King's Sacrifice by Margaret Weis Read Free Book Online

should have let me! You should have let me!"
    Sagan smiled
sardonically. "I didn't stop you, Your Majesty."
    "Yes, you
did!" Dion retorted. "Not physically. Mentally. Doubts. You
make me doubt myself!"
    "Why the
devil," Sagan said with biting mockery, "didn't you just
tell her to go see a good plastic surgeon?"
    Dion stared,
blinked.
    "No,"
Sagan continued, anger mounting, "you didn't think of anything
that simple, that logical, did you,Your Majesty? You fell into the
sentimental trap provided for you. Fortunately, you managed to crawl
back out before any harm was done. What would have happened if you
had gone ahead and attempted to heal that young woman and you had
foiled? Failed in full view of several billion watchers throughout
the galaxy. Everything lost! Everything we've worked for gone,
disappeared, vanished!"
    Crimson stained
Dion's cheeks. He started to say something, but Sagan pretended not
to notice.
    "Why do you
think Robes planted that woman there?" the Warlord persisted
relentlessly. "Why her and not an assassin? Because an
assassin's shot makes you a martyr. The people would be furious.
Robes would fall tomorrow, his government toppled in an instant. That
girl did far worse than almost fool you. She almost made a fool of
you. And Robes deals easily with fools."
    The crimson in
the king's face faded, leaving behind a deathly pallor. "You are
right, my lord," Dion said in a low voice. "I . . . didn't
think."
    "You
escaped this time, barely. You may not be so fortunate again. I
suggest you return to Phoenix without delay."
    Dion's hps
tightened. "Very well, my lord."
    Sagan bowed. "By
your leave. Your Majesty. End transmission," he ordered.
    The Warlord
turned on his heel, stalked off the bridge, booted footfalls
resounding like thunder on the deck. The ensign obeyed his lord's
orders with alacrity, slumped in relief over his console when the
vidscreens went dark. Aks could sympathize. The admiral himself was
starting to relax, now that the storm was receding, when Sagan
stopped and looked back.
    "Admiral
Aks?"
    "My lord?"
    "Cancel His
Majesty's next engagements, whatever they are."
    "Yes, my
lord." It was hardly an admiral's place to act as a public
relations agent, but Aks certainly wasn't going to argue. He would
pass the word to where it needed to go.
    The Warlord
strode on, walking the corridors of his ship in mute fury. The
admiral knew his lord's moods and, aware that he was needed, followed
after, steering a careful course to keep from being swamped in the
tidal wave. Sagan's private elevator carried them to the lord's
private quarters. Once inside, with the Honor Guard taking up
positions outside the sealed door, the Warlord could unleash his
anger in private.
    "Damn and
blast him! He brought us to the brink of disaster, and then has the
gall to defy me, to question my actions!"
    Sagan removed
his helm from his head. Aks had the distinct impression that the
Warlord's first impulse was to hurl the helm from him, send it
crashing into the bulkhead. The admiral wished fervently his lord
would do so, would give way to the hot rage that was a devouring
flame. Sagan would never permit himself to lose control, however. He
held the ornate metal so tightly that it left behind vivid imprints
in the flesh when he finally, with deliberate calm, placed it on its
stand.
    But Aks knew he
stood on fault-lined ground. The pressure of two opposing forces, of
Sagan and Dion—two solid rock plates grinding together—had
to give, had to be released. The quake, when it came, would be
destructive, devastating. It might carry them all to ruin. It would
certainly destroy one ... or the other ... or both.
    The admiral
decided to risk causing a small tremor. "My lord, perhaps the
Lady Maigrey could be of some assistance—"
    The deck might
have split beneath his feet. Sagan gave Aks a look that stopped the
rest of his sentence, came close to stopping his breath.
    "The Lady
Maigrey abandoned him," the Warlord said