For endless hours afterward, they hugged each other wrapped in the furs. She listened to the soft susurrus of his breathing and slipped into deep and contented sleep.
Chapter 6: The Choice
She felt a hand touch her bare shoulder and she smiled sleepily. The hand shook her urgently and a fire kindled between her legs. It looked like Nax was ready for another round.
“Okay, okay,” she murmured. “Have some patience.”
She opened her eyes and looked up into the face of a young Narden woman, her pallid face a mask of anxiety.
“What the hell!” Lara exclaimed sitting bolt upright. “Who are you?”
“Keep your voice down,” the girl said anxiously. “You’ll wake the prince and Granor.”
“Who are you?” Lara hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“My name is Reena, I am maid to the Lady Valma,” the girl whispered.
“Lady who?”
“Please, she’s waiting on the balcony. She urgently needs to talk to you,” the girl pleaded.
Lara looked out of the window and saw a female in a long fur cloak watching them. Frowning, she pulled on her clothes and followed Reena out onto the balcony.
The moon was still glowing brightly and high up in the night sky a beautiful lilac aurora light shimmered hypnotically. With no time to enjoy the view, Lara stalked towards the waiting woman.
“You want to speak to me?” Lara asked suspiciously.
The attractive blonde haired woman gave her a small smile. “Hello Lara. My name is Lady Valma.”
“Yeah, your maid said. What do you want with me?”
“I want to help you, Lara,” Valma said gently. “I want to help you escape this world.”
Lara looked at her in stunned silence. “Why would you want to help me?” she said at length.
“You don’t belong here,” Valma said. “You were tricked into coming to this planet and are being held against your will. I was at court when the king and his son treated you so terribly. You are an intelligent and strong woman and Prince Nax is using you as his plaything. I think that’s wrong.”
Lara felt her cheeks heating, despite the chill. “Nax isn’t so bad,” she said carefully. “We have an . . . understanding.”
“I know,” Valma said wryly. “Nax is an excellent lover.”
Lara sucked her breath in. “What are you talking about?”
“Would it surprise you to learn that he is betrothed to me?” Valma drawled. “Don’t worry, I’m not jealous. We are not madly in love, Nax cannot commit to anything serious. He can be very sweet and kind when he wants to be, don’t get me wrong, but in many ways, he is still a child.
People like us, those lower than the royal line, are just a source of entertainment to somebody like him. We are his toys, and like all children, he soon gets tired of his old toys and looks for new ones. I think you grasp my meaning?”
“I’m not a toy,” Lara said, trying not to let her voice shake.
Valma reached out and put a consoling hand on her shoulder. Her touch was as cold as ice. “Please, I didn’t mean to be cruel. I’m just stating a fact. He got tired of me, how long do you think it will be before he gets tired of you? Think about it. When he loses interest, you will have no one to protect you. You’ve seen what the King is like, how long do you think you’ll survive without Nax’s patronage?”
Lara swallowed, and felt a wave of despair hit her. Valma was right of course. “What am I supposed to do?” she said helplessly. “I’m stuck here!”
“Not necessarily,” Valma said, a small smile playing on her lips. “I have a jet sleigh waiting and your ship has been refuelled and is ready to launch. We could be back at the space port before dawn and you could be off this planet and heading for the safety of the Earther space station.”
Lara stared at her incredulously. “You can do that?”
“I am not without influence. It is all arranged, but we have to go now before Nax or Granor wake up.”
“Why would you help me?”
Valma shrugged her shoulders. “I am a pragmatist. With you gone, Nax might come back to me, until something prettier catches his eye. What do you say? Will you come with me?”
By rights, Lara should jump at the woman’s offer. It could all be a trick of course, but it was worth the chance, and she had nothing to lose. Yet she hesitated. She had enjoyed her time with Nax and making love to him was one of the most tremendous experiences in her life.
She had had a few boyfriends, not many as her career came first, but none of them had made her feel like he had. He had unlocked a deep passion in her she never thought existed. She ached for him to touch her again, to take her as his own, but Valma was right.
He was still a child, an immature, silly boy who refused to grow up. He would get tired of her sooner or later, and then what? She doubted she’d last five minutes on this cold, hard planet amongst these cold, hard people. Besides, she missed the Professor and she missed her work aboard Odin. In the final analysis, there really was only one course of action left open to her.
She gave Valma a meaningful look and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Valma’s caring expression hardened and an icy flash of triumph glittered in her sterile blue eyes. She loosened Lara and stepped away from her, turning in the direction of the lodge.
“Is that enough?” she called out.
Lara stared at her in confusion and a harsh white light came on inside the gallery drenching the balcony and temporarily blinding her. As her vision cleared, she suddenly found Nax, the King and Granor, along with two Yetoid guards, emerging from the building.
“What is this?” Lara demanded. “You set me up!”
“This is not my doing, Lara,” Nax said in a subdued voice. “He turned up without warning and demanded we go through this charade.”
“And it’s a good thing I did!” Prius raged. “You have been making a fool of yourself and of me by cavorting with this Earther slut! She doesn’t care for you at all! What were you thinking? Idiot! I am tired of your wastrel ways boy! The alliance with Lady Valma’s family is too important to jeopardise! When we return, you will be married at once!”
To Lara’s utter surprise, Nax nodded submissively. “Yes father.”
“Nax!” she exclaimed. “You can’t let him talk to you like that! I thought you were your own man?”
“What do you care?” Nax retorted, the rawness in his voice making her flinch. “I offered you my world, revealed my inner self to you and the first chance you get you try and leave me!”
Lara cringed with guilt and she couldn’t bear to look at the hurt in his eyes. “Nax,” she said in a quieter voice, “it’s not like that, you must understand that – ”
“I’ve heard enough!” Nax roared, his naked ferocity silencing her at once. He turned to his father and bowed. “I will obey my father. You were right and I was wrong. I will marry Lady Valma as soon as this Earther-” his voice dripped with contempt when he used the term ‘Earther’, “is banished from this planet.”
Prius let out a nasty laugh. “I’ll do better than that, boy,” he sneered. “I will do what I should have done when she arrived.” He flicked his hand toward his two Yetoid guards. “Throw her over the balcony!” he ordered.
“No!” Lara and Nax yelled simultaneously.
The two guards advanced, but Nax placed himself between them and Lara. “No!” he yelled again. “Put her back on her ship! Don’t kill her!” the pleading edge in his voice made Lara’s heart break.
“Idiot boy!” Prius snarled. He lashed out with sudden ferocity, striking Nax across his face. The blow staggered the boy. “You weak, pathetic worm!” Prius raged. “Why your mother sacrificed herself for such a useless runt I will never know! You should be dead, not her!”
The King’s face twisted with fury and tears were running freely from his eyes. Lady Valma and Granor backed away in terror. Suddenly, he grabbed Lara by the arm and pulled her towards the bal
cony. “This ends now!” he roared, “even if I have to do this myself!”
“Let me go!” screamed Lara. She tried to pull free, but the old man had the strength of a bear. Spit flecked his beard and mad-eyed, he yanked her to the rail of the balcony. Lara screamed again, her heart pounding against her chest.
Suddenly, Nax rushed forward. He grabbed Lara and threw her back towards the centre of the balcony. She fell on the floor with a heavy thud and stared up, terrified for Nax’s safety. The two Narden men struggled briefly, and the King made a clumsy lunge at his son, intent on pushing him off the balcony. Nax managed to dodge out of the way in the last second and Prius went headlong over the balcony. Lara clenched her eyes closed but could still hear his terrified screams as he tumbled into the chasm.
A frozen silence held the group on the balcony for what seemed like forever. Lara still had her eyes closed as she felt Nax’s powerful body hunch down next to her.
“Lara?” he said in an anxious voice. “Are you hurt?”
She opened her eyes and gazed into his concerned face. “I’m okay,” she said shakily. “Just a little shocked.”
“Come on, let’s get you inside,” Nax said helping her to her feet. He kept his arm wrapped protectively around her waist.
A few feet away Valma was staring at them in shock. “What have you done?” she said in a stricken voice.
“A terrible accident,” Granor suddenly spoke up. “King Prius is dead. Let the reign of King Nax begin.”
He moved to stand by Nax’s side, and, more significantly, so did the two Yetoid guards. Lady Valma gave them a calculating look and a sugary smile stretched across her face. “My noble king,” she gushed, curtsying low. “I pledge my eternal loyalty to you.”
Still holding on to Lara, Nax stepped forward and gave the woman a hard stare. “Go back to the castle and collect all of your belongings,” he said in a flat voice. “You are exiled to your family estate in the Southern Dominion for the rest of your life. You will never show your face in the royal court again, on pain of death.”
Valma blinked and Lara read the devastation in the woman’s cold face. All her ambitions were coming tumbling down. Lara felt a pang of pity for the woman and nearly spoke up on her behalf, but Nax radiated with a dark power and strength she’d never seen before and couldn’t bring herself to dare say anything. Like Prius, Valma had brought this disaster on herself.
Without another look at either of them, Valma marched back into the lodge the frightened Reena hurrying after her.
When they were gone, Nax’s face softened. He looked down at Lara and smiled, but his eyes were full of sadness. “It is time for you to go as well,” he said gently. “I was wrong to keep you here against your will. We will return to the castle and your ship will be made ready for launch. You are free to leave whenever you want.”
“Is that what you want?” Lara said in a numb voice.
“It doesn’t matter what I want any more,” he replied bleakly. “I am King now. All that matters is the welfare of my people.”
A sob caught in Lara’s throat, and she started to cry uncontrollably.
Chapter 7: The End of Winter
The journey back to the castle was a sombre affair. They rode in near silence as both of them came to terms with this dramatic turn of events. Lara was finally getting to return to the Science Base and Nax was starting a new life as king.
Everything was how it should be, but Lara had a sinking feeling in her stomach. The prospect of leaving Nardenstar did not fill her with the relief that it should have done.
When they reached the castle news of King Prius’ death had preceded them. Lady Valma had gone on ahead, escorted by the two Yetoid guards, and had cleared out of her apartments to begin her exile. The first act of the new King had sent shockwaves through the court and the nobles jockeyed for position to win the favour Nax.
Entering the throne room alongside Lara, he had dismissed them with a wave of his hand and went to stand before the empty seat of power, gazing up in silence at the snowflake sculpture carved by his late mother.
“You can go back to your quarters and wait for your ship to be made ready,” he said to Lara, without turning round.
When she didn’t speak he turned round and frowned at her. “What’s the matter? Didn’t you hear me?”
With great difficulty, she cleared her throat. “I want to . . . stay,” she said in a timid voice.
“What? In the throne room? If that’s what you want.”
Lara shook her head. “That’s not what I meant Nax,” she said, her heart tightening in her chest. “I want to stay on Nardenstar, with you.”
A look of bewilderment spread across Nax’s handsome face. “I don’t understand? You agreed to go with Valma when she offered you the chance to escape. I heard you.”
“I know what I said,” Lara said sharply, her emotions getting the better of her. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “But that’s not what I want.”
He stepped closer to her, giving her a guarded look. “What do you want?”
She swallowed and looked him straight in the face. “You,” she said, a trill of terror slicing through her.
He remained silent for a long time. “What about your life on Earth, your work on the base and your precious Professor?”
“I thought that was everything,” she replied. “I thought my life was fulfilled, doing something I love and working for a man I hero-worshipped, but last night on the balcony, when you were fighting with Prius, that all changed. I was so scared when I thought I’d lost you.
At that moment, I realised you were the most important thing in my life and I couldn’t bear to be without you. I know, I know, it’s stupid. I’m just an entertaining diversion for you and you’ll soon get bored of me, but I can’t help the way I feel.”
He looked down at her and cupped her small face in his hand. His touch was electrifying. “I was so scared too,” he said. “When he tried to kill you, I, I lost my mind. You’re not a diversion, you are everything to me, my one true mate and my consort and I never, ever want to be without you. Do you understand that?”
She didn’t answer. She just reached up and kissed him hard on the mouth. He returned the kiss with equal ferocity and she bathed in the heat of his all devouring passion.
There was a heavy thud and the doors to the throne room were flung open. Lara and Nax broke from the kiss and stared as Granor rushed into the chamber. They both stared at him in amazement.
“Granor? What are you doing?” exclaimed Nax.
“I knew it!” growled the Yetoid, sniffing the air. “I knew there was something here!”
“Granor!” yelled Nax. “Have you gone insane?”
Ignoring him, Granor rushed to the side of the room and lunged. Lara watched in shock as he started struggling with something she couldn’t see. There was a sudden flash of light and a transparent, humanoid figure appeared out of thin air. It let out a horrible gurgle as Granor’s fangs ripped out its throat and it slumped lifelessly onto the stone floor.
“I knew I smelt something that shouldn’t be here,” the Granor said triumphantly. “I noticed it the second day Lara was here. Something . . . wrong.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Nax said incredulously. “What do you think it is?”
“I know exactly what it is,” Lara said coldly. “It’s called a Ghost Skin, a kind of artificial spy. I was part of the project team that helped Professor Belthazar develop it.”
Nax frowned. “It came with you? Did you know about it?”
“No,” said Lara, “but I think I’m beginning to understand why the Professor sent me here in the first place.”
* * *
The alarm.
Belthazar woke in confusion, roused by the blaring noise that filled his cabin. Rubbing at his eyes he activated the view screen on his bedside table. His assistant, Petersen appeared on the screen.
“What’s going on?” he demanded angrily.
“What are you babbling about? They wouldn’t do that!” thundered the Professor.
Petersen started to say something else, but he abruptly disappeared and another face appeared on the screen. Belthazar’s heart missed a beat.
“Lara?” he said in a subdued voice. “Is that you?”
“Hello Professor,” Lara drawled. “Surprised to see me again? I’m afraid the Ghost Skin and the bomb it was carrying were discovered before it could complete its mission.”
“Lara, you must listen to me carefully,” Belthazar said firmly, “I didn’t have any choice in this. Earth Corporate made me do it. Please, call off the Narden and come aboard, we can discuss this.”
“Sorry Professor, but it’s too late for discussing anything.”
A shudder suddenly went through the cabin and Belthazar looked around in panic. “That noise was a plasma torpedo hitting the engine core of the base,” Lara explained. “I calculate you have thirty minutes before the base explodes. I suggest you make preparations to leave as soon as possible.”
“Thirty minutes!” Belthazar exclaimed. “We won’t have time to dismantle all our experiments and research projects!” A thought struck him and he glanced over to his computer console.
“I wouldn’t bother trying to access the data the Ghost Skin sent you about the Narden,” Lara said, smiling coldly. “I’ve infected Odin’s central computer system with a rather nasty cyber-virus. All the information on it has been corrupted.”
“But that constitutes years of scientific research! Not just the Narden data but my entire life’s work!” Belthazar retorted shrilly. “How could you do such a thing?”
“As easily as you could send me to die, along with thousands of other people if the Ghost Skin had detonated. How could you be so callous Professor?”
“Stupid bitch!” Belthazar spat. “Compared to my work, their lives are meaningless. You should have been honoured to be able to further my goals and the key strategic aims of Earth Corporate. How can you betray your own people like this?”
The Savage Alien's Chosen (Astral Heat Book 3) Page 6
