Undercity Read Online Free Page B

tiled in pale blue and silver mosaics, as if we were inside a jeweled box. Its arched windows stretched from floor to ceiling and showed a lofty view of the mountains outside, peaks with a desolate beauty. General Majda stood by one of the windows facing us, her gaze intent on her sister.
    Chief Takkar, the head of the Majda police force, was leaning against the wall with her brawny arms crossed. She had only a cold stare for me. Her black uniform matched the one worn by the pilot who had picked me up in the flycar. Like everyone else here, Takkar was physically fit, with black hair and dark eyes. Hell, I was physically fit, with black hair and dark eyes. Did the Majdas subconsciously choose their employees to resemble themselves? Who knew, maybe it wasn’t subconscious.
    Four guards stood by the arched exit across the room, making sure that, gods forbid, I didn’t sneak deeper into the palace and trespass on the men’s quarters. At least Krestone, their captain, didn’t show any of Chief Takkar’s hostility toward me. Krestone remained by the doorway, alert and focused, the solid sort who spoke rarely and saw a great deal.
    “We have to find him,” Corejida was saying as she paced through a panel of sunlight that slanted through a window and across the floor. “Gods only know what has happened out there. He could be hurt, lost, starving.” She looked as if she hadn’t slept for the last three days.
    “Has he talked about anything outside the palace?” I asked. “Any place, in any context?”
    “We’ve already been through this,” Takkar told me. “He never spoke of other places.”
    “I’d like to hear Lady Corejida’s thoughts.” I wasn’t sure why Corejida went by the honorific Lady; it seemed rather modest for such a highly placed House. She was hard to read. Although Majda women seemed to prefer military titles to noble address, she had never joined the military. Finance was her specialty. Someone had to run the Majda empire.
    “Does Prince Dayjarind have any special interests?” I asked. “Subjects he likes to read about? Hobbies? Favorite pursuits?”
    “He’s been talking about landscapes lately.” Corejida rubbed the back of her neck as she paced, working at the muscles. “He looks at holo-images in the library.”
    “Did he mention any holo in particular?” I asked.
    She paused in front of a window and stood facing me, backlit by the streaming sunlight. “He likes imaginary scenes, impossible images created by mesh systems.”
    Vaj spoke in her husky voice. “Dayj has always been that way. Dreaming whatever boys dream.”
    I hardly thought a twenty-three-year-old man qualified as a boy. “Did he want to make landscapes?”
    They stared at me blankly. Corejida said, “Make them?”
    I thought of Paolo with his architectural firm. “Yes, design them.”
    His mother squinted at me. “You mean, create his own art?”
    “Maybe that was why he enjoyed looking at those scenes,” I said. “He wants to be an artist.”
    “I don’t think so,” Corejida said.
    “Did you check his mesh account?” I asked.
    Chief Takkar spoke tightly. “We’ve checked every account he’s ever used.” Then she added, “Major” as if it were an afterthought, making my title sound like an insult.
    I considered the police chief. “I’d like to take a look.”
    Corejida spoke quickly, before Takkar could respond. “It can be arranged.” Lines of strain showed around her eyes. “Anything you need. Just find my son.”
    Takkar pressed her lips together. If I found a clue that she had missed, it wouldn’t reflect well on her. Well, tough. I wasn’t sure what to make of her. Territorial, yes, and defensive. That her people had failed to locate the prince put her in a tight spot. Anything I found that she had missed could make her look bad. As much as she might resent my presence, however, it would benefit her to work with me. The sooner we located Dayj, the better for everyone.
    Whether or not