"It happens," Carver assured her, and he could feel his confidence growing. "It happens very rarely, but it does happen. About as often as a female is born to any clan on Khaosali and perhaps even father throughout the galaxy. I don't know how the Des'kos express love, but think of your own parents. Think about how they might have behaved with each other and what that might mean. Your father was killed in the battle that took out the last of the Fosiferi clan, wasn't he? How long did your mother live after that?"
The king blinked, looking shocked, and it wasn't a pleasant expression on her face. "How do you know that?" she demanded. "How do you know?"
"Because my parents were mated, too. And because I have a sister to prove it." He waved a hand and a guard came in, ushering E'lira with her. "Whether it was with your knowledge or not, one of your kind killed my mother, who was one half of a mated pair. Mated pairs are considered sacred according to the laws of this planet, and my father took careful record of every fight that happened between our kind. I'm sure my mother isn't the only member of a mated pair your kind has killed. I'd think very carefully about how much you want to go to war with us now."
The room was silent after that. Carver could tell that none of the Sitheri present had known about the correlation between being mated and having daughters, and some of them were probably even reassessing their own families now.
Ithril looked blindsided, and he kept glancing from E'lira to the Des'kos with wide eyes.
What everyone was waiting for, Carver suspected, was for the Des'kos to make a move or have a reaction other than stunned silence. Their king seemed to be sizing Carver up, her eyes never leaving his face. The two at her side seemed agitated, though, like they were spoiling for a fight because how dare she make their king look like a fool in front of the enemy.
One of them had his hand in a clawed grip on the handle of some lethal looking weapon at his hip, and the other seemed like he could be incited to violence in a moment. The atmosphere was tense and no one moved, waiting.
Even though Carver was mostly sure that this would work, he was poised for any violence that might occur. The Des'kos were unpredictable at best, and extraordinarily hostile at worst, and there was no telling how they would react to being thwarted like this.
All told, when one of the king's men suddenly drew his weapon, a sword that hummed with electricity, and held it so the point of the blade was inches from Carver's nose, he wasn't surprised.
Terrified and quite sure that this could easily be the day he died, yes, but not surprised.
What was surprising was the fact that their king's hand lashed out and gripped her man's arm, pulling it down.
"No," she barked, voice harsh and then issued commands in their language, too fast for Carver to understand.
They argued back and forth for a moment and then the man lowered his arm and sheathed his weapon, anger and the desire for a fight in every line of his body. None of the Sitheri relaxed, even when he took a step back and the king moved in front of him.
"I am sorry for him," she said. "And... for your mother. We were not knowing."
"Well," Carver replied, voice cool even though his heart was still pounding. "It would be nice if you'd cared about her before you found out she was mated, but I suppose we can't be picky here. The real question is what happens now?"
The king held his gaze. "We will go. The treaty stands."
E'lira made an incredulous noise from where she stood, and everyone turned to look at her. "That's it?" she asked, hands on her hips. "You have already killed hundreds of our kind, and you expect us to just honor the treaty? You broke the law. We could call a planetary inquiry against you and your people and everyone else on Khaosali would stand with us."
Carver blinked and looked over at his sister. He was used to her being quiet and only speaking when she was engaged with someone, but clearly something had changed in the time since their father had died.
She even looked a bit different, as if a spark had been lit inside of her from within, and suddenly he had an idea. But that would have to wait until they conquered this hurdle. And then until after Ithril was dealt with.
"You threaten us?" the king demanded, clearly agitated.
"Yes," she said. "I may not be the leader, but I am the proof of your wrong doing. One of many, I'd imagine. The treaty does not stand."
"What would you have us do, E'lira?" Carver asked, curious.
She hesitated for a moment, considering. "Make them give us our land back."
It was an interesting proposition. Much of the land they had given to the Des'kos had been given after the death of their mother, when really, the Des'kos should have been the ones giving them things in reparation for the crime they committed. Carver could see the anger in his sister's eyes and decided that she was right.
"My sister speaks wisely. We want our land back. You will withdraw from it and never come near our boundaries again. If you do, then we're calling an inquiry. It's as simple as that."
The Des'kos looked infuriated, but there was little they could do. The king nodded jerkily. "Very well." She held out her hand to Carver, to seal the decision.
Carver took her hand in his smaller one and shook on it, murmuring the words to seal it as he did. "Now get out," he said, voice never losing that polite quality.
All the Sitheri in the room watched them go, and it wasn't until a guard confirmed that they had left that they relaxed.
Carver wanted nothing more than a shower and to curl up in bed, or better yet, to somehow curl up in bed with Vivian who was much too far away from him for his liking, but there were still things to be dealt with. Namely his brother.
He turned and gave Ithril a hard look. "Father would be ashamed of you." Ithril opened his mouth, clearly to argue, but Carver shook his head, cutting him off. "What can you say in your defense, Ithril? You have done bad thing after bad thing. People died for your anger and lack of thought. People suffered and you nearly brought a war that we cannot win down on our heads. What would you have done if I hadn't come? If I were stuck on Earth as you clearly wanted me to be? How would you have gotten the Des'kos to back down?"
"I don't know," Ithril muttered. "I didn't have a plan for that."
"You are bad at plans, little brother," Carver said. "And when you are good at plans, they are bad plans. I'm too tired to deal with you right now." He motioned to the guards. "Please show my brother to his rooms and keep him there until tomorrow. I will send for him when I've decided what should happen to him."
The guards all bowed as one. "Yes, Leader."
There was something like relief in their tone, and Carver watched as they led Ithril out, already missing the soft quiet of the little cabin that had become more like home in the last couple of weeks than he had ever expected it would.
When they were alone in the room, E'lira grabbed him up in a tight hug, pressing her face to his shoulder. "I missed you. I just. I missed you so much."
Carver smiled and rubbed a hand over her back, hugging her just as tightly. "I missed you, too. All the same, I'm glad you were here. You were amazing." He drew back and looked at her. "Did you figure it out? About the mating?"
She shook her head. "No, I... Well. I wondered. It seemed strange that Father would have all of that together. I figured I'd see what you made of it."
"Well, it saved us in the end, either way."
"There's still work to be done. I don't think the Des'kos will do entirely peacefully."
Carver sighed. "No, you're probably right about that. We'll tell the guards to be on alert. But for now, I am barely awake and in need of food and a hot shower as soon as possible. Fixing things can wait until the morning."
Four months later:
"He's been much better lately, Leader," the doctor said as she walked next to Carver. "He's much less sullen and has started to open up about his feelings and why he did what he did. I mentioned the apology, but he didn't seem much excited by the idea of it."
Carver snorted.
"I'm sure he didn't. Still, that is progress. I'm impressed with all you've been able to get out of him. He won't even talk to me."
She shrugged. "I think it helps that I show no bias. He has issues regarding you as his elder brother, I'm sure."
"That's probably an understatement,"
With that information in mind, Carver made his way back to his rooms alone. His head was full of thoughts and plans that he had been putting together ever since he'd come back, really. It was strange that being here didn't feel like it used to.
Of course, some of that probably had to do with Angen being dead and Carver not having any time to get used to that before he'd been shipped away to Earth by Ithril, but still.
All he found himself doing was working and pining.
Getting the Des'kos off the land as they promised was as hard as Carver had expected it to be. There were skirmishes all the time, and the guard had been doubled on the boundaries of their city, but little by little they were leaving. E'lira had come to him to talk about plans for what to do with the space once the Des'kos were all gone, and it was that forethought of hers that let him know he was correct in thinking that his main plan would work.
It was rare for things to work out so perfectly, but when there was a knock on the door that turned out to be E'lira wanting to see him, Carver had to think that perhaps the stars were in favor of this.
The two of them talked for a bit, and Carver updated her on Ithril's status. They had let him keep his rooms and all, but he had to speak with one of the psychiatric doctors three times a week and had been assigned to help with building and training new guards to replace the ones that had been killed because of his foolishness. Having a purpose seemed to help him, and Carver and E'lira were both glad for it.
Once they had exhausted that thread of conversation, Carver turned to what he really wanted to speak to her about.
"Do you know what the last thing Father said to me was?" he asked.
"Something other than making you and Ithril leaders?" E'lira returned, eyes curious.
Carver nodded. "He said 'remember Kithairin'."
"Grandfather?"
"Yes. I'll admit that with everything that went on right after that, I forgot all about it, but I've been thinking lately, and I think I might have figured it out." Carver motioned for E'lira to sit down beside him. "Grandfather was one of the main ones who wanted to keep the push to seek out other planets if necessary. In fact, he was one of the ones who was sent to Earth to build the safe houses."
E'lira's eyes widened. "You don't think Father knew, do you? What Ithril was planning?"
"No, I don't think so. Not even Father could be that far ahead, and I'd like to think that if he did know he would have told me. No, I think he meant something else. I did some research about Grandfather and read some of the notes about him. He was all about change. He wanted to stop the Des'kos because he was tired of the Sitheri being useless at battle. He wanted new and better things for us. I think that's what Father meant. And I've been thinking about it quite a lot since I came back."
"You sound like there's something you want to say, Carver,"E'lira said. "It seems important."
"It is. I... You know that I love our people and that I was honored when Father thought I was ready to co-lead. But the truth is, my heart isn't in this. Not like it should be."
She smiled knowingly at him. "You left your heart on Earth."
"Yes." There was no use denying it. He'd spoken to Vivian a few times since he'd come back, but he was too busy for them to talk long and all it did was remind him of how much he wanted to be by her side again. Carver never would have thought that there would be something he wanted more than to oversee the rebuilding of his people, but finally there was something he wanted for himself, and he had figured out a way that both he and the Sitheri could have what they needed.
"But surely you don't mean to give Ithril back control. I know he's doing better, but there's no way he's ready for that."
Carver shook his head. It had occurred to him that their father had named the two of them as leaders, but Angen was dead, and his word was gone with him. Carver was in command now, and he had a much better idea. "No, the further away Ithril is from power, the better, I think. I had a different idea." He smiled. "You, E'lira. You are much more suited to lead than either Ithril or I."
E'lira looked stunned, mouth open and eyes big in her pretty face. "But... But... Me?" she asked. "Are you sure? I mean, I never... I haven't been trained for this kind of thing!"
He laughed at that. "E'lira, don't be absurd. You were right there most of the time when Father was teaching Ithril and me, and what you didn't see, we told you about. You know just as much as we do, and what's better is that you're more suited for it. I'm too set in my ways, and Ithril's too hot headed, but you're the perfect mid point between us. You'd do wonderfully."
"Do you really think that, or do you just want to go back to Earth?" E'lira asked, giving him a sharp look.
Carver laughed harder and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It is definitely a mix of both, believe me. But I do honestly believe you can do this. You have all of Father's notes and you're terribly smart on your own. Do you want it?"
Because he wouldn't force it on her. No matter how much he longed to be back with Vivian in their cabin and in her arms, he had a responsibility to his people, and he wasn't going to turn his back on them if she didn't want to be in charge.
But from the set of her mouth and the way her eyes were alight with possibilities, Carver was pretty sure that she did want it.
"I want it," she said after a moment. "Everyone's always going on about how Sitheri women can have whatever they want, and I want this. I want to make a difference."
"I knew you would. Father would be proud of you, you know. Mother would, too."
E'lira just stared at him for a moment and then she was throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, nearly crying on his shoulder.
It was going to be hard to be so far away from her, especially since visiting wasn't going to be an easy thing, but it was about time they all found their places in life.
Epilogue
Vivian hummed to herself as she dusted the surfaces in the cabin. It was strange how a few days of neglect could cause the place to fall into disrepair so quickly, but then, she didn't have much better to do than take care of it.
She was meant to be getting on with her life, she knew that and yet. And yet it was easier said than done.
Major tech companies were still scouting her, sending her offers and on some occasions, gift baskets in the hopes that she would decide to come and work for them. Eli didn't understand why she hadn't accepted any of the offers yet, in the same way he didn't understand why she had spent long days working on a project she wouldn't explain to him or why she sometimes found herself looking wistfully up at the sky.
She supposed that he assumed she and her mystery lover had parted ways, and he showed his remorse by bringing her Indian food and cupcakes and offering to be around more, even as his own workload piled up.
More than ever, she had considered telling him about Carver then, but the words always stuck in her throat. In the end, she just settled for explaining that he had been called back home for some important family business and that they were keeping in touch when they could. It was the truth, after all, and there was nothing she could do to keep the longing out of her voice.
Part of her didn't know if she actually believed in soul mates when she felt the ache in her chest and missed him or if she was just wishing it were true, but regardless of why she was missing him, the fact remained that she was.
A lot.
And she understood that he couldn't talk all the time. Sometimes weeks would go by with no word from him, and she knew that it was because he had to secure his clan and fix the things his brother had ruined.
Once he'd called and told her that everything was fine and that he had stopped the trouble before it had a chance to get worse
, she'd stopped worrying.
Now it was mostly waiting. But she didn't even know what she was waiting for.
"You're being an idiot," she mumbled to herself as she cleaned off the sensors that were supposed to be keeping the cabin looking nice as well as keeping it concealed. According to Carver they had maintained themselves well enough in the decades it had been since someone had last come here and worked on them before they met, but it gave her something to do.
Her mother had noticed her languishing and had restarted her petition to get her in a relationship. Once again Vivian had considered telling her that there was no way she would ever find anyone who made her feel like Carver so it was useless, but she kept her mouth shut then, too, except to tell her mother that she wasn't interested in meeting her hairdresser's sister's roommate.
Instead she fiddled with her machines and came to the cabin. Sometimes just to sit and think, sometimes to go to the spot in the woods where Carver had stashed the broken transporter and see if she could make some headway in figuring out how it worked.
She had a half-baked idea of finding out the coordinates for Khaosali and getting the transporter running and then just showing up there, but she shook her head at that foolishness. It was more likely that she would die in space than she would make it to where Carver was, and it wasn't worth the risk.
Carver had said that she hadn't seen the last of him, and she was going to have to trust that he knew what he was doing and wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him.
The sun was setting on the horizon, filling the cabin with dusky light and soft color, and she smiled to see it. At the very least, it was beautiful here. Beautiful and quiet, and it made a great place to get away when she needed to.
Night was going to be falling fast, and Vivian didn't really feel like driving back into the city. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd slept here in the last month or so, so she didn't think anything of it. She'd brought some food that she could heat up, and it was warn in the cabin, and actually, a night spent curled up on the cot with a good book sounded wonderful.
Alien Soulmate (Paranormal Romance Aliens) Page 10
