Empress Game: The Empress Game Trilogy Book 1 (5 page)

“Shadow Panthe.”

“That’s somewhat unwieldy. Stage names aside, what does the kid who shares this fort call you?”

“What kid?”

“The kid who sleeps in the other bedroom. Unless those are your tiny clothes.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He let it slide. It didn’t matter who the kid was, as long as she was willing to ditch him for the trip to Falanar.

“Regardless, what should I call you?”

“Shadow Panthe. Now leave.”

“Not until you hear my latest offer.”

She cocked her head, unnaturally black hair sliding past her shoulder. “How did you deactivate my sensor grid?”

“What’s your real name?”

“How did you do it?”

“I have my ways.”

“In other words, you have no idea. That woman hunched over my complink in the next room did it?”

“Sure.” Malkor left it at that. No need for her to know how many team members he had at his disposal.

“Who the void are you guys?”

“Specialists.” He refused to out himself as IDC yet. He needed Shadow’s goodwill, needed her to trust him. The Imperial Diplomatic Corps met with everything from respect to fear to hatred on their missions, but rarely with any warm feelings. They had near-limitless jurisdiction and the authority to do, well, whatever they wanted. The IDC got its way but it rarely made friends. Malkor didn’t tolerate misuse of power within his octet, but the tarnished reputation other IDC teams had earned for the whole agency had hurt him on more than one legitimately diplomatic mission.

“Look. I know coming here like this wasn’t exactly sporting. I’m under something of a time constraint, and unless I missed my guess back in the Blood Pit, you’re under pressure, too.”

Her face became more guarded.

“You’re hiding out here, I get it. You should know I’m not the only man looking for you, though.” That got her attention. And it was the truth. Dolan’s men had been busy. “There are others asking around, interested in things like where you stay when you aren’t at the Blood Pit, who you run with, what sort of weapon you seem to favor. Details a girl like you likes to keep to herself.”

Her eyes darted to the doorway beyond him. “Who were they?”

The change was minute, but Malkor noted it. He was just a nuisance to her, someone she intended to brush off until he lost interest. Whoever she feared might be after her was a different matter entirely. This was of real concern to her.

“I don’t personally know the men involved, but I know who they work for.”

“Who?” She didn’t bother to pretend it didn’t matter to her. Her honesty surprised him and made him answer with the same, even though he’d originally intended to barter the information.

“An exiled Wyrd known as Master Dolan. Technology Advisor to the Emperor.”

His words flipped a switch in her. She rose from the bed, suddenly in motion. He rested a hand on his pistol grip but all she did was slide a bag out from under the bed. “You’re certain?”

“We’ve encountered his men before. I’m certain.”

She grabbed her
ashk
from the dresser and tied it on before pulling clothes out and stuffing them haphazardly into the bag.

“Does this mean—”

“You can get us off this planet?” she interrupted. “You can get us away from them?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then I’ve decided to accept your offer—with conditions.”

However he had hoped the night would go he had never imagined things being this easy. He needed to know who this woman was—stat. For Dolan to send men out to the farthest reaches of the empire she had to be important. A double agent? A council spy? An informant who’d double-crossed him? And why was she so terrified of them?

“Firstly, I want half again what you promised me.”

“Done.”

“I want to leave tonight. And I want us to be taken wherever we wish to go after the Empress Game—no questions asked, no place too far.”

“Done.”

“And one more thing.” She glanced up, a half-full bag in her hands and a hint of steel in her eyes. “I am bringing someone else with me.”

“I don’t think—”

“He’s coming, or no deal.”

“So there is a kid after all.”

“Yes.”

“Is he trouble? Because I’ll have about all that I can handle with you on board.”

The question brought a sad smile to one corner of her mouth. “You won’t hear a peep out of him.”

K
ayla brushed past Malkor and made her way to the complink console.

No doubt the noise Corinth had heard earlier had been Dolan’s men searching the swamp for their hideout. Thank the stars they hadn’t located it while she was gone.

She could always escape Malkor later but she had to get Corinth off Altair Tri right now, tonight. Or this morning, or whatever time it was.

The woman muttering over her console stared as she approached. Kayla glimpsed a very sophisticated—by imperial standards—datapad before she tucked the device away.

“I take it you couldn’t figure it out, Rigger?” Malkor asked from behind her.

Kayla reached past Rigger and tapped a sequence into the keypad. She didn’t wait for the command to finish running before entering Corinth’s room. The holo field surrounding the hidey-hole melted away and Kayla hesitated. Had she made the right call? What did she even know about these people? What if they themselves worked for Dolan?

Just the thought of Dolan, the
kin’shaa
—an exiled Wyrd ritually stripped of his psi powers—sent a shiver through her. He had betrayed his own people. He had given the empire the coordinates to her homeworld of Ordoch in Wyrd Space. Had come pretending to be a mediator between the two sides and had instead helped the empire kill her family and take over her planet when talks failed.

However, if they did work for Dolan, she’d know it. Malkor clearly had no idea of her true identity, or that she and the “kid” she lived with were Ordoch’s last heirs. Dolan wouldn’t cook up the Empress Game plot to lure her with, he would simply grab them as prisoners of war, or, more likely, kill them.

As bizarre as it sounded, Malkor was probably telling the truth about his plan for her. And as Malkor was the only one of the two men who actually wanted her alive, she’d choose him over Dolan any day.

She slid the panel off the hidey-hole. “Come on out, we’re leaving.” She reached a hand to help Corinth up and out.

::I was sleeping:: his mental voice grumbled, before it abruptly changed when he caught sight of Malkor and his team. ::Kayla! Who are these people? What’s happening?::

“It’s all right. We need to get out of here quickly and they’re going to help.”

::Imperials don’t help Wyrds.:: His gaze fell on Malkor. ::Is he the one you mentioned, who approached you at the pit?::

Malkor looked at her strangely, reminding her that Corinth spoke only in her head, and that no one else must know about his psi powers. She gave Corinth a slight nod.

“Pack what you want to bring that will fit in one bag.”

“He doesn’t speak?” Malkor asked.

Not to you
. “Nope.”

Malkor glanced at Corinth, who looked even smaller and frailer beside the impressive forms of the two specialists. “A word, please. Rigger, you stay with the boy.”

“No,” she snapped. “Rigger can watch him from the doorway, but stay away from him.”

Rigger raised her hands, palms out, away from her body. “I’ll stay over here.” She backed as far away from Corinth as she could in the cramped room. “I won’t go near him, I promise.”

::I’ll be all right, Kay, they’re a little afraid of you.:: Corinth tried to sound brave, but times of stress showed just how under-trained he was. Fear laced his mental voice. She placed her hand on his shoulder, willing strength into him.

“I’ll be right out here. Let me know if you need me.” She stepped out of the room after Malkor, never taking her eyes from Corinth.

Malkor positioned himself off-center from her, not blocking her view. Strangers hadn’t been this close to Corinth since they’d moved out here, and the certainty that she’d exposed him to danger gripped her like a vise.

“Are you serious about this?”

She didn’t bother to answer Malkor’s question.

“You want to take a child to Falanar while you impersonate a princess at the Empress Game? Do you have any idea what the stakes are, here? Do you know what they do to people caught cheating at the game?”

“Are you trying to convince me not to take the job?”

“Starfire. You know what I mean. Isn’t there someone he can stay with until this is over?”

This time she did glance at him, but only to make her point. “Do you think we’d be living out here if there was?”

“Who are you hiding him from? Dolan? Someone else? Who is he?”

“He’s my brother, and that’s all you need to know.”
Brother
—such an inadequate word. Her
il’haar
was everything to her. An imperial wouldn’t understand that.

“What if we left him with one of my contacts. I could—”

“No. I don’t know why this is hard to understand. You want me to fight, he comes with me. It’s either that or find yourself a new girl.”

“Damnit, Shadow. I’m trying to do the right thing here.”

“By buying a fighter to cheat with at the Empress Game? Could’ve fooled me.”

::He wants you to do what?!::

A half-smile came to her lips at Corinth’s outrage.

::My
ro’haar
never cheats! You don’t have to. Tell him, Kay.::

“We need to pack,” she said instead, brushing past Malkor. “And I want my daggers back.”

* * *

Dawn brushed the eastern edge of the sky when they exited the shanty for the last time. Two more of Malkor’s team greeted them outside. Introduced as Trinan and Vid, they completed the box of guards surrounding Kayla and Corinth.

She studied Malkor’s back as he led the group in a northeast direction. Without a doubt he was in charge. Most criminal groups on Tri worked in smaller units of two or three men, yet here Malkor had four very competent-looking people with him, and Trinan had mentioned meeting up with more at a ship. Just how many people Malkor commanded, and what sort of specialist he was exactly, were the questions front-most in her mind.

The team traveled well for people unused to Fengar Swamp, but Corinth faltered often between the channels of murky water, muddy hillocks and patches of sludge. Kayla kept a constant hand on his arm to keep him from going down.

With the exception of her time at the Blood Pit, Kayla stayed away from imperial men. They made her uneasy with their size, physical strength and aggression. Oddly, however, she didn’t feel threatened by the men of this group. At least, not currently. They and Rigger had spread out in a protective formation with her and Corinth at the center. For the moment she had allies, albeit temporary ones. She let them watch the swamp for signs of Dolan’s men while she concentrated on Corinth.

“Are you doing all right?”

::I’m fine, Kay.:: Corinth’s foot sank deep into the soft earth as he spoke, wrenching him to a stop. He made no sound of exasperation, simply pried his foot free and took another step. He looked tired already. The earlier nightmare had robbed him of sleep, and he’d had similar nights this week. He hadn’t been eating enough lately and the trek was tough even for someone in healthy, athletic shape.

“Do you need me to carry you?” she asked Corinth. Malkor turned his head at her words. He looked a question at her as if asking if she needed help. Kayla waved him on.

::I’ll be all right for a bit more. I’ve never been out here at this hour, it’s spooky.
Speak
with me?::

Corinth’s presence approached the edge of her mind, brushing against her shields lightly, the way a feline might barely touch its nose to her hand when first scenting her. Kayla ordered her thoughts, directing them into neat mental compartments and sectioning them off. The practice was still second nature to her despite barely using it since they’d left Wyrd Space.

She took a deep breath and struggled against her deepest will to lower the mental shields protecting her mind. Though she loved Corinth and had been his
ro’haar
for the last five years, she still found it tough to open herself up to him. He rushed inside her head, too quickly. It caused an instant ache between her eyes.

::Sorry, I didn’t mean it.::

I know you didn’t
, she thought, knowing he could hear her active thoughts. She pushed the pain to a corner of her mind and blocked it there, away from his reach. Little extra room remained. Corinth coiled himself inside her mind, filling her head near to bursting.

::Do you trust these people?::

How to answer that? She couldn’t exactly lie to him, but she could hide some facts by burying them behind inner shields.

I can’t say I know them well enough to trust them. I do think they’re telling the truth about wanting me to fight in the Empress Game.

::Because they know you’re a princess?:: His voice held a mix of horror that they might have been discovered and pride.

Only because they’ve seen me fight. I’m supposed to impersonate someone else, I think. They don’t know who we are and we need to keep it that way.

::Where are we going?::

Falanar.

::But— The military. Dolan. The IDC. You said they might be searching for us.::

We’ll have to be extra careful
. She kept the knowledge that the
kin’shaa
Dolan was after them locked tightly away. Hopefully they would elude Dolan altogether and never have to worry about him again.

::Why did you agree to help them? We don’t need them, we’re doing fine on our own.::

We are not doing fine. You need psi training that I can’t give you. The sooner I get you to Ilmena or another Wyrd World the better. I know you hate this life.
I
hate this life.
The isolation ate away at her. Once she had had friends. Family. People in her life.
And I hate fighting in the Blood Pit.
Gods, how she hated it. Hated herself and what she had become.
It would have taken me at least another year to earn enough credits to buy passage back to Wyrd Space.
Finding a pilot willing to fly into Wyrd territory against violation of Universal Occupation Laws would require an exorbitant amount of credits.