The Fight for Peace (4 page)

“I swear to protect the people and laws of Europe from terrorists both foreign and domestic. I will honor the code of the Guard and uphold the government of Europe in peace, as well as battle. This I do solemnly affirm and willingly swear with my life.”

There was a pause when she finished speaking. “That was a long time coming,” Jared said, breaking the silence first. “At least now you really are in charge of all of this,” he added with a grin.

“No, I’m not,” Arinna said with a sly smile in return. “Byran allowed me to choose my rank. I chose Captain. We are equals ... as we have always been.” Jared stared at her, finally pulling her into an embrace without speaking. “Seriously, Jared, you didn’t get this choked up at your wedding,” she said, punching him in the arm as he released her.

Arinna glowed in a way he hadn’t seen her ever before. It gave Byran some relief, seeing her happiness and those of her officers, and offset knowing the dangers she would face. But she would tackle them anyway, with or without the rank, with or without his permission.

“Thank you,” she said to Byran.

“Trust me, I realize that if I’d listened to Parliament and asked you to step down, I know the first thing you would have done would be to turn around and enlist. He would have promoted you as high as he could,” Byran said with a nod toward Jared. “We’d be right back to where we were. Only this is the proper way, and you deserved it for all you’ve done.”

Arinna’s eyes shimmered with tears over dancing laughter. Byran didn’t need her to tell him he was right. She cleared her throat when she went to speak, turning to face Derrick. “Now you, if this is what you want?”

“You know it is,” Derrick answered.

Arinna took Derrick’s oath, his sincerity in swearing it no less than hers. This time, Byran choked up as well. He’d given two people he loved something they both dearly wanted that was in his power to allow. It felt good. It felt terrifying.

“Congratulations, Lieutenant,” Captain Vries said when Derrick had finished speaking, offering his hand.

“Sergeant,” Derrick replied. “I was only a Sergeant.”

“Do you not think your time in Crystal City was not enough to earn you a promotion?” Arinna asked.

“That is a bit more than a promotion,” Derrick pointed out.

Kieren bumped him with her elbow. “They’re your superiors. Don’t argue. Besides, we’ll get you up to speed in no time. First up is flying lessons!”

Byran laughed at the hesitation on Derrick’s face.

Chapter 4

DANIELLE LE MARC

A SECOND CHANCE

“I’m willing to put the last few months behind us,” Danielle said to Derrick.

They met in the le Marc estate, Derrick having accepted Danielle’s invitation to visit. Loneliness inflicted by her recent arrest had inspired her to reach out to someone who had always offered her protection. What surprised her was that Derrick accepted.

Derrick watched her from across the table, gaze steady though somewhat uncertain. “I’m not sure what you mean by that. I came to see if you were all right, and to say I’m sorry for your father’s death.”

Danielle did her best to ignore that he dressed in military grey. That he’d enlisted again wasn’t much of a surprise, but it made her uneasy. The Derrick she’d reached out to and expected was the Earl of Kesmere, the person who’d once offered her a home and refuge.

“I think we both know there is no need to offer condolences for my father’s death. It took too long and that is the only pity. I’m sure you feel the same regarding your father, although his was somewhat nobler if you ignore how misplaced his trust was.”

Derrick coughed on his tea, setting the cup down to keep from spilling the cupful. She waited until he’d recovered, trying to judge what route to take with this man who sat across from her. He was someone she thought she’d known for over six years. But despite their engagement she couldn’t read anything in his reactions. The only guide she had was that he hated to be lied to.

“I had no idea where you were. I guess that was the point. But really, you walked to an FLF city and stayed there as a spy?” she asked.

“Yes,” he confirmed, and said nothing else.

She shook her head at his lack of information. “I’m not surprised. Well I am, but I guess part of me isn’t. I know how much the Guard meant, means, to you. Here you are, enlisted again and a Lieutenant while serving as the Secretary of Defense. It makes sense of what happened in the fall, your breaking off the engagement and the supposed affair with Arinna.”

“You want to know how much of that was a ruse to cover my mission?”

“I’d like to think I know how much of it wasn’t truly meant,” she said, staring at him over the rim of her cup. She let the pause linger. “As I said, we could put the past behind us. We are now both free from our fathers, free to choose what we wish to do with our future. You found one with me attractive once.”

“I offered to protect you once,” Derrick said. “Considering current events, I imagine you are unnerved and looking for protection again.”

Danielle laughed to cover her annoyance. She might not be able to read him, but he had a good understanding of her. “I guess that answers my proposal.”

“Even if I harbored some affection toward you for your situation, don’t you think it would be difficult for me to move beyond the accusation that you plotted to kill my best friend and his family?” Derrick’s voice reverberated with barely restrained anger.

“I am innocent!” Danielle protested. “Why do you think I sit here free?”

“Because they didn’t have evidence,” Derrick said. “Which is not the same as innocence.”

“Do you really think I would plot to kill Byran and his family? I worked with him for months this fall on the electron proposal. Seriously, Derrick, that is accusing me of something worse than either of our fathers plotted. I am not that cruel and ... it hurts that you think I am,” she said, tears flooding her eyes. She held Derrick’s gaze until he looked away.

Danielle smeared the tears from her cheeks. “Enough about me. How are you? Is re-enlistment what you’d hoped?”

“Better,” Derrick replied.

“Really?” she asked, drawing out the word. His clipped answers and stiffness made her want to make him react. It was dangerous territory to be skirting. “I’d heard Parliament under the new Prime Minister is far more regulated than life under MOTHER. How is that relationship with Arinna, your superior officer, going?”

“If you are looking for someone unhappy with the changes, you should try Captain Vries,” Derrick said, setting down his cup. “I’m expected back. Thank you for the invitation, Danielle. I’m glad you are doing well.”

Derrick managed to say the sentiment as if he were truly disappointed she were doing well. It was all she could do to have a maid show him out without screaming.

The weeks in prison made her appreciate the luxuries of her life. Having not expected to ever enjoy them again made each that much sweeter. Danielle had no idea why in Miralda’s confession to having plotted the attack on Byran’s residence and remove Arinna, or at least sully her so much that she would be ineffective, Miralda had omitted Danielle’s part. But she had and now Danielle walked free. The only one of the conspiracy who did, and she wasn’t certain what to do with her freedom.

Just as after her father’s death, Danielle was directionless. She had her family name and wealth. Having nearly lost her freedom, she knew neither would protect her. Instinct told her to bundle herself up and head to an out-of-the-way chateau to spend her days in a delirious drunken stupor. But having only just begun to discover what power she could wield, such an option felt too final as if she was skipping to the end of her life without having the courage to live the best part.

Courage, that is what it would take to go back to Parliament. They had heard the testimony against her and chosen to free her. Before the bombing, she had held prestige second only to Byran. Now he was Prime Minister. If she played the situation right, she could have a place, a powerful place, in the government and that could lead to many opportunities. Danielle just needed to be smarter than Miralda and David.

Danielle fidgeted with her hair and dress the next morning. Presentation wouldn’t really help if the Senators chose to snub her, but she hoped to at least appear indifferent. She needn’t have worried. From the moment she exited her carriage, members hurried up to her. The first few sought gossip, anxious to know the appalling conditions of where she’d been held, if she’d been interrogated, and if there was any truth to rumors. Danielle remained polite, choosing not to cast blame as much as she wanted to.

“It was a misunderstanding, perfectly reasonable,” Danielle said, tears fluttering from her eyelashes. “My father was part of MOTHER after all. But like Derrick Eldridge has shown to be more than his father’s son, I am not simply my father’s daughter.”

It took until a break in the mid-morning session for another sort of well wisher to appear. “You are not disappointed that the elections have been cancelled?” Evan Capitelli asked.

“Of course. We worked so hard for the proposal. But after the bombing and so close to the holiday recess ... I suppose a delay is understandable,” Danielle answered.

“Delay?” Sari Ahuja said. “Delay would imply there had been discussion to reschedule the elections.”

“Hasn’t there?” Danielle asked. “You must forgive me ... I’ve been indisposed and missed quite a bit of the aftermath the last two weeks.”

“Yes, you have. I don’t wish to be forward, but perhaps we, and a few other interested members, could meet with you. Simply to fill you in and welcome you back to our ranks,” Evan said.

“That would be most welcome. Please accept my invitation to dine at my house. Tonight if that is not too soon? I feel rather lost and there isn’t much time to reorient myself.”

There shouldn’t have been any time to rejoin Parliament. The bombing and trial had stretched out the fall session to the cusp of the December holidays. The offer of a peace treaty, a real one, with the FLF added a few more days. Danielle had learned that much before returning to her position. As she listened to the conversations around her, she learned quite a bit more.

The assembly was over three-quarters full, which was a large turnout. With so many Senators in Prague to vote on the elections and offer up their seats, only a few had given up after the bombing and left. Apparently discovering that they hadn’t controlled Europe had motivated more than one to try to run it. By the boredom pasted on faces as elements for a sanctioned peace treaty were debated, Danielle expected the holiday recess would lure away a dozen or so. But for now, she could poll the remaining Senators for dissatisfaction.

More than a few were angry over Byran’s choice to leave Arinna as leader of the Guard. That he’d sworn her in as the official leader galled others. Side debates raged between insidious preference between Byran and Arinna versus those who pointed out she had saved his life and that of his family. Old friends or old lovers were the choices. Miralda’s legacy continued to function even if MOTHER no longer did. Danielle laughed silently at that. Miralda had given Danielle freedom and fertile ground.

For dinner that night, Danielle decided to roll out the le Marc prestige: fine china set in a grand formal dining room, wine in crystal glasses, and servers in suits. Her six guests ogled the house and arrangements. She wanted to make sure they knew who had the power to lead any resistance.

“Why do you think Prime Minister Vasquez kept the Lady Grey in charge of the Guard?” Sari asked after the directionless grumblings of unhappiness over recent events died down.

Danielle shrugged from her place at the head of the table. “Byran and Arinna are old friends. If this peace treaty falls through, I’m sure he believes we will need her experience fighting the FLF.”

“You don’t think she will poison him against peace?” Evan asked.

“I’m sure she will caution him about the FLF,” Danielle answered after a pause. She sipped her wine as if to keep herself from saying more.

“We elected Byran to lead us and the first thing he does is not to listen to us!”

“Old feelings are difficult to overcome,” Danielle said smoothly. “It is Parliament’s role to make him listen. That is why we are debating on proposals for the peace treaty. It will get much more serious once we hear what the FLF’s demands are,” she added as if she’d seen the process a dozen times.

“And if he won’t listen?”

“Well, we can influence those he listens to. Probably not Derrick Eldridge or the Lady Grey, but there will be the others in his Cabinet once he selects members. It would be advisable to establish a relationship with them. And if that doesn’t work ... well, Parliament voted him in. We can vote him out.”

She was pleased by the nods around the table.  It was only six, but it was a start.

Chapter 5

LIEUTENANT DERRICK ELDRIDGE

REPORT

“Danielle denies having anything to do with the attack,” Derrick said.

“Do you believe her?” Byran asked.

Derrick, Byran, and Arinna met at Byran’s house, Miralda’s old home, on the outskirts of Prague. For all the complaints he’d made when Arinna had given it to him, Byran had settled in just as he accepted the role of Prime Minister.

Derrick frowned at Byran’s question, his gaze drifting to the window. He understood he spoke to the leader of Europe while his superior, the leader of the armed forces for the continent, sat nearby. This was not a social call and didn’t feel like one. “She told you she spied on me for my father?” he asked.

“Yes. One of the first things she told me in Parliament this session. Why?” Byran asked.

“Because she was very good at denying that, and making me feel like a suspicious idiot for the six years we were engaged every time I asked,” Derrick said, running his hand through his hair. “So no, I don’t believe her. She is too good at lying.”

Byran sighed at the news. For a moment, Derrick saw his friend and his anxiousness for his family, and not the new Prime Minister for Europe.

“What else was said?” Arinna asked.

“I told her if she was looking for someone unhappy about the changes in the Guard to speak to Captain Vries as you both instructed,” Derrick answered.

“I can’t imagine she will buy that,” Byran huffed.

“Others have,” Arinna said with a half smile. The smile was only offered to Byran. When she turned back to Derrick, Arinna’s expression was serious again. “Nothing else?”

Derrick shook his head so he didn’t have to clear his throat. Most of what he’d said to Danielle had been rehearsed. The only thing he’d lied about was not caring that his enlistment had cost him a relationship. Though he wouldn’t have chosen differently, it very much stung. Especially that he knew Arinna as someone other than his Commander. But lately he’d been lucky to receive a brusque question or order from her. A sense of humor, even friendship, never surfaced.

“Well I would have liked it better if she’d simply confessed, but I suppose after time in prison followed by a trial, she wasn’t going to volunteer much,” Byran said.

“I think she is a little too clever for that,” Arinna said. “The circumstances are too weighted. I’m sure she had some part in the attack. That Danielle and Miralda spoke several times prior is documented. But why Miralda would protect Danielle, I don’t know.” Frustration cracked her erect posture and firm tone, but only a slight degree.

“If she did,” Byran replied. Derrick fidgeted. “Dammit, speak! You are my Secretary of Defense. When he is in that role, he is not under your orders,” he said to Arinna.

She held up empty hands. “Of course. We are equals here. He doesn’t need my permission to speak.”

That made Derrick hesitate. Because he very much felt like he needed permission to speak. “I’m still getting used to this,” he said, eyes sliding from Arinna to Byran. He resisted the strong desire to rub his temples to relieve the ever present headache that being in the same room with Byran and Arinna spawned. “She was trying too hard to charm me. She is guilty of something and frightened. She contacted me because I offered her protection before and she was hoping for it again. She offered to put everything behind us, and mentioned renewing the engagement. If she is that frightened, there is a reason for it. She had a part.”

Both Byran and Arinna stared at him. He kept his gaze sincere. Arinna had flinched when he’d mentioned renewing the engagement. It was a small reaction and hardly a sign of affection, but it meant she did still care. He didn’t want to smile and have to explain why.

Byran sighed. “But we can’t prove it. You’ll have her watched?”

“Of course, but not too closely. She needs the freedom to hang herself, although not enough to cause anyone else harm,” Arinna added when Byran paled.

“I’ve had enough of this talk today,” Byran said, rubbing his eyes. “Before you go there is one other thing,” he added as Arinna shifted to stand. “I want you both to come to Merimarche for the holidays. It is only a two-week break, but you are my best friends. Please come, Isabella, the kids, we all want you there. I promise it will not all be about this,” Byran said with a wave of his hand around his office.

“But it will be a bit,” Derrick said, finding humor on the heels of the relief the offer created. Time away from dual roles and Prague in the estate of his friend. “I’d love to come. Thank you.”

Byran looked expectantly at Arinna. “It isn’t so easy for me. I need to check with Jared. With the coming peace conferenc
e—
”

“It is two weeks, Arinna. You can come. At least Derrick didn’t hedge needing to ask permission when I asked as a friend.”

Arinna blushed at Byran’s chastisement, then released her breath with a laugh. “I will speak to Jared and arrange it. I’d love to come as well. Thank you for the invitation.”

Arinna walked out of the room first. Byran’s glance at Derrick renewed his earlier offer for Derrick to stay. It was only Sunday afternoon, but he’d refused on the basis that Byran needed some time with his family. Byran was too focused on issues when Derrick was around. Derrick hoped it meant Byran was less so in his absence. Plus there was another reason he wanted to leave now. Even though they’d brought separate horses and Arinna had left the manor first, Derrick was a pace behind her as they walked to the nearby stable.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” Derrick asked Arinna as he caught her along the bare garden path.

“Of course, Lieutenant,” she said, stopping to face him.

Derrick flinched. “That isn’t ... actually that is exactly what I hoped to talk to you about.” Despite the wall of rank and formality she exuded, he stepped closer, attempting to bridge the emotional distance between them by shortening the physical one. Arinna shifted away.

“That is how it will be then?” he asked, voice rough. “You’ve avoided me for the last week except meetings. I haven’t spoken a word to you.”

“You, we, know the choices made when we swore the enlistment oath,” she said. “So yes, this is how it must be. That is the decision we made, and I don’t think you regret it.”

“The only thing I’m not happy about is what it did to us,” he said.

For a moment depth beyond the front of an officer flickered in her eyes. She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry as well,” she said in a rough whisper. “If that is all?” she asked, straightening.

“Yes, Captain.”

He let her walk crisply ahead, lingering so that she’d mounted and headed out before he arrived at the stable. Her answer, even if the one expected, wasn’t the one he wanted. He’d hoped for at least ... familiarity. Perhaps even friendship like she had with the other Lieutenants. Derrick told himself the situation was new to her as well. That maybe it would ease in time. But it left him very happy to have a mission with Captain Vries the next day, one away from Command and Prague.

“I told you these weren’t so bad to fly,” Jared said as Derrick slowed the dactyl for a pass over the building, crowning a low mountain. “Set down in the opening between the woods and the front of the building to the north. Until we check this place out, I don’t want to land between three sides of a building where FLF could be holed up shooting at us.”

“Until I remember how to land, I don’t want to drop in between three sides of a building,” Derrick returned.

Jared laughed. “You’re doing fine.”

“That is because the bloody computer fixes everything. Anyone flown one of these without its help?”

Jared didn’t answer immediately. When Derrick flicked a glance at him, Jared looked thoughtful. “No, I don’t think so. That is a good point. We might have to do that.”

Derrick groaned, although it was with humor. Wishing that this was the relationship he had with Arinna made him sigh. Jared glanced over but said nothing as Derrick powered down the dactyl.

“Leave it on auto-defense. Just in case,” Jared said, leaving Derrick to remember how to do that. Playing with high tech, flying computers after years of fighting with swords was a challenge, one that he was slowly winning.

Derrick met Jared on the ramp of the back hatch. Jared drew his gun, checking it quickly before heading across the snow-swept field to pause a few feet from the dactyl. “What do you think?” he asked Derrick.

Derrick’s gaze swept the towering stone monastery. This was the proposed location for the peace talks, a place equally isolated, supposedly, from Europe and Crystal City. But it was in the Ural Mountains which was considered FLF territory, and they had suggested it.

“No tracks in the snow, but the way the wind is blowing that doesn’t mean much. From what I saw flying over, there are two wings, which will make keeping the European contingent separate from the FLF doable. We’ll have to go in to see what type of security is possible and where the meeting room is located.” Derrick contemplated the upper floors. The place was at least three stories tall with a possible attic. He shook his head. “A place this old and with that many floors is going to have side passageways. It’ll be a headache to lock down every access point between areas.”

Jared grinned. “I’m so glad I brought you. Let’s go in and get out of this wind. Seriously, I don’t know how you walked through this crap for months.” Derrick chuckled as he followed Jared to the main door. “Take it like the unknown situation it is. We clear the place first, then investigate.”

A building this big and with just the two of them, Derrick understood why Jared had them leaving pre-dawn. It would be a long day away. Frozen fingers notwithstanding, Derrick was happy. This was why he’d rejoined the Guard.

Floor by floor they swept through the entire complex. Both wings to the ‘U’ shaped structure housed rough rooms, lacking in amenities or comforts. Byran would hate it. The connecting structure held a cathedral entry hall that rose two stories, leaving one level above with old offices. Between the three sides lay a courtyard resembling a cloister missing a side. In its place a crumbling wall broke the wind before it hurtled off the cliff face a few feet away.

The only room of any size to meet in was the chapel set against the low wall near the cliff. It stood separate from the main building by two hundred feet between it and each wing. One side merged with the steep plummet of the mountainside, the other opened to the field that wrapped around the outside of the complex. Despite the meager architecture of most of the structure, the chapel’s nave soared with gothic arches toward the altar. It was a narrow building, made narrower by the row of columns supporting the arches that lined both sides. And it was tall, the pointed apex of the roof rising another story and a half above the dormitories, not counting a bell tower that dared to soar higher into the incessant wind.

“So what do you think of it now?” Jared asked as they stood beneath the arched door that opened to the chapel.

“I hate it.” Jared laughed at the frank assessment. “I think Byran will too. Seriously, is there not a hotel or something with slightly modern conveniences that could be used? If we can even heat this bloody mess so the delegates don’t freeze, we’ll need to bring in beds at least. They can’t sleep on hay mattresses over rope and wooden frames. That is just the beginning of the problems. This is horrible.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it either. I’ll report back to turn the offer down. We’ll counter propose a nice hotel in the Alps. It is late. It is cold. Let’s head back.”

The sun was setting below the thick cloud layer, illuminating snowflakes that fell on a gentler breeze. They took the change in weather as an opportunity to walk around outside, even though they were going to oppose the location. Drifts of snow mounded over old gravestones. From the windswept graveyard, the chapel’s thick bulk appeared less majestic and more gothic. It made a terrible setting for a peace conference. Derrick turned away from the red stained sunset painting the sky behind the complex.

Jared shook snow out of his hair as they pulled off winter gear in the back of the dactyl. “How do you like being back with the Guard?” Jared asked after they’d settled into the cockpit and Derrick lifted off.

Derrick flicked a glance at Jared. His expression was serious. “Good. I’m very happy to be back. I’m still shocked you made me a Lieutenant. I’m sure you broke a few rules with that.”

Jared snorted. “Never was good at following rules. You remember when we met at Voltzcrag? The first thing I did was forget to report on time.”

Derrick laughed. “I think the first thing you did was get shot out of the sky and still managed to land your plane. Glad you are teaching me to fly this thing.”

“So no complaints?” Jared asked after a few minutes of silence.

Derrick pushed down a fluttering in his gut. “Nothing that you can do anything about.”

“Yeah, I don’t like the way she is treating you either,” Jared said.

Derrick chewed on that statement as the landscape flashed by below them. “We’ll figure it out on our own. You don’t have to say anything on my behalf. We are both adjusting, considering everything that happened before.”

“Sure, your happy and confident tone inspires me to leave you two barely having a conversation.”