Hers to Command (11 page)

“
Perhaps Contradina did more damage to DeLorion than we knew,” he theorized. “I wonder if there is a physical problem. You would think… They have been in such close proximity. The conte’s celibacy is very out of character.” Patricio raised a brow in question.

Gabriella shrugged.
“It is more likely the non-fraternization order he issued when he took command. The visconte is his subordinate. DeTano is too honorable to violate his own orders.”

The tall brunette returned her gaze to
Elder Patricio. “When are you going to tell him?”

“
I think it best to get the princess legally joined to him before I bring up the visconte. I still don’t know how that will fall out.” Patricio sighed tiredly. “He has not said he will marry her. We desperately need DeTano’s cooperation. For the first time in 450 years, the necessary genes might come together.” Patricio’s raspy voice rose on a note of excitement, then fell. “But I can’t get the confounded man to stay in one place long enough to test it. That man is a mystery to me. After all these years, I still cannot anticipate DeTano’s response. Dealing with him is like juggling balls of energy plasma, and no matter how delicately I move, he still explodes in my face.”

Gabriella eyed him without sympathy.
“I told you fifteen years ago not to manipulate him. He is far too intelligent and headstrong. He should have been told the possibilities. You have consistently mishandled him. His estrangement from the palace and the
L’anziano
is on your head.”

“
Fine. So help me, damn you. You know what is at stake. He told me himself, Verdantia spoke to him, told him of another. If those three can be brought together in the
Chambre Cristalle,
they could generate infinite amounts of workable energy. Think, woman! Think of the possibilities. They might be another
Tetriarch
. We
must
have the three of them together.”

“
Try some diplomacy, Ruprecht. Try
asking
the man. It won’t work unless they are willing. I suppose you could have the king command his obedience but that didn’t work very well the last time you tried—did it?” She eyed him disdainfully. “How many years did DeTano stay off-planet? Ah, yes, seven. And you should put something on those burns.”

Patricio watched coldly as she walked away.
Diplomacy—pftt—I’m going to the king. DeTano won’t leave Verdantia in the middle of this war.

* * * * *

“Conte DeTano.” A palace page called Ari’s name as he crossed the stone courtyard toward the stables to check on Grey. “Yes?”

“
You are summoned to attend the king. He is in his solar.”

“
I have been off-world for years. I am not familiar with the palace. You will have to show me the way.”

“
Yes, Your Lordship. If you will follow me, please.” The page turned on his heels and walked off. Ari trailed along.

The king's solar turned out to be some distance
from the courtyard, hidden in the immense, sprawling complex of the royal palace. He was thoroughly lost by the time the page brought him to a door like tens of others they had passed.
I should have dropped breadcrumbs
.

The armed sentry standing to attention at the door took one look at
Ari, asked him to wait and vanished behind the door. Several minutes later, Elder Patricio appeared. “Conte DeTano, please, enter.”

Elder Patricio? What in the seven hells of Jurossa? Whatever happened to the man’s bushy eyebrows?

Ari
followed Patricio through a high-arched hallway into a bright, sun-lit room. The soaring ceilings and twenty-foot windows gave the stone-tiled chamber an airy spaciousness. The lush plantings of potted
citri
trees, ferns and exotic flowers scented the air with a fresh, earthy smell. Tucked into an ell in the room almost submerged in robes and furs was the king.

Ari
fought to hide his shock. Though Fleur had warned him, Ari was unprepared for the wasted husk of a man before him. There had not been a whisper of his condition outside the palace.

From a tactical standpoint
, the silence made excellent sense. The Haarb would love to know the king was deathly ill and that illness would certainly have made dealings with the LFP more difficult. The palace had controlled any gossip admirably, assisted, he was sure, by the Haarb’s sixteen month siege.

“
Conte DeTano.” The king's feeble voice was barely audible. Pulling a shaking hand out of his robes, he motioned to Ari. “Come closer.”

Striding up to within two feet of the king's chair,
Ari dropped to one knee and bowed his head respectfully. “Your Majesty. How may I serve you?”

“
Rise, Conte DeTano.” The king scrutinized him for a long moment. “Our daughter tells Us you discussed honoring your marriage contract with Our House—that you promised her an answer.”

“
Yes, Your Majesty, I have.”

“
You are taking your own damned time,” the king observed sourly.

Ari
cut his eyes to Elder Patricio. The elder's neutral expression betrayed nothing.
What
had
he done to his eyebrows? It was very distracting
.

“
With respect, Sire, there is much to consider,” he replied.

“
Humph, with
respect
,” the king snorted sarcastically. A hacking cough cut him short, wracking his frail body. With a shaking fist, he held a blood-stained linen cloth to his mouth. His head fell back weakly when the spasms passed.

“
We don’t like you. We cannot like your reputation. We cannot like you as consort to Our daughter and We don’t care about the
L’anziano’s
damned contract.” The king pointed a shaking finger to a folded sheet of parchment bearing his official seal. “That is the
King’s Warrant
stripping you of rank and confining you to your estates under penalty of imprisonment. I signed it four years ago when Ambassador Santorini returned from Triton without his junior envoy. We are very tempted to implement it to remind you
just who it is you defied!”
The king doubled over in a spate of coughing, dabbing at the bloody spittle dotting his lips. Under control once more, he lay back and eyed Ari silently.

Skewered by the king's acute scrutiny, Ari stood stiffly. The king’s response was warranted by his own appalling reputation. His failure to return with the rest of the diplomatic party denoted a willful disregard for the authority of his king, his parents and the
L’anziano
. Surely, though, his actions of the last three years counted as credit against his previous twelve of rebelliousness.

“
We are not blind to your actions of late, however, particularly your care of Our daughter following the
Great Rite
,” the king said begrudgingly, as if reading Ari’s mind. “Elder Patricio has assured Us both Fleur and Verdantia could be in no better hands.”

The king gave an aggravated grunt.
“Patricio continually dissuaded Us from dissolving that contract and incarcerating you in a dark prison to rot until you came to your senses. Did you know he has been your champion for years?” Watching Ari’s face, the king rasped dryly, “Ruprecht told Us you might find it hard to believe.”

“
And—Ruprecht—would be correct.”
By Her light, what a ghastly name.
Ari
raised an inquiring eyebrow and regarded Elder Patricio steadily.

“
It would be a tragedy to lose your genes,” commented the elder blandly.

Ari
tried, belatedly, to suppress a sarcastic snort.

“
Conte, Ruprecht, please.” The king closed his eyes. “Conte DeTano, We are dying. Our daughter will shortly assume Our crown. The Haarb eviscerated our Parliament and House of Lords. They sold two-thirds of our population, scattering them among the stars.” He paused, panting, attempting to catch his breath. “Our daughter, when she succeeds Us as Queen, will be burdened with restoring orderly government to Verdantia and reconstructing our society. Never in its history has House Constante been so challenged. She needs a consort who will support her. She needs a man of experience and honor, not some,” the king lifted his head and confronted Ari, “
licentious opportunist
.”

Only the king’s stertorous breathing disturbed the quiet as he continued to examine Ari with cold antipathy.

Ari’s
impassive mask gave no hint at the rage boiling inside him.

“
Sire,” Patricio interjected into the uneasy stillness. “Do not be misled by the court gossips. They paint Conte DeTano as a trifling profligate whose greatest talents are in bed. They gravely misjudge him. He has an excellent mind. Among the LFP, the conte is widely respected as an unusually effective diplomat and a brilliant military strategist. His leadership unified our scattered, isolated forces into an effective fighting unit under a single command. The men and women who serve under Conte DeTano are devoted to him and he has demonstrated his loyalty to Verdantia repeatedly. Your Majesty, Conte DeTano is very capable—very,
very
, capable.”

The
elder rubbed at the healing puncture under his chin. “I know from personal experience to what lengths the conte will go to keep Her Royal Highness safe.” Elder Patricio caught Ari’s eyes and bowed ever so slightly, a hesitant, wry smile tipping the corners of his mouth.

Ari
had always been aware he provided juicy meat to the busy character assassins and duplicitous sycophants surrounding Verdantian aristocracy. He was indifferent to that. They were nothing to him. But to be defended for years by Elder Patricio?
That
took him down at the knees. Ari studied the elder with careful consideration
. He works from some ulterior motive. I am certain of it. What is his real objective?
He ridiculed himself, inwardly.
No doubt, all will become clear when the elder’s machinations have shaped me to his purpose.

Silence continued to fill the solar for interminable minutes
as the king stared at Ari with blatant dislike. A live coal of antagonism glowed in Ari’s gut. Finally the king spoke.

“
Thank you, Ruprecht. We have always found your judgment sound. You have been a good friend.” The king smiled slightly at Elder Patricio before turning a hostile eye toward Ari. “So, Conte DeTano, what do you say?”

“
Sire.” Ari bowed. At the king’s impatient gesture, he continued. “If it pleases Your Majesty, House DeTano will honor its obligation to Principessa Royal Fleur Constante.”

The king grunted.
“Our choices are limited and Patricio is willing to speak for you. So, Conte DeTano, it seems it
must
please Us.” He closed his eyes and sank back into his furs. “We don't want an elaborate funeral. Bury Us quietly. Our people have seen enough death. We prefer they celebrate your nuptials and Our daughter's coronation.” He shifted uncomfortably, bringing the bloody cloth up to wipe his mouth. “You may leave Us.”

And with that
,
I am dismissed!
Bowing once again to the king and, surprising even himself, to Elder Patricio, Ari left the sunlit room and attacked the maze of corridors, winding his way back, he hoped, to the stables of the
L’anziano
. He blamed his abstraction considering his stunning audience with the king for becoming wholly, thoroughly, unreservedly, lost.

Her,
by the seven hells, that is all this morning needed.

“
Ari? What are you doing down here?”

“
Your Highness,” Ari acknowledged. “I was trying to find the stables. Feel free to go about your business.”

“
You succeeded in finding the laundry.” The corners of Fleur’s eyes crinkled. “You rode fifty-some miles, cross-country, at night, chased by a Haarb patrol and you cannot find your way from the palace to the stables?” Her mouth quivered.

Mouthy little witch.
Ari gave her “the look”—the one that stopped hardened soldiers dead in their tracks.

Her smile widened until she wore a ridiculous grin
.

Damnation
.
Ari gave a bark of laughter. “It is rather absurd.” He grinned back at her. Their joint laughter echoed against the stone walls.

Running
her arm through his, Fleur smiled at him sweetly. “Follow me, my intrepid, directionally-challenged warlord. I will lead you where you need to go.”

At her questioning gaze,
he shook his head. “I am in your hands, Princess.”

As they moved off arm-in-arm, a thought occurred to him. “Fleur, did Patricio tell you what happened to his eyebrows?”

“
He told me he was leaning over a cold brazier when it inexplicably exploded, badly singeing them. Ari, do you think
we
had anything to do with that?”