“Spy?” Pia questioned, blinking. She turned to frown at Zoran. Why hadn’t he mentioned it when she was interrogating him? “You said nothing of a spy.”
Zoran sighed.
“Olena,” Pia said. “You remember that servant at the festival, don’t you? The one who spilled his drink? It has to be him. He was no more fitted to be a servant than I am.”
Olena shook her head, clearly not recalling the man.
“What are you talking about?” Zoran demanded, turning to study her eyes.
“There are too many servants in the kingdom,” Ualan said. “For festivals many come to help. It would take forever to locate them all, just to find this one.”
“No,” Pia said. “He was at the coronation. The spy would be here in the palace kitchens. I remember watching him fumble with some plates. He only carried two, unlike the other servants who carried four or more. It has to be him. He was graceless when it came to serving. Yet there was something different about his walk, and his hand had a sword callous along the ridge. I would almost bet my life he was your man.”
Morrigan said through her hoarse voice, “I recorded that night on my camera.”
Everyone turned to look at her.
Sheepishly, she admitted, “I’m an undercover reporter for an intergalactic newspaper chip.”
Ualan stiffened but didn’t stop her from speaking.
“I was supposed to write a story about the royal weddings,” she continued. Turning to Ualan, she said, “My camera will have recorded part of that night. Maybe Pia’s servant can be found on the relay.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Yusef said.
“I’ll go find it.” Ualan left the hospital room, his movements stiff. It was silent until he returned. When he did, he handed a small eyepiece and an emerald to Morrigan.
“Can you make it work so we can all see?” Yusef asked.
Morrigan nodded. “I think so.”
She requested some saline and wetted the lens before sticking it into her eye. Slipping the emerald on her finger so it could react with her nervous system, she turned the stone. A light shone from her eyes, darkening as she blinked. They watched in amazement as they saw a picture of the Breeding Festival floating on the air.
Coming around to stand across from Morrigan, they eyed the round holographic projection.
“Can you see it?” Morrigan asked.
“Yes,” Ualan said.
“All right, just let me leaf through these.” Morrigan closed her eye and the picture disappeared. Pia saw the woman turn red and wondered about it.
“Morrigan,” Ualan began.
Morrigan blinked in surprise and a flash of Ualan’s naked ass came up bigger than life before them.
“Oh,” Morrigan panicked. Zoran’s hand slipped from her body as he and Yusef laughed heartily. Morrigan squeezed her eyes tight to block the image from view.
Wryly, Ualan stated, “I had no idea I looked that good from behind.”
He was rewarded with punches from his teasing brothers.
“Here,” Morrigan said, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. A screen of the festival came up. “I can’t play sound, but you should see the picture moving like a silent movie.”
They watched in silence. Seeing who she meant, Pia commanded, “There, stop, that’s him.”
Morrigan froze the picture.
“Yeah.” Olena leaned forward to get a closer look at the corner of the frame. “I remember him. Now that you mention it, he was rather strange.”
“He has the coloring of a Var,” Yusef said.
“But not the scent of one,” Zoran said. “Do you think he has found a way to mask his smell?”
“He wears the tunic of the kitchen staff,” Yusef said. “We will find him and question him. If he is Draig, it will be easy for him to prove it. If he is Var, he will come up with an excuse not to shift.”
Ualan nodded. Yusef and Zoran left with their women by their sides.
Once the couples were alone in the hall, Pia glanced at Zoran. Her body shook with a terrible worry at Morrigan’s confession about being a reporter. She knew her scars were gone, but she couldn’t help thinking she would rather not be publicly known. Quietly, she asked Olena, “Did you know Rigan was writing a story about us?”
Olena shook her head. “She said she was, not is.”
Zoran and Yusef exchanged looks. Pia knew they didn’t much care for their private lives to be made known to the entire galaxy. The Qurilixian, by tradition, were a secretive race that kept to themselves.
“Ualan will speak to her and take care of it,” Yusef said.
Pia really hoped the man was right.
* * *
Pia’s blond servant was apprehended almost immediately upon Prince Zoran and Prince Yusef entering the palace kitchens. Zoran picked up the Var smell beneath an all too potent scent of Draig. They found him hiding behind one of the oversized brick ovens, ducking from his work.
The soldier must have known that he was found out, because he tried to run. It was no use. Yusef was standing in the doorway, and with a swing of his good arm, he punched the man square in the jaw, laying him out on the floor.
The Draig servants blinked in surprise at the sudden attack. However, as they witnessed the lazy man sprawled on the floor, they cheered without knowing his treachery. As a fellow worker, the indolent Var spy wasn’t well liked in the kitchen.
The royal family was relieved as news spread of the spy’s capture. Olek escorted the Var to the lower prisons where he would be questioned by Agro. Zoran had no doubt that the giant warrior would discover much from the man.
Chapter 39
“I’m very impressed by your knowledge,” Zoran admitted to his wife.
Pia flushed, turning to look at him. He told her all that had happened—the capture of the spy, and his impending interrogation in the lower prisons. When he finished, Pia nodded her head, her eyes drifting over his body.
“I brought you a present,” Zoran said. A smile fanned over his features.
Pia furrowed her brow, and asked, “Another set of knives?”
“No,” Zoran said carefully moving across to the couch where she sat. Reaching behind his back, he pulled the blindfold out from behind him. “This.”
Pia chuckled. Biting her lips, she backed away. “I don’t think we can.”
Zoran’s look disagreed.
“Zoran.”
This time he stopped as if sensing something in her tone. Frowning, he asked, “What is it?”
“I’m...tender,” she answered delicately.
“From the fight?” he questioned, growing worried by the way she said it.
“No.”
“From...?” Zoran’s brow rose and she swore she saw a swelling of masculine pride at the idea that it was the size of his manhood that caused her soreness.
“Ah,” Pia flushed, her cheeks flaming. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“Pia,” he whispered, unable to help his chuckle. “I’m your husband, you can tell me anything.”
“I’m female tender,” she answered.
“You wish to love a female?” he frowned, not believing the words, but not understanding her.
“No,” she said, nearing mortification. She’d really never discussed this with anyone, aside from the nurse on the medical base. She couldn’t even remember the technical word the old, burly woman had for it. Lifting her hands to motion toward her chest, she didn’t touch herself, as she tried to explain, “I’m sore. You know, women once a month get...sore.”
Zoran’s eyes narrowed and to Pia’s horror, he sniffed at her. The blindfold dropped from his fingers to the floor. Shaking his head, he said, “You are not on your breeding time.”
“I’m not saying I’m pregnant,” Pia shot, a look of utter horror coming to her face. Zoran stiffened at the way the statement came out. Pia was too embarrassed to really notice. “I’m going to...get...all bloodied soon.”
H
e looked as if he wanted to laugh at her description of it.
“So?” he shrugged reaching forward to kiss her.
“It’s gross.”
“It’s normal,” Zoran said, kissing her protesting lips.
Pia instantly began to melt. Then, catching herself, she pulled away.
“Is this because you do not want my children?” Zoran asked, letting her go. When she couldn’t answer fast enough, he stood. His gaze hardened, seeming almost to crack within its depths. “If it’s what you wish, wife. I’ll leave you alone.”
Pia gasped at his sudden anger. Zoran didn’t give her time to explain. He turned and stormed away, heading out the front door.
Pia sat, staring after him, her mouth hanging open, stunned into silence.
* * *
Zoran felt as if he couldn’t breathe. For the Draig, the woman’s breeding time was almost regarded as sacred. The pheromones the women’s body sent off drove husbands mad with lust and the need to procreate. It turned them into true beasts. And from what he’d been told, although women were not made to conceive at such a time, it didn’t stop the effect. When she was in such a state, Draig seed could stay within the woman, waiting inside her until her new cycle, causing a greater chance for a belated pregnancy.
He wanted children, desperately. He wanted to share everything life with Pia had to offer. Oh, and how fierce their sons would be with a mother like her and a father like him. They’d be elite warriors—sons to make any dragon envious.
Though they had yet to be born, he felt a loss at the idea they may never exist at all. How could he force Pia to have his children if that was not her wish? How could she ask him to give up fatherhood?
He left their home, needing to regain his composure as he tried to resign himself to a childless life.
* * *
Zoran didn’t come home that night. Pia stayed up until her eyes felt so leaden she couldn’t lift them. He didn’t come home the next day either.
Pia, bored out of her mind and needing an excuse to leave the house, went to search out the other princesses. Olena and Nadja weren’t answering their doors. Knowing Morrigan was more than likely recovering, she left her alone. She walked outside. The practice field had a few men on it running laps, but no Zoran or his brothers. Frowning, she turned to go inside. Queen Mede was coming out the front gate.
“Queen Mede,” Pia said, smiling.
“I was looking for you,” the queen admitted. “One of the men said they thought you went this way.”
“What’s happening?”
“Nadja and Olena were attacked last night,” the queen said.
“The Var?” Pia asked instantly.
“No, Nadja’s father.” A light frown came across the queen’s features.
“Are they...?”
Queen Mede shook her head in denial. “No, they’re fine.”
Pia nodded, relieved.
“You were right about King Attor’s motives. Agro interrogated the prisoner and confirmed it. He seeks to kill Morrigan, Nadja, and you. It seems that he’s taken a liking to Olena, though. That’s why he attacked Yusef,” Queen Mede said. “The man gave Agro directions to King Attor’s hidden camp. The trackers go there even now to confirm it.”
Pia didn’t need to ask the tactics Agro had used to get so much from the spy.
“They’ll go tonight, then, if he’s where they think?” Pia asked.
The queen nodded.
“I would go with them,” Pia admitted.
“I understand the impulse. From what I’ve been told you handled yourself well when the cat-shifters attacked Morrigan in the forest. The men really respect a warrior princess.”
“Then when do we leave?”
“I’m sorry, you can’t go with them. Zoran has forbidden it,” Queen Mede answered. “Come, let’s go back inside. It isn’t safe out here.”
Pia wasn’t worried, but she didn’t feel like fighting with her mother-by-marriage over it.
“You are not familiar with Var warfare,” the queen continued. “The order is not meant as a reflection on your skill or my son’s trust in your ability. With time, I am sure you will learn how a cat-shifter fights.”
“You approve of my learning this?” Pia inquired in surprise.
“Of course. Women like us are more than ready to pick up arms if our family or our people are in danger. I wouldn’t expect someone like Nadja to run into battle, but her skills run to other things. She is a healer. You are a fighter.”
“And Olena? Morrigan?”
“Morrigan is a thinker. She has a unique perspective that will do this kingdom well when she takes her place on my throne.” The queen chuckled. “As to Olena, that one is a fireball. If we send her off into battle, she’ll go, she’ll fight, and she’ll probably burn down half the forest on her way there.”
Walking inside the palace, they passed the guard in silence. When they were far enough away to speak in private, Pia stated bluntly, “I have some daughter questions.”
Queen Mede stopped mid-stride in surprise. Her mouth fell open. Clearing her throat as a deep pleasure came over her face, she reached to touch Pia’s cheek. “And I would have mother answers for you, Pia.” She drew her hand away. “What is it?”
“I know nothing of being a wife.”
“You seem to be doing well enough,” Queen Mede answered. “There’s no ‘way’ to being a wife, you just are. Zoran respects you. That says much about your character.”
“I know nothing of being a woman,” Pia elaborated.
“Oh.” Queen Mede pressed her lips together. “You mean you and my son haven’t...?”
Pia flushed, but she needed answers too badly to let embarrassment stop her. “Yes, we’ve come together. What I mean is I know nothing about this breeding time, as Zoran called it.” Pia shrugged. “I’ve always referred to it as getting bloodied.”
With much effort, Queen Mede managed not to laugh. “You make it sound as if you fight each month and lose.”
“Feels like it.”
“I will admit, being raised on this male dominated planet, and only having sons, I am unsure exactly how to begin such a conversation.” The queen paused thoughtfully. “What is it you would know?”
“Zoran wants sons.”
“As do all men,” the queen answered with a nod.
“How do I get them inside of me?” Pia asked.
This time Queen Mede did grin. She took Pia’s arm and guided her down the red passageway. “Oh, Pia, what do you think you’ve been doing with my son?”
“So when he leaks, that makes sons?” Pia nodded in understanding. “He hinted as much. I wasn’t sure as to the how.”
“Basically, he becomes even more a part of you, growing inside you,” Queen Mede answered.
“And then when he grows in me, he’ll go to another until I am...until it’s removed?” She’d heard that many married men cheated on their wives when they were pregnant.
The queen merely laughed. “No, it would be impossible.”
Pia was confused again. “Can’t we just take orphans? It seems much easier. I like Heinrich well enough.”
“You have done very well by that boy, and taking in orphans is very noble.” The queen nodded. “But Heinrich’s path is set. And it is a very good path. I do not think he would like being the son of a prince.”
“So then what am I to do?”
“Once mated, Draig men do not go to other women—ever. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. You would know right away. Besides, if he wanted to go to other women, you would know that too. He doesn’t desire anyone else, rest assured,” Queen Mede said.
“How do you mean I would know? I can’t read his thoughts,” Pia replied.
“Draig men are given a crystal when they are born. It’s their guiding light. When you were paired by the crystal, your lives became joined in such a way that it can never be taken back. When he took you to his tent, it was his choice. When you stayed, that was yours. You exchanged part
of your souls. By crushing the crystal, you assured that the exchange would never be reversed. There will be no other in his bed or his heart. When a Draig man looks at his wife, all he sees and feels is for her. Very beautiful, isn’t it?”
Pia nodded, though she didn’t really understand. Surely, the queen merely spoke in metaphors. She stopped walking to look up at a particularly bold statue of a Draig man in human form.
“Do you understand what that means for him and for you?” the queen asked, her eyes shifting to a subtle gold at her words.
Pia shook her head, staring out carefully, not moving from her spot before the statue.
“It means his crystal is broken. It means he put his every chance at happiness in you. He gave his life to you. There will never be anyone else for him so long as he lives. That’s a long time for our people, and for you. By giving you his life, he shortened his and extended yours so your fates could remain together. If you chose to leave him, he would be alone for the rest of his days.” Queen Mede stopped, letting her words sink in.
Pia trembled. Her heart fluttered dangerously in her chest.
Queen Mede continued, “When you feel as if you can sense him inside you, that is what I speak of. It’s very real. Soon, when you are bonded completely, you will be able to hear his thoughts in your head. You’ll sense his troubles. You’ll hear him call you from across the palace. You’ll know every moment he wants you, when he’s sick, when he’s hiding something from you in an effort to protect you. And it will be the same for him with you.”
“So if he thought I didn’t want his children...” Pia began.
Queen Mede’s face paled. She looked as if she might be sick. “Why would he think that?”
“I...might have...led him,” she tried to explain. “I was frightened by the prospect.”
“Do you want them?” Queen Mede asked.
“Yes, but, I don’t know. I’m scared. What if I do something wrong with it? Or forget to...do whatever it is you do with them,” she said. “Knife training I can handle, but I’m assuming Draig babies are not born talking and fighting. I know nothing of infants.”
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