Treason

Northern Imperium: Moscow

Day 1 of Janeriere

Jaecen

Jae groaned and tried to press his limp hand down on the gash above his knee. It throbbed painfully, and even more blood welled up to stain his pants, so he rested his head back down onto the freezing tile in defeat. Above him the Northern Lights swirled around in their daily whirl of emerald green and soft blue.

If he was ever found, possibly within the next two years, he would have to be very annoyed.

It had happened when he was literally five seconds away from learning everything necessary  about the Northern Imperium. Everything necessary to his kingdom's survival, not to mention others’, and he had completely blown it. Literally.

The Queen's memory chip had been right there at the brush of his fingertips―and then someone had broken into the vaults with a deafening boom that had knocked him off his feet and bashed him against the lock of a metal vault. The chip had flown off the table into the thickening black smoke, lost to him, probably forever. Then they were on him, slamming objects from the room into his back, his legs, his arms...it hadn’t seemed like they were trying to disfigure his face, but more like they wanted to keep him incapacitated. Not that they hadn’t missed and landed a few blows on the side of his head.

If someone other than him had picked up the Queen’s chip―his heart thudded at the same time a streak of pain shot up his leg. He stifled a cry by biting his tongue so hard he could taste the metallic tang of blood.  The pain was shoved to the back of his head as the sound of faraway voices in the courtyard filled his ears like the beating of drums. They soon turned to shrill alarm bells as they drew nearer to the gates of the pool.

“I hated those flavored ice chips. Usually they’re blueberry, you know, but potatoes? Seriously?! If you’re trying to impress the Western Supremacy with that garbage, it’s not worki―hey, who left the gates open?”

Jae glanced around frantically. The pool house door appeared in his blurry field of vision, but it was too far behind him to reach in time.

“Maybe it was the guy who made the potato ice chips. They made him so constipated he couldn’t stop to close the gates.” There was a round of immature laughter.

Jae dug his hand into the crevice of one of the diamond-shaped tiles. There was a row of leafy potted plants next to him, the kind that towered over folded chairs like intimidating monsters and left looming shadows. He raised his heavy head, tried to ignore the warm wetness trickling down his ears, and scooted one centimeter to the right.

Every bone in his body broke. Without thinking, he let out an agonizing shout that echoed off the brick fence.

“What was that?” One of the voices rose to call out, “Is someone here?”

Through the fuzziness of pain Jae vaguely heard a smacking noise accompanied with a grunt.

“You moron! Didn’t you hear that scream?!” The gate was shoved open the rest of the way, creaking slightly, and footsteps pounded on the ground as the two strangers made their way around the edge of the grand pool.

Jae lay limp on the ground, his breaths coming out in shallow pants. He couldn’t move, not without losing more of the blood pooling around his head, so he tried gathering some air into his functional lungs.

“Over here!” The two words were enough for him to break into a round of hacking coughs, but they were loud enough for the people looking for him to change direction and turn back toward the pool house.

Two blurs appeared around the corner of the building, both skidding to a stop when they came into the light of the lit lamps lined on the fence. The first blur slowly stepped forward, and Jae let his eyes shut in exhaustion.

“P...“ The man’s voice quivered in awe and confusion. “Prince Jae?”

Jae held up a trembling finger and tried for a friendly smile that split his head in two. “That would be me.”

***

When the Empress swept down the palace’s marble corridor with her silk evening gown bunched in one fist and a long, wickedly pointed knife aimed at the sky in her other, even her bodyguards refrained from getting too near. She stalked down the hall, her heels clicking with each step, then came to an abrupt stop when she reached the door at the end. The rusted hilt of the knife, when aimed straight at the chest of the woman blocking her path, clanged against her gold bangles, emitting the toll of bells.

The woman refused to budge from in front of the door. Instead, she smoothed out her skirt, silver dust floating to the ground, and tilted her head so that her copper curls framed her expressionless face. “Empress Belle. I’m afraid―” She went perfectly still when the sharp edge of the knife went to her throat.

“Is he dead?”

Guards both from the Empire and the Imperium surrounded them on all sides, at a respectable distance after being waved off by the Czarina. The ones cloaked in white capes watched in silence, though Bea knew they had the means necessary to cut off her hand from where they stood if she drew even a bead of blood.

She dropped the knife, letting it hit the floor with a clatter. Anastasia kept her eyes trained on Bea’s, an angry flush spotting her pale cheeks. Finally. Some emotion.

“He isn't dead. And just because Prince Jaecen was attacked on my territory, doesn’t mean I was the one who did it.” She flung her arms wide, the wide sleeves of her dress brushing over the knife on the ground. “I hosted a party and invited a leader from every kingdom. Any of them could’ve done it. I mean, what about President Ryan?”

Lies. Somehow, she'd found out what Jae was doing in her vaults, and had put an end to it. If he had been anyone other than her brother, he would be dead.

Bea had already whirled around, prepared to rush to the hospital.

“Wait! Don't you want to stay and talk?”

“About what?” she snapped without turning.

“About the Prince breaking into my vaults and trying to steal my memory chip.” When she did look back, the Czarina had stepped aside from the door, a hand outstretched to invite her in. “Unless you’re going to deny your brother committed treason on my soil?”

Author's Note

Lol. Hi.

Reviews

[Tobin]

Interesting setting: An imperial monarchy set in a futuristic setting. It's obvious that the Empress Belle was armed with a knife, but what were the guards armed with? Also, is this setting of Russian extraction? If so, then that's close to what I used in my book. Once of my core characters is a Tsarina, which is the same as Czarina. Now the only question is: why was Prince Jaecen trying to steal the Queen's memory chip, or more importantly: her memory? I'll have to read more chapters to find out. BTW: This is well written with all the factors needed to "hook" the reader: instant introduction and sympathy for the protagonist, mysterious circumstances, and conflict between two powerful entities set in a larger than life setting.

[Ana]

Thanks! This is actually in the future after a war, I didn't say anything to make it known though which is my bad, I'll try to make it known haha