Beyond Orion

by Laura D. Bastian

  I glanced at Marcus, wondering if he was affected in any way by my touch. His eyes didn’t waver from the regular attentiveness to our surroundings. I pulled my arm out of his and instead clasped my hands in front of me. If he was oblivious to me, I needed to protect my heart. Shander had taken advantage of me when my emotions took over.

  Chapter Ten

  Visitors

  We were in my chambers less than a minute when I felt Ryad’s distinct impression. The suddenness of it surprised me and I felt a momentary longing for how things had been so easy and comfortable with him those last few weeks on Earth.

  Neither of us had spoken about how my sudden marriage had changed things between us. But I knew he felt something. And if I was truly honest with myself, I was disappointed there was no possibility of exploring a relationship.

  Ryad was moving fast and I could detect hints of his agitation. I turned to the door, and Marcus must have picked up on my concern because he placed himself in front of me and commanded the guards who had followed us through the hallway to stand ready.

  I placed my hand on Marcus’s. “It’s only Ryad.”

  “But…”

  Ryad shouted my name and Marcus pushed me back behind him once more.

  I rolled my eyes and tried to step around Marcus, but he wouldn’t let me. He gripped my arm tightly and spoke through gritted teeth. “Don’t move.”

  “But it’s just Ryad.”

  “How can you be sure?” Marcus asked.

  I stopped trying to move past and looked up at him. Was he unaware of the strange bond I felt with those who swore their oath to me? I would have to study the histories to see if this was normal. Or maybe Marcus would have the information in that perfect memory of his.

  I waited for Ryad to reach the guards, and he pulled up short as they lifted their weapons to him. He showed his identification and was admitted into my rooms.

  “We have visitors on their way.” Ryad handed me a tablet.

  I looked over the information and saw that the planet Nexleen had sent a ship toward Rommader and had asked for permission to land.

  Marcus leaned over my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine. I was so distracted by his closeness, I allowed him to take the machine from me. He pressed some buttons as if looking for more information. “How long ago did this arrive?”

  I leaned over his arm, wanting to offset his equilibrium as much as he did mine, and pressed the right button leading us to the log history. Marcus seemed unaffected by me, so I tried to push away my disappointment and instead looked up at Ryad. “This was sent sixteen hours ago. Why are we only receiving the news now?”

  Ryad clenched his jaw and shook his head. “Your Grand Council thought they would take care of this on their own. They have granted Nexleen permission to come. They will be exiting the wormhole and entering our solar system in three hours and will make their approach soon after.”

  I looked at Marcus. “Did you know about this?”

  He shook his head. “I would have told you.”

  I didn’t argue, but doubted he would have consulted me on this. It didn’t matter; we needed to speak with the Grand Council now. The Nexleen were an odd race. They took things literally, and if you weren’t careful with what you said, you might end up committing to something you never meant to do.

  “Let’s go.” I took a step to the door, but Marcus took my hand and stopped me.

  “Where are we going?”

  I shook off his hand and resumed walking as my guards surrounded us. “We need to find out what the Grand Council said when they granted them permission to land. Find out what the Nexleen said to them, and what we need to do for damage control.”

  Ryad walked next to me and instructed the guards to lead us to the council room. Marcus didn’t seem to realize how touchy this situation could be, but I didn’t know if I should take the time to explain to him now, or if I should wait and tell him at the same time I addressed the council. Would they even be there?

  “Marcus, does the council still meet regularly?”

  “I believe so.”

  I hoped he was right. We couldn’t let the Nexleen get the upper hand. I ran over the possible reasons Nexleen could have for sending a ship to us. Did someone here promise them something in my absence?

  “Marcus, have you had any contact with Nexleen?”

  “No.”

  “Do you know if the council has been in contact with them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I turned to Ryad. “Is it only one ship?” I pulled the tablet back from Marcus and read the information again. “Why are they coming?”

  “I don’t know,” Marcus said.

  I brushed off Marcus’s answer and picked up the pace. I would have to wait until the Grand Council gave me the information I needed.

  As we approached the door to the council room, I wondered briefly if I should enter, or if I still needed to wait for permission. They weren’t expecting me. I hated not having enough authority to enter their private discussions. But at the same time, I couldn’t fault that part of protocol. I didn’t want them to have twenty-four hour access to me either.

  I stood tall and spoke to the guards at the door. “I am Queen Amira. I have come to speak with the council.”

  The guards saluted me and one of them slipped through the door. I heard him announce me and the answering murmurs from the council members.

  The door opened wide and I glanced at Marcus. He watched me, his brow furrowing in concern. I ignored him, not wanting to be distracted from my purpose. I strode through the door and walked down the center of the marble floor. The two tables were separated by an aisle where I could be seen by all. My heels clicked on the stone and my dress swished against my legs as I walked. I felt more authoritative dressed like this than when I had been in jeans and a t-shirt on Earth. It was time to embrace who I was.

  “Princess,” Jonah Plurz began. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Speaker Plurz, I am Queen Amira. Daughter of the late King Chark. Wife of Marcus Tarros, your elected king. You will address me with the proper respect.”

  I suppressed the squeal of pleasure that almost came when Jonah blinked and nodded his acceptance. “Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

  “Queen Amira, may I ask why you have interrupted our meeting?” a councilwoman on the speaker’s side asked.

  “I was just informed a ship from Nexleen has requested permission to approach and land here.” I looked at each council member, trying to gauge their responses.

  “Yes, they will be here sometime tomorrow afternoon.” Jonah crossed his arms over his stomach and leaned back in his chair. “Why does this concern you?”

  “It is my responsibility as queen to welcome them, to make sure they are taken care of, and to ensure they don’t do anything to us while they are here. You all know the history we have with Nexleen. Each time we interact with them, we are left worse off than before. Either we find ourselves bound to them in what has amounted to servitude in the past, or we are required to provide things that would have been much better given to our own people.”

  The council members varied on their responses to my words. The two older council members who had worked with my father were nodding their heads in agreement, but most of the newer counselors looked smug or as though I didn’t know what I was talking about.

  “What were the words of their transmission?” I asked.

  “They requested permission to visit. Asked if we were in need of any assistance.”

  “What was the response?” I looked at Speaker Plurz. His grin slipped and he forced a smile back on.

  “They were informed we did not need any assistance, but they were welcome to visit.”

  “Why would they ask if we needed help?” I asked.

  Jonah leaned forward and his gaze pierced into mine. “Perhaps they learned our princess was missing and wanted to help find her?”

  I ignored his jab. “Why did you still grant permission fo
r them to come?”

  “Why not let them come see how well our nation is prospering? Let them offer their condolences on the death of your father and they will see we have a stable government.”

  “Then why were we not informed?” Marcus asked.

  I turned to him and nodded in agreement. “If you invited a neighboring world to come see how we are faring, yet neglected to inform your rulers, how stable would that appear?”

  “We were going to inform you,” said a councilwoman on the opposite side.

  I turned to her. “When?”

  “Soon.”

  “What has been done to prepare for their arrival?” I asked. “The Nexleen are not like other planets. They have a very particular set of expectations. Have you taken those things into account?”

  “What kinds of particularities do they need?” one of the younger councilmen asked.

  I turned to him. “Where will you house them? What guards will be assigned to escort them? How many are coming? What is the class of their ship? How long is their stay? What plans do you have to show them the stability of our government? Do the kitchens have the information on their dietary restrictions? What have you done for the welcoming celebration?” I stopped when I saw them each looking at each other.

  I wanted to rail on them for their stupidity, but it wouldn’t do me any good. “Perhaps in the future, you will come to us before you give permission for another race to come visit?”

  Jonah Plurz sat up straighter. “Since you know so much about it, Princess—Queen Amira—we respectfully request you to handle the arrangements.”

  “I will inform my staff what to do. Marcus will stay for the remainder of your meeting.”

  As I met my guards at the door, I heard Marcus ask, “What has been discussed thus far?”

  Maybe having him as an assistant would be handy.

  Chapter Eleven

  Itury

  I stood in the entryway of the reception hall immediately off the landing strip. My stomach was full of nerves as if it were my first time welcoming dignitaries from another planet. I took a calming breath. You can do this. I’d been here on numerous occasions with my father over the years. It had been a couple years since he’d been next to me, though, and I had handled many visits on my own.

  My last welcoming party had been with the Josrians, when they sent a diplomatic party a few months before I had been sent to Earth. Standing here now felt familiar and awkward at the same time. Today I would welcome Nexleen as the ruler, or joint ruler as the case may be. And what I did or said would have a huge impact on our two planets’ relationship from this point on. It would have been much better to have thanked them for their concern for our well-being and assured them we needed no help and to encourage them to not visit.

  They were not a hostile planet, but they had a deep sense of loyalty and thought they should help where needed, whether another planet wanted it or not. Since they were advanced enough to have powerful weapons, and they also had a seemingly endless supply of exotic matter used to stabilize the wormholes for Space Travel, we needed to stay on good terms with them.

  The doors opened on the spaceship, and the diplomat in charge strutted down the ramp and then through the hall. His gaze scanned the area and his gray eyes widened in recognition. He must have recognized my status by my dress, crown, and regiment of bodyguards. I had tried to convince Ryad to cut the guards’ number in half, but he refused. I smiled at the Nexleen and recognized him as one I had met before when we traveled on a diplomatic mission of our own. He’d been a couple feet shorter then, and a lighter shade of green. Now as a mature adult, he was almost the shade of moss. He stood more than a foot taller than my six-foot frame. The Nexleen could grow to a massive height of ten feet. On Rommader, we usually topped out at seven.

  “Welcome to Rommader, Master Itury. It is good to see you again.”

  A smile crossed Itury’s face, pulling his lips tight against his sharp teeth. “Ah, Princess Amira. Oh, wait, you are now Queen Amira. I am sorry for the loss of your esteemed father.”

  I took his hand, his long fingers wrapping easily around my own hand. The thick and calloused skin was warm and dry. “Thank you for your kind words. He will be sorely missed.” I watched as five other Nexleen exited the ship. Three were women; two more were men. Only six visitors with their personal assistants and aides—this gave me a measure of comfort. Their ship was large enough to hold four times as many, not including the crew to pilot the craft. Had they been bent on helping, they would have sent more.

  As they approached, Itury introduced each one. I noted their names for the future, but knew I would be speaking only to Itury. In their culture, only the leader of each group would be allowed to speak in public to others. The remaining Nexleen would be given an assistant from Rommader to help them and speak for them. I knew just the one to assign to Speaker Plurz. She looked like she would take no pushing around. I turned back to Itury.

  “This is King Marcus.”

  They exchanged pleasantries and because of his title, Itury spoke to him as well, though addressed me more.

  “Itury, thank you for learning Rommaderian,” I said. “You speak it well and I appreciate the effort you took to make things comfortable for me.”

  Itury grinned, the green skin on his face darkening a little as the blood flowed in a blush. “It is only polite. I know you learned Nex as well as most of the other languages in our galaxy. I am happy to see you. It had been rumored you were missing.” He looked at me as if hoping for more information, but I smiled.

  “It was always known where I was by those who needed to know.”

  Itury nodded and offered me his arm. “May I escort you back to the palace? I am sure you have much to share with us.”

  I placed my hand on his arm and we walked together escorted by my bodyguards. Marcus held my other hand, and I appreciated his efforts to be there but not speak unless addressed by Itury. It seemed Marcus knew the protocol well after studying it last night.

  “How are things here on Rommader?” Itury asked, looking around the reception hall as we walked through it. We would arrive at the transport vehicles that would take us to the palace in a few moments.

  “As you would expect, we have been careful and slow as we transition from one ruler to another. It has also been many years since we have had dual leadership. My late mother died nearly twelve years ago. And ruling as king and queen after the death of a well-respected monarch is taking some time to become seamless, but it will happen.”

  “That is good news. When we received a message from King Chark’s adviser, Shander, about whether you were visiting us, we thought it was quite odd.” Itury looked at me and I knew I would have to choose my words carefully.

  “King Chark sent me on an assignment. He knew of my location the entire time, as well as a few of his chosen advisers. I am sure you’ve heard of the problems Shander has caused. His lies have been spread all over. I’m afraid he has gone quite mad, but he has been taken care of and we have nothing left to worry about concerning him.” If only my hopes could be fact. Had Jai been able to defeat him?

  I took my hand from Marcus’s arm and patted Itury’s hand. “But let us not worry about things like this. We are happy to host you for the customary fourteen days after which we will have a ball to celebrate our worlds’ friendship as well as to commemorate my marriage to Marcus. After my father’s death, we have not been able to celebrate yet because of the mourning period, but your farewell will fall on the one-month anniversary of his death. What better way to send you off than to thank you for your expressions of condolences to our fine ruler.”

  Itury smiled. I was sure I had convinced him of our appreciation for their visit and hoped he would get the hint it wouldn’t be a long stay.

  The other five Nexleen traveled together with an escort of a few guards Ryad had instructed to stay behind. The rest of us traveled in an armored car to return to the palace. I would introduce the other visitors to our Grand C
ouncil in the morning.

  I sat next to Marcus on one side of the car and faced Itury. “Tell me about Nexleen. How have you been faring?”

  Itury eagerly told me about how things had progressed, about the advances they’d made in their ability to heal injuries. He lamented the fact they didn’t have Healers like we did.

  Itury’s smile widened. “I was given the assignment to request an exchange program. To ask for Healers from Rommader to come to Nexleen in exchange for an extra supply of exotic matter.”

  “That is a generous offer, Itury, but our Healers would have to volunteer. I could never force anyone to leave their family to live in a different solar system.”

  “We would also be happy to host these families as well as pay them for their services.”

  I felt a buzz of telepathic communication from Marcus. Many would jump at the chance to explore a different world.

  I did my best to not look at Marcus as I returned a thought to him. I agree. But the more reluctant we are to accept his offer right off, the better he’ll sweeten the pot.

  “Itury, that’s kind of you. We will send a message to our Healers and ask for any who might be willing to leave their beloved home.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Earthquake

  I woke in a cold sweat. A Dream had manifested itself in the night. We would have more visitors from other planets soon. Dempka and Kas were in their wormholes currently. And Oshan had exited one and was now in our solar system. I sent a message to Marcus. We would have to confront the Grand Council together and find out why they had granted them permission to come as well.

  My maid dressed me quickly, but I brushed through my own hair, applied some quick makeup, and opened the door. It was nice to have two of my father’s former guards. Lance and Cory knew how to protect me, but not be obnoxious about it. If only I could convince Ryad I didn’t need the other four guards as well.

  I met Marcus at the intersection of his wing and mine. He offered me his arm and I took it.