Akari woke later that evening, sticky and sore and all alone. She sat up and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her back. She didn’t feel too bad, considering, though she was a little achy. And very hungry.A soft knock came on the door and before she could answer, it opened to admit two young women. They came in and bowed respectfully to her and the oldest one stepped to the foot of the bed. “Consort Akari, may we draw a bath for you?” “Sure, I guess so,” Akari said, shrugging and pulling her robe around her more securely. She wasn’t used to servants, and it would take some getting used to. “I’d really like a snack, though, before dinner. Can you get me something while I’m bathing? Please. And where are my servants?” “They’ve gone down to the docks to get the rest of your luggage.” She bowed and then bustled into the bathroom, where Akari could hear the water running for her bath. The hot water would feel good and she couldn’t wait to get some of the
Akari always hated court dinner parties. Well, hate was a strong word, but she really didn’t like them much. And tonight’s dinner with the ministers of the court was certainly no exception. For one thing, Nikolai was at the table with his father, King Davos, along with all the other princes, even the youngest one. The ministers and the council members were there too, while she and Queen Beatrice, and all the other wives and husbands of the court were relegated to a separate table next to the king’s. When Nikolai first explained to her that they wouldn’t be able to sit together, she raised an eyebrow at him, but when he had given him the “It’s traditional,” line it effectively shut him down. The only saving grace to this boring dinner was Beatrice, who rolled would occasionally roll her eyes and made little faces and generally made fun of the men at the other table, whose loud voices drowned out all conversation at their smaller one. On this particular night, Akari had just about ha
Akari woke up with a start and then she wished she hadn't. When she was suddenly felt pain so intense she couldn’t breathe. She tried to take in air and gasped instead, her head is killing her, wrecking her, destroying her. She must be dying, do she weakly reached out blindly for help. A hand pushed her roughly away and then she heard voices nearby. Then other hands were poking at her, prodding her. Something wet, cold and stinging dabbed at the back of her head and a man’s angry voice was too loud next to her ear. “Why’d you hit her so hard, damn it?” A muffled voice answered her from across the room, but Akari couldn’t understand the words to make any sense. She allowed herself to sink back down in the darkness to get away. The next time she woke up, the pain was still intense but she could breathe again. She cracked her eyes open the slightest bit, but the light that hit her pierced her brain, and she closed them tight again. Where was Nikolai? What
Akari was sitting by the window in her room, gazing out at the stars. She was cold, like she had been since she woke up in this room several days before, and she couldn’t seem to get warm, no matter how many blankets she piled on. She had a woolen one wrapped around her shoulders now, but felt no warmth from it. She didn’t feel much of anything really, other than a dull ache in her head that didn’t seem to go away, which according to her doctors was a result of the concussion. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything emotionally. Not if she could help it. If Nikolai was dead, then… But she wouldn’t allow herself to go there, even in her own mind. If she didn’t think about it, it wasn’t real and that was all that mattered, at least for now. The one thing that kept running through her mind over and over on constant replay was that she’d never told Nikolai that she loved him. She’d never told him how her feelings had changed toward him since that first time she saw him in her father’
Akari was sleeping when an alarm sounded, waking her from her nightmare and the ship was suddenly rocked by explosions. Loud ones, coming from above decks and rocking the entire ship—it sounded like an all-out attack, like the end of the world. Something had happened, she thought, to the engines the afternoon before, and the ship hadn’t moved all night. She’d thought they must be working on the engines, but this sounded more like an attack. Had Davos finally caught up with them? The explosions threw her out of bed and made her heart bang loudly in her chest as the sound pierced right through her. She sat up on the floor, disoriented. She had bitten down so hard on her tongue when she fell that it brought blood. She could taste it in her mouth and gagged a little, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The door to his her was suddenly flung open and three swarthy looking men crowded in, dressed in brightly colored clothing with strips of cloth wrapped around their head
Akari sleepily rubbed her eyes and sat up. She blinked rapidly as she looked around, trying to remember what happened and figure out where she was. Her whole body jolted as she remembered and her eyes searched the room once more. She looked for Nikolai but she was all alone. Had it all been some kind of cruel dream then? Had she only imagined seeing Nikolai? Her heart beat more rapidly at the thought. But before she could work herself into a full-blown panic attack, the door slid open and Nikolai stepped in. When he saw that Akari was awake, he stopped short just inside the door and leaned back against it, folding his arms over his chest. “Nikolai …” Akari said breathlessly, holding out her arms to him. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and if this was some kind of crazy dream, then she didn’t want to ever wake up. “It’s true then. I didn’t imagine it. You’re alive—you’re actually here!” Nikolai didn’t reply, just stared at her with that cold, distant look on his face. Akari dr
Akari was exhausted, but what else was new? It seemed like sehe’d been tired and drained and sick like this forever. Pushing her hair back out of her eyes, she faced her tormentors again. They had come in while she was moving the food around on her breakfast tray. It was cold now, but that really didn’t matter much, as she hadn’t planned on eating it anyway. “For the hundredth time, I didn’t have anything to do with the plot against the prince. You can keep asking if you want to, but you’ll get the same answer.” “Colonel Kingston,” one of the big Werewolves said, his voice low and menacing. “We have all the proof we need, you know. You and your fellow conspirators will face judgement from the king soon.” There were three interrogators, two young ones and this older man who faced him now. Always the same ones and always the same questions, over and over. How long have you been a member of FeRes? Was her father, the President, aware that she was in FeRes? Is she planning to assassi
Akari flushed as the words came out of her mouth—all she’d been doing since she got here was asking for Nikolai but it was such a terrible lie and they both knew it. Nikolai folded his arms across his broad chest and glared at her. “I’m having the servants bring you a tray and you’re going to eat every bite of food on it.” Akari raised his chin. “No I’m not.” “Yes, you will!” “No!” Nikolai growled at her and took a step forward. But Akari stood her ground, even though Nikolai ureally was pretty impressive. “Then I’ll beat you.” “Go ahead. I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of any of you.” “Then why are you trembling?” “Fuck you, that’s why!” A ridiculous response, and Akari knew it as soon as the words left her mouth. She⁷e backed up putting the table between them. “Leave me alone, Nikolai. I mean it! Just leave me in peace.” “Don’t you think I wa