Hidden Game, Book 1 of the Ancient Court Trilogy Page 16

  “I love you, too,” she whispered. “Good luck with Alessia.”

  As I walked toward the family quarters it was hard to keep from skipping. It felt like anything was possible. Even architecture school and a career I could actually love. My imagination was already bursting with ideas for grand structures and simpler ones, things that would make the world a more beautiful place and make it more accessible to everyone, regardless of their income level.

  Before I reached my destination, Alessia breezed into the corridor from the courtyard. “Nicolo! I see you are back from your… vacation with your little pet. How lovely. You are just in time for the farewell festivities. Our American guests depart tomorrow. I know you want to meet them before they go.”

  She had returned early. I knew it.

  “Not now, Alessia. I must speak with Papà.”

  A look of malicious enjoyment swept across her face. “But of course. And here he is.”

  Turning to follow her exultant gaze, I saw my father approaching. Even without the frown he wore, I would have known he was furious from the way he stalked down the corridor.

  “Where have you been, you irresponsible boy? You have almost missed meeting with the American King and his party. I cannot believe you would leave the castle at such a time.”

  “I need to talk to you,” I said, undaunted by his anger.

  He grabbed my upper arm and kept walking toward the doors to the courtyard. “And I need to talk to you. But not until after the evening’s festivities have ended. As soon as we bid our guests farewell, we will have a chat in my office.”

  Outside the party was in full swing. The normally peaceful courtyard was alive with light and music. White-gloved waiters moved busily through the space, offering hors de oeuvres and crystal glasses of wine.

  It was all very normal for one of my family’s garden parties, but nothing about tonight felt normal to me. I was different, and my life would be different from now on. It was hard to contain myself and make polite chit chat with our visitors when all I wanted to do was speak to my father alone and tell him of my momentous decision.

  “Nic—it’s great to meet you. I’ve heard good things.”

  Nox Jerrick smiled and offered a hand with what appeared to be genuine goodwill lighting his appealing face.

  I took his hand, shaking it. “Er, you, too. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy during your visit.”

  “No problem.” He grinned. “I totally understand. You had to dominate the world of soccer. And I know what it’s like dealing with the press and the public.”

  Not only was Nox a major player in the American Court, he was one of the most popular musicians in the world. His band currently had the number one hit song in several countries, including France.

  “I’d like you to meet the members of my band and my good friends, Anders, Matteus, and Rolf.

  Each of the musicians stepped forward, all looking very much like Americans to me. They were friendly, but quiet, clearly not altogether comfortable in the political arena.

  “And your bond-mate?” I asked. “Did I hear correctly that you recently married?”

  He beamed. “You did. She’s here somewhere—I’ll have to introduce you. I hear congratulations are in order for you as well. Alessia is…” He hesitated, seeming to search for the appropriate word. “She’s a beautiful girl. I hope you’ll be happy.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but there seemed to be a hint of doubt in his tone.

  “She is. Thank you,” I said, being polite.

  Of course, I no longer had any intention of marrying Alessia, and the Elven world would hear of the scandal soon enough, but now was certainly not the time to let that particular scalded cat out of the bag.

  “Well, it’s been good to get to know your family a bit. I’m not sure how much progress we made toward a complete fan pod ban, but your father was good enough to at least listen to my position, and I hope we can continue a dialogue toward that end.”

  “You wish to ban all fan pods?” Perhaps I should have made some time to meet Nox earlier. I had assumed he was simply making the rounds of the European leaders in an attempt to cement the security of his own position or perhaps demonstrate his strength and lack of intimidation of the Ancient Court.

  “I do,” he said. “I believe the time has come. As you know, I have some personal experience with it. I don’t think they’re really helping our cause. I think we’re better off leaving the humans alone than trying to influence them to accept Elven rule.”

  I could not contain a smile of wonderment. “You are quite a radical thinker, my friend. And a far cry from your predecessors—not to mention brave for bringing that agenda here.”

  His white teeth flashed in another grin. “Thank you. I hope we’ll meet again and have more time to talk. Unfortunately, we’ve agreed to put on a private show for your parents and their friends tonight.”

  He tossed his head toward a stage that had been set up at the base of one of the garden’s stone walls. His bandmates were already making their way to their instruments.

  Yes, we should talk, I said to him mind to mind. I think we may have much in common. Since getting to know Macy and hearing about Olly, my thinking about the fan pods had changed. It was much more in line with Nox’s than my own court’s policies.

  His eyelids flared slightly in surprise, but he said nothing aloud.

  Later then. He nodded and walked away to join his group.

  A long, thin hand slipped around my arm and clasped my fingers. I glanced down to see Alessia’s calculating gaze follow Nox’s retreat.

  “What a fool he is,” she hissed. “A disgrace to the Dark Court. He’s lucky one of the Ancient Court leaders doesn’t slay him on the spot.”

  In spite of her very strong resemblance to a viper in that moment, I felt sorry for her. She had reportedly been a rather nice, normal person before the humiliation of her first broken engagement, and here, I was about to repeat the insult. It was bound to hurt even worse the second time.

  “Alessia,” I said, turning her to face me. “Did you ever consider that Culley’s rejection had nothing to do with you and more to do with what was going on in his own life? You never actually met him, did you?”

  Her eyes narrowed into hateful dark slashes. “No. I never met him. But it does not matter. What he did to me was an insult—and I hope he doesn’t believe I’ve forgotten it. When I come into power…” She stopped before finishing her sentence, a new suspicion filling her eyes. “Why did you ask me that? Do you have sympathy for him? Are you also becoming a human-lover, like our American visitor?”

  “No,” I lied, my heart rate kicking into a higher gear. “Not at all. I was just thinking of what you’ve been through. I wanted to make sure you realized that you are a great catch, so to speak, and very worthy of a good match and a bond-mate who will value you.”

  She stared at me for long moments. “Well, I’m very glad to hear you feel that way, since you will be that bond-mate.” She glanced around as if having heard a call. “I must go. My parents have just arrived. They’re at the front gates, and they’ll want to see me. Don’t stray too far. You should put in an appearance with them as well.” She pointed at me before striding briskly toward the castle.

  Well. That was going to be an ugly conversation, no matter when or where we had it. And she wouldn’t be likely to hate humans any less if she ever learned I left her for one. But I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry her and spend an eternity bonded to her when I was in love with Macy. And really, Alessia shouldn’t want me to. If only she knew what love felt like, she’d realize it was far more important than any of our parents’ plans for us.

  Speaking of which… I turned in a circle, searching for Papà. I’d done what he asked, met the Americans. Now it was time to settle our accounts.

  He was standing by the fountain with my mother, Noemi. Nox and his band had started playing, and my parents leaned close to one another, no doubt so they could he
ar each other over the loud music. I approached them, embraced Mama and accepted her chiding remarks about my recent absences with a chastened grin and a bowed head.

  “I missed you, too,” I said honestly.

  She patted my cheek and said in a teasing voice, “When you are married, you will spend plenty of time here at home, working on giving me a grandchild, no?”

  No. That’s what I was screaming inside. Everything about that future picture sickened me.

  I forced a smile for her and faked a laugh, pretending to be the eager bridegroom everyone expected me to be. We all stood and watched the band, enjoying the music together for a while. Various dignitaries and friends of my parents strolled over, taking turns paying their respects before going back to their tables and groups of friends.

  Finally, after a few more songs, I couldn’t wait any longer. Leaning close to Papà’s ear, I said, “Let’s go inside. It’s very important I speak to you tonight.”

  “Nicolo, the fireworks will begin soon. I have much to tell you as well, but have patience.”

  But I had no more patience. “It won’t take long. Please.”

  He gave a resigned sigh, whispered something to my mother, and then accompanied me into the house. We walked straight to his office on the second floor, and I shut the door behind us.

  Now that we were here, I was at a bit of a loss for how to begin. How do you tell your father you’re walking away from the life he’s planned for you? From your people, if it came to that?

  Before I could begin, he said, “I’m actually glad of this chance to speak with you, though I do think it could have waited until after the party. I had been planning to talk to you soon about this, but Dr. Schmitt tells me we are ahead of schedule, and the time is now.”

  My head cleared instantly of my own muddled speech, tuned in with laser sharpness to his mention of the doctor Macy was so afraid of.

  “Dr. Schmitt?”

  “Yes, he told me he mentioned our plans to you and was surprised to learn you had not yet been informed. I assured him I’d speak to you immediately, but then you took off for a few days of amusement. There is no more time to waste, though. The future of our entire people, on this continent and all the others, depends on it. On you. Have a seat.”

  I could literally feel the blood drain from my face, rushing right past my heart to my feet. I fell back into the chair behind me, my head swimming. What was he saying? How could the future of my entire race depend on me?

  “What is going on, Papà?”

  “Don’t look so worried. It’s quite wonderful, actually. Dr. Schmitt has come up with a way to accomplish what the Dark leaders in the New World failed to do. None of us in the Ancient Court have wanted to get directly involved and get our hands messy, but the future of our people can no longer be entrusted to these… these… amateurs. And now the new American Dark King is so liberal and filled with… ‘compassion,’” his face twisted into an ugly scowl around the word. “… for the humans. The Young Court is completely useless. We have no choice but to take care of it ourselves.”

  “Take care of what, exactly?”

  “Eradicating the human race.”

  He said it so baldly, as if it were obvious. As if he weren’t talking about wiping out billions of lives. About killing Macy and everyone she knew and loved.

  It was difficult to speak around the boulder in my throat, but I managed it.

  “I see.”

  There would be no rational discussion with my father tonight. He was beyond that. There was nothing rational about a conspiracy to wipe out an entire race. And the certainty in his voice, the satisfied look on his face told me this was no mere concept, no tentative plan. Something was already in place. It was already happening. All I could do now was pretend to play along and find out what it was. Maybe, somehow, if I truly was vital to this plan, I could do something to stop it.

  “And how exactly is Dr. Schmitt planning to accomplish this?”

  Papà smiled. Smiled. “He has been working for years, decades actually, dating back to when he was in the employ of that maniacal human in Germany—remember him?”

  I nodded, the sick feeling in my belly increasing drastically.

  “He ultimately turned out to be a failure, obsessing about various ethnicities and religious groups, but his programs did allow Dr. Schmitt opportunity to study humans, experiment on them. He’s worked tirelessly since then, and finally his work has paid off. He’s created a virus that will make the Black Death of 1629 look like the common cold. He’s tested it on subjects in his lab here—it’s a hundred percent effective so far.”

  “Here? In his clinic here?” My heart woke from its state of dead shock and started pounding the walls of my chest, demanding I get up immediately and go find Macy. She’d been absolutely right about the doctor. He was evil. He was insane. And apparently, so was my father.

  “Yes. On fan pod members.”

  The rush of blood from my head nearly made me dizzy. “All of them?”

  “No, of course not. We must keep some of them healthy for the first stage of our plan. And that, my son, is where you will be vital to serving your people as none has ever done before.”

  It was hard to keep listening. My adrenaline was pumping so hard, all I wanted to do was employ both my fight and flight responses, pummeling my father and then grabbing Macy and getting her as far away from Dr. Schmitt as possible.

  But I had to listen. I had to find out what sort of insanity they’d been dreaming up here together while I’d been traveling the world kicking a little leather ball around a field, partying, posing for selfies, and accepting the adulation of the very fans my own flesh and blood was plotting to wipe off the face of the earth.

  “You know you and your sister are very rare,” Father continued.

  “Yes, because there are two of us.”

  “Exactly. It’s unusual for an Elven couple to have more than one child. Twins—are nearly unheard of.” There was a gleam in his eye that set my nerves on edge. “Dr. Schmitt has always been fascinated by you and your sister. As it turns out, your mother has a second glamour, beyond the superior strength and agility you inherited. Exceptional fertility.”

  Ah. Dr. Schmitt’s glamour. He could sniff out anything physical in his patients, human or Elven. He must have examined my parents.

  “Of course, Noemi is too old to be useful in this endeavor. Besides, she is female, obviously, and so is your sister. So this particular attribute of the family bloodline isn’t quite as useful to our people as a whole as you are.”

  All Elven people have a higher body temperature than humans. But in that moment, every cell in my body went ice cold. What did my father expect me to do concerning fertility and the fan pod girls? If it was what I suspected, I’d die first.

  Muffled booms sounded through the thick castle walls, echoing the doomsday beat of my own heart. The fireworks. All the guests out in the garden were no doubt gazing at the heavens, smiling, laughing, and sipping their cocktails. How many of them knew about the plan to annihilate the human race? Certainly not the Americans. From what Nox had said tonight, he and his friends were advocates of the humans.

  “What is it you need me to do?”

  I was amazed at the calmness of my own voice when inside I was raging. A few more minutes. Only a few more minutes and I could leave, find Macy, and flee with her before anyone was even aware of our escape.

  “Well, obviously we need servants. They’re essential to meeting all our needs. Our policy for the past few hundred years has been to allow the humans to exist and proliferate so we’d have a thriving servant race when we eventually regained our position as rulers of the earth, as it was in the old days. But now—they have thrived altogether too well. They are like a virus themselves, replicating at blistering speed and covering the earth until their sheer numbers threaten our existence. There have been various attempts to curtail their growth, to cull their numbers, and recently, to bring them back under our dominion. They
’ve all failed. That’s why a new plague is necessary. But of course, we will still need servants—and they must be strong enough to survive the pandemic. Therefore, we will need to share with them some of our own immunity to human disease. Dr. Schmitt says the only way to do that… is to create a race of half-breeds.”

  “Is that possible? I wasn’t sure if the stories of Elven/human cross-breeding were true.”

  “Oh yes. It’s very possible. Dr. Schmitt has seen cases where it’s happened. And the gestation period is much shorter in humans than in Elves, as well, so it is an excellent plan. Once we set it in motion, we’ll have to wait less than a year until the offspring are delivered, and then the next and final phase can be launched.”

  “You still haven’t told me what you need me to do. I thought the idea of humans and Elves bonding disgusted you. Surely you can’t mean that I am to bond with—”

  “No!” An expression of instantaneous horror painted Papà’s face. “Never. I would not have you defile yourself with a single one of them. And of course, if you did, you’d be useless to serve in that capacity from then on. No, Dr. Schmitt will use a technique to harvest the necessary genetic materials from you—before you are bonded to Alessia—it will be painless, and you will have provided your people with the perfect servants for generations to come. It is a great honor.”

  “What about Dr. Schmitt. He has no bond-mate. Why didn’t he take this great ‘honor’ for himself?”

  “He doesn’t have the gift. It comes from your mother’s line. This is what you were born to do, by virtue of your unique family heritage. It is your purpose, son.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Earlier tonight I’d been thinking my purpose in life was to love Macy and to create things—buildings, not a race of hybrid babies to serve as slaves for my “people.” At the moment, I’d never felt less related to them.

  “How many of the girls?” I asked.

  “What?”

  “How many of the girls will be carrying my children?”

  He shook his head, clearly disturbed by my choice of wording. “No, no, son. Don’t think of it like that. They will not be ‘children.’ They’ll be slaves. You will have a child, or if you’re so blessed, children, with Alessia. And to answer your question, we have nearly two hundred fan pod girls here at the palace between yours and mine. A few of them didn’t test out, so they’ll be discarded, and only the exceptional candidates will receive the procedure and have the opportunity to serve us in this way.”