by M. A. Church
"They are something, aren't they?" I closed my eyes.
"Yeah. Want me to stay while you rest?"
"Please." I pulled my hand back, pounded my pillow into submission, and flopped down on it. "Sorry I dumped that all over you. Damn sure wasn't cool. Besides, I'd rather be mad than crying all over the place."
"Sometime you gotta do what you gotta do. You aren't alone, Dale. We'll be here for as long as you need us." Chad pulled a chair next to the bed. "I'll be right here when you wake up."
Yawning, I turned over. I wasn't really sleepy, I just wanted quiet. "Thanks."
Two hours later, Jolak and several guards arrived at the medical treatment area. Doc released me since my injuries weren't bad, and I was moved to another area in the palace, where I would remain until Ti returned.
"Dale, this is your room. It's here in our private wing, too, so you're close to Duran and me." Jolak directed his guards to unload some of my things.
The walls were painted in pale blues and the floor coverings were dark browns. The room was the size of Keyno's quarters on his starship. In the living area, there were comfy-looking blue plush chairs and brown knick-knacks. There was a very small kitchen area with a duplicator, too. The bedroom followed the same color scheme, as did the bathroom. It was small, but perfect for one person. And I didn't plan to stay long.
Some small cargo bins by the foot of the bed were open. I looked inside and my mouth fell open. "Those are my clothes and stuff. How did you manage to...?"
"I sent some of my personal guards to your home to retrieve some of your clothes and a few personal things. I figured your stay would be more bearable if you had some of your own belongings." Jolak bit his bottom lip. "But I didn't want you to think that I was moving you in, either. I know that this isn't easy for you."
Two pillows that were on the bed obviously didn't belong there. I picked one up and sniffed it. My eyes watered; it had Keyno's scent on it. The sweet scent of cloves drifted from the pillow, and my mind calmed immediately.
"Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me." Holding the pillow to my chest, I faced Jolak.
"No, I don't know what you're feeling, but I know I'd be a wreck if Duran was missing. I tried to do the things I would want done for me. I hope it helps."
"Oh, it does." I had to sit down.
The king's mate sat on the bed next to me. "I had hoped we'd get a chance to spend time together, but not like this. I'd like to get to know you while you're here. Please don't shut yourself off from us. I mean, we're family."
"Yeah. This sucks in ways I can't describe."
"I am so sorry." He picked at the bedding. "I don't know what to say to make this better. Very few are allowed to see me because of who my mate is, so I don't have much experience with things like this. I just want you to know we'll do what we can to help you—and Duran can do a lot."
For the first time, I really looked at Jolak. He was near my age—he'd said so at the party—and seemed like a nice guy. I'd never stopped to think what it must be like to be mated to the king of a whole damn planet. Of course he didn't have many friends; the risk would be too great. Being the king's mate had to be hard on him because of all the restrictions. Maybe Chad and John could get permission to visit me, and I could... I didn't know what, but I was all too happy to focus on something besides my own problems. I needed something to distract me, or I'd go nuts worrying about Keyno. And Jolak looked like he needed a few friends.
"Doc told me to take it easy, but I'd really like to take a walk and get some fresh air. I didn't get to really see much of the palace that night we were here. If you're not busy, maybe we could—"
"Oh!" He beamed at me. "That sounds lovely. It would be better if we stayed in the private areas, though. Yar is also part of the royal family, so he has access to the palace, but he doesn't have access to my and Duran's living quarters. We'll go to my gardens, how's that?"
"Anywhere I can't run into that creep works for me."
Jolak frowned. "He was a bit presumptuous, wasn't he? I do wonder how he knew about... well, you know. Captain Ti contacted Duran when he received the distress signal. Duran sent Gibor out as temporary captain of Keyno's starship, the Algol, to help. We, of course, came. I wouldn't think there was time for word to get to Yar, seeing as we left immediately."
"Unless he already knew what had happened."
He stopped at my door and turned to me. "That's a very serious charge, Dale. Are you saying you believe Yar had something to do with Keyno's kidnapping?"
I scrubbed at my face. "I... there are too many coincidences to suit me. First Yar stares at me like he did, and then we get attacked? And Yar just happens to show up before I'm even released, trying to claim me? Maybe I'm overreacting, but I saw the look in his eyes that night. It was... predatory, Jolak. Keyno told me the reason there are papers on mates now, too. Is it so unbelievable he'd do something like this?"
Jolak chewed on his bottom lip. "These Tah'Narians can be very aggressive. That's what got them into trouble in the first place. By Afazdar, if what you think is true, we really have a problem."
"Who?"
"Ah." Jolak winked at me. "She's my people's goddess of justice. The Tah'Narians don't force mates to follow their religious beliefs. Actually, since the war with the Onfre, most Tah'Narians aren't that religious. Well, a small number of sects follow the old way, but those are few and far between. They're a bunch of crazies, if you ask me, and a constant pain for my mate to deal with. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. Say nothing of this for now, and I'll speak to Duran."
We stepped out in the hall and three guards fell in behind us as Jolak led the way to his gardens.
"They always follow you around?"
"I'm afraid so, yes." He punched in a code and we entered another hallway. "But I was a prince on my planet, so this is nothing new to me. Here we are." Jolak led me through a door that opened to the outside.
"This is absolutely beautiful. If this was mine, I don't think I'd ever leave here."
There were explosions of color everywhere, from flowers to shrubs to trees. Pebble paths ran this way and that. A maze had been constructed from dark purple bushes. In the middle of the garden was a water fountain that had bubbling lavender water. As I looked around, I noticed a scheme to things. What I originally thought were nothing more than chaotic groupings of colors were actually shades of purple.
"Like the color purple, do you?" I said, nudging Jolak as we walked through his garden.
Jolak fluffed his hair. "I come by the liking naturally."
I snorted out a laugh as I looked at his chin-length lavender hair and purple eyes. "You don't say."
We both laughed as he led us to a bench near the fountain. Our guards melted into the background, but they were always close. I sat down and Jolak joined me.
"It's peaceful here."
He looked around the garden, his face softening. "Yes. I made it this way for Duran. There are times that he needs an escape."
"Being ruler of an entire planet, I'd imagine so." We sat there in silence for a moment, Jolak's words playing in my head. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes, absolutely."
How did I put this? I didn't want to offend him, but I was curious if his experience was as bad as mine. "How did you end up here? I mean, mated to King Duran?"
He lifted a flower, and sniffed it. "Ah well, pretty much the same as you and so many others. They came to our planet seeking mates. We are more advanced than your planet, but not as advanced as the Tah'Narians."
Startled, I looked at him. "So you know about Earth?"
A strange purple and orange bug buzzed around the flower and Jolak released it. The bug landed and walked around the rim of the flower before wandering inside. "Like I said, we are family now, so I looked up your planet's history. I knew that Keyno planned to bring back a mate from Earth, and I wanted to know as much about your homeworld as possible. Plus Duran shares many things with me. I have to say your planet interests
me."
Earth interested him? "Oh, why?"
"There has been much war on your planet between your people, and humans tend to be rather violent when pushed. But from what I've seen of their history, Earthlings are survivors."
"That's true."
"We weren't as technologically advanced as the Tah'Narians, so we met with them. When they told our rulers what they needed, we... gave them what they wanted. Just as Earth did. Only we didn't try to hide it."
"Damn government."
"Yes. Well, my father was king over the western hemisphere of our planet. Another was ruler over the eastern hemisphere. While we were in talks with the Tah'Narians, my father asked to speak to King Duran about also establishing trade rights with them. While they spoke via hologram, I entered my father's chambers to ask him something. Duran saw me. The next thing I knew, he was on my planet, wanting to meet me."
"Did you know what he really wanted?"
Jolak stood and made his way to the fountain, running his fingers through the water. "Oh, yes. My father wasn't ruler for no reason. He saw the benefit a mating between me and Duran would have for him."
I joined him at the fountain. There were white fish with iridescent fins swimming around inside. They chased his fingers. "That just seems so wrong. Were you given no choice?"
There was a container next to the fountain that held food. Jolak dipped some out and fed the fish. "Dale, I always knew I'd be married off in an alliance that was profitable for my father. That's royalty for you. It matters not. As soon as I met Duran, I was enamored and wanted to be his mate. And it has been good for my people. The Tah'Narians are our allies now."
"Still..."
"Arranged marriages are not uncommon on Earth, from what I've read."
"Maybe that's true, but not where I grew up. It still seems wrong to me." I waved my hand, dismissing that subject. There was something else that interested me more. "Can I ask about... um..."
He followed my eyes to his stomach and grinned. "You want to know about my pregnancy?"
I swallowed. I did, yes. But I was also afraid of what he would say. "If you don't mind talking about it."
"Mind? Dale, I'm tickled over it." He returned to the bench. "It took so long, and I worried... but that's in the past. I am pregnant now, and that's all that counts."
I sat down next to him. "Okay, stupid question, but did the males on your planet get pregnant?"
Jolak snickered. "No more than male Earthlings did."
"Okay, see, there you go." I vigorously nodded my head. "That's what I mean. It isn't natural for us. And God, it wigs me out. Women are supposed to be the ones giving birth, not us. This doesn't freak you out at all?"
"Probably not as much as it seems to bother you. Earthlings tend to be very narrow-minded from what I've seen and read. My race was more open, as are many others. But that's probably due to Earthlings not being as advanced—actually, humans are just babies still as far as exploring space goes."
"Babies having babies," I muttered as an old ad campaign played through my head.
"What?"
"Nothing." I shrugged. "Aren't you afraid?"
"Not really." Jolak tilted his face up to the sun. "I'm nervous, yes, but it's more fear of the unknown, you know? I know there will be a scheduled Caesarean, and that I'll be awake. I also know I'll be given pain relief."
I was more than a little freaked out when I reached the part about C-sections in my studies, but it made sense. How else would you get young out, after all? And I wasn't too sure about being awake through the whole thing, either. Thanks to the Tah'Narian DNA, mates developed a surculas. It was kind of like a womb, but without the hassle of menstruating. A normal pregnancy for gene-spliced mates usually lasted around three months.
From my studies, I'd learned that a purebred Tah'Narian body was designed to have a surculas. When it was time for the birth, the skin would split, and then the surculas' casing would crack like a hen's egg, and voila, there was a young. Thanks to the war, that was no longer an option. Purebred Tah'Narians couldn't reproduce, so this was how the Tah'Narians coped. It still freaked me out.
One of the personal guards appeared and told Jolak what time it was. He nodded and turned to me. "Dale, Final Meal will be soon. Would you care to have it with Duran and me?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. If you're sure." I bit my lip. "This isn't a formal dress deal, is it?"
Jolak patted my hand. "How you're dressed is fine. We are as informal as you can be when it's just us."
"Then count me in." I followed Jolak out of the gardens.
Jolak and I became close friends over the next several days. He stayed near me at all times, allowing Chad, John, and their mates to visit. They were the only ones allowed to see me. Yar requested to visit me, but his request was denied by King Duran, thank God. Yar still managed to catch glimpses of me around the palace, though, and Jolak took note of how Yar stared at me. He was concerned, too, and had broached the subject of Yar possibly having something to do with Keyno's kidnapping with King Duran. The problem was, there was no proof. And no Keyno, either.
I knew that Keyno wasn't dead. Something told me that he was alive and trying to get back to me. When pressed, though, I couldn't identify how I knew any of these things, only that I did. I also knew that I trusted Ti to find him, no matter what, and surprisingly enough, I trusted Colt, too. And, because Keyno had spared his life, finding Keyno was a matter of honor for Colt.
Time passed at a crawl as I waited to hear something—anything—from Ti or from the starship that had been sent to search for the space pirates. The longer I waited, the more I had to fight the panic threatening to overwhelm me. This couldn't go on indefinitely, and Yar kept pushing King Duran to declare Keyno dead and to hand me over to him.
Three days after the attack, I was escorted to the Throne Room by the King's personal guards.
Chapter Sixteen
There stood a dirty, disheveled, and wildly furious Keyno. Raised voices floated around me as I focused on the one thing that mattered most to me: my mate.
"Keyno!" I ran across the room, throwing myself into his arms. "I knew you were alive, I knew it, I knew it!" He was filthy, covered in slimy mud that stank to high heaven, his hair a mess of twigs, leaves, and some unknown substance. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what it was, and I definitely wasn't sure I wanted to know how or why it was in his hair. His clothes were ripped in places, and he sported a huge bruise on the side of his head.
"By the gods, are you all right, my chosen?" Keyno lifted me off my feet, hugging me close, his hands clutching at me as I burrowed into his big body. Bruises covered his face like some bizarre form of camouflage, mute testimony to his being punched repeatedly. One eye was black, and his lip was busted. Apparently, he hadn't let Doc treat his injuries, coming straight here.
"As I told you when you first arrived, he's had the protection of my very own mate, Keyno. He is safe and untouched." King Duran stressed the last word. "You have my word, nephew."
Keyno kissed my temple. "Dale?"
"I've been right down the hall from King Duran and Jolak. No one was allowed to see me except our friends." I bit back the whimper that threatened to break loose when he set me back on my feet. What the hell? Why is he pulling away from me?
"Sire, may I speak?" Ti moved toward King Duran.
"Please, Captain Ti. Tell me what you know." King Duran waved his hand and silence fell across the Throne Room. Only then did I notice that Gibor and Doc were there, and so was Yar. Five King's Guards, a special group of warriors that protected the king and his mate, were holding Yar.
Ti stood in front of King Duran. "Due to certain contacts I have, we identified a reputed space pirate and followed him to Jigas Three."
Gibor shuddered. "What a hellhole."
"Dangerous place, that," Doc added.
Ti's lips lifted in a twisted mockery of a grin, his fangs showing. "We... detained... him in a bar called TeMorai. It just so happened that he was alo
ne, and apparently flush from a business venture. We invited him to join us for a drink."
Ti described in agonizing detail how he and Colt had "detained" the pirate in the space bar by sticking a knife through the backs of both his hands, pinning their prey to the table. At first the pirate had claimed that he knew nothing about the kidnapping, but the fear in his eyes, Ti said, belied that.
"God," I mumbled as I listened to the story unfold.
Colt grinned, the cold grin I'd seen cross his face once before. "Ti was whippin' his ass pretty good, but we were runnin' out of time and we needed answers."
Ti glanced at Colt, satisfaction shining in his eyes. "I wanted to see what my mate was capable of, so I let him have a turn with the pirate."
Colt had started by breaking one of the pirate's fingers at a time; when that didn't buy answers, Colt had asked for Ti's knife. Removing a knuckle per lie, Colt had worked swiftly and efficiently. There was actually pride in Ti's voice as he spoke about Colt's methods. The pirate lost three fingers and half of his only ear before he told the pair where Keyno was being held.
After the pirate told them Keyno's location, Ti left his broken, bloody body in the bar as a warning to discourage anyone present from following them. Per the snitch's information, Ti found Keyno on an uninhabited jungle planet in a small cage. Ti and Colt rescued him, killing several of the pirates in the process, though enough survived to squeal loud and long about the planning of the affair.
I heard all they said, but my focus was on Keyno—who looked embarrassed. What's going on here? Why does he look like that?
"Sire, the pirates were paid to attack Keyno and Dale as they left Aploi. They were to kill Keyno, thus leaving Dale free to be claimed by Yar. They double-crossed Yar by keeping Keyno alive. They hoped to either ransom him or sell him into slavery."
Thank God they hadn't gotten that far. Why won't he look at me, dammit?
King Duran faced Yar. "You have violated one of my most sacred rules and brought dishonor upon yourself. And all for what? Because you wanted something you couldn't have. You placed Keyno in danger in order to claim his mate, a mate that clearly didn't want you. You were part of an attack against a royal family member. It doesn't matter you are part of the same royal family. I sentence you to death, Yar, in any way Keyno deems fit."
