Age of X01 - Gameboard of the Gods (42 page)

She sighed happily and settled back into her chair. “Fun end to a fun night.”

“What happened tonight?” Justin asked. “Why is Tessa a terrorist?”

That brought the grins back. “She scaled the wall into the National Gardens,” said Dag. “Happens every once in a while. I mean, there’s so much surveillance there that they’re always spotted before they even get to the wall, but they should really cut that fucking tree down.”

Justin didn’t even hear the part about the tree. “Tessa broke into the gardens? Why would she do that?”

“Because kids do that with other kids,” said Val. “And she was drunk.”

Justin nearly dropped his glass. “No. Not her. No way.”

Dag actually looked sympathetic. “I know it’s hard to accept, but no matter how innocent you think they are, teenage girls are always going to do things you don’t want to believe.”

“Oh, I have no delusions about teen girls, believe me. But not her. If you knew her, you’d understand. Hell, she put on her first pair of jeans two weeks ago and still gets freaked out about how cars have no drivers.”

Val laughed. “Well, she was lucky this time, so keep her out of trouble.
Next time federal security drags her in, she may not have two gallant heroes to rescue her.”

“Something tells me there won’t be a repeat.” Justin toyed with his glass and used the opportunity to mull over their story. “How’d you know who she was?”

“Finn—er, Mae—told us everything, and there aren’t that many Panamanian girls wandering Vancouver.” Dag was already eyeing the second bottle. “Then we just tracked you down.”

Justin thought back on recent events. “Mae did too good a job at teaching her to climb trees.”

That made Dag laugh. “She’s good at everything. You should see her in combat.”

Val nodded along with Dag’s words. “I mean, we’re all good, but she’s
really
good. Even before she had the implant, she was kicking ass. She got a lot of crap for being castal when she joined the guard. I think she beat up three people that first day, and no one ever messed with her again. Well, not in our cohort, of course.”

Justin knew enough about prætorians to understand the color-coded system. Their pip color was visible in the dim light. “Red cohort?”

“Scarlet,” they said in unison.

“Why do you call her Finn? She already fits into your monosyllabic club.”

They found that hilarious. “Dag couldn’t remember her name back then,” said Val. “But we could all remember she was Nordic. Hard not to. And ‘Finn’ is a cuter nickname than ‘Swede.’”

Silence fell as the prætorians cracked into their second bottles. Justin still couldn’t get over the weirdness of this situation. Before that miscreant-camp nonsense, even he’d been taken aback when they’d shown up at his door. The faces…the posture…those uniforms. His own heart had nearly stopped. He’d also seen Mae in action enough to appreciate just how lethal prætorians could be.

Which made it completely ludicrous that he now had two of them before him, trying desperately to get drunk as they made wisecracks and congratulated themselves over a prank played on a teenage girl. The
government took nearly 40 percent of his paycheck, and he felt kind of affronted that this was what his taxes paid for.

“And so you guys are guarding the gardens?”

Dag nodded. “Yup. Pretty sweet deal. Easy work and lots of time off.”

“I’m free tomorrow night,” said Val meaningfully.

“I kind of miss the field.” Dag stared wistfully at his bottle. “I’m ready for action.”

Val touched his arm. “Soon enough. Maybe we’ll go together. Maybe Finn too. They can’t stick her with this job forever.” She glanced up at Justin. “No offense.”

That instinct rose up in Justin, the one that said something was about to happen. “Why would I be offended?” He examined her words. “And what do you mean she’s stuck?”

“You don’t know?” Val looked legitimately puzzled. “You’re punishment.”

“That’s harsh. I mean, someone had to be with him, right? It’s not like they just designed this job to teach her a lesson.” Dag turned thoughtful. “But I don’t think she would’ve gotten it if she hadn’t done what she did. She’d be with us in the gardens.”

The big man sounded sad, but there was almost an accusatory note in his voice. Justin didn’t know if it was directed toward him, Mae, or some other mysterious factor. All he knew was that he was being left behind in this conversation, and he needed to catch up. The idea of his being someone’s punishment didn’t make any sense.

Horatio laughed, inasmuch as a raven could.
Right. Because how could your company be anything but a delight?

“What did she do? Why is she being taught a lesson?”

Val and Dag exchanged looks. Their happy-go-lucky natures had vanished. “I don’t know if we should tell,” said Dag slowly. “I mean, if she hasn’t told him, maybe she doesn’t want him to know.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a big secret,” Val pointed out, a bit of her swagger returning. “Hell, practically every prætorian knows the Ballad of Mae and Porfirio.” She laughed at her own word choice, and Dag soon joined in.

But Justin wasn’t amused. He was too caught up in the glimmer of insight he was starting to feel. “Porfirio…that’s him, isn’t it? The beach guy.”

Val turned from Dag. “She
did
tell you.”

“No…not exactly.” How could he explain all the telltale signs he’d gathered? The way she wouldn’t meet his eyes when any whisper of this came up, the way her whole body went still. “I just kind of guessed something was going on.”

“Oh, believe me, I don’t think you could guess all of this. It’s one of those stranger-than-fiction things.” She looked back at Dag. “Do you want to tell it?”

“You start,” he said. “I’ll correct you when you’re wrong.”

She elbowed him with a force that would’ve knocked an ordinary person out of his chair. “I know the story. I was there when it happened.”

“So stop wasting time, and tell it,” Dag ordered.

“Fine, fine.” Val took a deep breath. “So, about two years ago, we were at this party. Since it was an election year, they had a bunch of us in town—it’ll happen later this year too. Too many important people around who need protection. Guarding politicians is a lot like guarding the gardens. Lots of ceremony, lots of time off—and lots of ree parties. One night, this guy—Maize, I think—rented out a whole hall. I swear, half the guard was there.”

“Wasn’t it his engagement party?” interjected Dag.

“Maybe. I don’t remember.”

“See? I knew you wouldn’t.”

“I know the important parts,” she snapped.

“The party,” said Justin, trying to get them back on track. “Ree. Half the guard.”

“Right,” said Val. “Okay, so yeah. Lots of us there, lots of us trashed. Dag’s walking to the bar and overhears this group of Indigos. One of them’s bragging how he used to do
canne de combat
. Do you know that sport?”

“I must’ve missed that somewhere,” Justin told her.

“It’s nuts,” said Dag. “Imagine fencing with wooden poles. And a lot of acrobatics.”

Justin could not imagine that. “It’s a real sport?”

“Yup. Finn’s awesome at it.” Dag looked as proud as he would have been of a star pupil. “Castals really dig it, but you find plebeian leagues too.”

Val was ready to move on with the story. “So, this Indigo guy, Porfirio, is—was—an ex-castal. Iberian.” Outside Mae’s caste, Justin realized. “And so, he’s there bragging about how great he used to be, and
someone
feels the need to call him out.” She paused and shot a glare at Dag.

“Hey,” he said, throwing his hands up indignantly. “You should have heard him. He was an arrogant prick. He
always
was, right up to the end. He needed to be put in his place.”

Val pointed accusingly. “If you’d kept your mouth shut, none of this would’ve happened.”

Dag fell silent, contemplating her words.

“So,” she continued. “Dag tells this guy—Porfirio—how his cohort sister could totally kick his ass. This gets the Indigos all riled up, and everyone starts making bets. The next thing I know, Porfirio’s swaggering up to the table I’m at with Finn, ready for a fight she doesn’t even know about.”

“Arrogant. Prick,” muttered Dag.

“That one Azure guy was hitting on her, you know.” Val’s brow furrowed in thought. “Albright, that’s it. He’s a nice guy. If you’d left well enough alone, she might have gone home with him. It would’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

“Stop getting on me for stuff that’s already happened!” Now Dag pointed reproachfully at her. “And you know it never would’ve worked with Albright. She’s all stiffly proper in every part of her life, except relationships. Then she somehow ends up with the most messed-up guys out there. Cocky. Full of themselves. Makes me want to punch all of them.”

Justin shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

Somehow, despite constantly distracting each other, the two of them managed to relate the most bizarre story about Mae wagering sex in a fight involving sticks. In his mind’s eye, he could perfectly picture
Mae—fast, deadly, graceful—engaging in this duel. He leaned forward, riveted by the drama of the story.

“It was all foreplay,” said Val as she neared the ending. “You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.”

“What happened?” asked Justin. “Who won?”

Both Val and Dag hesitated. “I’m not really sure,” she said.

“
What?
I thought you guys were there.”

“Oh, we were,” she said adamantly. “But it just went on forever. We got bored, and then this fight broke out in the Violets because one of them was cheating or something…so, we all just went over there.”

Justin was stunned. How could Val and Dag have been leading up to this big, climactic moment, only to drop the story now? Even more incredible was how blasé they were about it.

It doesn’t inspire much faith in the country’s defenses, does it?
asked Horatio.

Justin agreed.
Let’s just hope they’re more competent on the battlefield.

“I think she won,” said Dag. “Porfirio cut his hair the next day.”

“No,” said Val. “I think he won. I saw her. You know that look she gets after sex. She’s less tense for, like, five minutes.”

“Maybe they both won,” he said.

“Or lost,” suggested Val.

Justin wanted to beat his head on the table. Instead, he poured another glass of bourbon. “Is there more to this? What about the part where I’m punishment?”

Val gave up on analyzing the fight’s outcome. “I’m getting to that.”

Maybe by tomorrow,
said Magnus.

“Whatever happened, they were together after that. And they were glorious. Her all fair and gold, him like some dark Mediterranean god.”

“He wasn’t that good-looking,” grumbled Dag.

“Yes, he was,” she retorted. “They didn’t serve together much. Word gets around, even to the higher-ups, and they keep couples apart so there’s no conflict of interest. But whenever they had time off together, they’d hole up and stay in bed for days.” Val’s gaze shifted inward. “I
think
she was happy.”

“Apparently not,” said Dag ominously.

“Maybe.” Val focused on Justin again. “About six months ago, he proposed. I don’t know how he did it. He was always over-the-top, so I’m sure it was something gorgeous and dramatic. Didn’t matter, though. She said no.”

“Why?” Justin was getting hooked again and was barely aware of how much bourbon he was taking down.

Val shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s her business. But he certainly had all sorts of theories. He blew up and went off on her about everything. It was all behind closed doors, but I heard enough of it from her. He accused her of not being able to commit. He said she was too proud to leave her caste. He even told her she must have been cheating on him. I think he was pretty desperate to rationalize why she wouldn’t run off into the sunset with him. Whatever it was, it got pretty ugly, and if I
had
been there to see it, I would’ve made sure he never fucked anything again.”

Dag nodded in agreement, and Justin once again looked into the faces of the prætorians who’d been at his doorstep. No more levity. No more antics. They were hard and deadly, and if Porfirio had been there right now, Justin was pretty sure they would’ve ripped him apart.

They love her,
said Magnus.

Justin agreed.
Yes, they do
.

Unhinged, wacky, lethal…these prætorians were many things, but they were also devoted to Mae with an intensity he rarely saw in the world. And although she hadn’t mentioned them yet, he would have wagered all he had that she felt the same way about them.

How does devotion like that happen?
he asked.
Is it because they have all that national loyalty drilled into them, and it just gets transferred to those they serve with?

There doesn’t have to be anything complex behind love,
said Magnus.
People just care about each other…because they do. Friends are like that. Lovers are like that. You should try it sometime.

I love Cyn and Quentin. Are you going to demean that?

No, that’s real,
conceded Magnus.

Who are they more loyal to? Each other or the RUNA?

The ravens didn’t answer.

“Porfirio didn’t take it very well,” said Val, finally gaining enough control to continue on with the story. “He kind of got out of control. He wanted to prove himself. And he wanted to get away from her. He requested an assignment over in Europe—you know what a mess that is.”

“I do,” said Justin. Europe had never been a consideration for his exile. “What happened to him?”

“He died,” said Val simply. Her and Dag’s faces were grave. “Killed in combat from some explosion. I don’t know the details. I don’t want to know. When word got back, a lot of people—especially his cohort—said what happened was her fault.”

“It wasn’t,” said Dag fiercely. “That was that bastard’s own mistake.”

Val obviously agreed. “But plenty didn’t think so—still don’t. His funeral was three weeks ago, and one of the Indigos picked a fight over it.”