by Emma Dean
The others stayed quiet at his confession and Adelina felt her hands shake under their gazes – waiting to see what she had to say in response to all they’d revealed.
Adelina looked to the females. There was a pain written on their faces that she understood completely. Their worth was currently in the offspring they could produce – specifically female offspring who would help further the Drakesthai race…and they were unable to do so.
Kalene glanced up at Adelina and then quickly looked back down; horrified Adelina had caught her stealing a look. Goddess, this female was only a cycle or so younger than her. No doubt she wished for more out of her life than breeding.
But it wasn’t just the pain of freedom lost she saw on these females. It was the pain of wishing for children that would never come. There was also fear – miscarriages and birth were still deadly for them with so many complications. The wings in the womb had to make things a thousand times more difficult.
Adelina could help them. Perhaps not instantly, but the physicians in Draga were the best in four galaxies. Their research and breakthroughs were nearly unheard of anywhere else. They’d just created a vaccine to one of the last diseases that had no cure thanks to Ian. She had no doubt in her mind that she could fix what her people had done – and if not through reverse engineering then through discovering the original disease wrought upon these people through her investigation.
There was no doubt in her mind that what they said was true, even if she didn’t understand it. Why lie to her after decades of silence? But she needed more information to know how to help them.
“Princess Tatsuo, tell me what your opinion is on the matter?”
Nash shot her an annoyed look, but Adelina ignored him. She wanted answers. And she needed the female perspective on the matter so as to compare and understand the Drakesthai a bit better.
“If you could truly help us I’d be willing to overlook the transgression your people have committed against mine,” she sniffed. “You are not the one who poisoned us.”
Adelina unclasped her hands and flexed her fingers, looking up at the stone ceiling and its stalactites to regain control over the temper she felt rising at the female’s dismissive tone. “Please excuse my ignorance, but when did this transgression occur?”
Prince Rykian frowned as he studied her. There was a flash of something she couldn’t read in his eyes, but he wasn’t angry. The wariness she felt in him eased. “Two hundred cycles ago, after we helped King Beo fight back the Neprijat.”
Adelina went completely still as she took in his words…and the meaning. Everything she’d read during King Beo’s reign needed to be realigned. How was so much history missing from the textbooks? She glanced at Nash who seemed just as confused. Did the Corinthians not have any information in their digital records either?
She turned her gaze down into the crystal pool as she tried to gather her thoughts, studying the amethyst that so ironically matched her eyes. Her instincts warned her to be honest with them – only with the truth would she be able to acquire their help.
“I have spent my life studying what little we know about the Drakesthai and the Hai Galaxy,” she confessed. “It is written that we were alone in the fight against the Neprijat, but the details are rather vague and open to question…it is said we haven’t had contact with anyone in the Hai Galaxy for nearly six hundred cycles. Everyone thought the Drakesthai were dead and gone until twenty cycles ago when our scout was sent back with orders to never return. If what you said is true…our records must have been purged. There aren’t many left from that time – but…” It was difficult to consider a lifetime of lies and betrayal. What other secrets were hiding in the royal library?
Adelina looked up at Prince Rykian and stood firm. It didn’t matter what was written. The Drakesthai needed her help regardless, and she needed theirs. “What occurred was over two hundred cycles ago, but there are a few who remain from that time. If I can find the perpetrator I will deliver them to you so you may seek justice.”
The sacred words echoed in the cavern and her people responded. “Justice must be served!” Nadyah, Varan, and Roxy shouted, intoning the sacred words.
Kalene started at the sudden sound, but Adelina held Rykian’s gaze. “I have the power to grant this and more.”
“And what if it is one of your own?” Tatsuo demanded.
Adelina slid her eyes to the older princess. “They are all my own.”
“What if they are royalty?”
The question infuriated her. As though she would not serve justice based on rank. How absurd and insulting.
Adelina laughed then, letting them see behind her calm mask a bit. She was done tiptoeing around the subject. “You seem to misunderstand, Princess Tatsuo. The only royal left alive who could have poisoned you all is my grandmother and I would gladly give her to you. My father and sister are dead.”
Nash winced at that and some small, petty part of Adelina was glad he hurt, because he had hurt her.
She paced, eyeing each of the winged males, but especially the females, baring her teeth as she spoke, and daring them to say they were the only ones to suffer. “My last living sister now rules as queen and she gave me carte blanche to make this alliance happen.” Adelina slashed her hand through the air, feeling her wolf rise to the surface.
Varan grinned at her; the smile was possessive, indulgent, and proud. It gave her the confidence and strength she so desperately needed as she released more of her wolf.
“Queen Giselle is currently waging war, thick in the battles against the Neprijat along with my brothers. They might all be dead by the time I return to the front lines, so it doesn’t really matter to me either way who committed the crime. Rank does not protect one from their crimes in Draga. I will find the perpetrator once the war is over, and find the cure to your sickness. There will be justice for this transgression.”
“Justice will be done!” her people shouted once more in the Ancient language.
Adelina stopped before Vasili, staring up at him, daring him to question her again. Despite the difference in their height he was the one to look away first. Then she turned to Tatsuo, keeping Rykian in her sights – allowing Roxy and Nadyah to worry about the others.
“In return you will sign an alliance with Draga and lend me your armies to rid us all of the Neprijat scourge and their poison.” Adelina felt the wolf, so delicious and feral. Her claws ached and her senses were heightened. What she wouldn’t give to run and howl and tear and rip into her enemies. “I personally cannot wait to remove each limb from their bodies.”
Her feral smile full of teeth was their signal.
“I will take their eyes last so they may watch what is done to them,” Varan whispered with that maniacal laugh he used to terrify the riffraff of Draga.
“They will burn, screaming until their throats are nothing more than ash,” Roxy murmured, her red hair suddenly taking on new meaning.
“Any left won’t know they’re dead until it’s too late, throats slit in the shadows,” Nadyah said so sweetly it took a moment for her words to truly register.
The oldest female, Serilda, didn’t seem impressed by their theatrics, but the others looked almost fearful, wary of the wolves they’d allowed into their den.
“You don’t require us to ally with Khara?” Rykian asked, nodding his head at Nash.
Adelina didn’t even bother looking at the prince despite how hard her heart pounded. They were nearly done. She could leave the Council to consider their exchanged words while she settled her wolf and heart.
But she prayed Nash would let her explain.
“I would prefer that you did, but it is not a requirement. We will retake Khara with the Corinthians either way to honor our original alliance with them.” Adelina inspected her claws and then clasped her hands behind her back. She strode back to Varan’s side and then turned to face the Council. She held Kaiden’s gaze as she spoke. “Think about my words. Send me the information on the disease yo
u speak of and the events leading up to it so I may start an investigation regardless of your ultimate decision. Injustice does not go unpunished in Draga, not if I have anything to say about it.”
Adelina didn’t wait for a dismissal. This would be the last bit of dramatic flair Varan had instructed her on. She turned on her heel and walked out of the Council room – as if the Drakesthai’s decision didn’t matter to her, as though she could manage well enough without them.
She would not beg.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adelina
The Royal Eyrie
Planet Hai Delta
Prince Kaiden caught up to them and then led her and Nash’s group to a room that was well furnished. It appeared to be some sort of fancy waiting area. “I will get you those files now Princess Adelina, while the Council discusses their options. I doubt you will have an answer before tomorrow. In the meantime you will be served lunch while rooms are set up for your people. Please, give me numbers and I will have it done.”
Adelina glanced at Varan, and then Roxy and Nadyah. The engineer surprised her when she nodded in agreement. She would stay in the castle then and not the ship. “Just three rooms, and please have them attach if at all possible. The rest of my warriors and crew will stay on my starships. My guards will rotate and head back to the ship when their shift is complete.”
Kaiden nodded and then left them. It was a strange contrast to when Nash had been welcomed on Draga Terra. Kaiden didn’t ask to vet her guards or her warriors. They hadn’t even asked about the Ravager which clearly did not match with her armada. Adelina wasn’t sure what to make of it.
She turned to inspect the room they’d been thrust into, hiding them from curious Drakesthai eyes. Adelina purposefully ignored Nash so she could figure out what to say.
This room was also made of rock. The entire eyrie was actually the mountain and its various caves and caverns. Only some of the outside had been carved into turrets and towers and ramparts. It was oddly beautiful if a bit cold.
A fire raged in a massive, ornate gold fireplace with strange winged and scaled carvings. Jewels set into the stone glittered in the warm light. Adelina’s gaze inspected the velvet and satin couches and armchairs in deep jewel tones of sapphire and emerald and ruby.
The door slid open right when Nash opened his mouth. A servant set out food and drinks on a dining table and then disappeared. Adelina noted the male and his wings. The second he disappeared she smiled at Kaita.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, I’m Princess Adelina.” She stepped forward and gave Kaita the traditional kiss of greeting just to put the other female on unsteady ground. “I am relieved to see you are alive and well.”
Kaita glared and yanked back, but she didn’t say anything rude. “Yes, and I’m sure you know I’m Princess Kaita.”
Adelina introduced Varan, Nadyah, and Roxy. Then she sat down on an armchair and finally looked at Nash.
The room was tense, stifling, and awkward. Adelina would give anything to leave, but she had to see this through. Nash had to hear everything. She only hoped he would listen and it wouldn’t be their end.
“I’m truly happy to see you, Nash. Please, sit.”
Nadyah was the first to sit on the couch near Adelina, and Roxy sat as close to the courtesan as possible. Varan pulled an armchair closer to hers and then slumped into it, lounging in that way of his.
Kaita glared at every single one of them. Adelina didn’t know why the female didn’t like them, or what Nash had told her. Perhaps the warrior princess simply didn’t like Kalans after her time spent on Seprilles. But she finally sat on the edge of the opposite couch so she wouldn’t be required to take off her blades.
Nash sat as well, but he didn’t look happy about it. He kept glancing at Kaita, and Adelina wondered what she’d missed while he was away on his mission. When he wasn’t looking to his princess his gaze flicked between her and Varan. There didn’t seem to be much pain in his expression, mainly anger and betrayal.
Nadyah and Roxy looked so innocuous together, so easy to overlook, but that’s why they were backup. Everyone had prepared for this reunion in one way or another. Even Adelina. It was why she’d been training with Varan and Nadyah, flexing her newfound dominance like a muscle until she could use it when she needed like Raena had during the riots.
The anxiety she could feel from Varan was well hidden, but Adelina had courtesan genes. She could read everyone in the room like a book and she clenched her teeth as she smiled pleasantly at Nash, waiting for the coming explosion.
“It seems much has changed since I left Draga Terra,” Nash finally said, crossing his arms over his chest, making his muscles bulge. “Care to explain?”
Internally Adelina sighed. Goddess, why did he have to be so gorgeous and also so bull-headed?
Varan bristled beside her and sat up, but she was the one who snapped. “Not that I owe you an explanation, Prince, but we both knew this was a possibility, that Raena – goddess protect her soul – would force me to marry. I’m sure you saw her offer me to the Neprijat.”
Adelina stood then, flexing her claws and ignoring the way Kaita tensed. She had too much restless energy with the wolf still so close to the surface. Working it off was imperative to a civil conversation. “There were situations beyond my control, and as such I set things into motion to allow myself to regain that control. When I asked Varan to officially request my hand I was not prepared to fall in love with him. But I did. That does not mean I don’t love you.”
Nash practically growled at her words, obviously disbelieving.
“Before you say something you’ll regret,” Adelina cut in. She stopped next to Varan’s chair and placed her hand on his shoulder. “We’d like to make an official proposal for your hand in marriage.” Varan nodded at her words, but she could still feel how tense he was.
One could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.
Kaita’s mouth dropped open in shock as did Nash’s. His arms fell to his sides and he looked to Varan as though she may be making some ridiculous jest at his expense. The serious expression on Nadyah, Roxy, and Varan’s faces made the blood drain from his face.
“How can you possibly be okay with this?” Nash demanded, jumping to his feet.
Adelina was irked he addressed her husband instead of her, but they’d all known it would come down to this. She took a step to the side as Varan slowly got to his feet with that lazy smile she adored so much.
“I’m okay with it mate, because I love her. And she loves you though I’m having a hard time seeing why at the moment.”
Adelina rolled her eyes at those last words. Varan hadn’t needed to goad Nash into a fight.
It was no surprise when Nash charged. Varan was up and out of his chair in the blink of an eye. Adelina watched warily as Nash tried to get ahold of Varan, but her husband was quick. She took another step back to give them space and clasped her hands behind her back.
This needed to happen. Nash had to vent his frustration and Varan needed to prove his strength and dominance as first husband. But that didn’t mean Adelina had to like it. She especially didn’t like the way Nash grabbed Varan’s arm and twisted it behind his back hard enough she worried he would dislocate his shoulder.
The instincts to step in and protect Varan were nearly impossible to resist. Adelina felt her canines prick her bottom lip, and her sharp nails stung against her palm, but she was careful not to break the skin.
The males crashed into the low table in the center of the room, shattering the wood. The sounds of fists and grunts and general curses filled the room and still no one moved. Every female waited to see what would happen, even Kaita.
In Khara a male could challenge the husband and if he won, then he earned the right to the female if he killed said husband.
It was a fine line to tread. The two needed this, but Nash could not officially challenge Varan. Adelina would lose out either way if that were to happen which is why she watch
ed closely as Nash smashed Varan into a wall, her weight on the balls of her feet.
Varan ducked out and punched Nash in the ribs a few times in rapid succession before spinning and punching his kidneys. Nash was slower and Varan was so quick on his feet. His new strength showed when Nash staggered back, shock on his face as actual pain registered.
Enraged, Nash charged again and Varan tripped him up. Before anyone could react there was a simple, sharp blade at Nash’s throat.
Adelina slowly let out the breath she’d been holding as everyone froze. Now it was her turn.
She stepped forward and walked around the two so she faced Nash. His eyes glittered up at her, the red blazing with his fury. Only when she had his full attention did Varan re-sheath his knife and step away.
“Varan is the more dominant,” she said softly. “You would be near equals, but he is the first husband and thus holds a higher rank.” Goddess, she wished he could understand. Perhaps this wasn’t meant to be after all.
Nash’s outraged yell didn’t surprise her. She’d felt him with that string that had always connected the two of them, bound them together in ways she didn’t understand. Her courtesan genes only made the move more obvious. When Nash tried to go around her and charge Varan yet again, she let him.
Then Adelina snagged the back of his collar and yanked – like she had with Hayden, like she’d trained to do over the last week. Adelina released all her Draga dominance and strength; she released her wolf and slammed Nash onto his ass.
