Kingmakers, The (Vampire Empire Book 3) (28 page)

“Y
OU’VE BROUGHT THIS
on yourself,” General Anhalt said over the din of the rattling elevator cage.

Mamoru didn’t respond, staring straight ahead. He and Anhalt and four White Guardsmen stood facing the door. The wrought-iron elevator rose fitfully past an endless brick wall as it churned up the center of the great tower of Pharos One.

Anhalt didn’t turn his head. “Her Majesty regrets that she is unable to see you off. Despite all that has happened, she wishes me to convey her best wishes and sincere gratitude for all you did for her and her family.”

The samurai was apparently unmoved. His crimson robe fluttered in the wind pouring down the shaft.

The sirdar produced a heavy envelope with imperial seals. “This is an official edict of
persona non grata
. As well as a secret proclamation signed by Empress Adele the First confining you to imprisonment for the remainder of your life. You are to be taken to Jahannam Prison, a facility reserved for imperial enemies of the highest order. You shall be its only current inhabitant, but your accommodations will be hospitable, even luxurious by some standards.” Mamoru’s hands were chained behind his back, so Anhalt replaced the letters into his own tunic. “Your fate will be tucked into your luggage.”

The general clasped his hands behind his back, content to see the rest of this duty done in silence. He took no pleasure in it. He’d never had much contact with Mamoru over the years, and had never completely trusted him. However, the teacher had fed an intellectual curiosity in the empress that no one else could. She needed challenges to be happy, and the samurai priest had always provided that. This betrayal by her beloved Mamoru could’ve been a crushing blow, but Adele’s all-encompassing duty as empress kept her aloft.

Still, Anhalt feared for Adele. He was typically far away at the front, Greyfriar was frequently gone, and now Mamoru was banished. He would stay in Alexandria until the spring offensive began, but the days when he could remain by her side were over. There was no one to block the fierce winds that were sweeping around her.

The elevator cage jerked to a rough stop and Anhalt yanked back the gate. He stepped out into near gale-force winds that blasted the mooring platform atop Pharos One, the highest airship tower in Alexandria.

Beyond saluting soldiers, across the hundred yards of concrete, looming above the busy mooring crew, was an Equatorian frigate lashed close to the tower. The hull of the ship was a dull brown and grey, but the aluminum cage around the dirigible sparkled with the sun of a painfully blue sky. Mobs of teamsters lugged cargo over multiple gangplanks. A spiderweb of hoses hung from the ship’s dirigible as buoyancy gases were pumped in. Anhalt strode toward the airship with Mamoru and the White Guard behind. A parade of reports met him as he passed.

“The prisoner’s quarters are ready, Sirdar.”

“
Khyber
is scheduled to make way in two hours, Sirdar.”

“The prisoner’s baggage is stowed, Sirdar.”

Anhalt acknowledged each announcement until he reached a gangplank where a naval lieutenant waited. They exchanged salutes, and the young naval officer looked past Anhalt to study Mamoru. The sirdar produced multiple envelopes that flapped in the wind, threatening to escape into space.

“These are your orders, Lieutenant,” Anhalt said loudly, “regarding the disposition of the prisoner.”

The officer in his dress blue uniform with gold piping took the papers delicately in white-gloved hands, noting the highest imperial
seal on the heavy paper. His nasal voice was not suited to the occasion. “I relieve you of your prisoner, sir.”

“I stand relieved.” Anhalt turned for a final word with his one-time ally. “This is good-bye then. We shall never meet again.”

“No, we shan’t.” Mamoru kicked back and struck one of the White Guard in the face and, in a single motion, slammed his foot into another man’s head. There was a hard snap. Then he leapt into air, striking out with both legs, spinning in the air, smashing two soldiers aside. He was so fast he could barely be seen, and he didn’t stop moving.

Anhalt’s saber was barely clear of the scabbard when the samurai cracked a foot into the general’s knee. As Anhalt staggered, Mamoru jumped and brought his chained hands under the soles of his feet. He had hardly touched the concrete again before he pulled a soldier’s sword free. With foot planted, he brought the saber against the sirdar’s chest. Anhalt reared back violently, off-balance, trying to gain distance from the deadly blade. He felt pressure pass along the front of his uniform jacket, and then a strong hand fell across his neck with a foot against his shin, tumbling him to the ground. He rolled off his right hip, trying for his revolver. A flash of red robe passed and slammed into the lieutenant, who had barely time to blink since the attack began. The young man toppled helplessly over the rail of the gangplank and off the tower.

“Mamoru! Stop!” Anhalt shouted, tasting his own blood in his mouth. He struggled onto one knee, fumbling with his holster flap.

The samurai raced along the gangplank onto
Khyber
. Sailors looked in surprise or scattered wildly as the saber blade came at them. Mamoru hurdled a pile of cargo waiting to be stowed in the forecastle. When he landed, he kept going at a full run. He leapt, one foot touching the rail, and then catapulted over the far side. His crimson robes were beautiful against the blue sky for a second, and then he was gone.

Anhalt’s boot steps thudded on the wooden gangplank. He bowled onto the ship, shoving stunned airmen aside as he stumbled across the deck, shouting, “Make way! Make way!” He reached the spot where Mamoru had jumped and leaned over the rail, revolver in hand.

He saw nothing below but the dark waters of the Mediterranean with white edges of foam where it merged with the shore.

“He jumped from Pharos One?” Adele could barely form the question because it was so incredible, so unspeakable. Her hands crunched the paperwork she had been reading in the Privy Council chamber.

“I fear so, Your Majesty.” General Anhalt stood at rigid attention. Beads of sweat rolled down his brow, and a thin line of blood stained his new tunic. “He killed two men and wounded four more.”

The empress put a hand to her face. “I can’t believe it. My God.”

Anhalt said, “There are those who suggest it was ritual suicide.”

Adele waved dismissively. “Could he have survived the fall?”

The general replied in a strained voice, “Normally I’d say it was impossible. However, Mamoru is not normal. We searched the shoreline and the harbor, and found nothing.”

Adele rose from her private desk and took Anhalt by the arm with a loving rebuke. “Sit down, General, please. You’re wounded.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty.” But he allowed himself to be guided to her chair. “I regret my failure to—”

“Stop it,” Adele barked. “I should have had him wrapped in chains and locked in a trunk. Oh, even that probably wouldn’t have been enough. Mamoru is one of the most skilled fighters I’ve ever seen. A regiment couldn’t have stopped him. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“What of you, Your Majesty? What if he is alive? We must bolster your security.”

Nearby, Captain Shirazi shifted slightly on his feet with a creak of leather boots.

The empress went to the window, the train of her gown hissing over the floor. She looked out on the garden where she and Mamoru used to study together. She watched the white blurs that were flowers tossing in the twilight breeze.

“General,” she said, “I’ve been kidnapped, stabbed, and blown up. And that’s just in the last calendar year. There’s only so much security can do. If Mamoru’s alive and he wants to find me, he will. He could be watching me even as we speak. He knows the palace inside and out.” If
Mamoru was alive, she feared more for Gareth’s welfare than hers. Fortunately, Gareth was far away in the relative safety of Europe.

Adele ached for Gareth. She valued his steady judgment and brilliant counterpoints in this crisis. But more, she wanted to sense the steel shadow of his presence beside her. She wanted the touch of his hand.

Anhalt pushed to his feet and moved to her side with a hand on his pistol. “Does Mamoru have any confederates here? Where would he go to hide?”

The empress said, “Sir Godfrey Randolph.”

“The surgeon who operated on you?”

“Yes. He and Mamoru are close friends. Direct the Home Secretary to dispatch police to watch Sir Godfrey’s home in Giza. Follow him, should he venture out. Give it several days. Then, if nothing happens, have him brought here so I may talk to him.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. What of that woman who was with Mamoru when Flay attacked the palace last year?”

“I don’t know who she is. Mamoru has a vast network, but I learned no more about it than my father did. Perhaps Sir Godfrey will know something, although I doubt he’d tell. We’ll handle the situation here. You have other concerns. Do you have your ship?”

Anhalt slipped a surreptitious eye toward Captain Shirazi, who stood at attention. Eventually, the general replied, “There are difficulties, Majesty. The Undead attack on Gibraltar last year nearly halved our fleet. Recent action has taken several of the best candidates. I wanted HMS
Mysore
, but she went down near Graz last week. Others are damaged. And any ship I remove from action will cost air support for men who need it. An operational ironclad would be best, but that is out of the question. But don’t worry, I’ll find a suitable candidate for the mission.”

“Time grows short, General.” Her fear for Gareth being left unsupported in the north made the comment more biting than she intended.

The general merely said, “I understand, Your Majesty.”

There was a knock at the door, and she called out to enter. Her secretary appeared in the door looking officious, with an army officer in the corridor behind. “Your Majesty, there is an urgent message for the sirdar.”

Adele motioned the young soldier in. He tried to march ahead with military aloofness, but his eyes were wide. He stared at the empress and at her sanctum. General Anhalt appeared in front of him like a statue stained with blood.

Anhalt slipped a finger under the flap of the envelope and drew out the single sheet of close typing. As he read, his shoulders dropped and his eyes closed.

Adele came to him with concern. “What is it, General?”

“Rotherford’s position at St. Etienne has been overrun. His corps is in full retreat with massive casualties reported.”

“Dear God. How?” Adele’s thoughts went from worry about Gareth beyond the bloody frontier to the endless train of young men slogging through the mud, huddling in the endless night, terrified of death.

“Fresh packs. Apparently, a huge reinforcement of vampires kept up an attack for three days without pause.” Anhalt rubbed his brow and retrieved his khaki helmet with its scarab badge. “Barely a month from Greyfriar’s deadline, the new moon after the equinox. This dispatch is a week old at best.”

“Did Field Marshal Rotherford survive?”

The general scanned the sheet again and nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

Adele touched his sleeve. “You must go.” It took a great deal of effort to phrase it as a statement and not a plaintive question.

“Yes. I must return to the continent immediately to salvage the situation or we could lose untold ground.”

“I understand.” She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Stay safe.”

He took her hand in his and reverently kissed it. Then he stepped back and saluted. “With your blessing, Your Majesty.”

Adele nodded and then watched her general, her confidant, and her friend march from the room, leaving it quiet and still. Anhalt was gone.

Simon was gone.

Mamoru was gone.

Gareth was gone.

One by one she was losing all those she trusted, and the one she loved. There were so few people whose counsel she relied on, and that
circle was growing smaller every day. Soon she would be alone and the only advice she could depend on was her own.

Adele’s hand brushed the huge wooden globe. She imagined her father standing here. His large hand covered twice the land her slender hand could. She wondered if he would be proud of her. Every day as she grew lonelier, she felt closer to him and understood what he must have felt, separate and distant from his friends, family, and subjects, each one slipping further and further away with every decision made. The burden of sovereignty was heavier than she had realized.