Page 8 of Seducing Jenny
When she didn’t speak, I nudged gently. “What is it?”
“The palace didn’t used to be so wretched,” she said after a moment. “Not when I was a child.”
That caught me off guard. “But you grew up there with Justice in charge, just as he is now. So how was it any different?”
“When I was a girl, Justice’s consort, Aphonic, ran the palace. Justice ruled the world, yes, but the palace was her domain.” Her voice softened. “She’s a good woman. She’s the reason I became who I am.”
“How so?” I asked curiously.
A wistful smile tugged at her lips. “When I came to the palace, I’d already been training for years. But once there, I was forbidden from continuing. Justice didn’t want the daughter of one of his top warlords getting hurt. And worse, I had committed the sin of being a girl.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed. “Justice’s sister, Thunder, is a fierce warrior.”
She glanced ahead of us as we walked. “I pointed that out, but Justice didn’t care. Later, I learned that Thunder picked so many fights with her brothers that their father finally had her train in secret, just to shut up those boys. Rumor has it, she beat them so thoroughly they refused to spar with her again.”
I snorted. “I’d pay to watch her beat the shit out of Justice.”
“Wouldn’t we all?” She shook her head. “Anyway, I couldn’t train with the boys, so Mal trained me at night. Whatever they learned during the day, he passed on to me. Aphonic thought we were sweethearts, so she helped us sneak around. When she learned the truth…”
“You were both in trouble?” I guessed.
“No, she supported us. She even had armor made for me,” she said fondly, then her expression tightened. “Justice had her beaten for it.”
I stared at her in shock, that Justice would have his own consort beaten. “Fucker.”
“Aphonic’s father told Justice never to lay an unkind finger on her. So he had others do it for him.” Discord’s anger was barely contained, and it rasped through her voice as she continued. “I murdered the guards who did it. Justice never tried that again. But after that…the palace became cold. Aphonic stayed sweet, but she was skittish. Cautious. Everything changed.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I don’t.” Her tone sharpened. “I blame Justice Bateen. He’s the root of so much cruelty and suffering. I’ve often thought of removing him from power myself.”
That caught my attention. Discord had a position at court, but I didn’t know how deep her access ran. “How could you do it?”
She glanced at me, a gleam in her eyes. “By beheading him, Tiger.”
I grinned. “How can I help?”
“Nothing yet. But if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll let you know.”
“Great.” I returned our conversation back to where it had started, before we’d gotten off topic. “So, can I use the onworlder?”
“I suppose,” she said, and sent permissions to my gauntlet driver. “But if you wreck Mal’s vehicle, I will let him kick your ass after we rescue him.”
“My childhood was training for driving. Yours was training for murder,” I pointed out as I sent a message to Jenny’s driver so she would meet me at the onworlder. “I think I’ve got this.”
Discord tilted her head as she studied me a moment. “You don’t talk much about your childhood. Why is that?”
I shrugged. “Not much to tell. I didn’t grow up classed like you and Mal and Longshot, so it was pretty dull.”
“Dull?” She raised a brow. “You grew up in the last clan of Orhon. How could that be dull?”
“It wasn’t anything special, Discord. Clan life is just…how I grew up. I wasn’t in a palace like you. The Orne clan leads a simple life. Our three-room huts are laid out in connecting circles, we do whatever work comes along for money, so that was usually shipping or smuggling, depending on the client. I’ve worked with my hands ever since I can remember.” I smiled, thinking back on those memories. “I was three the first time I fixed my uncle’s ship.”
“Three?” Her eyes went wide. “That’s beyond prodigy.”
I laughed. “I’m not a prodigy. Machines just make sense. They don’t lie. They don’t manipulate. They either work or they don’t. For a long time, I thought I liked machines better than people.”
Jenny came out of the front door of Mal’s home and smiled when she saw me, then aimed right for us. Just seeing her made my heart beat faster and awareness flood my entire body.
