Chapter 2

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Dain Telaerin glanced to the doorway of the small room that constituted his quarters on board the XR-30, a ship that was traveling between the Trea System and Cobalt, as fast as its engines were capable of hurling them through the emptiness of space.

His head hurt. Every muscle ached like they’d been torn, but had nothing to do with the rigors of the recent competition he’d just finished and won. He didn’t feel bad because of that. In spite of every effort to stop it from happening, he kept trying to reach Dynan. Trea was too far away. The other side of Cobalt was too far away. The resulting pain this involuntary activity caused was more than excruciating, it kept him from functioning normally.

Five days. That was the limit. Well, really it was three and a half to maybe four. Dain didn’t count the time for travel back home, since he could spend those two days curled up in his bunk fighting off the urge to scream. He had enough time to get to Trea, defeat his opponents, by a lot, win the trophy, and then board a ship for home. They almost hadn’t made it this time, before the ability to walk left him. Sheed Lasser, his guard, all but carried him on board, though Dain did manage to stay on his feet through the official departure ceremony put on by the King and Queen of Trea.

Good thing they were Cobalt’s closest allies. Otherwise, they might have been offended. Their Majesties knew enough about the telepathic link Dain shared with his brother to understand how difficult it was for him, for them both, to be separated. They were the only other rulers in Brittallia who did know. They kept the goodbyes brief.

Another wave of pain started at the base of his skull and struck behind his eyes. Dain gritted his teeth, trying to relax and breathe through it. Really, nothing worked, ever. No mental technique. No distraction. No amount of medication even, shy of being knocked out completely, had any dulling effect.

It wasn’t normal for them to spend this kind of time apart. Dain suspected this instance was yet another in a long line of experiments. Maybe Ambrose wanted to see if they’d grown out of it or something. It wasn’t any better at seventeen than it had been the year before at sixteen or at fifteen or fourteen, all the way back to the point in time they found out being away from each other was a problem. It seemed every year their father forced them to spend more than the safe number of days apart. Either that or the master schedule hit a giant snag and couldn’t be adjusted to prevent it.

That was a definite possibility, especially with Dynan inspecting a factory in Alse’s region in the middle of Dain winning the Brittallia All Around.

Geneal Elger walked in then, carrying a glass full of something that looked like black sludge. She’d been trying to come up with a medication that would make him feel better since they left Trea. She actually had put him unconscious, but once that wore off she didn’t want to do the same thing again. That kind of high-powered drug wasn’t completely safe to use on a ship that didn’t have a Medic Center and only one medic, smart and beautiful though she was.

“Sit up and drink this.” She came at him with the glass of muck.

The green eyes distracted him from wanting to die. Geneal was unlike any woman he’d ever known, a woman with a driving desire to make a difference in the world that Dain found appealing. She saved Dynan’s life for certain and for that, Dain was already in love with her.

He could smell the contents of the glass before she got halfway across the room and decided he didn’t care what kind of pain he was in. He meant to distract her from the mission. “You really are beautiful. You know that?”

She was beautiful, in her own way, a natural beauty. Some of his friends said plain, but Dain didn’t see her that way. At the moment, she had most of her brown curls tied in a knot at the back of her head and came in looking exquisite, dressed in a plain medic jump suit of Royal blue.

She sat down beside him, unimpressed. “No.”

“You’re breaking my heart.”

“You’re hardly more than a child.”

“And you’re such an old lady.” He would have laughed, but another pain wave hit him. He yelled at it, rolled over and punched the wall.

“Stop that. This is what I mean. You’re going to break your hand.”

Dain hit the wall again. “Don’t care.”

“Stop being such a baby and drink this.”

One sip was enough of a deterrent beyond the horrible smell.

“All of it.”

“You aren’t going to like it so much when I throw it up. What is this? Tree bark?” He gagged it back, forcing it down like she wanted, though he didn’t see the point.

It didn’t work, or not completely. After a few long moments, he grudgingly admitted his head hurt a little less, but he wasn’t sure the slight reduction was worth paying for the nasty taste. Geneal wasn’t above using him as a test subject.

“This is really awful.”

She grimaced in sympathy. “I know. I had some. Did it help?”

“Not enough.”

“All right, but a little.” Geneal was ever the optimist too. “Maybe I can come up with something else in the lab that doesn’t taste so bad.”

“Or that I even have to drink.” He leaned against the bunk wall. “There’s a better solution.”

“Not being separated. I know that too. You’re father is certain—”

Dain groaned. “I’m going to be Lord Chancellor and Dynan will be King and we have to be able to be away from each other. You’re talking about something that isn’t going to be an issue for forty years. Fifty years if Pop lives as long as Dionin. Maybe even longer if you medic types keep curing the things that make us all old.”

“It’s an issue right now.”

Dain had heard that before too. “He could have cancelled that inspection.”

“I think he would have if it were possible. The point is he shouldn’t have to. There will be times when rescheduling won’t be an option. You have to want to find a solution to this.” She stood. “We’re going to be in range soon. We’re going to Beren.”

“We are? Why?”

Geneal paused at the door, glancing at him. “They don’t really consult me, you know. They just say, go there and I do. Sheed doesn’t know either.”

“It’s too early for the Spring Festival.” That annual party was still a week away. They didn’t usually get more than two days off around it. Geneal wasn’t listening. She left him to wonder why the change of plans.

Not that he minded. Beren was home. Before his father took the throne, the Beren Mansion was where they spent most of their time. It was a small town at the foot of the Southern Range, named after Dionin’s brother, who’d died defending Rianamar from the last invading force to land on Cobalt.

Dain would be perfectly happy living at Beren the rest of his life, but knew he’d have to settle for visiting, which didn’t happen as often as he wanted. He felt like a regular person there. He could walk around town without people paying much attention to him. He loved being there.

“Hey.”

Dain looked up and found Dynan sitting at the foot of the bunk, the mirror image of himself, blond and blue-eyed. Most people couldn’t tell them apart, even with the sapphire ring Dynan wore and the emerald one Dain wore to help them. The last vestiges of the headache and the other aches and pains left him. The connection reestablished itself and the world went back to normal.

Dain uncurled himself, pulling in a relieved breath. “I’m not doing this again. I’m telling him next time I see him.”

Dynan nodded without argument. “It seemed worse this time.”

“It was.”

“You still won though. Did you break your old record?”

“Yep. What happened that we’re getting to go to Beren?”

Dynan hesitated, but then told him everything he knew about the thwarted attack, which wasn’t much, since Ambrose didn’t want either of them to know about it in the first place. “Ralion was acting like a guard instead of himself and when we left town by transfer I knew something was wrong. We went all the way to Sadtler as fast as a ground transfer can move and I noticed we had air cover. A Special Forces unit surrounded the Sadtler landing port. Ralion finally told me there was a threat once we got on board the transport for Beren. You might get an escort, if you don’t have one already. Ask Sheed. He’ll know.”

“Someone wanted to kill you? Any idea who or why?”

“No. They’re in custody and there’s supposedly some mental instability involved. Pop wants it kept quiet, so no one is talking about it.”

“You mean the kind of mental instability they found last year just before you were attacked?” Dynan nodded to that. “Raving mad?”

“Yes.”

Dain didn’t like the sound of that. “Where are you right now?”

“My room. The place is loaded up with guards. Ralion is parked outside my door. He won’t even let me close it all the way. I looked out my window and there’s a guard standing below. I’m completely safe.”

Dain sat up, punching commands into the screen through the image of his brother. A grid appeared on the screen and Dain whistled. “He sent an armada.”

The XR-30, a formidable ship in its own right, was now completely surrounded. Dain counted 15 other ships, two midranges and the rest smaller attack fighters, indicated by their navigation signatures. Even as he watched, the giant X2 came into range. Other than the X1 Destroyer, the X2 Cruiser was the largest ship in the King’s fleet and the King’s flagship, which was like flying around in a small city. Only the Destroyer was larger, but by treaty and complicated political reasons Dain didn’t think about too often, that ship was used to patrol the whole of Brittallia and was out well beyond Polarra.

“He must really be rattled to send the X2.”

“A little.” Dynan looked through Dain’s eyes at the number of ships.

“He thinks this is coming from Rianamar.” Dain shut the screen off and reached for the call com. “We wouldn’t be staying in Beren otherwise. Sheed, come here.”

The guard appeared in the doorway a moment later, eyebrows raised in question. Like every guard Dain knew, Sheed Lasser was a big guy, but he was less bulky than Dynan’s guard. Except for being taller, he was Dain’s double, blond and blue-eyed. Dain had yet to get him to take the challenge and pick up a blade against him. He said it was against some code or other. More likely it was because Sheed didn’t want to get beaten by the kid he was supposed to be protecting. He was also pretty smart for a guard.

“I guess this means we’re in range.” Sheed noticed that Dain wasn’t curled up in a ball of pain anymore.

“What’s the security detail on the mansion?”

“Dain—”

“How about we skip the bull?”

Sheed held up a hand to stop him. “It isn’t something you need to worry about. I swear on my life, we’ve got this under control.”

“Convince me.” Dain glanced over at Dynan when he laughed.

“Ralion said the same thing.”

“I don’t care what Ralion said.” Dain shared the thought aloud and made Sheed roll his eyes. “I want to hear what the guard contingent is, what the plan is—”

“There are a hundred Special Forces deployed on the mansion grounds. There are a hundred more in town. We’re talking serious overkill here. Port is restricted and there’s a perimeter I’m not going to tell you about. So if you had any ideas about going anywhere, or doing anything while we’re at Beren, you can just forget it. The plan, Dain, is for you to swear to me right now that you promise not to try and sneak off ... until further notice.”

“He means indefinitely.” Dynan smirked and nodded.

“I know what he means.” Dain shared that out loud too.

“Hi Dynan.” Sheed looked to the ceiling. “You all right?”

“He says he’s fine. All right. I swear it. I won’t go anywhere off the mansion grounds. Dynan and I will have dinner—”

“I’m already having dinner with Liselle.” That was news and ruined Dain’s mood. He couldn’t help the string of derogatory thoughts that followed and Dynan heard. “You know what? Fuck off.”

Dain groaned and threw himself back on the bunk. “God, I hate that woman.”

Dain’s feelings about Dynan’s infatuation with their sister’s Lady in Waiting weren’t exactly a secret. Sheed frowned though, having trouble following the mostly one-sided conversation. “Liselle?”

“Thanks for telling me she’s at the mansion. I’d rather go to Rianamar.”

“Promise me, you aren’t going to—”

“I already did.” Dain saw that the guard didn’t believe him. “I won’t leave the house, I swear. I mean it. But, you are going to help me get Richelle inside without anyone finding out about it. Are Regan and Lors there?”

“Lady Hendel too. So I don’t think you’ll be seeing anyone.”

“You want to come with me to Margen’s?”

“No.”

Dain wasn’t deterred. “Extend your perimeter around her place. With a hundred guards in town that won’t be difficult.”

Sheed folded his arms, looking mildly amused. “No.”

“Worried you might end up inside?”

“Followed by losing my job, yes.” Sheed meant that, but he was laughing. “And being involved in my first public scandal. Can’t wait for that.”

“Come on. Listen, if I don’t show up over there, she’ll come looking for me.”

Sheed considered that probability. It had happened before, just recently at the Ilthain Palace on Trea. A Palace maid, regardless of an annoying level of parentally imposed security, had somehow slipped into his room. The reputation for promiscuity aside, Dain had never, not even once, gone looking for it. Every single girl he’d ever slept with sought him out. He lacked the capacity to say no, so he didn’t, and had a lot of fun along the way. He often wondered why it mattered what he did, but that was also part of being a Prince. As long as he didn’t get a girl pregnant and he kept up with the inoculations to keep that from happening, along with a number of other disease preventing medicines he took, he figured it wasn’t anyone else’s business. Almost no one else felt the same way.

“Tell her to come to the service entrance by the kitchen. I’ll make sure there’s no one there. I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Sheed muttered under his breath and left the room.

“Neither can I.” Dain got up, sat at the table by the bunk and turned on the com screen imbedded in its surface. As he did, his friends came in, talking and laughing. They were all happy to be going home.

Two of them, Tory Wills and Olan Jacar, were Dain’s best friends. They were both from the Beren region. They shared a fierce loyalty to Dain, who knew, without a doubt, that they would do anything for him.

All of them attended the King’s Academy together. This was a scheme of study that only a select few managed to get into. It was open to everyone who could pass the assessments, regardless of social status and then the King made the final determination on who got in. He usually favored the less fortunate, though Olan wasn’t one of them. Olan was as unassuming and unaffected by his particular station as anyone Dain had ever known. He was the scrounger of the group. If they needed something not readily obtainable, Olan could find it.

Calman Shaun, Greg Altmar and Glenn Derik were all from the Guilds, though they probably wouldn’t end up staying in the Guilds. Attending the King’s Academy generally led to bigger and better things, which also meant greater worries and immense responsibilities. All the top tier of Cobalt’s government came from the Academy, all of them Ambrose’s closest friends. Their past enrollment also led them to represent Cobalt at the Brittallia All Around, just like Dain and his friends were doing now.

“What’s this?” Olan slumped down into the chair next to Dain and looked at the com screen. “Hacking into another secret system?”

“Yes and no.” Dain didn’t look up from the screen. “It isn’t secret.”

Tory glanced over his shoulder on his way to a seat and frowned. “You’re in the personal file directory. Who are you looking up?”

“Guess.”

“Liselle.” Olan knew without looking and made everyone groan. “Has to be. We just found out she’ll be at Beren with us.”

Everyone groaned again. None of them expressed any fondness for her, but Dain supposed that could be due to how much he detested her, so they knew better. He glanced at the file he had open. He could get everything he needed to know about her from the public file. He didn’t know why he was looking in her personal file, where he’d find her official schedule and her private schedule, but maybe more useful – her private correspondence. What he really wanted was to find something about her he could use to convince his father to remove her as his sister’s Lady in Waiting and therefore, out of Dynan’s life.

“Her father has been talking to your father.” Olan pointed to a file that bore the King’s seal and the seal of the Tremault House.

“You don’t think they’re talking about a marriage do you?” Tory voiced exactly what Dain was thinking and dreading. “For Dynan?”

“Would your father do that without, you know, talking to him about it?” Calman wanted to know. Everyone else did too.

Dain opened the file to find out, but found something else completely unexpected. Tory and Olan stared, their eyes widening. Dain couldn’t believe it either.

“Wait.” Tory squinted at the words. “What does that mean?”

Dain reached over and shut the screen off, glancing across the room at the others who were now even more curious. “I can’t talk about this. It isn’t about Dynan getting married.”

“Sure, Dain.” Greg stood, recognizing the unspoken dismissal. Calman and Glenn followed. “Everything’s all right, isn’t it?”

“Yep. It’s my father and now they’re in trouble for seeing this.” He nodded to Tory and Olan. “We have to figure out what to do about it. Sorry.”

“It’s really amazing how fast it can happen, isn’t it.” Olan punched Dain in the arm. Calman and the others were already on their way out. They wanted no part of being in trouble, which was why Dain used the excuse to get them out of the room. It wasn’t much of an excuse. This had trouble written all over it.

“You have to tell Dynan.” Tory hardly waited for the door to slide closed, while Dain pulled the letter up again on the screen.

“He won’t believe me. He knows I can’t stand Liselle, so anything I say about her, true or not, is ignored.”

“Then show him this message.” Tory looked more worried than usual.

Olan didn’t agree. “And have Dynan hate his father for the next ten or so years? I know I would if I found out my father set me up like this. Dain, he’s completely in love with her. Why would your father do this?”

“It says why right there in the letter.” Tory pointed at it. “To help the Crown Prince overcome his extreme reticence, whatever that means, in his dealings with—”

“You remember how he couldn’t talk to a girl?” Olan drew a hand down his face. “Or pretty much anyone else?”

Tory nodded. “Yes, but he kind of got over that. Didn’t he? Right after...”

His voice trailed away after straying into unpleasant territory by bringing up the timing. Before he’d been stabbed, Dynan hardly spoke to anyone outside of his friends and family. Since recovering from that ordeal, he didn’t have that problem so much anymore, though he still wasn’t completely at ease in public.

It was true but Dain didn’t think Liselle had anything to do with it.

Tory had other ideas. “Then why is she still around him all the time? Your father probably thinks she’s helped him and I don’t know, maybe she has. Or maybe not, Dain. I don’t know. He talks a lot more than he used to, so maybe. But if the job is done, why is she still around?”

“To change the terms of the contract.” Dain felt the truth of it deep within. Liselle had always been a user. Dain thought so all along and one of the reasons he didn’t like her. She meant to maneuver herself into a position of power, regardless of how the power was obtained.

“She wants to marry Dynan instead of Gauvin?” Tory seemed surprised when he shouldn’t have.

Olan cast him a dubious look and scoffed. “Of course she does.”

“All right. Because he’s going to be King one day.” Tory accepted the rebuff but then shook his head. “Dynan really likes her. I’ve been around them when they’re together and she seems to care about him.”

“Seems to.” Dain rubbed his eyes. Another headache was coming on, this one completely different from the first. He didn’t know what to do about this discovery. He really couldn’t believe his father had contracted Liselle to purposely come in and pretend to be Dynan’s close friend. Except the letter in her file said that was exactly her function.

The silence grew too long. Olan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. But we’re going to stop talking about it.”

Tory hesitated. “You have to tell him.”

“I can’t tell him, Tory.” Dain shook his head. “You can’t tell him. Olan can’t tell him. None of us can. He won’t believe it coming from us and Olan is right. If he finds out, he won’t forgive Pop. I don’t know if I will either. I don’t want Dynan to ever know about this. We’re going to land soon. I can’t be thinking about this when we do.”

Tory still didn’t like it. “So we’re just going to let him go on believing—”

Dain held up a hand. “For right now, yes. I don’t know what else to do, all right? Talk about something else.”

A moment of hesitant silence followed, but then Olan nodded. “The All Around Competition was something, wasn’t it? I thought Alexia Targon’s son got over his sorrow without nearly the same scene as last year.”

Tory went along with the attempt at distraction. “I thought he was worse. He was practically crying.”

Dain smirked at that. “Not practically.”

“Bawling like a baby. Bet his momma won’t like that.”

“It only makes it tougher on Pop when he has to deal with her.” Dain activated the navigation screen when the trajectory of the ship changed, pressing them all down into their seats.

Sheed came half in, bracing himself against the door. “We’re landing.”