Chapter 59
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Evelyn rose from the ground in one fluid motion.
Until this moment, she’d never truly appreciated all the dance classes she’d been forced to attend as a child, but now she took the graceful movement she’d learned and used it as she steeled her spine and fixed a disinterested smile on her face.
She would not be vulnerable. Years of hiding her feelings behind a smile and a throwaway joke had prepared her for this.
Revert back to type, Evelyn.
She propped her hip on one of the long tables that lined the Senate chamber and pretended to examine her fingernails as her ears strained to catch what the soldiers in the antechamber were saying. It seemed they had orders to take the crew of the Dawn to the cells beneath the palace.
Interesting. Why are they moving them so far?
When she’d lived in the palace with her family, her mother had stored her father’s record collection in one of the cells.
Another held an ill-advised pottery collection belonging to an aunt.
Evelyn came by her commemorative T-shirt collection habit honestly.
It shouldn’t have surprised her that Emil had cleared the cells of their sentimental memorabilia and returned them to their intended purpose.
Pearl and the man Evelyn assumed was her partner, Ivan, were having a tense conversation by the door.
He was gesturing to the chamber Evelyn was trapped in, and Pearl was nodding her head.
Pearl began to walk toward the main chamber, very carefully not looking at any of the sleeping members of the Dawn.
Soldiers were setting up hover stretchers and programming their destination before loading them.
Evelyn watched a duo of men fling Aiden onto a stretcher haphazardly, and her composure almost broke.
She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek and kept her face impassive, hoping her eyes hadn’t betrayed her.
Giving Pearl — and Emil — a weapon to use against her was stupid.
Charming nonchalance was the way to go here.
She could mimic that, surely. She’d seen it enough from her father and sisters over the years during royal functions.
Worst case, shamelessly flirt like Constantina.
Evelyn had less faith that she could pull that off.
She refocused her attention on the woman striding toward her.
Pearl was tall, dark, and beautiful. Evelyn was sure she intimidated the crap out of men, women, and children with only the set of her shoulders and her ruthless reputation.
There was no doubt that the blasters at her hip did plenty of talking for her.
But Evelyn had seen the tension on the woman’s face before she’d schooled it, the doubt flash in her eyes, and would be willing to bet that Pearl knew all too well how much the power of a reputation could cover in the right circumstances.
Evelyn watched the woman wave a device at a plaque on the wall she’d never paid much attention to and the forcefield disabled itself. There was a slight change in pressure, and Evelyn swallowed to clear her ears.
Showtime.
Evelyn pushed off the table and strode toward Pearl with her hand extended to shake.
Her heart ran riot in her chest, but she forced herself to keep her motions smooth, making eye contact with the strange woman.
She saw the confusion flicker in Pearl’s gaze, but her eyes were cool by the time she was within shaking range.
“Ms. Locke? I assume you’re here to transport me to Mr. Bellica. I’m Evelyn Alpertti.”
Pearl looked at Evelyn’s extended hand like it might actually be a stuffed pigeon. After a moment, she reached out to take it and gave her a good, firm shake. “Majesty. I’m afraid I’m going to have to search you for weapons.”
“Of course you are, of course,” Evelyn said. She raised her arms out in a T and slightly spread her feet apart. “If you’ll excuse a personal comment, I love the haircut. I don’t have the cheekbones for something so bold, but goodness, yours could cut glass.”
Pearl replied with a confused thank you and patted Evelyn down.
She found the blaster that Nannette had equipped her with almost immediately and was brisk and efficient as she checked Evelyn’s legs and shoes.
With a gentle pluck, she removed the dead comms device from her ear before she stepped back and tucked it and the blaster into the pocket of her jacket.
“I’m to take you to the palace,” Pearl said. “It’ll be easier if you come with me willingly.”
“Oh, thank you for the escort, Ms. Locke,” Evelyn said, stepping into the antechamber.
Pearl followed her out, and the six soldiers that had not accompanied the stretchers fell into a protective formation around them.
The pair closest to the entrance opened the doors, and the chaotic tumult of the crowd outside spilled into the building.
They made their way down the stairs, the soldiers attempting to keep their protective formation.
Evelyn refused to march at the speed they wanted to maintain.
She took her time descending the stairs, taking in the crowd.
Emil had managed to ship in a small contingent to attempt to control the crowd before Corvinia’s hacked shield had activated, but they were outnumbered and overwhelmed.
They had not been prepared for active resistance here, of all places.
But her people had risen to the challenge.
Tanalian citizens were giving them hell in the streets.
A group of old women brandished what Evelyn thought looked like cast iron pans at two soldiers who were doing their best to remain stoic.
The women were screaming that Tanalian folk song at the top of their lungs.
One of them was beating on her pan with a wooden spoon.
In the distance, Evelyn could see that the opera house was no longer a bland expanse of white stone.
Someone had begun to adorn the sides of the building with a mural of gigantic climbing roses, thorny stems wrapping around a blaster.
They passed another Bauder soldier. He’s been ringed with a group of protestors, lock armed, singing a song Evelyn wasn’t familiar with.
The Bauder military machine fed its recruits on stories of glorious battle.
There was nothing glorious about gunning down an octogenarian with a wooden spoon who was scream-singing in your face, and these men knew that.
Had the crowd been brandishing blasters, knives, hell, even pitchforks, training would have taken over, and there would have been little left for the soldiers to contain.
A woman in the crowd noticed Evelyn as she approached the last few steps.
She hollered and caught the attention of the people nearest her.
A wave of awareness flowed through the crowd, and their attention all turned to her.
The palpable energy of hope was streaming around the crowd.
Evelyn barely had to squint to make it out.
A quiet descended over the crowd, and she felt thousands of pairs of eyes on her at once.
When she didn’t immediately faint, Evelyn determined she’d survive another ten minutes.
She cleared her throat, mouth resembling a mound of sawdust. No pressure.
“It is my first honor as your queen to return to the palace and expedite the removal of Bauder’s soldiers from our planet. Please remain calm, and allow us to pass without incident, friends.”
The crowd parted. The singing started again, but this time it felt more like pride and less like defiance as the notes hit her ears. Supremely relieved, she flashed Pearl a quick smile and descended the remaining steps of the Senate building into the square.
The rest of the walk to the palace was largely uneventful.
Evelyn tried to keep the churning in her gut at bay by practicing her small talk skills.
She interrogated Pearl about her preferences for the blaster models at her hip — there were two different types — and tried to focus on not tripping over her own feet.
Every step brought her closer to the reality that she was about to be in the same building her family was being kept in.
Evelyn had been able to compartmentalize that information when she’d been lightyears away.
Now the reality that they were hostages in stasis pods threatened to overwhelm her.
She had a surge of empathy for her father, the desperation he must have felt to keep both his family and his planet safe.
Evelyn hoped she would make better decisions than he had.
Fuck things up in new and exciting ways, Evelyn. You can learn.
Before she realized how far they had come, they were ascending the steps to the palace.
She hated referring to the building she’d grown up in that way, but .
. . well, it was on the plaque on the gate.
The guards who had accompanied them on the journey dissolved their formation and peeled off to take positions at the perimeter of the property.
Evelyn had strode through the front door as she had countless times before, leading Pearl to the receiving room.
“I always hated the wallpaper in here. It’s dreadful.
” She wrinkled her nose as she looked around the room.
The floral design was overblown, the colors too saturated.
“I think it was a great-grand-something’s attempt at the arts.
She was like my dad, could grow flowers with a brush of her hand, but good grief, she could not paint them to save her life. ”
Pearl tilted her head as she considered the wallpaper. “Perhaps you can redecorate.”
Evelyn huffed out a laugh. “Oh yes, priority one.” She brushed her hand across the top of a sideboard, examining the tips of her fingers for dust. Finding none, she nodded. “Emil believes in keeping his acquisitions well-kept. Good.”
Evelyn caught Pearl’s reflection in a highly polished silver urn before she turned around to the woman’s schooled face.