“Much like your opinions on women’s shoe fashions?” Nalini asked.
“Precisely.”
Tristan looked down to green sandals on her feet—they had tiger stripes that matched the luggage. Had they come with the set as a complimentary gift? He said nothing.
Nalini’s smile turned into a playful smirk as she met his eyes.
Tristan found that heartening. And attractive.
She had changed out of her nightgown and into vibrantly colored green and blue attire that hid her skin and curves, which he decided was a good thing. He hadn’t been thinking of her as anything other than his mission until he’d wandered into the kitchen, his stomach growling, and spotted her in her sleep garment. It hadn’t been short or overtly sexy, but it had left her arms and calves bare, and the thin material had clung to her hips and breasts to make their outline clear. An outline which he absolutely should not be noticing.
Nalini shifted her gaze to the android. “I’m certain he’s neither dull nor lazy, Devi.”
“We shall see when I quiz him tomorrow.” Devi pulled an electronic device out of a pocket in the uniform she wore and stepped toward Tristan.
“What’s that?” He shifted back, glancing at Nalini, but her brow furrowed in puzzlement.
“I have obtained a tracking unit and a tracking device.” Devi held up a small disc. “I will mark you with it so I may know your location throughout the day and night. You are an unknown and likely inferior specimen at this time and must be monitored until you have proven yourself worthy of our trust.”
“Uh.” Nalini lifted a hand as Devi tried to back Tristan into a corner—did that disc have a pin on the back? A pin designed to go into his flesh? “That’s not necessary, Devi.”
“Of course it is. It’s in chapter eight of the handbook.” Devi pointed at the tome Tristan still clutched. “And since his background is extremely dubious, it would be unwise to let him have free run of the palace or your yacht.”
Tristan paused, his back to the wall, debating if he wanted to fight the android. Devi was right. They couldn’t trust him. He would do his best to protect Nalini, because his mission coincided with the sultan’s wishes to keep his daughter safe, but as soon as he found his Kingdom contact in the palace, he would report anything he learned to the man. However, wandering off to find that contact would be difficult if he was wearing a tracking device.
“I don’t think we need to stick him with a pin, Devi,” Nalini said. “Maybe you can just keep an eye on him. After all, you’re coming with us on this mission.”
Devi set the tracking unit and disc on the bedside table and turned two baleful silver eyes on Tristan.
“I’d rather have the tracker,” he muttered.
5
After ensuring her luggage had been transported to her yacht, Nalini exchanged a few formalities with her pilot, Jenna Starheart, and settled into one of the passenger pods with her tablet, notepad, and a pencil. She sometimes preferred old-fashioned writing to typing or mentally transmitting words to her chip.
When Tristan settled into the pod across the aisle from her, she debated between striking up a conversation with him and fleeing to her cabin in the back. She found herself curious about his past, his training as a knight, and how he’d ended up in her system, and that worried her. She shouldn’t be that interested in her bodyguard. He should simply be there, silent, stoic, and not looking attractive as he fiddled with his pod settings like someone who hadn’t traveled often.
Even if she weren’t soon to be betrothed to Prince Jorg, she would be wise to keep her distance from Tristan. He was on her father’s payroll, not hers, so she had to assume he would report the details of her trip to him.
Her father knew about her development project, but he didn’t know everything about it. There were a few secrets about it and others she’d done that she would prefer didn’t get back to him. His philosophy was to squeeze every Union dollar possible out of a deal, and her belief was that if she made a profit, that was good enough. They’d argued about that in the past, so she’d learned to be vague in her financial reports to him.
Unfortunately, from what she’d seen of Tristan so far, he didn’t miss much. He was always alert and watching his surroundings—and her. Oh, he didn’t stare openly, but she always sensed that he had her in his peripheral vision and was aware of her every movement.
It was how a bodyguard should be, but it unnerved her. She’d never had to worry about secrets getting out with Devi.
Where was Devi, anyway? She should have arrived by now.
Nalini was about to comm her when Tristan lurched to his feet, standing in the aisle and facing the airlock hatch. His hand darted for the medieval axe-like weapon hanging from his belt. A knight’s pertundo. If the story her father had given was true, he must have stolen it, or, at the least, he hadn’t turned it back in when he’d fled his homeland. But he’d shown up with it today, along with a pistol and a stunner.
“Uh, Your Highness?” Jenna said from her pod up front, an odd note in her voice. As an ex-smuggler, nothing usually fazed her. “Your father just sent orders. He’s worried about your mission and has sent three fighters along in case your bodyguard needs backup.”
“The bodyguard does not,” Tristan growled under his breath, still facing the hatch.
A clunk sounded, and Nalini rose from her pod in time to see three big men tramp in with packs slung over their shoulders and arrays of weapons on their belts.
The assistant chief of security in the palace, Sergeant Habib, led the group, and Nalini almost waved that it was fine, but then she recognized the other two fighters. They were combatants who’d competed in the arena. One was the man Tristan had bested in the second-to-last round. The other was the crotch-grabber.
His eyes gleamed when he spotted Nalini, and she had to resist the urge to flee to her cabin and lock the door.
Tristan was like a statue in the aisle, his hand resting on that axe.
“I don’t need any backup.” Nalini squeezed past Tristan, glad he was behind her when she turned her back on the arena thugs, and strode up to navigation. “I’ll comm my father and tell him that.”
“We’ve already received orders to depart.” Jenna frowned at the control panel and pushed a hand through her short, spiky green hair.
“We can’t depart yet. Devi hasn’t arrived with the supplies.”
“Actually, a robot delivered all of our supplies a half hour ago. We’re stocked up for the journey.”
Nalini frowned. “Then where’s Devi? It’s not like she would have been distracted by a handsome android butler.”
“I don’t know, Your Highness. I’m just here to fly. And, ah—” Jenna tapped a button and waved at the yacht’s forward display. Not only did they have permission to leave, but the space doors were already opening, the bay outside now depressurized. “Another ship is coming in. I guess it is only two minutes until our scheduled departure time. I’d been about to start lift-off procedures.”
Alarm flared in Nalini’s chest. This felt so rushed. There were other bays in the palace that an arriving ship could have been sent to.
Nalini activated the comm. She would have messaged her father directly, chip-to-chip, but he had an old-fashioned mindset when it came to that, and he’d never allowed a chip to be embedded. He carried around a physical comm unit that he tended to leave places frequently.
“This is Princess Nalini,” she said when one of her father’s secretaries answered. “I must speak with the sultan.”
“Sultan Shayban is in a vid-conference meeting with several of the princes and kings of the Miners’ Union. May I take a message?”
“Yes, I want to speak with him and know why he’s sending all these men with me on my trip. I’ve never had such an escort to go to a world in our own system. And I want to know where my android is. Someone needs to go to my suite and make sure she’s all right.” Nalini realized her voice sounded shrill and worried, and she forced herself to pau
se for a steadying breath. She was most concerned about Devi. After so many years, she was like family. Nalini liked Devi a lot more than most of her family.
“I’ll see to it that the android is found, Your Highness. And I’ll let your father know about your concerns about the rest as soon as he’s available.”
“When will that be?”
If he’d just started that conference call, he might be on the line for hours arguing with those rulers. The Miners’ Union was a headache of alliances, feuds, spying, and outright betrayals as the various families all jockeyed for more control of the lucrative asteroid belts across the Twelve Systems. She didn’t know if her father was talking to enemies or allies, but both prospects tended to be time consuming.
“The sultan doesn’t tell me about his meetings, Your Highness.”
Nalini sighed. No, of course not. “Just give him my message as soon as possible. Thank you.”
Jenna was arguing with someone on an open channel of her own. The bay was more crowded than usual, with parked yachts, shuttles, and freighters filling the slots. The arriving ship hovered just inside the open doors, as if waiting for their docking spot.
The rush was atypical, and Nalini found it suspicious that her plans were being diddled with on numerous levels, all while her father was conveniently in a meeting. She turned to scrutinize the new arrivals. They were still standing by the hatch, since Tristan was blocking the route to the pods. They all wore galaxy suits for the trip, the form-fitting material outlining their large muscular forms. The crotch-grabber—she supposed she should learn his name—leered openly at her when her gaze skimmed past him.
Why would her father have hired that oaf? Just because he could fight?
Her father always did background checks on the men who entered the gladiatorial matches to ensure he didn’t hire any murderers or rapists—minor criminals, he was willing to accept to get suitably tough men. But Nalini had a hard time believing the brazen brute hadn’t committed heinous crimes in the past.
“Sergeant Habib.” Nalini lifted her chin, struggling for composure. Usually, it wasn’t so elusive, but she was worried about Devi. Devi was never late. “Your duty is helping Chief Namjoo oversee the palace. You’ve never been sent along on a security detail before, as far as I know.”
“Actually, Your Highness, I’ve traveled with your father several times to head his security detachment.”
Oh. Maybe this wasn’t that unusual, after all. Still, Habib had never been sent with her. And her father had said nothing of this.
“When did you learn that you were to come with me on this trip?”
“About fifteen minutes ago, Your Highness. It was short notice. We—”
“We have to go,” Jenna interrupted. “That ship is waiting for this spot, and the transport control officer is threatening to dock my pay if I don’t take us out now.” She lowered her voice to add, “If he does that, I’ll dock his favorite appendage. I know where that rat’s quarters are.”
Nalini thought about stamping her foot and refusing to comply with any of this—she was positive something fishy was going on—but she prided herself on being reasonable, not petulant and self-centered like some of her sisters. She knew she would make everybody’s day difficult if she threw a wrench in the mining equipment. Besides… the largest development project she’d ever done waited for her on Oceanus. She didn’t want to be late.
Even though she didn’t want to go without Devi, she had Tristan. She had caught him being evasive with her a couple of times and wasn’t sure how fully she could trust him, but she did trust that his animosity toward the leering fighter was genuine. She didn’t know what words they had exchanged out on the sandy arena floor, but she remembered the punch that Tristan had slammed into his nose. The enemy of her enemy…
She also believed she could trust Habib. He had worked in the palace for more than five years and had been recruited from one of the planetary militias after serving a tour of duty there. He hadn’t ever been some criminal fighting for her father’s entertainment.
“Very well. Take us out.” Nalini lowered her voice and met Jenna’s eyes. “Keep your pistol close the next few days.”
Jenna, who had been paying more attention to the comm than the newcomers, twisted in her pod to look over the back at them. “Uh huh, you better believe I will.” She raised her voice. “Everyone take a pod. The ride out has a few dips and curves, and I’m not shy about slinging this baby around them.”
“I like a woman who enjoys her curves.” The irritating fighter shared one of his sexual leers with Jenna.
Nalini gave him an exasperated look. His schtick would get old quickly. It already was.
“What are your new men’s names, Sergeant?” Nalini asked.
“That’s Killer—” Habib pointed to Tristan’s new nemesis, “—and Gutshot.”
The heretofore quiet man flashed a grin and bobbed his head.
“I remember that,” Tristan muttered.
The man’s grin widened.
“You going to let us sit down, hero?” Killer—what an idiotic name—marched up to Tristan and puffed out his chest as he looked down at him.
If Nalini hadn’t seen them in the arena, she would have put money on him besting Tristan in a fight. Killer had an extra foot of height on him, along with a hundred pounds more of unnaturally large musculature.
Nalini was glad she knew better, that she’d seen Tristan beat him. But that had been in the arena, where the guards enforced fair fighting, sand being thrown notwithstanding. It was possible that out here, Killer would wait until he had an opportunity for an unfair fight.
“After the princess sits, I will. Assuming your sergeant doesn’t order you locked in the luggage compartment for the peace of mind of the rest of the passengers.” Tristan flicked a glance toward Habib.
In that instant when his gaze wasn’t locked on Killer, the man launched a punch right at his face.
Nalini, right behind Tristan, lurched backward, expecting him to be knocked into her.
But Tristan caught the man’s fist in his palm, somehow absorbing the great force without even adjusting his stance.
Killer grinned. “The knight wants to hold my hand. That’s sweet. He can’t resist my allure.”
“Sit down, Killer,” Habib said, his voice hard. “If you want to officially be put on the payroll and get your first deposit next week, you won’t make any trouble on this trip. You, too, Gutshot.”
“Just waiting for the seats to open up, Sarge. And for this knight wannabe to stop fondling my hand. I’m not into boys, knight, so if you want to get horizontal, I’ll have to girl you up first.”
“The fact that you’ve lived this long without someone blowing your head off proves entropy is alive and well in the galaxy.” Tristan lowered his hand and gestured for Nalini to take her seat without looking away from Killer.
Though she was doubly contemplating hiding in her cabin now, she would have had to walk past Killer to go back there, and she didn’t want to put herself close enough to the man for him to touch her. She grabbed her belongings out of the pod she’d claimed before and scooted to the one closer to the wall, hoping Tristan would sit in the vacated one.
Before, she’d thought she should keep her distance from him, but now, she wanted him close.
Killer took the seat across the aisle and smiled past Tristan at Nalini. Gutshot looked at her, too, as he moved to a pod closer to the front, and his gaze lingered on her chest. She wasn’t even wearing anything sexy. What was with these idiots? It was like she was trapped in some prison vid.
Tristan adjusted his weapons and claimed the pod next to Nalini. Habib sat in the one in front of hers. Good. At least she was surrounded by men she could trust to protect her.
Killer kept his grin up, this time surveying Tristan with his predatory sexual look instead of Nalini. Maybe he didn’t object to boys, after all.
“Entropy?” Nalini asked quietly as Jenna lifted the yacht from its docki
ng position and the sensation of gravity lessened. Their pods wrapped protectively around them for the ride out of the asteroid. “Is that discussed often at knight school?”
“Sometimes. There are academic tests as well as physical ones. More emphasis goes on the fighting and athletics, but you do have to pass the math and reading-comprehension exams.” He grimaced, but the expression was fleeting, and she wasn’t sure how to interpret it.
“Math and reading? Nothing about real estate?” Maybe her secrets would be safe, and he wouldn’t catch the gist of her meetings on Oceanus. “What about investing in the markets?”
“Knights aren’t generally interested in either. Almost all of them come out of the nobility and already have plenty of real estate and money.”
“But not you.”
Tristan looked at her, a hint of embarrassment in his eyes, and she wished she hadn’t pointed that out.
“Not me.”
“You could change that,” she offered by way of apology. “My father’s pay is decent for the servants, and I know bodyguards get extra for travel and hazardous-duty assignments. I’ve talked a few of the staff through making their first investments. Real estate is my specialty, and I’ll always recommend it, but you can get started in the stock and commodities markets with less money. You don’t get rich quick, but you can amass a small amount of wealth over time. And then you get into real estate.”
Nalini grinned, hoping to take the sting out of any discomfort she’d caused him, but she noticed Killer looking over at them and rolling his eyes. She lost her interest in chatting, at least publicly. If Tristan showed any interest, maybe she would take him back to the recreation lounge for some lessons.
Knight Protector: a Star Kingdom novel Page 6
