His Highness the Duke

by Michelle M. Pillow

  He didn’t want to answer. No, not the Tyoe. “I feel your sadness. I know you are not happy here. I am sorry for it. Just name it and whatever happiness I can give you will be yours. Food simulators. Servants. Dresses. Jewels. Swords. Lasers. Computers. Medic Units…”

  “Respect,” she inserted when he took a breath.

  That surprised him, but he could tell she was serious. In the process of trying to feel inside of him, she’d opened herself to his inner inspection. He stopped the ceffyl and turned back toward the palace. “Who disrespected you? I will deal with it at once.”

  “Bron,” she said.

  Anger rippled through him. He should have been by her side.

  “Bron, stop!” She hadn’t moved to follow him. The beast protested as he urged his mount back around to where she waited. “I meant you. Respect from you.”

  He felt as if she’d slapped him. No, he would have preferred that she slapped him. This was much worse.

  “If I made you feel disrespected, I will atone for it immediately,” he answered. What else could he say? “I will find a temple and—”

  “Don’t be dramatic,” she broke in. “An apology will suffice.”

  “I apologize,” he said instantly.

  “You don’t even realize what you did, do you?” She sighed. “The Tyoe situation. I am the one who brought you the information. Without me, you wouldn’t even know about it, but then you dismiss me repeatedly when I ask about it. You tell me that you will handle things.”

  “I will handle—”

  “You said I, not we.” She pointed at him and then herself and then back at him. “We. I am part of this. I gave up everything I knew to come here because of this. I had a life. It might not have been exciting or adventurous, but it was mine and it was safe. You seem to be under the impression that when I came here, my life began. The truth is, my life started to end when I came here. The moment we came together in the tent, my biological clock began to tick. I’m dying, Bron. It is the curse of my people. When a female has sex, she begins to die. Otherwise, I would have lived forever. So when you dismiss me like I’m some simple woman who needs protected from the details of what’s happening, I get insulted. In a roundabout way, I gave up my life for this possible battle. I gave it up to save your world. So if I annoy you by asking about the alien threat too much, or am persistent, that is why. I want my last acts to mean something. So, when you say you will handle it and dismiss me, I feel very disrespected.”

  She became very animated as she spoke. Bron instantly swung down from his mount and went toward her. “Dying? Are you …?” He searched her for signs of pain, but saw none. He sniffed the air. She didn’t smell sick. In fact, she smelled sweet.

  “Yes. I don’t have much time. So you can see why I need you to tell me about the Tyoe.”

  “How much time do you have? There must be someone I can call. The palace doctor. A medic? The Medical Alliance for Planetary Heath—they will have an answer.”

  “Maybe fifty years,” she answered mournfully.

  “Fifty…” He frowned.

  “I know. I’m sorry.” She didn’t move off her ceffyl.

  His frown deepened. He would have asked her if she was joking, but he could see she was serious. “Is that not the normal lifespan of a human?”

  “Earth human, yes, but my people were not from Earth. We are immortal until we have sex.”

  He breathed deeply. “You smell very human to me.”

  “I am human, just a different kind of…” She frowned and moved to slide off the animal’s back. “You think I’m lying about this? What possible reason would I have to make up such a thing?”

  “No, I know you are not lying, but perhaps you are… mistaken?” He automatically lifted his hands to help her down. “If you are human, this concern is not valid. When you became my wife we became joined. Our—”

  “The queen already told me about the whole sharing years thing, but I don’t think it will work with me. We might have been young at the time, but my sister and I remember very clearly what our mother said. When a woman has sex, her biological clock begins to tick and she begins to die. The species must go on, and that is why motherhood must be carefully considered and—”

  Bron sighed with relief, believing to understand. “You were young?”

  Aeron frowned. “Yes.

  “You are not dying.” He reached to cup her face. “Your mother was trying to keep you from attracting the attention of boys.”

  “My mother was not a liar. My grandmother and aunts and cousins were not liars. We all knew the…” she paused and took a deep breath. “It was the last thing my mother…”

  His expression fell. “Last? How old were you when you lost her?”

  “I was sixteen years when we lost them all,” she said bitterly.

  “All? Was there an accident? Like a mine collapse?” He reached for her but she shied away from him.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.” Aeron paced away from the ceffyls. The animals took the opportunity to start grazing along side of the road. They licked at plant blades, pulling them into their mouths. “My home was destroyed. Not just my actual home, but my whole planet. The Gregori had a weapon, a very big weapon, and they wanted to test it. My planet was conveniently located. That’s it. Convenient. Their ship didn’t even land. It just bored a laser drill into the surface and ignited the core. It happened so fast. We, my sister Riona and I, were in space. We were on our way back home after an educational trip to the Zonar District. The only consolation was the resulting blast blew apart the Gregori ship and it was destroyed. Apparently it was in direct line with an energy factory. Bad luck for them. There was no way to calculate how the energy blast from that factory would have projected. The Federation looked into it, but it was determined everyone involved was already dead. That is why I originally applied to work at the Federation, to see their investigative reports. They called it a tragedy and that was it. Everything I knew was gone and it was simply a tragedy with no one living to blame.”

  “You’re Jagranst?” Bron had remembered hearing tales of the planet that died. She stiffened, but nodded. “My brother, Mirek, heard variations of the story from different travelers when he was in space doing ore negotiations. I did not know there were survivors. We weren’t even sure the stories were true. They sounded like a scary tale told to frighten. I’m sorry that happened to you, Aeron. I did not know.”

  It was no wonder she was so desperate to help his people. He couldn’t imagine seeing his home, his people, his planet, destroyed before his eyes with nothing to be done about it but watch and live on. Had he lived through that, only to discover that it might happen again, there was nothing he wouldn’t do to stop it.

  “Riona and I are all that is left,” she said. “I didn’t mean to get into this conversation. It has no real relevance to stopping the Tyoe or the fact I’m dying.”

  Bron felt her concern, her fear, her sadness. So much was made clearer with her story. He was a man of action and, as such, he would take the only action he could. Right now, that would be to comfort his wife by taking control of the situation. “We don’t know that you are dying.” Just saying it caused his gut to tighten, but the warrior in him refused to just accept that as her fate. “I will give every year I have to ensuring you are with me. If you are to die, we will die together. I gave you my years, Aeron. I will not take them back now.”

  Fifty years was a long time in some ways, but when compared to an eternity, he could see how she would feel she didn’t have much time. It would have to be enough. If that is all they had, it would be enough. He could not imagine living without her. It was that simple.

  Bron wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and keep her safe. Every instinct told him to protect her like the delicate creature she appeared to be. But there was a strength in her, born from tragedy and impossible to ignore. “It is too soon to give up hope. Whatever time the gods give us, we’ll take. But one thing we Draig know
how to do is fight. Whatever comes, whatever needs to be done, we’ll do it. Together.”

  Aeron took a deep breath. Her heart raced. She didn’t look at Bron, couldn’t, not yet. A strange relief washed over her as she told him the truth. The past was hard to face, but telling him hadn’t been as difficult as she imagined.

  A hand pressed against her shoulder. “What you feel is relevant. It is why you came here. It is why you are trying to save my people from a threat we didn’t know existed. You have given us the chance your people never had. Because of you, we are aware and we will be ready.”

  She gave a small laugh. A tear rolled over her cheek from her watery eyes and she wiped it away. Aeron turned to him. His face was so open, so calm and sure, yet there was concern in him too. She felt more than saw it. “I thought it was fate that brought me. The will of the gods.”

  “That, too,” he assured her. The breeze tousled his hair, pressing against his handsome face. She lifted her hand, brushing back a strand of dark brown hair to uncover his eyes. “None of us know how long we have to live. Do not spend your days feeling as if you are dying.”

  The words might have sounded like a command, but they were soft and pleading. There were things she wanted to say to him, but she didn’t know where to start. She’d already told him so much. She hadn’t planned it. The words had just rolled out of her like she couldn’t keep it all inside anymore.

  “If there is a way, I will save you from that fate.” He cupped her cheeks, turning her face toward his. “By all the gods, I will find a way to keep you with me or we die together.”

  “There is no reason for you to die if I—”

  Bron’s kiss cut her words off. The warm pressure of his mouth drew her in. She was mesmerized by him, pulled by every fiber in her being to be closer to him, to explore the feelings reeling inside her, inside him. It became impossible to decipher which were hers and which were his. The sensations were overwhelming, but how could she fight such passion, such desire? She felt wanted, needed. It was in his words, in his touch.

  Mindless as to where they were, she pulled on his clothes, wanting to be closer. His hands formed against her back, inching her skirt up by the fistful. Aeron lifted his tunic to expose his waist. The warmth of his flesh heated her cooler fingers. She turned her face to his neck, kissing and biting the skin beneath his ear. She breathed deeply, taking in his scent.

  She kissed her way back up his jaw. He whispered in her ear, but she couldn’t understand the Draig words. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, on her waist, her back, touching the exposed backs of her thighs. She unfastened his pants, wishing there was a way to get him completely naked. In a moment of sanity, she realized they were on the side of a mountain path, outside, displayed for whoever happened by.

  She tried to pull her mouth away to express her concerns, but his lips stayed insistently against hers. All thoughts fled as his tongue massaged her lips in a deft stroke. Aeron thrust her hand down the front of his pants, finding the stiff erection straining and ready. The fact that he wanted her as much as she wanted him excited her. He was inside her mind. She heard his impassioned words begging her for more, but his mouth was busy on hers. Her thoughts whispered back to him, “Yes.”

  Bron growled, as if he actually heard what she was thinking. He broke his mouth free and instantly knelt on the ground. Looking up at her, he pulled at her hand, urging her to come over him as he leaned back. Aeron straddled his waist. She glanced over the mountains and valley surrounding them. She couldn’t see anyone watching, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  Bron reached for her face and turned her focus back to him. “It is fine. There is no one.”

  She took him at his word. His eyes flashed with gold fire. A shiver worked over her. He pulled at her skirts and she lifted up. Hands fumbled and pulled in their eagerness. Finally, they were able to join. It wasn’t like before. This time it felt different, more open. Their connection grew until she became part of him. The tip of him brushed against her. She gasped and bit her lip, tensing just a little in anticipation.

  Bron took her by her hips and guided her down. She closed her eyes as the sensations of his claim overwhelmed her senses. His desire mingled with hers, her passion poured into him. It was insanity. It was perfect. Perfect insanity.

  Aeron pressed her hands against his chest as she let him guide her thrusts. The position reminded her of that first night in the bridal tent. She’d been unable to stop herself. There had been something about him from the very beginning. As much as he frustrated her, she still wanted him. At first she had thought she’d thrown everything away for fleeting pleasure. Now, she didn’t feel as if it was thrown away. Instead, she felt as if fate maybe had brought them together.

  Her heart beat hard, thumping in her ears, outdone only by the soft groans and harsh pants coming from beneath her. The slow grind of his hips was enhanced by the pull of his hands. The pleasure built slowly. Neither of them rushed the climax. She loved these moments, the mindless sensation that blocked out everything else.

  Aeron watched his face. Passion filled his expression, from the lids that fell heavy over his brown eyes to the part of his lips. His body strained. She detected the flex of his muscles beneath this clothing. She pulled at his tunic, exposing his stomach to touch his flesh. His thrusts became faster, more insistent. There was no stopping the onslaught of pleasure as it erupted between them. She tensed, closing her eyes as her head fell back on her shoulders.

  By small, shivering degrees sanity returned. His breathing slowed, even as she still struggled to find her breath. He moved beneath her, prompting her to open her eyes and look at him. Bron rolled to sitting. The movement caused her to pull off him as she sat back on his legs. Before she could speak, he took her face and kissed her. He appeared very pleased by what had transpired. No, it was more than appeared. He was pleased. She felt it as surely as she felt her heartbeat only now starting to slow down.

  “It is time I took you home, my lady,” he said against her lips. “We have much yet to discuss.”

  12

  Aeron guessed that it was evening, though the green-tinted light barely changed. The air did cool some and she was glad for the long sleeves of her dress—even if the skirt was now dirty from her time on the ground. Thinking of it, she smiled to herself and glanced to Bron. He looked at her and winked. Her smile deepened.

  Bron nodded forward as they came over an incline. She turned her attention to see what he indicated. Her smile froze on her face. Surrounded by steep mountains, narrow passes, and rocky crags dotted with lush plant life, a castle home stood out against the elements like a timeless fortress. She heard Bron speak, but it was hard to hear what he said as her heartbeat resounded loudly in her ears. This was it. Her new home.

  Home.

  The word caused her to shiver. An innate fear unfurled inside her. She looked up at the sky for a sign of any anomaly. Part of her expected a blast of fire to rain down on them. The sound of Bron’s voice drew her attention back to the stone fortress before her. It didn’t matter how strong the castle was. One blast from space could destroy everything. Or, more likely, in the case of the Tyoe, a full scale attack on the planet.

  The castle was nestled in the valley, a mere front for the homes hidden within the mountain’s base, according to Bron. The earth was red with streaks of gray through the stone. Bron steered his ceffyl toward the large rectangular structure of the stables. The animal opened its mouth, hissing as its long tongue slithered from between its lips.

  “Many blessings, my lord,” an older man said as they neared.

  “Thank you, Cenek,” Bron answered. “May I introduce to you my wife, Lady Aeron. My lady, this is one of our top ceffyl trainers, Cenek.”

  “My lady.” The man nodded. He had a gruff face, but with the ghost of a smile that seemed to radiate from him even when it did not physically show. Aeron didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Her throat was tight with trepidation.

  “H
ave my brothers arrived?” Bron asked, as he moved to help Aeron off her mount.

  “Lord Mirek is here with his bride,” Cenek pulled both ceffyls’ horns at once, sending them toward the stables as he stayed behind. “It is unfortunate.”

  “Mirek brought home a bride?” Bron seemed surprised by the news.

  “Yes.” Cenek nodded. “She is alive. Physicians have been to see her and more have been sent for. She is in isolation.”

  “Isolation?” Aeron asked, concerned. The thought drew her from her worried thoughts. “Is she contagious?”

  “Alien disease, I think, my lady,” Cenek answered. “The rest is for Lord Mirek to tell.”

  Cenek followed the ceffyls into the stables.

  “Biological attack?” Aeron asked when they were alone. It would be a way to wipe out a planet’s population while barely lifting a finger. At her words, Cenek paused briefly near the stables, but did not turn around.

  “We will speak with Mirek.” Bron offered Aeron his arm as he led her toward the front entrance to the castle. Unlike the palace, there were no guards waiting to greet them at the entryway. “If there was a reason to be concerned, he would have sent word. I am sure the isolation is merely a precaution.”

  “It’s quiet here.” Aeron observed, looking around. At the palace there had been soldiers practicing in the field. The sound of their fighting could be heard mingling with the distant laughter and talk of the villagers in the valley. “Do others live in the castle?”

  “Just the family. Servants sometimes sleep here if it is late and they do not wish to go home. There is a community near the mines and more families spread throughout the forest,” Bron said. “As you can see from Cenek, we are not as formal as the palace. We prefer things to be simpler. Everyone knows their work and does it. They come and go as they please. In several months’ time, we’ll have a mining festival. This entire yard will be alive with celebration.”