Authors: Michelle M. Pillow
“Haun, what are you doing here?” Mei asked.
“Prince Jarek tried to contact me at our home. Since he insisted on talking to me, Jin answered in my place. Prince Jarek told Jin, who later informed me, what you had discovered. He also told me of the map and how it was your fate to go on his ship to see it. All is forgiven,meimei . With this news, the family understands why you acted the way you did. I am happy you are safe, little sister.”
Prince Jin? Jarek frowned. That was how Haun had gotten to the mines before them. He was already on the Singhai side of the planet.
“Please forgive my brother, Jin’s, deceit but it was necessary,” Haun said. Jarek nodded, not really concerned. His head raced. If Haun was here, he’d want to keep Mei by his side. How was he supposed to take Mei with him if her brother was there to stop him? He couldn’t hurt the prince. She would never forgive him.
She might not forgive me for stealing her away.
Jarek looked into Mei’s eyes. The room was quiet. Tears built in her gaze, tearing at him. He could tell by her look that she was trying to tell him goodbye. “What of the men who left here with a cart?” Mei asked. “Our guards in disguise. They bring proof of the chandoo drugs to our shores. A ship awaits their return.”
“Argh!” the woman tied to the chair hissed. Jarek glanced over to see Rick patronizingly patting the back of her head.
“What are you going to do with her?” Jarek asked.
“I’ve made arrangements to take her with us for punishment,” Rick said. Jarek saw something in his friend’s eyes, something he’d never imagined seeing in Rick.
“I thank you for returning my sister to me, Prince Jarek,” Haun said. “If you would hand over the map of my palace, all will be forgiven in your taking her away.”
Jarek glanced at the floor. “It’s on my ship. I thought it safer to leave it there.” Haun nodded in understanding. “Very good. Again I thank you. If you please, let us go to your ship now and retrieve it so you may be on your way.” “We’re not taking them with us to the palace?” Mei gasped in surprise.
Almost desperately, she hurried, “Won’t father wish to meet them?”
“I’m sure Prince Jarek has many duties awaiting his attention,” Haun said, his
expression stern. He stared at Jarek, meeting his eyes in warning, as he reached for his sister’s arm. “Come Mei. We will wait for them outside the mines. The sooner we get you home, the better I will feel.”
“I owe them, Haun. We owe them. Please,” Mei whispered. Jarek knew she didn’t mean for him to hear her, but his Var hearing detected her words easily. “It’s a matter of my honor.”
“Prince Jarek, forgive me for my hasty words. Of course, you are invited to the palace. Emperor and Empress Zhang would be honored to have you as their guests.”
“Mei?” Jarek asked her. Mei nodded. “We would be honored to be your guests.” Haun nodded once before leading Mei from the small, barren room. Rick hauled his prisoner up from the chair and thrust her before him. “Come on you,” Rick hissed. “Payback is going to be hell.”
The woman grunted, cursing him through her gag. Rick laughed, a mocking, hard sound. Jarek wondered what exactly had happened to his carefree friend to make him so sinister in manners. The woman tripped, but Rick’s hold on her tied wrists kept her upright and walking.
Jarek took a deep breath, alone in the room. He had to find a way to take Mei with him from the palace. His heart ached with the idea of leaving her. Only how was he to get her away from Haun? The man didn’t seem like he would let her out of his sight for very long. Jarek could well understand. He, too, felt protective of her. “Forgive me, Mei, for anything I might have to do,” he whispered. Determined, he moved to follow the others.
Chapter Eleven
ImperialPalaceof the Zhang Dynasty, Honorable City,MuntongTerritory, Planet
of Línti
a
n
Jarek’s first sight of the Honorable City was the high walls blocking the palace from the outside world. A moat surrounded the walls, its waters still with what looked to be long spikes peeking out from the depths. It wasn’t a very welcoming sight. Vines of bluish weeds wrapped around the spikes and small, orange fish weaved in schools around
them.
Since his own home overlooked the surrounding valley, he couldn’t imagine being blockaded inside four walls, hidden from the surrounding landscape. He felt claustrophobic just thinking about it. At least on his ship they were heading somewhere, with endless stars all around them. The wide front gate was ornately gilded, carved with two circular dragon patterns with symbols down the side. They slowly crept open as two guards allowed them entrance.
Beyond the gate, the lavish hidden world of Honorable City awaited them. Jarek glanced back at the lush countryside. Mei’s homeland was a true paradise amongst planets. As they’d flown over the planet in their ship, navigating over the plains as they flew through the pale blue sky, they’d seen a few farmhouses that were clustered close together to form a village and a large forest with strange spiny leaf covered trees. Fields of giant, red flowers contrasted against the blades of the yellow-blue grasses.
Inside the palace walls, pathways led through the landscaped complex.
Everything was neat and tidy, even the plant life. He didn’t see one dried blossom or dying leaf on any of it. Barren torches lined the walkway. Jarek knew they didn’t have the aid of moonlight on Líntian and the torches would be necessary to light the grounds.
Mei’s family used natural elements for light, as opposed to computer operated systems.
Even though the buildings looked complex in decor, there was a simplicity to the design of the palace grounds. From the map, he knew them to be laid out in a giant rectangle, with many buildings for different functions—from an archery range to barracks for the Imperial Guards. There was also a small creek that flowed within the walls. It was a little city made solely for the pleasure of the royal family.
Mei had ridden across theSatlyunRiver by ship with her brother as Jarek flew with his crew back into space, only to wait for the Zhang prince to arrive safely at
Muntong’s shores. When they reached the docks, Mei cleared them for landing as they reentered the atmosphere, landing to join the Zhang royals. Rick’s prisoner provided the crew with mild entertainment and speculation, especially since they’d never seen a woman infuriate Rick as much as she did. He called her Wench most of the time along with several other choice names, but they all highly doubted any of them were the real her.
hough, it turned out to be as they’d suspected all along, the woman was a drug trader and Rick had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. While in pursuit, and not taking no for an answer, Rick had followed the woman into a private hall. Her comrades had shown themselves and he was taken prisoner. While in captivity, he was put in the woman’s care, though she wasn’t much of a caretaker. Jarek wondered if spending several weeks tied to a chair would make Rick more cautious. Somehow, he highly doubted it. The oddest part of the whole ordeal was that when the woman looked at Rick, though there was a lot of anger, there was something else in her too. Whatever it was, Evan was steering clear, wanting no part of it.
Seeing Mei looking at him brought Jarek back to the moment. He hadn’t been alone with her since before they had gone into the mines. Giving her a soft smile, he resisted the urge to go to her. She was beautiful, dressed in silk like the Líntianese princess she was. His heart ached with the need to hold her and his body yearned to make love to her. The pain was so bad, he was sure he’d die from a broken heart if he were to leave her behind. He had missed her terribly during their time apart.
But how can I take her from this paradise? What do I offer her? Space? Dirty space ports and
endless nights flying through stars with no one but the crew for company?
Guilt and heartache warred within him and he lost some of his resolve to kidnap her. Jarek couldn’t help but stare, ignoring the beautiful palace as they walked beneath that gate.
What do I do? I can’t leave her. Sacred Cats, I can’t!
Haun looked down at his sister, drawing Mei’s attention away from Jarek.
“Look at those,” Evan whispered at his side. The man was talking toJackson , but Jarek followed his finger anyway. Strange pink flowers lined the paths, interwoven with others that were shaped like an eight-point, dark blue star with a golden center. Tiny winged creatures fluttered over the petals. Their bodies were so small compared to their large black wings. The shape of the number ‘’ formed when their wings bent forward in flight.
“Well, would you kiss my comet, Cap,” Rick said. “Will you look at this place?
It’s a pretty sweet setup they have going here. I could get into this.” The man was a little too loud and drew the attention of Mei and Haun. Mei tried not to laugh, Haun’s lips pressed tightly together in censure. “Do not get into anything,” Jarek ordered under his breath. “Don’t make me regret taking you along.”
“Sure thing, homey,” Rick nodded.
“Stop talking,” Jarek ordered, not understanding the man’s word. Sometimes he thought Rick just pretended to be into twentieth century Earth memorabilia and really just made things up as he went along. He’d be convinced of it, if not for the numerous times he’d caught the man with contraband old movie transmissions.
The Honorable City was a beautiful place, with attention paid to every detail—
from the curved roofs that pointed up toward the heavens to the mosaic pathways that led to a few of the sacred buildings. Mei dropped behind her brother to walk next to Jarek.
“I miss you,” she said quietly.
Jarek felt like he could breathe again at her admittance. “As I you,fea .”
“What do you think of the palace?” she asked.
Jarek couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “Beautiful.”
She blushed and glanced around. “Haun is taking you to be introduced to my family. They’re waiting for us in the Hall of Infinite Wisdom. If you could please keep
Rick from talking…?” Her tone dropped off as she gave the man in question a wary glance. “It’s not that I don’t like him, but his words are not appropriate for my parent’s company.”
“Consider it done,” Jarek said. Turning to Rick, he told him, “Utter a word to the Emperor and his wife and you’ll never get planet leave again.” Rick paled and nodded. No planet leave for Rick meant no womanly company. “Thank you,” Mei said. “They’re very old-fashioned and wouldn’t find him as humorous as I do. They might actually lock him in the prisons.”
“I agree, avoiding an incident is for the best.” Jarek’s stomach knotted. He’d fought men and creatures without thought, outrun Imperial Guards and stole maps from impenetrable fortresses, and just the idea of meeting Mei’s parents had him more tense than any of their other antics.
Mei touched his arm briefly, letting her fingers curl around his bicep before letting go of him. She smiled, her eyes showing her longing to hold him. It was almost as intense as his desire for her. Dropping her hand, she turned to a building. The Hall of Infinite Wisdom was located in the center of the compound. It was the largest structure they’d seen so far, set high upon stone to tower over the surrounding courtyard and gardens. Like all the buildings, it had yellow tiled roofs and dark red walls. “This is it,” she whispered.
Jarek detected her to shake. Mei hardly ever showed fear, so what was this nervousness now?
Haun led them inside the hall. Jarek’s crew got quiet. Rick walked between Lochlann and Evan, his mouth tightly shut as if he was afraid he’d speak. Jarek hid a smile. The two men looked ready to grab him and haul him back if it became necessary.
Lucien and Viktor had stayed back with the ship to guard the prisoner, and because someone needed to stay with the ship, and they’d drawn the wrong lot. Dev walked behind all of them, keeping guard at their backs. Jarek knew he was watching closely for an attack. Partly because they didn’t know this empire and didn’t trust the Zhang Emperor not to try and subdue those who had possession of his palace map, and partly because that was just the way Dev was. After years of being ridiculed and feared as a demon, he was used to people trying to attack him without reason or provocation. The
sad thing was, it wasn’t just non-Belvons that distrusted him. Because of Dev’s mixed heritage, the Belvons had persecuted him as well.Jackson hung back, keeping Dev company.
As they walked inside, Jarek noticed that Mei distanced herself slightly from him, making sure there was space between their bodies. He wanted nothing more than to bow to her parents and proclaim her as his lifemate. His crew would help him run away with her, no questions asked.
With that thought swirling in his head, Jarek’s gaze darted around the hall, not really seeing anything as he searched for the Emperor and Empress.
You’ve met royalty before,
he assured himself.
You are royalty and you have done
them a great service in finding the drug traders in their rival’s mines. You have every
right to expect appreciation.
Yeah, and I’ve also been bedding their daughter for weeks now. Parents don’t always look
favorably on that fact.
Jarek took a deep breath, feeling like a Var child on the first day of warrior training under the imposing Prince Falke. Though, he’d much rather face a thousand commanding brothers in battle simulation than upset the two petite, almost frail looking people before him.
The Zhang Emperor and Empress sat in high thrones above the hall. Carved golden dragons coiled around the royal couple. The Emperor had a long mustache that hung down the front of his tunic. They wore matching yellow embroidered silk robes decorated with Imperial red dragons and ancient symbols. Since he’d seen the symbol carved on almost every surface, Jarek assumed it was either the family name or the character for royalty.
“Mei!” The Empress stood, coming quickly down the platform to her daughter.