Queen of Empire: A fantasy romance (The Relic Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  They travelled in awkward silence for several minutes, Anita looking out over the countryside, avoiding her travelling companions. She hoped this would be enough to discourage conversation, but knew it was unlikely to be that easy.

  'That was quite a show, Anita,' said Austin, dangerously.

  Anita had no choice but to look at him now, his hard, brown eyes glinting as he stared menacingly at her.

  'Very impressive,' said Marcus.

  'Thanks,' she said, in the sweetest, most innocent tone she could conjure. 'I've always had a knack for Body contests.'

  'I see,' said Austin.

  'Yes, congratulations,' said Alexander. 'It was close at the end there, but the best contestant won.' The sliver of air between them hummed with tension, so she looked away, eyes snagging on Marcus, who seemed to be sizing up Alexander. It looked as though he might be about to launch an attack across the carriage. Anita couldn't understand why…

  'It was especially impressive how you turned so quickly at the end, when you both realized you were heading in the wrong direction,' said Austin, resuming his campaign.

  Anita looked him straight in the eye, trying to project an air of non-threatening, naïve confidence. 'Well, as you know, we Body types are prone to lightening reactions. When I saw Alexander start to turn, I did the same. When I turned around, I saw the open entrance to the barn, took a punt, and got lucky.

  'You see, the strangest thing happened in the middle of the Chase…my energy meter broke. Luckily, I saw the pigeon heading north, and, of course, could see Alexander was still heading north, so I continued that way, but it's such a strange occurrence for an energy meter to go wrong like that. Have you ever heard of that happening before?'

  Austin's gaze turned murderous. His energy went from playful boy to hostile animal. Alexander stiffened beside her, his energy defensive. Anita's energy intensified, not focused on Austin, as it should have been, but instead, distracted by Alexander. Alexander's energy softened, almost imperceptibly, and then turned hard as steel.

  Bloody hell, thought Anita, wondering what might happen next, when to everyone's surprise, Marcus threw her a bone. 'Most likely you reset the meter to track something else by accident. It happens.'

  Marcus, the diplomat. This was surprising, although Anita didn't miss the plea in his eyes. 'Yes, probably,' said Anita, pulling herself together with a slight shake of her head. 'Luckily, I was with Alexander, and I could follow him, otherwise I would have been out of the race. Given how competitive I am, that would not have been an attractive sight.' She laughed, hoping self-depreciation would move them to safer territory.

  'Well, luckily you did have Alexander to follow, so we have the good fortune of your company on our journey home,' said Marcus, again taking everyone by surprise.

  Anita went bright red, thinking instantly of the kiss in the field, and Marcus' invitation to the ball. Shit, she thought, please don't bring that up now. This time, it was her who sent Marcus a pleading look. Alexander came to the rescue, obviously feeling her energy shift. He asked Austin about the history of the energy meter Anita had won. Alexander would now suspect something was up with her and Marcus, but she would take that over Marcus discussing the ball in front of Austin any day.

  Austin, glad the attention was once again back on him, launched into a story about how the meter had belonged to his father, Tobias. The story lasted all the way back to the city.

  Anita zoned Austin out, watching the countryside whip past. She took deep breaths, desperately trying to subdue her out of control energy, but with Marcus and Alexander so close, there was nothing she could do. Alexander shifted in his seat and his hand brushed against hers. It sent a shiver of energy up her arm, into her brain, the feeling so intoxicating, it almost made her gasp.

  She was horribly confused and couldn't have been happier when the carriage pulled up outside Cordelia's cottage. She could say goodbye and retreat to a place where there were no readers to scrutinize her energy, nor spectacular specimens to cause it to spike.

  * * * * *

  Anita headed to The Island later that night to see Cleo; it had been ages since they'd hung out. She walked into the bar, hearing Cleo before she saw her.

  'I knew she would win. I told you. She's never been beaten, and she wasn't going to let a few Descendants stop her.'

  'Hey Cleo,' Anita called across the room, waving at her best friend. Anita made gestures which hopefully meant I'm going to get a drink, I'll come over in a minute, and headed to the haphazard little bar to place her order.

  The Island was packed full of people who'd been at the Chase, both those who'd been in the crowd and contestants, but thankfully the Descendants didn't appear to be around. At least that gives me more time until I have to give Marcus an answer, thought Anita, suddenly unbalanced as an overexcited Cleo yanked her sideways.

  'YOU DID IT!' Cleo squealed, wrapping Anita in a frenzied embrace. 'WELL DONE!'

  'Thanks. It was a bit close for comfort this time, but I just about managed to get to the scroll first.'

  'I knew you would do it. Now, let me buy you a celebratory drink.'

  Anita put her hand up to protest, but Cleo shot her a warning look so ferocious that she immediately backed down.

  'Thanks. I'll have an Empire then, please,' a cocktail made of a curious mix of spirits that Anita had never quite managed to determine.

  This, Cleo seemed pleased with, presumably because the drink was both extremely potent and suitably extravagant. Cleo called the order to the bartender, who said he would bring the drinks over, then dragged Anita to her table. Cleo shooed away the guys she'd been talking to then leant in conspiratorially; there was clearly something Cleo wanted to discuss.

  'So,' Cleo started, still totally over the top, 'I've heard a rumor.'

  'Oh, a new and different past time for you. I'm thrilled you're branching out…'

  'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.'

  'No, really?'

  Cleo gave her a chastising look, but couldn't contain herself any longer, so pressed on. 'I've heard that Marcus is inviting someone outside his usual circle to the ball.'

  'Really?' asked Anita, with a slight flutter of panic. 'How do you know that?'

  'Well, you know James, the Mind councilor who organized the Chase?'

  'Yes.'

  'His son Henry has invited me to the ball!'

  'Oh my Gods! No way!' said Anita, with genuine excitement.

  'Thanks,' said Cleo, looking smug. 'We can discuss how I pulled that off in a minute, but anyway, he came in to see me last night for a drink, and we drank a little too much Island Punch. He started saying that Marcus' friends have all been teasing him about not having a date for the ball. Pretty much everyone else in their circle has one, most of them with each other, obviously, apart from Marcus, Henry, and one other notable exception,' said Cleo, eyeing Anita deviously. 'Some girl called Missy, who will be attending the ball with Bass.'

  'What kind of a name is Missy?' laughed Anita. 'And who is she?' she asked, both relieved and a tiny bit jealous, if she was being totally honest. She didn't want to go out with Bass, but something about their long friendship made her irrationally possessive over him anyway.

  'She's the daughter of some senior councilor. It was probably orchestrated by their parents...but anyway, Henry said they were all been teasing Marcus about it yesterday, and he said he had options outside the normal crowd. Apparently, he said he wasn't going to tell anyone who he'd decided to take, because he wanted it to be a surprise on the night.'

  Anita sat very still, not saying a word. Should she tell Cleo? It would be good to talk to someone about it. But before she got a chance, Cleo was already speculating as to who it could be.

  'I think it's that girl in our Mind class; the useless one who thinks she's a gift from the Gods. Or maybe the girl that Austin chose to pick the pigeon this morning; maybe he's in on it too. I can't imagine Austin would like it if Marcus turned up at the ball with someone outside their
circle, unless he knew about it first.'

  'Cleo,' Anita said quietly.

  'Uh huh,' Cleo replied, at the same time as thanking the waiter for their drinks.

  'There's something I need to talk to you about,' she said, 'um…outside.'

  Cleo looked worried. 'Is everything alright?'

  'Yep, it's just a bit crowded in here.'

  'Okay,' said Cleo, picking up their drinks and heading to the back door.

  They sat on a bench overlooking the river and Anita took a long sip of her toxic cocktail. 'Delicious, as always,' she said, racking her brain for the right words.

  'You didn't bring me out here to talk about cocktails,' replied Cleo, energy full of anxious excitement, presumably because she'd caught a tantalizing whiff of gossip.

  'No,' said Anita, still wondering how to approach this. 'You know the other week when I turned down Marcus' offer to go back to his place with the others?'

  'No,' gasped Cleo, 'you went?'

  Anita smirked and shook her head. 'No.'

  'Oh. Sorry, carry on.'

  'A few days later, I was running by the river, when Marcus ran up behind me. He asked if he could join me for a run, so obviously I put him through his paces.'

  Cleo smirked.

  'We got a fair distance before he wanted to stop for a break, and we chatted for a bit.' Cleo's face was frozen in a look of open-mouthed disbelief, and Anita had to stifle a laugh as she continued. 'He asked me to go to the ball with him. Well, it was more of a command than a question really…'

  '…you're the one he's taking to the ball?'

  'I'm not sure.'

  'You're not sure? What do you mean you're not sure? You said yes?'

  'Um.'

  'Um?'

  'Well, I told him, maybe.'

  'You told him maybe?' Cleo repeated, in a disgusted tone.

  'Yes.'

  'Right.'

  They sat there in dumbfounded silence for a minute before Cleo piped up again. 'As you know, this doesn't normally happen to me, but I'm basically speechless. You've got to go to the ball with him.'

  'Why?'

  'Why? Because he's a Descendant, and can you imagine the look on bitch-face Gwyneth's face if you do? I saw her shove you at the start of the Chase.'

  'That's probably the best reason I've thought of so far,' laughed Anita. 'But other than that, I just don't know if it's a good idea.'

  'Why not?'

  'I don't want to draw attention to myself.'

  'You didn't stop to consider that when you won the Chase this morning.'

  'I know.'

  'Even so, why not? A bit of attention might be fun.'

  'Hmmm.'

  'You have to lead the first dance anyway, so it may as well be with someone who'll look good, and by the Relic, does he look good.'

  'That makes it even worse; leading the first dance will be like asking everyone to speculate about what's going on between us. It's more of a punishment than a prize if you ask me.'

  'Let them speculate and enjoy the attention; that's what I'd do.'

  'Yes, well you've always been better at that than me.'

  'You should go with him. Enjoy it. Put two fingers up to Gwyn; you know you want to.'

  'I'm still thinking about it. Don't worry, you'll be the first to know what I decide. But in the meantime, don't you dare tell anyone.'

  Cleo looked hurt. 'Me? Gossip? Never.'

  'Come on, let's go inside. I think I need another drink.'

  CHAPTER 6

  The following day was Christiana's funeral and Anita walked to the Temple of the Body with Cordelia, Alastair and Bass. Cordelia and Anita found seats in the open section at the back, whereas Alastair and Bass walked the seemingly endless distance to the front, where seats had been reserved for councilors. As was customary, those belonging to the Temple of the Body were given first priority over the newly laid out seats. Those belonging to the other temples took any seats left over, or stood.

  The Body Temple didn't have the same colossal, open expanse as the Spirit Temple. As opposed to sky-high pillars holding up the roof, the Body Temple had a series of high arches splitting the space into distinctly separate, but relatively open sections. Every temple had a clear run from at least one entrance to its altar. In the Spirit Temple, every entrance had this, but in the Body Temple, many had to sit in side chambers with views obstructed by intricate stonework. The Mind Temple was a total nightmare for large public events, the spaces so closed off that only a very fortunate few ever got to see anything. That's how the Mind Descendants liked things; small and elitist.

  Twenty minutes later, all the seats were taken. A massive crowd stretched out behind the temple, penned by ropes that had been erected to keep a clear path for the coffin. Christiana had been extremely popular, mostly for her fairness and generosity, and many people had travelled from Kingdom to attend.

  Music wafted back through the temple from a harp at the front, bouncing around the arches and up to the spire above. It was vibrant yet haunting, the hair on the back of Anita's neck rising as the procession of the coffin and Descendants began.

  Everyone turned in their seats to watch as the coffin, carried by six Body councilors, entered the temple, Peter and Gwyn following immediately behind. They were both wearing black cloaks and Gwyn had a black birdcage veil across her face, with small white flowers in her hair. Theatrical, thought Anita.

  Behind them was Alexander, also with a floor-length black cloak, his disheveled hair a little more tame than usual. He sported his customary regal-yet-rugged look, like some ancient knight about to wield a sword in pursuit of the righteous. His energy was less prominent than normal, Anita wondering how he was able to mask it as he did. Finally, Austin and Marcus entered the temple, also in black cloaks, but theirs with a red trim running around the edge.

  Austin walked in front of Marcus, looking every inch the evil dictator as he sauntered in. Marcus, however, looked regal, chiseled features as glorious as ever as he strode confidently after his father. He spotted Anita, looking directly at her, locking his eyes with hers as he ascended the steps. Anita held his gaze, hoping nobody noticed; she couldn't make herself look away.

  Marcus neared where she sat, breaking eye contact to keep from having to turn his head, continuing up the aisle to join the other Descendants. Cordelia looked sideways at Anita, but didn't say anything. She knew Austin and Marcus had given Anita a lift home after the Chase, had probed for every detail; she would be insufferable now.

  The funeral was short and emotional. Austin gave the opening speech, which caused a ruffling in the crowd. He explained it away in his normal, cloying tone. 'As the only current reigning Descendant…' Anita rolled her eyes.

  There were several moving tributes to Christiana and the spectacular Body feats she had achieved during her life, along with accounts of her generosity to those of all temples. Peter gave a gripping insight into life as the child of someone so exceptional, however, the most moving account was the last, from Alexander.

  '…and at the age of five, when I had recently lost both my father, in a tragic fire in this very temple, and my mother, of a broken heart, just a few months later, it was Christiana who guided me. Over the years she was a source of unparalleled council.

  'She was a leader but not a dictator, she was competitive, proud, stubborn, but above all compassionate. She observed the world around her, striving not to control, but to understand. She was a source of hope, believing in honesty and doing what was right, even when this path was the most difficult and dangerous of all.

  'But Christiana's mortality was part of what made her great, and her time had come, as it will for us all. Our deep and painful loss is truly the Goddess Tatiana's gain.'

  At the end of the funeral, the Descendants and councilors processed out with the coffin. Christiana's body would be transported back to Kingdom where it would be buried alongside her ancestors. The crowd started to disperse as soon as the procession left the temple.

&
nbsp; Cordelia turned to Anita and fixed her with a curious look. 'I didn't realize you and Marcus were such good friends,' she said, in a low voice that only Anita could hear.

  'We're not. Why would you say that?' she asked, getting up to file out of the temple with everyone else.

  'You know just fine why I say that…we can talk about it later.'

  Cordelia had spotted Elistair and Bass and made a bee line for them. Anita was following in her wake, totally preoccupied by thoughts of Marcus' alluring gaze, when a presence blocked her path. She looked up, shocked to find Marcus inches in front of her, her energy immediately responding.

  Get. A. Grip. Anita. She silently yelled.

  'Hi,' he said.

  'Hi,' she replied, eyeing him with a can I help you kind of look, conscious of all the watching eyes around them.

  'I was wondering if you'd given any more thought to my invitation?' he said, in a low voice.

  'Oh, was that what it was?' she asked, feigning surprise, her voice not much more than a whisper. 'You see, I was under the impression that it was more of a command than an invitation.'

  Marcus assessed her for a beat, a disorientated look morphing into a playful one. 'I see. Well, for that I must apologise, Anita. I should make an effort to clarify.' He cleared his throat in an elaborate manor before murmuring, 'Anita, Champion of the Chase, would you do me the exceptional honor of attending the ball with me?'

  'I'm not sure that invitation was afforded the level of gravity required for something so important. How am I to know your request is earnest?'

  'Your concern is the sincerity of my proposal?' said Marcus.

  Anita wasn't quite sure if his question was genuine… 'There was a certain frivolity to it,' she replied, not meaning to take the flirting to quite this level in such a public place, even if their tones were hushed, 'but I suspect your invitation is sincere.'

  'In which case…' he said, looking expectantly at her.

  Anita paused, considering how to respond. Should she say yes? Cleo would certainly be happy… She tilted her head up, searching his eyes, reminded of their encounter by the river. Judging by the catch in his breath, he had been transported there too, his eyes flicking to her lips.