William had to work hard to conceal his shock at that. Though he had known that Dragan would be aware of his approach, that his scouts would pick up on their arrival, he had not expected such…welcome? Was that even the word? William wasn’t sure, but after the reception his messengers had received it had crossed his mind more than once that he too might be turned away the moment he stepped foot on the islands. And now, instead there was a courteous greeting and Lord Dragan was expecting him? It was more than William had hoped for and already his mind was leaping ahead, considering all the plans he had made should such an eventuality arise.
“He is waiting in town,” Lei added. “I have just come from him. He asked me to say that he will see you immediately. I have been tasked with taking you to him. Will you follow me and I will show you the way?”
“Of course.”
Lei nodded and turned to make his way down the walkway. William waited a moment or two then followed. His guards moved at the same time so before long William was surrounded by them. He didn’t think they needed to stick quite as close as they were, but William did not say that. The court had insisted he be guarded throughout his time on the islands, and William had agreed with them more as an olive branch than anything else, because he didn’t think anyone would actually try to hurt him here. The aliens of the islands had never gotten involved in any of the battles that raged on the mainland and there was no reason to think they would now.
“This way,” Lei said.
He gestured to the land craft he had just arrived in. It was familiar to William, as he had seen such crafts in the north, and had several of them in the capital. He did not use them, alien tech was pretty much banned in the capital, but his people had investigated them, worked to see if there was any tech they could use, and in fact some things had been created off the back of the alien tech. But William was conscious that, though the aliens were on his lands now, though he could not ever get rid of them completely, he did not want his kingdom to turn into an uncontrollable mish-mash of both species. His father had always said they should maintain as much of their own culture as they could, and William had always been in agreement with that. To lose who they were would lose them the war quicker than anything else.
“This is a land craft,” Lei said coming to a stop next to the vehicle.
“I’m familiar with it,” William said.
“Then you are comfortable riding in it?” he asked. “They are built specifically to navigate the islands. We will make it to our main town in a very short time. Alternatively,” he added. “We can walk. But that would take considerably longer, and it is very cold.”
“How many will each craft take?” William asked.
“A dozen,” Lei replied. “We will take the lead. Include as many of your people as you wish and I will accompany you.” He paused and then looked William straight in the eye. “More crafts will come soon for the rest. They will be safe here. Lord Dragan has asked me to assure you of your safety. You will come to no harm on these islands. You could leave all of your guards here and still be safe.”
William considered Lei’s words, and as he did so he realized that although he was nervous, he was not worried about his safety. He had his guards and they would die to protect him if need be, but by undertaking this journey, William had accepted that much was now out of his hands. If an ambush was waiting for them there was nothing he would be able to do. If the aliens here decided to kill them all then that was what was going to happen.
Travelling to these islands carried an inherent risk. The risk was worth it though, because to William this really was the last throw of the dice. Without Dragan’s help he knew the war was unwinnable. It always had been really. It had just taken the death of the old king and the months of heavy fighting that had followed for William to realize it.
“I appreciate your words,” William said. “And I have no fear for my safety.”
Lei tilted his head. “Then please, pick whoever you would like to accompany you.”
William gestured to Bertram then waited whilst his advisor picked out the guards he wanted to join them in the lead craft. There was no question that Niahm too would come on board and Bertram knew that, even going as far as to help her inside. The alien leader also picked out some of his people. One of them was a female, and she was clearly the driver because she took the seat up front. Before long they were all seated inside the craft and were moving along the road and into the clouds.
William took the opportunity to look around, to scrutinize the ice structures, to look at the people who were wandering about and down from the coastal town to the docks, busy doing whatever it was they did with their lives. They all seemed happy enough, William thought. And it was odd for him to see the aliens behaving so normally. Those in the north, the ones that William had met at least, had always been bristling with aggression. These aliens…well, they seemed very much like his own people.
They were his own people.
Like or not, the islands were still his. The aliens here were part of his kingdom. It was a strange and slightly surprising realization, but one that William hoped he might be able to work to his advantage in some way.
Before long they were moving back down the cliff and towards the valley. It was filled with lights, filled with thousands of buildings…and it was where Dragan waited for him.
“Our town,” Lei said, following his gaze. “We’ll be there in no time.”
“These ships move very quickly,” William said. “Each island has them?”
Lei was sat right opposite him and seemed happy to answer his questions. “The inhabited ones,” he said. “As you know not all the islands have settlements. Some are just too difficult to settle on.”
“And between the islands?” William asked.
“We have our other ships,” Lei said. “I’m sure you are familiar with those also.”
“I am,” William agreed. “They all run off your crystal system. You power them in that way.”
Lei nodded. “You are well informed, William.”
“You will refer to him as ‘your grace’.”
William sighed, because he supposed it was too much for Bertram to let that one slip by. William could practically feel the other man bristling across from him.
“Bertram,” he said. “It is fine.”
“You are the king!”
“And I have always been pleased to hear my people call me by my name,” William said. “As I do with them.” He turned his attention back to Lei before Bertram could speak again. “This crystal system,” he asked. “It interfaces with your DNA? The stuff that we are all built of?”
Lei nodded again. “Yes.”
“But only your DNA?”
“That is correct.”
William would have liked to ask why they had designed their system in such a way but his attention was diverted because they were whizzing towards the town now and William couldn’t help but look around again, taking it all in.
The first thing that struck him was how well organized it all was. The buildings were laid out in a grid-like manner, and yet they seemed to be perfectly aligned to the shape of the valley that nestled against the mountains behind. There were also a number of open spaces, and if William was not mistaken several children were racing around the spaces, squealing and laughing. Other aliens, these ones fully grown, paused in whatever they were doing to watch the land craft pass. William guessed they were curious about who was inside, and wondered if news of his arrival had reached these people yet. Had this been the capital practically everyone would have been aware what was happening. Gossip ran rife in his city despite William’s attempts to ensure otherwise.
He frowned at that thought as they came to a stop. The building they were in front of now was no different to the ones surrounding it, but William guessed this must be Dragan’s home. His suspicion was confirmed when Lei jumped out of the craft and his people began to follow.
Bertram gestured for theirs to do the same and before lo
ng they were all stood outside. William took a deep breath, readying himself for what was to come, and looked around him once more. It was then that he realized exactly what else besides the order of this town jolted him. It hadn’t been obvious at first, because it was so cold and everyone was so well wrapped up, and they had been moving at speed, but now, with the buildings so close together, and everything paused, there was no denying what he was seeing.
“Are those…”
“Our people,” William said, finishing Bertram’s shocked sentence for him.
Because they were, standing side by side with the aliens, eyes wide, fixed on him, were humans, and there were an awful lot of them.
“I don’t understand,” Bertram said.
“What is there to understand?” William asked, recovering from his shock. “Some of our people have decided to live on the islands.”
“But why?” Bertram whispered.
“Because they had no choice.”
It was an unfamiliar voice that said those words, not any of his people and certainly not Lei. In fact, it could have been any number of the aliens surrounding him. Only it wasn’t, because the moment he heard it he knew. How, William was not sure, but he knew. Lord Dragan…
Chapter Four
Dragan had met the old king just three times since he had arrived on this planet. The first time had been when the king visited the islands to assess what manner of male had taken them. The second time had been when Maylor had rebelled. And the third time had been just before the king’s death. Though, and on all three occasions, Dragan had not given the king what he wanted, he had always respected the old man. He had an air about him which spoke of a confident, capable leader, and after each meeting Dragan had been pleased in an odd way that the king had come. When he had heard of the king’s death, Dragan had been saddened, and he’d wondered if the time would come when the son, the new king, would see fit to visit him also instead of just sending messengers.
It seemed that time was now.
And yet…Dragan wasn’t really sure what he had expected of the new king. More of the same? A male very much like the one who had sired him? That would make sense because Dragan had heard stories, tales of valor and daring do. The humans who now lived on the islands alongside his own people, spoke highly of their king in waiting, and seemed confident that he would be able to continue his father’s efforts to rid them of the alien rebels. More than that, they had spoken of his good looks and his charm.
Still…Dragan had not expected anything like the male who now turned, eyes wide, to look into his.
Not at all.
He was tall for a human, just a few inches shorter than Dragan in fact. He had the same milky pale skin as all those from the capital area did, though his cheeks were faintly pink, from the cold Dragan suspected. His eyes, and these surprised Dragan, were a startling blue, almost like the seas that surrounded the islands. And his form…the king was dressed in winter furs, so really there was no way to be able to tell exactly what his build was. But Dragan knew, he just knew, that if stripped bare the king would be formed in the exact way that Dragan had come to like in a human. All sinewy muscles and hard angles packed beneath smooth, strokable skin.
Yes, King William was a surprise, and Dragan suddenly found himself intrigued by the human in a way that he had not felt with any of the others, not even the ones he had bedded during the past years on this planet.
He wanted him.
It was immediate.
It was visceral.
And it was unforeseen.
But it was there. Dragan was instantly and overwhelmingly attracted to the male stood in front of him and it took all of his self-control not to let that attraction show.
“King William.”
Everyone, both the king’s and his own people, turned at his words. They were all curious, all waiting to see how this, a historic meeting, was going to play out. In truth, Dragan was curious too, and not just because of his abrupt attraction to the male who, in name at least, was his king.
“Lord Dragan?”
He nodded at the king’s question, and realized then that if he had been smarter he would have waited inside for the king to come to him, to put himself in that position of power. But Dragan had been anxious ever since he had sent Lei back to the coast to welcome the king onto land. There had been no choice in that. Dragan would send messenger after messenger away, but the king...there was no way he could have sent the king away. Like or not thousands of humans now lived on the islands alongside his own people and they still idolized their king. To turn him away would be a great insult to them, and Dragan had no intention of insulting people who were now under his care.
That was no way for a leader to behave.
And so here they were…
The king smiled, looked around the crowd then took a step forward. As he did so his advisors and guards did the same. It was, Dragan thought, like watching a flock of birds all moving together.
“I am awed by the beauty of these islands,” the king said.
Sighs of pleasure fell from those surrounding them, and Dragan realized that was exactly what the king had wanted to happen. He obviously knew how attached Dragan’s people were to their new home, that they took pride in it, were pleased that others thought it as beautiful as they did.
“We have made them home,” Dragan said.
“You have tamed a barren landscape.”
“Not barren. There is life and beauty in the most unexpected of places. Indeed,” he said slowly, “sometimes that beauty is very unexpected.”
A pause and then, “I look forward to a proper tour,” the king said. “To see as much as possible.”
“To experience all the islands have to give?” Dragan asked.
The king nodded. “Of course.”
He stepped forward then and held out a hand. There was no way Dragan was not going to take it, both because it was expected of him, and because he wanted to feel the king’s skin beneath his. Part of him was also curious to know if the king had picked up on the meaning behind his words, realized that he was saying more than just what seemed, and by moving closer, by gazing deep into his eyes, Dragan was sure he would be able to tell.
“It will be my pleasure to conduct your tour,” he said, and waited…but then their hands touched and Dragan forgot exactly what he was even looking for. A familiar, but surprising, sensation sizzled along his spine, wrapped around his belly, and moved all the way down to his cock. It twitched in his pants, thickening from a rush of desire and from something else entirely, something Dragan could not put his finger on.
“That would be appreciated,” the king said, and though his eyes were lowered Dragan’s cock thickened further still.
A moment later and the king pulled his hand free. Dragan allowed it because he could see no way to stop it then remembered what he had been trying to see. But it was too late, the king moved back and Dragan had no choice but to gesture to the door behind him instead.
The king nodded and moved inside. His advisors and guards followed of course. Dragan had expected that, and in a way that cheered him. Something should be as he expected considering the king was not.
Still, Dragan had no intention of speaking to the king surrounded by dozens of others. He wanted this male alone, to see his reactions completely unadulterated by those around him. To see what type of male he really was. More than that, he wanted to look into his very blue eyes, to stand close to him, to touch him again…
It was perplexing just how much he wanted that and Dragan almost halted on his way inside, trying to work out why he was so suddenly so affected by this man. It was so unexpected…so strange…but it was absolutely there.
An excitement.
An anticipation.
A desire.
He shook his head, continued on and waited until they were all inside before gesturing to the greeting room. “We can talk in here.”
The king nodded and moved forward, once again his court followed.
“No,” Dragan said. “I will see the king alone.”
“Unacceptable!”
Those words came from one of the advisors directly behind the king, an elderly, pinch-faced man in fact. The other advisor, a beautiful red-headed woman, remained silent. Under any other circumstance Dragan would have enjoyed looking at the female, would possibly even have considered bedding her, as he had a particular affinity for the red-headed females of this planet. But next to the king, next to the man who already had Dragan shifting uncomfortably, she paled into insignificance.
The king held all of Dragan’s attention.
Again, Dragan was not sure what to make of it.
“It is more than acceptable,” the king replied, silencing the other man with a quick look. “Lord Dragan will ensure you are looked after.”
“But—”
“As you say, your grace.”
The female’s words were enough to silence the elderly man, and after a shared look with her, the king walked into the greeting room. As he did so he pulled loose his overcoat. Following behind him, Dragan could see that he had been right. William’s form was exactly to his taste.
“Show our guests to their rooms,” Dragan said to Lei. “I will take care of the king.”
Lei grinned and his other people rushed to follow. Dragan knew that they would, and so closed the door on them all with a satisfying thud.
“Please take a seat,” he continued, gesturing to the two chairs grouped around the crystal fire. “Your people will be settled in no time. You have no need to worry for them.”
The king draped his coat over one of the chairs and sat down. “I don’t,” he said. “If I thought there was any danger to me or mine, I would not have come here.”
“Despite the fact that I am an alien?” Dragan asked.
The king, William, smiled at that. His smile did something to his face that made Dragan’s cock thicken again. “Despite that.”
“I am surprised by your visit,” Dragan said as he took the other chair, more to stop himself gazing upon the king’s body than anything else. It would not do him any good to have his interest known so soon.
The Claiming of a Virgin King Page 3
