The Parvac Emperor's Daughter (The Space Merchants Book 3)

by Wendie Nordgren

  I sat back in shock. “I didn’t bond with any of you kidnapping starship bombers.”

  “While soothing your thoughts and emotions, a bond formed. It was not a deliberate action. We did not even know how. Our minds and emotions aligned, and we feel peace and in control for the first time. Did you not wonder why my brother did not defend himself when you shot him in the corridor? No harm will come to you in any form from us, Princess Teagan. In exchange for the information we have given to you, we ask for full immunity from prosecution.”

  My jaw dropped. “After what you’ve done? Have you seen the ships at the land port?”

  “Yes, we also know that while people sustained injuries, there were no fatalities. Furthermore, we feel the information we have supplied valuable enough to exchange for our clemency. Their laws and rules mean nothing to us. Our only reason for cooperation is our need to serve you. Please, think over our discussion. We will keep you safe even if it is from a distance.”

  With those words, he was gone. I looked around the crowded market. Every eye that I saw was either mostly black or solid white. The cloak felt heavier on the left side. I felt the vid-screen weighting down an inner pocket. My left wrist felt heavy. A thick platinum cuff inlaid with onyx surrounded it. Just barely, I saw a credit chip that had been placed in the center of one of stones.

  “Chitter chirp chitter chitter chirp.”

  Thunderdrop was frazzled. He had heard everything, seen most of it through my hair, but had been unable to take action.

  “I know how you feel. Do you have any idea where we are?”

  “Chirp.”

  Thunderdrop showed me how the team of seventeen hybrid mercenaries had frozen the minds of everyone in Eric’s transport bay, even my new Laconian guards. He showed me the hybrid who had picked me up and placed me in a transport. He had solid black eyes and long straight grey hair. The hybrid held me in his lap and stroked my hair. I remembered him. I needed to put a stop to his annoying habit. I wasn’t a puppy. Thunderdrop thought we had driven through falling snow for an hour before arriving at the market where I still sat. My cup was empty. I stood and looked around for an enforcer or a soldier.

  As I looked, I spotted a restroom. I went in, found an empty stall, and held the cloak over my arm while I pulled my soft stretchy pants down to pee. The vid-screen bounced against my knee. I managed to get all of my clothing in place and to keep the cloak out of the waste unit. As I opened the door to leave, Thunderdrop chittered at me.

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” I hit the button on the waste unit.

  A woman with long grey hair turned toward me from where she washed her hands at the sink and gave me an odd look before she left. I rolled my eyes and washed my hands. After leaving the restroom, I wandered around the market for at least ten minutes before I found an aging enforcer who was making small talk with some old men about the snow and how much they thought would fall. I waited patiently until the enforcer finally noticed me.

  “May I help you, miss?”

  “Yes, sir. Could you please contact Captain Alaric of the Hadrian for me?”

  The enforcer looked down at my pregnant belly. He frowned. “Now, look little lady. I’m sorry you’ve gotten yourself into this mess, but you had to realize it could happen. I can’t interfere with the personal matters of starship captains.”

  I threw my head back and laughed until I could barely breath. I waved my hand in front of me. When I opened my eyes, the men all looked at me with pity. I laughed harder. “No, seriously. It’s nothing like that. Captain Alaric is my cousin. He will be looking for me and will be pleased to hear from you. I am Lady Bosh, the wife of his first officer, Commander Quaid Bosh.” The Bosh name changed their expressions.

  “Forgive me, Lady Bosh.” He fumbled at his belt for his communications device. It took him a few minutes to figure out how to call the Hadrian.

  “Excuse me, Enforcer Sava reporting. I have with me a Lady Quaid Bosh who requests to speak to Captain Alaric.” The call was transferred to the bridge where furious glacial eyes caused Enforcer Sava to jump.

  “Where is my cousin?” I almost didn’t recognize Eric’s voice. Enforcer Sava handed the communications device to me.

  “Can you come and get me? I have a message to deliver.”

  “Have you been hurt?”

  “No, is Neema alright?”

  “She is fine. Stay with that enforcer. Don’t leave his sight. I have locked onto the location of his device. Quaid is on his way. Hand it back to him.” I gave Sava his device. Eric gave him orders. I assumed I had an hour to wait. My stomach growled at me. I looked at Enforcer Sava. Knife and his men had taken me from Eric’s own ship. They had frozen the minds of an entire deck. What could Sava do? Huddling by him in fear would be a complete waste of time. I felt approval projected toward me.

  “So, a few of you stupid freaking assholes are still here watching me?” I mumbled. “Give me that,” I snarled at Enforcer Sava as I took his device from him. “They’re still here, Eric. They’re watching me. Sava here can’t do anything, and you know it. How long before Quaid gets here?”

  “His estimated arrival is fifty minutes.”

  “Tell him I’m getting something to eat while I wait. He’ll be able to find me in here.” I didn’t wait for a response. I handed Sava back his device and walked over to the smell of grilled meat that wafted to me from the other side of the market. Along the way, I pushed the hood of the cloak off of my head. I got in line behind a muscular young man and hoped he wasn’t placing a large order. I had been cranky enough because of Knife, but now my hunger was making it worse. I couldn’t believe that asshole. I needed to figure out how to sever a bond. Yukihyo had offered to do it when we first met. He also had bonded to me unexpectedly.

  The man was ordering. It would be my turn next. I hoped I had enough credits to pay. I felt someone bump into my arm.

  “Hello, handsome. I don’t believe we’ve met. How about you join me for lunch, and we can get to know each other?”

  It was the woman with long grey hair from the bathroom. She stood right against me with her considerable chest pointed at my right side while she flirted with the man in front of me in line. All I could think was that the bitch could have waited until he was out of line to flirt with him. My stomach growled. I was getting a headache.

  “Hey, do you mind?” I asked her.

  She gave me a dismissive glance and stroked the young man’s arm. She had moved closer to do so.

  “What the hell are you trying to do? Put my eye out with that nipple? Back off,” I told her.

  “Shut up, fatty. You really don’t need to be in a hurry for more to eat. Do you?”

  The young man got his food and walked away. She followed him. I growled low in my throat. I ordered two servings of the grilled meat and a glass of juice. Enforcer Sava had finally caught up to me. I sat at the nearest free table and ate. He made a show of standing guard. I quickly finished, returned my tray, and went to a vendor who sold fruit pastries. I ordered four of them in different flavors and a glass of milk. I returned to my table and ate them. I watched as the young man dismissed the big-breasted grey haired woman. It made me smile. She caught me doing it and flipped me off. I smiled at her and shoved a huge bite of pear pastry into my mouth. I had peed a second time and was enjoying another cup of coffee when Quaid and a group of heavily armed soldiers entered the market. The customers and business owners got quiet and paid close attention to them. Quaid ran to me, picked me up from my chair, and kissed me in front of all of them. I heard Gary debriefing Enforcer Sava.

  Quaid had the soldiers surround us as he carried me into a large armored transport. They each wore a helmet. Eric’s Chief Medical Officer waited inside and began examining my every molecule. “I’m fine.”

  No one listened to me. They only listened to Quaid. The transport doors closed, and we were moving. Through the shielded visors on their helmets, I could see that other than Gary, they were all Laconians. I pulled the vid-sc
reen out of the cloak’s inner pocket and handed it to my new husband. His eyes were blacker than I had ever seen them.

  “Husband, there are seventeen of them. Since I came to my senses sitting across from Knife who referred to himself as Jazon, I can assure you that maximum security detainment facilities aren’t what they consider challenging.”

  “We were aware of their escape. I searched for them until the trail went cold.” Quaid moved his thumb over my chin where it still felt red from his kisses.

  “That’s what Eric wanted to tell me. It’s about what Yukihyo wanted to speak privately to Phillip.”

  “We didn’t want to frighten you. We thought that as long as you remained on our ships, you would be safe, but we can’t even protect you on our own vessels.” Impotent rage rolled off of Quaid. I took his hand in both of mine and gently rubbed my lips across his knuckles. I tried to send him my own feelings of calmness and my love. I thought it was a shame we weren’t alone in the transport. I found his chest hair to be so very comforting.

  “Darling, you should try to calm down because when I tell you everything, I have a feeling you are really going to be mad.” I knew Quaid would be livid, and I could only imagine what Yukihyo’s fury would be when he found out the hybrid Laconian mercenaries had accidentally bonded to me.

  “What?” Quaid drove his fist down through the transport seat beside him cracking off its edge. Thunderdrop chittered at him from the top of my head. I could hear Quaid’s breathing. His soldiers were angrily discussing my thoughts as well.

  “I didn’t even say anything. I was trying to figure out a way to say it, but since you all know what I was thinking anyway, how do I break it?”

  “Breaking a mental bond forced upon another can be managed with medical assistance. However, seventeen bonded and genetically manipulated Laconians formed a natural bond with you.”

  “Well, I think maybe two of them did when they thought….” I vaguely remembered the grief, heartbreak, and anxiety I had felt while in the small cabin on that ship. I had panicked. I remembered trying to hide from the hybrid soldiers in the bathroom, and the memories were all jumbled up along with Naxa and Nathan Green’s stories. Then, I remembered Knife sitting on the floor with Neema and someone feeding me. I found myself in Quaid’s lap. He was singing softly to me in Laconian.

  “It’s alright, Teagan. You don’t need to explain it to me. I understand.”

  I hid my face against Quaid’s neck. I remembered hiding barefoot behind the neighbor’s garage at night in the cold, and how I had tried to warm my toes in the greyish brown dirt. I could feel the burn of my scalp when Nathan Green found me and dragged me back knowing screaming for help would be a mistake. Thunderdrop’s angry chittering freed me from the memory. Quaid still sang to me and rubbed circles on my back. I realized I was making a stupid mewling sound as I cried and forced myself to stop.

  “They all know, Quaid.”

  “Everyone in this transport cares about you. It’s alright, my love.”

  “No, Quaid. When he tried to take my memories of Papa away from me, I hid. I threw all of the bad ones at him. I couldn’t let him take my Papa away from me. Papa loves me.” I tried not to cry anymore and failed. I sniffled. My nose was running. “It made him fall down and shake. That’s when I took his blaster and shot him. He knows, so all of them do. They know everything bad.” I moved Quaid’s jacket aside and wiped my eyes on the collar of his shirt.

  “Commander Bosh, she needs to calm down,” the doctor said.

  I worried about Yukihyo’s reaction. Would he be angry? Would he decide he had put up with enough and leave me taking Neema with him? I cried harder. Suddenly, I felt the warm breeze of Thalassa as it lifted my hair from my shoulders. I could hear the waves as they crashed over the sand. One wave replaced the next. I reclined on one of the large white flat beds under the pavilion. Papa bounced Neema on his knee, and they were both laughing. Pink and orange sky touched the blue ocean. The boys were all in the water throwing a ball back and forth to each other. The breeze tickled as it went through my toes making me laugh. I heard a whispered, “You’re tired. Enjoy the breeze and have a short nap. You’ll feel better when you wake.”

  “Teagan, Teagan, can you hear me?”

  The voice was so far away, but so insistent. I struggled to open my eyes. I blinked until Yukihyo and Quaid came into focus. “Where am I?”

  “You are on the Hadrian in the medical bay. Look at the light. Keep looking,” Phillip said. “What is the last thing you remember?”

  “I was taking a nap under the pavilion. Papa was playing with Neema in his chair. You were playing ball in the water.”

  “What do you remember before that?” Phillip asked as he turned to put the light away. He was wearing the ugly shirt and boxers provided by the medical bay. I looked down at myself and noticed the same ugly fabric in gown form on myself. Then, I saw the large onyx bracelet on my wrist.

  “Where’s my baby?” I started to panic. My heart began to thump. Yukihyo put his hands to the sides of my face.

  “Lady wife, our daughter sleeps in a crib next to you,” he whispered and moved his hand to point. Neema’s face was smooshed against the bed, drool puddled near her mouth, and her diapered butt was in the air.

  “You’re not going to take her away?”

  “No, never. Why would you think such a terrible thing? We will never leave you.” I felt comfort through his deep calm voice and our bond.

  “Woman, I give you my word, if Yukihyo ever tries to leave you, I will command forty thousand men to bring him back to you.” Nico put his hands over my blanket covered toes and squeezed them.

  “Where am I?”

  “You are on board the Hadrian,” Yukihyo answered.

  “Gentlemen, please sit. It would be best to allow her to wake slowly,” said Dr. Victor. He pointed at a chair, and Phillip sat. A nurse handed Phillip a blanket. Phillip gave him a nod.

  I felt claws on my arm. Thunderdrop walked over me and perched on my knee where he blinked at Yukihyo. Then, he crawled up the mound of my stomach and blinked at me from atop Niklos. I looked around at the room and at their faces. I felt so disoriented. “What day is it? Is it the same day, morning, or night?”

  “After leaving my quarters, you, Neema, and Kaoti met Yukihyo on the bridge, you took the lift to the transport bay, and then the hybrids took you. That was a little over two and a half hours ago. Neema will wake soon from her nap.”

  “So, it’s the same day?” I looked at Kaoti for clarification. He nodded at me. “How was I just on Thalassa? That doesn’t make any sense. I was there. I could feel it.”

  “Teagan, the hybrids sensed your distress in the transport. You had begun to panic that Yukihyo would leave you. They seized upon a memory of a time you felt safe with your papa, formed a mental construct, and placed you in it until you were calm enough to come out of it,” Quaid explained.

  What Quaid said made some sense to me but not much. Things only began to feel normal when Neema woke. She had no idea that anything odd had happened. “Yukihyo, thank you for keeping Neema safe.”

  “I must ask your forgiveness,” Yukihyo said. His words frightened me. For what did need forgiveness? Was he planning to leave? “Teagan, Eric and I argued. He wanted to tell you of the mercenaries’ escape. I did not. I feared it would frighten you and insisted he not tell you. Had you known.…”

  “Yukihyo, had I known, it would have changed nothing. You all knew. What good did it do any of us? At least not knowing, I managed to get some rest.”

  “Teagan, where would you prefer to stay? We would like for you to feel comfortable and safe and need to have security in place,” Quaid said.

  “I want to be where Papa always stays. We have plenty of room in the Imperial suite on Kane’s ship, right?”

  Yukihyo smiled at me. “Yes, we do. Pierce and Lorca eagerly await our return, and the chef will prepare anything you would like,” Yukihyo said.

  Confused again, I asked
Phillip, “Are you coming with us now or was it tomorrow?”

  “You’re coming to get me tomorrow, Cupcake. You need to get some rest tonight so you can take care of me.”

  “Okay.”

  “A nice restful evening with no more talk of today’s events would be best,” Dr. Victor said to everyone present.

  “Quaid, did I give you the vid-screen, the one Knife gave to me?”

  “Yes, Eric has investigators examining the files it contained. You have done everything you needed to do. All that’s left for today is your shower, gown, and the foot rub you were promised. There is nothing about which to worry,” Quaid said as he kissed me. I didn’t remember being promised a foot rub, but since I liked the sound of it, I said nothing.

  Nico had been speaking to someone on his vid-screen. He put it away and bent to pick me up. Thunderdrop jumped to his back. Neema was in Yukihyo’s arms. Kaoti was behind us, and Quaid led the way. This time, Quaid’s team of helmeted Laconians took up positions around us until we were inside of a large transport. Then, they joined us inside. Kane had agreed to let them stay on his ship to give warning if the hybrids came back. I told them they hadn’t left and wouldn’t be leaving. I wasn’t sure if they had heard me.

  I spent the remainder of the day with Yukihyo, Nico, Quaid, and Neema in the Imperial suite. Kaoti took command of Quaid’s Laconian Militia team. Papa stayed on the vid-screen with me for a couple of hours until I felt better. Then, he insisted Lorca send for the crewmen who served as barbers on board the warship and oversee that his princess received a massage and whatever other pampering they could provide. When the men arrived, Nico, Yukihyo, and Quaid mysteriously vanished.

  Captain Kane Valen sat at the head of the large meeting table in his war room off his main bridge. The vid-screen that took up the wall across from him had activated and hosted simultaneous calls from Emperor Probus, Admiral Valen, Consul Bosh, and Consul Dano. Kane moved his eyes from their faces as General Cassian entered with Captain Alaric, Commander Bosh, and Lord Yukihyo. The door closed. Captain Valen activated sound shielding.