Chapter 16

Zyair's respite with Layla was dreamlike. It definitely helped him mentally prepare himself for the coming transition. He would be forced out of the soothing arms of a being who had begun to feel like home to him and thrown into the orbit of the one being alive who intimidated and terrified him. His father, King Vrondo Lorrz—the warrior king of Lorr.

"Captain Lorrz. The Lorr ship requests permission to dock."

"Please activate, Astrid. Let them know that I will board their ship for the meeting momentarily."

Zyair rubbed his forefingers and thumbs together nervously. Even the shadow of his father's personal battle-ready warship, the ExpLorrAtion, sent a wave of panic through him. In his teenage years, it often meant that his youthful adventures had been intercepted and a punishment would be forthcoming.

"So, am I gonna get to meet your dad?" Layla dressed herself quickly.

He didn't know how to prepare Layla to meet him. Or if now was the time. "It depends on the kind of mood he's in," Zyair finally answered.

"Are you two close?"

"No." He nearly snorted, thinking about the rifts his father had created within multiple branches of the family and wondered whether there was any hope of repairing them. Another human at the table wouldn't help anything. "You should stay here on the Top Asteroid for now. Keep your comm on, though, in case it makes sense for you to board the ship."

The king wasn't exactly known for his warm reception toward humans, especially after he exiled his older brother, Kozien, for marrying a Terran woman. The next oldest brothers married humans, too, and they helped clean up the poison in that well. However, officially, under the king's rule, humans were a topic best not discussed and a race best not fraternized with.

Zyair had dressed in his royal uniform for the occasion of meeting with his father and planetary leadership.

They rendezvoused with the Lorr warship in dead space, vast pockets of the universe between galaxies and solar systems where they could generally meet in private. As ships normally passed through these areas at warp speed, they tended to be invisible to prying eyes.

"His Royal Highness Prince Zyair of Lorr approaching," the voice of his father's ship announced as he boarded. The entire retinue—everyone except his father—stood.

They sat around a state table on the ExpLorrAtion, the flagship of a vast fleet that was scattered across the known universe on behalf of the Lorr.

The king's horns spiraled around three times and reached almost down to his shoulders. They were polished to a high sheen and had gold-studded thread twined elegantly around them. He was more than seven-feet tall and nearly as broad, and his commanding presence alone had been known to reduce battle-tested warriors into sniveling children.

"My son, welcome." Zyair saluted and bowed as his father briefed him. "We have determined that the Jorvlens are intent to strike our home planet quickly, and they hope to have the element of surprise. We've intercepted transmissions from bases they hold throughout the universe, and it's clear that our planet is their target. We've decrypted intelligence that they have a weapon of unprecedented destructive power."

"The Desolation Stone. What role does that play in all of this? It's gone missing just as the intelligence has heated up surrounding the Jorvlen war machine." Zyair pointed out.

"Very astute, my son. Very astute," his father acknowledged. "That piece of information has been a highly guarded secret. You put the pieces together instantly."

Zyair was used to feeling like a failure in comparison to his illustrious brothers. But hearing this praise from his father, who rarely gave compliments even when warranted, made him think there was more to him than just the rebellious kid who never heard a rule he didn't want to break.

"Is your plan to go to war, Father?"

"I'd like to avoid it if we can, as always." The highest-ranking military officer from Lorr, General Nielx Forgan, along with the top state adviser nodded in assent.

"We cannot declare intergalactic war on another nation based on the evidence we have," General Forgan spoke up. "And regardless, we don't have a weapon of equal power. They would have just cause to retaliate, and they could do it at a much greater scale."

"He's correct," chimed in his father's State Advisor. "We don't even know if this theft and the gathering of equipment has been sanctioned by the Jorvlen authorities."

He had asked mainly to read the room and give deference to his father, who had ultimately authority, regardless of what any other adviser, officer, or noble thought.

"I agree with this approach of caution." Zyair nodded. "I've already made progress in locating the Jorvlen ship along with the Tragan arms ship that it made contact with. There's a tracker on board, and we're monitoring them. We were following them before this meeting, and we can get on their tail again."

"We?" The king raised a single purple brow.

Shit.If it weren't such a serious moment, he would have offered "the royal we" as a joke. But he knew his father didn't have a great sense of humor even in the best of times.

"I've been in communication with a Terran living on Kona with knowledge of the situation…" As soon as he said that, his father's demeanor turned icier.

"Humans. I cannot escape these dreadful humans." The king sneered.

His two advisers laughed obsequiously.

Zyair continued, undeterred. "She's an asset. The current owner of the Desolation Stone is half-human, and as you know, in my role at PAPS, I have authority over the case involving its recovery. It would be prudent to continue to investigate the theft and arrange for its recovery within a civilian operation like ours. Don't you think? And with help from a Terran individual from Kona, it would have greater separation from the affairs of state for Lorr. I would go undercover, of course…"

The king held up a hand to indicate he was deliberating silently about the options before him. His eyes moved rapidly as he engaged in scenario-mapping, a physical trait that had always unsettled Zyair when he observed it in practice although not when he experienced it himself.

"Please excuse us, general and advisor. I'd like to speak privately with my son, the prince."

They bowed and left.

"It's too sensitive a matter of state to have even our esteemed associates listening," King Vrondo told Zyair. "I want this mission to have royal approval but not overtly. I will brief the military and diplomatic chiefs in the uppermost echelon only so they don't interfere with your mission, but otherwise, it's a state secret. You will have state protection. Do you understand my meaning?"

"I do, Father."

A beeping came at the door, and the king looked at the vidcomm to see who sought entry. Zyair was shocked to see Layla's curly brown hair on the monitor.

King Vrondo raised his eyebrows at his son. Zyair's face flushed a darker purple, and he raised an eyebrow back as if to ask his father permission to allow her to enter, even though he had no idea what she was doing there. The king nodded skeptically and opened the door.

"Hello, um, Your Royal Highness." She curtsied and bowed.

"You must be the human." The king huffed.

"Father, this is Layla Killingsworth."

"That's a name?"

Zyair ignored his father. "Layla, I present to you His Royal Highness King Vrondo, warrior king of Lorr, high chief of the planet of Lorr, scion of the royal house of Lorrz."

"I've heard tell of your great accomplishments, sir, from all ends of the galaxies I've been to."

The king gave a questioning yet pleased look. Good girl, Layla, Zyair thought and smiled at her.

"And I hear you want to accompany my raffish son on a mission that could be the end of you. Why's that, girl?"

Zyair noticed the color draining from her face, and he pulled out the chair nearest to him.

I do?She mouthed to him, angling herself away so the king couldn't see the panic on her face. Yes, he said, conveying the urgency with his eyes.

"Please sit," Zyair offered and helped her into her chair. Even touching her helped give him confidence in dealing with his father.

"Thank you. I hope to accompany your son because I know of the great loss the owner has suffered from the absence of the stone. But more importantly, the planet of Lorr is one that deserves its reputation of greatness, and the Jorvlens deserve their reputation as… well… the words I would use are not suitable for such distinguished company."

King Vrondo guffawed. "I like this one, Zy," he said, shaking his head. "She reminds me of Scarlett."

Wow, Zyair silently mouthed to her. He waved away her look of confusion. A look of nausea came over her face again.

"Even saying the Jorvlens' name seems to make you feel ill. That makes me like you even better. Are you sure you're human?"

"Dad!" Zyair hissed.

"Fine, fine. My dear son, I started this journey unsure of what my ruling would be on assigning you to this task. But with your cool headedness and the capable partner you've recruited, you've made the case."

"Thank you, sir." She disguised her persistent nausea as astonishment at his bestowing such a great honor unto her, even though she barely knew what task it was specifically that she had agreed to accomplish.

"I don't mean to keep the two of you from your undertaking. I have to return to Lorr on important business, and I know you have important business to attend to as well." For the first time as far as Zyair could recall, he bowed to his son.

"Thank you, Father."

"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, Zyair. And… Layla, was it?"

"Yes, sir. Layla."

"And please, son, keep me updated. We'll check in regularly. I have great faith in you."

"Beloved Father, thank you. I vow that I will not let you down."

They returned to the Top Asteroid arm in arm. Zyair was beaming, but Layla looked like a wilted flower. "You're not feeling well?"

"No, I'm feeling terrible." She clutched her stomach, and he noticed dark circles under her eyes that he hadn't seen before. "I'm exhausted. And my stomach, ugh. I feel sick all the time."

"You don't have to participate in this mission, Layla. You should save your strength."

"I want to do it. It's important. And these assholes framed me!" She snarled.

"Shh," he said, not wanting her to use any unnecessary energy worrying about the Jorvlens. "But if you're not feeling well, why did you come over to my father's ship?"

She gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" she said. "I got a page on my comm. See?"

"It's like the hostel booking all over again. No, I didn't call. It must have been an accident."

"No. It must have been fate."

He was worried about her, though, and he hated seeing her sapped of the vigor that he had grown to adore. He realized he had two missions. The first was to recover the Desolation Stone. The second was to make sure that he did everything in his power to make Layla better, no matter what it required.