“What did you do?” Lievoa frowned, folding her arms across her chest.
“I’m working on it,” he muttered.
“I hope you like these!” A tray of desserts in each hand, Daisy rushed in, saving him from a lengthy explanation. Though if he knew his cousin at all, the explanation had just been postponed, not cancelled.
“Tell me what you think about each.” Daisy moved around the table, serving the strange looking pieces on individual plates in front of each person at the table. “You only get three,” she warned the boys. “But you’ll get to choose which ones you want.”
Lievoa leaned toward him over the table and hissed into his face, “I like her more than a lot of Voranian women I know. I don’t care what you’ve done, Grevar. Fix it!”
He took a long swig from his glass, nearly choking on his wine.
“Dessert?” Daisy moved to his side with her tray. “Which one would you like?”
She stood so close. Her sweet, flowery scent mixed with the aroma of his wine, more intoxicating than any liquor. Heat radiated from the point where her bare arm touched his shoulder. She bent over holding the tray out for him to make his choice. All he had to do would be to slide his gaze a little sideways to glimpse the tantalizing sight of her breasts inside her neckline...
His cock twitched with ache, and his heart squeezed with longing. Would there ever be an end to this torture? How would he survive if she left?
“Colonel?” she prompted, her voice a bit raspy.
“This one.” He pointed at something brown.
He stuffed the whole thing into his mouth the moment she’d set it on his plate. It turned out to be delicious—sweet, with just a hint of bitterness—even though he didn’t like sweet foods that much.
“This one is my favorite, I think.” Lievoa pointed at the round pastry decorated with a creamy pink flower. “Though, it’s really hard to say. They’re all so good.”
“I like this one, too.” Olvar shoved the last of the three pieces on his plate into his mouth.
“Me too.” Zun ate all three simultaneously, taking a bite of each at a time. “But I like this one the most.” He bit into the round brown thing, the same Grevar just had.
“This is a chocolate cupcake,” Daisy cheerfully explained. “Unlike the mousse, I made it with the chocolate equivalent powder. That’s why it turned out pretty good. Miss Goodfellow, my old boss at the bakery, used to say that my cupcakes were the best. Her customers always asked for them.”
Lievoa clapped her hands. “Daisy, you could get a job in a bakery here, too.” She tossed a glare his way.
Did she think Daisy was leaving because he wouldn’t let her out of the house on her own? Of course, Lievoa would be accusing him of a million things, right now. But would Daisy getting a job in Voran help him keep her?
“Do people even buy baked goods around here?” Daisy asked. “Everyone has an AI, don’t they?”
“They do,” Lievoa nodded. “And an AI is great at replicating recipes, but nothing beats the taste of food made by a real person. Bakeries don’t release their recipes to the public, either. So, some things can only be bought there and nowhere else. Your parenting course is now over, isn’t it?” Lievoa slid him another reproachful glare.
His cousin really seemed to be after his blood now, but she was mistaken. He wasn’t against Daisy having a job outside of the house, as long as he could make sure the place was safe. If getting a job would keep Daisy in Voran, he’d do anything to make it happen.
“You could work at the bakery a few mornings a week,” Lievoa carried on with her “Liberating Daisy” campaign, “and be with the kids on the weekend. There is a very good bakery at the Eastern Mall. The owner, Scurad, is a really nice guy. I can talk to him if you like. I’m sure he’d love to add some Earth flavor to his baked goods.” She giggled, wiggling her eyebrows.
“No.” Grevar shook his head before Daisy had a chance to reply. The idea of her spending any time in a company of another male, even if on a strictly professional level, made the fur on his back rise with ire. “Eastern Mall is on the other side of town,” he explained when both women stared at him. “It’s too far.”
Lievoa narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
“Or you could always open your own bakery,” she said to Daisy, without taking her stare off him. “It’ll give you some freedom and independence to fully enjoy life in Voran.”
Chapter 15
WHEN EVERYONE WAS DONE with their dessert, the Colonel, Lievoa, the children, and I moved to the large sitting area in the main room.
The sunset had drawn a glowing haze of red and orange over the sky. Omni kept the lighting in the room on low, which created a soft, cozy atmosphere.
I glanced at Omni’s screen nearby. “Time to go to bed soon, boys.”
“But we’re waiting for more guests!” both objected in unison.
“Governor of Voran, Ashir Kaeya Drustan, and Madam Governor,” Omni announced at that moment, with a formal flare in his voice.
My stomach dropped at the sound of Shula’s name, as it did when the Colonel had first told me she and her husband would be coming over after dinner tonight.
Shula had made it clear she hated me. She’d also given me some good reasons to dislike her back. The Colonel considered her and her husband his dear friends, however, and I had no choice but to be civil and tolerate her presence. Hopefully, since everyone would be in earshot this time, she wouldn’t try to insult me again.
The doors to the parking platform slid open, and the first couple of Voran walked in.
The Governor was dressed in a lime-green suit that highlighted his lemon-yellow eyes. His wife wore a floor-length gown in shimmering gold. It was just as opulent as the purple-green one she’d had on at the ball. No longer pregnant after the delivery of the senator’s triplets, she was slimmer and even appeared taller somehow.
“Uncle Ashir! Aunt Shula!” the twins bounced over to them.
Apparently, they were more than just the Colonel’s friends. The children obviously considered the Governor and his wife their family.
“Ahh, there you are, little rascals!” The Governor grabbed each of the boys, one by one, tossing them up into the air in greeting.
“Hello, hello, my darlings,” Shula cooed, ruffling the fur on their heads. Bending over, she placed a kiss on the forehead of each. “How do you like being home more often now?”
“It’s fun!” Olvar twisted out of her arms to hop around with his brother, their tiny hooves beating a staccato rhythm against the tiled floor.
“Dad and Daisy took us to a museum today,” Zun announced. “And next weekend, we’re going to the Zoo.”
Shula slid her gaze my way. For a moment, my heart froze. What would be the appropriate way for the kids to address me if I was indeed their stepmom and their father’s wife? I cursed at myself for not verifying this earlier. Would she see through the lie that the Colonel and I had created around his family life? I felt like a fraud.
Despite currently living a lie, I was generally not in the habit of lying. Sooner or later, lies had the tendency to catch up with you, and I wasn’t a good enough actress to maintain a fictional story for long, not even for the best of reasons. By now, all this pretending had really begun to wear me out.
The Colonel gave each of his new guests a brief hug then offered them a drink.
“So, Madam Colonel,” the Governor addressed me as the drones brought the drinks and we all took our seats. “How do you find living in Voran now? We haven’t spoken for a while. Do you still search for similarities in our cultures?”
“The similarities definitely help, but so does learning about the differences. The more I learn the easier it gets.” I smiled.
“I suspect your easy disposition and accepting nature are the key here.” He swirled his drink in his glass, crossing his right hoof over his left leg. “We all know Kyradus is not an easy one to get along with.”
“Oh, no, he is...” I
started to defend the Colonel who was sitting next to me on the couch. Turning his way, I saw that he was smiling, not at all offended by the Governor’s words. Long-time friends, they obviously knew each other well. I didn’t need to defend him, but I said it anyway, “He isn’t difficult to get along with at all, once you get to know him. Everyone knows that he is brave, loyal, and strong, but he is also kind, protective, and caring.”
I dropped my gaze down, and the Colonel took my hand in his. I squeezed his fingers, grateful for the sense of support I always got from this gesture of his.
Zun plopped on the couch on the other side of me. I noticed that Olvar leaned against Lievoa’s legs while sitting on the floor in front of her, his eyelids drooping. We’d all had a long busy day. Despite their nap today, the kids were getting tired.
I glanced at the Colonel then addressed the rest of the room.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take the children upstairs. It’s their bed time.”
I felt Shula’s gaze on me as I gathered the kids. Her attention weighed down my shoulders like a pair of bricks.
Escaping to the boys’ room allowed me to catch my breath a little. The routine of putting them to bed wasn’t new, I studied it in detail during my course. Once Zun and Olvar had calmed down after the excitement of the day, they didn’t put up a fight, allowing me to take them through all the steps as per their schedule.
After tucking them into their beds and kissing them goodnight—which was actually one of the steps in their routine, too, though I would have kissed them goodnight even if it wasn’t—I drew in a long breath and left their bedroom to go back downstairs.
“Oh, come on, Shula!” Lievoa’s agitated voice reached me from below as I descended. “Even I know you don’t care about the program.”
“I supported it,” Shula’s tone was strained.
“For show!” Lievoa huffed. “Because you knew it was popular with the majority of the population and it made your husband look good. But you’ve done nothing to make women from Earth feel welcome here. Daisy got hardly any information on life in Voran. It’s like you set her up for failure. And Grevar here wouldn’t even let his wife out of the house because he’s afraid she may get harassed in public.”
“I’m not—” the Colonel started.
But Lievoa was on a roll, she pivoted to him before he had a chance to finish, “Do you know what Shula really thinks about the human women who are to come here to marry our men? Do you know what she called Daisy?”
“Lievoa!” Shula’s voice rose with warning.
I hurried down the stairs, rushing to stop whatever was about to happen there.
“A sex doll!” Lievoa exclaimed, pointing at me the moment I set my foot in the room.
I froze in place.
Shula sucked in a breath.
Her husband blinked, moving his gaze from me to her then back again.
The Colonel rose from his seat—menacingly slow.
“You are forgetting yourself, Lievoa,” he growled.
“Not me!” His fearless cousin leaped up from her chair, too, meeting him face to face. Well, face to chest would be more appropriate, since she was so much shorter than him. “That’s right. According to Shula, sex is the only thing a human wife is good for to her Voranian husband.”
“Oh God.” I covered my eyes with my hand.
As much as I’d love to hold Shula accountable for her words, I never wanted to involve the Colonel in this. This was between Shula and me, and I believed I’d already handled it just fine back at the ball. Lievoa had appeared to be satisfied with my response back then, too. I suspected the couple of glasses of wine she’d had this evening might’ve made her especially vengeful and feisty.
Or maybe something else had set her off?
“Is that true?” the Colonel’s voice thundered, prompting me to open my eyes quickly.
He towered over Shula, now. The terrifying expression I hadn’t seen for so long was distorting his handsome features.
“Grevar...” Shula squeaked.
“Kyradus!” The Governor finally jumped to his hooves, too. “It’s my wife you’re talking to!”
“She insulted my wife,” the Colonel gritted through his teeth. “And I demand an immediate apology.”
The atmosphere in the room grew thick with tension, which I couldn’t bear.
“Colonel...” I took a step his way.
Suddenly, Shula lifted her hand up in a call to silence.
“I apologize,” she said loud and clear, slowly rising from her chair. “I voiced some rushed conclusions out of concern for my close friend, and I regret it deeply.”
I’d never seen an apology delivered in such a dignified fashion. Shula wasn’t born as Madam Governor, but she’d sure grown into her position nicely. She wore it with ease and style.
As well as it was done, however, her apology brought more questions, I imagined, than it had answered.
The Colonel’s frown grew deeper. “What exactly are you talking about?”
“I’m regretting and retracting the words I said to your wife that day. By insulting her, I’ve insulted you. Please accept my apologies.”
“It’s Daisy you should be apologising to,” Lievoa noted grimly.
“Daisy,” Shula pivoted my way. “May I have a minute of your time, please? In private?”
Oh, boy. The last thing I wanted was a one-on-one talk with Shula. Did she have more insults to toss in my face when no one was around but me?
The Colonel stepped to my side and took my hand in his.
“Say it here, in my presence.” He lowered his horns her way.
She glanced at our linked hands then stared back at me.
“Please,” she added insistently.
I believed I heard sincerity in her voice. What harm could there be in hearing her out? I could simply leave if I didn’t like what she had to say. Here, in the Colonel’s house, I certainly felt more at home than at the Governor’s Palace.
“Okay. We can talk in the sitting room off the kitchen.” I patted the back of the Colonel’s hand soothingly. “I’ll be right back,” I promised.
“WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIT down?” I gestured awkwardly at one of several comfy armchairs in the small sitting area.
Shula shook her head in response, the glowing light of the room twinkling along the golden swirls painted on her horns. Taking a sip of wine from the tall glass in her hand, she remained standing.
Surrounded by the long planters with tall lattices of vines and flowers, this wasn’t even a separate room, just a space between the Colonel’s kitchen and the enclosed breakfast patio.
The planters here had elaborate waterfall features. The soothing sound of trickling water muffled our voices. The distance of this space from the main area and from everyone else also ensured that our conversation remained private—as Shula had requested. I only hoped I would not come to regret humoring her on that.
“I accept your apology,” I said tentatively. “If that’s what you wanted to talk about.”
She lowered her wine glass, pinning me with her stare.
“Believe it or not, I mean it. I’m sorry for talking to you the way I did that day.”
“Okay.”
“It’s true. I had my reservations about the program. I even urged Ashir not to move ahead with it, despite the generally favorable response to it from the public.”
“When did your ‘opposition’ to it start?” I crossed my arms on my chest. “Let me guess. When my husband was chosen as the first man to get a human wife?”
She darted a sharp gaze my way.
I released a long breath and lowered myself into one of the chairs, not caring whether I was breaking any protocols by sitting in her presence while she was standing.
“You rejected him years ago,” I said. “You married another man, but you wanted the Colonel to stay single. Why? So he’d be there for you in case you ever changed your mind?”
“I’m not...” She lifted her hand, s
haking her head. “I was never thinking about changing my mind, Daisy. I do not regret my decision to marry Ashir.”
“Why, then? Why do you hate the idea of the Colonel and I being together?”
“I don’t hate it.” She brushed aside a voluminous curl of her fur that had fallen over her forehead.
Huffing a breath, she plopped into the chair next to mine abruptly, in a not so dignified fashion this time.
“To be completely honest,” she said, “I might’ve had some personal, selfish reasons to oppose this. Grevar and I have a history. We used to be lovers...” She glanced my way. “He told you that, didn’t he?”
I nodded grimly.
“That ended when I accepted Ashir’s proposal over Grevar’s. However, even after my marriage, as Grevar’s friend, I remained the most important woman in his life. The idea of being replaced by someone else in that role was hard to accept at the beginning.”
“Well, that’s just...” I inhaled deeply, momentarily lost for words.
“I know. I said it was selfish.” She waved a hand. “You see, as a friend, I care about him maybe even more than when we were a couple. And when I first saw you... I didn’t believe you cared about him nearly as much.”
I moved to protest, but she stopped me with another hand gesture.
“You showed up at the ball, dressed in the latest fashion Grevar had paid for, sporting his treasured family jewelry, and showing no understanding of what you’ve got and no appreciation for any of it. At least I saw none. What I saw was a little human gold digger, spewing lies—”
“Okay, you know what, that’s enough!” I jumped up from my chair. “You’re entitled to your opinion and stuff, but I’ve no desire to listen to any more insults. And I don’t have to. Here, you’re in my house—”
“Exactly.” She smiled unexpectedly, placing her hand on my arm in a calming gesture. “This is your house, your family, and your husband. I have no doubts about any of that now. You care about his children, and I believe the two of you are truly in love. He deserves nothing less.”
Married to Krampus (My Holiday Tails) Page 15
