The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5)

by Wendie Nordgren

  Softening, she said, “I love you. Don’t hide anything from me. I’ve spent too many years in the dark.”

  I looked at Papa. His eyes went down to Momma’s hand were diamonds glittered on two of her fingers. He lifted her hand and kissed it worshipfully.

  Interpreting Papa’s actions as acquiescence, I said, “Yukihyo and I have a daughter. We named her Neema, after you. Nico and I have a son. We named him Niklos, after his father. Peter is my adopted Eloneave son.” I decided not to burden her with the knowledge of the events surrounding his birth.

  “Teagan, what I am understanding is that I have grandchildren. I am a grandmother? Me? I’m not old enough to be a grandmother, but I am. It’s all so strange.”

  Papa said, “Well, you certainly don’t look old enough to be a grandmother. You are as beautiful as I remember. You are the most beautiful empress in the Empire’s history.” Papa said his words with complete adoration.

  Momma’s laughter tinkled like the shells of the windchime I had enjoyed at the resort Fitz had rented for us on Thalassa. An unbidden image of Luca and Dario running down the beach robbed me of my breath and pierced my heart, but then the arms of Momma and Papa were comforting me which made my head spin. My parents were trying to comfort me and ease my pain. It was so blissfully surreal that I considered running from the infirmary. My feelings confused my empathic and recently awakened mother.

  “Tavere, why is she so fragile? Why does our love feel like an awkward luxury to our daughter? Did you withhold your love from her?”

  “No, my love. Never. Teagan, your mother needs her rest.”

  Nodding, I slid from the bed and stood.

  “No, I do not. I have rested for two decades. Stop hiding things from me. Tell me immediately what you are keeping from me,” Momma demanded imperiously.

  Dr. Fotri said, “Neema, it is best if you remain calm.”

  Momma glared at him. “Teagan, go get my grandchildren and bring them to me at once. Tavere, if I have three of them, she will need your help. Go.” She pointed.

  Papa sighed, got up from beside her, and gave me his arm. I whispered, “She tells you what to do?”

  “She’s been telling me what to do since we were children. When she gets like this, there is no point arguing.” When we entered my wing, Niklos was in the middle of a diaper change. “Nico, Yukihyo, carry your children to the infirmary. The Empress Neema wishes to meet her grandchildren.” Papa took Peter, smiled at him, and kissed him. Peter made a sound that was more of a laugh than a trill.

  “Oh, good boy. Let’s smile and be adorable,” I said nervously. “Wait, Yukihyo. Let’s put Neema in the light-green dress with the full skirt and the bow.”

  Once she was dressed up, Neema said, “Oh, pretty.”

  “Yes, you are beautiful,” I said as I brushed her hair.

  “Mommy, I want that,” she said as she pointed to her toy blaster.

  “Okay, you can have it after we get back from our visit.”

  “Not now?” Neema asked as she pouted.

  “Now, we go get hugs and kisses. Do you want to meet my mommy?”

  Neema’s eyes grew round. “Mommy has mommy?” she asked. Her forehead scrunched up adorably.

  I nodded. “Do you want to go see how pretty she is?”

  Neema nodded and smiled. She threw her arms around my neck. When I stood, Neema wrapped her legs around my waist. Together, we all walked down the white hallway. Papa started laughing.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Turning his head, he smiled at me. “I have everything I ever wanted but had no hope of ever having.” Unfortunately, when we arrived at the infirmary, his smile faded, and his face darkened with anger.

  Imperial Guards lined the corridor and stood at attention. They were unfamiliar to me. In unison, the guards saluted us. Each of the men appeared to be at least fifty years old or older.

  “Papa, who are they?”

  “These soldiers are your mother’s Imperial Guards,” he said as he handed Peter to me.

  In seconds, Papa had transformed into the Emperor Probus who could instill fear into any man who I had ever met. A soldier stood before Momma. She sat up in bed and payed close attention to every word he spoke. With no idea how to interpret her facial expressions, I waited.

  “My love, what is the meaning of this?” Papa asked in a strained tone. He was trying and failing to be sweet.

  “I have reinstated my guard,” she informed him with a raised eyebrow. “Thank you, Captain Aegisthus. You may go about your duties. I will call for you when I have need of you,” Momma said.

  The officer bowed low to Momma, saluted Papa, pivoted on his heel, and marched toward me. When I saw his face, I realized without a doubt that this must be Kaoti’s uncle. Curtsying deeply, I bowed my head to him. It was no easy task while holding both Neema and Peter. Captain Aegisthus froze mid-step and turned to me. Rising, I looked at his dark, unreadable eyes. Then, I laughed at his seriousness, took a step closer to him, raised up on my toes, and kissed his cheek. Yukihyo took Neema from me.

  “How are Violet, Kaoti, and the baby?”

  “Very well, your majesty.”

  “I need to visit them.” Thinking of Luca, I said, “Things have been hard lately.”

  Captain Aegisthus said, “Kaoti regrets not being at your side.”

  Alarmed, I said, “Not me! What if he had been hurt? I’m glad he was keeping Violet and the baby safe. Violet is my closest friend, and I love Kaoti like a brother.”

  He bowed low to me. “You are welcome in all of our homes at any time.”

  “Teagan, come here,” Momma called with a voice that sounded much stronger. As we approached, the fierce anger left her eyes. “Who is this?” she asked as her eyes lit upon Neema.

  “Put me down, Daddy!”

  “Don’t touch anything,” Yukihyo warned.

  Neema scowled at him. “I not touch.” Yukihyo raised an eyebrow at her tone. She tilted her head and smiled at him. Then, she put her little hands to his cheeks and gave him a baby kiss. Sighing in defeat, Yukihyo put her down. “Look,” Neema ordered her namesake. She spun in a clumsy circle making her dress twirl out around her.

  Momma clapped. “Oh, that is very pretty,” Momma told her. Neema nodded in agreement. “Come up here so I can see you better.”

  Neema cocked her hip and put her hand on it. Then, frowning, she said, “I not allowed to touch.”

  Momma looked at Yukihyo. His beautiful mouth quirked up into a smile. Then, he lifted Neema up to her grandmother’s lap. Momma touched Neema’s hair at the same time that Neema touched hers.

  “Oh, pretty. My mommy’s hair got well.”

  “I noticed that. You and your mommy have beautiful hair and eyes.”

  Neema asked, “Who are you?”

  “My name is…. Well, what is his name?” she asked as she pointed at Papa.

  “That’s Gapa.”

  “Oh, I see. That would make me Gama.”

  “Okay,” Neema said. “Mommy, I have blaster now?”

  “In a minute, Neema,” I said.

  “You have a blaster?” Momma asked.

  Neema nodded. “Bam! Bam! Bam!” Niklos began to cry for Neema. “Brother, don’t cry,” she said sweetly.

  Nico let Niklos sit on the bed beside Momma and stayed close to keep him from climbing everywhere.

  “Who is this?” Momma asked.

  “That’s Nik,” Neema said as she kissed his cheek. Niklos laughed and crawled into Momma’s arms where he got hugs and kisses. “Hey!” Neema said jealously.

  Momma had her thin arms full and seemed to be in baby heaven as she bound her grandchildren to her soul.

  “Careful with Gama,” I said when they started jumping. “Okay, time to go play.” Pierce and Lorca stood over to the side waiting, and I nodded them over. I knew Momma had to be sore and tired while trying to recover from a liver transplant and twenty years in stasis. After Neema and Niklos were off to play, Momma held Pete
r.

  “Oh, Teagan, he looks like one of the little people from the stories. Hello, little one.” Peter trilled at her. Momma looked up from him to look at me. Her eyes had darkened. “He had you. All of that time, he had you.” I knew who she meant and lowered my eyes to Peter’s small clawed fingers. “You were a small and helpless baby, alone with him.”

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to think about it. Yukihyo was strong and warm at my back. His big arms came around my stomach, and I closed my eyes.

  “Neema,” Papa said in a quiet warning tone.

  Yukihyo kissed my hair. Momma gave Peter her finger to hold.

  “What else have you been hiding from me?” she asked Papa.

  “I am not hiding anything from you, my love.”

  “You didn’t tell me about my grandchildren. You led me to assume that our child was raised here in the Palace surrounded by love. Come here. Take the baby. Then, go and leave me alone with our daughter. Ryan, take your nurses and go with them.”

  Emperor Tavere Probus obeyed his wife. I was impressed by my momma’s commanding presence. However, then, I realized that they were leaving me alone with her, and I began to panic. Losing Yukihyo’s silent support at my back and watching his backwards glances at me as he walked away had me wringing my hands together. However, he stepped out into the hall and waited on the other side of the doors where I could see him watching me with his white eyes.

  “You don’t need to be afraid anymore.” The soft voice pulled my attention from Yukihyo to her face, but quickly I looked down. “Come sit by me,” she said as she patted the bed. It felt like I walked through knee-high mud to get to her. She patted the pillow beside her where Papa had been. “Shoes off.”

  Surprised at the simple request, I slipped them off. Momma lifted the blanket for me to climb under it with her. Once I had, I started to cry uncontrollably and couldn’t stop. When I was little, I had always wanted to be held. Grandmother, Yukihyo and Nico’s mothers had held me, but it was nothing like this.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be crying. I should be happy.”

  “Maybe, for you to be happy, you first need to feel what it is you are feeling,” she said as she kissed my forehead. “Teagan, I need to know everything. I know you are afraid, but you are my brave girl, and you will tell me what you remember. You will start at the beginning.”

  Momma made me start with my first memory of her holding me and humming the sad tune from the music box. Eventually, she called for coffee. Otto brought it. I knew Papa had ordered him to report on my condition. Momma raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Thank you. That will be all,” she said.

  Otto bowed and left.

  The hot coffee soothed my throat which felt scratchy and hoarse. She smiled encouragingly at me, but her eyes had a grimness to them. Eventually, even with the way she continuously comforted me empathically, I shook my head.

  “I can’t think of any happy memories until I left for Union Port City. I don’t want to think about this anymore.”

  Momma patted me and kissed my forehead. “It’s alright, darling. Take your husbands and go play in the pool. Send your Papa to me. He must miss me dreadfully.” Momma smiled sweetly at me.

  “Oh, okay.” I slid from the bed, picked up my shoes, and cuddled up to Yukihyo’s chest once I was in the hall. He wasn’t waiting alone. Dr. Fotri and his staff reentered the infirmary.

  “Am I allowed to enter?” Papa asked.

  “Yes,” I told him.

  After he had gone inside, I tilted my head to the side to look through the door. Momma’s face was dark with anger.

  “Are you alright?” Yukihyo asked.

  I shrugged. “Let’s go to the pool.” Linking our fingers together, we went to change.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Of all of us, Zared enjoyed the pool the most. He could swim and move his legs in the water, but I insisted he hold onto a floatie. Knowing what I had already been through with Momma, he didn’t argue. I clung to Yukihyo in the water. Mostly, I kept my face near his neck. The talk with Momma had left me feeling raw, but Yukihyo and Zared weren’t allowing me to hide behind my emotional wall. On Momma’s orders, Jazon and Xavier stood guard at the doors and didn’t allow any of the Warrior Caste entrance.

  Yukihyo chuckled. “She isn’t how I imagined she would be. Neema Probus is feisty. Tavere snaps to attention to do her bidding.”

  I smiled against his neck. “I always imagined she would be sad and damaged, like I was. I’ve always had a hard time reconciling my one memory of her to the pictures of her that Papa showed me. He does mind her. Doesn’t he?” I gave Yukihyo a quiet laugh.

  “Yes, just as I obey you,” he said. I snorted. “I have done as you have asked more than once,” he said in his defense.

  “Okay, I guess we both do,” I said.

  “No, kick my palm. Try again,” Phillip said to Zared. Phillip worked with Zared a few times a day.

  Yukihyo turned us in the water as someone entered the pool. I closed my eyes to avoid being splashed as Nico and Fitz swam past on their second lap. Inquisitor Drex Licinius strode in with a towel thrown over his shoulder and nothing else.

  “Princess Probus, Empress Probus ordered me to join you.”

  “Um, that’s fine, Drex, but where are your shorts?”

  With a blank expression, Drex answered, “Empress Probus saw me on my way to report to the pool, laughed rather hysterically, and ordered that I remove them. She confiscated them.” Drex tossed his towel onto a chair and stepped down into the pool. I watched his feet and then all of the rest of him disappear. Yukihyo pushed my chin up to close my mouth.

  “Drex! You got naked in front of my Momma?” I asked horrified.

  “One does not argue with Empress Neema,” Drex said.

  “No, one does not. How am I to get anymore grandchildren if you keep your husbands continuously covered? Darling, you even have them swim clothed? Do you make them shower with their pants on?”

  Speechless and with round eyes, I stared up at Momma. Papa was holding her. “Momma, it’s not proper.”

  “Darling, don’t be so uptight. You need to relax and have some fun. I don’t expect Yukihyo or Zared to know their way around Parvac, but Nico Cassian, Fitz Jiri, and Drex Licinius, I expect better from you three. Do you know my daughter well enough to amuse her? Do I need to have her courted by men who will show her a good time? Do better,” she ordered. “Tavere, take me out on the lake. I’m tired of being cooped up inside.”

  “Yes, my love. Teagan, we are taking your barge,” Papa said as he turned and walked through the doors that Momma’s Imperial Guards held open.

  Nico said, “We had better be gone by the time they get back.”

  “Momma is so bossy.” I had a scowl on my face.

  Nico gave me a serious look. “She means it. If she thinks we are neglecting your happiness, she will have Warrior Caste males surrounding you.”

  “She can’t. I have my contest for suitors all worked out. I was just looking over the contributions of a few entrants the other day.”

  “I don’t expect that to last for long,” Nico said.

  “Why?”

  “Once your mother learns of it, she will abolish it. Empress Neema will not give into your every whim as does the Emperor.” Nico shook his head. “Teagan, your Papa’s manipulations infuriated you.”

  Brazenly, Drex pulled me from Yukihyo’s arms, smiled at me, and said, “I will help you for a price.”

  “Help me with what?” I asked while worrying about his dangly parts.

  “Teagan, you are woefully unprepared for the attentions a Parvac mother gives to a marriageable daughter,” Drex warned.

  “I’m already married. I’ve got bunches of husbands.” Thinking of somewhere we could go, I said, “I know. Let’s go visit Kaoti and Violet. We’ll get to see the new baby.”

  “I’d enjoy seeing Kaoti all soft and sappy,” Phillip said.

  “As would I,” Yukih
yo agreed.

  When we arrived at the Aegisthus house, we sent Kaoti’s mother, along with the small Warrior class neighborhood where they lived, into chaos. The people who were home decided to spend the day outside trimming hedges or sitting in the shade talking quietly with friends. The fortunes of my momma’s former guards had reversed. With their reinstatements as Imperial Guards, their years of ostracism had ended.

  “Princess, you honor our house with your visit,” Kaoti said. He seemed to be speaking for his mother, a plain, plump, older lady with short black hair. Lady Aegisthus was blushing and smiling.

  I kissed Kaoti’s cheek and curtsied to his mother. “I hope it’s okay that we dropped by. I miss you both terribly and have desperately wanted to see the baby. Also, my mother insisted we go and have some fun.”

  “Teagan, is that you?” Violet called. “Hello! I’ve missed you,” she said as she hugged me.

  “Koty! Koty! Koty!” Neema said as she held her hands out. Kaoti took her and gave the little princess a kiss before she could give him one. She giggled at him.

  “Come see,” Violet said with a happy smile and all of the playfulness back in her step. “Princess Teagan Alaric Montgomery Lee of House Probus of Parvac, may I present Poppy of House Aegisthus?” Violet picked up a little pink bundle with dark-brown hair and brown eyes. Poppy was dressed in soft pink frills.

  “Oh, Violet, she’s beautiful,” I said.

  “Congratulations, Kaoti. Welcome to the fatherhood society,” Nico said as he patted him on the back.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Drex hand Kaoti a data chip. I assumed it contained details of the questioning of Felix and his Earth Loyalists. I couldn’t ask because Violet and her mother-in-law were ushering me into a sunroom. I sat and held Poppy while Violet got to know Peter. Lady Aegisthus had all kinds of interesting toys to show Neema and Niklos.

  “So, what’s it like having your mother returned to you?” Violet asked.

  Smiling, I said, “It’s amazing. She loves me. She’s so beautiful that I want to sit and stare at her and listen to her voice all of the time.”