The door flies open, and my eyes try to focus as an alien male in an all-black jumpsuit storms into the room. My two would-be-assaulters haul ass pretty sharply. The new arrival captures each of them by the collar and basically drags them out of the room. The door closes behind them, and air whooshes out of my mouth in grateful relief. Pressing my fingers to my nose, I attempt to stall the bleeding. My hands are shaking and covered in blood, so I head into the bathroom to clean up.
I’m shocked at my reflection. My hair is a tangled mess and my nose is pumping blood like it’s going out of fashion. Bright reddish-purple stains darken my cheeks from the impact of scary alien’s strike, and a nasty bruise is already starting to form in the place where I face-planted the ground. Prodding my cheek carefully, I wince as a soreness blankets my skin.
“You can use this to clean up,” a voice says from behind me. I scream, jumping about ten feet in the air. Nervously, I swivel around and eyeball the guy in the black jumpsuit. Snatching the towel from his hand, I start dabbing my nose. I don’t look away from him as we size each other up. “Don’t be frightened,” he says. “I won’t hurt you.”
“Are the others gone?” My speech trembles a little.
“They won’t bother you anymore. And the princess has placed two guards on the door. Nothing like that will happen again.”
I’m not sure that “bother” adequately sums it up. “And what if the guards share the same opinion?”
“I handpicked them myself. They are notoriously reliable. You don’t need to worry.”
I harrumph. That’s a bit rich. “That’s an oxymoron if ever I’ve heard one.” He tilts his head to the side, a puzzled look on his face. “And it’s not like I can trust you. I can’t trust any of you.” I set my mouth into a displeased line. He moves toward me, and I flinch.
“My name’s Win, and I am the princess’s personal bodyguard. I understand your reticence but I can assure you that Princess Dalitza doesn’t want you to come to any harm.”
“Why?” I dab the towel at my nose as I feel a small trickle start up again. “Why does she care?”
Warm brown eyes meet mine. “She’s a very compassionate person, and her people mean the world to her. There isn’t anything she wouldn’t do to protect them.” A river of gold, mixed with pink, washes over his skin.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask what emotion that reflects, but I stop myself in time. I don’t wish to get Dali in trouble, and considering no one outside their own race can detect the colors, I figure it’s smartest to keep the knowledge that I can to myself.
A triumphant blare of music distracts us both. I follow him out into the main room and hop up on the bed to gaze out the window. The spine-tingling feeling still lingers as the cord writhes and slithers around me.
“That’s the princess, isn’t it?” I ask, jumping to the obvious conclusion. He nods. “What’s going on? I couldn’t understand anything before.”
He gestures with his head. “Watch and you’ll see.” Glancing down, I notice his knuckles are bleached white at his side.
The princess and Logan are holding hands in the center of the stage. The gray-haired alien stands before them, spouting in alien speak, and they are repeating the same words after him.
My heart stutters. No! No way. It can’t be.
Logan tips down and presses his lips to hers. Though it’s brief, and chaste, my heart feels like it’s breaking apart. The crowd cheers timidly. King Adjani rises to his feet and says something. The crowd roars their approval.
Beside me, Win growls as his eyes narrow to pinpricks. Logan steps closer to the princess, slinging an arm around her waist. A bitter taste floods my mouth, and I know I should look away, but I don’t. I watch in horror as Logan kisses her again. This time he doesn’t hold back as his lips mold to hers and he kisses her passionately, again and again, like my worst nightmare on repeat.
A flashing announcement beams out of the screens as the crowd hollers, and my heart shatters into smithereens.
CHAPTER 13
Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to block the visual from my mind. I slink down on the bed and bury my face in the pillow. A new layer of pain embeds itself into the innermost chambers of my heart.
Wordlessly, Win drops down beside me. I lift my head, studying his strained expression and rigid posture. “You don’t like that much either, huh?”
Slowly turning his head, he stares at me with a carefully controlled blank expression. He doesn’t answer, but words are redundant. Red and gold swirl underneath his skin, and I guess I have a fair idea what gold indicates now.
Though it kills me to vocalize this, I need it ratified. “So, they’re married now?” I sit up straighter, preparing my heart for the inevitable shredding.
“Not yet. That was the Ceremony of Intent. You don’t have that on Earth?” He looks genuinely curious.
“No. But it sounds like an engagement.” I scrape moist strands of hair back off my face.
“It’s a public statement to commit to marriage, but the marriage is only authorized when they have attended the Ceremony of Togetherness. And as outsiders, both of them will have to be sworn-in within their respective countries.” My brow crinkles in confusion, and Win answers my unspoken question. “Logan can’t marry the princess without swearing allegiance to the Amaretti Monarch. It’s the same for her in relation to the Saven. So they will have to attend the Ceremony of Allegiance as well.”
“When does all that happen?” I hug my knees, frozen despite the warm room.
“The Ceremony of Togetherness is scheduled for two days’ time, and the Ceremony of Allegiance will directly follow.” Win stands up. “I imagine you’ll be returned home after that.”
I’m starting to understand it.
Win walks to the door and turns to face me. “You should eat.” He gestures toward the table. “You need to keep up your strength.”
I want to ask him for what, but he’s already gone.
I flop down on the bed and try to organize my thoughts into a more orderly fashion. When Logan and I first expressed interest in one another, Neve tried to keep us apart by claiming Logan had a girlfriend. I clearly recall that conversation. While she deliberately lied, there are obviously parts of that conversation that were true. Like how Logan would at some point in the future have to marry for political reasons. I remember the fraught Saven-Amaretti negotiations and how upset Logan was with whatever was being proposed. Add that to Dali’s assessment that I’m insurance, and the pieces all fit together.
I sit bolt upright in the bed, awash with emotion. Logan didn’t end things with me because he couldn’t handle a long-distance relationship or because he fell out of love with me. He did it because he had to agree to marry the princess in order to get the Amaretti to withdraw from Earth. That is the only explanation that makes sense.
I’m sure my assessment is spot-on, and I doubt I could love him any more than I do right at this minute. However, my heart is split right down the middle because it doesn’t alter the fact that in a few days he’ll be lost to me forever. My heart throbs agonizingly. I wish I could be as selfless as he is, but I’m not.
I still love him. I still want him. Damn the consequences.
I’m so glad I told him I loved him, and I hope, in some small way, that it helped him come to terms with what he’d agreed to do. To know that he acted out of love for me, and humanity, and that my feelings aren’t unrequited, sends a flurry of warmth surging through my veins.
A tear slips out of my eye, traveling a lonely path over my face.
The door opens quietly, and Dali enters the room. She sits on the edge of my bed, her calm demeanor slightly ruffled. “You saw.” I nod. “You are sad.”
“Yes and no.” She tilts her head inquiringly. “I know why he did it,” I tell her although she won’t have a clue what I mean. “And I love him even more, if that’s possible.”
Her face contorts in a frown. “But he is marrying the princess.”
&nbs
p; “I know.” I sniffle. “But he’s fulfilling his duty to his people and protecting mine. I was so angry with him. So hurt. And though I hate the thought of never having him in my life, how can I stay mad with him when he’s sacrificing his own needs, and our love, for the greater good? I can’t.” I smile, feeling more at peace than I have in weeks, which I know is off the wall, but it helps enormously to understand his motivations. I wish he’d confided in me, but I imagine he thought I’d try to talk him out of it. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t, but I can’t say that with absolute surety.
“You two are very much in love.” She takes my warm hands in her cold ones, and I try not to flinch. Gold streaks zigzag across her skin.
“I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone before,” I admit truthfully. “And being with him was amazing, even if it was short-lived. The princess is a lucky girl.” It essentially kills me to say that. Visions of gouging out her eyes with toothpicks swim in front of me.
Dali looks away. A customary tingle shoots up and down my spine, and my head jerks up in recognition. Shouting erupts outside the room, and Dali is on her feet in a nanosecond.
I jump up. “Logan!”
“Stay right here.” She cautions me with a serious look. Leaning in, she presses against my ear. “Don’t ruin things.”
“Sadie! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”
Dali exits the room as my blubbering starts in earnest.
“I’m okay. I know what you’ve done, Logan, and why. I love you. I love you so much.”
Amplified sounds of scuffling resonate from the corridor outside.
“I love you, too. I’ve been totally freaking out. I didn’t know they were planning this or where they’d taken you until I felt your presence outside. I’ve been so worried. I’m so sorry, Sadie. This was what I was trying to avoid.”
Something crashes into the door, and I feel the vibration under my feet. “Is that you?”
“Yes! They won’t let me see you! I’m about ready to tear this place apart.”
I place my palms on the wall, wishing I could feel his warm hands against mine. I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “Stop. You can’t do this. You need to follow through. You know that’s the way it has to be.”
The frantic pounding ceases.
“What? No. I was wrong. I can’t live without you. You are all that matters to me. To hell with the rest of it.”
“So, what? You’re prepared to sacrifice my world and yours so we can be together? We can’t be that selfish. You know we can’t. It’s not possible.”
“Sadie.”
I feel his pain as acutely as he no doubt feels mine. Everything is finally quiet outside. I press my body to the wall as we indulge our connection, letting our thoughts and emotions flow back and forth, surrounding ourselves in the depth of what we feel, until I can’t bear it any longer. “You need to go.”
“I’m going to fix this, Sadie. And they won’t hurt you. I promise.”
My resolve is weakening and I’m so close to crumbling, to reclaiming my earlier words. “I love you, Logan. Now please go.”
“Okay. But you need to eat. It’s completely safe. Promise me.”
That’s an easy one. I trust him. “I promise.” I’m already walking to the cold food spread out on the table.
Dali comes back into the room to check on me, smiling broadly when she spots me seated at the table, chowing down. After fixing my injuries with some clear gel-like substance, she tells me she’ll return in the morning. Once again, I’m left to my own devices.
The hot temp in the room makes it nigh impossible to sleep, but somehow I manage to snatch a few hours. Logan consumes my thoughts, and my skin is restlessly twitching with the urge to touch him. Our connection buzzes consistently in the background, offering much-needed comfort, and unsolicited torture.
Dali is true to her word, returning early the next morning. She lays out the most incredible array of food, and I tuck in with glee. I haven’t a clue what I’m eating, nor do I want to dwell on that fact. All I know is everything is tasty, and I moan appreciatively, much to her delight. She stays most of the morning, and we spend hours chatting, trading information about our respective planets. I use the opportunity to grill her as much as I can without seeming transparent.
“How come you can understand me and vice versa?” I ask her as we are sitting cross-legged in front of each other on my bed. With every passing second, we relax more in each other’s company.
Her fingers stroke her ear, and she removes a light, clear film, placing it carefully in my hand. It’s slippery to the touch though it looks like solid plastic. She puts it back in place and explains. “It’s a universal translator programmed to translate more than five thousand different languages. The princess organized the Earth module upload at the time she assigned me to care for you. When you speak, I hear you in my native tongue, and I converse in Amarish, but it translates it into English for your ears.”
“Wow. That’s incredible. What other technology do you have?”
“Not as much as you’d imagine. The ongoing war consumes the administration at the extent of so much else.” She shakes her head forlornly. “Instead of investing in technological and medical research, time and money is spent on planning strategies, forging alliances, trying to strengthen our defenses, and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.” Her hands clench until her knuckles are bleached white.
I angle toward her. “What war?”
“The galaxy has been at war in some form or another for the last two hundred years. There are certain races focused purely on advancement by colonization, and for the last two centuries, alliances have been forged and broken as different races battle for control of the solar system. Our royal family had been at the helm of the conquests for more than one hundred and fifty years, but then the balance of power shifted, and we found ourselves on the outskirts. The last fifty years has seen our empire decimated, and our planet almost destroyed. This alliance with the Saven is the first positive step forward in recent years, but I fear it comes at too high a price.” She rubs the side of her head.
“In what way?”
Her face changes, and she looks engrossed in thought. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she fakes a smile. “Let’s change the subject. My thoughts always turn dark when I think of the mistakes we’ve made. What else would you like to know?”
What doesn’t she want to tell me, I wonder. I decide to switch tack. “What is the exact history between the Saven and your race?”
“The Saven have always pursued their own colonial goals, and there have been many occasions in the past where our two races have clashed. I suppose you could say past relationships between both races were somewhat fractured.”
“What’s changed now?” I fan my face with my hand as tiny sweat beads form on my skin. It’s sweltering in here.
“What the Saven are planning on Earth has everyone uneasy. They were what you would call a ‘superpower’ in years gone by, having claimed ownership of a huge portion of the separate planets in the farthest part of the galaxy. All that changed in the last hundred years. They’ve been consumed in civil wars as they fight among themselves, and as sectors of their empire challenge their rule. They aren’t nearly as powerful as they used to be, and that’s something that suits most everyone. While they’ve been looking inward, there’s been a shift in control in the galaxy, and certain races like the current status quo. Once the Saven assume conscience on a mass scale, they’ll begin looking outward again. King Adjani is already devising new expansion plans with our king. Our planet is crumbling, and our influence has long since waned, so the choice was to either ally with the Saven or ally with one of their enemies. I guess the king felt the former was the smarter choice.”
She rises, and begins pacing the room. I slyly study her. With her hunched physique, and furrowed brow, she’s clearly very worried over something. Though it’s unlikely she’ll confide in me, I decide to continue picking that scab. �
��What’s troubling you?”
She stops pacing and rests on the edge of the bed. Her concerned eyes meet mine as she speaks in a rush. “How does one assign value to a species?” She expands further at my puzzled expression. “How can a person decide that one species is more valuable than another? Where does right and wrong come into it?”
As I’m trying to figure out the hidden meaning motivating her admission, Logan’s caution regurgitates in my mind. I wonder what skullduggery the Amaretti are planning and if Logan and his father are fully aware of the terms of the agreement they are entering into. While I could be reading too much into Dali’s vague statement, it screams secret agenda, and I don’t like it one little bit. Logan is sacrificing his future for this deal, so any suggestion that it might be a betrayal leaves a real sour taste in my mouth. It also sounds horrifically familiar. Perhaps there is more similarity between our kinds than I’d care to believe.
I speak from the heart. “I don’t think anyone has the right to make a judgment call like that. Each life form is as important as the next, and all life should be equally preserved and cherished. On our planet, the stars—who are the lowest categorized group in society—are regarded as inferior, and the government is happy to trade our lives for those they perceive to be more important. It sickens me to no end. To choose to prioritize and safeguard one sector of society over another is blatantly wrong. It’s immoral and disgusting on every level. No one should have the authority to make those kinds of decisions. Society needs to be equal, like all species should be treated equally. That’s what I believe.”
Dali is quietly contemplative as she listens to me. “If the opportunity arose to save the stars, but at the expense of the rest of your society, would you support or oppose it?”
I don’t need to think about it. My reaction is organic. “I’d oppose it because that’s not progression, it’s regression. It’s got to be all-inclusive.”
Saven Disclosure (The Saven Series Book 2) Page 18
