Kol was suddenly uncomfortable with the sincerity in her eyes. He joked, “What? Now I’m not worthy of a Blue-Dude? I’m Kol again?”
Vivian shrugged, “Well, depends on the mood.” She sat, her clothes spread around her on the sofa, Kitty on the floor beside her feet playing with the discarded packages. “Tell me why some call me Sirena,” she prodded, returning to the subject he’d apparently thought he’d managed to change.
Kol smiled, nodding. Then he said, “Have you noticed that Zha Quin, myself, Ba Re’ and Jhan are more than brothers in arms?”
“You seem closer, yes.”
“We grew up together. There will never be anything that changes our bond.”
“Okay,” she said, instead of, just spit it out.
“He is a good male. The best male. Dependable, strong, he is just and loyal.”
“Okay, I get it, what is your point?”
“I want to be sure you see him for the male he is before you see him as our Sire,” Kol said pointedly, watching her for any reaction.
Chapter 21
“He’s your Sire? Your ruler?” she asked, a stricken look on her face.
“Yes, he is. Well, he will be. Presumably.”
“Can you explain that, please?” she asked again. Her jump in nerves had caused Kitty to leap back onto the sofa and position himself between Vivian and Kol, watching the male suspiciously while emitting a low growl from his chest.
“Be happy to, if you make that creature stop threatening me.”
“He’s not threatening you. Just protecting me,” she said.
“Same thing,” he insisted.
Vivian reached out a hand, “Shh,” she cooed while stroking his fur. “Blue-Dude’s okay.” Gradually Kitty’s growl softened.
Kol went on with his explanation, “At the moment, our Sovereign is Zha Quin’s father. His mother is Sovereigna. Quin will rule one day — his title for now is Sire. You are his female. That makes you Sirena. One day, when Zha Quin rules, he’ll be Sovereign, with you at his side.”
“Wow,” was all she said.
“No, not wow, not really. Just Zha Quin’s lot in life. We all have a lot in life. It’s all about what’s in here, though,” he said, patting his chest. “Doesn’t matter the species, the planet, the hand you’re dealt. What matters is heart, character. Knowing who you are, and making sure you’re the best you can be is what it’s all about. When you do that, you’ll be happy, no matter where you are. And maybe, just maybe, you will be gifted with your Ehlealah, and she with you.”
“I’m just a girl from Earth. I cannot stand beside him to rule anything. I have nothing to offer him. I cannot possibly keep him happy, or help relieve the load he apparently will have to shoulder,” she said quietly, watching Kitty lean over the sofa and bat at torn packaging.
“If you accept him for the male his is, rather than the title he holds, or the things he can provide, it is more than he ever hoped for. It is all he needs.”
“I don’t even know how I came to be here,” she confided.
Kol knew how she came to be here, more or less. But it wasn’t his story to tell. He stood and started picking up packaging, not looking her in the eye.
“You know, don’t you?” she asked.
“No, I do not,” he answered, clearly lying. He was a terrible liar. But, then he had an idea, “Go slip into your new clothes. Go find Ambassador Bart — I believe he will have the answers you need.”
Vivian thought about it, “You know he has the answers I want, don’t you?”
Kol said nothing, just watched her quietly.
“Guess I’m going to find Bart.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Vivian stood outside the lift that would take her to the Command Deck, hesitating. There would be a lot of activity up there. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that. But if she wanted to speak to Bart, that’s where she needed to go. Missy had told her that was where he was with Quin.
She knew she was being shadowed. She’d known it since she left the apartment. She looked down at Kitty and smiled. Then she called over her shoulder, “Vor? I’m going to the Command Deck. Are you riding with me, or following along in the shadows?”
A moment later an irritated Vor responded, “We’ll follow along at a distance.”
“Guess it’s just me and you,” she said to Kitty. She boarded the lift and said, “Missy, please take me to Quin.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Quin was in a conference room, his mother and father on a vidcom screen, and Bart seated beside him at the conference table. Quin heard the door crack open behind him, but didn’t turn to see who it was. He assumed it was one of his advisors.
“Three of them have definitely decided they would like to petition for residence on your planet,” Bart explained to the Sire and Sirena of Cruestace.
“Only three of them?” a male, who was very much like Quin asked.
“Yes, I’ve only had time to work with five of the women so far. Two are undecided, three have requested sanctuary among you.”
“Did they say why they don’t wish to go home?” the Sovereigna asked.
“Yes. They fear they are too vulnerable at home. They know they’d be safe on your planet. Maybe even find a male who’d be interested in them. They said no one would ever be stupid enough to try to penetrate your security to get to them again.”
“Very true,” the Sovereigna said. “Please send their files, we will review them and make a decision.” Then her eyes focused on a point behind them. “And who is this?”
Quin turned his head to see who’d entered that she would not recognize. She knew all of his advisors personally. On seeing Vivian standing there, he exclaimed, “Ehlealah! Is all well?”
Vivian nodded, then said, “Yes.”
Quin stood, approaching her. He took in her dagger, her chain looped over her shoulders, her breasts pressing against the soft, stretchy fabric of her shirt and the way her trousers hugged her figure. Her feet were in shoes he’d never seen before, and her Kitty was at her side. He was caught up in admiring her appearance, she was perfect.
“Ehlealah? Did I hear you call this female Ehlealah?” his mother demanded.
Quin turned toward his mother, “Yes, Sovereigna, you did.”
“Do not Sovereigna me, boy. I'm your mother at this point in time.” Sovereigna Tel Mo’ Kok regarded the tiny, fragile female her son had obviously fixated on. “This is the human that Malm demands be returned to him?”
“Yes,” was all Zha Quin said.
Vivian was immediately aware that she was being sized up. She raised her chin, gripped her dagger and gently allowed her chain to slide from her shoulders to rattle against the metal floor.
“Vivi?” Quin said softly.
Vivian didn’t answer — she was in a stare down with the woman on the vidcom. She wouldn’t be intimidated by anyone anymore, not even this woman. She was a pretty woman, powerful obviously, but it was hard to really get a feel for someone on a holovid. They were not always of the best quality, and this one was a bit unfocused. Vivian stepped forward, pushing the chair Quin had vacated to the side so that the woman could see her clearly.
Quin realized that she was presenting herself to his mother, refusing to back down. He smiled at her and turned, also facing the holovid, standing as one with Vivian.
Vivian didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. And Quin’s mother was extremely pleased. This little female was strong, she wasn’t faint of heart. Nor did she need protection, she carried her own dagger — the Sovereigna peered closer, her son’s dagger, the one she’d personally gifted him if she wasn’t mistaken — and a length of chain for battle. And at her side stood a shraler, of all things.
“Who are you, girl?” Quin’s mother asked.
Quin didn’t think Vivian would answer, but she did. “I’m Vivian. Who are you?”
Well, that didn’t last long, Quin thought. But his mother surprised him.
At the retort the girl did not hesi
tate to deliver, Sovereinga Tel Mo’ Kok burst into unexpected laughter. “Indeed, child. Who am I?” she laughed. “Who am I?”
Vivian stood still, appearing to be relaxed, but Quin knew better. He could feel the tension flowing from her. She waited patiently for his mother to stop laughing.
Finally, Sovereigna Tel Mo’ Kok said, “Is that a shraler at your side, Vivian?”
Vivian didn’t turn her head away from the vidcom screen, but she cut her eyes to Quin and whispered, “That’s what he is, right?”
“Yes,” Quin answered.
“Yes, ma’am. He is a shraler. His name is Kitty.”
“I see. Does Kitty bite?” the Sovereigna teased.
“I suppose he would, if I asked him to.”
Sovereigna Tel Mo’ Kok looked over her son’s Ehlealah again. “Why do you carry weapons, child? Are you not safe?”
“I…” Vivian started, but she stopped speaking and looked up to Quin standing proudly beside her before she continued, “I wasn’t sure. But, I think now, that I might be.”
“Yet you still carry weapons,” the Sirena remarked.
“I will never be at anyone else’s mercy again. I will never do anything I don’t want to do again. I will always be battle ready,” Vivian responded.
Quin’s mother didn’t miss the pride that filled her son’s eyes, or the smile on his face as he stood beside his chosen Ehlealah. This changed everything. Everything. She would move all the heavens in all the universes in existence for the sake of her children’s happiness. And this young woman made Zha Quin happy. “Very well. I have seen all I need to see. This conference is ended.”
The doors slid open behind them and Kitty wandered out as Xallen entered. Vivian pointed her dagger at Bart and said, “I came looking for you. I have questions.”
“I will try to give you answers.”
“You will give me answers. But first I have to catch Kitty.” Vivian turned and hurried from the room, but before the doors slid closed, she poked her head back in and said, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Ma’am. And you too, Sir, though you don’t talk much.”
Then she pointed her dagger at Bart, “I’ll see you in the cafeteria when you’re done.”
“Vivi?” Quin said urgently.
“Yeah, I’m going. He’s not going to bite anyone — he’s probably just hungry.”
“That is what worries me, Ehlealah.”
Vivian flashed him a smile, then angled her dagger at Bart to again make her point, “Don’t forget. I want to talk about home.” Then she was gone.
Quin turned on Bart, “You are not taking her home!”
“I didn’t say I was. She said she has questions. It’s time to tell her the truth.”
“No. It is not your place. I will tell her.”
“Tell her the truth about what, Zha Quin?” his mother asked.
Quin turned to his mother, “This is not a good time, Mother. I’ll answer your questions later, but right now I have more important things to tend to than you wanting to meddle in my life.”
“Do not speak to your mother in that tone!” his father bellowed.
Zha Quin took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them to focus on his mother, “I am sorry, Mother. I am not myself. Please allow me a few days to handle the things I must. I only ask you not to judge her based on this one interaction,” he said firmly.
“Why not?” his mother asked. “She is enchanting. I am very pleased, my son.”
“You are?” he asked.
“I am. In fact, I shall arrive on the next revolution of Sector 11. When you meet with your resupply ship, I shall transfer to Command Warship 1 for a visit. Prepare my quarters, Zha Quin. I wish to meet my new daughter in person.”
“No! She hasn’t agree…” but he didn’t bother finishing his statement, the vidcom had already gone black.
“Fuck!” Quin shouted. He huffed and placed his hands on his hips, hung his head forward.
“Is there a problem?” Bart asked.
“My mother is anxious to meet her new daughter. Her new daughter does not even know she is my mother’s new daughter. I have a shraler wandering my ship that my Elealah is more bonded to than me. My Ehlealah feels the need to wander our ship with a chain and blade to protect herself because I’ve not been able to convince her I can protect her, and she’s managed to teach our computer to be evasive. And she is planning to meet with you to beg a trip home! Is that not enough?”
“It’s not that bad, Quin,” Bart said.
“How is it not that bad?” Quin demanded.
“Trust me. It’s not. It could be much worse. She could still fear you. At least she seems to trust you to a certain degree now.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Quin entered the commissary on the recreation deck and had no problem picking out Vivi immediately. She sat at the same table she always did, her back to the wall, her shraler sitting in his own chair eating from the small mountain of meat she’d placed before him on his very own plate.
He started toward her and couldn’t help but smile when she poured water from her own glass into the empty bowl sitting next to the shraler’s plate.
She noticed him coming and smiled up at him as he approached.
“Hello, Ehlealah.”
“Hello, Quin.”
“I am much pleased that you speak with me so easily now. What changed that you can now speak with me?” he asked gently as he took a seat beside her. He noticed the shraler watching him, but it didn’t growl at him, so he didn’t growl at it.
Vivian shrugged, “You found out that I could understand you.”
“Is that all?” he asked.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve watched you. Listened to your words. I even watched when you thought I was sleeping. You could have hurt me at any time. But you never did. I’ve watched you with everyone you come across,” she stopped picking at the food on her plate and looked directly at him. “You are a good male. I know you won’t hurt me. I’m not afraid of you.”
Zha Quin’s smile was infectious.
“I am happy that you trust me, Ehlealah.”
She squirmed, squinching up her face. “My name is Vivian.”
“I know that. I have called you Vivi. But you are also Ehlealah to me.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know more than you think I do. Eat, then we’ll talk.”
“I’m waiting for Bart. He is going to tell me about how I got here,” she explained. “He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Quin nodded, “I came in his stead.”
“Why?”
“I ordered him to his quarters for the evening. I wish to speak with you alone. You may ask him your questions tomorrow.”
He watched her picking at her food, “Eat, Vivi. Then we’ll be on our way. We have much to discuss.”
Vivian pushed the plate carefully toward him, “I can’t. Not until you make sure it’s safe.”
Quin reached for her spoon and sampled all the things on her plate, then handed it back to her, “It is all safe. Everything you eat here is safe.”
“I still prefer you to test it for me. Do you mind?”
“I do not mind at all,” Quin said, smiling. Loving the feel of her needing him, even for something so simple.
“Thank you,” she said, as she took her first bite. Every second bite, she’d hold her spoon out for Quin to take a bite. He did, every time, knowing his crew were all watching his Ehlealah feed him, while he sat with her and her shraler. He was very proud.
When they were done, he rose from the table, reached out his hand for Vivian, waiting, hoping she’d take it. She looked at his outstretched hand, tucked her dagger into the waistband of her jeans, then placed her left hand in his.
He said nothing, but smiled, his heart pounding, as she walked along beside him. When they reached the exit, he turned to look for Kitty and found him wandering here and there, following his nose and inspecting the scents coming from oth
er tables. “We cannot have this, Vivi.”
Vivian looked over her shoulder, seeing immediately what the problem was. “Kitty!” she called sharply.
Immediately the shraler responded, bounding across the room to catch up with her.
“You must train him to stay at your side at all times if he is to stay with you here.”
Vivian nodded, but didn’t answer. She hadn’t decided she’d be staying here.
They walked quietly to the lift that would take them to their residence floor. He watched her walk onto the lift ahead of him, admiring her new clothing. “I like your new clothing, my little one.”
“Thank you. Blue-Dude brought it to me earlier. He brought me books, too. Thank you so much for buying me these things. I’ll pay you back just as soon as I can.”
They stepped off the lift onto their floor. Quin stopped walking, turning her to him and taking her other hand in his and smiling when the chain wrapped around her palm touched his. “Blue-Dude? And you will not pay me back for anything. You owe me nothing.”
“But, you paid.”
“Yes, I did. But all I have is yours. All I’ll ever have is yours. So, in effect, you paid,” he said, smiling. Proud of himself for thinking of a way for her not to feel like she was indebted to anyone.
She considered his words, eyes darting to the ceiling as she thought about it. “Okay,” she said thoughtfully. “I’ll think about that.”
They started walking again, and she said, “Blue-Dude is Kol. He spent a little time with me. He explained about Ehlealahs and Sirenas, and he told me that Bart would have all the answers I need. He sent me to find Bart, which is how I found you both.”
Zha Quin was going to strangle Kol. He’d wanted to tell her all she needed to know himself.
“Why is your jaw all tense?” she asked.
“I’m not tense.”
“Sure you are. Are you mad at Blue-Dude? Don’t be mad. He made me feel much better. And he brought me books. He’s nice to me,” she said.
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