Seduce Me in Flames (34 page)

“No, Justice, you need to stay here.”

That drew her up short, and she gave him what bordered on being a dirty look. She wanted to rebel against his command, something she didn’t do all that often, so it surprised him. But he had noticed that Justice was chafing at the bit a lot lately as they stood in the back of the room unable to act, whereas Rush stood in the line of fire at the side of a woman to whom he held no loyalty yet acted as though he did.

“But—” Jus began.

“It occurs to me that if she has been poisoned, this is a good way of clearing out the IM presence in the room,” he said to her quietly.

Justice took a deep breath, cursing to herself at how obvious and simple a ploy it was and how easily she would have been taken in by it. She supposed that was why Bronse was in command and she was not. Granted, she had no aspirations at the moment of leading her own team because she was happy where she was and finally content to trust the team around her, but that could change. Life always changed. People did unexpected things. Loved ones left.

She watched Bronse’s back for a long minute as he hurried down the corridor with Ravenna in his arms. Justice wasn’t terribly worried though. Ophelia was planetside, though at the Allay base rather than in the Allay court with them. The delicate little Chosen One could heal with her touch just about anything that came her way. With her own eyes, Justice had seen Ophelia do some pretty incredible things. Jus was certain there was nothing Ophelia couldn’t heal, except perhaps death.

And maybe insanity.

Justice turned to look back into the receiving room, her gaze quickly tracking to the newly seated empress and the Tarian male at her side. As far as Justice was
concerned, Rush had lost his mind. It wasn’t as though he had been
assigned
to watch over her as they had been doing. Distinctly not. He had shed his uniform so he could act outside the rules of the IM. But why? For the life of her, Justice couldn’t figure it out. And part of why she couldn’t figure it out was because Ender hadn’t taken so much as a second to explain his thinking to her.

That kind of bruised her a bit. They had shared a special sort of bond from the first day they had been assigned together into the First Active squad. She had thought they were best friends, or at least as much as anyone could be with Ender. As close as they were, as smoothly as they acted when working together, the one other thing they shared was what they
didn’t
share. They both had that closed-off place inside them, that hard nut of history from their place of heritage. Planetside born or station born, it was simply a bitch growing up on Tari. She had shared a little of it with Ender, but he had proven more than just recalcitrant about his own upbringing. And that was okay with her. To be his friend she didn’t need him to get all touchy-feely with his past emotions.

But she did expect other things. She expected him to be simple in his logic. She expected him to be content just blowing up shit. She expected a casual irreverence from him and his uncomplicated way of going through life. He was a grunt and happy to be one.

So what was with the hero and savior gig he suddenly had going on? She was pretty sure he couldn’t care less about the political structure of Allay. She was definitely sure he had no opportunity to blow up stuff, and from across the room she could tell he wasn’t carrying any kind of explosive ordnance. That made sense in crowded venues such as this, but it honestly made no sense that Ender would want to purposely cut himself off from the thing he did best.

True, Rush had armed himself in other ways. Most of it was hidden, and only other First Actives or well-trained eyes could spot what he was carrying and where. But it wasn’t an extension of what he seemed to be born to do. Everything about it seemed contrary to everything she knew about him. She wished she could contrive a reason for pulling him aside, for asking him what the hell he was thinking, but anything she did like that could blow his cover. It irritated her that she hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to him before they had gone planetside.

Okay, maybe it even hurt a little that he hadn’t even sought her out for her counsel or just to keep her up to date. Not even to toss back a few drinks as a farewell before he separated from the Actives for what could be a significant amount of time.

It all seemed a big mess. Rush was trying to do a job on his own that he really needed an army for. He had no backup, no protection, and no way to fall back. And if Empress Ambrea’s enemies were now trying to eliminate the IM soldiers in the room, it could mean they were gearing up for something.

She lightly brushed her fingertips against the side of her neck, activating the communications chip embedded in her head.

“Command, we’re going to need some backup. Two replacement soldiers ASAP.”

There was a click before Kith’s voice vibrated into her head. “Dispatching Fallon and Domino to your location. Is there a problem?”

“Ravenna is ill. Bronse is bringing her in.”

“Copy that. I’ll have Ophelia and Jet ready and waiting.” He paused a bit. “Is this a suspicious circumstance?”

“We’ll let Ophelia and Jet determine that.”

Rush had watched with carefully detatched attention as Bronse scooped up Ravenna and hustled her out of the room, leaving Justice pretty much on her own and standing coolly attentive at the rear of the room. He knew she was concerned just by the effort she made to look completely unconcerned. He also knew that she was calling for reinforcements. He had been leaning rather lazily against the back of the throne of Allay, watching as its mistress was being pulled back and forth between a crowd of people demanding her attention and her arbitration in what seemed like an endless number of ridiculous arguments and a waste of her time as a higher ruler.

Why weren’t there lesser magistrates to handle things like:

“Those fish in that lake belong to me and my family,” one noble argued. “We were the ones who took the trouble to farm them, cultivate them, and seed them into the lake. And this … this
thief
thinks he can reap our hard work for his own profit!”

“I hardly call letting my vassals fish the lake to feed their families thievery or profiteering! And that lake sits as much on my property as it does onto yours!” the opposing noble argued.

“Your vassals sell those fish at the noonday market!”

“You’ve overbred them anyway, and the lake is so crowded—”

“Well, it won’t be, once we reap them!”

“Then what are you waiting for? For them to have to take turns finding a spot to swim in?”

“Oh for the love of the spirits,” Rush interjected unexpectedly. “Seriously, madam, are you going to let them pick and peck at you with this drivel?”

Silence fell over the entire court with such speed that Rush was almost amused by it. However, he had not
meant to speak aloud, knowing how much his opinion was worth in this particular venue. Who was he, really, to complain about how things were traditionally done in Allay? But he did see that Ambrea’s father had liked to personally arbitrate these disputes because it gave him control right down to the smallest of issues. When it came to his realm, Benit had not trusted others to work on his behalf, except for his brother.

Balkin was standing close to the dais, trying to appear the part of a mentor, imparting a word of guidance and advice here and there to his niece as long as he felt it would be tolerated. And tolerate it she did because she had quickly come to realize that she had no one else to train her in the way things were done in matters of the Allayan state.

Ambrea looked up at Rush, her expression open but her thoughts unreadable. He was concerned, always, even when advising her in private, that he was overstepping himself. But so far she had listened to him with equanimity. However, he was a much-distrusted Tarian with seemingly no respect for Allayan traditions. It could do her injury if she took something he advised to heart out in the open in front of everybody. The last thing she needed was for her people to think she didn’t have a strong mind of her own, that a Tarian barbarian was secretly holding the reins of the government.

After a long moment of silence, the entire room heard her draw a breath to speak.

“It seems to me that the fish are free to stay on your side of the pond, Sir Grenar, if they so choose. However, since they are rude enough to trespass on my kind Sir Harrum’s side of the lake, I fully believe that his only recourse is to snag the little lack-laws and give them a good broiling. Perhaps the other fish will learn by that example and keep to your side of the lake from now on.”

It was a ridiculous response to a ridiculous complaint,
and it was brilliant. Rush looked at the way she kept her expression kind and smiling, obviously thoughtful and in no way patronizing, and watched with amazement as the soft chuckles of the court made both complaining men smile a bit sheepishly. They bowed low to her, indicating their acceptance of her wisdom and decision.

In that moment Rush felt a very dangerous wash of emotion wrapping around his gut and his heart. Dangerous because it had nowhere to go. It had no logic and no wisdom. He tried to shake it off, tried not to continue to stare at her, at the way the sunlight crept over her face and highlighted the apple of her cheek in just such a way that he was overwhelmed with the urge to reach out and touch her. She turned to look up at him and he felt his heart clench tight with amazement over just how beautiful she really was. It was an encompassing beauty, with a depth and an outer diameter that glowed a halo of light all around her even as it shone from inside her. It spoke of her intellect, her compassion, her patience, and her unwavering ability to accept. Simply accept. Him. Them. All of it. All of it on its own terms.

And it was amazing.

“And you are very correct, my wise Tarian friend,” she said then, reaching out to cover his hand with hers the way she might Suna or any other Allayan equal. “This country is in dire need of growth and advancement, and that can’t happen if its empress is mired down by every small detail. It is long past time that we appointed a series of magistrates to broker these sorts of decisions.” She turned and spoke loudly to the room. “I will accept candidates to fill forty-five positions, three for each of the fifteen Allayan territories. In this way, no one person can abuse his power without answering to the others, and there will always be a way to break a tie in the event that two of the magistrates see things firmly
from opposite ends of an argument. Magistrates will answer directly to me for the lawful or lawless condition of each of their provinces. Credentials will be accepted for my review until the end of Great Peace day.”

She stood up and smiled at the complainants lined up still awaiting her ear.

“Surely all of your business can wait for the magistrates to take office,” she said. “If you feel your matter is of life-and-death urgency, then bring it to my Lady Suna’s attention and she will decide whether to bring it to me.”

Suna looked absolutely stunned as Ambrea handed off to her what was considered the responsibility of the empress’s personal secretary, a coveted position of much power and respect. Ambrea stepped down from the dais, moving past her uncle, who quickly fell into step at her side.

“If you will hear my counsel,” he dissembled.

“I will hear it. But it does not follow that I will heed it.”

Rush was a step behind her, so he could see the flash of rage that suddenly whipped across the man’s features. But Balkin schooled himself quickly, presenting a serene nod to the empress.

“Too much change all at once will make the people feel insecure. It will confuse them. Perhaps you might think of stepping more slowly before changing a system that has worked well throughout time.”

She stopped her progress through the public room to turn and look him full in the face. “You’ll forgive me if I strongly disagree, Uncle. The methods you and my father used to rule this country are rickety, corrupt, and well beyond flawed. They are long past due for an overhaul.”

This time her uncle’s fury kept hold of him. He was loud enough to be heard throughout the room when he
said, “So you’ll take advice from a Tarian beast but not from a true son of Allay?”

Quiet dropped over the room again like the sudden cover of a blanket. Rush realized it happened so frequently because they were hanging on her every decision, none of them knowing what to expect from her. But he realized
he
knew what to expect from her. He knew it well enough to feel pride crawling up through him even before she spoke.

“This Tarian beast, as you call him, saved my life from the wet room hell that you, true son of Allay, consigned me to. I think Allay has had enough of her true sons to choke on. A true daughter of Allay is what is called for now, and if she wishes to take the words of a Tarian under advisement, then she will. I would rather heed his advice than ever heed any of yours.”

She turned her back on him. Rush could see that this was going to be the breaking act. Balkin absolutely couldn’t swallow being insulted and then dismissed as though he were beneath trivial. Ambrea’s uncle reached out and grabbed her arm, jerking her to a halt and forcing her back around to face him. To face his overwhelming rage.