by Bertina Mars
But that didn’t override a complete lifetime of feeling insecure about herself, and though the Zethradans scarcely blushed, she didn’t plan on anyone else seeing her naked in this place besides Arzak himself.
Once she reached her room, Mira dressed herself in the Zethradan clothing that she had in her wardrobe. They were all dresses, but she knew there was one with a high collar that might work for the hickeys.
It was a dark shade of purple with gold swirls of metal engraved into the cloth, less like an actual cage that she had to fit around her torso. While the metal was cold on her skin, it warmed quickly, and Mira found that the color actually looked really well with her blonde hair, and the swirls of the gold worked with her curves to make her altogether more flowing in her figure.
The estate was large, but Mira had a feeling she knew where Arzak was. She stared at the open archway to the grand staircase, the one that spiraled up to the very top, walls made completely of glass. It was like its own separate building, and Mira had always avoided it, intimidated by the openness.
Once she went up those stairs, anyone could see where she was at through the windows. She had something to discuss with Arzak though, something that she should have gotten around to earlier but never had with the way things were moving between them. And if it just so happened that they fucked again in a new room she’d never been in, so be it.
Mira only briefly thought about what her colleagues would think about her, getting involved with a native, their leader no less. She increasingly had trouble with remembering that she was here on a job, and that was something she wanted to ratify quickly.
Mira was starting to get antsy, her scientist mind itching for something to find or create or solve. Besides, her co-workers at the lab, for the most part, were workaholics like her, and probably had as little of a clue on normal relationships as Mira did. Not that I’m in a relationship with him, she corrected quickly.
So, up she went, up the stairs of the glass tower, as she tried not to trip on her dress. Mira felt eyes on her the higher she climbed, but she persisted on. By the time she got near the top, she was a little winded, the stairs going up five stories in all.
Mira stood with her hands on her hips, trying to regain her breath. She was just below the glass room, though the floor was the only thing not transparent in that entire area, so she couldn’t see exactly who was in there. She could hear the voices though, one of them distinctly Arzak. The other was familiar, but it wasn’t until Mira swallowed, taking a couple more steps to make herself higher up, that she could catch a glimpse.
“This isn’t like you, Lord Commander,” a strong, burly voice accused. He sounded upset, but it wasn’t loud, like he was trying to restrain himself. The blonde rolled her eyes at the thought. J’kar was no politician, she had learned, and she doubted he had any subtlety.
In fact, it was something Zethrad lacked completely. “You have to do something, not just sit here. I’m fighting for the preservation of this planet. If we don’t bring the war to them, they’ll bring it to us. “
“There is no war,” Arzak replied, his tone tinged with annoyance.
“A human shows up and our only means of escaping should there be an attack goes up in flames. How much more evidence do you want?”
“Valdek has already spoken for-”
“Tyroc Valdek is a coward. And working for them, no doubt.”
“What would you have me do, Officer J’kar?” Arzak answered. He sounded more calm, intrigued, but there was a smugness in his tone as well, the one that infuriated Mira when they’d first met.
“There is nothing for us to act on. Her alibi was confirmed nearly a month ago. We’ve checked into it several times since then. I did what you requested- “
“My request was to let her rot underneath Gthlin d’Zethrad, not take her home with you and make her your whore. That was your choice, Arzak.”
She heard a rustling and something banged up against the glass closest to her. Mira sunk down even further by a couple more steps. Mira’s heart sped up, her face beginning to heat.
She wasn’t anyone’s whore, and the venom in J’kar’s voice almost made her sick. No one had ever talked about her like that. Carefully, Mira looked up, but she could only see dark armor. The glass didn’t even start to bow.
“You forget who you speak to, Officer,” Arzak said. He wasn’t smug anymore. He was angry.
“I know who I speak to,” J’kar replied through grit teeth, “Do you know where you stand, Lord Commander?”
Mira couldn’t sit there anymore. She had heard enough, both with the insults to her character and her people, as well as hearing Arzak’s words.
Running back down the stairs was an option, but Mira decided against it. She’d hiked up the damn things in the first place, and she wasn’t going to back down to J’kar. After the night before, she had a reputation to uphold, that reputation being she wasn’t going to sit and take his abuse.
She stood up, catching herself on the railing. Her back was straight, posture perfect, as Mira got closer. Arzak, noticing someone coming up from the clear, transparent walls, let go of his grip and shoved off his officer.
Now that she could see his face, Mira realized it was the first time she had ever seen it contorted in true anger. His eyes were ablaze, his veins more pronounced under his skin.
While he had been mad at her the night before, it was different than this. Before, he was jealous and acting childishly. Now… He looked like he might almost murder J’kar, who pulled off the wall fiercely but face stayed stoic and poised. It was no wonder they were both so great on the battlefield. Both were so incredibly intimidating in their own ways.
She paused outside of the open door leading to the room. Both men looked at her, a question hanging in the air, How much did you hear? Mira didn’t dignify them with answering the question or acting like she knew anything of their argument.
At the same time, she composed herself carefully. The blonde cocked an eyebrow, frowning as she looked between them. “Sorry, was I interrupting something?” she asked, “I had to speak to Ve Dominok Arzak for a second.”
“We’re in a meeting,” Arzak replied. His voice was still tense, but she saw that he was looking over her body again.
Her cheeks began to heat until she realized that J’kar was giving her that same look. When their eyes met, his face became stony, and he glared right back at her.
“That’s fine,” Mira nodded, crossing her arms over her chest, “I just wanted to remind you that I’ll be leaving tonight for that meeting we discussed, the dinner.”
Realization lit up in his eyes, which only settled quickly back into anger. “We never agree-”
“Yes, we did,” Mira interrupted. She smiled sweetly. “We had terms, remember?” I told you you could do whatever you wanted to me. And you did. She looked at J’kar again.
“Anyways, that was all. Pleasure to see you again, Betinok J’kar.” She waited a moment for him to respond, but he didn’t. And she didn’t want to look at Arzak again, afraid that he would start an argument with her right there.
Mira wasn’t so much afraid of what he’d do to her but the fact that she wouldn’t back down after what she heard in that room that day. Her alibi was confirmed almost a month ago.
Arzak had known this entire time that she wasn’t guilty. And yet here she was, still confined to the boundaries of the house unless he went with her. He was still trying to keep her as prisoner.
Chapter Four
Mira did more than just get ready for her meeting with Tyroc. It had been half an hour since she walked back down the stairs of the glass tower, twenty minutes since she convinced a servant to send a letter, which she lied and said was from Ve Dominok Arzak himself. To Zethrad’s most promising scientist.
Now she stood at the foot of her bed, putting back on the clothes from her first day there, and stuffing the rest of her things back in her one suitcase that she had left. Turning back to grab the last top from the dres
ser, Mira noticed a figure standing in the doorway, arms crossed.
“Shit!” gasped the blonde, dropping whatever article of clothing she had to the floor. One hand flew to her chest, the other finding purchase in the comforter of the bed. Upon realizing who it was, Mira exhaled slowly, then glared before picking back up her top and resuming.
“What are you doing?” Arzak asked, walking into the room. Mira didn’t answer him, so he strode over to the bed, placing a firm hand on the top of her clothes pile. Her eyes stayed down, but she could imagine the intensity of them. “You know I don’t like to repeat myself… What. Are. You. Doing?”
She looked up at him defiantly, her jaw set. “What does it look like? I’m going home.”
“No you’re not.”
“And why not?” she asked, challenging Arzak, though a small voice inside her told her what a stupid idea it was to challenge him, to give in and just go back to what they had the night before. But Mira didn’t listen to it.
“You know, I wondered why an experienced warrior and leader would offer his home to someone he thought was a terrorist-” She threw her hands up. “Makes sense now. You knew I wasn’t one the entire time!”
This time, she didn’t avoid his eyes, her brown locked with his gray. Arzak still had that fire burning in his eyes, and his jaw was so tightened that it almost looked like he was grinding his teeth.
The little voice inside Mira tried to pipe up even more. “You are still guest here,” he said, slipping in his usually near-perfect English.
“Guests are allowed to leave, Arzak,” Mira reminded him, not surprised that he didn’t try to defend himself or deny the fact that he had lied to her. He was normally not so deceitful or secretive, always honest in everything he said or did.
And that was what hurt Mira the most, to be so caught off-guard by the fact he’d actually been lying to her the entire time. “I’m going to speak to Tyroc, finish my job, and then I’m going home.”
“Oh, like to see you try, Earth girl,” Arzak spat. The hand he had on her luggage balled into a fist. “Shuttle port is only way out. And no shuttles coming in or out until after we find out who did it.”
“Well, I’m not staying here!” Mira shot back, trying to pull the bag from out of his grip. But he didn’t move, didn’t budge. The blonde refused to give up, pulling with all her might in her anger. Instead, Arzak began to pull in his own direction as well, causing a tug-of-war between the two.
“You’re not leaving!” he shouted at her.
“Yes. I. Am!” Mira never had siblings growing up. But she had friends that had siblings, and the brawl she was having now made her feel that exact same way. She felt incredibly childish, and yet she couldn’t let go.
Arzak couldn’t either. His patience wore out quickly, and it became clear that he had been taking it easy on her the entire time. In one smooth movement, he pulled the luggage completely off the bed and sent it clamoring to the floor of Mira’s bedroom.
Before she had time to act, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the hair. Mira felt her back press up against the wall, and the pressure of his body brought uncomfortable feelings from the night before.
This wasn’t like the fight they had at the front door. This wasn’t just talk about some silly jealousy that he had. It was about everything. It was the loss of the friendship, or whatever it was, that they had only just formed and Arzak realizing he might have less control on Mira than he thought.
“You’re mine,” he said, voice thick as he switched to Zethradan, “You gave yourself to me-”
“So I could get what I want,” Mira spat in English, trying to shove him off her by pushing her hands against Arzak’s chest, “I’m not yours!”
“You’re lying. You wanted me, you always have!”
“You’re such a condescending, egotistical prick.” She refused to admit it. She completely and absolutely refused to tell Arzak that he was right. That she enjoyed it when he touched her, that she grew excited every single time his fingers grazed against her thighs or collarbone or face. That he could make her nerve endings feel like they were on fire, each and every one of them.
Mira tried to remind herself that she was on a mission, that she wouldn’t get fooled by him again. Everything Arzak did was just to get into her pants, to control her. “Let me go! Now!”
Arzak opened his mouth to say something back to her, and from the looks of it, it was going to be something venomous. His lips pulled back in a snarl and his eyes almost seemed to turn darker as his temper got worse and worse.
But Mira would never know what he was about to say, and she would never ask him, nor would Arzak ever tell her. Instead, a woman walked into the room, Ve Domina Jord. The Queen Regent, Arzak’s mother. Mira had learned by now that her name was Viera, though very few people ever used it casually. It was always Ve Domina Jord.
Her hair was wound in a beautiful braid that Mira was sure she did herself. She wore a serene expression on her face, even as she looked at her son pressing a young woman up against a wall, their chests heaving, and both of their expressions looking utterly pissed off.
Ve Domina Jord closed the door behind her, waiting until the resounding click. Then, she folded her hands into her lap and stared for a single moment. It was long enough in its work of being effective.
“My son, leave her be,” Viera said. She didn’t look at Mira, just Arzak. Her voice was beautiful when it wasn’t stunted by her difficulty with English, and there was a motherly sort of gentleness to her. But then, with the added steel that Mira hadn’t seen yet of the woman. “Do this now.”
Arzak looked back at Mira, who glared fiercely. With a sigh of frustration, he stepped away. Mira studied the Lord Commander, who now had his eyes stuck to his feet. She’d never seen someone overpower him like that, but it was fitting that it was his own mother.
Mira’s glare melted, exhaling slowly as the anger and tension of their fight began to dissipate. When she really looked at Arzak, she thought he almost looked scared, and she wondered if it was because of his mother but also entertained the thought that it might be something else entirely.
“I already sent a letter to Tyroc; I’m going,” Mira said finally, breaking the silence. She tried to keep her voice level and used the Zethradan tongue to better accommodate now that she had the upper hand of Ve Domina Jord controlling her kid.
Arzak didn’t respond, didn’t look at her, but his hands balled into fists again, the veins popping out on his arms. Ve Domina Jord glanced at her son carefully, but spoke to Mira.
“You are a guest here. You may come and go as you please,” she replied, “But you are also a diplomat of sorts, no?”
“I’m a biologist,” Mira answered, though what Viera was saying was true. While she wasn’t supposed to be signing any treaties with them, she had been directed to act carefully so that her visit could bode well for the Alliance in their negotiations for Zethrad to join them.
Somehow along the lines of the last 12 hours, she’d forgotten that part of her job, the warning that Jak had given her. Hell, she’d even forgot about Jak, something Mira wouldn’t have believed three weeks ago. “What are you trying to get at?”
Ve Domina Jord smiled. “Just that you may need a chaperone to help you with such matters. I have known Tyroc Valdek for many years. It would be a joy to see him again.”
It became clear what she was trying to do now: find a middle ground. Let Mira do what she wanted and visit the Head of Science, but come along so she could play spy for Arzak. Mira pressed her lips into a fine line. She was 27 years old, and yet for the past two weeks, she was constantly being babysat. Arzak had a similar expression on his face. Neither wanted to give up even a little bit.
Ve Domina Jord chuckled, looking at them both knowingly. “Or have we reached a stalemate?”
Mira weighed her options. The only thing on the line right now was her pride, and she’d be merely injuring it, not completely giving it over. Anything she talked about with Tyroc wa
s work-related for her team.
Arzak and his mother could both listen in and not find a single thing that would suggest Mira, Earth, and the Alliance as having alternative motives and agendas. And Ve Domina Jord was right. She had to play diplomat as the only foreigner on Zethradan soil at the moment.
“Fine,” Mira sighed. She looked down at the things on her floor. “But I’d still rather find a hotel.”
“With your reputation in the city, here might be the safest place for you,” the Zethradan woman pointed out, “But you may go if you wish. Isn’t that right, Arzak?”
The Lord Commander didn’t grace his mother or Mira with a reply. He simply stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. His mother’s eyes watched his form as he stomped off, pursing her lips and looking back at Mira curiously. “Shall we go?”
The science building in Q’talik reminded Mira of the shuttle port. Of all the parts of the capitol building, it was the least worked on, the most outdated. Everything else was made with passion and care, but not here.
The Zethradans didn’t invest their time in sciences or their money unless it was for advanced weapons and space crafts. It was no wonder their planet was still so behind in many ways. Disappointed, Mira walked up the steps with Ve Domina Jord.
It was still hard to believe that she was someone’s mother, looking not much older than Mira herself, but it reminded her of what she was here for, the cure to old age.
Tyroc did not greet them at the entrance, nor did he try to find them, even after his assistant said that he was made aware of their presence. Mira was confused, but Viera took it all in stride.
“Tyroc Valdek is the oldest member on the council. He was seated at the council when Ve Dominok Ghahil ruled, my father. I’ve known the man since I was a little girl, and in respect to his work, he has never changed. He throws himself in completely.”
