Knight Protector: a Star Kingdom novel

by Buroker, Lindsay

  Knight Protector

  a Star Kingdom novel

  Lindsay Buroker

  Copyright © 2019 by Lindsay Buroker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Author’s Notes

  1

  Princess Nalini didn’t want to go to another of her father’s gladiator competitions. Why had he insisted? She was twenty-five, well past the age when he had tried to direct her life.

  She didn’t want to ogle sweaty, bare-chested men trying to kill each other, and she didn’t want to listen to her sisters speculate on who was beddable. This was a high-tech palace on a space station spinning deep within an asteroid, not some wind-swept arena framed by blood-spattered sandstone columns in a desert on Old Earth. Her family should enjoy more civilized pastimes, such as reading books, solving zero-g float puzzles, or perusing the financial news.

  The distant crowd roared as Nalini walked up the tunnel toward the royal boxes, vibrant blue and red banners stretching along the walls. The bloodshed couldn’t have started yet. Had the combatants walked out for the crowd to peruse before the competition started?

  Her tablet was tucked under her arm, and the embedded chip at her temple ran the day’s market analyses down her contact interface. Her father could command her to attend, but he couldn’t force her to pay attention.

  “The arena will be very busy.” Devi, her android bodyguard, walked at her side. “I am watching for threats most assiduously, but you would be wise to pay attention to your surroundings.”

  “I don’t think we need to worry too much—” Nalini waved at the bronze-skinned security officers posted at the tunnel exit, their scimitars, stunners, and DEW-Tek pistols within easy reach on their black waist sashes, “—but have no fear. I’m attentive.”

  “Indeed? So, you know more about the two shady men following us than the current price of gold on the market?”

  Nalini glanced back, briefly alarmed at the possibility of a threat, but… “Those are my cousins, Koray and Kadir. You’ve met them.”

  “That does not mean they aren’t shady or engaged in nefarious plots against your father or yourself. Scheming happens frequently in the large royal families in the Miners’ Union. Just last month, fifteen-year-old Aarav Dubashi tried to poison his father, the prince, in our very system.”

  Koray noticed her looking back and waved. “Your android’s got a hot ass, Nalini.”

  “I think we’re safe from nefarious plots from my cousins,” Nalini murmured.

  “I am occasionally envious of male androids,” Devi said.

  “You ever rent her out for other kinds of work?” Koray winked.

  Nalini wished she could rent out some of her relatives. Perhaps to paint and drywall the latest apartments she’d purchased on the water world Oceanus. “I’m not so impoverished that I need to rent out my bodyguard.”

  “I’ve got parts she can guard.” Kadir sniggered.

  Another roar came from the hundreds of spectators as Nalini walked into the royal boxes overlooking the sandy arena. Sixteen muscular men in loincloths were warming up for the spectators, which included six of Nalini’s fourteen sisters, those who hadn’t yet married and moved out of Stardust Palace. A number of her brothers and male cousins were also seated, more likely here for the blood and battling rather than the near-naked men.

  Among the would-be warriors, only a few were the types that might catch her sisters’ eyes. Most looked like tattooed felons who spent too much time working out in the prison gym. A couple were cleaner cut and might be considered handsome.

  Nalini’s gaze caught on one such man who had short dark hair and a trimmed beard that accentuated his strong jaw. Not that his jaw was what her sisters would be looking at. The loincloth, as silly a garment as it was, left his muscular, athletic build on full display.

  The man glanced in her direction, their eyes meeting. Nalini jerked her gaze away, reminding herself that she was not here to ogle men. She headed up the steps to the seats.

  Her father, Sultan Shayban, presided over them from above, servants and bodyguards standing around his dais to attend his needs. His golden robes hid the paunch he’d developed in recent years, and a turban covered his thinning gray hair, but his dark brown eyes remained sharp as he surveyed the arena, assessing the gladiators like he might a field of asteroids to find ore worth mining.

  He smiled when he spotted Nalini and beckoned her over. She had thought to sit with her brother, Samar, even though he likely was here for the near-naked men, but she headed up to the dais. Maybe her father would tell her why he’d insisted she come.

  “Nalini, my daughter. Come, sit with me tonight.”

  “Of course, Father.” She smiled and patted his arm. Even if she would rather be elsewhere, she couldn’t begrudge him his desire to spend time with his family.

  The crowd cheered as one of the gladiators knocked his warmup opponent on his butt and pranced around, thumping his heavily muscled and even more heavily tattooed chest.

  Nalini rolled her eyes, wondering if she would have to endure being leered at by him later on if he won the night’s contest and her father granted him some position of employment in the palace. It had happened numerous times before. Thank goodness for Devi, who loomed protectively at her side. Years before, Nalini had programmed her to be an excellent bodyguard.

  “There’s something we should discuss,” her father said.

  “Here?” Nalini had to raise her voice to be heard as the yells and claps continued.

  Now several of the men were flexing and posing for the crowd. Not the clean-cut gladiator with the strong jaw. He and his sparring opponent focused on their warmup.

  “I am certain you are wondering why I called you to attend,” her father said. “I know grappling men don’t excite you as much as they do your sisters.”

  Her father tapped a button on his armrest, and a clear insulating dome rose from the corners of the dais to enshroud them. The noise faded significantly, and Nalini knew nobody would hear their conversation.

  “I hope you won’t be offended at the invasion of your privacy, but I questioned your maids to make sure it wasn’t grappling women that excite you.” He smiled affably.

  “No.” Nalini looked at the arena, not wanting to discuss her sexual preferences with her father.

  He’d never brought up the subject before, and it concerned her that he was doing so now. He’d arranged marriages for several of her sisters, but she’d thought—she’d hoped—he would let her choose her own partner. Or, if she preferred, not get married at all. Her heart was in her career. Surely, he knew that.

  “It seems you do take lovers sporadically and enjoy it?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Sporadically, yes.” Nalini wasn’t sure if she should feel mortified or terrified. Or both.

  “But infrequently. You do not seem to enjoy the servants, a
s many of your siblings do.”

  “I’m not comfortable ordering men to my bed who don’t see themselves as my equal.”

  “Yes, I thought it was like that. You are so egalitarian, my daughter. Quite strange, but since you are the only one of my children to put money into the family coffers instead of removing it in large quantities, I have not minded your quirky ways.” He winked conspiratorially at her.

  She smiled back, even though she knew her father would put an end to some of her quirky ways if he found out about them. Thankfully, Devi, unlike whichever lip-flapping maid had blabbed about her bedroom preferences, would never betray her secrets.

  “Since it is an equal that you seek,” he said, “you should be pleased by who I have in mind.”

  Nalini closed her eyes. This was about marriage.

  “I had not planned to arrange a husband for you, since I know that your career is your passion, and it is a very useful passion for you to have, but a very eligible prospect has requested you personally.”

  Nalini gaped at him, scanning her memories of the last year. What eligible prospect had she met who would have impressed her father? He’d chosen princes or kings for her other sisters.

  “Prince Jorg, eldest son and heir to the Star Kingdom throne.” Her father clapped his hands together. “Are you delighted?”

  “I…”

  The Star Kingdom? One of those backward people? They’d conquered System Stymphalia, along with the other eleven systems, three centuries earlier and imposed their culture and beliefs. Thank the stars, they’d eventually been pushed back to their own system, and more egalitarian and open-minded governments had regained power. That they still called themselves the Star Kingdom was pretentious, but they had a lot of resources and military might. She could see why such an alliance would appeal to her father, but…

  “Have I met him?” She couldn’t remember it.

  “No, I don’t believe so. But he’s only a few years older than you and quite handsome. I asked my wives, and they all assured me that women find him appealing.”

  As if that was the most important thing in a husband.

  “He’ll be coming for a visit later this year, so you can meet him in person.”

  “If I find him loathsome, can I reject his offer?” Nalini asked hopefully.

  Why had some prince she’d never met requested her personally? She was attractive, but several of her unmarried sisters were considered greater beauties. She had money in her own right, thanks to all of her investments, but it wasn’t as if the heir to the Star Kingdom was impoverished and needed to marry for wealth.

  Her father rested his hand on her arm. “Please don’t think like that, my daughter. You’re more cognizant of the current political climate than most of my children, and you know we’ve been dealing with incursions from Prince Dubashi. We can easily protect our territory here in the Far Belt, but we have mostly automated ships mining our claims in the Middle Belt. Their cameras have caught some of his scout ships lurking near the outer asteroids there, maybe even sending mining ships in on the sly. He denies it, of course. Meanwhile, my bodyguards have stopped several assassination attempts of late. We’re still trying to pin them on Dubashi.”

  Nalini gaped. “You didn’t tell me about those!”

  “I do not wish to worry you with such mundane things.”

  “Assassinations aren’t mundane.”

  “They are if they don’t succeed.” Her father waved his hand dismissively. “I am far more worried that Dubashi, who has been building his forces and alliances for years, will make a direct assault soon. We are not without means, but an alliance with the Star Kingdom could mean security for the millions of people under our family’s rule. King Jager has already said he will station warships here after you and Jorg are successfully wed.”

  “Oh.” Nalini closed her eyes.

  This wasn’t about what she wanted. It was about what her people needed. To refuse would be beyond selfish.

  “I’m certain the prince would let you continue your real-estate endeavors if you went to live with him.”

  “Live with him? On Odin? In some stone castle surrounded by all that… land? And heavy gravity?”

  Nalini didn’t object to land and gravity when she was visiting it for investment purposes, but she’d grown up here in space, and she couldn’t imagine being stuck on a planet. Here, the temperature was always perfect, there wasn’t hail or snow or hurricanes, and the gravity was half that of Oceanus—or Odin. It was her home.

  “You would get used to it,” her father said. “I visited Odin long ago. It is a beautiful world. It’s the only planet in the Twelve Systems that was perfect for humanity and its animals when the colonists first arrived from Old Earth. Ah, the matches are beginning soon. Here, relax and watch with me.”

  Nalini rubbed her face and looked up at the stars—they were faux stars in a faux night sky, but they were her stars. “May I go now, Father? I need to digest this.”

  “Go? The fights are just beginning.”

  “I’d prefer a quiet evening.”

  “I confess I invited you because the outcome of the games will have personal interest to you.”

  Interest? What now?

  “The winner will become your new bodyguard,” her father said.

  Nalini almost pitched to the floor. “My what? I don’t need a new bodyguard. I have Devi.”

  Her father smiled indulgently toward the android standing just outside the insulating dome. “Of course, and she has served you well, but once the betrothal is announced—perhaps as soon as it’s rumored—there will be people who object, who won’t want to see us entering into an alliance with the Kingdom. You may be in far greater danger than usual, and if you insist on leaving the palace, which I assume you will for your development project…” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes,” Nalini said firmly. “I’m departing tomorrow.”

  “Which I will allow, but you must have more than an android for a bodyguard. Someone who will be so grateful for this second chance in life that he’ll be loyal to you and an effective deterrent against trouble.”

  Nalini rarely found herself rendered speechless, but having both of these bombs dropped in two minutes was too much.

  “Watch that one with the short dark hair.” Her father pointed. It was the man she’d noticed earlier. “I’m hoping he will win.”

  “Why?” she asked numbly.

  “He recently fled the Kingdom after tricking everyone into believing he was a noble so he could be trained as a knight. They found out he’d fudged his bloodlines, but he passed all the exams and was knighted before his secret got out. Those men have some of the best combat training in the Twelve Systems, and they regularly best genetically modded opponents. Like that big brute there. The contests tonight should be interesting. Even if he doesn’t win, we shall know that whoever beats him will be good enough to protect you.”

  Nalini made herself focus on the indicated man. The knight—former knight—was striding out for his first match.

  An inch or two over six feet, he was one of the smaller competitors, but he would have loomed six inches taller than Nalini. He was lean enough that his powerful muscles were clearly defined, but they weren’t grotesquely large, as with some of the other combatants—some of those men looked like mad scientists’ creations.

  The knight engaged in his first match. It was against the brute who’d been beating himself on the chest earlier.

  They tested each other with combinations of punches and kicks that the knight blocked far more often than his opponent. But his hulking adversary barely seemed to notice when he took solid blows to the midline and even the face. Those blows would have felled most men. Had he consumed some drug concoction before the bout?

  After exchanging a rapid-fire barrage of punches, they slipped within each other’s reach and shifted to grappling. Sand flew as they dropped to the ground, each trying to ensnare the other with a binding hold. The knight was quicker, more a
gile, and more flexible, and he efficiently knotted up his foe underneath him.

  But the other man roared and thrashed, refusing to acknowledge defeat. Sand coated their sweaty bodies, and their faces and strong necks grew red from their efforts. As they strained, muscles flexing, the crowd cheered at the spectacle.

  Nalini saw her sister, Esrin, touch her chest and lean close to whisper something to one of their cousins. Perhaps how she planned to invite them both to her bed that night. She and her twin, Fadime, had been known to do so after these matches. More than one gladiator who hadn’t won a position on their father’s staff had won a position in one of their beds, at least until they grew bored of them and moved on.

  The knight shifted the lock he held, his powerful shoulders flexing as he smashed his opponent’s face into the sand.

  Nalini admitted that she could see the reason for Esrin’s interest. Surely, the knight’s strength and agility would be as useful in bed as it was in the arena.

  She snorted at the thought, not sure where it had come from. She ought to be paying attention to the market feed scrolling down her contact. Had the dome on her father’s dais been down, she would have informed Devi that gold had closed at just under two thousand Union dollars per ounce.

  The monitor-drone zipped out into the arena when it grew clear that the bigger man couldn’t break the knight’s hold. Its bulbous metal body lit up and showed a countdown. 3, 2, 1… Winner: Tristan.

  Was that the knight’s name? Nalini had expected something far more brutish. Most of the men assumed fake names or came with nicknames like Gunner and Slayer. These warriors were usually criminals and deadbeats, people who thought competing here could earn them a desperately needed second chance in life.