Chapter Three

Neffa got up before dawn. She showered, ate in the common area, and dressed in foraging gear with a foraging pass on her belt. She grabbed the equipment and eased out of the women's quarters, walking toward the edge of the enclosed village before dawn.

She scanned out of the village and registered a flier. She got on board and took off with her list tucked in her tunic.

She flew directly. The occasional flash of her tracker let her know they were monitoring her flier. She shook her head.

The Keedon had superior technology, but their ship had taken asteroid damage. The fifteen hundred survivors had been happy to settle in, but when they were denied access to their ship, they began to realize that they were now prisoners on what was supposed to be paradise.

The ship itself was under containment, and the Orumel would use the technology that they found inside. For thirty years, the Keedon waited, and now their wait was almost over. They just had to play meek for a little while longer. Thirty years was not the end of them; it was only the beginning.

Neffa clocked the three beacons as she passed them, but she was up for the fourth. As dawn burst over the horizon, she settled down and headed into the forest. Her mom had given her the go code in the herb list, so when Neffa got to the stand of rock she was looking for, she pushed the stone aside and exposed the flat plate beneath. Her hand slapped to the panel, and the needle drove into her palm. The keypad surged upward, and she typed with her right hand while leaving her left in contact with the sensor. There was a hum and a display. Signal sent. ETA two days sixteen hours.

She closed the keypad and withdrew her hand from the needle and sensor. Piling the stones back onto the cover, she got to her feet and plucked some of the buds from her left. Then some from the right. She put them in her forage bag and got on with the day's tasks. A fly-over was going to check on her position, so she needed to have quite a bit of her assigned tasks completed. Five hours later, she was sitting on a rock at the edge of the plain and having food. The overseer landed, and he strode over to her.

"Keedon, what are you doing?"

"Eating, Overseer. Collecting herbs for the king's injury." She smiled tightly. Namedropping worked with them.

It wasn't working with this guy.

"You were responsible for Orvalik's injuries." He growled at her and lunged forward.

"No. The king was. Orvalik backhanded me, and the king beat the shit out of him. Is Pree-ath pregnant with Orvalik's baby? I know they are really trying, and so does the king."

The man froze in place and went chalky a foot from her.

"I just want to collect the herbs I need for the town and village. You can contain your rage for the prince, and I will continue my activities today. I am here to serve the kingdom and empire, correct?"

He looked at the pile of herbs next to her perch, and as she sat there, he pissed on it.

She looked at him with a blank expression. When he closed his trousers and walked away with a sneer, he muttered, "Better replace all that."

She looked at the pile of discarded leaves and twigs he had mistaken for her harvest. She stood up, grabbed the bags that she had carefully hidden, and put them on, walking for some of the rarer grasses that her mother needed for the baker's chronic conditions.

The pile of pissed-on garbage was left behind. The overseers were the bane of the foragers, and training to deal with them was one of the first things that foragers were taught when they were apprentices. Dealing with what the jerks could come up with was a vital skill. The key was to look dismayed at their actions, just as it was while you were dealing with any bully.

Neffa checked the time and kept drinking water as she continued her collection. When she had spent ten hours out, she headed back to her flier and stowed her harvest and the multitude of packets in her mother's pack.

The flight back to the village was relaxing and warming. The sun heated her aching and sweaty body as she flew home. If she took too long, the flier would be summoned home, and overseers would be dispatched to arrest her. That was also something that all little foragers learned. Start early, come back early. It saved a lot of harassment.

She wasn't the first forager back, but she wasn't the last. She scanned in, checked in, stowed her flier for charging, and walked to the processing building with her herbs and grasses. She took out the fresh herbs that her mother wanted, scanned them out, and headed to the clinic.

Neffa smiled and nodded at familiar faces as she walked through the village and stopped to get some pastries before heading back to her parents' home.

She knocked, stepped inside, and saw that her mother's exam room was closed. Neffa washed her hands and face, set out a platter that was used as a base for the pastries and then went to the storeroom and arranged the herbs and grasses on the hooks and trays that were waiting.

Neffa finished and washed her hands again. She snagged a pastry and headed over to the women's centre for a well-earned shower.

Just over two days and the Keedon would be able to resume their designed purposes. This was their world. They had made it, and they would reclaim it. It was simply a matter of numbers, and the numbers were coming.

She lay in her tiny room, read a book, and headed to bed. In the morning, the Keedon would be just over a day away, and then the villagers could actually spread across the globe and do what they had signed up to do—wake all the tech buried in the world under their feet and get the full potential of this world into action.

She just had to keep her mouth shut for one more day. As it was, there was nothing for the king to do. Their people were coming. The world was about to change.

A soft knock on her door woke her. "Neffa? There is someone here to speak with you. He's waiting outside."

Neffa put her book aside, put on some flats, and walked down to the main entrance, staying on the edge of the sill, and looked at Duke Morro. "Uh, hello."

"Hello, Neffa. The king has requested that you and your family be brought to the castle as his guests for the next few days."

She snorted. "Hostages?"

Duke Morro shook his head. "He said he has questions."

"Oh, Isar will love that. She tried to answer the questions nearly thirty years ago, but the queen wasn't having it."

She looked at him. "How are we travelling?"

"Your parents have left; I will carry you."

"Like this?"

"No time for court garb."

He held out his arms, and she sighed and walked toward him. "If they bust me for curfew, I am taking it out of your hide."

He nodded. "Yes, miss."

"Oh. Formal transport. Right. Hands where I can see them at all times." She stepped into his range, and he bent to lift her.

He settled her and took off, his dark blue hair blending with the night sky. She remained quiet. Formal requests were always awkward, or so she had witnessed at court.

The flight was silent, and he finally landed in the courtyard and set her on her feet. He offered his forearm, and she set her hand on it.

"Please come this way, my lady."

She raised her brows at that but walked the halls of the palace as if she owned the place. When they ended up facing a noblewoman who was prancing along, Morro told her, "Move."

The woman blinked and plastered herself against the wall in surprise.

They walked up the stairs to the king's audience chamber, where chairs had been brought out for the king to greet his visitors.

There was no one else in the room aside from the king and her parents.

She muttered to the duke, "I think you might want to make yourself scarce."

The king lifted his head. "No, he is head of defense. He needs to be here."

"Defense? I am not that dangerous... usually." She smirked, "Your Majesty."

He snorted. "Niece, come in here so that I may greet you formally. I am getting the feeling that you have indulged me because you have known something that I did not."

She removed her hand from Morro and walked over for him to take her hands and kiss the back of her hands. "Welcome to the palace, Princess Neffa."

Isar laughed. "She's going to get a swelled head."

Kesen shrugged. "She has always been my princess."

His brother nodded. "And rightly so. Now, we need to have a discussion about something that our radar has detected."

Isar looked at him calmly. "What would that be?"

"There appears to be a battle cruiser and several large transports on the way. They are identifying themselves as Keedon."

Neffa settled on her chair. "You don't say. How odd. I think we are Keedon."

Isar nodded. "I believe you are right. Thanks for the pastries, by the way."

"Welcome. I got home early, and the bakery smelled amazing."

The king looked them. "Did you hear when I said that there was a hostile force coming toward our world?"

Kesen smiled. "Their world. They tried to explain it to Mother. They tried to explain it to the population, but we wanted to contain and use their highly educated and talented population. We benefited from their scholars, botanists, engineers, and healers."

Neffa smirked. "You benefited from one in particular."

The king slammed his hand down. "Enough!"

Isar tutted. "What are they saying?"

"They are going to take the planet."

"Is that what they are really saying?" Isar raised her brows.

King Arewen blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I think the word you are looking for is reclaim. They are looking to reclaim this planet. I mean, it's only fair. We made it, after all."

Arewen stared. "What?"

"I explained it all to your mother. We tried to tell her that this world was purchased as an empty hulk, and over seven hundred years, we built it into our ideal paradise. Then, we sent out a small group of artisans to wake the cities and facilities, but our ship was damaged, and we found that an alien race had taken over our world and our landing sites. Your race. You had moved into the palace and taken over our university."

Neffa smiled. "Fortunately, we just had to delay the waking. We can still get the rest of the facilities ready for the landing ships. You just have to tuck in and stay out of our way."

Arewen blinked. "You aren't kidding."

Isar shook her head. "We are not. Your mother was warned that we were coming. She must have thought it was a bluff."

Kesen shook his head. "I knew it and knew it wasn't a bluff."

The king asked, "What happens if we don't allow you in?"

Neffa sighed. "It isn't a question of allow. You have a population of one million, and one percent of those have exceptions, like Duke Morro or my father. The Keedon have a seventy-five percent occurrence of additional power, and the military is landing first and last. They are all exceptional."

Isar chuckled. "Their timing is excellent as well. Neffa's time is nearly here, so she can pick a likely candidate and have an heir to our family."

Morro spoke, "Doesn't she need a husband for a legal heir?"

Kesen shook his head. "Not for the Keedon. They just do genetic scans and extensive testing. If Neffa passes, she will be the next queen, and her children will be tested in turn. At any point in their testing, they can abdicate, or the citizens can put a different family line through the same gauntlet." He smiled. "She can have children by as many fathers as she wishes. Her heir will be selected and tested."

Neffa choked. "Wow, Dad. That's an interesting visual."

"You can choose your partner or your mate or your husband. But you have your mom's biology. You will have to choose, and pretty soon at that."

Neffa wrinkled her nose. "Don't remind me."

Morro spoke cautiously. "You don't want a Keedon?"

"Well, all of the locals register to me like family would, and most of your people are fucking annoying." She grimaced.

Morro blinked.

Isar chuckled. "She did say most, Duke Morro. Not all."

Morro's skin darkened.

Neffa blinked. "Seriously? I thought he was just being polite."

Arewen looked at them and grinned. "Really? That's a surprise."

Kesen chuckled.

Neffa suddenly realized that no one from the court had ever volunteered to enter the village, let alone help her dad with dinner and stay through all the courses. He had stayed for her, and the hug was not just a hug.

She blinked. "That's... something to consider. I thought you hated me."

"What?"

"First impressions. The graduation. Your initial response when the prince got his face rearranged. That kind of thing."

"I was misinformed."

She wrinkled her nose. "That sounds likely."

He cleared his throat. "I would like to apologize. I was acting under misinformation."

She nodded. "When it is offered, I will accept your apology."

Kesen murmured to his younger brother. "Oh, she's good."

Morro smiled slowly. He slid to his knees and bent his head. "Miss Neffa, would you please accept my apology for actions past?"

She blinked at the top of his midnight blue hair. "Does that include calling me my uncle's whore?"

"I was unaware of that relationship when the prince's comment was reinforced. Yes, I apologize for all crude or indelicate comments I made regarding your person."

She laughed and stroked her fingers across the silky expanse of his hair. "Apology accepted."

He lifted his head and smiled. He caught her hand and pressed it to his cheek. The gesture was strangely natural.

Her mother was grinning at her, and Neffa reluctantly pulled her hand away. Her father looked at the back of Morro's head with narrowed eyes.

The king looked relieved.

Kesen barked out, "Morro, are you doing this because of her current status as heir to this entire planet?"

The duke got to his feet. "No, I am doing this because something about her makes my soul sing."

Isar grinned and slapped her husband's arm. "Told you. Pay up."

Kesen leaned over and kissed his wife. "Fine. I will help you sort your herb storage."

Neffa covered her ears. "Not listening."

Her parents laughed.

Morro cocked his head and smiled. "Is it code?"

"Yeah. It is. You don't want to know for what, but when I was a kid, I was sent off on sleepovers when they sorted herb storage. Lots of sleepovers." She sighed.

Morro chuckled. "Yes, they seem the type."

The king stared in surprise but gradually smiled. "That explains why he gave up his throne for her."

Neffa looked at her uncle. "He didn't give it up for her; he gave it up for me. Not being a citizen would restrict my social standing. It was better for me to be raised with my own kind, which meant the village. So, he joined us in the village. Mom is nobility, but she is not one of your kind."

"So, what do I tell them? They are awaiting an answer as to whether they raze the cities as they land." He was tense.

Isar looked at Neffa. "You are welcome to give them authorization to keep everyone alive, but you will also have to open the planet for their arrival. Can you do that?"

"Well, I don't think the court will be in favour of that, but yes, I can do that. Would you like me to do that?" She looked to the king.

He swallowed. "I would. Please."

"You know you are going to have to surrender rank. All of your people will lose their ranks. That is the least price you will pay for stealing a planet."

He stared. "Stealing?"

"Your people have been here for less than a century and have been unable to work with the natural resources and the existing cities that your folk took for new ruins. They ignored the beacons that declared this an evolving world owned by the Keedon and supported by the seven systems council. You are going to have to make an announcement as to what the previous generations got up to."

He sighed and nodded. "I will."

"Good, because the moment the vessels begin landing, every Keedon is going armed. We will not be used as hostages or living shields."

Kesen grinned. "That's my girl."

Isar chuckled. "Neffa is a wild spirit. She dreams of going out to the great plains and staring up at the stars."

The king asked, "Why didn't you?"

Morro answered before Neffa could. "Curfew. They are locked in the village or hunted like animals. It cuts down on stargazing."

The monarch blushed. "Oh. Right. I hadn't thought how it would affect daily life."

Neffa looked at him. "As a woman who has been raised in a cage, I can tell you, it blows. It also makes for an angry population, but we knew the ships were coming, so we waited, and here they are."

Isar nodded. "Go and talk to the ship, sweetie."

Neffa looked to Morro. "Can you escort me to the throne room? That is where the long-range com is located."

"Of course, Princess." He held up his hand again, and she put her hand on his wrist. They headed to the throne room, and he dismissed the guards before escorting her inside.

She walked to the throne, detached one of the orbs from the arm of the seat, and twisted it to send the most important message of her life. After three minutes, there was a response.

" Thank you, Your Highness. It is good to hear a friendly voice. How is our population doing? "

"Increase by sixty. We are hoping that you have some more likely candidates. We have been confined for the last three decades in the artisan village. Close quarters have stalled heats."

" Confined? Are you in danger?"

"No, we are safe, and all souls are accounted for, but we are really looking forward to a shift in numbers."

The male voice chuckled. " Oh, we can do that. Will the landing sites be prepared?"

"Yes. I am opening the world next. We await your arrival."

The captain signed off, and Neffa reattached the orb. She sat on the throne, picked the second orb off the other arm, twisted it, and felt the needles enter her skin.

"Time to make this world what she was supposed to be." Neffa looked at Morro and smiled.