Karis looked at the lord in front of him. “I am not certain where you heard that rumor, Lord Ascelin. As you can see, my wife is in perfect health.” The lord looked at Sayana and nodded reluctantly. He turned and walked away.
It had been a week since the rumors first started flying about Sayana’s pregnancy. Her gowns had surreptitiously been altered to hide the fact she was a little softer around the middle than she had been a few months earlier, though she wasn’t showing that obviously yet. There was more color in her cheeks, a sign that many women would recognize from their own early pregnancies, but that could easily be explained away with cosmetics to the more unobservant.
Sayana spent two hours every night practicing with Reynard. The doctors wouldn’t allow more than that because they didn’t want her to exhaust herself or cause harm to the baby. Karis worried about her, but he hoped Reynard would impart some self-confidence to Sayana. She needed it.
A few other lords came up to comment on Sayana’s health and Karis put them off. Vilemina approached the table again. “When are you going to stop pretending she is not pregnant, Your Imperial Majesty? You may be able to fool the men of the court with your lies about cosmetics, but we women know the flush of pregnancy when we see it.”
“If you are the source of these rumors, Lady Vilemina, I may take it into my head to silence you in a more permanent fashion. You are putting my wife at risk for nothing more than a flight of fancy and I do not appreciate it.” He let his mask slip a little and fixed her with a cold stare.
“You cannot silence us all, Your Imperial Majesty.” Vilemina gave him a smug look. “And sooner or later you are going to have to admit it because she will not be able to hide it from even the least observant member of your court.” She turned and stalked off.
“What a thoroughly unpleasant woman.” Sayana hid her frown behind her wineglass.
“I think I will have Demetrios look into the lives of the female power brokers, see what he can learn about them.” Karis watched Vilemina go. “If they are the source of the rumors, I want them silenced.”
“It won’t matter if you silence them, Karis.” Sayana turned her attention to another part of the room. “The rumors have saturated the court. No one cares who started them. What they want to know is if they’re true. They’ll keep spreading them just to see if you will confirm them.”
Karis didn’t show it, but he felt his anger grow. “You are right, my heart. But if I make an example out of them –.”
“It will prove they’re right.” Sayana was too rational for his current frame of mind.
Karis wanted to swear, but instead he settled for a disgruntled sigh. “You are right, my heart. How do you know so much?”
“I’ve paid attention to the court. I haven’t been here for a year yet as a full participant, but I’ve learned a lot sitting next to you and listening to the gossip. I’m beginning to see how things work.” Sayana let her eyes drift to another part of the room.
“Not to mention what you have learned at the audiences and with the council.” Karis had to admit she was picking up the duties of empress faster than he’d expected.
“Those are useful for the political end of it,” Sayana agreed. “But for the social side of things, spending countless hours at your side, listening to the inane questions and gossip of the court has educated me quite well on how your courtiers think.”
“Lynet never managed to pick this up.” Karis snorted. “Then again, I never wanted to talk to her, so I never really showed any interest in what she had to say.”
“Lynet was also not nearly as clever as I am.” Sayana hid a smile behind her wineglass. “Not that I mean to boast.”
“No, you are far smarter than she ever was.” They returned their attention to the gossip and picked up that Vilemina was spreading the tale of Karis’ threat against her. Most were unsympathetic towards her, saying she should have kept her mouth shut about her supposition.
“What did she expect? That he would be falling all over himself with gratitude for her and her kind spreading those rumors in the first place?” one lord said to another as they passed within hearing distance of the high table.
“I do not know. She is not very bright if she thinks the emperor will not move against her if he thinks she is a threat to his wife. Look what he did to those five traitors,” his companion pointed out.
“Not a pleasant thought,” the first lord agreed. They moved beyond Karis’ hearing and became background voices in the din surrounding him.
At least the deaths of those five traitors were a deterrent to some people, if not all. Karis knew it was only a matter of time before someone tried to take Sayana out again. The further along in her pregnancy she progressed the more of a target she’d become. The court wouldn’t want another child to complicate the line of succession. Not that it would. He had his heir chosen, and even if somehow they managed to eliminate Ethian, he had four other sons to choose from.
They listened to the gossip for a little while longer, and then he stood and held out his hand. Sayana took it and they retreated from the great hall. As they made their way back to the Imperial wing, Karis’ hackles went up. It was too quiet. There should have been more guards around. Instinctively he released Sayana’s hand and went for one of his vibroblades.
She saw what he was doing and slid her hand up her sleeve, reaching for her own. Three men shed camouflage cloaks and opened fire in front of them. Three more did the same from behind. They were boxed in.
Their guards surrounded them and fired back at the assassins. Two in front and one in back went down. The third in front reactivated his cloak and disappeared. Karis swore. There was no telling where the man was now. He could have fled, or he could be trying to move in closer.
The two behind them continued firing at the guards for a moment before holstering their guns and drawing vibroblades. They tried to get past the guards and attack Karis and Sayana hand to hand. The guards took them down.
Sayana screamed. Karis spun around. The man who’d cloaked appeared beside her, driving his blade into her side. She turned despite her injury and drove her blade into his stomach. He doubled over, struggling to reach for his cloak. She stabbed him in the arm, shattering the device that would allow him to vanish from sight again. He collapsed.
“Sayana,” Karis yelled, catching his wife as her knees buckled under her.
She looked up at him with terrified eyes, a trickle of blood streaming from the corner of her mouth. One guard shouted in his comm unit for Imperial doctors to come and gave their location. Another called for Demetrios. The rest kept watch over the assassins on the ground. Several doctors rushed to the scene. They took charge of Sayana, immediately getting her on a stretcher and carrying her away before Karis could even utter a word.
Demetrios and several inquisitors arrived moments later. “How many are still alive?”
“Two there,” one of the guards said, pointing to the two they’d taken down with the vibroblades. “The empress accounted for a third.”
“Three out of six. Not bad odds.” Demetrios glanced at Karis. “Your Imperial Majesty, go to the med lab. We’ll take it from here.”
Karis nodded. The guards formed up around him and he was escorted by a wall of power armor. He reached the med lab, and they parted enough to let him in. Several people were working on Sayana, including the doctor that was handling her prenatal care. “We have to do emergency surgery, Your Imperial Majesty.” One of the doctors caught sight of Karis. “We’ll lose her if we don’t. We run the risk of losing the baby if we do though.”
“Do it.” Karis felt fear grip him.
“Get those monitors in place,” someone ordered. “I want a monitor on the fetus at all times. Let’s try not to lose her if we can avoid it, but don’t risk the empress’ life to save her. She can have another child. We won’t be able to have another empress.”
Karis realized the man was right. If Sayana died, he wasn’t going to marry again. He realized he was just going to be in the way. “Send someone to tell me when she is out of surgery.”
“We will, Your Imperial Majesty.” Karis turned and left.
He made his way to the princes’ enclave, hoping they were still awake. He walked in and found all of the princes still gathered in their common room. “Father, we were just about to head to bed.” Fallon saw the expression on Karis’ face. “What is wrong? What has happened?”
“Sayana was stabbed tonight. It is serious.” Karis heard Ethian gasp and saw Fallon put a hand on his arm. “She took down her assailant, I do not know where she found the strength, before she collapsed. They are trying to save her right now but there is a chance she may lose the baby.”
“Will you tell us as soon as you hear anything?” Ethian asked. “I do not care if you have to wake me up. I want to know.”
“I will, Ethian.” Karis looked at his son. “I will come myself. I will not leave it to Imre or one of the other servants to tell you anything. If a servant does come and tell you something, detain them and send someone to get me. I will find out who is spreading lies.”
“Yes Father.” Ethian nodded. The others murmured their agreement. Karis turned and left, his heart in his stomach.
He made his way back to his rooms and collapsed on the couch. “Your Imperial Majesty?” Imre asked. “Are you all right?”
“Where is Her Imperial Majesty?” Ardatha looked frightened at the fact that Sayana wasn’t with him.
“Sayana was stabbed. She is in surgery right now. They are trying to save her life. They do not know if they are going to be able to save the baby with her, but they are going to try.” Karis’ own voice sounded hollow and broken to his ears.
“Oh no.” Ardatha put a hand to her mouth.
“I take it you are going to ignore the doctors’ curfew for once and stay up until you hear something?” Imre watched him closely.
“I am.” Karis didn’t care if the doctors objected. He was not going to bed until he heard what happened to his wife.
“Very well.” Imre headed for the door. “I will bring you some wine.”
“Something other than red wine, Imre.” Karis looked at the valet. “I am not sure I want to be reminded of the color of blood right now.”
“Understood, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre glanced at Sayana’s chief servant. “Ardatha, do you want to go to bed?”
“No.” It seemed she was as worried as Karis.
“At least go tell your sisters what’s happened.” Imre spoke gently to her.
Ardatha left and Imre followed her out of the suite. Karis picked up his pad and tried to focus on paperwork but found his mind was on his wife and unborn daughter. Would he lose them both? He didn’t want to lose either of them, but the doctor was right. They could try again for a child if Sayana survived. It would tear him apart if he lost them both.
Imre returned but Ardatha did not. Karis looked at Imre. “I take it you convinced her to stay with her sisters?” he asked as Imre handed him a glass of pale gold liquid.
“I did.” Imre looked at Ardatha’s usual spot. “She didn’t take much convincing once she saw how distressed Vai and Faviola were. She will be back in the morning to see if there’s been any update, but for now she doesn’t need to be here.”
Karis took the glass from his valet and sipped it, still trying to force his mind onto the paperwork. It didn’t work. He switched to the book he was trying to finish and even that failed to distract him. “I may need something stronger, Imre.” Karis looked up after an hour of futilely trying to do anything but focus on his feelings.
“I thought you might say that. Which is why I only brought one glass. The pitcher is juice.” Imre took the glass that Karis had emptied and filled it with juice. He took a smaller glass he’d kept hidden filled with a dark amber liquid. “Just like the last time I gave it to you, Your Imperial Majesty. Swallow fast as it’s going to burn.”
Karis remembered it from the last few times. He swallowed the liquor quickly. It burned exactly the same way as he remembered. After a few minutes, the liquor took the edge off the pain, and he was able to settle into his book. He wasn’t going to try paperwork right now. He knew even with the liquor he was still too distracted for that. Reading was good enough to keep him from thinking too hard, which was what he needed right now.
It was nearly three in the morning when he received two visitors. One was a doctor. The other was Fallon. Fallon let the doctor speak first. “Both your wife and daughter are safe, Your Imperial Majesty,” the doctor told him wearily. “We were able to save them both. Your wife will be held in a medically induced coma for a few days while the regenerators and the blood replacement do their jobs, but she should make a full recovery. We’ll be monitoring your daughter to make sure she is safe and well during this time, and if we feel there’s a danger, we’ll wake the empress up earlier than we wish to. She doesn’t need to be asleep. It’s just easier.”
“Thank you.” Karis felt a great deal of relief at the news. The doctor bowed and left. “What is it, Fallon?”
“Three servants we did not recognize used Amin’s code to get into the enclave and woke me, Ethian, and Meinard to tell us Sayana was dead.” Fallon looked tired. “Ethian, Meinard, and I pulled our vibroblades on them and marched them into the common room. Meinard shouted for Jair and Hanzo. They came out armed. The other four are holding the men at knife point while I came to tell you.”
“Who is Amin?” Karis asked.
“Meinard’s servant, and Meinard swears he would not have given them his code willingly.” Fallon was convinced of the man’s innocence.
“Imre, I need the guards to go collect those so-called servants.” Karis looked over at his valet.
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre stepped out into the hall. “Fallon, follow the guards back. Let your brothers know I will be along in a moment to let them know the results of the surgery.”
“Yes, Father.” Fallon left.
Imre came back into the room. “Imre, go and tell Demetrios there will be three more for him to question. I want answers, so whatever means necessary are to be used.” Karis paused. “I would have you send a message, but he may have gone to bed by now.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre looked at him. “Are you still going to be here when I get back?”
“I am going to go have a word with my sons.” Karis stood up.
“Very well, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre headed out of the room.
Karis walked out of the door. He was instantly surrounded by guards. They escorted him to the princes’ enclave. He walked in. “How is she?” Ethian asked.
“Both she and your sister are alive.” Karis saw the looks of relief on all their faces. Fallon already knew because he’d heard the doctor’s report, but he too looked relieved. “They are keeping her in a medically induced coma for the next few days unless it becomes necessary to wake her in order to keep your sister healthy. She will recover.”
“Thank the stars,” Ethian muttered. Fallon put a hand on his shoulder. “Can I see her?”
“Let me check with the doctors tomorrow, after I wake up.” Karis flashed them all a rueful grin. “If they do not mind, I will ask Reynard to let you steal a little time away in the afternoon to go sit with her for an hour.”
“Thank you, Father.” Ethian was somber and Karis understood how much the idea of losing his mother hurt him.
“Can we all take turns sitting with Sayana?” Meinard asked, startling him. “I know she is not our mother, but we all do care about her.”
“I will see what the doctors say, and maybe we can arrange for all of you to take an hour in the afternoons until she wakes up to sit with her.” Karis watched as they all nodded their agreement.
“Thank you, Father.” Jair seemed as interested in the answer as the others.
Karis left his sons to go back to bed and returned to his suite. “Imre, I do not care if it is you or Adem who informs the council of this, but I am canceling today’s meeting. I will probably still be asleep when it would normally start.”
“I will have Adem tell them, Your Imperial Majesty.” Imre gave Karis the same rueful smile the emperor had given his sons. “With any luck, I will still be asleep when it starts.”
Karis nodded. “Can you get me a glass of –?” Imre handed him a glass of water. “Thank you, Imre.”
Imre helped him change. Karis took one of his pills and climbed into his bed alone. He tried not to think about all the lonely nights he’d spent missing Sayana over the years she was gone, but they flooded his mind until he drifted off to sleep.
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