Page 44 of Alien Prince’s Fake Bride (The Tentacle Throne #1)
- Mareliux -
The quaestor locks eyes with me for a split second, furious to be dismissed like a lackey. But he won’t pick this moment to challenge my authority, so he gives a shallow bow and walks away, back bent and leaning on his staff.
“That went well,” I sum up the audience. “The Throne likes you, Umbra. And the Emperor, too.”
“Didn’t he threaten to kill me?” she asks, looking pale.
“He does that to everyone,” Prince Nerox says with a happy grin. “It’s how he says hello, basically.”
“So he’s not serious about the ‘pain of death’ thing?”
“Oh, he is,” my brother quips. “He probably really wants you gone. Mareliux put him in a really difficult situation by marrying an alien. The Emperor could either toss Mareliux to the side and denounce him, or pretend that everything is fine. He picked the latter, because he’s too weak for the fight and doesn’t want the whole chaos that goes with appointing a new heir apparent.
Especially when the old one is as popular as my brother.
That problem goes away if you were to meet with some unfortunate accident, Umbra.
Or if you were to do something the Emperor could see as a treasonous act.
With you dead, there would be no alien empress, and Mareliux can enjoy a long succession of official and unofficial mistresses while he rules alone as a widower. Has he not told you?”
“Isn’t there some unfortunate serving girl you can harass instead of Umbra?
” I growl. “She’s had enough terrible experiences for one day.
And you are completely wrong. If he were to denounce me, there would be no chaos.
There would simply be a new heir apparent. Remind me, Nerox, who would that be?”
“Probably me,” he says cheerfully, “as the second oldest son of the Empress and the Emperor’s second oldest adopted son.
But the armies of the Empire really wouldn’t like that, as the Emperor well knows.
He actually does care about the Empire, despite what it looks like.
It’s just that he’s become too weak to rule it right.
See you around, Umbra.” He gives my fake wife a grin, turns with a flourish of his cape, and saunters away.
“Silly brat,” I mutter after him. “Don’t worry, Umbra. The worst is over. We’re almost done here.” I go in to embrace her, and she hugs me back.
“I think the Emperor’s really sick,” she says. “Why is nobody helping him when he coughs?”
“Help him with what? There’s not much anyone can do. He’s dying, and he has banned doctors from doing anything when he’s in the throne room. It takes away from his dignity, he says. Anyway, let’s go to our home while we’re here.”
Three Calanians go in front of us, and three behind, as we make our way to the Baresiux tower and ascend in an elevator.
Sending the elite Calanian Guards to escort us shows how seriously Imperial Security takes the assassination attempt.
And yet I can’t help thinking that the more guards there are around us, the more likely one of them is a bad one who will try to kill us.
Caret’ax seems to have the same idea, because he follows us closely and keeps glaring at the Calanians.
“These purple ones are Calanian Guards,” I explain to Umbra as we walk.
“Selected for their loyalty to the Emperor and their skills in combat. And their height, of course. They have all taken part in battles and done well. They are only responsible for the Emperor’s safety, expected to die to protect him, if necessary.
It’s an honor that he’s sent them to guard us, as well. ”
“I’m very honored,” Umbra says dutifully. “And I do feel safe.”
We reach the door to our apartment in the palace, and the guards open it.
I lead Umbra inside and tell the Calanians to stay out. Caret’ax can’t be kept out, so I let him do a quick sweep of the place.
Umbra walks over to the windows. “That’s amazing!”
I come up behind her and lay my arms around her shoulders. “One of the best views of our capital anywhere. I could stare at it forever.”
The white cityscape stretches out to the horizon and into the mist on each side, except straight ahead.
There, Carelacca Bay shines in blue and turquoise, with the bright green gem that is Sleagun Island right in the middle.
Beyond the island, the vast, shimmering expanse of the open ocean loses itself in the hazy, distant sky, a seamless blend of azure and pale light.
“It’s a big city,” Umbra says.
“A big palace ,” I gently correct her.
“The palace is big, but so is the city.”
I gently squeeze her, enjoying the feeling of being close. “They’re one and the same. The city is the palace.”
“What? The whole city is a palace?”
“It grew slowly, then fast until everything around it was part of the Emperor’s residence. Everything you see is the palace. In fairness, it does work much like a city would.”
She leans forwards to get a better look. “Everything I see? The bridges and the island and the ocean?”
“The bay is part of the palace. The bridges, too. It looks like a city, but it is all different parts of the palace. We call it the ‘city’ sometimes, but it all belongs to the Emperor. Those who live here rent from him or live here for free. Most of them work for the Imperial Government. With an empire as large as ours, it needs a lot of people to run it.”
She points up. “That’s a big tower. Is it for space traffic control?”
“That would be a natural use for it,” I agree, following her gaze. “It is the tallest tower on Khav. But it’s empty. It’s the Mad Emperor’s Needle, also called Aderianux’s Folly.”
Umbra cranes her neck to see the top of the slender tower that’s more than three times the height of any other tower in the palace. “The view from there must be incredible.”
“I think that was why it was built.” I point in another direction. “That thing over there is the real spaceport. See the bright lights?”
“It’s very beautiful,” Umbra says after I point out more landmarks. “The whole palace. It all looks both old and new and pristine.”
“It’s not pristine,” I chuckle. “There are some rough parts of this place, but you will never see them.” I bury my face in her hair.
“You’ve done very well so far,” I whisper.
“I do believe the Emperor likes you. But we are being watched everywhere. Even here. You must keep acting sweet and in love. It’s just for a couple of days. Laugh as if I said something naughty.”
Umbra laughs and squeals when I lightly pinch her. “You’re so crazy!”
“Sir, the apartment seems clean for now,” Caret’ax says, returning from his tour of the apartment.
“There are no secret entrances that I can find. These windows are a weakness. I doubt they would stand up to a large explosion on the outside. Or to artillery fire. There are three bedrooms, and I recommend that you rotate through them without any particular pattern. I assume there is equipment for recording sounds and visuals. My scan shows none, but I don’t believe it.
I will have these plants removed.” He points to a cluster of artfully arranged palm-like trees, about the same height as Umbra.
“Their bark keeps changing color, depending on touch or pressure. Some listening devices work on that principle. But still I recommend to be aware that you are always being listened to and watched. Everywhere.”
“So noted,” I tell him. “Thank you, Caret’ax.”
“I will be right outside,” he says. “The reception tonight will have fewer guests than planned, because of the security issue. And yet I recommend you limit your time there. There will be many servants and guests. All that is needed is one assassin, and there may be disaster.”
“Of course,” I say, matching his serious tone. “We will try to make your job easy.”
“I don’t need it to be easy, sir,” he says, glaring at the window. “I need it to be successful.”
We inspect the bedrooms. Umbra is suitably impressed, especially because the tall beds have been equipped with little stairs, clearly for her benefit. “It’s a wonderful place. Truly Imperial.”
“It’s a big apartment,” I agree. “It’s been mostly empty. I never lived here, certainly. How are you doing?”
“I’m scared,” Umbra admits. “And excited. The Emperor is nicer than I thought. Does he have no children of his own?”
“None,” I tell her. “In the end, he had to marry a woman who had children already, so that he would not plunge the Empire into a civil war between all those nobles who thought they should be Emperor next time. He picked my mother and adopted her two sons.”
Umbra turns around and looks up at me. “Your father had already… passed on?”
I look out the window. A bridge is being built over the mouth of the river Kha, from which the whole empire takes its name.
Tall cranes swivel, lifting heavy parts.
“Not at that time. But when my mother learned that the Emperor himself was looking for a wife with children, and that he had his eyes on her, my father only lasted for another few days before he was mysteriously poisoned and died.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s terrible! You don’t think…” She stops herself.
“That the Empress had something to do with it?” I finish her question.
“We will probably never know. It is one of the conveniences of life at court that there is never a lack of possible murderers, those who want other courtiers out of the way. Certainly my father had other enemies and rivals, as you simply can’t avoid when you live close to the Emperor.
It doesn’t matter how nice you are to others — some of them will hate you or will want your position.
My father learned that too late, if he ever did.
No guilty party was ever found, which does point to the higher reaches of the Imperial court not wanting them found. ”