Josie pounced again. "A wretched vid whore? I mean, I know I look tired and maybe even like I've been in a crash, abducted, arrested, brought here to the clinic and then like I ran to find you, because I have been! And I know this dress is a little small for me, but that's exactly what happened. I don't look my best, but I don't think I look like a wretched vid whore," Josie mumbled under her breath to herself and Gregor rubbed her arms in consolation.
"You look gorgeous, my sweet," Gregor assured, and Tal smiled at the affection and protective instinct the larger man already displayed for his sister.
He nodded towards Percy. "That will be fine, Percival." Tal smiled before turning back to his sister.
Percy bowed and walked off to grab Tal's royal robe and crown… who would have ever thought that Talon Versuthion would have a royal robe and a fucking crown?
"So… you found your mate, too, huh, Josie? I didn't think you had one. Didn't realize that Edifician harpies could have mates. However will Mom and Dad react by this bit of news?" he teased, laughing when Josie flipped him off.
Josie laughed then sobered quickly.
"Mom and Dad!" They yelled simultaneously.
"I'll bet they are so worried. We've never been gone this long on a shipment without checking in," Tal exclaimed.
"They're probably going nuts. They've probably already contacted the GPA, not to mention we never actually completed the trip. We need to contact them immediately and figure out some way to get that stuff where it's supposed to go." Josie nodded.
"I can't right now, Josie. I have to meet Blaze at court," Tal declined, frustrated as he allowed Percy to wrap the robe around his shoulders, tying it tightly around his neck, before placing the crown atop his head and quickly brushing his extremely long, sun streaked hair.
"I can have the communicator set up for you as soon as court hours have finished, Your Highness. Your sister can speak to your parents now and you can speak with them later. We can also have a scouting crew go back through the wreckage and see if they can find the rest of your shipment. I understand your sister already has some of it, and we can have it sent to its destination from here," Percy offered demurely.
Tal turned to glare at Josie who grinned sheepishly.
"I wasn't going to keep it Tally, honest. But I also couldn't leave it there. 'Sides, I figured if I had to pay someone for information about where you were I'd use what I took to do it with. But, you know, you didn't need finding or saving. Remember? While you were here becoming the mate to the Alpha, I was left outside, arrested, sedated, and finally brought here," Josie stated.
Tal cringed in guilt. Nodding his head briefly, he kept his mouth shut. She kind of had a good point.
Turning back to Percy, Tal nodded with a wide smile. "Your help would be wonderful, Percy, thank you so much for thinking of it. Can you show me how to get to the throne room before taking Josie to her room and setting up the communicator? I'll just come back with Alpha King Blazell. And maybe on the way, can we stop to get me some food?" Tal asked, using Blaze's full title in front of the royal guards who remained to escort him.
"Certainly, Your Majesty. Right this way." Percy bowed formally before turning to lead Tal to court.
Josie, Gregor and three of the other guards were left waiting behind.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tal followed Percy through the halls of the palace trying to ignore his upset stomach and hoping that once he ate he'd feel better. He listened with half an ear as Percy droned on about the history of the Roughshire family, the Tumaron people, and the palace. Tal really worried about Blaze. Could his mate really be upset about Josie hugging him? How stupid. His sister would hug him a lot. It didn't make any sense. And the fact he couldn't speak to Blaze at that moment? Well, even more frustrating. He stopped when he felt the feeling of nausea increase and covered his mouth with one hand, the other hand dropping to his stomach.
Percy's hand landed on Tal's shoulder, propelling him through one of the doors. They ignored the shouts of the guards and Tal promptly became sick in one of the toilets. It took him five minutes before he felt well enough to push away from the basin and then he smiled up in thanks at Percy who produced a towel and a glass of water. Swirling the water in his mouth, he spit it out before wiping his mouth with the towel. The water had a slight mint taste to it and Tal was thankful for Percy's quick thinking. He handed the items back to Percy and rose to his feet before taking the glass back and drinking all of the water. He wiped the sweat from his brow and took a deep breath.
"Your Highness? Are you okay?" Percy asked fearfully.
The younger man's concern warmed Tal and he nodded.
"Yes, thank you, Percy. I think it's just the cubs… babies, inside of me," Tal responded unsure of how to refer to the children.
The thought disturbed him. His children would be half Tumaron, would they be referred to as 'pups' as he'd heard some of the young Tumarons described? He grew angry at the thought of anyone referring to his children that way and started when he felt a hand on his arm.
Turning sharply, he saw Percy looking at him in concern.
"Your Highness, you smelled… well, I sense that you're angry. Would you like to return to your rooms? I can inform the Alpha King you are not feeling well if you would like," Percy offered.
Tal calmed almost instantly. Why did it seem as if Percy had the ability to instantly make him feel peaceful? He knew he'd have to ask Blaze about that. As soon as he thought of his mate he grew instantly anxious to see him.
"No, no, Percy. Please take me to… Court? Is that how I would refer to it?" Tal asked, and fought the urge to bite his lower lip nervously, suddenly aware of how… provincial and common he sounded.
Percy smiled consolingly and reassuringly at him. "Court is held in the Great Throne Room. So you would ask to be taken to the Great Throne Room to hold Court, should you ever need to make that statement to anyone else," the blond man informed him.
Tal smiled and breathed a sigh of relief before nodding for Percy to lead the way. "You know, Percy, I may need you to give me some quick 'How to Be the Alpha Queen' lessons over the next few weeks. You know, protocol, titles, dos and don'ts, how to walk, talk, dress, act, who to suck up to, who to ignore, stuff like that. I know you're my mate's assistant, but do you think I could get you to help me as well?" He shot a quick look at the younger man.
Percy's grin of delight at the question made Tal sure he'd done the right thing.
"I'd be honored to help you, Your Highness, and really, your mate doesn't need me much. The title of assistant is purely an honorary one. We can begin whenever you want."
Tal quickly gave Percy a one armed hug, not wanting to smell too much like the other man for fear of how his mate and Percy's unacknowledged one would react.
"Thanks PC." He grinned, giving the other man a new nickname. "You've just made yourself a friend for life. Now, can we also plan a time for us to plan a wedding ceremony? Because I know my mother, when she finds out I'm mated to an Alpha King and my sister's mated to a guard, she's going to demand a wedding for me, because she knows she'll never get one out of Josie."
Percy joined in Tal's laughter when they continued their journey towards the Great Throne Room.
* * * *
Three pairs of eyes watched as the two men, surrounded by guards, made their way down the stairs towards their destination. Filled with hatred towards both, the three plotted the death of one and the misery of the other. They promised both men would suffer, that both of their lives would end. One in death and one in being sold as a sex slave. Neither man would get the happily ever after they both dreamed about.
They didn't see the powerful Zeta wolf who stood across the hallway, completely invisible, his scent masked, his eyes narrowed while he observed them. He had been born to protect the Alpha Queen because he had been promised to one of the children the Vermithian carried. His mate had not yet been born, but their souls had already been connected. Oamon, the trusted Tumaron shaman, had foretold of a son, to be named Maximillion Roughsire, a son half Vermithian and half Tumaron, his fated mate. And for certain, he had smelled the distant aroma of his mate, not fully developed. The age gap bothered him a little, he would soon turn twenty-seven, but fated meant fated, and nothing would stop him from protecting his mate. Nothing.
Turning away from the conspirators, Kazumi went in search of his cousin Mailon. If anyone could help him, it would be his cousin, currently the only living Epsilon in existence. Between the two of them, they could help keep the Alpha Queen alive, because the Vermithian carried the first Iota half-breed in existence and Kazumi's mate.
* * * *
Tal's mouth dropped open in wonder when he stepped into the Great Throne Room, where court convened. The massively huge room intimidated Tal as he took in his surroundings. The walls were a burnt sienna, the floors were a dusky gray tile; Tal did not understand the color combination there. There were tall columns down the middle of the room, evenly separated, dividing the room into three equal sections, the middle space had a long white carpet that ran down from the throne out the doors, symbolic of the purity of the Alpha King's decision to their problems. From what Tal understood, the carpet got cleaned every morning and evening since the dirt of the kingdom's inhabitants often stained it, but the Tumarons were nothing if not rigid in their traditions. In each of the other sections, hundreds of Tumarons stood waiting and as Tal made his way towards his mate, he noticed two men arguing with each other on the white carpet. His mate sat on his throne, two of his guards, three Elders, including Mailon Saungfreid, and Buck, all seated or standing around him. They were surrounded by smaller, less royal looking thrones. An empty throne sat next to Blaze's, almost as tall, but slimmer and Tal knew that particular chair had been reserved for him, the Alpha Queen.
He still hated that title.
He made a decision to talk to someone about changing the 'Queen', seconds before deciding he couldn't go and sit in the seat reserved for him in front of all of those people.
"Your Highness, is everything okay?" Percy questioned and Tal shook his head to rid himself of his musings.
"Yes Percy, I'm perfectly fine," he answered with a smile.
Percy gazed intently for a moment, his eyes intense as if searching for an answer to an unspoken question. Tal assumed Percy saw the answer he wanted because he smiled and nodded.
"All right then. Follow me please, Alpha Queen." His lips curved upward.
Tal cringed internally at the form of address, but smiled back and nodded before following the other man to the throne left especially for him.
"You will pay a monthly allowance to your neighbor until the debt is paid in full," Blaze commented when they walked up.
The two arguing men, burly and looking angry and unkempt, nodded and bowed in deference to Blaze's ruling and after presenting their monetary offering to the kingdom, turned to leave.
"Alpha King, I do not understand. For a case such as that one, where two men enter into a contracted business together and one reneges on his part of the deal, you would normally have them go out into the combat fields and battle for judgment," one of the Elders stated.
Tal couldn't remember the man's name but he did remember he'd thought the man in question would be better suited as a lion shifter with all of the hair covering his thin body and the thick mane of hair that billowed around his face.
"Elder Clouston, I am aware of how things were once done, but I am now mated and expecting my first pups. How can I condone violence when my life is filled with such joy?" Blaze asked.
Tal's heart clenched at his mate's words. He'd never heard Blaze speak in such a way, not even to him. Perhaps his mate hadn't been upset with him because of Josie? Maybe he really did just have to rush off to hold Court? By the looks of all of the people waiting to be heard by the royal Alpha couple, a pretty fair assumption could be made that being on time for Court was imperative. Tal would have to ask Blaze to make sure he let Tal start getting ready an hour before Blaze did if he planned on being on time.
He grinned when Blaze finally noticed him and grew hard behind his pants at the smoldering look in his mate's eyes. Blaze smiled with affection, obviously happy to see him.
Without taking his eyes off the smaller man, he addressed the entire room. "Tumarons! Just days ago the One, our holy and omnipotent Goddess, saw fit to bless me with my mate, and you with your Alpha Queen! May I present to you my mate, Alpha Queen Talon Versuthion-Roughshire!" Blaze announced in a booming voice filled with authority, power, awe, joy, happiness and another warmer emotion Tal couldn't seem to place.
Tal tried not to visibly react to his new name. When had it been decided he would take his mate's last name? Versuthion had special meaning for him. At least it did now. After almost dying in the crash and then finding his mate and carrying their children, Tal realized his past had importance. It connected him to the future. Instead of considering his birth parents as a biological twist of fate, he wanted to honor them. And now he should what? Stop being known as Talon Versuthion because his mate wished it so? Tal sighed. The happiness shining in Blaze's eyes showed how much he loved announcing the new moniker
, so Tal would accept the hyphenated version. But he would so make Blaze give him a wedding now—a big, huge, extravagant wedding.