“Greetings, Caret’ax,” Mareliux replies. “Indeed we were not safe. I wondered why you didn’t come with Umbra and Grast when they escaped from Khav.”
The caveman’s eyes flash. “The Calanians took me prisoner the moment you left Khav, sir! I killed five of them, I’m happy to say. And then I spent several hours in a cell with only myself for company until I found a way out and had the pleasure of killing nine more. Not very impressive fighters, the Calanians. I had expected more from them. But I understand they were influenced by an evil spirit. No man can fight well when he’s possessed.”
For a change, Mareliux is lost for words. “You… youbroke outof a Calanian cell? And then you… you killednineof them?!”
Caret’ax shrugs his massive shoulders. “In that cell, I wasn’t much good for anyone, sir. I had to reach Princess Umbra and protect her, as you had commanded. I had no choice but to do what I did. If that was wrong, I stand by my actions.”
“It wasn’t wrong, obviously,” Mareliux says, trying to understand. “They were indeed possessed by an enemy. I’m just astonished that one man would be able to… but of course when that man is Caret’ax, normal thinking doesn’t apply. Well done, Caret’ax. I would give you a very senior rank and a medal, but I know you care for neither.”
“I’m a simple warrior, sir,” Caret’ax says. “And even you can’t make me chief of my tribe. No, my only reward is accomplishing my task. I can only regret that I let myself be captured so easily. They had some kind of net, sir. My sword wouldn’t cut the strands.”
Again Mareliux is astonished. “I know those nets. Surely you didn’t fight Calanians while you were inside a constrictor net? It will shrink and make your movement impossible!”
“Killed four from inside it,” Caret’ax growls. “I admit I was furious. Such a cowardly contraption to use on a warrior!”
“Quite,” Mareliux agrees weakly, clearly impressed. Then he collects himself. ”General, I think it’s about time I saw the Emperor. Signal your people and have them bring Craxallo Imperator to the Tentacle Throne. We shall see him there.”
Sigise straightens. “Yes, sir!”
We walk along a wide street paved with alien cobblestones. Every sixty feet there’s a statue of some hero or royal, and I notice that a good number of them are female.
Mareliux has a safe hold of my hand. He didn’t want me to come down here with him, preferring me to stay on theGladiuxand be safe. But he didn’t put up a fight when I insisted that I come, too. As a compromise, I agreed to wear lightweight armor and a helmet that’s so big I keep having to lift the front of it to see where I’m going. I get the point — only a day ago, this palace was under the control of a Phrexz and the soldiers whose minds it had invaded and corrupted through the Syntrix. It’s just common sense to take every precaution.
The giant doors open, and we walk through the immense halls that lead down to the Tentacle Throne.
As the shock troopers push open the last set of doors, Mareliux’s hand tightens around mine. I understand why — nobody knows what will happen here, and there’s a lot at stake. His stepfather is still the Emperor of the Khavgren Empire, and a lot depends on how he reacts to this.
We walk into the throne room. Thousands of torches lighten the gloom, but just a fraction.
The Tentacle Throne looks the same as last time, huge and always moving with all its thick tendrils. It’s both scary and creepy and kind of awesome, now that I know what the Syntrix can do and I feel somewhat comfortable with it. I feel it in here, almost like a physical presence.
Mareliux stiffens beside me. “Whatareyou doing?!” he yells, and his voice echoes powerfully from the stone walls in the vast room.
There’s someone sitting on the throne. And there’s someone else standing there, too. Neither of them are Emperor Craxallo.
It’s Prince Nerox, sitting sideways in his irreverent way, dangling one leg over the armrest. A female soldier with a purple scarf is standing stiffly beside the Throne.
I frown. Even now, with the Phrexz dead, Nerox feels that he needs a bodyguard? It strikes me that he must have been badly traumatized.
“Oh hi, Umbra,” Nerox drawls when we approach. “Looking radiant, as usual. I tell you, if you weren’t married… Mareliux! Didn’t notice you there. You missed a fun battle. Your shock troopers came and defeated the Calanians in the time it takes to drink a glass ofkrut. If I’d known they’d be such pushovers, I would have done it myself. Well, not in person, of course. But I’m sure I would have sent someone.”
“Why are you on the Throne?” Mareliux demands. “You are neither Emperor nor Crown Prince!”
“Agreed,” Nerox says and slowly gets to his feet. He throws his cape behind him with the usual flourish as he stands up. “But I may never get the chance to sit on it again, and there was nobody here. And look, it likes me.” He reaches up to a tentacle, and it comes down to stroke his hand.
Mareliux tenses up, and I expect him to read his brother the riot act. But instead he relaxes. “All right. If it likes you, I suppose it’s fine to try. Anyone else would find it deadly.”
“Someone had to warm it up for the Emperor,” Nerox says with a little smile. “But I’m glad to see you, Umbra. And Mareliux, I suppose. I hear the Phrexz is dead?”
Mareliux nods. “The Phrexz shapeshifter that had taken the place of our mother and then became Empress Juriniel is dead, yes. When did you suspect?”
Nerox leans his hip on the Throne. “That she was a Phrexz? Not until the Calanians blew up the apartment where you’d left Umbra to fend for herself. That’s when things seemed to click into place in my mind. Far too late, of course. But it’s hard to imagine your own mother having been dead for decades and her appearance being occupied by an alien that we’re not even sure exists. And whose powers are only mentioned in myths and rumors and legends. I know I was slow to realize. But it seemed to be a real stretch.”
There’s a soreness in his voice I haven’t heard from the young prince before.
Mareliux reaches out and touches his upper arm. “Nobody blames you, Nerox. We never knew a Phrexz would be that good at taking someone’s place. And there were many who were closer to the Empress than you were and who should have donesomething. I’m only glad that you survived. I think the Phrexz completely misjudged you. You would not have been an easy person to rule the Empire through— ah. There he is.”
A door at the other end of the room opens, and Emperor Craxallo walks towards us, flanked by four of Sigise’s shock troopers. He’s tall and thin in his white robes with purple piping, but he walks faster and with more energy than I would have expected.
