The Queen of Lies (17 page)

Warmth returned instantly to her body, though the chill remained. She heard a collective chorus of gasps from everyone on the pier. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cameron stand up and extend his hand to her. He pulled her up, and she stood unsteadily.

“The Invocari’s craft is unsettling, especially the first time,” Cameron observed. “If you hold your breath before, it helps. A little.”

“I couldn’t breathe…” Jessa exclaimed. She’d never been unable to breathe before. “Is that what it feels like to drown?”

“Most people would prefer to drown.” Cameron threw his coat over his shoulder. “We should get out of here.”

He looked up at the Invocari and forced a smile as he led Jessa down the pier. The Patreans cleared a path fairly easily. Most of the refugees scattered as soon as they caught their breath, but a few remained on the pier, not moving. Jessa’s silver eyes widened as a woman desperately shook an older man whose body looked drained of life.

“Is that man dead?” she asked.

“It’s possible, Your Majesty.” Cameron said as he ushered her along. “The Invocari don’t choose who they affect when they use their void magic for crowd control. A few seconds is all they need to disable a person, but for some folks, that’s more than they have. It’s not unusual for a heart to give out from terror either.”

Jessa shuddered. Of course she knew the Invocari were the reason the Dominance hadn’t captured the free cities, but to experience their power firsthand was another matter entirely.

She felt better as they made their way toward the falls. The cold mist from the waterfall invigorated her skin with a natural coolness that chased away the sense memory of the Invocari’s power. “Apparently Mother was right. I lack the common touch.” Jessa laughed grimly.

“Poverty and squalor turn decent folks into animals,” Cameron said. “Say all you want about character and resolve, but it only gets you so far down here. Your people are at the bottom rung of a very tall ladder. I should have stopped you from passing out your gold. The ones who won’t be robbed will spend it on drugs.”

“This entire situation is utterly unacceptable,” Jessa fumed.

He grumbled in assent, “I’ve been telling that to the Assembly for years. Maybe they’ll listen to you.”

“If it’s my destiny to be a tool for the political ambitions of others, I’d feel most comfortable in your hands, Assemblyman Cameron.” She offered a wan smile.

“Careful with your words, Majesty. I’m not known for my manners, and turns of phrase like that inspire my less-refined nature.”

Jessa sniffed. “Sometimes I wish people would treat me with less consideration and greater honesty. Truthfully what do you think will happen to my people? The problem goes beyond meager handouts and bedding.”

“Yes, it does. The problem is the entire structure of the city. With every new invention of the artificers, the city needs labor less and less. Do you know what a bath attendant is?”

“Of course,” Jessa scoffed. “I am, however, surprised you’d even know of such a thing. At the Silverbrook estate, the hot water comes through pipes in the wall.”

“And who cleans the bath?”

“One of Muriel’s automatons.”

“That used to be the job of two servants…three, giving allowance for an alternate,” Cameron emphasized. “Those three jobs no longer exist, and three unlucky souls scrape by for survival in the Backwash, Majesty.”

Jessa cocked her head. “But who would want to be a bath maid? It isn’t pleasant work hauling those large vats of boiling water.”

“It’s a shit job, but it’s a job. The people down here don’t benefit from new innovations. What happens when the scholars discover how to make cheaper automatons to fill the roles of porters, fishermen…hells, even whores?”

“I hadn’t considered this…” Jessa paused. “But surely there’s a better solution.”

Cameron chuckled. “If I could, I’d give everyone money who didn’t have it. But that’s why I’m not popular in the Assembly. There’s no opportunity in Rivern. The more the city progresses, the less it needs its citizens. Less use it has for refugees. There’s no refuge for them here in Rivern.”

Jessa nodded. “Then what would you advise?”

“You won’t like what I have to say. The ones who come here are too destitute to start over, even if they had homes to return to.” Cameron sighed. “If I were in your shoes, I’d use my connections to the empress, reunite Amhaven with Thrycea.”

“My people fought bitterly for their independence,” Jessa recalled. “Thousands died under my grandfather’s rebellion to throw off the yoke of imperial influence.”

“And how many of those who sacrificed still live today?”

Jessa nodded stiffly and followed him back to the lifts to the Overlook.

As they walked back to Silverbrook Manor, Jessa said, “Perhaps I should abdicate my claim.”

Cameron looked at her with curiosity and disbelief. “Your Majesty, it was a shit show down there, but it’s hardly reason to give up. You made a good effort, and no one can fault you for that.”

“People died. In front of me,” Jessa protested. “And it’s all because of a dispute over my claim. I can’t allow this fighting in my own kingdom to continue and say it’s for the good of my people when they clearly suffer. I can’t defeat Rothburn, and he can’t defeat me, so he attacks those who are defenseless. If one of us is to lead, then perhaps it’s best that it be a duke with no ties to Thrycea.”

Cameron paused as the first drop of rain fell on his hand. He looked to Jessa. “Have I said something to upset you, Your Majesty?”

Jessa looked up at the clouds as more rain splashed across her face. “This isn’t my doing, but I’m certain to be blamed for it.”

The rain fell harder.

Cameron raised a hand to shield his eyes. “Can you becalm this weather? It’s some distance to your residence.”

“Oddly we can only make storms. We have no dominion over what Kultea sends of her own volition,” Jessa confided.

The rain descended in sheets, causing her to laugh. The roar of falling water echoed off the street and the Trident River. The few people in the street scrambled for cover as merchants hastily covered their wares with tarps. She had to yell over the rain, “I can’t soothe the storm. We need to get inside.”

She grabbed Cameron’s hand and led him down the street. Her clothes were soaked, and the raindrops lashed her eyes, but she felt nothing. Cameron stumbled behind her, blinded and shivering from the ice-cold water that clung to his coat and shirt.

They raced down the street, Jessa focusing on pushing as much of the water away as possible. Deep puddles split before them as she navigated through the downpour. They raced down streets and alleys until they arrived, breathless, at the gates of the Silverbrook estate.

Still holding his hand, she waited with him in the storm as the automaton gate recognized her and retracted.

“I should take my leave, Your Majesty.” Cameron offered a slight bow.

Jessa grabbed his hand again. “Nonsense. You’re soaked. Come inside.”

He didn’t resist her as she tore open his shirt the moment they walked through the door. Cameron was a sturdy man with a firm chest—more rugged than handsome, but he exuded a raw flavor of masculinity. He pressed his mouth to hers, scraping her face with his rough stubble. He shrugged off his shirt and coat, revealing his ripped torso. His black hair was peppered with gray, and long thick scars ran across his right chest and abdomen.

“Your Majesty…I’m old enough to be your father,” he started.

She covered his mouth. “My proper style of address is ‘Your Grace,’ and I find you incredibly appealing.”

His kiss was hot and firm as his tongue explored her mouth. Jessa surrendered herself to the experience of his hands squeezing her breasts. The length of his hard cock pressed against her as he pushed her against the wall. His burly hand moved with practiced precision as he unfastened the back of her dress.

Impatiently she grabbed the collar and ripped herself free of her garment, letting the delicate fabric tear with a satisfying ripping of the seams. Encouraged by her efforts, Cameron joined in earnest, yanking and pulling at the garment till it fell ruined to the floor. He paused, in awe of her nakedness, with a look of unbridled animal lust gleaming in his eyes.

She set to work freeing his cock from his trousers. First she unfastened his belt and whipped it free. She kept it in one hand as she forced her other hand down the front of his pants. She felt his hardness twitch in her fingers as she ran them through his coarse pubic hair. She squeezed his girth and directed it upward so the head of his cock peered over the rim of his pants.

She took the leather and looped it around Cameron’s neck and led him into the solarium. He followed her, allowing her to pull at him, his eyes fixed on her breasts. He forced his trousers down and stepped out of them as he followed. Jessa paused to let him kick off his boots and ran a finger up his muscular, hairy thigh.

His cock was rigid and already dripping with seed. He was hunched over and panting, ready to fuck her, waiting for her to pull him close.

Jessa tugged the belt, and Cameron fell on her. His lips were all over her neck; his hands slid up her buttocks and back. He lifted her and brought her down on his throbbing dick. Jessa moaned as he slid inside her. The belt slipped from her hand as she returned the embrace and kissed him passionately.

Gently he lowered her to the floor and lay back, letting her ride him. Jessa writhed, exploring sensations from the angles of his manhood inside her as he bucked beneath her. His hands massaged her breasts as their bodies found a rhythm and built toward climax.

Thunder crashed outside, and hard rain pelted the windows of the solarium. Out of the corner of her eye, Jessa noticed an automaton with a feather duster attending to a sculpture.

She arched her back and felt the power of Cameron’s cock sliding into her wet cunt as she guided it to her spot. She smelled his musk and felt the slippery sheen of his sweat as she pressed her fingers on his heaving chest.

Jessa came hard, but Cameron didn’t stop. With each thrust, her body shivered in ecstasy as thunder clapped outside. It was more than she could take, but she didn’t want it to stop. She grabbed his nipples and pinched. She felt the electricity build in her own body and released it through her skin—a low, gentle shock that went straight into Cameron’s aching balls and nipples.

“
Unf
!” he bellowed, as his back arched and his hips pumped against hers. His legs shook, and his eyes rolled back in his head from his explosive orgasm. Gasping and spent, Jessa rolled off his cock onto the floor beside him.

“That was amazing,” he panted, “Your Grace.”

“Yes,” Jessa agreed. “Now I know why Mother always has made such a fuss about sex.”

He laughed. “Don’t tell me I’m your first.”

“It’s the first time I enjoyed it.” She rolled over and laid her head on his chest. “My mother sent for a priest of Kultea to initiate me when I turned thirteen. That side of my family takes a dim view of virginity.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “That sounds horrible.”

“Alicio,” Jessa recalled. “He was fifteen and very kind. We discussed religion more than seduction. I could never…feel the flash of passion with him, but I learned to fake it so he wouldn’t be punished. Everyone in the castle knew my mother’s cries of passion, but I must have sounded absurd, parroting her. Mother had him killed anyway.”

“Because he couldn’t satisfy you?” Cameron’s face darkened.

Jessa frowned. “No, she suspected him of being a spy for my aunt Sireen, so she accused him of heresy. She said he was a follower of Kondole rather than Kultea. He was from Mazitar, where such practices remain, and she was of high enough station that she could act as she saw fit.”

Cameron grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry you had to endure that.”

Jessa squeezed his hand in return. “I share this with you only to assure you that you haven’t stolen my innocence, nor am I some delicate flower to be protected. I gave myself to you because I decided it.”

“Your cousins won’t approve of this,” he mumbled, as he nuzzled the nape of her neck.

She craned her head against his and smiled. “I don’t imagine
anyone
will approve of this.”

M
Y TWIN
,

I wish you could someday join me in the Abyss, at least to experience it for yourself. Seven miles beneath the ocean, you can truly realize the power of our Heritage.

Though my title is for all intents and purposes an exile, I reign over more subjects than our mother does. I don’t think anyone realizes how much life and civilization is down here. None but the imperial line could survive the crushing weight of the sea, so I’m relieved of the tiresome, petty intrigues of court.

Yesterday I swam the Agnathan water singers’ grotto, navigating by echolocation—a sense I didn’t even know I possessed! To perceive the world as a canvas of sound textures and liminal vibration is far beyond the limited scope of vision. Words don’t do it justice.

I’m truly and finally happy in this strange realm. I’m not just their emperor but a God and the voice of Kultea. How I weep at the thought of a lowly Genatrovan placing his hands on your ivory skin, putting his common seed inside you.