.

"My hair is not the problem here. And neither is the old man. Not really. You are."

The accusation in his brother's voice jarred. It always hurt that Tao  didn't esteem him as highly. To cover up his sadness, he rubbed his  angular jaw; his valet had done a good job with the shave today. Not  even a hint of a shadow darkened his face.

"So you have nothing to say? Typical." Tao kicked the air with his boot.

"I've told you before. I'm not taking the blame for your marriage."

"You should, you know. If you had a shred of decency. Which you don't."

In his more honest moments, Lukan admitted-to himself, at least-that  Tao's nuptials were indeed his fault. If he could have changed the  situation, he would have. But he had no power over his father's  decisions. He and his father had never gotten on, but in the last few  months, Lukan's frustration with his father's brutality had reached a  breaking point. He had dared to raise a number of issues, the confounded  Unity with Norin being one of them. That damn thing was a curse. A  literal one. And his father knew that as well as he did.                       
       
           



       

As closely guarded as the secret was, every member of the Avanov family  knew that the Unity, signed between Thurban and the Norin king after the  invasion, formed the backbone of the Dmitri Curse on the Avanov  bloodline.

Four hundred years before, Dmitri had declared that a Norin princess  would marry a crown prince and she would give birth to a son who would  destroy the Avanov dynasty and the empire. If the prophecy was true,  Lukan doubted any method of birth control devised by man would prevent  that child's conception.

If Lynx was the Norin princess prophesied about, she would dump a traitorous son into his lap.

Not something any prospective emperor wanted.

Six weeks ago, Lukan had taken his courage in both hands and pointed out  this undisputed fact to his father. His crazy old man had taken  exception. But instead of the clash of fists Lukan expected, his father  had announced that Lukan was to marry Lynx-and, even more inexplicably,  commanded Tao to wed Kestrel.