Hard to Fight Read online

  She sat on the stack of cushions on her chair and waited. When her father entered, everyone else rose, but she was allowed to bow her head.

  “So, my silent treasure. What have you been up to today?”

  Her nanny moved from her position at the wall and offered him the drawing. “I did not know she was working on it, imperial majesty. I am to blame for her current state.”

  Her father reached out and looked at the smudges on her cheeks and then down at her hands. “Your punishment will be to have your face cut, Kimila.”

  Brenn frowned and said, “No. I did this. Kimila wanted to clean me up, but you were in a hurry, as always. If you had kept to your schedule, we would have been on time.”

  The slap to her face spun her out of her chair and onto the floor. His hands pulled her into his lap a moment later. “Ah, my treasure. You are speaking at long last. It is disrespectful speech, but you are talking again.”

  She frowned and pressed a hand to her face. “I fixed the palace design. The courtyards were going to flood.”

  “Did you? You are clever, pet. Now, sit in your chair and listen. One day, you will be ruling this empire. You need to know the pathways of leadership.”

  She grunted as he plopped her back in her chair. “Father, I would like you to rescind Kimila’s punishment.”

  “That is very well spoken of you. No. She needs to keep better care of you, Brenn. The scar will remind her of it.”

  Brenn frowned and looked at Kimila as one of the guards approached with a drawn knife. The architects were sitting in stunned horror.

  When he tried to bring the blade to Kimila’s skin, it could not make contact. He tried again and again; no mark appeared on Brenn’s nanny’s face.

  Emperor Michkin smiled slightly. “I have thousands of warriors, child. How long can you hold it up?”

  “As long as I have to, Father.”

  “Let’s see how long that is.”

  Dinner began and a line of warriors stood in front of a trembling Kimila. Brenn ate her meal and drank her juice, requesting that she be excused.

  Her father perused the design modifications and absently waved her off. Brenn grabbed Kimila’s hand and hauled her bodily through the palace until they got to her quarters.

  “You can’t protect me forever, Brenn.”

  Brenn frowned. “I can and I will. Send for Makka and get dressed to travel. You are going on vacation.”

  “But, miss. You need me.”

  “I need you safe more than I need you carved up for my own absentmindedness.”

  “You are a child. This is not something you should be concerned with.”

  “I am his child, and I will keep myself between my people and danger when I can. I will survive. You might not.”

  Brenn went to her desk and quickly scribbled a note. She was ordering Kimila to visit her family and bring back berries from the spring harvest. It was currently autumn.

  “When you get home, find a man and get married. Send me notice of your engagement, and by custom, you will be freed from imperial service. I have this planned out, Kimila.”

  She turned with a paper in her hand, and it fell lifelessly to the floor.

  The emperor had Kimila in his grasp, and he had done more than cut her cheek. He had sliced her throat.

  “You let your guard down, child. I have to say, it was a good plan, but never go against me in public again. I will not hurt my own flesh and blood, but the rest of those in the palace are not protected.”

  Kimila had closed her eyes, but her mouth was open in a silent scream. Her blood stained the front of her gown.

  Fat tears of fury ran down her cheeks as she stared at the man who had now taken two of the women she loved from her. Brenn held up her hand and the fury took form, blasting him through the door and out into the air beyond.

  She flew out the shattered hole in the palace and pursued his tumbling form.

  Eventually, he dropped Kimila and straightened. “So, no wings but you can fly. Well done, child.”

  She struck at him again and again, sending him tumbling, but she was rapidly tiring.

  Brenn kept attacking, and he was sent reeling back. His cheek split and his nose bled, but he kept coming.

  Finally, she sent one final wave of power toward him and blackness overwhelmed her. She fell through the sky toward the darkness of the sea, and she let it come.

  Hands caught her and held her tight as he flew her back to the palace.

  “Oh, no, child. You are my blood, and I will not let you go so easily. When you wake, we will discuss this.”

  She stared at him, and he seemed perfectly calm aside from the blood seeping down his face.

  She woke in new quarters, and her servants got her dressed before leaving her alone.

  Brenn walked through the halls, ignoring the whispers of the courtiers.

  Her father was sitting in his throne and listening to a proposal for dispersal of surplus grains to lands in famine.

  She listened, and he actually sent the grain to the land that was in recovery. Feeding those who had no chance to survive was not in his agenda.

  “Ah, my dearest daughter. Admiral, clear the room.”

  She stood while the elaborately dressed court swelled around her and disappeared through the doors. When all was secure, he beckoned her forward.

  “Come here, Brennika.”

  She walked to him and inclined her head.

  “First. Never challenge me again. Second, I will allow you your own maintenance during the days as well as you file an education report every week.”

  She looked up at him in surprise. The slice on his cheek had been tended to, and his eyes were surprisingly kind.

  “Kimila will be given a state funeral. She died in the line of duty.”

  Brenn swallowed hard. “She did.”

  “Her family will receive a pension. I will not threaten one of your attendants again. You will receive punishments in the form of food restriction or additional duties around the palace.” He inclined his head. “You have power, and I had forgotten that. You cannot be treated as an ordinary female.”

  She nodded. “Yes, Father.”

  “No apologies for attacking me?”

  “No, Father. I was protecting what was mine.”

  “She was already dead.”

  “My sense of outrage and fury was mine. I protected it.”

  He started to laugh, and the noise echoed in the chamber.

  * * * *

  Brenn rubbed her temples. “I am sorry, were you saying something?”

  “I wanted to know if you enjoy life at the imperial palace.” He scowled.

  She looked at Dret, his deep mahogany skin with the grey cast and the roiling smoke colour in his eyes. “I have occasionally enjoyed life at the palace, but I think that this opportunity is going to be one that is burned into my mind.”

  Chapter Three

  After a shared meal, Dret went on his way, leaving Brenn alone until morning. She would have been uneasy, but there was literally no one else on the world.

  She opened the cargo hatch of the shuttle and watched the sunrise. When the city was here, it would be magnificent. Each person would have a view of the distant hills with the sun creeping toward them.

  Brenn sipped at her morning caf and gauged the strength of the wind. She would have to know about wind shear before she could take the specifics of the structures and write them into her plan.

  Thudding wingbeats announced Dret’s approach, and she watched him cruise across the sunrise.

  He was carrying something that dropped to the ground and rolled as he swept past her before he wheeled and lowered himself to the soil.

  He shifted back to walking on two legs and came toward her, moving past and into the large object he had dropped on the ground.

  The tarp opened, and he rummaged around before he found the wrap he had been wearing the day before, and he tucked it around his hips.

  He turned toward her an
d smiled. “Good morning, Brenn.”

  “Good morning, Dret. Tea is on the counter in the carafe, or caf is in the dispenser.” She saluted him with her mug.

  He walked past her and returned a minute later with his own mug. He perched rather than sat and watched the dawn with her.

  “How did you sleep?” his voice was low as he sipped his tea.

  “Pretty good. I heard music in the distance anytime I woke. Were you playing music?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “No. There was no sound across the distance between us.”

  She waited a moment before asking. “My father called you a sleeper. What does that mean?”

  “Far in the past, a woman came to Drai, and she had a strange mutation. She could breed true with a Drai. Our people were not really fans of that idea, and since each generation was losing more and more of its ability to shift into its beast form, she suggested that those of us who were willing could disappear into different worlds and sleep until our mates arrived.”

  “Your people lost their shifting forms?”

  “Yes. Your father seems to be an example of that. He can fly, but he has no beast within him.”

  She wasn’t so sure of that. She was pretty sure that her father had a beast, it just didn’t have four legs and claws.

  “Right. So you flew out here and rested under the soil?”

  “I did. I woke up five years ago. Another of my kind involved himself with the Sector Guard, and he invited me to communicate with the Citadel. A few years later and here we are. Finding a good designer was most of the problem, but the Citadel sent some investigators to look at your cities, and they came back with glowing reviews. Many architects design buildings, but few can truly create a living environment that is enjoyed by its occupants and self-sustaining.”

  “I do try. A complete design is always what I strive for. Will you come with me to examine the site?”

  “Of course. I will even help you map it out and mark it.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled and then blushed when she noticed him staring. “Your gaze is a little direct, Dret.”

  “You look so fresh this morning, like dew on a flower petal.”

  Her blush heated. “Let’s hope that I don’t evaporate as quickly. Today looks like a warm day.”

  He chuckled and sipped at his tea again.

  “What is in there?” She pointed at the lump of canvas.

  “I thought it would be more efficient to bring a tent so that I do not have to fly away each evening. It also contains my clothing so your sensibilities will remain intact.”

  She grinned. “From this point onward.”

  “Right. From this point onward.”

  She finished her caf and got to her feet. “So, do you want to pitch your tent or walk out the city walls?”

  “First, the walk then the tent.”

  “Excellent. I will get my equipment and some water.”

  He nodded. “I will wait here.”

  She got to her feet and headed inside. She wrapped a scarf around her hair and grabbed her scanners and some rations. It was nice to have something to do for a change.

  She put her bag over one shoulder and headed out into the new morning.

  Dret was waiting for her at the base of the cargo ramp.

  “Do you want to walk to the site, or shall I carry you? The distance is deceptive.”

  “Carry me, please. I have been pampered in a palace for the last few years. I don’t travel much.” It was a gross understatement.

  He nodded and lifted her easily into his arms. He bent his knees and launched them skyward.

  It was odd, after so many years of using her talent as a threat against her father, she had never thought of using it for transport.

  Dret flew directly, and she was able to get a good look at the site. The ground was nice and flat, but there was no telling how deep the water table was from her current angle. She needed to put her scanners to work.

  The moment he set her down, she started to examine the ground and what was under it for suitability. It was definitely the right place, but she couldn’t help but laugh at the euphoria of doing something she had dreamed of for so long.

  She was actually pacing out the details of a city that she was designing. It was the happiest moment of her life.

  “It is time to stop for lunch.”

  Brenn looked at him in surprise. “You are hungry already?”

  “It has been four hours, and your stomach is calling for an instalment.”

  She looked at her sketchbook and scowled. “I was designing the arboretum with the attached greenhouse for growing vegetables and fruit no matter the seasons.”

  “They will wait. We still have five days before the next person sets foot on this soil.”

  “Who will that be?”

  “An Avari representative carrying the nanites that will bring your vision into reality.”

  “I think I am going to have to do some research. What are the Avari?”

  “A species who have been the most technologically advanced designers throughout history. Now, they live on their world with the silence of simplicity, but we have woken them with nagging and begging, and they have agreed to help program city-building nanites that can craft anything you dream of from base materials. So, once you know how heavy your city will be, I will bring the stone.”

  “And I have five days to do the math.”

  “The designing and the math. Yes.”

  She sighed and tears prickled in her eyes as she sat and took out some rations. “That bites.”

  “Why? Do you need more time?”

  Brenn bit into the food bar. “No. It is just that I hoped I would be able to stay away from my home for an entire year. It has been something of a dream of mine to get away. If my father hears that the city is finished, he will demand my return immediately.”

  “He is a good father to want you near him.” Dret smiled.

  She nearly choked. “He is a psycho who wants to control me as an extension of him. I have no life, no friends and no freedom. Anyone close to me can be used as leverage, so I do not let anyone close.”

  He froze. “What do you mean psycho?”

  “My father is insane.”

  Instead of asking further questions, Dret nodded. “That would explain it.”

  “What?”

  “How he got off the interdicted world before they had opened for communication with other species. The Drai do not take madness lightly. They would not kill him, but they would launch him into space. I am guessing that the imperial seat is where his pod was opened, and the rest is history.”

  Brenn stared at him. “That would explain a lot. Did it happen a lot?”

  “No, in general, the Drai are mentally stable, but every now and then, one child is born, and he is wrong from the first time he opens his wings.” His brow furrowed. “There was only one while I was on Drai. He had killed his mate and had nearly murdered his daughter. They sent him to the stars.”

  “Why wasn’t he given the death penalty?”

  “He was a proven breeder.”

  “Do you know his name?”

  Dret sat and tapped his forehead. “It will come to me, I am certain. It was in the days before we left ourselves, so when I get over the excitement of having someone to talk to, I am sure it will come to me.”

  “Have you been asleep all this time?”

  “It isn’t sleep so much as hibernation. Our beasts don’t age, so we can remain in their forms and rest under the soil, safe from weather and radiation.” He opened his own pack and chewed on something that looked like dried meat.

  “Where did that come from?”

  “It was left by the previous inhabitants. Their cities were scrubbed from the surface. Dharthom spent thousands of years looking for someone worthy of this world, worthy of life here. He has chosen the Citadel at Balen’s recommendation and Gant’s, frankly. Those worlds think highly of their inhabitants. They have even encouraged a new speci
es on their soil.”

  “I am guessing that this place needs a lot of new species.”

  “It does. Each new species will need to be approved by Dharthom, but we will cross that bridge later when the city is up and ready for occupants.”

  She nodded. “Right. Gestational nursery for the animals.”

  He laughed. “Put your notebook down and finish your lunch.”

  She looked, and she had indeed pulled her notebook into her hands.

  “Why do you draw on paper?”

  She set it down and picked up her ration bar. “Because they physically had to come into my room to get the designs, and I would always know that they had. When I drew on a data pad, they would see the designs immediately. I wanted to make them work for it.”

  “You were observed?”

  Brenn looked at him. “It is not a pleasant topic.”

  Dret nodded. “In that case, what is your favourite flower?”

  “The Diskallan iris. I got some for a birthday present one year, and the soft pinks and purples with the touch of yellow made my heart sing.” She mumbled it around the bar, but she could almost see the flower along the horizon.

  “Who gave them to you?”

  “A young noble. He gave them to me for my twenty-third birthday.” She straightened and grabbed for her water bottle. “My father gave him twenty lashes with a bladed whip for his romantic gesture.”

  Dret blinked. “Why?”

  “Because he hadn’t authorized any courtship in my direction. Flowers count as courtship in my father’s eyes.”

  “I am getting a not-very-good image here.”

  “Go with that feeling. It does not get better.” She sighed and put her food and water away. “Back to work. That helps me deal with my reality in all its glory.”

  Chapter Four

  The next night, she woke up in a cold sweat, sure that her father was looming over her with a fist clenched.

  She rolled out of her bunk and went to the dispenser for a glass of water.

  She guzzled the water down and went back for a second glass. As quietly as she could, she walked to the cargo ramp and stood looking up at the slow procession of two giant moons.