Chapter Nine

Blake came in like a force of nature, no doubt intending to sweep aside everything in his path, but he hit a snag when he got to the door of Rakkur’s room. I could almost hear his conflicted thoughts. Should he rush immediately to the babies, who were sound asleep, or should he lunge for Rakkur first? Then he saw me and realized there was a third option, and I think his brain may have short circuited for a second. He just stood there, frozen in the doorway, his eyes wide, until the king and Mikol both pushed past him. Davos reached me first and pulled me in for a hug.

Davos gave the best hugs—they were rare but always worth it—so I went willingly into his arms to be mauled by him. I was tackled from the side by Blake, then, who came in fast once he got unstuck. Blake ripped me away from Davos and kissed my cheeks, then held me out to examine my face.

“Oh my god, what happened to your face? Tell me everything.”

“Blake,” Davos said, “I told you Jago was injured in a fight with the Pton guards. He was trying to protect Rakkur. I’m so proud of him for stepping up that way.”

“Oh no, honey, you’re too little to fight. You could have been badly hurt or even killed. Promise me you won’t do that again.”

I laughed nervously, used to being called “little,” as he put an arm around me and moved me away from Mikol and the king like he wanted to conspire with me. “Tell me, honey, where exactly are these Pton guards who hit you? Would they happen to be here on this ship?”

“No, Blake,” Davos said, overhearing him. “You’re not going down there to yell at the prisoners and threaten them. Not yet anyway.”

Mikol nodded. “I have a meeting set up soon to speak to their commander. You can sit in if you like. His grandmother will be there.”

“Wait a minute,” Blake said. “His what? ”

“Grandmother. It’s a long story.”

“I look forward to hearing that one.”

By this time, Davos had both the babies, one in each arm. Blake took them right away from Davos after a brief tug of war and sat down with them beside the bed, marveling over their blond hair and unwrapping them from their blankets to look at their fingers and toes. “Mikol,” he said, “You and Kalen need one of these.”

“Jago,” Mikol said, quickly pivoting quickly to change the subject. “I’ve heard from your parents. Some kind of emergency meeting came up last minute for Renard, so they won’t be coming here after all. They want you to go to Tygeria with Blake and Davos, and they’ll come for you there as soon as they can.”

“There’s no need for them to come at all, because I’m not going to Earth with them,” I said, trying not to sound defiant, but I guess it didn’t work too well. Davos frowned at me.

“I’m sorry, Grandfather, but I mean it.”

“This running away is childish business, Jago. It has to stop. Your fathers are right to be upset.”

“No, they aren’t,” Blake said, blithely interrupting. I’d only thought that all his attention was on the babies. “Jago is almost twenty-one and he can choose the person he wants to marry. Renard is too overbearing—always has been—and I don’t know what Anarr is thinking.”

“My omak agrees with me that I don’t have to marry anyone I don’t want to,” I told them. “But he says he wants me to ‘get to know’ this Lycan first before I make a final decision. The thing is, I already know him, and I’ve decided he’s a waste of my time. Father can’t tell me what to do any longer, and it’s about time he realized it. I was only meeting with them out of courtesy, but it will save everyone a lot of time and trouble to cancel the whole thing now. I’m sorry, but I won’t do it. I’ll go back to Loros with Mikol, if he’ll allow it.”

Mikol and Davos exchanged a long look, and I suddenly didn’t feel that great about my chances. Maybe I really should think about making a new plan.

Blake sighed and shook his head. “I don’t understand these parents who always try to interfere in their children’s lives. What can they be thinking?”

The amazing thing about that statement was that he made it with absolutely no irony whatsoever.

Mikol actually started to smile, but at the last minute managed to wipe it off his face. Rakkur pulled Blake toward him and leaned over to give him a big hug. “I love you, Omak. I’m so glad you’re here.” He glanced over at Tariq. “Oh. Tell them the names we’ve chosen for the babies.”

Tariq, who seemed to hate being the center of attention when the king was in the room, blushed a bit, looking uncomfortable. “Rakkur has decided that one of them will be called Kaden, which was my human omak’s name.”

“Oh, I love that,” Blake said. “A lot like Mikol’s mate’s name, though....Kaden, Kalen…pretty similar names.”

“It was his omak’s name ,” Rakkur insisted. “We had the right to it first.”

“Okay, yes, of course, I get it,” Blake said. “Though Kalen has every right to his own birth name too. But it’s a lovely name and a good choice,” Blake said. “And the other one?”

“The other one…uh…”

I could tell Tariq had gone blank. He looked frantically over to Rakkur for help, but Rakkur was only staring back at him with his lips pursed and a frosty expression. “I-uh…I know it starts with a ‘K.’”

Mikol grinned, but Rakkur and Blake both looked disapproving.

“Seriously, Tariq?” Rakkur said. “His name is Kyle.”

“Oh. Yes, of course.”

“That’s very sweet, dear,” Blake broke in, possibly to keep the peace or at least keep Rakkur in bed. “I love the names.”

“I guess that makes one of you.”

“I’m not sure how the rest of us got dragged into this,” Davos said.

“Unbelievable,” Rakkur muttered, still glaring at his husband.

“Anyway,” Blake said, “tell me more about this grandmother. How did that possibly come about?”

“She was the one who first approached us about the attack on Rakkur and Jago’s ship. She was able to warn us, so we could get there in time to stop the commander from taking off into the rift. We might never have found them if he had. She can tell you more at the meeting.”

“But she basically turned her own grandson in?”

“She wants us to make a deal with him. One that benefits everyone, she said.”

“This commander, her grandson, kidnapped both Rakkur and Jago and was ready to take Jago with him to the Pton planet.” Davos’s voice was dark with anger. “Why should we make an agreement of any sort?”

“I gave her my word for the information she had,” Mikol said. “I can’t go back on it.”

“But why did this emperor want the boys?” Blake asked, his tone sharp.

“As hostages,” he said. “To help keep the rest of us in line, I suspect, while they attacked the outlying planets.”

“But that’s crazy. That situation couldn’t have lasted forever and then what would have been the plan? What would have happened to Rakkur and Jago?”

“When hostages outlive their usefulness, they’re generally disposed of,” Mikol replied.

“Disposed of?’’ Blake said, his voice shaky.

There was a short, tense silence. Davos stood up, his face flushed with sudden anger. “I think I need to speak to this man. Now.”

“Wait,” I said, jumping to my feet. “You heard Mikol say he gave his word. And beating or killing him won’t help this situation. He was only following orders. He never personally hurt me.”

“Jago, you have bruises all over,” Blake said.

“None of them are from him. He tried to help me as much as he could.”

“How did he help? He didn’t let you go. When do we have this meeting?” Davos asked.

“In about an hour.”

“ I didn’t make any promises, Jago. This man kidnapped two members of my family. It’s outrageous.”

Blake stood up and put the babies down after kissing them on their foreheads. “I think I’ll go and freshen up in our quarters before this meeting, and be back to see you soon, Rakkur.” He held out a hand to me. “Jago, why don’t you come with me? We need to talk before this meeting.”

“I’m going to be there.”

“No, Jago,” the king said, “there’s no need, and it’s too traumatizing.”

“There is a need. This is my business, as I was intimately involved in the whole thing. I want to be there…sir. Please.”

Davos turned away and didn’t reply, but Blake hooked his arm in mine and sailed out of the room, pulling me along with him. I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about, but maybe it was better than staying there and arguing with the king. It wouldn’t have done much good anyway. I was still determined to be at that meeting no matter what he said.

We’d made it only a few feet down the corridor before Blake put his arm around me and spoke softly in my ear, so the guards wouldn’t overhear us. “Now when you said you were, ‘intimately involved,’ what exactly did you mean?”

I was shocked by the question, and he saw it on my face.

“Come now, you know that I know you’re not telling me everything, and I need to be aware of everything that happened, Jago. You need to tell us exactly what transpired between you and this alien commander.”

“Nothing happened. Not really.”

“It’s the ‘not really’ part I’m worried about. Come on, before Davos gets back. We need to talk, so I can know exactly how to help you.”

“But will you help me? You didn’t the last time I came to you.”

He stopped in the middle of the corridor, looking shocked. “Jago!”

“I’m not mad about it, omak-ahn. I know my parents put a great deal of pressure on you, and you felt like you had to tell them I was with you. But you should have fought harder for me to stay. I’d gone to great lengths to get to you.”

“You were underage then, baby, and my hands were tied. Davos was insistent that I didn’t interfere. I shouldn’t have listened to him, though.” He put a hand to his throat, looking stricken. “You’re right. I betrayed you.”

“Not so bad as that. But just be assured that I’m of age now, and I’m not going back to Earth with my parents. I’m almost twenty-one. Twenty-two in Lycan years, and I’ll go back to Lycanus if I have to. I’m sick of being treated like I’m a child. You must know how I feel—it must have been a little like this for you when you first came to Tygeria. Everyone treating you differently because of the way you looked.”

“Yes, it was exactly like that. I was an oddity then—a human and completely out of place.”

“If I had taken more after my biological father instead of the surrogate, I’d already be in the army by now. Like Mikol was, when he was even younger than me. How old were you when you joined the Alliance army?”

“Times were different then. We were at war.” He sighed and we started walking down the corridor again toward his room. “But I was about your age. Maybe a little older.”

“And why did you join?”

He gave a short laugh. “I didn’t have much choice. I’d have been drafted if I hadn’t. And I suppose I wanted to make a difference.”

“So do I. But not in the army. And I don’t want to be just some man’s mate or consort.” I noticed Blake’s quick, surprised glance over at me and squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean you. You’ve never been ‘just’ anything. You’re brave and extraordinary, but I want my chance to be the same. I understand I can’t be in either the Tygerian or the Lycan army, and I understand the reason for that. Though I’m angry at the General for being so overbearing, I know he just wants to protect me. But I can protect myself. And I can still make a difference without being in the army. I want to make my own adventures, but I need the chance. I need my family to get out of my way and let me do that.”

We had reached his door by then. He brought me inside and went straight over to the nearest chair to sit down. “All right,” he said. “I hear you, and I’ll help if I can, but I don’t know how much I can do.”

“Get me into this meeting today. I want to find out why Lord Dominiko’s grandmother came all this way to find him. Mikol mentioned some kind of deal or arrangement, and I want to know what that’s about. I want to know if Niko is in danger. And if he is, I want to help him.”

“ Why do you want to help him? He’s the enemy, Jago.”

“That’s just it, though. He’s not my enemy.”

“Honey, you don’t know him. I don’t know what happened between the two of you but make no mistake. If he’s Pton, then he’s the enemy.”

“Wasn’t the king supposed to be your enemy when you met him?”

He looked shocked. “Oh my god, do you have feelings for this man? I’m almost used to how quickly Tygerians form attachments, but you’re more Jayronian than Tygerian.”

“Only in looks. I’m still half, despite the way I look. And I don’t know about feelings. I just know that I don’t want him hurt or killed. I need to be at that meeting.”

Blake fell back in his chair and sighed. “All right. I’ll make sure you’re there. As for the rest of it…”

“Can’t we just see what happens?”

After a moment, he nodded. “Yes, I suppose we have to.”

****

Lord Dominiko

The guards came for me as I was finishing the midday meal, after merely picking at the food they’d brought me an hour earlier—some gray, tasteless stew with unknown-to-me vegetables, and some hard bread and what they said was tea in a metal mug. Probably still better fare than my crew was receiving, and my better treatment was most likely due to my grandmother’s influence.

I had no idea what kind of influence she was wielding, actually. She had simply suddenly appeared, fucked up the standoff I had going on with the Tygerians, and then claimed to have come to warn me of some plot against me by the emperor. She had yet to say how this new marriage of hers had come about.

I was glad to see her already in the room where the meeting would take place when I arrived. Her big husband was with her, his arm around the back of her chair, very possessively.

“Niko,” she said as I came in. “Sit here next to me.”

The guards released me, and I sat down, leaning toward her at once. “Itaka, tell me again about this marriage of yours and why you’re here before the Tygerians arrive. You said Linnius wanted to sabotage this mission that he sent me on. But help me understand all of this.”

“There’s a reason I not only survived but thrived all those years in the dula , Niko. I had informants, some among a network of servants. They were the ones who brought me the best information, as they truly see and hear everything. I left Pton and went back to Touzia after Linnius took the throne. You already know all that. Anton was on a state visit to Touzia as a part of a diplomatic mission when I arrived. He saw me in court, and he approached me.” She shrugged. “I’m sure I did nothing in particular.”

“She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen,” King Anton said, gazing at her like a love-struck adolescent.

She glanced over at me and shrugged. “His mother is Pton. It must be something similar to my first husband and his reaction to me when we met.” She preened a little and smiled. “Anyway, Anton swept me away with him, and I’ve been living on his planet for a while now.”

“Why didn’t you get word to me?”

“I tried. I sent you several messages that were returned. Someone must be interfering with your communicator messages, dear. At any rate, one of Linnius’s body servants was present at a meeting between Linnius and one of his assassins. The servant had been serving them until Linnius cleared the room, and even then, he managed to overhear some of their plans. Enough to know that Linnius directed this man to kill you after you reached the rift with the hostages. I came at once to find you and get word to you.”

“But why now? Hating me isn’t exactly anything new for Linnius.”

“No, but your affair with his wife was .”

“Lady Melanius? There’s nothing serious between us. I’d hardly even call it an affair.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t, but he took great offense. There was a poisoning attempt on Linnius a few days ago. Evidence led back to Melanius and she was taken into custody.”

“What? Melanius is dead?”

“Not yet. She’s awaiting execution. I’m sorry to bring you such terrible news. Her family is outraged, of course, and they’re being offered compensation, but they’re still complaining bitterly to whoever will listen to them. The council is not happy about it either, and there’s been a huge uproar.”

“Linnius likes to eliminate political rivals whenever he can. He’s using this as an excuse to murder me and get rid of Melanius at the same time.”

“So you and Melanius aren’t really having an affair?”

“No, of course we are, but it’s nothing serious. She and Linnius have been estranged for years.”

I clenched my hands into fists, overcome with anger and a surprising amount of grief for a moment. The fact he hadn’t killed Melanius yet was a good sign. But he must be making her grovel to him and she would hate every moment of that.

“What kind of compensation could Linnius possibly offer to her family? Is it for sure that there was an attempt to kill Linnius?”

“No, I don’t think so, though Linnius said it. I doubt it personally, because he’s a liar. Listen to me. The emperor thinks you’re plotting his death, or so he pretends. You have to make that plot a reality and kill him. It’s the only way.”

“What? You think I should assassinate the emperor?”

“Yes, I do. And I think you should make it your top priority.”

“Is that a possibility?” a large Tygerian, not much past middle age said from the doorway. I had no idea how long they’d stood there or what they’d heard. The man was powerfully built, red-haired like all of them. He was a huge man, even larger than his grandson Mikol, and he looked mean and dangerous.

He strode almost casually into the room, with Prince Mikol behind him. Trailing them both was an ornamental human male, who was holding tightly to Prince Jago’s arm. He had the same oddly bright blue eyes that Prince Rakkur had, and the resemblance was striking. This must be Rakkur’s male bearer of course, and grandparent to Jago, though he hardly looked old enough. He was quite small in comparison to his husband, and I wondered what he could be doing here in this meeting. Leaders didn’t bring their pretty bedmates to important meetings on Pton, and I was surprised to see it done here.

It was also the first time I’d seen Jago up close since he was taken off my ship. I was glad to see he didn’t look as if he’d suffered any ill effects. The bruises were a shame though—they didn’t belong on such a face. His generous mouth was a bit pursed, as if he were biting his lips from the inside, and his remarkable navy-colored eyes held shifting light as he glanced up at me. He looked worried and stressed. Those dark, bottomless eyes shouldn’t have reflected light in such a way, but they did.

Itaka seemed surprised at the newcomers entering so abruptly for a moment but quickly recovered. “Oh, you must be King Davos,” she said, not getting up or making any effort to do so. “I’ve heard plenty about you. I apologize, sir. If I’d known you were eavesdropping on us, I’d have tried to make my conversation with my grandson more entertaining for you.”

“Itaka,” her husband Anton said in a soft, shocked voice. “I’m so sorry, Your Majesty.”

Davos merely smiled as he took his seat at the head of the table, but it never reached his eyes and they narrowed slightly. “Quite all right. I was eavesdropping. And it was entertaining enough, Lady Itaka. You’re right. I’m King Davos, and I believe you already know Prince Mikol. This,” he said, nodding toward the blond man at the back of the little procession, is my consort, Blake, along with another of my grandsons, Prince Jago, one of the young men your grandson kidnapped so dishonorably.”

“I’m very pleased to meet you all, gentlemen, though I’m wondering why my own grandson here is still being held prisoner. He surrendered his prisoners, and I fulfilled my end of the deal. I foolishly, it seemed, thought that you might do the same and not act so dishonorably. ”

“The ‘deal,’ as I understood it, was that your grandson would not be summarily executed as soon as he got off his ship. So far, he hasn’t been, though I make no promises. How have we not fulfilled that specific arrangement?”

“That wasn’t the “arrangement’ as you call it,” Itaka snapped back at him. “and what’s more, you know it. Not at all. I’m surprised to learn you can’t keep up your end of a bargain. How disappointing.”

Anton leaned in to say something in her ear, but she shrugged him off, giving him a blistering glance.

Davos shifted his attention over to me, outwardly calm, though I wondered if anyone ever insulted him in such a way to his face, and if he was only barely controlling his fury. I hoped so and couldn’t hide a little smile at his discomfort.

He glared at me. “Lord Dominiko, I presume.”

“At your service.”

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“What would you have me say? Do you want excuses? The emperor assigned me a duty, and I attempted to carry it out.”

“There has been no declaration of war between your people and the Axis planets, though we could certainly consider this to be one. It was an unprovoked and cowardly attack on innocents and noncombatants.”

“Might I remind you that the one who ordered this attack is not my grandson,” Itaka interrupted. “It was the Pton empire and more specifically, the Pton Emperor, Linnius. Before you embroil yourself in another long and costly war like the one you had with the Alliance, you might need to think long and hard. I realize you want to retaliate, but perhaps you should consider taking a different, smarter course.”

“It’s too late for diplomacy.”

“My grandmother never suggested that,” I said, putting a hand over her own to quiet her. “Since you overheard us speaking, you know that she was just talking to me about an assassination on the Pton emperor. And I am more than willing to take on that duty, given the chance.”

“Why the sudden change of heart? You seem to change sides easily.”

“It’s not sudden or easy, nor is it a change of heart, as you call it. There has never been any love lost between me and my half-brother.”

“Your half-brother? Are you serious?”

“Yes,” I said, lifting one shoulder. “My late grandfather had many wives, and all of them were ambitious for their children, but Linnius eliminated all the ones ahead of him in the succession by one means or another. There is little love lost between us.”

“And you seriously expect me to believe that if I set you free, you’ll go back to your planet and ‘eliminate’ him in his turn?”

“I have no idea what you believe. And I doubt you’ll give me the opportunity. Though once Linnius has been removed, all threat of war will also be gone. No one else on our planet is so aggressive or thirsty for power at any cost. I have access to Linnius as a member of his council and, yes, to my shame, he is my half-brother. I have both means and opportunity. My motive is simple. I despise him and all he stands for. He murdered my father, though I can’t prove it. I still know it to be true. I’d like nothing more than to see him dead.”

“But you just said you didn’t think I’d set you on that course.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “You don’t strike me as particularly intelligent.”

His consort and his grandson Mikol both made an angry sound at the insult, though Davos merely stared steadily back at me as I continued. “You’re also furious that someone dared touch your family and took them hostage, and that anger supersedes any other consideration.”

“You’re right about that at least. I’m not a forgiving man.”

“Then we don’t have any more to talk about.”

I stood up, though one of the guards shoved me back in my seat. My grandmother grabbed at my hand, all the blood draining from her face. Davos’s countenance was like a thundercloud, full of malice and hatred. I let him see my anger as well. I felt as if his fingers were itching to grab the weapon at his side and execute me “summarily” as he had said earlier. Like he’d no doubt planned to do from the beginning. We were perhaps seconds away from some kind of precipitous action when both Jago and the blond man at the end of the table stood up.

“Davos,” the blond said in an imperious voice. “I want a word with you.”

I thought the king would ignore him or roar at him to shut up, but his head snapped around to glare at him instead. “Not now, Blake. Sit down, please.”

“No,” the man replied. “I said I need a word. Outside. Now .”

The absolute fury the king was feeling as he glared at his consort was almost palpable in the small room. His ferocious stare would have quelled most men, but the small blond stared steadily back at him without a hint of fear. I began to think I’d badly misjudged this man. There was more here than just a pretty face, though I could see who Rakkur and Jago got their good looks from.

“ I insist, Davos.”

The king made a savage, disgusted sound like “Pah,” at the back of his throat and turned on his heel to storm out. He threw open the heavy door with such force that it rebounded and struck the wall behind it. The consort turned to follow him, first putting back his hand to squeeze Jago’s and whisper to him. Jago sat back down and glanced over at me. The consort gave me a long, piercing look before he followed the king boldly out of the room.

My grandmother clutched my arm, pulling me down to hiss in my ear. “What’s wrong with you? If that man of his hadn’t intervened, he was about to attack you.”

“You weren’t exactly conciliatory yourself. I’m not going to beg that fucking, bad-tempered bastard for my life.”

We were speaking in Touzian, but some words—curse words—seem to translate into any language. Prince Mikol looked up sharply at my tone as I’d cursed his relative. He wasn’t as angry as his grandfather had been, but he wasn’t far behind him either. Well, fuck him too.

As for Jago, he looked even more worried, and I wondered why he was even there to witness this. I shot him a dark look, in case he was there to revel in my shame, but he didn’t look as if he was there for that. He looked upset, and I found myself wanting to reassure him, which was ridiculous. I turned away, but not speaking to him, not even acknowledging him only served to make me more aware of him, and I was very aware of his every move. He was still wearing the blue robe, which clung lovingly to his form. I heard him sigh—a slight sound but it pricked my attention. It was an anxious sound, and irrationally, I wanted to say something to comfort him, though what that could have been, I had no idea.

Anton was drumming his fingers on the table and Itaka was practically twitching with nerves and anger. I had no idea what the little blond man had thought he could say to the king, but I didn’t think it would make a bit of difference. I fully expected him to return any second and pronounce my sentence, if not actually carry it out. The door opened abruptly, and Davos reentered. His consort was right behind him, but he peeled away and went over to Jago to sit down beside him, giving him a sidelong glance as something passed between them. Jago still didn’t look happy.

Davos came back to glare at us across the table, visibly angry despite or maybe because of whatever had gone down in the hallway. “I need time to think about your offer and how we might ensure that you don’t just use it as a means of escaping,” he said. “Your crew has no part in this, you understand. They’d remain in prison regardless. This only concerns you.”

“I can remain as your hostage as guarantee against his return,” Itaka said, despite her husband’s furious glance at her. “If that would be satisfactory.”

Davos didn’t respond, and Mikol murmured something in his ear. They both stood up and Davos repeated his earlier words. “I need more time to think.” He bowed shortly in Itaka’s direction, gave me one more feral look, and he and Mikol headed toward the door. He got all the way to it before he seemed to recall himself and stopped, looking back at his consort.

He held out a hand to him. “Nobyo, please join me.”

His consort seemed to think about it for the briefest moment, and I actually thought for a brief second that he might refuse. Then he rose, nodding toward us on the other side of the table and joining his husband at the door, but he ignored the hand Davos held out to him. I didn’t have any idea what had transpired between them when they stepped out, but whatever it was, it had been short and apparently not particularly sweet. He made to pass by his husband, but Davos slipped his arm around his consort’s slim waist and pulled him backward, pressing him to his side. He took his hand in his and escorted him out the door. Jago stood too and gave me a long look before following them both out.