Chapter 7

"WHERE IS everybody?" I asked.

The Southern Wing of Delion was quiet and dark when we returned from our outing. The servants' quarters were entirely deserted with meals left on the table half-eaten, and the ironing board left unattended. Something was going on. Were they all outside looking for us? Could two missing slaves really cause such a great disturbance?

Rafe didn't look worried. His eyes were still distant, as though he was lost in his own world. Wandering past the subterranean kitchen and silent parlor, he shrugged his shoulders as though none of this was anything out of the ordinary. He didn't even care that his shoes were tracking mud all over the floor.

"Maybe, they're busy with one of the idiot Duke's wild parties," Rafe muttered and led me up the stairs to the main hall. As we neared the Jadeite Hall, I heard the sound of footsteps and panicked voices. Rafe finally dropped my hand and opened one of the hidden servant's doors leading into the grand ballroom. The decor of the Jadeite Hall was composed of the rarest Jade. Sculptures carved from green and lavender Jade stood underneath the chandlers of the most delicate Venetian glass.

"This is the most beautiful room I've ever seen," I whispered, momentarily forgetting how much trouble we were in.

"Then you haven't seen much," Rafe muttered. "Everything here is colorful, cold, and dead. A bunch of rocks, that's all I see."

"Where you come from, you live in a palace that's more beautiful than this?"

"It's not a palace," Rafe said as he rubbed his chin. "Back where I come from, we decorate with vines and wood. With glass and crystals. Everything lives and breathes."

"Rafe, quick, hide." I reached up and yanked on his arm, my eyes widening in terror. As Rafe had spoken to me, his voice had drawn the worst of all unwanted attention.

Orion Balan himself, flanked with Amari, Leonel and an entourage of armed guards appeared at the north door. At the sight of us, Orion came running, a murderous look on his face. As he appeared before us, he didn't ask any questions about my messy hair or disheveled dress. Instead, The Prince reached for Rafe's arm and leaned in to whisper into his ear. The Prince's voice was panicked, and I realized it wasn't anger that I thought I saw on his face - it was fear.

"Where have you been all afternoon?"

"What do you care?" Rafe asked through clenched teeth. "Don't you remember? You sent me on an errand to—"

"Please, young Master, listen to me. He's here," Prince Orion whispered and tugged at Rafe's arm. "You need to come with us now."

"Who's here?" Rafe asked and waved his hand absently. "One of our military contacts? Whoever it is, send him away."

Amari appeared behind me. "It's time for you to go," she mumbled into my ear. I noticed her hands were shaking as they reached out to grab me by the shoulders. Her haughty attitude was gone. She, too looked antsy and uneasy.

"Let go of me," I replied despite my better judgment. Amari raised her hand to slap me, but as I raised my hands to ward off the blow, I heard the thunderous sound of advancing footsteps.

As I turned around to see who had appeared, everyone around me kneeled. Even Duke Mighell and his son Leonel were prostrating themselves, practically kissing the floor in deference. Amari went down on one knee. Although her head was bowed, I could see her holding her fisted hands to her side, her knuckles white. Rafe was the only one who was still standing. He looked progressively more irritated. The only adjustment he made to his posture was to cross his arms over his chest, blocking his naked pecs from view.

"Orion, my nephew," a voice said from the doorway. I turned to a tall, skinny middle-aged man with a gold cane-like scepter. "Is this what you wear to meet with your dear uncle, the King of Ignias?"

"Uncle Kezair, Your Majesty," Rafe said with a half-hearted nod of his head. "What are you doing here in Nivarrin?"

"I received word your father sent you here to investigate the mines," the regally decorated man said in passing. Upon noticing that I hadn't dropped to my knees in submission like everyone else in the room, he lifted a perturbed eyebrow. Although I felt my throat turn dry, I refused to kneel to him. The gaunt man wearing gold-trimmed clothing that inspired such terror in Delion Palace made no move toward me. I was barely worth a second glance. He went to Rafe and patted him on the shoulder. "I came to see if you were making any progress. Come, let's go talk somewhere more private, away from these ill-mannered savages."

With those words — the imposing, middle-aged man turned and went back through the double doors. At last, everyone seemed to sigh in relief, dust off their knees, and return to their feet. Rafe finally turned to me and sighed in exasperation. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something to me but then thought better of it. Rafe turned his attention to Amari instead.

"Winick, will you take care of her?"

"With pleasure," Amari said as she wrapped her arm around my chest. She drew a gun from under her skirt and smilingly, lovingly — held it up to my temple.

"Don't kill her here," Rafe said without looking at me. He turned his back to me, and the man, who I thought was Orion Balan, immediately approached Rafe and gave him the jacket off his own back. Orion then quickly removed his dress shirt as well, leaving him standing there rather comically wearing an undershirt and an undone tie around his neck.

Rafe made a face at the dress shirt with the sweat-stained armpits. As he started to slip it on, a maid approached him with a handkerchief and a glass of champagne. I watched with horror as the former Orion immediately wet the linen on the champagne and wiped the bruise off Rafe's shoulder. The blue and black make-up wiped away cleanly before Rafe slipped the dress shirt on. Rafe hadn't been injured at all. It was all a lie.

Rafe reached for the rest of the glass of champagne and downed it. He threw the remainder of the glass against one of the priceless jade statues, shattering the glass and knocking the statue off its stand. I saw the maids flinch in terror as the pieces of broken glass littered the floors.

"Wylie, send word to my father that Uncle Kezair is here." Rafe sighed and raised his voice. "What are you all still doing here? Get the hell out of my sight!"

With those words, the entire room leaped into action. Mighell and Leonel immediately started directing the servants to clean up the mess. Wylie began to dial away at his cell phone. Amari started to drag me away toward the garden doors.

"You disgusting rat," I snarled at Rafe as Amari led me away to my certain death. "You are the son of Satan!" I hacked up a ball of phlegm and spat it in his general direction. It didn't hit him, but it did get his attention. Rafe turned to me, seemingly a different person. All his kindness and gentleness were gone. There was a dangerous light present in his eyes as he regarded me now.

"See, ma chérie? I told you, you would regret it," Rafe — or should I say — Orion Balan retorted with a derisive chuckle. 

Then he turned, took the cell phone from his butler, and walked away, talking to the voice on the other end of the line. I tried driving my elbow into Amari's neck, but she kicked my legs out from under me. She brought the butt of her pistol down against the back of my head, and then I blacked out again.