“He is not your enemy but your brother!” Heopsie stated in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Mother! What are you saying?”
She turned her neck only to look at her son. “Stand to your feet like the prince you are, the king you are to become.”
The footsteps got louder and Ariella turned to see the Nabalar royal guards. It was apparent that Heffun had sent them as reinforcement. They were only about a dozen but they added to the numbers and they had arrived in the royal shuttle.
Heopsie straightened her back and presented a dignified look. Julkaz stood with Mirsux’s sword still at his neck. The sword dug a little deeper into his flesh but he seemed unconcerned.
Heopsie stepped toward Mirsux and held his gaze. “The truth lies in Nabalar with your parents,” she said.
“You speak lies,” Mirsux replied, disbelievingly. “Your son shall die by my hand.”
She held his gaze and raised her chin, her pale blue eyes icy. “We shall prove the truth by returning with you to your planet. Take us as your captives,” she suggested.
“Mother,” Julkaz tried to step towards her, but the blade of the sword sliced into his flesh. Another gush of blood oozed from beneath the blade, ran down his neck and unto his chest.
“Very well!” Mirsux said. “But we take with us one of your prisoners.”
Julkaz frowned. “Who?”
“McTaggart, he is in your dungeon,” his eyes darted to the shocked stare of Ariella. He never loosened his grip on the Ysark.
“What?” her heart pounded.
Ariella thought she would never see Delvin McTaggart again. He being here meant that he never returned to earth. The Xygor prince had him imprisoned. She seethed inside at the thought of it all. The prince had captured Mirsux and tried to rid him of his powers; that alone sent her head reeling. Now it turned out that he was her brother-in-law. She could hardly fathom it all.
“Let’s go get him,” she said, her voice cracking.
A few Xygor soldiers accompanied her along with some of her own guards to the dungeon beneath the surface of Xygor. Her eyes darted from cell to cell looking for her captain. The place was appalling, with dark mossy walls that glistened with moisture. She could smell the stench of unwashed bodies and wastes.
After meandering through passages after passages, one of the Xygor soldiers came to a halt at a cell with a man in it. The man was thin and forlorn. He laid unmoving on the damp floor. Her heart stopped, thinking he was dead. Dread ran through her, raising the hairs on her head and rising nausea in her throat. She peered into his face to make certain of his identity. It was the captain.
One of her guards lifted him like a sack of potatoes and threw him over his shoulders. She touched him, but he was unconscious it seemed. They took him back to the royal shuttle where Julkaz and his mother were boarded and under tight security. The other soldiers boarded their own craft.
As they lifted, Ariella watched the Xygor prince. An uneasy feeling settled over her that things were about to get worse. With Mirsux’s sword at his neck, he watched her with his sapphire eyes, sending a chill down her spine.
Chapter 15
The craft reached Nabalar within minutes after departure from Xygor. Delvin was the focus while in transit. The soldiers tried their best to revive him but without success.
“Let him be,” she told them. “He will regain consciousness after some rest.”
Mirsux kept his sword at the neck of the enemy prince until cuffs were placed on his wrists. As soon as the craft settled in front of the palace, Delvin McTaggart was carried to a room and cared for by an attendant. He was still unconscious so the attendant was ordered to keep watch on him while the captives were led to the great hall.
“Explain!” Volnomy’s voice bellowed at his son.
Heffun sprang from her chair and started to move towards the guests and then drew back. Her eyes widened as much as the kings face hardened at their approach.
“Why have you brought them here?” he stepped from the podium and faced the throng.
Mirsux’s lips tightened. His chest heaved with the myriad of emotions that bubbled inside of him. There were so many questions and few answers. He eyed his father as he felt the man’s contempt towards the Xygorians.
“They are my captives, Father. I brought them here because I seek answers,” he replied, his voice hardened.
“I too seek answers,” Julkaz said.
The Xygor prince was bound with the special cuffs used to render prisoners immobile. With the bonds came a remote control that one of the soldiers held and would press a red button if needed. This would control the prisoner. Julkaz stood facing the Nabalar nobility with a look of derision on his face. His mother’s face was no less disdainful as they faced the Nabalar king.
“What answers do you seek?” the king directed his question at Julkaz.
Heopsie stepped forward and raised her eyes, leveling them with the king. “They seek the truth about the past, about their paternity.”
“Have you disclosed this?” Heffun moved to face her. “Have you forgotten the orders given by the Galaxy Council?”
“It matters little now. My son’s life depended on it!”
Heffun shook her head, her eyes sorrowful as she grasped the arm of her king. He reached up and covered her hand with his. “Surely we are doomed if the council gets wind of this!” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Mother!”
Mirsux’s thundering voice made her cringe. Her head snapped around to face him. She stared at him with sadness etched on her face. Some of the glow from her eyes faded.
“Mother,” he said once more. This time his voice softened. “We need the truth, once and for all. Is this…this,” he glowered at Julkaz. “Is this miscreant my sibling?”
There was silence for a minute or two before Volnomy patted his wife’s arm and let out a long breath. His face seemed to relax and he spoke in his imposing tone.
“Thirty years ago my queen could not conceive,” Volnomy’s voice echoed in the great hall. “That’s what we all thought.”
He stood staunchly before all who were present. His face was grave and his voice steady. His eyes glossed over as he spoke. Occasionally, he passed a glance over at the firstborn son and his mother, but for the most part, kept his gaze on Mirsux.
Mirsux stood next to his princess. He refused to believe the nonsense he’d heard from Heopsie. He believed she had said what she did in order to spare her son. However, he knew his father would not spew such slanderous things.
He listened, as his heart grew hard with the possibility that he shared lineage with the one who wanted him dead. He looked at the Xygor prince and his wrath could hardly be contained. Ariella gripped his hand and brought his mind back to his father’s voice.
“The elders were disappointed. They were angry and impatient. They plotted with the Xygor king to send his daughter, Princess Heopsie, to bear the heir. The plan was to bear children to replenish both planets. However, Heffun conceived Mirsux after Julkaz was born and the Galaxy Council learned about that,” he paused and glanced at Heffun who was silently standing by. “The council learned of what we all did and exiled the princess and her son back to Xygor. They commanded them never to set foot on Nabalar. They also threatened to destroy both planets if she should acknowledge that he is a son of Nabalar.”
“But she did reveal the truth,” Mirsux piped in. “Why now?”
“You were about to take the life of my son, your kin,” Heopsie replied evenly.
“Then you coming here and saying all this nonsense,” Mirsux’s face hardened. “Was all a ruse to save your son?”
She looked intently at him. “When you become a parent, you will do the same for your own child.”
“Now that the truth is out, we must be mindful of the Galaxy Council’s prior rulings. They had ruled that Julkaz should never know of his paternity. He must grow to rule as a prince of Xygor since his mother is of Xygor, and he was born as a koldoly
e (bastard child). What the elders did was against the laws of Galaxy NXPR-720,” Heffun declared, her voice revealing her fear of the lawmakers.
Mirsux was still confused. What was his mother saying? How could she be saying this is all true? Her words rang in his ears but his brain refused to believe it.
“You must leave this planet with your son. You must not enter Nabalar again or we cannot guarantee that our prince will spare you or what the council will do,” Volnomy warned.
“This is the most bizarre thing I have heard! You speak lies,” Julkaz exclaimed. “How is it possible that you are my father?”
He made a move towards the king. His face twisted in anger and his sapphire eyes glinted dangerously. The soldier who held the remote device pressed a button. The prince yelled and fell to his knees. His face contorted in pain.
Volnomy stepped to Julkaz. “I was never your father. I was only the prince who gave seed to your mother. I only gave you life, nothing more. We shall never see each other again.”
“Father,” Mirsux addressed him. Volnomy turn to catch the gaze of his son. Their eyes held each other for a moment before Mirsux continued. His voice was gruff, “Is that true? Did you lie with her to bear a son while espoused to mother? Is he your offspring?”
Volnomy hesitated only a second before responding. “Yes, my son. I am guilty of it all. My justification is that I was coerced by our then king and queen.”
“I am disappointed father,” Mirsux replied, looking away.
He glanced at his mother who was sitting in her chair. Her face took on a sad expression and her eyes became dull. He felt angry that she was caught in the middle of it all. His father claimed to have been coerced, but he had a choice. He was already bonded with his wife, how could he cave to such immoral demands?
And then there was Heopsie. She was innocent in all this as well, following the demands of her father. Mirsux was torn between the pain he felt on his mother’s behalf and compassion for the other queen.
The king turned to the guards and ordered them to take the prince to the prison cell. His mother was given a room in the palace but kept under guard.
“You will leave at the dawning,” he told them. “Meanwhile we will see about the captain’s welfare.”
Chapter 16
Ariella had become accustomed to the exchanged of energy between sword and alien. As Mirsux trailed kisses along her cleavage and took her breasts in his mouth, she herself began to glow. The electromagnetism that began to flow from the Diainspar through her was breathtaking.
After the meeting in the great hall, she saw that her husband was troubled. He was torn between the truth and the hatred he had for his enemies. He had always seen Xygor as the rival planet, with the prince ready to pillage and plunder at any cost. He’d told her of his concerns that Julkaz would invade and he was preparing for it.
They had retired to their chambers with the order to alert them once the captain was awake. She had snuggled up to him in the bed and he held her tightly in his arms as they rested.
The morning dawned quickly and when she opened her eyes, he was standing by the window overlooking the yard. She slipped from the bed and went up to him, hugging him from behind.
His eyes were settled on an object in the air and she followed his gaze. The Royal shuttle was leaving Nabalar with the enemy. It displeased her that they would settle things so easily. However, there were things that happened that allowed for that. What happened thirty years ago was not the fault of the prince. They all knew why he was so desperately searching.
He had no clue what the Z’raschein was and how to awaken it to save his clan. He believed he could trap Mirsux’s energy and absorb it. He too was desperate to save his planet the way Heffun and Volnomy trapped her to save theirs.
She hated to admit it, but her new parents were no different from Julkaz. In addition, Heffun tried to do to her what the elders did to Heopsie. She felt a small glimmer of compassion for the Xygor queen and her son.
“Good morning, my prince,” she greeted, tearing her mind away from the rival prince.
The craft disappeared and her husband lowered his eyes and turned to her with a smile. “Good morning, my princess.”
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips. He hungrily devoured her lips in a deeper kiss and pulled her close.
Her breast crushed against his chest and she could hardly breathe. All she had sought to do was comfort him, but his tension needed much more attention than a simple kiss. It needed complete annihilation.
They’d torn their garments off in less than a minute and tumbled to the bed where she kissed him lovingly. He was impatient, but she was having none of that.
“It’s my turn to love you, my prince,” she said in a husky tone.
Her lips plastered hot kisses over his neck and chest, then made a trail down his muscled torso. She kissed each abdominal bulge and rubbed her cheek against his hot smooth skin.
His stomach contracted as he sucked in his breath at her administrations. His imposing shaft was a few inches away and she cruised its length with her fingertips. It was her first time touching it and her breath caught at the sensations running through her.
She closed her hand around it and felt its thickness, the bulges of the veins and the smoothness of the skin. Mirsux had his eyes closed and he was breathing rapidly. She recalled the pleasure he gave her when he touched her love button with his tongue. She wondered what would happen if she kissed his member.
She brought her lips close, blew her hot breath on the tip and Mirsux moaned, while arching his back. She pressed her lips to the pink glans. He pursed his lips and groaned louder.
She liked the way he responded to her and she opened her mouth and closed around it. He sprang up in a sitting position and his eyes shot open. They were glinting with flecks of bright yellow light.
“Stop, I cannot contain it,” he said in a thick voice.
She ignored him and slid her lips down the shaft until she felt it fill her mouth. She returned and did it again…, and again..., and again. Ariella then slid her tongue around the corona, then sucked the glans into her mouth once more.
He gripped the back of her head and let out a small howl. By the shoulders he gripped her, pulled her up and flipped her on her back. Immediately, he covered her lips and sucked on them both. His hand cupped her breast and brushed a thumb across the nipple. He then took the nipple between his lips and sucked on it until it peaked.
She closed her eyes and savored the touch of her husband while he continued his loving caress of her. His lips were moving down her belly and his tongue was licking her skin. Both the Ysark and Diainspar gave of the heavenly radiance at their lovemaking.
She whimpered at the thrill and arched into him. When he parted her thighs and kissed her secret, she moaned loudly. He licked the tip of her protruding love button, sending a bolt of current through her.
This was what she was waiting for. She had yearned for him in more ways than one. As his tongue danced around her gaping flesh, she gripped the back of his head and moved her hips. His sizzling tongue plunged into her crevice and she cried out.
“Aahh!”
She could hardly breathe and she found she was gasping for air. Her body enkindled with every stroke of his tongue, every touch of his fingers. The beginnings of an explosion started to erupt inside her, but she willed it away.
“Mirsux, please, come to me now,” she urged. She needed to feel him inside her. She needed his body atop hers, to feel his skin against hers. “Come, now!”
“As you wish, my princess,” he grinned, licking his lips of her fluid.
In one deft movement, he lifted himself and settled between her thighs. He captured her lips while he pushed his hips forward. She felt him sink into her hot flesh as his tongue wrapped around hers. She almost exploded with the ecstasy of it all.
When he moved his hips, she pushed hers forward. They continued moving together in a dance to which only they knew the steps
. He broke the kiss only to suck on her bottom lip.
“Oh,” she sighed, raking her nails along his back.
His hand cupped a breast and gently gave it a squeeze while he continued his gentle thrusts. Ariella threw her head back into the pillow, trying to suppress the urge to scream. Another moan escaped her lips as she felt his hot tongue licking her neck, traveling up to her earlobes.
“Oh God,” she breathed, unable to contain herself much longer.
His thrusts were becoming more ardent and she could hear his growl rumble from within his chest. She matched his deepening thrusts with a fervid whining of her hips. As the tempo increased, her entire body electrified.
The ball of fire inside her belly imploded. The earth shattered, resulting in an ear splitting scream wrenching from deep within her core. She arched as her walls tightened around his shaft. She gripped his shoulders as she threw her head back and let her rapture complete. Her body spasmed violently as her orgasm came in waves.
Mirsux smiled. He knew he was near his time. The pleasurable sensations coursing through him was difficult to contain. He had been near the edge several times and had to draw himself back. Now that she was complete, he let himself go.
He withdrew and plunged himself fully inside his beautiful bride. He felt her grip him like a vice, sending lightning bolts up his shaft and into his belly. It exploded, causing a cosmic fusion. He felt his energy flow into her and hers into him. Now they were bound together. The Kompadrous was complete.
His entire body stiffened as the blast wave roiled his core. Like a lion, he let out a roar that shook the walls of the chambers, coupled with the screams vented from Ariella. It was beautiful music.
He let the remnants of his climax spill into her before he collapsed. They breathed rapidly, and their hearts thudded heavily. He slid beside her and cradled her in his arms, vowing always to keep her safe. She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“What did you say to me on Xygor?” he was still breathing shallow.
Awakening: The Prince of Nabalar (The Princes of Uvieroein Book 1) Page 14