Rebel's Honor(64)

Lukan cleared his throat. "You can explain those details to Morass when  you brief him." He turned to leave, then paused and pointed at his  uncle's informa. "I will see myself out. Program my eye to your door  scanner."

Felix slipped his informa into his pocket and pulled out his filthy  handkerchief again. After a show of nose and mouth wiping, he said,  "That is not possible, Highness. At the moment, Morass obeys you. As you  know, I have had trouble changing the commands on the ice crystal, and  thus, he has already betrayed me, twice. I would hate for it to happen  for a third time, particularly with a command as important as this one."                       
       
           



       

Lukan couldn't stop his head from shaking. So this was it: the moment he  was expected to pledge his soul by becoming complicit in regicide. He  glared at Felix, but his objection was pointless.

Wishing he could lock himself away in his archives forever, he took the  vial of poison and the crossbow his uncle held out to him and made his  way to Morass.





Chapter 39





Axel strode through the palace toward Lynx's apartment. How could Lukan  be so stubborn? Did he not see that assassinating Mott was the only  workable solution to their problem?

Axel swiped his hand against a statue of some long-forgotten emperor,  wishing it were Lukan's face he was hitting. His cousin was a  weak-willed coward. For years, Axel had tried to persuade Lukan to stand  up to his father. Again and again, he had explained the psyche of a  bully, hoping it would help his cousin understand-and manage-Mott. But  Lukan had given no heed to his counsel, preferring instead to let him or  Tao take his punishments for him.

Now Lukan would die for that failure.

Axel took the stairs to Lynx's apartment two at a time. It surprised him  to see no sentries at the top of landing. Stefan had changed the roster  this morning, putting two of his men here to guard Lynx. Why had his  father withdrawn them? He sped up, jogging to the doorway of the sitting  room Lynx and her sister shared.

The sound of raised voices pulled him up short.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Tao and Kestrel sat together on the sofas,  deep in conversation. If anything had happened to Lynx, Tao, at least,  would not just be sitting around. Lynx had to be in her bed chamber,  giving her sister the chance to speak with her betrothed. Kestrel's  angry voice reached him. Torn between his need to barge in to join Lynx  and his respect for Tao's privacy, he hesitated at the door.

"I needed you today, Tao," Kestrel shrilled, "and you weren't there for  me. Do you have any idea how terrible it was in that maze? I got  punched-punched!-by some girl who wanted my bracelets, even though I saw  them first."

Axel decided to slip past them to find Lynx. He had just entered the  room, when Kestrel said, "Do you mind? I'm having a private conversation  here."

Axel held up his hands. "Sorry. Just looking for Lynx." He smiled at the  purple bruising around her right eye. His eyes dropped to her wrist.  Yes, a pair of golden bracelets. He wondered what damage her opponent  now sported if Kestrel had won the trophy.

"This is too much," Kestrel insisted. "Can't you hear that I am talking to Tao? Just leave."

Tao pulled a face at Axel and mouthed, "Sorry,"

Axel shrugged and stepped back into the passageway. Loath to move too  far from Lynx, he leaned his elbow on the windowsill and stared out into  the night. He heard Tao sigh.

"Look, I've already told you, I'm really sorry you got hit. But I did try to warn-"

"Tao," Kestrel interrupted sharply. "Are you going to spend our whole marriage chasing after my sister?"

Reluctant eavesdropper though he was, Axel frowned. Every time he'd  spotted Tao and Kestrel at the ball, her eyes had been fixed on Lukan.

"That's not fair." Tao sounded aggrieved, as if he, too, were aware of  Kestrel's double standard. "Lynx and I are friends, nothing more."

"That's nonsense! My sister would rather walk barefoot over burning  coals than make friends with a Chenayan. So why did you insist on  running after her? I asked you to stay with me after I finally escaped  that hideous maze."

"You're wrong about Lynx. I know a friend when I meet one, so I couldn't  just leave it when she disappeared. That's not what friends do."

"It is a maze, and you didn't chase after me, even though I'm supposed to be your betrothed."

"You went through the archway so fast, I knew it would be pointless to  follow. I would never have found you." Another sigh from Tao. "And I  wouldn't have had to if you had stayed with me as I asked."

Axel rolled his eyes, feeling nothing but pity for Tao. Marriage to  Kestrel wasn't going to be fun. Tao's pain was almost enough to console  him regarding his own situation. Almost, but not quite. He tapped his  fingers on the windowsill, wishing they would finish this argument so he  could get to Lynx.

Kestrel's voice droned on. "All I wanted was to have some fun. You could have shared the moment with me."

"The maze isn't a moment I want to share with anyone. But I get that  you're cross, and I'm sorry if you feel I neglected you." Tao's voice  had a tone of finality to it.                       
       
           



       

Axel straightened up and was about to walk back to the room when his  cousin added in a sharper voice, "Now I need an apology and a change of  behavior from you."

Axel stopped.

Tao said, "I want you to spend less time staring at my brother."

The couch springs squeaked as if someone had stood. "So I'm not allowed  to acknowledge the Crown Prince of All Chenaya and the Conquered  Territories?"

Another creak of furniture, and Tao said, "Acknowledgement is one thing. Stalking is quite something else."

"Really, Tao, listen to yourself. I honestly don't know how you can  accuse me of something as ridiculous as that. I haven't spoken one word  to your brother since I got here." A guilty laugh followed. Then Kestrel  said, "Perhaps we both need to work on . . . things."

"I would appreciate that."

Kestrel cleared her throat, then said, "Maybe our . . . first kiss would help."

Spare me! Axel slumped against the wall and buried his thumb and  forefinger into the corners of his eyes. Thankfully, the sounds of  kissing were brief, painfully so for a man and woman standing on the  brink of wedlock.

Tao's voice rang out. "I'm starving. Let's track down dinner."

"But my black eye-"

"You're going to be my wife. No one will dare say anything," Tao interrupted, heading toward the door.

Axel intercepted Tao, who held Kestrel's arm. Tao gave him a strained smile.

"You're still here?" Kestrel demanded.

"Like I said, I'm looking for Lynx." He smiled at Tao and, guessing he was stirring the pot, asked, "Have you seen her?"

Kestrel shot Tao a warning look, grabbed Tao's hand, and started dragging him toward the doorway.

Axel strode over to Lynx's door and, without bothering to knock, opened it a crack. "Hey, you here? I have news. Of a kind."

There was no answer, so he pushed the door open wide.

The room was deserted.

The first jolts of fear bit into him. He loped to the bathroom and  banged on the door. When no one replied, he pushed that door open, too,  and faced another empty room. That left her dressing room. A quick  search revealed it was empty, with everything in its place.

He stood still, thinking. If Lynx had been wearing a gemstone, he could  have traced her on his informa. Without that, finding her would require a  visit to his father's lair to trawl through all the palace cameras-a  task that would take hours.

Could she be with Lukan? Although that seemed unlikely, it was the only  rational explanation, beyond things he didn't want to imagine. They  would probably be in the great hall, preparing to attend the dinner with  the dignitaries invited to the wedding.

That made sense.

Walking fast, he made his way to the great hall, down passages and  hallways devoid of any signs of two impending royal weddings. He stopped  at the double doors and looked at the imperial dais at the top of the  hall.

Neither Lynx nor Lukan were there.

A fresh wave of fear hit him, chilling him to the core. He folded his  arms to calm his pounding heart and roved his eyes over the tables.

A hand painted with intricate henna designs slipped under his arm. "You  look troubled, Ax." Malika's dancing brown eyes were questioning. Her  cerise silk gown gleamed in the torchlight like a living thing.

He gave his sister a strained smile. "Have you seen Lynx?"

"Don't tell me you've managed to lose her, too." She grinned at him.  "She's going to think Chenayan men a pretty useless lot if you and Tao  are anything to go by."