The Immortal Crown (Age of X #2)(15)
Author: Richelle Mead

“Hedging my bets,” Justin said. “I had no idea what kind of long day you might have had. You might not want any guests at all. But you’d still probably want her.”

“Probably.” Lucian, upon closer examination, actually did appear as though he might have had a long day. He was settled into the corner of a leather sofa, with his arm stretched along its back and his feet resting on a coffee table. The top buttons of his dress shirt were undone, its sleeves unrolled. If he’d had a tie at some point today, it’d been discarded. There was an easy smile on his face—it was hard to find Lucian without one—but it was underscored with fatigue. “Though believe it or not, there actually has been something I’ve wanted to see you about. So this works out happily for everyone. Make yourself a drink, and we’ll talk.” He held up an empty glass. “Make me one too.”

Justin took the glass over to a bar between the kitchen and living room. It too was beautifully laid out and well-stocked, straight from an entertaining magazine but not seeing much use. “Why don’t you give up on your unattainable Nordic obsession and find some well-bred plebeian wife to smile in your campaign ads and throw dinner parties for you?”

Lucian’s grin broadened. “No time. Maybe after I win. Right now, that’s where all my real energy’s going.”

Justin sat down in an armchair near the sofa, handing over Lucian’s drink as he did. “Does it take that much energy? Don’t you have this sealed up?”

“Never assume anything in politics. We’re still in the lead, but Chu from the New People’s Party has been going up in the polls. Very quickly.” Lucian’s dark eyes stared off into space as he sipped the drink, his mind spinning with numbers and points. “We need something big. No more well-written speeches and school visits. Something that’ll stick in the hearts and minds of people and make them see me as a leader, not just someone trying to win a contest.”

Justin nearly made a joke, but the intensity in his old friend’s gaze made him reconsider. He’s into this. He’s really into this. In any other politician, I’d say that makes him more dangerous than someone who’s just trying to reap the fame.

Any other politician? Are you saying he’s not dangerous? asked Horatio.

That remains to be seen.

To Lucian, Justin said, “Do you have something in mind? A great hearts-and-minds-winning stunt?”

“Not a stunt.” Lucian’s eyes focused back on Justin. “But it can wait. Tell me what you need.”

“What, after a buildup like that? I can’t compete. You go first.”

Lucian hesitated only briefly, took another sip, and then leaned eagerly toward Justin. “Arcadia.”

The name of the RUNA’s volatile neighbor was not what Justin had expected to hear. Composed of the southeastern part of the former United States, Arcadia had formed after the Decline when the rest of its American countrymen had banded together with Canada. Relations between the RUNA and Arcadia weren’t friendly, a situation made more difficult by the fact that Arcadia was neither advanced enough to be treated as an equal nor backward enough to be casually dismissed like other provinces. Frequent border disputes in recent years had only worsened political tensions.

“You want to take it over? Annex it?” Justin asked. “That would certainly get people’s attention.” He was mostly joking, but from the fervent look in Lucian’s eyes, Justin wondered just how extreme the senator might be willing to get.

Lucian clasped his hands together. “No. Not yet. Just go there.

There’s been talk for a while between both countries about a diplomatic visit—some sort of friendly delegation going in to try to better understand our neighbors and their ways.” A bitter smile played at the edges of Lucian’s lips. “There’s been particular interest in this after rumors of the Arcadians amassing new weapons—not that I expect them to tour us around that.”

Justin parsed his words. “Us. As in you—you’d be a part of this delegation?”

“Exactly.”

Lucian settled back into the couch, face triumphant as he gauged Justin’s reaction—which was one of astonishment. “That’s crazy!

People like you don’t go to Arcadia . . . or any province. You’re supposed to stay on the campaign trail, in posh hotels surrounded by bodyguards.”

“And that’s what makes this so big. There are no heroes anymore, Justin. Leaders get elected with words, not actions, and when people go to the polls, they’re usually just voting for the lesser of evils because there’s nothing better. But I intend to be better. I can’t be Mae, fighting gloriously out there on the battlefield, but I can be the first leader in the RUNA’s history to ever set foot in semi-hostile territory, unafraid to further this country’s interest. People will respect that. That’ll mean something, whereas my rivals’ words will just be . . . words.”

“See, that’s your problem right there,” said Justin, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You can put ‘semi’ in front of it, but ‘hostile’ will still get you killed.”

Lucian looked more confident than he had any right to be. “You visit plenty of hostile places. You’re still alive.”

Justin downed his drink. “I don’t go there as a public official, decked out in fanfare. I go in covertly—well-protected—and don’t always get out so smoothly.”

“Well, I’ll be well-protected too. Even the Arcadians aren’t foolish enough to think our party’d go in without our own soldiers.”

“A dozen Gemman soldiers won’t mean much if you’re surrounded by the entire Arcadian military,” Justin pointed out.

“The Arcadians won’t touch me or the people with me. They don’t trust us, sure, but they don’t want an incident. Some of them really even do want to stabilize relations between us.” Lucian stood up and began to pace. “In this case, the fanfare pays off. They can’t do anything when this is all so public. I’ll be fine. You would be fine.”

Justin had been about to stand and make another drink but now found himself momentarily frozen in place. “Me? I assume you’re speaking hypothetically.”

“It’s only hypothetical if you don’t go.”

The smug grin on Lucian’s face was maddening. Justin was used to reading the truth from people’s expressions, but he couldn’t read Lucian just then. Was this some kind of joke? No . . . the more Justin studied the other man, the more it seemed Lucian was in earnest. The question was, why?