Chapter 19

Rurik

The twilight of early morning has cracked the night sky with gold and violet clouds.

Still, the princess has not returned.

Although Brot’s mate, Connor, has. Him, and Avril, and Zero.

“I do not understand,” I murmur, trying to control the urges making my fingers twitch. I have never had a taste for violence, but this moment is making me question everything. I want nothing more than to find someone to punish, but a man who is about to take the throne should not allow for tyrannical urges. “Explain this to me again.”

“We cannot locate the princess,” Zero says, voice smooth and even. In the few brief moments that I could not attend to her complete control, she made a mistake worthy of death. I should rightfully tear her cerebral system from her skull and throw it into one of the canals. “I was outside for mere solar minutes before I returned to check on them. She is presumably safe with Officer Hyt, but it is impossible to say for certain.”

I exhale and my breath frosts the glass in front of me.

I swipe the fog aside as I turn, framed in the window with a velvety dawn behind my back, my robe sagging down my shoulders on either side. There must be something in my expression that warns of the impending loss of my careful temper because even Brot is on his knee now, head down in careful deference.

You told Eve that she could run, I whisper to myself, but I dismiss the idea immediately. She would have told me if she were going to leave. That is the person my mate is. She is honest and kind, even if she attempts to hide those traits by acting like a brat.

I bite down on the right side of my lower lip, piercing the skin and licking the blood from the wound to calm myself. I spread my wings slightly, the scent of my pheromones shifted away from the sweetness I make for Eve. This time, when I waft my wings, the room is covered in dust that makes the others cough, their hair powdered, their nostrils flaring with the copper tang of the scent.

“If the princess needed to leave with Officer Hyt, I would’ve liked to know why,” I snap, stalking across the room to stand directly in front of the others. “If she is dead, I will make sure to torture you before my parents slaughter us all.”

I sweep past them and in the direction of the bathroom.

Regardless of Eve’s presence, today is the final day of the wedding.

It is the Day of Claiming.

The bathroom door locks behind me with a snap of my fingers, and I pause in front of the washbasin, hands on the counter, feelers slicked back on either side of my head. I press them tightly against my skull for comfort, eyes closed, claspers twitching beneath my robe.

When I first found Eve, I expected I was getting myself into a situation where our bond would never feel real, where she would continue to reject me, and so it was pointless to allow myself to truly consider her as a bride. If she did not want me, I could not celebrate that.

But then she changed her mind.

For six days, we have carried out the wedding traditions with love and compassion.

Now, I am alone.

I tap my long nails against the counter, the clacking sound echoing off the walls.

There’s a knock at the door that I wish to ignore, but that I cannot resist.

“What is it?” I snap, putting my arms up on either side of the jamb. The robe has fallen all the way down to my waist now, and is threatening to drop away entirely. I reach down with a hand to snatch the fabric, refusing to show my cock to anyone but my wife. It is no small thing for others to see.

Brot is waiting, arms crossed over his chest, eyes averted. The others have left, but the room still stings with the pheromones I threw into their faces. I am angry, yes, but that display of dominance has served a purpose. When my parents inevitably call us to the throne room, they will not be able to smell even a hint of Falopex.

If they do, it will mean a long and horrid end to our lives. They will be so furious, they will not dispatch us quickly the way they did Ranet and his mate. Planets will be destroyed. Not just the one needed to refuel but many of them.

“You allowed your anger to rule you, like father does,” Brot tells me, and I cringe, putting my forehead up against my arm. He is right, and I am sick for it. Eve, you are alive. That much I know. I would feel your death from the opposite end of the Noctuida. But where are you? Why did you flee? I lift my head up to view Brot again. “And you did not allow your servants to finish their story: there was no sign of the Aspis near the chapel. Eve was coughing up blood, and they were all quite convinced she would die. If she left with the Falopex to recover herself elsewhere, then we must find them quickly. They will not be able to contact us nor return here on their own.”

He’s right.

But I cannot go yet. If I attend the Day of Claiming on my own—the day I begin to take over parts of The Korol in preparation for my ascension—then my parents will not know that Eve is missing until perhaps tomorrow. That will buy us time to form a plan, and to do our research.

“You will help me prepare for the Day of Claiming, and you will attend alongside me to prove to mother and father that humans are indeed the oddest of mates. Do you understand?”

Brot cringes at the idea of being separated from his mate, but he nods. He will make that sacrifice for me. Other than Lyubim, he may truly be my most favorite of all my brothers.

“Yes, My Imperial Princess,” he says, and I know that he will make a reliable and trustworthy advisor to the crown.

He helps me into my clothing for the ceremony, and then escorts me to the ship in Eve’s place.

The throne creaks as my father leans down to peer at me. He is frowning in such a way that my synchronicity contacts falter and reveal the aggressive spread of his mandibles. I can see all of his teeth, the skin on his cheeks pulled back to reveal his gums, the stretch of his tongue, the depths of his terrifying throat.

I am glad that Eve is not here for the briefest moment.

“These humans are able to resist the mate bond? I do not know if I believe that.” He sits back in his chair and turns to Mother. She has not liked my mate from the very first moment. I do not know why. Perhaps because she knows how free-spirited Eve is, and there is nothing the queen appreciates more than perfect obedience. Having her successor mouth off to her would not endear her to Eve in any way.

“I do not understand. They are hibernating?” Mother struggles to make sense of the reasons Brot and I have given them. We have simply made something up. My parents know nothing about humans and their habits, and there is little research in our ship’s computer about them. They will not be able to parse the truth from the lies. “You have brought your brother to your wedding instead of your own female? Perhaps we should have killed you and your mate instead of Ranet and his.”

The queen slithers across the floor, coiling around me tightly enough that I question whether or not I will escape her clutches today. If I have to, I will fight for my life, but I cannot risk trying before I have control of some portion of The Korol. I remain placid and still, waiting for her to release me.

She does, and I collapse to my knee, struggling to regain the oxygen in my blood. Brot moves closer to me but does not dare touch me. He is too involved now. If I die, he will follow me to the Stars. He does not wish to lose his mate anymore than I do.

“Remember this, Rurik. You are important only until you are not. If another one of your brothers arrives with his mate, you will be removed from the throne.”

I force myself to my feet and sweep a bow for the queen.

But you also do not wish to kill me, for you fear that you will never escape the hell that is the throne.

With great effort, I recall my fondest childhood memory and pray to the Stars that the smile on my face looks genuine enough to please them both.

“Shall we commence with the ceremony?” I ask, walking over to the wall. Without waiting for a response, I prove my commitment, prove that I am not planning to run from them. I bite my tongue with my teeth, fill my mouth with blood, and then press my palms to the wall. My tongue smears bloody red lace across the surface, but I push deeper, straight into the heart of The Korol.

This ship was created by an ancestor of mine, this strange and unnatural mix of metal and marrow, of organic matter and artificial intelligence. For my father is only partially in control of his actions. The ship dictates others on its own.

Do you wish to have me sit your throne? I ask through the lace, in the same way that I communicate with my mate. It makes me sick to speak to another this way, but it is the only method with which to take control.

Hello, Rurik, a warm voice replies, I have been watching you, and I am thrilled for you to become the next king.

The ship latches onto the blood lace in my tongue and drags as much out of me as it can unwind, leaving me to slump on the floor with crimson running down my chin. I look up to see that the ceiling of the throne room is free of muscular twists of sinew and flesh. Instead, an elegant lace canopy hangs.

“Good boy, Rurik,” my father says with a groan, snapping the strands of blood lace that have bound his body to the throne for decades. Just a few strands, not enough for him to leave the room for the first time in sixty Earth years, but enough for him to stand up. He stretches his arms above his head with a moan of pleasure and a hunger in his eyes that he directs to me. “Bring your bride tomorrow, and continue with the ascension. Your mother and I have ruled for long enough.”

I am as thrilled by his offer as I am terrified by it.

For I must take the throne, but I need to find Eve first.

One day is not enough time to do that.

“Yes, Your Imperial Highnesses,” I murmur as Brot assists me in finding my feet. I sweep a bow before exiting the room with quick strides that carry me the length of the ship, to the platforms, back to the castle.

I do not allow myself to collapse until we are safely ensconced in my rooms.

“We will work on our story now and pray we survive the day tomorrow,” I say as Connor and Brot embrace beside me, and I can do nothing but watch as the relief of finding one another again fills their faces.

I am jealous.

I am close to another fit of rage.

“We will say she has been abducted,” I tell Avril and Zero as the latter assists me to stand. “You will tell them it was when you took her to pray at the chapel during my meeting with the duke. I did not know you were going to do so or I would’ve put a stop to such a foolish practice.”

“You’re going to throw us under the bus?” Avril chokes out, sitting down hard on one of the chairs. “Your Majesty, please. They’ll execute us on the spot.”

“I will not allow that,” I tell them, shaking off Zero’s assistance as I look to Connor and Brot next. “If I am to have credibility, I cannot be culpable. Is that understood?” It takes a moment, but one by one, they agree. If my parents discover that I sent Eve to the chapel, and why I sent her there in the first place, we lose.

I am weak from using so much of the lace without a mate to feed on, overwhelmed with the many factors at play. And still, I cannot stop. I have to look for Eve.

“Were you able to contact Officer Hyt?” I ask, but Zero shakes her head. I don’t particularly want to contact him, as my parents will know immediately and start to suspect things, but there are few good routes to follow for us to find her. “Captain Kidd?”

“I am sorry, my Imperial Prince.” Zero sweeps another bow, white hair pooling on the floor beside her bare feet. “We were not able to contact either of them, but we have received reports that Captain Kidd has been spotted making a star-jump. It seems The Korol has taken note of his position and begun tracking him.”

That is not good. Not at all. I frown and shake my head, moving up to the table to stare down at the rainbow spread of cookies left here for a princess who has fled the planet. I push the plate aside and pour myself a glass of water. Vestalis need it like any other species. We are not so different as it first appears.

Perhaps Kidd’s position is important. Perhaps he has already given the Aspis male over to Officer Hyt. I do not know, but I will keep watch.

“Find me information on Officer Hyt’s family,” I tell them, already planning my next move. If I cannot find their son, I will ask his parents. His family. His friends. I will find him, and if anything has happened to Eve, I will kill him regardless of his relationship with the Chief of Police.

“Yes, Imperial Prince,” the others spout off as I take a seat and make myself comfortable.

None of us will sleep tonight.

“Where is the Imperial Princess?” My father tears a strip of his own blood lace from the walls, swinging it in the direction of Eve’s lady-in-waiting. Avril curls into a ball around her knee, awaiting the end. Her head would’ve been served clean from her shoulders had I not stepped in.

My own blood lace has uncurled from the ceiling, stopping the king in place.

The look he turns on me is frantic, desperate, enraged. He does not want to stay in this place a moment longer. He wants me to take control of the ship, and then he and my mother will run as far away from here as they can get.

“You would go to war with your own parents over a slave?” my mother chitters, her pearlescent body curled across the back of the throne, thousands of sharp-tipped legs digging into her mate’s seat. My father no longer sits there, his atrophied legs encased in blood lace to keep him standing. But he cannot move from his current location. Standing is his only luxury.

“The princess is very protective of her servants,” I breathe, dropping the shield I have created for Avril.

When my father moves to strike again, I step forward, resisting his second attempt to take a life. He goes for Zero this time, and so it continues. He swings and I deflect, until I am dripping sweat and banished to a single knee on the floor.

“Yes, it is difficult to keep up when one’s mate is not around,” my father says with a sigh, finally sitting back down on his prison’s throne. “You are tired, aren’t you, Rurik?”

My mother slithers forward, examining me before turning to look at Brot.

“There are few who could land on this planet let alone leave without our detecting it.” The queen turns and lunges at Avril, expecting, I believe, to take the girl’s head between her mandibles. I throw an arm up between them, gritting my teeth against the pain as my bone cracks between my mother’s strong jaws.

My mind goes blank under the force of the agony, but Vrach is a talented medic. He will heal me, and I will be no worse for wear but for the memory.

“Explain,” the queen adds, and then she spins and attempts to snatch Connor in her coils. Since Brot and Connor are not a breeding pair, my parents might be willing to slaughter them in order to teach me a lesson. I don’t allow that, leaping inside the rings of her tight coils and forcing her to either crush me alongside Connor or relinquish us both. She flips around, retreating toward the throne while she waits to hear what I might say next.

I stand there panting, dripping blood, fragments of bone protruding from my ruined arm. Behind me, the wall of monitors flickers with static, casting my parents in the gray shadows of unstable technology.

“We believe the Collector was involved,” I whisper, undisturbed at having implicated a Vestalis male who is innocent in this crime. He is guilty of so many others, and I planned to punish him once I took the throne anyway. But if today is his day, then so be it.

“The Collector?” The queen is perplexed, but not disbelieving. She clacks her mandibles together in a reminder of my pain, and I take a step back. Her attention turns to Zero, but when she attempts to snatch the android’s head from her shoulders, I take control and deflect her. With me controlling the Cartian girl’s actions, she cannot be blamed for them.

I don’t fight back, crouching into a ball and allowing my mother to damage the model’s exterior instead of her head. We can make repairs to the body, but we cannot save the organic tissue that houses the spirit of Raina, one of the only Cartian females in the entire Noctuida.

My mother relents a final time, stretching across the back of my father’s chair as I release Zero from my control and struggle against my own weakness. Without my mate, I cannot draw blood. My resources and energy are not infinite, and already, I am running low.

“We will bring him here,” mother says, but father is already shaking his head. My mother has a tendency to be selfish while my father is always at the mercy of The Korol and the best course of action for our species as a whole.

“We cannot allow anyone to know of the princess’ disappearance or the entire universe will be on the hunt. Have the Falopex arrest the Collector and extradite him to Yaoh.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I sweep a deep bow. I was hoping this is the direction today’s meeting would take.

“Find her Rurik. We will give you a short window in which to work, and then your mother and I will resume the search ourselves.” He leans down toward me and puts his massive mouth up next to my ear. I drop my feelers down and to the sides in feigned deference. “If we are the ones to find her, you will not enjoy watching what we will do to her.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I agree, anger and resentment hot and heavy inside my chest.

“Leave,” my father snaps at me, and then with his own mandibles, the ones I can no longer see because of my contacts, he bites one of my antennae off at the skull, soaking my hair with blood.

By the end of the day, the feeler has regrown, my arm has been repaired in the med bay, and I am this much closer to finding Eve.

I prepare a transport, and then I head for the Stars.