by F. E. Arliss
Turning to admire the tough ridges of the hyena dog, Arc knew his name was Avec, or ‘with’. Petting him and cradling his huge snout in her hands, Arc kissed him and hugged him in delight.
By the time she turned to face the warriors who had presented the gifts to her, there was no doubt in the crowd that she’d loved the gifts and the warriors all wore expressions of pride and joy at her loving acceptance of the animals.
Arc said simply to the assembled legions, “I am honored and happy to be part of your nest. Long live the prosperity and good fortune of our nest!” Cheers rang out over and over again.
A huge feast had been planned and Arc was shown to her quarters for a rest before the big meal. Refreshed, Princess Arc Exousia Quirke showed her legions of warrior-comrades a good time. There were games of skill and intellect, dancing and singing, and drinking as well. Arc threw herself with gusto into all of them, much to the delight of the warriors. As the evening began to wear down, the warriors wandered off to their beds and Arc stood breathing the soft air of Valoria in a deeply-tranquil state of contentment.
General Monsav appeared beside her and touched her arm affectionately. “It was a wonderful party, General,” she told him appreciatively. “Thank you! I’m going to be very happy here.”
“I know so, too,” he added with a grin. “When you loved the animals of our home world, I knew you were the ally and sister we were always meant to have.”
Arc patted his hand for sweet sentiment. “We have a guest, my dear, the one responsible for your transformation in fact. He’s come to welcome you to your new home,” General Monsav said, stepping aside her let her catch the first glimpse of the visitor.
To his astonishment, Princess Arc Exousia Quirke, marched straight to the intimidating figure of the Osmirian General, Apollo, and ground to a halt in front of him. Glaring rapaciously at the infuriatingly good-looking, demigod of a man, she had to acknowledge that he still made her stomach do little flips of attraction, crazy shark teeth or not.
General Apollo was smirking at the obvious success of his plan. Everyone was happy. Princess Arc Exousia Quirke was stunningly beautiful and, according to all accounts, had acquitted herself as any queen would have, acting with honor and a dazzling show of icy disdain for the slave ring she’d brought down.
He was feeling very pleased with himself when the beautiful new Idolum princess flew to stand in front of him. Glaring daggers at him she snarled out, “Don’t you ever try to box me into a corner and use my honor against me ever again. Anything that involves me, my family, or my nest will be discussed with me before it is ever discussed anywhere else. Ever! That is an order!”
With that flaming pronouncement, she slapped him across the face as hard as she could, then stalked out into the night. Leaping onto the back of her horse-like charger, Idem, horse and Princess gracefully whirled and flew into the night. A parting snarl showed the gleaming teeth of the hyena-dog Avec before he, too, leapt into the darkness and disappeared.
General Monsav turned and strode after them in an attempt to hide the wide grin wringing his broad cheeks. General Apollo simply stood stunned.
“She’s magnificent,” they both said simultaneously. Then grinned self-consciously at each other in consternation.
●Watch for the coming, Chronicles of Clyde.2, when the rest of the Evelson clan must be routed from within their castle fortress on Uzi.
●If you’d like to read about Sasha Kelty and Caja’s story, please read ‘Renegade Redhead’. http://a.co/4n6pXUy
●For the story of Jullian Arban’s transformation into Queen Altum Juls, read the book, ‘Alien Queen’. http://a.co/jfcujHr
