The Golden Heart: Alliance Book One (Alliance Series 1)

by Jessamyne Hunter

  Still, with a bit of moving furniture, two beds fit easily into the room. He didn’t mind the girls using his library as a guest-room; he actually some kind of liked the idea that they wanted to be near him. It made his heart grow warm, knowing they liked him that much.

  Since he didn’t want to wake the girls, he led them to Sartak’s rooms.

  Kellan made his guards sit down while he opened his video folder on his tablet. He connected the device to Sartak’s big screen and then pressed play.

  Both guards were equally surprised when they saw it was the first episode of a series.

  Lions of Aènda was his favorite series and it was set in medieval times. It contained a lot of politics, war, sorcery, and monsters.

  It was a fantasy version of Kellan’s family’s beginnings on New Earth. Since their family crest was a lion emblem the creators- most probably the screenwriter- of the series had chosen the name Lions of Aènda.

  The series was the glorified story set in a medieval world, although the books were labeled fiction inspired by the Harrison’s family history.

  It was true that his family had fought the beast inhabiting New Earth, but Kellan knew for sure there had been no sorcery involved. None of the Harrison’s had ever been able to conjure a flame from the mere air or raise an undead demon-horse from ash.

  It was also true that they had started out on this planet very humble, with not much technology, but their lives had still been quite easier than in the real medieval ages.

  Mostly, they had rebuilt famous sights from Old Earth to remember where they had come from or simply because the architecture was striking or beautiful.

  The Pyramids of Giza had proven to be quite difficult to rebuild, but at least they had possessed digital blueprints. So every copied sight was exactly the same as on Old Earth, sometimes even coasts or hills or other landmarks had been reshaped and built to make it look like the original.

  Still, while the series had a few fantastical extras, the main plot stayed close to history. He loved the series nevertheless.

  He had to admit that it was his guilty-pleasure series. It had over all four seasons and he hadn’t seen it in a while. The fifth and last season had just aired, and he had already bought the digital version of it.

  Now, he wanted to watch all the other episodes again so he could be sure he still knew what was going on.

  Kellan had been named after one of their family’s heroes, and that hero was one of the main characters of the series.

  That was also the reason why he chuckled when his guards made an exclamation of surprise as the young man on screen was summoned to the throne room.

  This Kellan Harrison was a sorcerer fighting with to twin-blades- both sizzling with electricity.

  This Kellan Harrison had also been his inspiration to learn this old weapon art.

  “I was named after him;” he explained to the two guards,” My father supposedly wanted me to become a war hero, but I’m apparently not. Our family was given a crown by the people when they arrived on our new planet, but a few hundred years later other powerful families sought to sit on the throne of New Earth. That was the first war, a war that lasted for almost a quarter of a century- the Lion’s War. Our enemies tried to wipe us from Earth’s surface, but as you can see, Earth’s banner still contains a lion, meaning my family still holds the throne. Somewhere at the beginning of the war we…oh well, see for yourselves. The main story is still historically accurate, even some of the creatures were really inhabitants of New Earth once…they just added some sorcery and more fantastical beasts from Old Earth’s mythology to spice the story up.”

  “That’s like so cool! The Nexvrin family needs a series like that, too!” Jorax exclaimed and then asked: “Shall I send for food and drinks?”

  Without waiting for Kellan’s answer, he darted out of the room, calling for Klaijvia and Galjaia.

  Since Kellan was a nice person, he stopped the episode and waited for the guard to return with the servants. In the end, all five of them were sitting in front of the screen and Kellan restarted the episode.

  “Damn, he cut his throat…like…like…oh, damnation! Why are those people so violent?” a while had passed, they had reached episode four out of ten of a season now when Jorax stated his opinion about the assassination scene.

  Kellan shook his head, chuckling at the guard dismay.

  “Oh, those are nice! What are those?” Galjaia pointed at a black horse, sounding very fascinated.

  Grinning, he tried his best to explain what a horse is and what it could do. Of course, none of them understood why anyone would want to ride a flight animal.

  They suggested to him that humans should try to use mountable predators or some animals that wouldn’t run away from danger, which even made less sense than mounting horses…at least Kellan couldn’t imagine riding a lion or a rhino.

  “Whoa! Did you see that! She became a big cat!” that was Klaijvia’s excited voice.

  Chuckling again, he said: “It is a common rumor that the Harrison’s can shift into feline predators, hence the lion on our banner. That girl just turned into a lioness.”

  He didn’t bother to tell them about the splices, though. He knew it was also just rumored to the outsiders.

  He hadn’t explained Lord Byrn’s odd facial features to the other’s a few days ago as well. Their people were on the verge of a breakthrough in genetic alteration, at the moment still just partially able to bring forth the animal side. Now they were researching a way to enable splices to change their bodies into one of an animal.

  The last thing Kellan had heard was that they had succeeded in making a limb or facial features change for a while. It was still unstable, but after that first breakthrough, Kellan was sure it wouldn’t take long until they got the desired results.

  Lids heavy and yawning every two seconds, he turned off the screen. The two servants were trying their best to keep their eyes open, and when the TV silenced, they sighed simultaneously and started to fall asleep.

  But their sleep didn’t last longs since Kalik gently woke them again and shoed them politely back to the servant’s quarters.

  Muttering some complaints, they collected the bowls and plates before they left.

  “We’re going to bed too. The night guards should be on their post by now. Have a good night, your Highness,” Kalik said, steering an unwilling Jorax out of their highnesses’ private quarters.

  The other guard gave him death-stares for making him walk around despite being too tired to even move his feet properly.

  Kellan waved them good night and made for the bedroom. On his way there, he greeted the two guards sitting on plush cushioned chairs at the sides of the door.

  They bowed respectfully and let him pass.

  Inside the chamber, he nudged the door close with a thud. Too sleepy to actually go to the bathroom and wash up, he decided that tomorrow was early enough to brush his teeth, especially with Sartak gone. So he strode over to the bed and drew the curtains.

  He opened the belt of his robe and let it slip from his shoulders onto the floor. His underwear followed since he wore no leggings or trousers underneath the robes anymore. Most robes were meant to be worn alone since they did only show a little of the lower leg while walking. It was better and much more comfortable for his growing belly, anyway.

  So slipping out of his soft, thin slippers, he crawled onto the bed and got under the blankets.

  The soft, cold fabric felt nice on his skin, just like a lover’s touch. He quite enjoyed the feeling. It reminded him on the long lovemaking sessions he and Sartak had spent here.

  He would have never guessed he would like those encounters in bed that much, but now he didn’t want to miss it anymore. The way Sartak made him feel, begging for a touch, full of passion and want…

  His husband was indeed a good lover although he couldn’t really judge since Sartak was and would be the only man to touch him. He couldn’t think of allowing another man to touch him so i
ntimately. In fact, he had never wanted someone to touch him like his husband did.

  He remembered when Sartak had taken Kellan’s length in his big strong hands earlier that day and it made him yearn for it again.

  His member hardened, clearly still in appreciation of his husband’s skill. His man had used oil to make it slicker since he wouldn’t dare to give Kellan a blowjob because of his canines.

  Kellan reached down, grabbing his wanton cock.

  He stroked the length up and down several times, biting his lip when he teased the tip. Sartak had pushed a finger into his hole while he had been distracted. The thought made his hips jerk up, thrusting his cock into his fist. He pumped himself hard, pulling his legs closer to his body, laying his entrance bare and exposed to the fresh night air.

  “Yes…oh,” he murmured as he circled a finger around his puckered hole.

  He played with it, lubing himself before pressing the finger in. He pumped his cock in the same pace he fucked himself with his finger, thinking about Sartak doing all those things to him. Oh, how he had loved the man’s tongue down there.

  His breaths became uneven, faster and heavy.

  His body tensed as he played with his balls, then squeezed them a little. He was close, so close. His release was somewhere in reach. He only needed a little more to actually get to the peak, so he crooked his finger slightly, rubbing directly over his sweet spot.

  He screamed out, hips rising from the sheets.

  He stroke his prostate again, never stopping to pump his cock. His balls drew against his body, tensed, his husband’s name on his lips.

  Hot cum spilled over his hand as his body went limp.

  Spent, he lay on the bed, breathing heavily, sweating like he had gone for a run.

  Reaching for his nightstand, he pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands clean, too done to do more cleaning than that.

  Kellan ran a hand through his hair, bringing some stray strands back that had been sticking to his face due to his sweating.

  He lay silent for a while, watching the ceiling of the four poster bed as a sudden chirp started him.

  Cheeks flushing with heat, he drew the curtains a bit open so Dershra could slip in. His tiny beast chirped again, nudging his hand as he tried to get closer to Kellan.

  Sighing, he let the little guy nuzzle his chest. Kellan wrapped his arms around the little monster and closed his eyes. Soon after, he heard Dershra snore quietly and the steady sound and his own tiredness made him fall asleep as well.

  The sound of shifting paper and scrapping filled the room. Sometimes someone would cough or grunt, but mostly it was silent.

  The light of the day would fade soon as it was already evening. In an hour or so, a few little cockatrices would come in and fetch the documents and bring them to either the archive or the postal station.

  Kellan had spent his day in Lord Jaxtell’s office with the other ambassadors, though there weren’t as many as he was used to seeing when he went there.

  Half the ambassadors were sent with the soldiers to discuss the procedure of fighting against the pirates, though Kellan didn’t know what about it was actually a discussion or just laying out some orders the nice way.

  At the moment, Kellan had three clerks sitting at his desk, doing the rough drafts of some agreements concerning trade and visa application. Phy’vohran would soon allow humans to come to the planet on vacation or to do business that would need a temporary residence permit; things like taking permanent residence or opening business was still up for discussion and far too soon to even suggest.

  Kellan had seen a few citizens from other planets, but most of them were of value or benefit for the planet- traders, physicians, scientist or something of that kind.

  Nevertheless, Kellan had also met small shop owners, like the friendly Cjon’vaiian woman with her sweet little tea shop in a quiet but beautiful back alley; but there were also the families wealthy enough to have bought a permanent residency permit from the crown without having any kind of income.

  Those needed to be able to purchase the permission from the Crown sold at an outrageous sum of money since Phy’vohran didn’t like strangers who just sat on their asses doing nothing and in the worst case would need support from the royal treasury due to some fixed law about Phy’vohran’s generous hospitality.

  Kellan knew how serious the Phy’vohranians took such laws and the honor that came with it. Not helping foreigners that lived on their grounds would be dishonorable, and that was unacceptable. So the crown was understandably only interested in welcoming people to live on their planet who could look after themselves.

  The higher living expenses of those wealthy families- maintenance of their home, servants if existing, etc.- needed to be covered by the royal treasury if the need arose because the family was no longer able to pay their expenses due to financial problems caused by problems from outside and not simply because the family lived too luxurious.

  That was the reason the permanent residency permit in those cases were only given in exchange for an astronomical amount of cash.

  That money went to a special bank account within the royal treasury and would later be used to pay the families’ living expenses if needed. Kellan, anyway, though it quite a good system.

  Naturally, there were also cases of refugees.

  For all that Kellan knew, they were sent to the Grey Moon- one of the inhabitable moons of Phy’vohran- upon arrival; then each of their cases would be judged.

  Nothing was for free and the law of hospitality didn’t apply to them. Although, if the court found a serious reason to allow them to live on Phy’vohran for an indefinite period, they were assigned to do some work determined by their skills. This meant a doctor would be assigned to help out at a hospital until they proved good enough to work in their profession again; a housewife would most probably be sent to the military moon or household to do work as a housekeeper.

  In exchange for that, those refugees allowed to stay were well cared for.

  They were given a flat, or even a house and all expenses were covered by the crown.

  Kellan could see why Phy’vohran was one of the wealthiest planets not only by the amount of diamonds and resources that lay in their earth.

  These people, especially the crown, head of the state, had managed to stay wealthy and not indebted themselves hopelessly to some money institution, weapon manufacturers or by some stupid course politicians chose to take…or simply just by throwing money at planets that would never repay them but would always need more money. Whereas Old Earth had done that to the point of ridiculousness.

  Phy’vohranian honor would make them help people in need, but Phy’vohranian pride would never allow them to be used or deceived.

  “Is that about Lord Foxav?” Kellan held a stapled together pile of documents up so the clerks could look at it.

  All three of them nodded, smiling compassionately even though Lord Foxav wasn’t here to see it.

  The poor man had been robbed by his own children, all his fortune gone, left at the old estate which needed renovation dearly but he had no money left to do so.

  Those little bastards had stolen from an old man who had done nothing but cared for them and loved them and that was how they repaid him.

  It was disgusting.

  The poor man had nothing left but an estate that was falling apart.

  His children hadn’t been located yet; they had probably already left the planet to escape the king’s judgment.

  Lord Foxav hadn’t deserved any of it, but the treasury was nevertheless hesitating to give him the money to at least repair the roof of the house.

  The old manor…Lord Foxav had wanted to relocate there but first bring it back to its former glory he still remembered from his childhood.

  Instead, when he had been there to have a look at the house, his children had sold the other estate to wealthy foreigners and then cleared Lord Foxav’s bank account of all money. So this was an unusual and complicated case
.

  The foreigners had bought the place legally, but Foxav’s children had sold it without their father’s knowledge.

  Since the crown had already taken the money from the foreigners, they couldn’t just throw them out again.

  Paying a renovation for a whole estate so one lonely man could live in it seemed rather excessive, so the royal treasury was a bit unwilling to give away their money. Kellan could understand it, but he still felt sad for the old man.

  Somehow it made him feel uneasy as if he was personally affected by it. He had listened to the story and found tears in his eyes. He had never been so emotionally over such a matter. Clearly it was the pregnancy hormones, but still…

  After getting in contact with the Lord and exchanging some letters, he had taken a personal interest in this case and would visit Lord Foxav very soon.

  In fact, he would be sitting in a glider to Lord Foxav’s shabby estate in a few hours and supposedly arrive there by tomorrow midday.

  Some irrational need had compelled him to see if Kellan himself could do anything for the man.

  Maybe it was just his longing for a grandpa he had never had, but the pictures he had seen of the old lord had shown a friendly old Phy’vohranian with kind eyes.

  Kellan would be willing to give the man a loan or find some other solution since the clerks of the treasury would be debating for a supposedly long time over this.

  He didn’t want the man to live in a place where the rain came in from the broken roof.

  21

  “Fuckers! Shoot!” Sartak yelled while he let his hands fly over the weapon control desk.

  Kariary was right beside him. She had pearls of sweat drops on her forehead and was biting her tongue.

  She hissed, when a projectile hit the glass in front of them, but answered the fire with some ammunition of her own.

  “Those blasted-“ he didn’t finish, too much anger was boiling inside him.