Mad, Bad & Dangerous

king and his sister, but I never tried to find anyone. My father put the fear of the gods into me about the Federacion. I heard news about the Nasc, kept my ears open, and I heard about what the Federacion did to freaks like me.”

She gave a half smile and lightly punched his shoulder. “If you’re a freak, what does that make me?”

“Gorgeous,” Bael replied promptly. “Sexy.” He kissed one side of her jaw, just under her ear. “Perfect.”

“Give over,” she protested.

“Nope. I love you, Kett,” he said sincerely, not allowing her to duck away from him. “I’ll do anything for you.”

“Kill Albhar,” she said tonelessly, and he straightened.

“Seriously?”

“That’s where we’re going tomorrow. Striker’s good at finding people. Plus he likes exploding things. I’m going to find him, I’m going to give him a chance to repent, and then I’m going to-”

“Move away while I incinerate him,” Bael finished for her.

She raised her eyebrows.

“Kett, quite apart from the fact that Albhar is the closest thing I’ve had to family for twenty years and he intended to sacrifice me in a ritual, don’t you think I’d go after him for what he did to you?”

“I can take care of myself,” she said stiffly.

“I know you can, sweetheart, it’s one of my favorite things about you.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “But you’re going to have to put up with me trying to protect you now, I’m afraid. That’s just the way it’s going to be.”

“You are so full of-”

“Love and admiration for you,” Bael said, kissing her mouth again. “Seriously, Kett. He tried to kill you, three times by my count. He had you turned into a statue for eight years! What sort of person does that to a baby?”

“A ruthless one,” Kett said. She frowned. “How do you know Albhar did it?”

“Who else would? He beat and starved you,” Bael said, his fingers tightening on her arms. He will burn.

“On your orders.”

Bael winced. “Yes. Well. Have I mentioned many, many apologies for that?” He gathered her in close.

“Bael,” she interrupted. “Look. You said he’s the closest thing you have to family. You shouldn’t be the one to kill him.”

“Yes,” Bael said grimly, “I should. Not just because of what he did to you, but because he’s supposed to be my family and he tried to kill me.”

“Don’t kill him for revenge,” Kett said, her eyes flashing. “Kill him because it’s the right thing to do.”

Bael, who’d never bothered hugely with what was wrong and what was right, frowned, but he nodded.

They were both silent for a while, then Kett said, “Anyway, it’s academic. Striker’ll probably get there first.”

“What grudge does he have against Albhar?” Bael asked, thinking of his mentor’s extremely minor talents.

“Oh, none really. Well, apart from Albhar being involved with the Federacion, who are responsible for that huge scar on Chance’s back. But really he just likes killing people. Chalia doesn’t let him do it very often.”

“Lovely,” Bael said. “How-and I realize I may regret asking-how does Striker know where Albhar will be? He’s probably left the Vyiskagrad house by now.”

Kett nodded. “Yeah. Striker reckons he’s gone south. He’ll know better once we’ve crossed the Wall, but his guess was Pra-”

She froze.

“Pradesh?” Bael asked, and Kett gave a mechanical nod. She breathed jerkily for a few seconds, and when she spoke her voice came out very calm.

“Bael, when you said you used to know the Maharaja of Pradesh, you were just bragging, right?”

“Sure,” he said, and she relaxed. “But it was true all the same.”

Her eyes went distant, panicked. Her fingers traced the faded scar on her thigh.

“Kett?” Bael prompted.

“Does Albhar know him?”

“Probably. He used to brag about being friends with the Governor, when Pradesh was still a colony. Now it’s been handed back to the-”

“Maharaja,” Kett said, “who I was performing for the night before I found myself strung up in that cave with you.”

“Performing what?” Bael asked, terrible jealousy ripping through him.

“Shape-changing. As an entertainment. I don’t do it often. I just did that as a favor. Shape-changing, Bael, the day before the cave.”

A terrible silence followed.

“Albhar knows him,” Bael said.

“I know him,” Kett said. “He took me in when my leg was hurt. He was kind to me. He helped me get hold of my parents and Striker. I went back there to perform at his daughter’s wedding as a favor.”

“It could just be a coincidence,” Bael said without much confidence, and Kett gave him a disbelieving look. “No, I didn’t think so either.”

“I am going to eviscerate him,” she said, clambering off Bael and resisting his efforts to hold her in place. “I’m going to find that damn tiger and feed him to it!”

“And I’ll be right behind you,” he said, watching her pace naked. “But-”

“The sneaky rotten conniving backstabbing shit of a bastard!”

“Absolutely,” Bael said, “but the thing is-”

“I’m going to get his fat, slimy entrails and wrap them around his neck. I’m-”

“Yes,” Bael said, “but the thing is, the Maharaja of Pradesh has one of the biggest standing armies in Asiatica. He’s famous for it. Determined not to let anyone colonize his country again.”

“I’ll kill them all too,” Kett vowed carelessly.

“You and whose army?” Bael asked.

And Kett smiled.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Oh,” Bael said. “That army.”

The five of them stood on a small hill overlooking a valley. It was filled with tents, cooking fires and people sharpening swords.

“I made some calls,” Kett said. “Could have gotten more if we’d had more notice, but…well, really they’re just for backup.”

“But that’s a whole army,” Bael said. “Who do you know with a whole army?”

“Well, her step-uncle, for one,” said Lya. “Technically, he’s head of the whole Peneggan army.”

“But we’re not in Peneggan,” Bael said. They’d crossed the Wall late last night-him, Kett, Striker, Dark and Lya the kelf-and endured a hair-raising journey on the back of a terrifying and completely untamed Xinjiangese dragon. “I thought the Peneggan army had pulled out of Pradesh years ago. Handed control back to the locals.”

“The colony was handed back,” Kett said. “But a battalion or two stayed behind with the handover. It’s not a whole army,” she mimicked Bael’s tone, “but it’s probably enough to attack the Maharaja’s palace.”

“Which is probably why he keeps such a big army of his own,” Lya murmured.

“Checks and balances,” Kett said. “Come on. I know the colonel.”

They walked down into the camp, Striker striding on ahead, Kett discussing strategy with Dark, leaving Bael to walk with Lya. Her bare, three-toed feet pattered silently on the ground. The air was full of sound, but all Bael could hear was the kelf’s silence.