Chapter Eighteen
Taio sat on plush cushions, surrounded by exotic-looking females. The “candidates”, as Eva had referred to them. Eva watched as he would lean in to listen to one, occasionally provided another with a smile; one had even elicited a hearty laugh out of him.
She wanted to kick his ass.
The list of many had now dwindled down to nine. She couldn’t believe it, nine. Who in the hell needed to surround themselves with nine different females? They flanked him on all sides, literally. They were rubbing his legs, holding on to his arms, rubbing his shoulders, and there was even one standing over him, playing with his hair. And he looked to be enjoying every moment of it.
I am going to hurt every one of those hussies.
At first, she tried not to watch the melee in front of her, but they were pretty hard to miss. He sat on his throne, with females falling all over him.
Yuck.
She could feel her eyes getting smaller and smaller with each passing moment.
Luckily for him, the entertainment was beginning and obstructed her view.
“They are from Hisnapal.” Eva turned toward the speaker, an extremely handsome male. “They are most renowned for their dance performances. Their skill excels all others in this galaxy.”
She remembered he’d arrived the day before with some of the other guests. He stood over six feet tall, with pale skin, gray eyes and nice, lush, pouty lips. His short hair was a silky gray color with shimmering white highlights. Not bad, she thought.
“They are beautiful to watch,” she said. She turned back to the show. They were different than anything she had ever seen before. This race had flexible and pliable bones and a body structure that resembled a snake, which made their performance incredible. Their reptilian eyes seemed to entrance the crowd as they moved, bending backward and sideways.
The male settled down on the empty seat next to her. Normally, she would have been uncomfortable with the closeness of a stranger, but seeing how Taio was busy with his fan club, she thought maybe it was time to start her own.
Lo’Ren nudged her in the arm from the other side. Eva turned to her. Lo’Ren’s eyes were as large as saucers. With a smile on her lips, she scooted over to allow him ample room to sit comfortably next to her.
Fuck Taio.
“I am called Alexion Hazouto.” He offered her a small dip of his head.
“I am Eva Smith. Nice to meet you, Alexion Hazouto.” She returned the gesture.
It was impossible to learn the customs of all the guests, so she figured she would mimic what everyone else did. At least she wouldn’t totally stand out and make a fool of herself.
Eva motioned toward Lo’Ren. “This is my friend, Lo’Ren of Briel.” Lo’Ren dipped her head as well.
He smiled at them both and then looked at her. “I know who you are,” he said. “You are the talk of the palace.”
Eva lifted an eyebrow. “Nothing offensive.” He chuckled. “I was told you took on two Tresdonians and three royal guards by yourself. Everyone here is quite impressed with your fighting skills.”
This time Eva chuckled. “I took the Tresdonians on, but I’m afraid the gossipers may have left out I was beaten to a pulp for my efforts.” Alexion’s expression turned to confusion. “I did not win,” she added.
“One does not have to win in order to be considered a great fighter. Sometimes surviving the fight is all that matters.”
She thought about that. Maybe Alexion was right; she had survived, and surviving meant being able to someday reunite with her friend.
“Thank you for your insight. I thought of it as a failure.”
“No, quite the opposite, failure would have been death.”
“Yes, but it can’t be considered a win.”
I was still taken away from Ally and made a slave.
She couldn’t help thinking that if she would have been conscious, she could have at least asked Taio and Rasha to get Ally as well.
Alexion smiled warmly at her. “Maybe we can call it a draw?”
Eva returned his smile. “I like the sound of that.”
Lo’Ren groaned beside her.
There were a few females here who had caught his interest. For all he cared, the other seven could return to their home worlds tomorrow, especially the one raking her hands through his hair. It was making him feel as though he were a pet. He’d removed her hands twice already. Each time, her hands returned and continued on. She definitely would not do, clearly she couldn’t follow any type of direction.
One of the two who held his interest was the Princess Sa’Mya from the planet Laconia. A natural sensuality enhanced her beauty. She was the perfect size and height, slender, but curvy. No one would mistake her for a child, another plus.
His gold skin tone paled next to hers. Her hair was a rich gold color that hung loosely down to the small of her back. He thought it was one of her best attributes, along with her sleek legs, and she proudly displayed both. Her speckled, gold-colored eyes added to her beauty.
The other female, Taraj Hazouto, wasn’t a princess, but a dignitary from Holis. He was not exactly sure why he considered her. Normally, she wouldn’t be his type. She was pretty, unique and interesting, but quiet. She wasn’t as tall as the princess, but her pale skin, arresting gray eyes and long silver hair worked for her.
It was only when the dancers from Hisnapal began that he spied Eva across the room, sitting comfortably close to Alexion, Taraj’s twin brother. Before he could stop himself, he let a small snarl escape from his throat. The female next to him hastily shifted away. No matter. She was on the “send home” list anyway.
He couldn’t make out what the two were discussing, but whatever it was seemed to catch her attention. She actually smiled at him. Eva shouldn’t smile at anyone but him! He narrowed his eyes, trying to read their lips. Eva threw her head back and laughed. His chest tightened at that sight.
I will kill him
.
He launched off his seat, his gaze set on the couple across the room. A firm hand grabbed his arm.
“It may be wiser to stay in place. Your emotional reaction would cause great distress with explanations needed later.”
He looked at the hand, then at its owner, Princess Sa’Mya. She was right; stalking across the room to tear apart his lover’s admirer would not go well. Unfortunately, his near blunder was witnessed by one of the females he had an interest in.
“Please forgive my actions.” He lowered himself down into his seat.
I’ll deal with him later.
“She is a beautiful specimen,” Princess Sa’Mya said. “If you want her to stay in the palace after we bond, you will have to work on controlling your emotions in regards to her.”
Taio snorted. “You speak as though you are confident I will choose you for the match.”
“It seems as though it would be a good match. A match that would be beneficial for us both. You need me and I need you.”
He raised an eyebrow. She was bold, maybe too bold for his taste.
“My family owns a transport company in this solar system. The amount of money you could make and save by mating with me would be astronomical. Your gold could reach more markets and at a lower cost. Your moon is lovely, but severely underpopulated. It would be wise to invest in building more homes and social outlets in the unpopulated areas. As I said, you need me.”
He mulled over the information she gave him. The ideas of what he could do were already growing in his mind.
“And what do you need from me?” He knew this was too good to be true. If she could offer him all of this, why wasn’t she mated already?
“Safety.”
Chapter Nineteen
Eva sat at the dining room table. She planned to first, stuff her face with breakfast and second, work it off on the training field. She was famished, and after spending last night watching Taio and his fan club, she needed to break a few training simulators.
Glancing up, she smiled as Alexion spotted her and made his way over to her. As she watched Alexion, she reminded herself that though her heart belonged to Taio, that male was some kind of eye candy.
“Do you want to go into the village with me?” Alexion asked.
“I haven’t been to town yet.”
“You’ve been here long enough to earn a trip to the thriving marketplace.” He smiled.
Somehow, she guessed he was making a joke. If the marketplace was thriving, Taio wouldn’t have trouble bringing business to his small world.
“I would love to go. But I’m afraid I can’t buy anything. I don’t have any kind of money…currency…umm…credits.”
Ship had tried to explain the monetary system to her before, but it still had her confused. And true to his entity style, he left before the lesson in the universal monetary system was finished. Taio stepped in and explained there wasn’t paper money because of the inter-galaxy space travel and trade, so they had a credit system. Since she was new, she had zero credits to her name. Zilch. Not only was she a slave, but she was a very broke slave.
“Come, you will be my guest. It’ll be fun.” He pulled on her sleeve, leading her out of the room.
“Sure, but I have to check with Taio first.”
“Did he forbid you to leave the palace?”
“No, he didn’t forbid me to go anywhere.” She bristled, she wasn’t a prisoner. “But I should still tell him where I am. In case he’s looking for me.”
“I hardly doubt he will miss you. He is with my sister and the other females at this moment. They are all vying for his attention. Hoping to be the new Queen of Sonis.” He exaggerated the last sentence.
Her face instantly fell. Even though she knew what was going on, she really didn’t need or want anyone reminding her about it. “So I will inform the pilot that you will be accompanying me to town, yes?” Alexion asked.
“Yes.”
When she agreed, she hadn’t imagined she would have so much fun traveling to town with Alexion. The small transporter picked them up from the palace steps and dropped them off fifteen minutes later in the epicenter of town.
Eva scrambled from the craft to the almost barren street. Why hadn’t Taio taken her to town before? Was it because she was a slave? Not telling Alexion about her slave status made her feel a little guilty. Above anything else, she didn’t want him getting into trouble over her.
“Where do you want to start?” He turned to her as the transporter whisked away.
“I don’t know.” She looked around, suppressing a giggle threatening to escape her lips. A town! Who would have thought she would feel all giddy inside about seeing a town.
“I am but a humble servant at your disposal.” Alexion bowed.
“Can we start there?” She pointed to a quaint shop in front of them. The pale-blue awning with the words “Daezal’s Pottery Place” painted across it was as good a place as any to start her exploration.
“After you.”
They strolled through the streets, Alexion picking up a few of the local crafts for her. By the afternoon, she had two bags of artwork for her apartment. Whatever the cost, she was going to make it a home.
For lunch, Alexion took her to an outside café where it was easy for her to imagine she was at home at one of the cafés on Main Street. She imagined she and Alexion were sitting at a table, surrounded by other patrons, people watching. Even for that short time, she felt better than she had in years.
By early afternoon, they were exploring the gardens, parks and neighborhoods. The transporter was at their beck and call. It was clear Sonis had a lot to offer and the experience itself was wonderful. For the first time since being taken from Earth, she felt free, as though she could actually build her life here, raise kids and be happy. She would make Sonis work for her.
Alexion was the perfect host, they both acted as the tourists they were. By late afternoon, his sister Taraj joined them.
At first, Eva didn’t know how she would feel about Taraj joining them. Technically, she was here to steal Taio away from her. But she was Alexion’s twin and she owed it to him to at least be nice to his sister. She could rip out her eyes some other day.
An official royal transporter dropped her off while they were in a fresh foods market.
“Taraj, this is Eva.” Alexion led his sister to Eva. She was not going to her. Eva stayed rooted to her spot on the park bench.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Taraj greeted her as everyone else had.
Eva didn’t immediately return the traditional head nod. She didn’t want this female here; she was going to tolerate her because of Alexion. Only after Taraj turned to her brother did Eva finally greet her. Alexion had explained earlier that he and Taraj had special abilities that they both shared. They could sense each other’s feelings and read each other’s minds, a trait common on their planet.
Late afternoon found Eva and Taraj in a doll shop.
“You love him, don’t you?” Taraj asked. Eva looked through the window at Alexion, who had declined to enter. “No, not Alexion. I know you don’t love him.” Taraj smiled. “I’m talking about Taio.”
Should she even be talking about Taio to someone who was technically on Sonis to steal him away?
“Taio? It doesn’t matter.” Eva shook her head. “I can’t give him what he needs. What Sonis needs.” She could hear how distant her voice had become. He had told her that statement so many times it was engrained in her.
“Too bad.” Taraj picked up a handmade doll and examined it.
“Why?”
“Because he loves you.”
Eva snorted. “He doesn’t love me. He likes to have sex with me. But he’s not in love with me.”
Taraj looked at her and tilted her head.
“Don’t try to use that Jedi mind trick on me.” She laughed, holding her hands up, backing away from the mind reader.
“What’s a ‘Jedi mind trick’?”
Eva laughed again. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
Taraj looped her arm through Eva’s. “We are going to be friends, you and I.”
She could really use a friend right now, she thought, as they walked out of the store arm in arm.
By the time they were on their way back to the palace, she was secretly thinking if Taio had to pick any one, she would like for him to pick Taraj. At least she knew they could be friends.
* * * * *
Eva breezed into his office with a radiant glow and it took all his composure not to leap from behind his desk and shake her. Eva had left abruptly with Alexion Hazouto, not even bothering to tell him where she went. Ship told him to give her space, let her keep her apartment, let her “do as she pleased”, but leaving the palace walls was unacceptable. Anything could have happened to her while she was trouncing around the city with an off-worlder.
“Where have you been?”
“I went to town with Alexion and his sister Taraj.” A burst of energy radiated through her. “We had such a good time. The town was so pretty. It reminded me of one of the small towns that we had in my country on Earth.” She plopped down on the corner of his desk.
“It was so wonderful.” Homesickness was written all over her face.
Taio reined in his anger, feeling a little guilty for not taking her to town sooner himself. “Did you stop by Holkin’s Glass Factory?”
Her eyes widened. “Oh yes, the glassware was beautiful, all the different shapes and sizes. And the colors! I haven’t seen any of those colors on Earth.”
“I have a lot of his pieces here in the palace. My father was not pleased when Holkin left Drazlan and moved his business to Sonis.” He pointed to the large vase on the shelf behind him.
“You have such a wonderful world here, Taio. You need to bring more people here to see it. And children. The parks need children playing in them. What’s the plan for that?”
“We don’t know why we are unable to breed as other species. It is something my people have worked on for a very long time.” He blew out a breath.
“But not for your parents,” she said. “They were able to have three children.”
Taio gave thought before responding. There had been rumors circulating when Saia was born, but they had since died down.
“My mother and father are much…richer than the average couple. They can afford the best medical advice.”
“So if it’s such an issue, why can’t everyone get the same treatment as your parents did?”
“It is not that easy, not everyone could afford the same medical procedures as my parents. It was very costly.”
“On Earth, we bred out of control. If you didn’t want to get pregnant, you had to get on some type of birth control.”
“Birth control?”
“Yeah. I used to take a little pill every day so I wouldn’t get pregnant. And the men have to wear a protective covering over their penises so they won’t get the woman pregnant,” she explained.
“You could have children, but you didn’t want them?”
“It’s not the same. I didn’t want to get pregnant and not have a way to take care of the baby. You know, without a husband or family. It would be pretty hard for me to raise a kid on my own. If I were married, that would have been a different situation. But I wasn’t, so I chose not bring a child into the world with all that uncertainty.”
“But I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want a child if they could have a child.”
“Taio, things are different here. If someone had a child on Earth and they didn’t want it, they could have aborted it—terminated the pregnancy.”
She couldn’t be for real. A race that terminated their offspring because of ill-planning?
“Or they could give it up for adoption, you know, give the child away,” Eva said.
“I don’t believe this!” He slammed his fist on his desk.
“Believe it, I’m living proof.” Her voice quivered. “I told you my mother and father didn’t want me. I lived in an orphanage all my life with other throwaway kids.”
He looked at her surprised. “I thought your parents died. They gave you away?”
“Yes.”
While he didn’t understand her customs from Earth, he definitely didn’t want to cause her any more pain than had already been inflicted on her.
Getting up, he drew her into his arms. “If you were my child, I would have never given you up.” He kissed and stroked her head.
“I know.”
* * * * *
He spent the entire evening meal watching Alexion and Eva. She was smiling and laughing at everything he said. What was he saying that kept that smile on her face?
“She is a very beautiful female,” Taraj said.
Taraj sat on one side of him and Princess Sa’Mya sat on the other. “When are you going to have an enlightenment ceremony for her?”
“An enlightenment ceremony? For Eva?” he asked, bewildered.
“Yes, I understand it is a very well-known custom of your race. It seems only natural for Eva to be allowed to participate in the ceremony.”
“Females are not warriors. Nor could they ever be seen as such.”
Taraj tilted her head. “She battled two Tresdonians and three of your famous royal guards. I think that alone makes her one of the finest warriors in this room.”
Taraj’s words struck a chord in him. If they were on any world except this one, she would have been recognized as a true warrior a long time ago.
“She seems quite happy with my brother,” Taraj said.
“Humph,” he replied.
“Don’t be sour. It would make us feel inadequate. You are surrounded by some of the wealthiest and prettiest females in the galaxy and all of your attention lies across the room.” This remark came from Princess Sa’Mya.
“I’m very pleased to be surrounded by such beauty,” he said, trying not to disturb any of his hopeful guests.
Taraj nodded her head, acknowledging his compliment.
Princess Sa’Mya began to talk, about what, he didn’t know or maybe he didn’t care. She was beautiful to look upon, but he got the feeling she liked to focus mainly on herself. So he let her talk while he watched the pair across the room.
Eva suddenly clapped her hands in glee and leaned over to give Alexion a hug.
I will kill him.
He abruptly sat up. His mother put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in his place. His mother, father, sister and brother had taken the seats on the higher ledge behind him. He let out a low growl that again made the women sitting next to him scoot away.
Kiehle leaned over his shoulder. “Whoa, keep it under control,
brosir
, we don’t want to upset any of the females.”
“I am in control, Kiehle. I had something in the back of my throat.”
“Sure.” Kiehle laughed and smacked him on his back.