Rebel's Honor(23)

Kestrel leaped to her feet and sank into a low curtsy. Behind him, Lynx  gulped. Then, she stepped out to face Mott. Axel held his breath.

After a moment's hesitation, she bobbed a knee. Probably a major  concession from a Chenayan-hating rebel, but it was not nearly good  enough to satisfy his uncle.

Axel damned Bear under his breath.

As expected, the emperor's complexion changed from bronzed olive to blotchy red. A single vein throbbed in his throat.

Axel rushed to finish the introductions before his uncle ruptured  something. "Sire, may I present the Princesses Lynx and Kestrel of  Norin?"

The only reply was a sharp intake of breath. It didn't come from the  emperor. Axel swiveled to identify the source of the interruption. It  was Lukan.

Of course.

Bottom lip hanging, his cousin gaped at Lynx's slim form, packaged in  the leg-baring black dress. All he needed was to start drooling.

Despite Lynx being Lukan's betrothed, Axel stiffened.

The emperor's head snapped back to face Lynx, flinty eyes scrutinizing her with pitiless implacability.

Lynx returned his stare with a defiant blue beam of her own.

Axel grimaced, doubting anyone on the planet had ever withstood Mott's  glare, let alone tried to intimidate him. Hadn't anyone in Norin  bothered telling Lynx that challenging Emperor Mott was a dangerous  pastime? Still, Axel held his breath as Mott directed his malevolent  stare back to Lukan.

Axel doubted his cousin even noticed. Lukan was transfixed by Lynx, lost, drowning in an ocean of pheromones.

The emperor swung back to Lynx, fixing her with a predatory smile.  "Princess Lynx, may your time in the Heartland be fruitful, and may all  your children be sons." Mad Mott pounded out the door, clearly expecting  the rest of them to follow him.

Axel shook his head, unable to believe the emperor's unexpected reaction  to Lynx and her dress. But then, with someone as crazy as Mott,  anything was possible.

When neither Lukan nor Tao moved to follow their father, Axel gestured  to the door. "Come, Lynx, Kestrel. The dining hall is this way."

Before Lynx and Kestrel moved, Tao grabbed Axel's arm. "You are joining us for this dinner, aren't you?" Tao sounded desperate.

Axel knew his limits. To be trapped for hours watching his cousin  salivate over Lynx was more than he could cope with. "I've done my bit.  Now it's up to you." He left the hall without a backward glance.



* * *



Lynx watched Axel leave with something akin to panic. His face and  manner were familiar, a possible foil between her and Lukan. As stupid  as it was, her stomach clenched at the thought that, by leaving, he was  throwing her to the wolves.

She sucked in a steadying breath and fixed her eyes on Lukan. I'm here to marry this man. Get used to it.

Lukan offered her his arm. "My princess." He cocked his head toward the door.

Lynx laid a tentative hand on his forearm. Her confidence soared;  Lukan's arm shook. She shot a sideways look at his face. Serene and  handsome-regal, even-it showed none of the tension she could feel in his  trembles.

So her betrothed knew how to put on a convincing show? It was an act far  better than her own. Perhaps Lukan Avanov had things to teach her about  surviving here.

Lukan must have noticed her scrutiny because he gave a half laugh as he  steered her toward the door. "I trust you aren't planning to knock my  teeth out like you were during the summer."

"That all depends on you." Lynx smiled at him. "Treat me like an equal  and not a plaything, and we should be-" Her voice trailed off. She was  about to say fine, but that was a lie. She would never be "fine" with a  Chenayan.

Lukan snorted as he led her down a wide passage, painted with an  intricate hunting scene mural. "We're getting married, Lynx. In two  days, all this . . . unease between us will be a thing of the past. Or  at least, that is what I'm hoping for."

A shiver trilled down her spine, but she suppressed it, hoping he  wouldn't notice. She was honor-bound to marry this man. Something she  could never forget, no matter how much his touch chilled her.                       
       
           



       

They passed a group of high-born. The men's jaws dropped, and the women  tittered. The women wore jeweled-colored, bustled gowns in the richest  silks.

They made her black, cotton-and-lace dress look shabby. For the second  time since leaving home, Lynx's cheeks burned at her clothing-something  so pathetic that, in the past, she'd never spared a second thought  about.

The high-borns' reaction obviously didn't please Lukan, because he smacked his hand hard against his thigh.

The noise ripped the group from their gaping. Heads bent, they dropped hasty bows or curtsies.

Lynx shot Lukan a tentative smile, grateful he'd rescued her.

Once past the crowd, Lukan ruined his gallantry by saying, "I don't  appreciate other men ogling what's mine. In the future, please ensure  you dress appropriately. I'm sure Mother Saskia provided you with a list  of approved styles."

Lynx bristled; he still hadn't agreed that she was his equal and not his  toy. She forced a calm she didn't feel into her voice. "Marriage  doesn't buy me, Lukan."

Lukan stiffened next to her. "I'm to be your husband. I think that's enough."

They reached a doorway into a dark space.

Lynx steeled herself against her racing pulse as Lukan swept her into a  room dominated by a long, baronial table. Heavy tapestries draped the  walls, absorbing the torchlight. Still, from what she could make out,  the room was easily twice the size of the Norin council tent. That made  it the second largest brick-and-mortar room she'd ever seen, after the  assembly hall where she'd first sighted Lukan.

Nothing here reminded her of home.

Mott's booming voice cut short her musings. "Lukan, Tao, show the  princesses to their seats. I can't be bothered with introductions."

Lynx did a quick head count as Lukan guided her to an uncomfortable-looking wooden chair at the head of the table opposite Mott.

Fifteen men-the current leaders of the high-born families the she-witch  had spoken about, Lynx presumed-flanked both sides of the table. Candles  on the table cast eerie, waving shadows across their faces, but from  the combined weight of their watchful gazes, she guessed they were here  to inspect her and Kestrel.

The susurrus that rippled through the room as she stepped closer suggested both shock and amazement at her dress.

It was becoming tedious.

Many an eye turned to the emperor; clearly, his high-born were as  surprised as she was by his tacit acceptance of her rebellion. The  emperor sat in his throne-like chair, surveying the gathering with a  hard line to his jaw.

Another spurt of confidence shot through Lynx, and her steps lightened.  What did it matter what these people thought of her and her clothes? She  knew who she was and what she was doing here. She'd marry their  arrogant crown prince, find the answer to their guardsmen's powers-and  then spend the rest of her life looking for a way to destroy them and  their empire. The brazen idea sent a secret thrill of delight down her  spine.

She forced herself back to reality.

The only other woman in the room sat to Mott's right. Lynx knew Mott's  wife had died in childbirth, delivering Tao. Or that is what rumor said.  He had never remarried, so she guessed the twenty-something beauty with  hennaed hair and a sapphire next to her right eye was his mistress.

The rasping of wood on stone pulled Lynx's attention back to Lukan. His  hand rested on the back of her chair. He waited for her to sit before  sliding into a chair next to her. So close to him, their elbows almost  touched. She just managed to resist the urge to pull away. How was she  supposed to get physical with him when she couldn't bear his touch?

He leaned in, and she could feel his hot breath on her exposed cleavage.  "You certainly know how to stir things up. Warn me, is this something  you plan on continuing with once we're married?"

Could he read her thoughts? Lynx's chest tightened, and her breathing stuttered.

"Lynx, are you okay? You're very pale." Like a lifeline, Kestrel's voice reached her from across the table.

After another deeper, more calming breath, she muttered, "It's the heat.  Winds know, there's no ventilation here. But I'm fine now." She forced a  smile at Kestrel and Tao.

Although she had seen Tao before, she was struck by his beautiful blue  eyes and silvery blond hair. He needed only beads and feathers in his  hair and a change of clothing-no Norin would be seen dead in a brocade  waistcoat-and he could pass for a raider. It was strangely comforting,  if illusory.

"Heat?" Lukan asked, his voice low, probably to prevent the attentive  high-born sitting around them from hearing him. "I suppose you would  think that, after living in a tent."