The Ruby Dice
laid his head against hers. "You saved my life." If only he could do the same for her.

    She was silent for a while. Then she said, "You were kind."

    Although he laughed, his voice shook. "I made you a Ruby consort. That's more cruel than kind." One reason he lived here, instead of on the capital world of the Imperialate, was so she wouldn't have to deal with the elegantly cutthroat world of the Imperial court.

    "It has been a treasure." Her voice was barely audible. "I was born a slave. I die a queen."

    His pulse stuttered. "You won't die."

    "It was a great act of gratitude, to marry me because I saved your life."

    "That's not why I married you." He wasn't telling the full truth, but he had grown to love her.

    She breathed out, her body slight against his. "When we met, you were wearing gold guards on your wrists."

    Kelric tensed. "I took them off."

    "They were marriage guards."

    Had she known all these years? "Jeejon—"

    "Shhhh," she whispered. "I never knew why you left her."

    "Don't."

    "You never went back to her. Even though you love her."

    "You're my wife. I don't want to talk about someone else. Not now." Not when they had so little time left.

    She pressed her lips against his chest. "No one knows what happened to you during the war, do they? It isn't just me . . . you never told anyone about those eighteen years you vanished."

    "It doesn't matter." Moisture gathered in his eyes.

    Her voice was low. "Such a tremendous gift you have given me, waiting while it took me nine years to die."

    "Jeejon, stop."

    "Someday . . . you must finish that chapter of your life you left behind for me."

    He cradled her in his arms. "You can't die."

    "I love you, Kelric."

    "And I, you." His voice broke. "Always."

    "Good-bye," she whispered.

    "Don't—" Kelric froze. Her breathing had stopped. Somewhere an alarm went off, distant, discreet, horrifying.

    " No. " He pulled her close, his arms shaking, and laid his cheek against her head. " Jeejon, no. "

    She didn't answer.

    Kelric held his wife, and his tears soaked into her hair.

I
Hall Of Circles

    The Highton language was rife with allusions to the Carnelian Throne that symbolized the reign of the Eubian Emperor, phrases such as "He commanded with magnificence from the throne" or "His glorious Highness sat on the esteemed Throne of Carnelians" or "Only a fool would put a half-grown boy on the damn throne." None of those phrases referred to the emperor actually sitting on a chair, of course. Unfortunately, however, the Carnelian Throne did exist. And it was about as comfortable as a rock.

     

    Jaibriol sat in the throne, leaning to one side, his elbow resting on its stone arm. He was alone in the Hall of Circles except for his guards. The room was like ice. Its white walls sparkled, designed from a composite of diamond and snow-marble. Rows of high-backed benches ringed the chamber, all snow-diamond and set with red cushions like drops of blood on frost. A white dais supported his throne, and red gems glinted in the chair, as hard and cold as the Hightons who sat atop the empire's power hierarchy.

    His bodyguards were posted around the walls, three mammoths where he could see them and four others behind him. They wore the midnight uniforms of Razers, the secret police who served the emperor, their dark clothes jarring against the brilliant white walls. These Razers had so much biomech augmentation, they were considered constructs rather than human beings. Their thoughts lurked at the edges of his mind, mechanical, not quite human.

    The captain of his guards waited by the dais, alert and still, his feet apart, his arms by his sides. Although his face remained as impassive as always, Jaibriol never felt ill-at-ease with him. He had selected these men over time, choosing those with no Aristo heritage.

    It disturbed Jaibriol that the Aristos identified their Razers only by serial numbers. His guards seemed more human to him than the supposedly exalted Aristos.

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