by John Short
As soon as she was out of sight, Jon felt the loneliness over take him again. It had turned out to be a wonderful day spent in quiet togetherness like he had never known. He wished that it could go on forever, but he knew that was just a dream. If ever they got time for another day like this, it would be a miracle. After all, she was the Crown Princess of the Lexonian Confederation and he was the owner of a major system corporation. The demands of both worlds would constantly be pulling at them. Once the word spread, there would be hundreds of public appearances that they would be required to attend. His only hope was that those demands did not pull them apart. Then there was his contract with the Peacekeepers to consider. There were rumors of increased fighting out on the rim worlds where the pirate operations where becoming more bold.
Chapter Five
For the rest of Jon's leave time there were many more days of wonderful togetherness for both he and Satrina. They played with Talga, who seemed to enjoy sneaking up on them to scare them by roaring from behind. Jon and Satrina had both taken to throwing small treats at the animal that pounced like a kitten to capture the treats before they could escape his mighty jaws. They spent peaceful days on the lake together either swimming near the shore or out rowing in a small vessel that Jon told Satrina he and his uncle had built after he had found the plans for it in the town's library.
One day as they enjoyed the calm water on the Lake Satrina spotted a flock of tiny dragons flying over head. "Look Jon, Are those the dragons of Haven?" She asked while pointing to the sky.
"Yes. Each one of them wears a different color. They have every color from all the houses on Haven and the Lexon people. There is even one that wears my family colors. I know because4 it came down once and bit my ear while my uncle and I paddled this very same boat across the lake before I was 12 cycles old." Jon reached up and scratched his ear where the tiny dragon had bitten him. "I cried that whole day and my aunt was afraid the beast had left a poison inside me. It wasn't until my uncle told her that the many colored dragon had bitten my ancestor and he'd survived the ordeal that my aunt stopped worrying."
"The legends of the Lexonian people say there is only one of the many colored dragons and it only shows itself to the next Umin Dragon King." Satrina remarked. "Are you then their king?" she asked with a smile.
"I've never considered myself to be anybodies king." Jon replied. That same day he led her over the magical multicolored bridge that appeared out of the mists and led to the Umin caverns whenever he played the special tune on the ancient violin.
With Satrina at his side, they explored the town's public park, the historical exhibits in the Library, including the monument to the fallen with its carved plaque of Jill Saunders, and enjoyed a traveling carnival that had come to spend several days in Jonsville. Jon had won a large stuffed animal with ten legs, three eyestalks, droopy “ears”, and a round body that Satrina had seen and thought was cute. After spending nearly two hundred credits and throwing a dozen small balls into a designated circle, the impossible creature now sat in the middle of a couch in Jon's living room.
Through it all they each learned a great deal about the person they had each claimed for their mate. Jon came to understand Satrina's love of nature and that it exceeded his own. Satrina fully realized how deeply the taunting lies and constant bullying he had suffered from the mouths of his classmates as he grew into the male she loved had hurt Jon.
While at the carnival Satrina had gone to use the female’s relief station and as she sat behind a solid door, she overheard two other females talking about her Jon.
“I wonder who that pleasure female is with the freak?” one had asked.
“I don't know. I sure hope she's getting paid enough to be seen with him. Nothing he could ever offer would make me even think about it. I thought Helios' father had Connell sent to the mines anyway. How is he even in Jonsville?”
Satrina had wanted to slap the two, but her Royal upbringing had stopped her. She learned what it was to be really loved by another person for the first time and to call that person her own family. Never had she been so furious over anything that was said about her brother. Yet, when it came to her giant, Satrina now knew how much mere words could anger a person. Her first act, once her mating had been announced, would be to return here and punish those two females!
They also learned that there would be some things that they would never agree on. Eggs should be scrambled Jon told her one morning while she insisted that eggs should only be eaten after boiling them in wine. Not the cheap wines, oh no, only the most expensive Lexonian wines would do. She insisted that several cases of the different wines be brought to the house for her use because she could not acquire a taste for the local Cook's Original beer that was Jon's favorite adult beverage. Jon found himself building special racks to hold the bottles in one of the unused lower level rooms. Jon hated politics with a passion while she had been raised with the politics of the Royal Household with all its many twists and turns. She was extremely versed in the manipulation of powerful people while Jon preferred to avoid them all together. He enjoyed spending long hours basking in the sun. She could not stay outside without being fully dressed for very long. The sun caused her to get a painful burn on the exposed portions of her small body. Her natural skin tone gave her all the “Tan” she'd ever need, she had once told Jon when he had wanted to stay out on the lake for another hour after Satrina felt herself starting to burn.
Together they decided on how each would compromise on some of their differences and each compromise always worked out to the advantage of both of them as their relationship grew even stronger. They were no longer the timid novices at love that they had been. They had taught themselves how to work together to find solutions. Yet they somehow managed to restrain themselves from completing their mating. Jon insisting that he would not use her only to be injured or killed in the coming struggles he would face in the service. He had stayed in contact with each of his three FTL ships and had given Satrina updates about the growing pirate menace out on the rim worlds. Satrina knew that without her father's blessings, their union was doomed to heartbreak because she could not bear to be shunned by her sire. Jon had taken his place in her heart, but her father still held a large place in her soul. When she confessed this to Jon he comforted her by telling her that he believed that was how things should be because while Rina, as Jon had named her, owned his whole heart, he also had his aunt Gala held gently in the grasp of his soul and he would never let her go from there as long as he lived. Besides, as small as his aunt was, if she ever learned that he had misused Rina, she would take up a stick and beat him, mourning robes and all!
Then came their last day together when Satrina told Jon she had been called back to Lexon II by the King. They decided to spend their day together having a picnic down on the small sandy beach near the lake. He prepared several treats for them to enjoy including different fruits, some cheeses and breads along with some of the very expensive wine that Rina loved and placed all the items and a large colorful ground cloth in a basket and then took Rina's tiny hand in his to lead her to the beach. However, their plans for one last peaceful day were disrupted when Jon's COM badge suddenly rang out from across the room. “Connell here!” Jon called out.
“Lieutenant Connell. Sir your orders have been changed. We need you to report for flight training early. You are to report to Lexon II Orbital Station for transfer to the pilot's training facility as soon as is possible given the required travel times involved. Transport has been arranged on the BBITCo FTL vessel, Pluto, arriving at Haven by 1300 today. You are allowed one small travel bag for any personal items and/or civilian clothing not to exceed standard luggage size for a small travel bag. You'll be issued new uniforms and all other required items once you arrive at your training company. Sorry about cutting your leave short like this Lieutenant. That is all. Peacekeeper Command Headquarters out.”
“I'm so sorry about this Rina.” Jon apologized as he carefully placed the cloth
on the counter top and then set the entire basket with their picnic supplies back in the food keeper. When he turned, Satrina had already run up the stairs to the sleeping chamber.
When he reached the top stair he found her already packing a small travel bag for him. “Rina, what are you doing?” he inquired.
“I understand duty my Giant.” Rina told him as she scurried about busily packing his bag. “There is no need for you to apologize. Remember, I was raised in a place were duty always comes first. We both have duties we must attend to before we can really ever do as we please and spend our hours in each others happy embraces.”
“You don't have to pack my bag.” he told her as she continued to work, comparing some items and seeking out others.
“This is also now my duty. As your mate if you go and something has been forgotten it is a mark against me as your wife.” she assured him. “Now shall I pack two sets of formal tunics, or just one?” she asked turning to display the two large tunics in her small hands.
“Where they will be sending me, I probably won't need either of those. Peacekeeper training camps are not places where they have very many Royal visits or parties for the elite. Besides, even if they do have such a thing, they will expect me to wear my dress uniform. Its one of those things the military demands. You stop being you and become part of a unit and the unit all dresses alike. Civilian clothing is only allowed when you earn a pass to go off base for a day or two. Without you there, I'd have no reason to ever leave the base.” Jon told her.
She went over and put the tunics back in the closet and had just turned back towards the bed when Jon scooped her into his arms, lifted her up and hungrily kissed her while she wrapped her arms around him and demanded more and more from the kiss until her essence once again flowed over his tongue. She never seemed to be able to get enough of her giant as she greedily sucked his tongue ever deeper into her mouth. When they broke the kiss she held him even tighter and whispered into his ear, “Be safe my Giant. Should anything happen to you I would surely die from the pain of losing you.” Then as if to put added strength behind her words, she playfully nipped at his ear in that special way that had become very meaningful between the two of them during their time together. Jon responded as he always did. He kissed her neck in the one spot he had found where her heartbeat could be felt. That always seemed to fill her with desire.
“Just don't forget that you accepted my claim.” he kidded her. “I'll be as careful as even the most rookie pilot in the corp.”
She pulled back just enough to hit him with her fist on the chest, “You will do no such thing Jon Connell! You will fly any ship they give you with all the skill you have in you. I have done my research and I know that you will be the most experienced pilot in training. Fly like someone who knows what they are doing, not like just another newling who has never controlled a ship.” Then she laid her head on his shoulder and told him, “Just come home to me alive and well my Giant.”
Jon gently rubbed her back while he promised, “I'll be fine. I promise. All I'll get is a shuttle and I was flying those with my uncle when I was still a boy. I might even be able to teach them about flying those things. I'd have to extend my contract to ever get one of the bigger ships to pilot. I have no plans of extending. I'll serve my time; earn my discharge, then come home and run my ... Our company. I have no desire to become the next heroic Jon Connell who runs off destroying alien menaces, saving entire galactic civilizations and reuniting lost peoples. The only member of the Royal House I'm worried about keeping safe is you. I wouldn't know King Le'puix if I fell over him in the dark.” That brought the giggles from her that he had hoped it would and he released her to gently slide down his body to stand in front of him.
“I'm sure that if you did fall over my father in the dark, his guards would be certain to introduce him to you. Maybe not at a fancy Royal Assembly like Reunion Day, but you'd be introduced indeed.” she laughed. Jon loved it when she laughed. If he could make it happen she would laugh openly at least once each day for the rest of her life.
“Well, now I'm the one on a schedule and I have to do some very boring company business before I leave. You can either stay and watch me sit brooding over financial ledgers or head out and enjoy your day. No reason both of us has to be stuck here.
“Do you want me to leave?” Satrina asked with a touch of hurt in her voice.
“No. I want you to stay forever. I just don't want to ruin what's left of your holiday by making you sit around watching me work. Its boring stuff. Along the lines of that 'Go stand over there and look pretty' business you already told me you hated.” Jon reassured her with a smile.
Pouting like a small child, she looked up at him until he felt the weight of her disappointment and he reached down to pull her close. “Rina, I never want you to feel unwanted around me. Over these last few days you have become more to me than any other living being. I need you to always remember that.” Jon whispered to her “Whether its because of your Lexonian female essence or just because being near you brings me so much happiness, I don't care. No matter what the future holds, I will always want you close to me.”
At that point she smiled up at him and quickly kissed him. “The essence is only our way of marking our chosen and putting our scent on him. Almost like Talga put his scent on us to let other tigers know that we belong to him. Its a Lexon female's way of telling other females that a male is already chosen. It has no power to make a male choose one female over another. Its effects last for cycles on the male, but if he rejects the female who marked him, another female can remove her mark with a single kiss. There are more reasons for Sanctuary than just those who mourn a death. Many there are rejected mates trying to remove the taste of a bad choice. Just as you tell me I hold a certain sweetness for you when we kiss, so too your kisses taste just as sweet to me combined with the slightly salt taste of a healthy male. I am told that with time, the taste travels over the entire body of both mates so that no matter where they kiss, they get the taste. That can't happen until they have fully mated though, so don't go trying to find out if my feet taste sweet, at least not yet” she smiled one of her biggest and brightest smiles.
“Then I shall look forward to the experience.” Jon laughed with her as she let herself out of the house. He waited until he heard her hover craft leaving before he went back down to the den.
Jon knew he loved Satrina deeply. Love was one thing, trust was something totally different. Real love could only be given, trust had to be earned. Jon never trusted anyone. When he had come home to find his aunt gone and after he realized that she had left without telling him she was going to go first, that put even the one person he had freely given his trust to on the list of those who needed to earn any trust he gave her in the future. Satrina had shown him Love, but his trust; even she would have to earn that every day.
Sitting at the desk he had always considered to be his uncle's, Jon tapped into the main COM console and contacted the Pluto. He busied himself with some of the other company files that needed his attention while he waited for the three hours it would take for the message to reach the ship while in the slip from Lexon Station.
“Pluto here, go ahead.” the comm announced right on time.
“Pluto, this is Jon Connell. When are you scheduled to arrive at the Haven station?” Jon asked the COM officer on duty.
“Scheduling has us arriving on station at 13:00 tomorrow, but Wrenches has been tinkering with the engines again and we'll be there about an hour before then.”
“How is Phillmma working out?” Jon asked.
“Great sir. She's got this old tub purring like a kitten and she even fixed the food processor down in the crew's mess. The glop that comes out of it now actually has some flavor. Oh, sorry sir, of course no BBITCo ship is really a tub, but well you know, these FTL boats are getting older. I should shut up now.”
“I understand crewman, and I agree, those old ships are way past their prime. I'm working on getting us some new
ones within the next year. Hang in there and do a good job. Maybe I'll find enough to get a ship with a real food processor onboard. Have you got a military travel voucher in your list of return cargo?” Jon chuckled.
“Yes sir, we're to transport a Lieutenant Connell to Lexon Orbital. One small travel, no other personal baggage. Is that you sir?”
“Yes crewman. Please ask the Captain to have me assigned to regular crews quarters. No fancy stateroom for me this trip.” Jon told the man.
“We couldn't give you the stateroom anyways sir. We're on a Royal commission and the stateroom has been booked for over a month.”
“That's fine crewman. Connell out.”
Turning his attention back to getting the work finished, Jon couldn't help but to think, “So, the Pluto had booked the stateroom over a month ago.” That was before Jon had used it to travel home for his leave time. That meant that either the Princess had known exactly what day she would be leaving or they really did treat her like some pretty ornament to be seen and ignored. He'd have to learn who had booked the flight and when it was booked. Like he figured, love could be given, trust had to be earned. If he didn't like what he learned about her travel arrangements that would be one mark against the Crown Princess.
Taking his personal tablet and uploading the latest BBITCo financials to look over on the trip to Lexon II, Jon took the added time to readjust the house security system to lock the den and the vault room behind it holding the Umin relics so they both would only open for him. That's one less thing anyone could come in here and tamper with. It wasn't that he didn't love her, right now he didn't trust her. He'd given her permission to bring her brother to the house in his absence. There was no telling what kind of problems her brother could cause if he found some of the stuff hidden in that room, never mind the one behind the wall. The entire record of how the original Jon Connell had saved the Royals from multiple attempts on their lives was recorded right here in this room. Not to mention just how he had carried out the King's sentence of death on the Regent. For all Jon knew, the evil man's body was still floating around that moon near the first planet where Jon Connell had thrown him out of an airlock.
