Still, nothing.
She hit her hand hard against the door. “Blast it, Range! Let me out of here. I told you I can get you your money. All I need is a little bit of time. I had the angle all worked out.” She thought of the crazy man who called her his wife. No part of her liked what she was doing, but she had little choice. If not only to save herself, Riona thought of her sister. Aeron would not last in such a primitive place. Her sister wasn’t built for adventure. She’d seen the Galaxy Brides ship leave. She’d seen that possessive man carry Aeron off. “Range, I have a mark. He doesn’t suspect a thing. In fact, he thinks I’m marrying him. I’ll have your credits for you in no time.”
The longer silence persisted, the more worried she became. There was no telling where she was. The room was small. Surely that meant she was on a ship somewhere. When she closed her eyes, she felt the room move and her weak body sway. Those tiny vibrations could only mean one thing. Turbulent space travel. Right?
“Range?” Her voice lost some of its bravado. Tired, she leaned into the door, pressing her forehead against her wrist. “By the bounty of Jareth, I swear this guy is an easy mark. I’ll have enough Galaxa-promethium to pay you back twice over. Galaxa-promethium, Range, that’s the ore for long-distance space travel. It’s like liquid currency. Everyone will accept it. Now let me out of here so we can negotiate the interest rate…”
Riona’s words trailed off as she detected movement. Feet were outside the door. She lifted her head as it slid open to keep from falling.
“It’s about time,” she said with a boldness she didn’t feel. “Now how about giving a girl some…”
It wasn’t Range. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest. The half-naked husband from the Breeding Festival stood before her. He was the very last person she expected to see.
“Clothes,” she finished weakly. “You’re not…”
“Range?” the man supplied coldly.
“Naked,” she whispered, confused.
Though he was fully dressed, she remembered what he’d looked like in a pair of snug pants at the festival grounds. He’d been bare-chested then. Now, he wore an immaculately tailored, loose-fitting shirt that hung over his tight pants. A tiny, symmetrical pattern had been embroidered around the bottom hem of the shirt. It was vastly different than the savage garb of the wedding event. Like this, he appeared refined. How was it she’d dismissed him as some crazy barbarian before?
Confused, she glanced behind him. It wasn’t a ship. In fact, it appeared as if she was in someone’s home. This man’s most likely. The place was lavish, all smooth stone walls and floors with thick rugs and wooden furniture. The oversized décor fit nicely into the spacious abode. A banner of a dragon standard hung on the wall. Its predominant placement gave away its importance. When she again looked at him, she saw his eyes shift and change with a golden hue. She knew the Draig men were dragon shifters. She’d seen him turn. The fact he had special abilities hardly scared her. She’d seen plenty of aliens, even if this one happened to be an incredibly sexy-crazy alien who made her heart beat a little faster. Already weak from whatever strange illness plagued her skin, she swayed on her feet but managed to keep standing.
“Are you in pain?” he asked.
She shook her head in denial. It was a lie. She hurt, but that was secondary at the moment.
“Princess Nadja sent some medicines for you to try once you awoke to help with any pain should you start feeling it,” he said.
“Nadja from the ship? She’s a princess?” Riona recalled the quiet, dignified woman. That made sense. Nadja was very poised as if she came from money and privilege. “Why would she care about my pain?”
“She’s your cousin-by-marriage and wants to help,” the dragon man stated. “She’s been studying plant properties on the planet.”
He made a move as if to touch her face and she flinched, snapping her head away.
“Where is this place?” she whispered. Nothing about it made sense. The Draig were primitive people. This was not a primitive home. “It doesn’t look like your planet.”
“This is our planet and this is your new home, wife,” the man ground out between his teeth. She felt more than saw the irritation in him. It radiated off every rigid gesture, seeping from his pores. Guilt compounded fear. She stepped back, very aware of how vulnerable she was in her naked state. The room was small, too small. She didn’t answer. How could she? He stared at her for a long moment and then added, “I hope it’s not too primitive for you.”
With that, he turned and left her.
Riona instantly regretted the insult meant for Range’s ears. She’d never have said it to this man’s face. Insulting innocent people was not her style. She knew in that second, his parting look would be one of those rare moments forever emblazoned in her memory. She didn’t know him well enough to read the expression, but the look of it would haunt her as she forever tried to decipher what it had meant.
He left the door open, not trapping her inside. She didn’t follow him, not right away. Instead, she stood looking out into the wealthy home he’d invited her into. There was nothing primitive about it. She had been so sure she was on Range’s ship. A strange sense of relief and worry filled her. At least with Range, she knew what she was up against. He would act in the interest of himself and his crew. This man, this husband, was a mystery.
A mystery she was stuck with.
Riona looked down at her side. The bleeding hadn’t stopped. She swayed on her feet and pressed her hand to the wound. Maybe forcibly yanking medical tubes out of her body hadn’t been the best way to remove them.
“Ah, dragon guy?” she whispered as she lifted her bloody hand to look at it. “I hate to trouble you, but…” She half-sank, half-fell to the floor. Riona pressed her head to the doorframe and closed her eyes. “I’m not doing so well.”
* * *
Mirek’s heart pounded, but he wasn’t sure if it was excitement, or fear, or anger that caused the violent reaction in his chest. Her words stung. In his happiness to see her awake, he was tempted to forget what she’d said. But that would be foolish, wouldn’t it? Her motives for marrying him were in those words.
Mirek wasn’t like his brothers and cousins. He had an intuitive knowledge from his exposure to other alien cultures. The rest of the universe did not think as they did. It was possible that his bride did not marry for love or for fate. It could be as she’d said, she’d married him for money.
His heart argued that it was the will of the gods. His crystal had glowed. This was fate. The gods had brought her to him.
His mind countered that no one really knew why the crystal glowed. It could be fate or it could be the combination of sex pheromones and lack of radiation from the sun at night. He’d had the thought before but had never let himself actually consider it as a possibility. Mirek wanted so much to believe in fate.
He had to believe in something. He had to believe in the will of the gods. If there wasn’t fate, then what was there? And if he had doubts, would the gods continue to punish him and force her back to sleep?
This was a test. The gods had made her say those things and they watched to see if he was worthy.
Curses! He was going to fail.
He couldn’t fail.
But what if he did? His wife didn’t deserve such punishment.
And yet…
“Mirek? Is it true?”
He blinked, looking up in surprise to see Aeron waddling toward him. She was adorably pregnant like the rest of his sisters-by-marriage.
“Is my sister awake?” Aeron asked. Her features were flushed and she was lady enough not to mention the fact she’d caught him arguing with himself.
“Yes. I was coming to tell you. She’s awake. She’s…”
Aeron frowned in worry. She grabbed his arm. “What it is? Is it bad? I can tell by your face something is not as it should be.”
“She’s awake. Her medical readings look good from what I can tell, but she doesn’t want me tou
ching her. I thought maybe she’d let you examine her, seeing as you’re familiar to her?”
“Familiar?” Aeron gave a soft laugh. The sound was filled with happiness and relief. She walked Mirek back toward his home.
“She does not know me,” Mirek stated, tortured by the truth in his words.
“You said she was awake when you claimed her. Is her memory suffering?” Aeron asked.
“She should know me regardless,” he said. “Just as you would know Bron if you were to lose your memories. It is inside you.”
“That connection took time,” she assured him. “Can I assume by your expression that my sister was her normally charming self?” Aeron squeezed his arm. “If she insulted you, that’s probably a good sign that she’s functioning like normal.”
He frowned.
“Whatever Riona said or did, Mirek, you have to forgive her. My sister has many blocks inside her, just as I did when I first arrived. Give her time. She doesn’t know everything you have done. She doesn’t know what you’ve been through for her.” Aeron gave a long sigh and touched her stomach. “Your nephew does like to kick me.”
Mirek automatically reached to feel the baby. A tiny thump resounded against his hand and he smiled. “He is strong.”
“What did she say to you?”
“She thought I was someone named Range.” He hoped Aeron would fill him in.
“Range? I almost forgot about him. She has been asleep a long time, hasn’t she?” At his expectant look, Aeron added, “I’m sure she’ll tell you about it. I honestly don’t know much about her life.”
Mirek didn’t press the issue as he opened the door to his home.
“Ri?” Aeron called, hurrying past him to see her sister. She came to a sudden stop. “Mirek, help!”
Mirek ran toward the isolation chamber. Riona had passed out on the floor. He shifted partially, detecting her heartbeat and breathing. “She lives. She was standing and glaring at me when I came for you.”
“Stupid woman,” Aeron scolded, more to herself, as Mirek lifted Riona from the ground. “It looks like she pulled her medical tubes out. At least her skin looks much better and she doesn’t scream when you touch her. Lay her down. Let’s heal the wounds and I’ll get her cleaned up. If the machine medically clears her we’ll move her to your bed.”
Mirek said nothing, merely obeyed.
Chapter Five
A dream. It was all a dream.
Riona gasped as she struggled to sit up on the bed. She breathed heavily, feeling her sides and back for tubes and needles. Satisfied that all was well, she gave a small laugh of relief. It was all a horrible dream.
The laugh faded. Then where was she? The dark room gave hints in its shadows, but she didn’t recognize her surroundings. Galaxy Brides’ ship? No. This room was too large, even for a luxury craft.
When she tried to stand, she flinched in pain. Riona held her sore side. Now upright, her weak muscles protested, but she refused to lie back down.
It wasn’t a dream. This was reality.
Following a tiny thread of light, she found herself in a large wardrobe. Clothes were neatly stacked on shelves and hung from hooks along one side of the wall. Boots lined a special rack. A large trunk rested in the corner. The costumes seemed a strange blend of alien cultures and did not belong together in one collection. A stack of tunic shirts hardly matched the Azoomian man-dress or the Frer short coat.
On the other side of the closet, the strappy Qurilixen bridal gown hung next to several dresses. She wasn’t really a dress kind of girl, but the long male tunics were too big for her and would look like dresses if she took one of those instead. Finding a green gown with the least amount of frills and material, she then slipped it over her naked body. It was a perfect fit, even if it was floor length and looked better suited to a nunnery compound. Perhaps that was for the best. It hid the worst of her splotches. Then she eyed the male pants. Riona pulled the dress off and dropped it on the floor. So the pants were a little too big, but the loose fit was easily fixed as she wrapped the attached belt straps around her waist a couple of times. The Frer short coat worked as a shirt. It was a large square of dark green and purple swirls. She slipped it over her arms before buttoning the sides from hip to armpit. The boots on the rack next to the gowns felt as if they’d been made for her feet. She tucked the end of the baggy white pants into them to keep the hems from dragging on the floor.
Riona didn’t care what she looked like at the moment. It wasn’t like she was trying to win any fashionship shows. In truth, if she could keep her body upright, she’d call that a crowning win.
She limped toward the bedroom only to stop and guiltily stumble back to pick up the dress she’d dropped on the floor. Riona placed the gown on the rack where she’d found it.
Seeing a knob on the wall, she turned it. Movement overhead let more light into the bedroom. Riona noted that only one side of the giant bed had been slept in. She’d been alone. A brief wave of relief washed over her. She didn’t get the rapist vibe off her would-be husband, actually far from it, so she was relatively certain her biological clock had not started its fatal countdown. Whatever was wrong with her, she would live through it.
Her body ached, but she ignored it. She searched her mind, but the details of what had happened to her weren’t there. She remembered crazy, half-naked dragon man trying to marry her. She remembered cutting herself. There was a queen and smiling people and then…
“Aeron,” Riona whispered. She closed her eyes, concentrating. One of the dragons had claimed her sister. On stage, they had called the man something? A something duke. The duke was taking her sister to a home in the mountains. She opened her eyes, setting her purpose. “I have to find a duke in the mountains.”
It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all she had.
Riona might not be the best sister in all the known universes, might not see her sibling for years at a time, might not even know how to talk to Aeron without baiting the woman into a fight, but Riona loved her sister. In the end, Aeron was the only family she had. Normally, her sister was safe on a floating Federation base. No one would dare attack a Federation ship, and not many people would have reason to attack a boring ship full of civilian-contracted analysts. Aeron should have just called her to deal with this. Riona was better equipped to handle tough situations. She liked the idea of Aeron tucked away and protected. Federation ships were the safest places to be.
A pain ran up her right leg with every step, but she ignored it. Stairs led down to the lavish home she’d seen through the isolation chamber’s door. At the time, she’d been too scared and weak to really look at it. The mausolean stone walls and floor would have made the room uncomfortable if not for the touches of fur rugs and oversized wooden furniture. A giant dragon standard stared down at her, the embroidered eyes seeming to follow her as she made her way slowly into the spacious room. The isolation chamber door was closed but the privacy shield wasn’t activated. She saw a woman on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor where Riona had bled on it.
Not wanting to be detected, she slipped as quietly and quickly as she could out of the woman’s line of sight. Instinctively, she went to the large wood door. Its carved panels set it apart from others in the home. As she neared, she glanced behind to make sure the servant didn’t come out of the room before lifting her hand to where scanners were usually placed. She swept her fingers along the door frame. It slid open, letting her out. Riona peeked into a stone corridor. Seeing it was empty, she didn’t hesitate as she left the dragon man’s home.
She half-expected someone to stop her as she hobbled as fast as she could through the twists and turns of the hallway. She kept a steady course, not turning down the side corridors unless she had to. If she became lost, she needed to find her way back to the start again. Tears threatened the longer she walked, but she limped on.
“Aeron,” she whispered. “I have to find Aeron.”
* * *
“Alien!”
> “Kill it, Trant, kill it!”
“Slay the creature. It wants our mines!”
Mirek suppressed a smile as the childish shouts and cheers resonated from outside. Being from Mining Village, the boys were well aware of the now-legendary fight between the invading Tyoe alien and Lady Clara. The woman had been trapped in the mines for days with her husband, Vlad. In that time, Clara had scared off the alien invader, saved the miners with them and became an instant heroine of the mines. Thinking of the very prim and proper lady speaking to her stoic parents, Mirek had to laugh.
Cenek, local caretaker to the ceffyl herd, had let the boys camp in the stables with one of the beasts who’d lost her baby around the time of the Breeding Festival. Since then, the beast had adopted them as replacement babies. This became a badge of honor when the boys discovered the heroine of the mines had a unique connection to and could communicate with the ceffyls. Unwilling to give up such a distinction, they made a point of coming back to the fortress home often to secure their place as adopted beasts. Their shouts had become a constant backdrop to the home. He quite enjoyed the noise.
Mirek turned the corner, intent on going home to check on his bride. He found it difficult to concentrate when he knew she had finally awoken from her coma. Well, briefly anyway. At least now she slept in their bed and no longer required the isolation chamber.
There was a lot he wanted to know, about her, from her…like why his wife had tried to negotiate with someone named Range by promising to use him and his primitive planet for their ore. The thought caused him to frown.
“Ah,” a female screamed, “Stop!”
Mirek paused. There were no female children here. Instantly, he sprang into action, shifting on instinct to join whatever was happening outside his home.
The Impatient Lord Page 7
