Rebel's Honor(34)

Chapter 22





Furious with Axel for humiliating him in front of Lynx-not to mention  flirting with her-Lukan engaged in no conversation, barring an  occasional grunt, as Axel led him deeper and deeper into the forest.

His cousin didn't seem interested in conversation, either; his eyes scanned the ground for fresh game spoor.

Face hard, Lukan hacked away at the overhanging branches and brambles  barring his way, relishing an opportunity to vent his anger.

As yet, he had no idea what to do about Lynx.

After the distressing vision of her son-their son-and her army, followed  by the game of tiles with Axel and Tao, sleep had been impossible.  Before dawn, he'd left the palace to go riding, happily skipping his  prenuptial breakfast. He'd hoped the fresh forest air and the absence of  Felix's ever-present cameras and recording devices would help him  decide what to do about his upcoming marriage.

It hadn't.

The problem was, every time he thought of Lynx, his manhood hardened.  That made rational decision-making almost impossible. Why reject a woman  when he craved her? And, despite the vision, he wasn't yet convinced he  was the victim of the prophecy. What a great shame to miss bedding the  sexiest woman in Chenaya because of a curse that didn't apply to him.

Hours dribbled by, with no sign of a stag.

Lukan's horse quivered as it struggled through the forest up the  mountain slope. Gullies, fallen trees, moss-covered rocks, and snagging  creepers snaked across the spongy black ground, all contriving to make  it an exhausting ride.

He rubbed sweat from his eyes. It may have been cool in the forest, but  he was steaming from exertion. With one hand, he unbuttoned his velvet  waistcoat, wishing he could call a quit to the hunt. But that would be  admitting defeat, tantamount to saying Axel was tougher than he was.  Axel would exploit that forever. So, as long as Axel kept riding, he  would, too.                       
       
           



       

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Lukan pulled to a stop.

Axel had dismounted yet again and studied the forest floor, looking for spoor. He looked up, excitement lighting his eyes.

"Fresh tracks. Come." Showing no sign of fatigue, Axel remounted.

A stag flashed through the undergrowth to Lukan's right.

Whooping with delight, Lukan wheeled his horse around and set off after him.

"He's mine!" Lukan shouted to Axel as he jumped his horse over yet another fallen tree.

Axel's hard laughter rang out. "Not if there's any tracking involved."

Lukan grimaced. Spending his youth in the archive and his observatory  while Axel served in the military meant his cousin was, by far, the  better tracker.

The stag disappeared back into the brush. Lukan pulled his horse up,  looking for an easy way around the brambles, thistle, and low-hanging  branches.

"If you want something, go and get it, Lukan," Axel said, shooting his  horse through the undergrowth as if it were lush meadow grass.

Antlers swept back, the stag bolted deeper into the trees.

"The motto of your life, isn't it, Axel? Take what you want, when you want it, just because it's there."

"Is this me you're talking about, or you?" Axel shouted back, swatting  branches away from his face. "Now shut up and ride, or the bugger will  get away."

Considering the speed with which Axel was chasing Lukan's trophy, he  didn't have time to object to his cousin's command. He slapped his horse  sharply on the rump with his riding crop and ducked low as it powered  into the thicket. Cursing at the new collection of scratches he was  garnering, he focused on the prize.

It was high time he bagged a kill; his last few hunts had been dismal,  with either Axel or Tao riding home with the antlers. His father had  been particularly mocking about those failures. Despite being an adult  on the brink of matrimony, that criticism still burned.

Lukan pulled out his bow and arrow, but the brambles were too thick to consider shooting.

Eyes wild, the stag broke out of the underwood. Kicking up creepers and mud, it wove through the trees, up the hill.

Axel let fly an arrow, but it went wide as his horse stumbled. He swore.  "The horses are too tired for this, and we still have hours before we  get home."

"Yours, maybe. Not mine." Lukan would not fail again. He kneed his mount  around Axel and kicked it into action. It whinnied as he forced it  after the stag.

"Lukan, stop!" Axel called.

Lukan ignored him, riding on. He had not gone more than twenty paces  when he saw the stag silhouetted against a backdrop of trees, its  magnificent antlers tauntingly close at hand.

The perfect shot.

He pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and sent it after the stag.

It missed.

With renewed energy, the stag sprang away into the brush.

"Dragon's curses." Lukan let fly another couple of arrows and was rewarded with a triumphant twang as steel bit into flesh.

The stag screamed. But instead of falling, it took off, scrambling  through the trees. Lukan slumped in his saddle as Axel looked at him in  disgust.

"Nice shot, cousin. As much as it burns me, we have to leave a wounded animal in the forest."

"What do you mean?" Adrenaline and humiliation sent a spike of energy  through Lukan. He kicked his horse into action, shouting over his  shoulder, "The stag's mine, and I have a perfect blood spoor to follow  now."

"Have you been watching the time?" Axel didn't move from his spot. "I'll send some servants to take care of it."

Shocked by Axel's unsportsmanlike comment-no one ever left a wounded  animal in the forest-Lukan peered at the sky through the almost  impenetrable canopy of trees.

Dusk was creeping in.

Trust the soldier to notice details like that.

It fueled his irritation.

"You're quite capable of getting us back in the dark, Axel." As Lukan set off, following the blood, he heard Axel swear.

"There's a ball tonight. Or have you forgotten?"

Lukan groaned. Either way, he was going to earn his father's ire. He  made a quick decision. "We've tracked this confounded animal all day.  I'm not stopping now for some stupid ball."

"Fine." Axel swung his horse around. "I'll take care of Lynx for you."

Wrong decision!

Lukan's blood turned to ice. His cousin had not gone more than a few  paces when Lukan pulled up at his side. "The hell you will. She's mine,  so you keep your paws off her."

"Or what, Lukan?" Axel shot back, not even bothering to make eye contact.

"You forget that I'll be your emperor, Axel." Lukan waved his riding  crop for emphasis. "It will be in my power to cut you off from  everything you value. Kill you, even."                       
       
           



       

Axel shrugged. "Please. Don't make me laugh. You know as well as I do that you need my talents too much to risk losing me."

Lukan wanted to deny that he needed Axel, but he couldn't. All his life,  he'd known he didn't have the stuff that made an Avanov emperor great,  the same stuff Axel oozed from every pore. It was one of the reasons his  father hated him.

Axel, on the other hand, was the perfect Avanov. Axel's brand of  strutting, conquering arrogance had always been encouraged in Avanov  men.

Try as he might, Lukan could never match his cousin's absolute  confidence that everything he did was right, and that he would always  win every battle. It went way beyond injustice. And Lukan was supremely  tired of it. He twitched his crop, thinking hard about cracking Axel  with it.

That would give the bastard something to think about.

Axel's eyebrows quirked, first at Lukan's grim expression and then at  the crop. His cousin surprised him by saying, "Nothing would make me  happier than you taking a shot, Lukan. After all, I'm the one who spent  my childhood trying to teach you to stand up to bullies."

Lukan flushed, and his jaw locked mulishly. "My father wasn't just a bully."

"True." Axel rubbed his ribs, a telling gesture. His cousin had received  more than his fair share of kicks from Mad Mott. "Still-"

Axel eyed him expectantly, but Lukan knew he would have to be far angrier than this to ever risk hitting his cousin.

Axel sighed, looking disappointed. After a moment, he said, "Lukan, we  both know why we put up with each other. I'll be your Lord of the  Conquest, and you'll wear the shiny emperor hat. You'll use my brain,  and together we'll rule the world. That way, we both get want we want.  Isn't that right?"

Lukan scoffed at the inference that Axel was more intelligent than he,  but he wasn't going to argue about that now. "That doesn't mean Lynx is  yours."

"I think we should leave that to Lynx to decide." Axel kneed his horse  into a fast trot. "She's as intelligent as she is beautiful. She'll  figure out who to give her heart to."