To her chagrin, another man followed suit, so did another. Soon, the sea of people formed a rippling wave as they bowed to her, or knelt, the girls and women who were able, dipping into a floor-sweeping curtsy.
Oh my!
Never had she received such an outpouring of attention, and, considering the circumstances, she found it very off-putting. She decided some sort of public gift to show her gratitude for their gracious welcome would be appropriate before the news broke she’d declined Ivar’s. They might not want it afterward.
At the vehicle, when she turned in the open door to give them a farewell smile and a wave, another young girl came forward with an armful of fresh-cut flowers tied with a pink bow. A sense of regret gripped her insides—she could get used to this part of being a princess.
After accepting the bouquet, and with one final wave, her gaze collided with Ivar’s, where he stood on the second step watching her. She ducked inside, heaving a sigh of relief when the door slammed shut.
As the glider moved forward, Dani trembled with anger. All of it, directed at her father. Why had he made her come here only to go through the motions of considering the prince when he had to know she’d never wed the man? What twisted game had he come up with now? And why, when Ivar could have his choice of brides among Elzor’s women, did he want her?
So many unanswered questions. In frustration, she hit her fist against the empty seat beside her.
“You’ve had a rough week.”
The very American-sounding voice made her bolt upright, her eyes meeting those of her driver when he glanced her way. He surprised her further by twisting in his seat and hooking his arm over the back as if settling in for a chat.
She glanced at the road ahead, the one he wasn’t watching. “Uh, don’t you need to drive or something?”
“I switched on the auto-navigation. It’s a straight shot from here to the landing port. When we’re close, I’ll take back control. Until then, I’ve got twenty minutes to chat, and you sure look like you could use a good ear.” He smiled at her, his straight white teeth gleaming against his tanned face, making her welcome. Handsome, with silver at his temples, little crinkles fanning out beside his eyes, and, by her guess, in his mid-fifties, about her father’s age.
Best of all, she took comfort in his voice because he spoke English, with a distinct drawl. “Do I detect a hint of a southern accent?”
His lips tipped into a grin, increasing the crinkles. “Yes, ma’am. You’ve got an excellent ear. I’m Blake Askins. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee.”
“I’m Dani, from New York City.”
“Yeah? I might have heard a little buzz around town about you.”
“Of course,” she said, flushing hot. Unless he’d been living under a rock for the past week, he would have known of her visit. “Do you work for the royal family?”
“No, I’m employed by Alltryp Universal.”
“You’re kidding!”
“No. My wife works for the company, too, as a geologist. We moved here ten years ago when they began exploring the north region. While she digs in the dirt, I pilot shuttles and, on occasion, get assigned to chauffeur dignitaries around, or a pretty girl with sadness in her eyes.”
She glanced out the window, sorry she hadn’t done a better job at hiding her emotions. Never her strong suit.
“So, you’re not keen on becoming an Elzorian princess?”
“It shows, huh?”
“Yeah, darlin’. Did the visit not go well?”
“It was a disaster from the start, but with good reason. I have no plans of becoming Prince Ivar’s bride, and that’s what this week turned out to be all about.”
“Then why did you come?”
“Silly me. I thought my father was being nice. I’ve been bugging him about traveling and thought he’d finally caved.” What a fool she had been. When had her father done anything nice, let alone without an underlying, self-indulgent purpose?
“Daniel Alltryp is a putz.”
She blinked, her lips parting.
“No offense, but he is.”
“You aren’t telling me something I don’t know.”
“Figured as much if he sent you here for a marriage setup and didn’t clue you in.”
“He knew I’d refuse to come.”
“Smart girl. Overall, the Elzorians are nice people, a bit staid and boring, and most of them are well intended. Things can get political here, like back home. Until recently, they have been adamant about keeping to their own kind. That Ivar is considering an off-worlder for a royal bride, and the mother of the future king has rocked some of the old conservative types to their core. Though they don’t have much choice, now.”
“What do you mean?”
He shifted uncomfortable, his jaw clenching.
“I reckon if your daddy didn’t inform you of a potential engagement, he wouldn’t have told you the rest of the story, about why Ivar intends to take an Earth bride.” He paused, his blue eyes coming back to her. “In general, the Elzorians are kind, gentle, almost painfully polite people—aside from the nobility, who put those niceties aside whenever it suits them—but they aren’t the most robust species. They’re small, their immune system is weak, and they’re getting more fragile with each generation. The scientists have recommended introducing a stouter set of genes into the pool.”
“By crossbreeding.”
“Yes. And they’ve decided humans are ideal to meet their needs. There have already been a few interspecies marriages which have produced offspring.”
“I heard, though I’m shocked by the dispassionate, clinical intent behind them.”
“Arranged unions for gains not involving love and romance have existed for centuries, including on our world. Here, the first few were purely experimental. They jumped on board with the plan after the twentieth mixed-species child reached the age of ten. If commoners could successfully breed with human females, why not the royal family?”
“But why Ivar? He is the fourth son. Why not the heir to the throne, or the other two older brothers?”
“They’re shooting blanks, apparently.”
“Excuse me?”
“For a decade, neither the crown prince nor his brothers have been able to produce an heir. When the attempts to conceive the old-fashioned way failed, they turned to science. This produced a few pregnancies, yet they all ended in miscarriages when the royal princesses couldn’t carry to term for one reason or another. It goes back to the weaknesses they want to breed out. Now, the millennium old royal family line is in jeopardy, and they are desperate.”
“But I was told they are all single. What happened to their wives?”
“Dead, under suspicious circumstances.”
“Dear heaven. They had them killed? Why not simply divorce them?”
“Divorce doesn’t exist; Elzorians wed for life. And it’s a pride thing for the princes. Can’t have ex-wives talking about their prowess, or lack thereof, in the bedroom, now can we?”
Aghast, her mind fit together the next piece of the puzzle. “They killed three innocent women?”
“More like ten.”
“What?” she whispered in horror.
“There have been ten royal princesses by marriage. Four each for the two oldest sons. The third son tried, failed twice, and has now fallen ill. The king is impatient and won’t wait to see if he will recover. It has come down to the youngest son, and his biological clock is ticking. Evidently, at the age of forty, their sperm count diminishes, and the odds of fathering a child become nonexistent.”
“Ivar told me he was thirty-eight.”
“Yeah, tick-tock, tick-tock.”
“If he ends up shooting blanks, too, it would make me dead princess number eleven.”
“I’m sorry, but this is the risk you’d take by marrying the man. I’m surprised you haven’t heard the rumors. They’ve been floating around for over a year. The story goes, Ivar’s sperm is viable, and they found a compatible recipi
ent, a young woman not of this world. It must be a bitter pill for the royal family, snobs that they are, thinking their race is far superior to any other, Earth, in particular. I’m sure they think your father is a representative of every human male.”
“Thankfully, he is not,” she replied, glad for it. One Daniel Alltryp was enough. “But if they’re so snobby, why are the people so accepting of me? Of the other interspecies marriages?”
“It seems the birth rate is on the decline.”
“The infertility affliction is spreading,” she surmised.
“Yes, so now it’s either lower their lofty standards and breed with humans, or the family line dies out and they lose the throne. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“Yes, though not everyone is in favor of interspecies breeding. Ustis, a first cousin with a mounting following, is firmly against it. He also wants to close access to outsiders and cease the constant exploration in the north region. They think the environmental changes are part of the problem. He’s been vocal about shutting your father’s research down.”
“What research?”
“You aren’t aware of his business with Elzor?”
“He doesn’t speak to me about his work.” He rarely spoke to her at all.
“It’s very secretive, but my wife, she shares. From what I know, there is buzz about a new energy source. It isn’t her area, still, she hears the talk. The north region is ripe with radioactivity, evidently. This concerns the opposition, who believe all the digging is damaging the planet and affecting the people. They want it stopped.”
“So this is about greed. If the current family is out, and this Ustis takes over, my father loses his contract and billions in a potential new energy source.”
“That’s my thinking.”
“He is sacrificing me, my womb, and perhaps my very life for money.” She frowned. “Why are you telling me this? You don’t know me, and if father finds out you said something, it will be your job, and your wife’s, no doubt.”
“The one thing not widely known is what they discovered in the north region. Most everything else is common knowledge.”
“Not to me.”
“You must be very isolated, darlin’.”
A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. He had described her life in a single word. She’d gotten a small taste of freedom during college. Since graduation two years ago, she’d lived like a hermit. Her father said there were threats and she could be targeted. About that time her security detail had doubled and contact with her friends had been curtailed. He’d been planning this, for that long. Oh my God!
“You asked why I took this risk. I have a daughter, Rebecca,” Blake told her quietly. “She’s your age. Attending college at home in Tennessee, studying to be a doctor. She’s a beauty, like you, with the same auburn hair. I couldn’t sit back and not share. I’d never be able to look my girl in the eyes again.”
“You love her.”
“Of course. She’s my baby, my only child. I love her with all my heart.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Dani whispered.
“Darlin’, knowing the kind of man your father is, it’s why I arranged to be your driver today. I thought someone’s daddy needed to look out for you.”
Her eyes pooled with tears until, one after another, they overflowed. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a wad of tissues. The man obviously knew women and came prepared. As he passed them to her, an alarm at the control console beeped.
“We’re almost there. Dry your tears. We can’t let on you know or that I told you.”
“Never. I owe you, Mr. Askins.”
“Blake, please. And if ever you need anything...anything at all, you call on me. Do you hear?”
Unable to speak, Dani nodded, while wiping her wet cheeks. It was all they had time for because they had arrived at the landing port, and yet another crowd awaited her. All the cheering, knowing smiles, curious gazes, and the little girl who bowed at Daniella’s knees made sense. It hadn’t been evident then, her mother quickly covering for her, but the words came flooding back.
“If he waits much longer, he might not be able to...” All the blanks filled in, the many questions answered. In another year or two, it might be too late for him. Even the girl knew who and what Dani meant to their people.
It had been a wise decision to skip breakfast because, with the way her stomach rebelled at the plotting against her by so many, she would have lost everything in it.
When Blake drew the glider to a halt and came around to open her door, she slid out, her movements sluggish as she stared at the ship which would bring her home, staffed by crew and security personnel all employed by Daniel Alltryp. How could she trust any of them?
“Be strong, darlin’,” her well-meaning informant murmured as she passed. “And watch your back.”
With a slight nod, she left him behind, wondering why fate hadn’t gifted her with a man like Blake Askins for a father. But wishing things had been different would get her nowhere. She had her own harsh reality to face. Somehow, she had to get through the next two weeks unscathed by her father’s manipulations and his unreasonable hatred.
***
For most of the two days since leaving Elzor, Dani sat motionless, staring out the window into space. Her mind whirled with tormented thoughts of how she had come to this low point in her life. What could she have done to earn her father’s ill will?
Ever since she could remember, he’d barely tolerated her presence and made great strides to avoid her company. Aside from him, she had no one. Her mother had died when Dani was two. She had no memories of her, no pictures, and her father never spoke of her. If she had relatives, she didn’t know—no one ever called or tried to contact her. It made for a lonely existence, raised by nannies, tutors, and household staff.
The only time she experienced a semblance of normalcy had been in college where she formed a few lasting friendships. Otherwise, she never had a chance to get close to anyone, including her father who preferred it that way. They had a cold, distant relationship, not from a lack of effort on her part to change things, but she had given up trying years ago.
Lost in thought and a good deal of well-deserved self-pity, Dani started when an alarm screeched and the overhead warning lights began to flash. Rising from her chair, she hurried to the door. The moment it opened, an acrid odor filled her nostrils.
Looking both ways, she saw a cloud of smoke filling the corridor and rolling her way. When it engulfed a crewman running in her direction, he crumpled to the floor where he laid motionless without so much as coughing.
“That’s not smoke,” she gasped in horror. Dani whirled. Before she could reenter her quarters, however, the cloud surrounded her. Her head swam, and the bitter gas coated her tongue. She fell to her knees with a thud. An instant later, the floor rose toward her face, but she didn’t feel the impact, blackness enveloping her instead.
Chapter Two
The magnets inlaid in the heels of Jaylin’s boots echoed off the tile floor with each step he took across the enormous room. Like a king receiving one of his lowly subjects, Daniel Alltryp sat on a gilded, red-velvet throne-like chair. Disgust for the odious man consumed him. If the filthy rich human didn’t hold the title to his ship, he would have enjoyed putting his fist through his contemptuous face.
“Captain Sin-Naysir.” When Alltryp said his name, his upper lip curled, and his nostrils flared as if he had found something foul on the sole of his shoe. “You’re late,” the older man snapped.
“I had important things to do today,” Jaylin replied. “Visiting a rich fuck with a galaxy-sized ego wasn’t one of them.”
“You’re one to talk,” he shot back. “Your reputation for arrogance precedes you.”
“You confuse self-confidence with arrogance. On me, it’s swagger, and it works. On you, it’s exaggerated self-importance, which is repulsive.”
The man’s already-ruddy face turned crimson, and Jaylin was sure he’d strok
e out right there in front of him—not that he cared. The universe would be better off without the prick. It was widely known they despised one another, if the old guy keeled over with him in the room, there might be questions. After several past run-ins with Earth’s global security force, he’d rather not have another.
“Let’s cut the chitchat, Alltryp. Why don’t you explain why you summoned me here?”
“I have a job for you.”
Jaylin had listened long enough to this total waste of time. Without hesitation, he turned to leave.
“Wait! You haven’t heard the details,” came the man’s sputtering protest.
His steps didn’t slow. “I’m well versed on how you do business. You’ll excuse me, but when I want to get fucked, I’ll find a woman.”
“What if I return your ship? Free and clear?”
This got his attention.
Trilorian by birth, he hadn’t called Trilor home in years. Instead, he lived, worked, and played—which hadn’t been often of late—on the Renegade, his somewhat dated, though well-maintained, heavily armed space cruiser. Once confiscated by the court based on a bogus breach of contract claim from Alltryp, he’d been stuck on Earth. A nice place to visit and all, except the lack of work had tapped into his income stream. An interstellar mercenary for hire was of little use without a ship, after all.
Turning back, he crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing the worm. “I’m listening,” he murmured, prepared to take in Alltryp’s proposal with a healthy dose of skepticism.
“My personal spacecraft has been taken.”
“What a shame.”
“My daughter was on board,” he snapped. “Pirates overtook it on the return trip from the Dominion of Elzor where Daniella was meeting her soon-to-be in-laws.” He pulled a folded sheet of white paper out of his inner breast pocket, and held it up. “I received this ransom demand three days ago.”
The Renegades' Reward Page 2
