9. ZAYDEN

ZAYDEN

Impatiently, I watched the parade of human females enter the great feasting hall, which I had ordered to be rearranged. In addition to the upturned U where I sat at the top on a raised dais, a large table had been added across from me in the center of the U. Large enough to allow all twenty human females to sit together. Of the twenty, only six were truly golden-haired, my Alice among them.

I didn't see the point of telling them that it was only the blondes I was interested in, and only one at that, because I wanted Alice to think she was in a competition. Manipulative? Ra! But necessary it seemed. Other than forcing her to be my queen, I didn't have a choice.

If she still refused me, I would have to choose another, so it made sense trying to get to know them all. No matter if my heart had already made its choice. I was still a king who wanted to keep his crown.

"Good evening, ladies. I hope you find your accommodations satisfactory?" I forced a benevolent smile to my lips and to keep my eyes roaming the females, even though it was only Alice I wanted to look at.

"Very much so, Your Royal Highness," a pretty woman with golden highlights in her otherwise brunette hair replied, fluttering her eyelashes at me.

Glistening, rosy lips curved into a big smile that soothed my somewhat bruised ego. This was how Alice was supposed to look at me. With longing, adoration, flirting.

I chanced a quick glimpse at her and caught her nostrils slightly flaring as she stared at the brunette.

"Thank you so much for saving us, King Zayden," a redhead chirped. Ra, chirped. Her voice was melodic, like a bird's. She was very pretty and under normal circumstances would have stirred my cock, but it, like my heart, had already made its choice.

I didn't like the idea of leading these females on, giving them false hope, but Alice had put us into this situation, and I would have to make the best of it. I swore I would compensate each one highly, allow them to live at court in splendor, and pick their own mates when they were ready. It was the least I could do.

More of the other females spoke up, thanking me, praising me, trying to engage me into flirting with them. Only my Alice remained stubbornly cool. I sighed.

It had been quite the ordeal housing all these females, getting wardrobes together for them, or so Mach-Nak-Tho informed me as the head mistress of the ladies-in-waiting to the court.

She came highly recommended, by none other than my aunt, who was queen of Centar, the planet system that had supported my claim to the throne the most. Finding good servants wasn't easy, even with the ever-present Suulan race, who served in any household that could afford them. Suulans were choosy, opinionated creatures, but the most loyal, trustworthy, hardworking servants one could find once they committed themselves. It had taken all my skills of persuasion to keep Mach-Nak-Tho as Alice's head handmaid.

Only as a favor to my aunt had she considered staying on in the service of a female who was not yet queen, who had gone as far as shun her role. It cost me a fortune to make her stay, plus the promise that she would be first maid to whomever I chose as my queen once this farce was over.

Ra, Alice truly had turned my universe upside down, and yet, I couldn't be annoyed or angry with her. I desired her too much for that. The memory alone of her soft body, how it had yielded to me for just a little while, was enough to give me the strength to wage another war just for her.

"I see Your Highness has come up with an excellent plan to choose his queen." The high priest approached the dais, nodding and bowing at once, eliciting a smirk from me because I knew he detested having to bow to me. In his mind, the king should bow to the high priest, not the other way around.

"I trust it finds your favor?" I replied, not caring if it did or not, but regrettably, I depended on his favor, for which I despised him even more.

"It is a good solution to the will of the gods. Are you favoring one as of yet?" His greedy eyes roamed the table with the human females. "You are not entertaining the thought of picking one with fake or no golden hair, I hope?"

"Nef. I would never defy the will of the gods," I pressed out. "The others are here to make them more comfortable."

"A wise decision, Your Highness," the priest agreed. "I don't need to remind you that you have to fulfill the will of the gods before the next rotation?"

"How could I ever forget the will of the gods?" I replied dryly.

His head turned sharply to me, but I stayed cool, not allowing my expression to give away that I would rather run him through with my sword than bow to his demands. If I had a choice. Which I didn't. Not at the moment. Perhaps in a few more rotations once my position was more secured. Once I had an heir. Ra, I liked that idea.

"I will leave you to your dinner then, King Zayden." The high priest disguised his head bow with another nod and retreated back to his own lair, where he would preside over his own feast like the king he wasn't.