Empress Game: The Empress Game Trilogy Book 1 (45 page)

He didn’t answer, seeming without words to reply to such a statement. She held out the hologram biostrip for him but he didn’t move.

“Take it.”

They stared each other down, and finally she dropped her hand.

“You don’t need me anymore,” she said. It was the truth she had come to this week, the realization that had set her free.

“How can you say that?” His soft words inflamed her doubt, but the facts didn’t change.

“You need
someone
, but it no longer has to be me.”

“Kayla—”

“You needed me to win the Empress Game. I’ve done that, it’s over. Now you need someone to be a diplomat, a politician. Any number of women with a background in such things would be a better choice, as long as their size is close enough to Isonde’s to make the hologram work.”

She held the biostrip out to him again. “She’ll need this.”

He looked at her outstretched hand, then back to her. “Am I correct in assuming you mean to leave with your brothers?”

“In about two hours’ time.” She tossed the biostrip toward an ornamental table but it hit the lip and fell to the carpet. Neither made a move to retrieve it.

“And just like that, you’re done with this.” He blew out a slow breath. “Done with us.”

She would never be done with him—she never wanted to be.

But she knew where she belonged.

“You’ll find someone else for the ruse.”

“Where, Kayla? Answer me that. Where would I find someone I could trust with this?”

“The IDC.”

“After Janeen, and what we learned from her defection?” He gave a bitter laugh. “Try again.”

Though she felt anything but indifferent, she shrugged one shoulder.

His eyes narrowed on the movement. “Don’t tell me you don’t care.”

“Of course I care. I wouldn’t have stayed all this time if I didn’t care.” And she wouldn’t be feeling like she was betraying him if she didn’t care. “You took a chance on me once, you can take a chance on someone else.”

“Not your problem, huh?”

Her plan to remain stoic broke down. She crossed the distance to him, laid a hand on his arm and he covered it with his own.

The neutrality faded from his expression, letting his hurt show. “How can you walk away from me?”

“How can I stay while my
il’haars
leave? I was born to be their
ro’haar
. It’s who I am.”

“You are so much more than their
ro’haar
, Kayla.”

She pulled back a little. “I am
thankful
to be their
ro’haar
. You can’t know what it’s like, to be one half of a bonded pair. I am less without my
il’haars
, not more.”

“Are you less when you’re with me?”

She couldn’t lie to push him away. “Of course not.” He filled the spaces of her life in a way her brothers never could. “It is different, not less.”

He brushed his fingertips over her cheek. “But it’s not enough?”

“I can’t have both.”

“And you have chosen them over me.”

She could tell him of the struggle that raged within her, heart over soul, loyalty over desire, family over lover. The urge to change her mind that gripped her even now. None of it would be explanation enough.

His hand dropped and he glanced back at her bag. “You have made the choice without talking to me, without giving me time to change your mind, or time to understand and agree.” His lips tightened. “You are not the only person whose life changes with this decision, Kayla.”

“But I am the only one who could make it.” Even if it split her heart down the middle.

He looked furious and lost, and so achingly dear that she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

“I will never see you again,” he said into her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut. Imperial travel would never be allowed in Wyrd Space, even if the Ordochian occupation ended. And if a peaceful accord couldn’t be reached, if their two sides somehow went to war…

“Forgive me?” she asked.

He held her even tighter. “Would Vayne forgive you if you’d chosen me over him?”

The comm chirped, and Tia’tan’s voice broke them apart. “Kayla, you need to get to the ship.”

She stared into Malkor’s eyes, unwilling to be parted. “I thought I had another hour.”

“So did we.” Tia’tan’s tone sent Kayla into business mode. She crossed to the comm unit by the door and hit the vid switch. Tia’tan’s face appeared, with Vayne in the background, pacing the forward cabin of a ship.

“What’s going on?”

“Our launch window has been ‘frozen.’”

“But the flight plan was approved twenty-seven hours ago.” She looked to Malkor, who pulled out his mobile comm and dialed someone up. He turned away to speak.

Vayne leaned past Tia’tan’s shoulder toward the screen. “Kayla, you need to get up here now. Right now.”

“I bet hundreds of launch windows have been delayed in the last few days.” Surely no one would mess with the Ilmenans’ launch window, though. Wyrds were the last people anyone on Falanar wanted hanging around right now.

Noar appeared. “We’re getting orders from the launch deck to power down the engines and prepare for an ‘inspection.’”

“There is no way I’m doing that,” Tia’tan said. “Prep for embarkation. Kayla, you need to get here five minutes ago.”

“On my way. Switch to my mobile comm and keep me updated.” She sprinted for her bag and Malkor followed her out the door. “I need a ride,” she called out, “my transport doesn’t leave for an hour.”

Malkor nodded, still in a terse conversation on the mobile. Whoever it was, they weren’t delivering good news.

They burst through the front door and into the street. Malkor suddenly gripped her arm, halting her before she could shake him off. “We have to go—”

“Stop, Kayla. The Ilmenan ship won’t get off the space dock.”

She broke free and started down the street again without waiting for an answer. This time when he grabbed her she couldn’t wrench away.

“The imperial military’s after them. This isn’t an ‘inspection,’ they’re being arrested as war criminals.”

“They’re locking down the docking clamps,” she heard Tia’tan say over her comm. “Get an override going.”

“Kayla,” there was a note of pleading in Vayne’s voice that killed her to hear. “Please. You have to get here now. If we wait much longer, we won’t be able to leave.”

What the frutt was going on?

She struggled against Malkor as he gripped her other arm. “I have to leave!”

“Listen,” he said, “listen! They found out who supplied Trebulan with the activated TNV.”

The comm tucked into her ear buzzed with frenzied conversation.

Tia’tan: “Their military demands our surrender? What the void for?”

Vayne: “They’re saying we did
what
?!”

Noar: “I can override the lockdown but it’ll only last minutes, maybe three.”

Corinth: “We can’t leave without Kayla!”

Tia’tan: “Kayla, are you coming? They’re starting to target us with the station’s weapons.”

Corinth: “I can disrupt their sensor array. Please! I’ll do it right now while we wait for Kayla, to give her more time.”

Foreign voice: “This is General Solcath of the Imperial Military, Prime World Division. Prepare to be boarded and taken into custody. If you resist in any way—”

Vayne: “I can NOT be taken prisoner again. I—” his voice was so fierce it shook. “I will not. I will
not
.”

Tia’tan: “I’m firing up the engines. Noar, get ready with that override.”

Vayne: “Kayla— I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

General Solcath: “Power down your engines now or your ship will be disabled with all necessary force.”

“No!” Kayla shouted. “Vayne, I’m coming. I’m coming! Do you hear me?” She took off at a run and Malkor let her go. “
Wait
for me!”

Vayne: “I can’t, Kayla. Tia, do it now!”

Tia’tan: “Engines lit. Prepare to override on my mark. Kayla—I’m sorry. My priority is to get as many Wyrds home safely as I can. Ready, Noar? Mark.”

The rest was ship noise and engines roaring and the military shouting threats and then…

“Vayne? Corinth?”

Silence.

She stumbled, fell to her knees, the dead air of the comm suffocating her.

“Vayne?”

Gone.

“Corinth?”

Gone.

A hand rested on her shoulder, a voice quietly said, “They escaped.”

They’d left her behind. Her
il’haars
, they’d left her behind. Left her behind with the man she’d left behind.

Malkor tried to help her stand.

“Leave me alone.”

“You can’t be seen like this, without the hologram. Lady Evelyn has the Virian flu, she’s bedridden. You can’t be seen crying on your knees on the street.”

“I’m not crying. And frutt Lady Evelyn.”

“Kayla.” His voice softened and he knelt next to her. “Kayla. Let’s go back inside.”

“They didn’t do it. The Ilmenans, the TNV, it wasn’t them.” But they did leave her behind.

He was quiet so long that she looked at him, at his frown. “Apparently the evidence is very convincing. The IDC is requesting a review of it, once the military allows us access.”

“It
wasn’t
them.” The vacuum of pain in her was so great that she thought she might implode from it. Only one thought kept her from collapsing. “This will start a war, Wyrds against imperials.”

Malkor nodded.

“This could start a catastrophic war.”

He nodded again.

“We have to prove it wasn’t them.”

He sighed. “We might discover that they
are
in fact responsible.”

“Then we’ll have to ‘prove’ it wasn’t them. By any scheme necessary.”

Let the game begin
.

I
can’t say thank you enough to Diana Botsford and Jen Brooks, the world’s greatest writers and critique partners. They have been with me through thick and thin, and devoted an unfathomable amount of their time to helping me develop this novel and grow as a writer. Here’s to many more book releases in our futures! Thanks also have to go to my mentor, Timons Esaias, who whipped me into shape in graduate school at Seton Hill University (when I needed it most!) and who continues to inspire me to do better. My most heartfelt gratitude goes to my family, and especially the other “Power of Four” ladies: my mum Beverly, and my two sisters, Rosemary and Andrea. I couldn’t imagine life without you, and I wouldn’t have ever made it this far without your unfailing love and support.

I may be verbose, but I can’t express in words the thanks my dear husband, James, deserves. He’s been through endless hours of my talking about writing and characters and plots, and he has somehow managed to appear interested through all of it. I couldn’t ask for a sweeter, more encouraging, more positive partner to go through this life with.

Lastly, I want thank my agent, Richard Curtis, for taking a chance on an unpublished writer, and my editor, Alice Nightingale, for her help in making Kayla even more of a badass. I wouldn’t want
The Empress Game
in anyone else’s hands.

R
honda Mason divides her time between writing, editing, bulldogs and beaching. Her writing spans the gamut of speculative fiction, from space opera to epic fantasy to urban paranormal and back again. The only thing limiting her energy for fantastical worlds is the space-time continuum. When not creating worlds she edits for a living, and follows her marine biologist husband to the nearest beach. In between preserving sea grass and deterring invasive species, she snorkels every chance she gets. Her rescue bulldog, Grace, is her baby and faithful companion. Grace follows her everywhere, as long as she’s within distance of a couch Grace can sleep on. Rhonda is a graduate of the Writing Popular Fiction masters program at Seton Hill University, and recommends it to all genre writers interested in furthering their craft at the graduate level.

You can find Rhonda at
www.RhondaMason.com
.

In the future, the terminally ill can prolong life by surrendering their consciousness to a cybernetic life form that is then recruited into the notorious Legion of the Damned, an elite fighting unit charged with protecting humanity.

LEGION OF THE DAMNED
THE FINAL BATTLE
BY BLOOD ALONE
BY FORCE OF ARMS
FOR THOSE WHO FELL (February 2015)
WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST (March 2015)
WHEN DUTY CALLS (April 2015)
A FIGHTING CHANCE (May 2015)

“Exciting and suspenseful. The humanity of the characters mixes well with the action to give this space drama real punch.”
Publishers Weekly

“The action is as brisk as ever in a Legion yarn. Standard-issue military SF doesn’t get much better than this.”
Booklist

“Plenty of conflict and mayhem… rewarding.”
SFSite

“A superb, action-packed thriller… [a] terrific tale.”
Midwest Book Review

TITAN
BOOKS.COM

When a bloodthirsty power grab on Earth results in the murder of her entire family, wealthy socialite Cat Carletto is forced into hiding. On the run from the ruthless Empress Ophelia, and seeking revenge against the woman who destroyed her family, Cat enlists in the Legion—an elite cyborg fighting force made up of society’s most dangerous misfits.

On the battlefield, Cat Carletto vanishes, and in her place stands Legion recruit Andromeda McKee. As she rises through the ranks, Andromeda has one mission: bring down Empress Ophelia—or die trying.

ANDROMEDA’S FALL
ANDROMEDA’S CHOICE
ANDROMEDA’S WAR

“The action rarely lets up… A page turner.”
Kirkus Reviews

“A likeable protagonist, a ruthless villain, and pounding action.” SF Signal

“The battle scenes are numerous and thrilling; the world feels immersive and authentic; and our heroine is a tough-as-nails badass.” RT Book Reviews