Rebel's Honor(8)

       
           



       

"I marvel daily at the miracle of it." Tension marred Wolf's laughter.  "So, I don't think we want to risk Clay training with me."

"And we won't," her father said, taking back the discussion. "I will be  here to sponsor him. And his mother will provide a feast when he wins."  He fixed his eyes first on Kestrel and then on Lynx. "Mott has not  extended an invitation to us to attend your weddings."

Kestrel burst into tears.

Lynx barely heard her wails. She had won, but at what price? Her  father's sorrow and a wedding to Lukan Avanov she now had to honor.

And what came after that wedding? Lukan would pay in every way possible  for what he had done to her king, her family, and her tribe.





Chapter 5





It had been a miserable day, filled with hugs and commiseration on  Lynx's upcoming nuptials. At sunset, she escaped with her fiddle to the  same grove of acacia trees near the northern gate where she, Clay, and  Heron had repelled the Chenayans.

Heron had offered to keep her company, but she had waved him off with a  sad smile. Her chest ached with sorrow every time she thought of leaving  him. He was her best friend, the person she shared her triumphs and  disasters with. Spending time with him now would only make parting  harder-for both of them.

It was after midnight, and the strains of her fiddle still floated over  the camp. She didn't care. By agreeing to marry Lukan, she had made the  ultimate sacrifice for her people. The least they could do was put up  with her music.

A week had passed since she and her family had gathered in the council  tent. Clay's wounds were on the mend, and she had no doubt he'd be ready  for his next raid by the time she and Kestrel arrived in Cian. Heron  and three other raiders would accompany her and Kestrel to the Chenayan  military base in Tanamre. A general and a priestess would meet them  there, and together, she and Kestrel would travel by train to Cian.  Heron and the other raiders would return home.

And I will never see them again.

As for the thousands of troops at Tanamre? Mott had made it clear that they would be a permanent fixture on Norin soil.

A sudden lull in the chirping of crickets and nightjars alerted her to  someone watching. She spun and saw her father standing in the shadows.

"I know you want to be alone," he said, "but you and I need to talk."

Lynx lowered her fiddle and bow. "Why do I break out into a panic when  you say that?" She grinned. "Oh, yes, maybe it's because you will then  proceed to tell me that I have to marry Lukan."

"And you will threaten to have us all killed if I don't give into your  blackmail. I think we're quits on that one, my Lynxie." He gestured to  the coarse grass. "Can we sit?"

Can we sit? He was obviously wearing his father hat tonight. Lynx  adjusted her thoughts accordingly. She plunked herself down, sitting  cross-legged in her leather trousers, and laid her fiddle and bow across  her lap.

He took a deep breath, finally blowing it out of pursed lips. When he  spoke, his voice was heavy. "We would be idiots not to take advantage of  your presence at the palace, Lynx."

"Intelligence gathering, you mean?" Lynx asked, going for a lighter  tone. "I already have a list." She gave a wry smile. "Number one, find  out what gives the Chenayans superhuman powers. Number two, check out  why they wear those stupid rocks in their faces-I'm sure there is a  correlation. Number three, fulfill my oath to you by marrying that moron  Lukan, though I make you no promises that I won't stick a knife in him  on our wedding night."

Her father didn't even smile. He took her hands in his. "Be careful, my  Lynxie. I know you. You embody all that is best . . . and worst about  the Norin. You shout your mouth off like you own the world. You're  defiant, prideful, and arrogant-"

"Whoa!" Lynx held up her hands. "You say all that like it's a bad thing."

Her father snorted. "The trouble is that I've indulged it. Encouraged  it, even, because I never, not for a minute, believed that Mott would  choose you, when Kestrel would make such a perfect Chenayan empress." He  rubbed his hands across his face. "You know how confident I was that  you would never be chosen."

Lynx nodded. He would never have started training her to take over the raiders if he had believed her destined for Lukan's bed.

"That was my mistake and my deepest regret. I have not prepared you  well-" He snorted again, this time filled with self-loathing. "I have  not prepared you at all for the Chenayan court." His hand brushed her  face. "My Lynxie, Mott and Lukan won't be as tolerant as I have been."  He fixed her with a stare, the same look he always used when extracting  oaths from people. "Swear me an oath that you will do nothing to  antagonize them."                       
       
           



       

That she couldn't do, not when she knew, by her very nature, that it  would be impossible to keep. Even if her father wasn't at the palace to  police and enforce the oath, part of her would die if she wasn't true to  him and herself. She could never live with that.

After a long silence, her father sighed. "We are obligated by the Unity  to marry our daughters off to them, but the Chenayans have never  welcomed their Norin brides. It is not just bad manners that stopped  Mott from inviting your mother and me to your and Kestrel's wedding.  Watch your back, Lynx."

Lynx twirled her feathers and hair. Despite her bravado, what her father  said was true. There were many tales told of Norin brides who vanished  after providing a couple of heirs.

"Stay close to Bear. I have arranged with Mott that you and Kestrel are to stay at his home in Cian until the wedding."

Uncle Bear was her father's brother and emissary at the palace in Cian.  Her father scowled, she guessed more at himself than at her.

"I have charged him with doing what I should have done-teaching you  court protocol. It is very different than how we do things. More formal.  Constricting. You will be under constant scrutiny. Bear will use the  time at his home to educate you. Mind well what he says to you."

From Lynx's brief visit to the palace, she knew just how suffocating the  place was. Fear itched at her, a thousand imaginary ants biting her  skin. "I won't let you down, Father."

"I know you won't. But perhaps my best advice, Lynxie, is to tell you to  trust no one. At least until you have learned your way through their  politics."

Lynx sighed. "Why they still enforce the Unity is a total mystery. You'd  think they'd be tired of blond-haired, blue-eyed emperors."

In reality, enough emperors had ended up heirless, which meant other  dark-haired, dark-eyed Avanovs had filled the throne. It was from one of  these lines that Lukan got his dark looks. It was some consolation,  then, that she and Lukan were not related by blood.

"Generations of Norin have wondered why the Avanovs keep the treaty  alive, and generations of Norin have come up with the same answer-they  just do."

"Maybe I can add that bit of intelligence gathering to my list." Lynx tried for a smile, but her lips wouldn't cooperate.

"As if you don't have enough to worry about." Her father's face hardened, taking on a regal air.

Was he changing hats? Would he now demand-and get-an oath that she wouldn't antagonize Lukan?

"Lynx, I must-"

Lynx interrupted quickly, "The only way we will ever truly defend  ourselves against them is if we know what gives their guardsmen  superhuman powers. As you said, it would be stupid if I didn't use my  position at the court to dig around. I make you an oath, sir," her fist  thumped her heart in salute, "that I will do everything in my power to  find that information for you." She smothered a wince. It had been an  expensive week for oaths, but it could not be helped. This was a promise  she stood a chance of keeping. She would go to Chenaya, as bound to  marry Lukan and be his empress as she was to find the key to  overthrowing his empire.

Her father's face remained inscrutable. Then he smiled, a weary one.  "I've wrestled this past week with this dilemma-to use my daughter for  the good of the tribe or to protect her from harm. On this occasion the  needs of my tribe won out over my duty to my family. That's why I came  to talk to you tonight. I'm grateful you spared me the indignity of  having to ask."

He had never intended to bind her to blind obedience to Lukan and the  emperor? She shook her head in admiration at how skillfully her father  had played her. Her manipulative skills were definitely something she'd  inherited from him.

She grinned in acknowledgement. "You know I will do anything for Norin."

Her father cupped her cheek. "I hope life always looks so black and white for you, Lynx. It's so easy to get lost in the gray."