by Poppy Rhys
“I’m Lucia.”
The cornered princess looked between her and the flanking Melier males. She wanted to groan and tell them to go back inside the room, but she didn’t. Part of her was still wary of the princess since she was after all, still a Trep.
“I… am Princess Beela’Su,” she said softly, and the grating language of the Trepnils didn’t sound completely awful coming from her. “What are your intentions with me?”
“You will not come to harm,” Val’Zun said, his face twisting into an expression of disgust as if hurting a female was the foulest thing he could imagine, even if she was the enemy.
“You do not understand what you have done,” Beela’Su’s hooded eyes squeezed shut momentarily and then she refocused on Lucia, her pupils flicking to all three of them quickly. “My father is vengeful. Keeping me prisoner will only make things worse for your people.”
This attitude took all three of them by surprise. Zun and Soren shared a glance over her head and then back to the princess.
Why would she care if it made things worse on the Melier people? They’re supposed to be her enemy.
“Why did he hide you?” Zun asked.
She sighed and shook her head. “I am the youngest of his progeny.”
The favorite.
The brothers seemed to decode this as well.
“But my father…,” Beela’Su began to wring her wrists once more while she looked torn between loyalty and something else. Her mouth opened and closed before she shook her head as if to shake away whatever she was going to say.
Again, they all shared a look.
“I do not want to go back,” Beela’Su said, almost too low to hear. “But it is the only way. I may be able to persuade him to leave your people alone.”
“You don’t want to go back to your home?” Lucia asked, surprised.
Beela’Su shook her head. “I do not see any other way.”
Her heartstrings pulled in her chest. This was definitely not the reaction she was expecting. By now, she assumed the princess would’ve tried to claw her face off. That she would be violent like every other Trep Lu had ever encountered.
“Loo-Sha,” Zun gripped her elbow and gently pulled her in an attempt to guide her from the room. She resisted slightly while she continued to stare at the princess.
“We don’t have to give her back,” she whispered to both of her males, her brows knitting with sympathy.
Zun sighed, muttering under his breath, and Soren glanced back to Beela’Su.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” she asked the princess.
Beela’Su looked confused as if she wasn’t expecting to be treated with any kind of dignity.
“I…,” she stared at Lucia and then nodded once. “I would be grateful for water.”
She sent a small smile to the princess before she let her mates usher her back into the room where Ren and Val’Koy continued to watch through the glass skeptically with the queen.
Immediately she stepped over to the side table where a pitcher of water and multiple upside down glasses sat. She filled one for the princess and one for herself.
“You are not going back in there,” Val’Zun said down to her, and when Lucia snorted, he scowled and looked to Soren. “Tell her she is not going back in there.”
“Loo-Sha, you are not going back in there.”
Again, she snorted.
“If you two think you’re going to gang up on me, and tell me what to do, you’re both more hilarious than I originally thought!”
“It is unsafe,” Zun growled. “She is a Trepnil. Our enemy. Your enemy.”
“She’s scared,” she sighed, frustrated.
“Well, yes,” he replied in a tone that said ‘obviously’, “she is on a Melier military ship.”
Lucia turned with the two glasses of water in her hands and began back to the door but Zun blocked her path. She glowered up at him only for him to return the expression and she was positive one day his face would get stuck like that.
“You’re in my way.”
“You are not going back in there.”
“Val’Zun, if you don’t get your pretty blue ass out of my way, so help me, I will-”
He began to purr and his expression bespoke irritation that he couldn’t seem to control his reactions whenever she got snippy, before he snarled and stepped out of her way, scrubbing his hands over his face.
Lucia ‘hmph’d’ triumphantly and stood before the door, hands full. After a few seconds she turned back around and said, “Will one of you please open this thing?”
For a split second, she didn’t think they would, but then Soren, annoyed as he was, opened it for her. When he began to enter the room after her, she glared at him.
“I’d like to speak to the princess without a shadow,” she whispered, miffed that she couldn’t seem to shake her mates off her trail, but all warm at the same time because they worried over her wellbeing.
Soren hesitated, letting out a defeated breath and giving the princess one last glance before he left the room and it was just Lucia and Beela’Su.
“Sorry about that,” she half smiled and shrugged a shoulder like ‘whatya do?’
“You have good mates,” Beela’Su’s mouth curved into a miniscule smile as she accepted the glass Lu handed her. “Gratitude.”
She gave a nod.
“Apologies about the surroundings,” she gestured to the cold holding room. “This ship isn’t really equipped for comfort I’ve noticed.”
When she sat down in one of the two chairs at the table, Beela’Su sat across from her. The table and two chairs were the only decoration in the room and they certainly weren’t comfortable.
“Do you have a mate, or partner?”
Beela’Su looked startled and then shivered. “Not yet…” She took a slow sip of her water and Lu wondered how she did it so neatly with such thin, stiff lips. “I have managed to avoid joining with a male due to my father’s fondness for his youngest.”
Lucia really couldn’t blame the princess. The thought of being forced to continuously copulate with a Trepnil made her skin crawl, especially if they smelled and acted anything like the pirates that roamed the trade routes.
Immediately her brain tried to pull forth the memory of Ta’Ra’Enn’s men, and she took a breath to shove it back into the dark recess of her mind.
“Why don’t you want to go home?” Lu moved along hoping the question would help her brain to continue to sink Ta’Ra’Enn into gray matter.
Beela’Su took another sip of her water, no doubt buying time but Lu pretended she didn’t notice. Instead she gave an encouraging smile.
“It is a hard life for females on my planet,” she replied. “Even a princess.”
Lu nodded, hoping she would continue.
“I am the… odd one of my family. I want different things out of life than what is expected of a princess.” Beela’Su paused and sighed almost wistfully. “I want to travel and create beautiful art, see how other species live, enjoy culture…”
“Your father won’t allow this?”
“No,” she shook her head. “It is a waste of time in his eyes. Our people do not pursue art. It has nothing to do with war, and conquering, so it is undesirable.”
On they went back and forth, and Lucia was actually enjoying the conversation. She was learning things about the Trepnil world she never knew before, and getting to know one of their princesses, which she never would’ve imagined.
Beela’Su had passion for art of all kinds, and she wanted to create, talk about it, and explore various planets to learn about their inhabitants.
It was refreshing.
Lucia was positive about one thing: she had to convince the royal family to not give Beela’Su back to her father.
The two continued to talk, and Lucia began to see much of herself in the Trepnil princess. She was only a few years younger than herself, but she had her own dreams and interests that differed from her family’s expectations, as much as Lucia’s had wi
th her own kin.
Lucia had craved adventure; Beela’Su craved culture. The two weren’t that different; parallel lines running the same direction.
The one thing that continued to nag at her though, was how little Beela’Su actually looked like a Trepnil. Sure there were some of the more obvious features, like the scales and the teeth, but there were a striking amount of differences too. In fact, if she met Beela’Su at another place and time, she would never have suspected she was a Trep.
“I thank you for chatting with me Princess,” Lucia said in a diplomatic manner she had begun to practice. “I hope that we can come to some arrangement that benefits everyone.” She picked up the two glasses from the table and stood to start toward the door. Stopping she turned to look back at the young royal, and gave her a quick smile. “If you require anything, please just send for me and I’ll see what I can do.”
Beela’Su nodded appreciatively and smiled. “I thank you too, for the conversation. I think that under different circumstances we may have been good friends.”
“I’m sure I would have liked that.” Lucia tapped on the door, and Soren opened it, closing it quickly behind her.
All eyes were on her as she exited the confines of the cell. “What?” She asked incredulously. “It’s not like you weren’t able to hear everything we were saying. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Val’Zun huffed under his breath, gently taking the glasses from her and placing them on the nearby counter. “In all that chatter, what do you think you accomplished? We still have to figure out what to do with her.”
Soren nodded as he exchanged glances with his brothers. “And we have to do it quickly. Any window we have is going to be small.”
Lucia grinned as she looked at her mates and companions, feeling quite proud of herself. “That’s where I come in.” She beamed.
Gi’Moy, who had been silent thus far, spoke up. “You have an idea then, I take it?”
“Better,” she grinned toothily, mocking her mates despite her lack of giant teeth, “I have a plan.”
Chapter 19
Dor Nye’s Capital…
“Lass!” Angus boomed as he entered the room, blue eyes shining merrily when his gaze fell upon Lucia.
Immediately, she squealed with unbridled delight and ran straight into his large, bear hugging arms. The familiar scent of her father and the constriction of her lungs brought back many, many fond memories.
“Dad,” she sighed as he swung her around, like he always did after she’d been gone for a long while. “I’m not a kid anymore,” she giggled, secretly still loving the gesture. His only response was to laugh, like it was a joke.
After a few more moments, Angus set her down on her feet once more and Lucia jumped right into what was going on.
Not everything, however. She didn’t think now was the time to talk about her personal close encounters with death, or the fact there was still her would-be assassin on the loose.
She was back on Dor Nye and in the capital for another reason.
Instead, she spoke about the war with the Trepnils, the attack on the palace, and their idea on a possible solution that could end a bloody war between two planets and save many, many lives.
“Dad,” Lu tugged on his large hand and gestured toward Soren and Val’Zun who parted to reveal the center of her plan. “This is Princess Beela’Su, the emperor’s daughter, and my new friend.”
Angus’ eyes widened ever so slightly, taking in the princess and flicking his gaze back to Lucia. She could see the confusion there, and quickly went on to explain.
****
Later that evening, Lucia, Lenny, and the brothers were making their way to a cozy little restaurant of the capital. When her family found out she was planet side, even if just for a little bit, they forbid her to leave the atmosphere without first sharing third meal.
Not that Lu minded in the least. She’d been dying to see her family again. Four Dor Nye months was the longest she had ever been away from them.
“Smile!” she said to Zun, beaming up at him in hopes he would follow suit. She knew he still wasn’t completely comfortable around so many humans, though he was doing much better than his initial visit those months ago.
He and Ren grunted.
Good to see nothing has changed.
Lu felt a little freer, being in familiar surroundings, and seeing other humans. The queen had chosen to stay behind, though Val’Koy readily joined them, his curiosity getting the better of his distaste.
“Your architecture is strange,” Val’Koy commented, taking in his surroundings. “Are you not blinded by the suns glare from these awful looking buildings?”
Lu’s brows knit together as she considered the tall, smooth, pale gold structures that made up the heart of the capital. They did look a little too shiny in the suns dying rays, but maybe she was used to it. “I guess I never thought about it much.”
He shook his head, still inspecting the buildings from the transports clear shield. “Humans,” he muttered lowly, but loud enough for her to hear him just fine.
“Meliers,” she countered, shaking her head as three scoffs answered her. Soren chuckled, rubbing the backs of his knuckles along her jaw appreciatively.
The restaurant came into view as the transport slowed along the white stone road. Soren exited first, assisting her to the pavement while she held the babe in her arms. Lenny was obsessed with her own tail lately, and was currently trying to taste it. Slobber coated the tip, and her tiny fingers, making her glisten in the lights of the restaurant.
“Lenny, that’s not food,” she giggled and used a cloth to wipe up the drool. The babe looked at her like she just ruined her world and a tiny squeal emitted from her small, powerful lungs to signal her displeasure about the whole thing.
Instantly, Soren, Ren, and Zun were surrounding her to try and make Lenny happy again. Purring at her, tickling her chunky cheeks, shaking a shiny rattle that she adored.
Lu shook her head again. “If you all react like that every time she’s upset, you’re going to turn her into a rotten youngling.”
They ignored her.
Why do I even bother?
“LULU!”
Zan’s familiar voice rang out around them, and her heart did a tiny flip of anticipation.
“Zan?” Her free hand pushed against Ren’s frame, urging him out of the way as she looked around for her nephew.
“Zan!” she gushed as she spotted him and knelt down on one knee to accept his hug. He was flying toward her but once he noticed Lenny, he slowed and was careful not to jostle the youngling too much as he wrapped his small arms around her neck, and squeezed.
“You’re home! You’re home!” he said, muffled by her crazy curls. “Are you back for good? Are you, Lulu?”
Her throat suddenly felt swollen and she was thankful the little guy was still clinging to her neck, unable to see her bittersweet expression. It took her a moment to find her voice, but she finally did. “I’m here tonight. Let’s not worry about the rest,” she forced a small laugh. “Did you lose any more teeth?”
“I did!” he exclaimed, letting her go and opening his mouth to point at the empty spots where teeth were missing and new ones were growing in.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Did you ever find out how the YutYut creatures get here to Dor Nye to collect your teeth?”
“Well,” he said disappointed. “Mama said they use a regular ship like the rest of us.”
Lucia inwardly rolled her eyes at her sister’s lack of imagination. “I think she was confused,” she began and instantly Zan was interested, hope lighting his curious eyes. “They don’t use a ship like us, because they have magic.”
“What kind of magic?”
Lucia wiggled her fingers mysteriously, setting the scene for her tale. “YutYut magic,” she whispered, pulling forth a story even some adults believed in. “Somewhere in the YutYut galaxy, there lives a powerful sorcerer said to possess a magic so volatile it could obl
iterate the universe and everything in it, including you and I--”
“What does obi’trate mean?” Zan interrupted, and Lu wanted to slap a hand to her face for forgetting to use smaller words, and giggle at the way he pronounced it.
“Are you telling him scary stories again?” Frellie came into view, a scowl on her face. “Last time you did that, he was attached to my hip for a week--”
“I wasn’t,” she grinned and stood, not even upset her story had been cut short as she accepted a hug from her sister.
“Make way, age before beauty,” Grams butted in and wrapped her arms around Lucia before Frellie even untangled herself. “Oh, sweetling,” her grandmother sighed happily. “I missed you.”
Lucia was enveloped in embrace after embrace as the rest of her family filtered in from the restaurants lobby.
“You brought home a new one,” Grams lifted her brows and looked Val’Koy from head to toe, who seemed mildly entertained by the old woman.
“This is Val’Koy, our eldest brother,” Soren supplied.
“And the most childish,” Zun added, to which he and Ren shared a shit eating grin.
“Imbeciles,” Val’Koy sighed, before bending forward and extending one of his right hands toward Grams, who happily shook it with unladylike enthusiasm, causing Nova to roll her eyes.
“I am Prince Val’Koy of Melierun,” he said formally. “An honor to make your acquaintance.”
Grams snorted. “You don’t have to charm me, young man.”
His pale green eyes narrowed just slightly as his lips twitched with veiled amusement.
“Let’s not keep the staff waiting,” Nova interjected, herding everyone into the restaurant in as proper a fashion she could muster.
The evening carried on and as a sweet dish was being served, Lucia thought it was time to break the news to her family. Her amber gaze roved around the table, noticing that everyone was in high spirits.
Maybe I’ll wait…
Until when?
I don’t know…
You can’t just show up one day, ‘Hi mom and dad, I’m pregnant, and no, it’s not Soren’s’.
Ugh… I’ll just ease into it.
