Wyvern's Prince (The Dragons of Incendium Book 2) (14 page)

“To review: I came to Regalia on a mission. The assignment was said to have come from the queen herself, although there is (naturally) no official confirmation of that. My task was to eliminate Prince Venero, the third son born to Queen Arcana—although this is some debate as to which twin was born first, the queen herself counts Urbanus as second and Venero as third. The fee was quite high, there being a considerable risk in eliminating one of the royal family. It was understood that I might not manage to leave Regalia after completing my mission, and that if I was captured, no one would come to my aid, not even the queen. I wonder if it was to look as if someone on Incendium was behind the assassination.” Arista smiled thinly. “Even Cumae would disavow any knowledge of my presence on Regalia, and I would be considered a rogue.”

Gemma was startled that Arista would have agreed to any assignment that might have left a stain on her reputation. What had the second mission been?

Chapter Five

Arista’s hologram continued. “I agreed to the terms because I had another incomplete assignment that led to Regalia: this mission would serve as suitable cover. I had been charged to retrieve a valuable relic that was rumored to have been stolen by Queen Arcana. I was to bring it back to Cumae. I came to Regalia alone, so that no other lives would be risked.”

Gemma could easily believe that Arista would sacrifice her own life to fulfill an assignment for Cumae.

Arista shook her head. “I didn’t believe in sorcery before I came to Regalia, and I’m still not certain that magic is the cause for my current situation. But the fact remains that this quest has been very strange, and coincidence is a poor explanation for what transpired. I arrived on Regalia under the cover of being a diplomat, sent to negotiate updated terms for the Galactic Trade Alliance. I sought out Prince Venero at the palace soon after my arrival, for he was said to offer counsel to the queen on matters of diplomacy and law.”

She smiled. “I expected him to be easy to kill, a nobleman convinced of his own safety and one accustomed to indulging his every whim, without regard for others. I expected to feel no qualms.” Arista frowned. “It was not his good looks that swayed me, nor even the splendor of his body. He indulged in humor, which I did not always understand and for this, he mocked me. I recalled your counsel, Gemma, that such mockery could be done in affection, and was known as teasing, so I endured it with apparent good humor.” Arista shook her head. “I did not expect him to surprise me, but he did. Venero not only acknowledged the existence of the prize I sought but said he knew its location. He proposed to be my ally and aid me in its retrieval from the treasury in the Queen’s Grotto.”

Gemma was fascinated.

Arista shrugged. “Why would a prince betray his mother and his kingdom? Perhaps because he knew my other assignment and where it had originated. But the fact was that I had need of someone who understood Regalia better than me.” Arista fell silent and Gemma wondered how much more hologram the
memoria
could contain.

“I calculated the odds of my success alone to be much lower than those with Venero, even if he proved to be untrustworthy in the end. And so I accepted his proposition.”

Arista looked up, her expression so anguished that Gemma reached out a hand to console her, forgetting she viewed a mere hologram. “He surprised me yet again, for I fell in love with him.”

Gemma gasped. That Arista should fall in love was astonishing. Had she been enchanted? She wondered more about Prince Venero and his ability to DreamCast. Had he convinced Arista of something that wasn’t true?

“I never expected this to happen to me. I do not know what to do.” Arista began to pace, her concern clear. “Should I kill him and fulfill my assignment, even knowing that I will never forgive myself for destroying my love? Should I let him live until I retrieve the treasure from the queen, if indeed she truly possesses it? Should I betray him? Should I trust him fully? Should I tell him how I feel, offer myself, and create an alliance with him? The honor is greatest with the first option, but I confess to you alone that the last option has the greatest appeal.”

She frowned and shook her head. “What manner of mother would hire an assassin to eliminate one of her sons? And why? There is more to this tale than I have gleaned, and Venero, I suspect, learned young to be wary of others. He guards his secrets close and his trust is elusive.” Arista lifted her gaze and once again, Gemma felt that her Sword Sister was truly before her. “Could it be the love truly does conquer all?”

Gemma reached out with her free hand, but the hologram sputtered. The image disappeared, and the device whirred as it locked itself once more. Gemma closed her hand over it, feeling the warmth of the metal and wondered at what she’d seen. As much as she wished to watch the hologram again, she knew the
memoria
was spent or close to it. It wouldn’t display the entire recording without being recharged. That might be possible, but only on Cumae. She closed her eyes and recalled Arista’s confession, her memory training under that same warrior’s instruction coming to her aid.

The Queen’s Grotto was a treasury.

Was the prize Arista sought still there?

Or had she escaped with it? If she had, that might explain the choice of Urbanus. Had the assassin retrieved the treasure for Queen Arcana? Or had Arista hidden it? It was a bit late to think she should have asked more questions of Drakina’s husband, Troy, about Arista’s demise.

Felice trotted to her side, then twined around her ankles. Gemma picked up Arista’s last gift to her and hugged the creature close. Felice began to purr.

Had Arista killed the man she loved?

Or had she taken Venero back to Cumae with her? Gemma straightened. If Venero had escaped Regalia, that would explain his disappearance—and it might also explain the subsequent assassination of Arista. Whether she had taken the prince captive, spirited him away with his consent or killed him, Arcana or Urbanus could have decreed that she had committed a crime on Regalia.

Never mind the relic or treasure.

How did any of this tale influence Gemma’s own situation? She was here to avenge Arista, but how much did Urbanus know of her scheme? Arista’s assertion that Venero had known her secret quest was troubling. Gemma thought of the birds flying overhead, and the claim of the bearded man that the woodland creatures could be spies. She thought of his ability to read her thoughts and wondered how hidden she and her objectives could possibly be.

She felt vulnerable, which she detested. She had to do something to improve her situation. Gemma put the
memoria
into her satchel, hiding it in an interior pocket. Felice rubbed against the satchel, but there was nothing within it that the pavofel would eat. Still, Gemma offered the pavofel some bread, but Felice turned up her nose and stalked away, presumably to hunt.

Arista’s recording had given Gemma more questions than answers, but she felt empowered by seeing her Sword Sister. It had been good to hear her voice again. She turned to watch Felice, who crouched in the opening that led back to the path up the mountain, watching something.

Gemma smiled.

The ability of a dragon to solve a riddle.
Yes, Arista had always said that was Gemma’s gift. Could she solve this one?

The ritual Arista had taught her might help to clear her confusion and focus her thoughts. Gemma stood and shed her clothing quickly, then washed in the pool of water. The small cup of dye left in one corner gave her purpose. She would prepare herself for battle, in the way she had been taught on Cumae, and hope that the familiarity of the ritual would help her find the answers she needed.

* * *

Venero had never hopped so long or so hard as he had in recent days. If this alliance didn’t succeed, it might just kill him. He was exhausted and sore by the time he made the sanctuary of the cave. He was panting when the shadow closed over him, but he didn’t stop there. There was no sign of Gemma, but he could smell her skin. She would have explored, and he wondered how far she had ventured.

There was no sign of the pavofel either, which was a relief.

He could hear a woman’s voice, and in his state of concern, it sounded like Arista. That made no sense, but he followed the sound anyway. Perhaps the stone was distorting the sound of Gemma’s voice.

Venero went through the crack to the tunnel, then hopped its length to the small hole. He could see the warm glow of a candle’s light through that hole, which encouraged him and gave him new strength.

He’d have a drink of water there.

It seemed to take forever to journey the length of the tunnel. Venero finally emerged from the other end of the tunnel that he’d once crawled through on his hands and knees, he halted to stare.

Gemma was humming.

More importantly, Gemma was nude.

Surprise weakened his knees, but as a toad, Venero didn’t have far to fall. He stared and pretty much forgot everything except his desire.

Gemma was painting the walls of the grotto, following the lines that Arista had made. He recalled Arista performing the same ritual. Even as a son raised in a household brimming with sorcery, he’d been skeptical. There was no incantation. There was no sacrifice. There had been no talismans or tokens. How could this ritual accomplish anything?

But he’d felt the effectiveness of it at the end. He’d almost seen the power swirl around the perimeter and then around Arista after she’d made her mark. He’d seen her straighten and had seen the gleam of purpose in her eyes when she turned to consider him.

Oh, it had worked. Arista had been so intent upon her goal that she might have had only one purpose in her programming. She would have killed him without hesitation, if she’d perceived him as a threat to her quest.

And that was when he’d realized why he couldn’t send her dreams.

Arista didn’t have any.

He’d wanted to run but knew she would guess why. Instead, he held his ground and kept his expression the same. He’d ensured that his breathing was at the same rate and tried to control his pulse.

She’d sensed that, of course. She’d been designed to note every detail, as all cyborgs were.

But she’d attributed his quickened pulse to the wrong cause.

He didn’t want to think about Arista turning toward him, an invitation in her eyes.

Or his rejection of her advances.

Or his belated fear that he’d made a foolish choice.

Instead, he watched Gemma, an entirely different reaction coursing through him this time. She was as powerful a warrior as Arista had been, but possessed of a feminine beauty that fascinated him. Her charm had caught his interest, but it was her persistence that intrigued him—against every expectation, Venero desired a warrior woman.

This one.

He was so busy admiring Gemma that it took him a long time to realize that she echoed the sweep of the symbols with the same fluid grace as Arista.

His heart sank.

She
knew
these symbols.

She knew this ritual.

She
had
trained on Cumae. It wasn’t just propaganda. That was why she’d fought so well when stealing the pegasus. That was why she knew how to ride and could vault into a saddle. That was why she’d examined the wedding chamber with such purpose.

Did she have more than training in common with Arista?

Venero didn’t want to consider that, but he had to face the possibility.

No, he had to eliminate it.

Gemma paused before the circular medallion that Arista had painted last. She traced the outline of the circle and the marks that embellished its circumference. What was in the paint? Wine? Blood? It stained the old marks red, renewing and strengthening them, and Venero felt that same power rising.

She meant to go to battle, just as Arista had.

That was when he noticed the hole where the middle of the medallion should have been and wondered at it, remembering how he’d come upon Arista smoothing a paste over that very mark. He’d thought that she had been painting the stone for the placement of the medallion, but maybe she’d been doing more than that. Had she hidden something in the wall of the cavern and marked the spot with the medallion?

As he watched, Gemma pricked her finger and traced Arista’s mark with her own blood. Her movements were confident.

She even knew Arista’s mark.

Had he heard Arista’s voice?

Either way, he knew that Gemma had married Urbanus for a very specific reason and it wasn’t because she was stupid. He took a little hop closer in his concern and inadvertently kicked a pebble.

Gemma spun and crouched at the sound, prepared to defend herself. Her eyes glittered and he feared for a moment that she would shift shape to her dragon form.

In the same instant he recalled she couldn’t do that anymore, she saw him and she eased her pose.

Venero could only stare in wonder. His heart skipped at the full sight of her beauty. The light of the candle seemed to caress her skin, turning her to gold. Her hair was loose and long, like spun sunlight, and her eyes glowed. She was radiant, as if illuminated from within.

He would have given anything in that moment to have been a man again, to have had Gemma’s features light at the sight of him.