Larkin entered and seeing to whom I spoke, he said, “You know what you have to do.”
“What?” I asked as a chill raised the flesh on my arms.
Larkin said, “He must disown his brother to preserve the honor of his House.”
I took my vid-screen back from Papa. When Finn moved away, I said, “Fitz, I think you should prepare for an extended stay. You should bring Pane. We can put his terrarium by Sue’s tank.”
Fitz managed a half of a smile. “I love you, Teagan.”
“I love you, too. Start packing.” I ended the call. Then, I kissed my Momma’s cheeks at least twenty times, kissed Grandmother, Papa, Larkin, and even Ryan. “We’ll be back in a couple of days.”
“Phillip, get me out of this,” Zared said as he struggled to lift himself with his arms.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a panic as I jogged into his room. It was the same room that I had been in after my heart surgery and cesarean section.
“Female, you will not leave my sight,” Zared said stubbornly.
My heart melted. “Oh, Zared.”
“Don’t, ‘Oh, Zared’ me. I may not be able to walk, but I can care for myself.”
“Stay put for a second. I had something delivered for you,” Phillip said sternly.
“Yeah, stay put.” I ran to my wing. “Pierce, Lorca, quickly gather things for the children. We have to leave….”
“Teagan,” Nico interrupted. “Calm down. We started packing when you went to the infirmary.”
Yukihyo had white eyes, but I could still tell that he was rolling them at me.
“Oh.” Huge globs of tension fell from me. I saw that Pierce and Lorca were packing diapers and changes of clothes. Yukihyo was speaking to Captain Ricimer on his vid-screen, and Thunderdrop sat on my bed blinking at me. “Well, okay.” I went into my bathroom and peed.
Into my mind popped the memory of Luca surprising me with a kiss in my bathroom and then getting into a fight with Fitz. It had me using my waste paper on my eyes.
I wasn’t going to bother with packing and neither were Nico or Yukihyo. We had a closet full of clothes on the Empress along with cleaning units. “Zared, do I need to pack anything for you?” I asked telepathically.
“No,” he said as he entered my bathroom and caught me crying on the waste unit. “Look at that. We are both sitting down,” Zared said sardonically.
“Well, look at you. I assume that is the fastest hover chair that credits can buy?”
“Only the best for Zared,” Phillip said as he followed him inside of the bathroom and over to the wall that hid the waste unit. “Oh, relax. I’ve seen you tinkle plenty of times. Are we going to rescue my fishing buddy or what?”
“Yeah, we’re going. Will you at least turn your head?”
Phillip turned and walked for the door. He started calling out, “Neema, Niklos, Peter, come to Uncle Fip. Time to go.”
While I washed my hands, Zared said, “Well, this is awkward.” He was using the waste unit from his new chair.
I turned and giggled at him. “It’s a good thing it’s so long then, isn’t it?”
“Seeing to my female’s needs like this will be another challenge.”
“Zared, just seeing you alive is what I need.” The memory of him lifeless before me as I tried to breathe for him stabbed though me.
“Hush, Teagan. I have seen the events of that day repeatedly as well. Jiri studied our weaknesses. He had access to all of our files. He was a traitor at the highest levels of our government and planned out his moves to the smallest detail.” Zared gave his manly appendage a shake and pressed the waste unit button.
I chuckled quietly. I had never seen that done before. “How can I help with the sink?”
“I think I can manage. Watch.” With a press of a command, the chair rose and turned to the side.
“Cool.”
“Neema found Mommy!” she said as she joined us.
We had not introduced Momma to the children. She was very weak but trying her best to be strong. We thought she could sense our omission, but she was dealing with enough. Momma was still acclimating to the fact that I had been Niklos’ age when she had been brutally stabbed by Nathan Green and put into stasis. Then, she had been awakened to discover her baby was a grown woman.
“Oh, Ed!” Neema held her hands up to Zared. He picked her up and sat her on his lap. I imagined the chair could go fast and worried about Neema falling. Zared pulled a safety harness that I hadn’t noticed across her and secured her to his chest. Neema clapped when he held an arm across her stomach and moved his chair forward.
When we walked into my sitting room on the Empress, Kane and Vice Admiral Dario Galerius were sitting on the couch waiting for us. They were wearing civilian clothing which only confused me further.
“What are you doing here?”
“Grandmother is making me go with you. She told me to bring a friend so that I wouldn’t get bored.” Kane grinned at me.
“Did she tell you where we are going?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Well, I think we are all onboard. Let’s go,” I said as I motioned him toward the lift.
Kane scrunched up his forehead at me. “What are you looking at me for? You’ve got a captain. I’m just here for emotional support. Go bake me something.”
Smiling sweetly at my cousin, I gave Niklos a rattle and then handed him to Kane.
“Ow!” Kane said.
“Aww, I love the sound that makes when it hits your forehead.”
Yukihyo grinned for the first time in days.
When the children went down for their naps, Kane patted the couch beside him. I sat, but then I put my head on his thigh and covered up with a blanket. Kane rubbed my temple. “Teagan?”
“Yes?”
“Your hair makes you look weird.”
“If I try to change it back, it will turn orange.” I started crying.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Kane said sheepishly.
“Did you know I lost Luca’s baby?”
“Yeah, I know. I can picture Luca running around without a shirt holding an equally hairy baby.”
I laughed a little through my tears. “I wish.”
That was where I fell asleep, with my head on my cousin’s thigh. I woke up to baby feet and hands poking into me all over. Niklos was smiling and laughing at me. I wiped my mouth on Kane’s pants, rolled over onto my back, and put my arms around my son.
“Well, hello. Did you just wake up?” Niklos sat on my stomach and bounced. “Oof,” I said. Laughing, he bent down and put his arms around my neck. “Mommy loves her sweet boy.”
“Mommy.”
“Yes, Mommy loves Niklos.”
“Teagan, this is all very touching, but you drooled on my pants. You drooled through them. I can feel it on my skin,” Kane complained.
“Well, help me up,” I said in exasperation. Niklos came with me to the bathroom. I looked at my reflection while we washed our hands. Kane was right. I did look like total shit. I just didn’t care. “Come on, baby. Are sister and baby brother still asleep?” Niklos nodded his blonde head at me. I carried him on my hip and put my hand behind his head so I could kiss his forehead. Breathing in the scent of his hair made me feel better. “Oh, I love you,” I said as I squeezed my chunky boy.
Nico was speaking to Kane, Dario, and Yukihyo. “Praetor Jiri has publicly denounced and disowned Felix Jiri. The former Ambassador Jiri is now nameless. The proclamation along with Praetor Jiri’s declaration of loyalty to House Probus has quieted Thalassa’s population to an extent. Tavere has stated that Praetor Finn Jiri, along with the members of House Jiri, had no involvement in Felix’s crimes and that they are loyal citizens.”
Kane raised his chin in my direction which made Nico clam up.
I sat on the floor with Niklos to play. Nico joined us. Nico stared into my eyes and saw straight to my wounded soul. “I’m so sorry, Teagan. Luca loved you.”
“It hurts so much. I
wish I could have done something. It happened so fast. When we saw Felix, we expected him to help us.”
Nico’s large warm hand covered mine. “There was nothing that either of you could have done. Had there been, Luca would have done it. Felix is a treacherous coward. He attacks women and children. He has no honor. His murder of Luca further proves it.” Nico scooted next to me and put his arm around me.
“Daddy, here,” Niklos said as he gave him a transport.
Excited by our son’s words, I squeezed Nico’s knee. Kane and Dario were quiet. To them, I asked, “Are either of you hungry or thirsty?”
“We ate while you were asleep. If you find white things in your hair, they are breadcrumbs and not dandruff,” Kane said.
I sighed. Then, I petted Thunderdrop until he got bored and began a new web. Neema woke up grumpy and stayed that way until Dario intervened.
“Neema, I have something special for you and your brother to share. Can you share?” he asked.
With wide, jade green eyes, Neema nodded. “I share. I big girl. Right, Drop? I share?”
“Chirp,” Thunderdrop agreed. He and Neema hadn’t gotten into any recent fights over toys.
“Okay, ask Mommy if you can have your gift.”
Neema forgot to walk and crawled to my lap. She smiled and kissed me, gave me her coy, sweet smile, and asked, “Mommy, can Neema have present?”
I laughed at her obvious attempt to butter me up to get her way. “If you can say thank you to Dario, then yes, you may.”
Neema stood from where she had sat on my lap, pinching my inner thigh between her foot and the floor as she did so, and ran to Dario. Breathlessly, she said, “Mommy say yes!”
“Okay, sit down right here. Close your eyes. Don’t open them until I say so.”
Neema covered her eyes with her fingers but peeked through them when Dario walked away. Quickly, she closed them when he returned with a large box. Niklos became curious and crawled over to Neema. “Go like this,” she said as she took her hands from her eyes and helped him cover his own. Then, she put her hands over her own eyes again. “Okay, Neema and Nik ready, Rio.”
Yukihyo chuckled softly to himself.
“Okay,” Dario said as he put the box down in front of them. “I’m going to lift off the top of the box. Are you ready?” Neema nodded her head so enthusiastically that her bright pink bow fell from her hair to the carpet. “Open your eyes,” he said as he lifted off the top.
My eyes became just as wide as Neema’s. “Oh!” We both said at the same time.
Dario had revealed a dollhouse. Its shell was shaped almost like a large three-layered cake that had been cut in half and left on a plate. The domed top was clear, giving the illusion of a viewport. Beneath the clear top was a model of a warship’s bridge, complete with consoles and chairs for the captain and his officers. The next level was for living quarters. There was a toy bed, couch, and dining table. The lowest deck was the flight and transport deck. There were two black fighter ships and two large land transports, complete with Imperial seals on the hatches. Dario handed Neema a girl doll with long grey hair dressed in a Parvac captain’s uniform. He gave Niklos a blonde boy doll in a captain’s uniform.
“Oh,” Neema said.
“Oh, I always wanted a dollhouse. This one is so amazing,” I said as I admired the details.
Peter woke up, so I went to nurse him. Then, we came back together. Neema and Niklos played quietly together with their new toy. Secretly, I wanted to play with it, too. Instead, I changed Peter’s diaper and sat with him on a blanket. Laying down on my side, I kissed his tiny clawed feet and hands. He made his little squeaky laughing sounds when I kissed his tummy.
“Mommy loves you! Yes, I do!”
I felt his pointed ears. Peter looked like a hairless elf with a single nostril. How the Eloneave had looked squirrel-like to me was now dumbfounding.
“Mommy adopted an alien fairy baby. Yes, she did.” When I ran my finger across the patagium at his sides, Peter trilled at me. “Does that tickle?” He had the cutest little facial expressions. Right now, he was making his eyes go wide, blinking slowly at me, and smiling. Then, he rolled over on his tummy. When he got his weight up onto his knees and hands, wiggled his tiny little butt, and managed to crawl a tiny bit to me, I became a puddle. “Oh, my goodness. You are so little, and tiny, and adorable!”
Peter had crawled only enough to get closer to me. Gripping me with his clawed hands, he crawled up my stomach, to my chest, and rested his head against my neck.
“Oh, my baby! Look what you did!” I held him gently and nuzzled him.
Sensing my happiness, Neema and Niklos crawled to me, too. “Mommy feeling better. She get kisses,” Neema said as she kissed my cheek. Then, she patted Peter and kissed him. Niklos grinned at me with a slobbery chin. I laughed at him and kissed his forehead. “Come, brother,” Neema said as she tugged his shirt. They went back to their starship playhouse.
That evening, after the children were tucked into their beds, Thunderdrop and I went down to the exercise room alone. Ignoring its inhabitants, we went to my corner mat. I slipped on my gloves and activated five of the training devices that I had bought on Trambelus Space Station. After getting bonked a few times, I finally managed to focus and center myself. Hitting one of the balls with my right fist, I let my momentum carry me forward and dropped to avoid the three that converged on me.
“What the hell are you doing?” a sweaty, angry Kane asked. He grabbed balls from the air and deactivated them letting them hit the flooring.
“What does it look like? Why are you interrupting?”
Red creeped up Kane’s neck. “Does your father know about this?” he asked.
“Doesn’t he know everything? Anyway, why would he care?”
Kane’s eyes widened as though I had gone insane. He ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair. “You’re an Imperial princess. You shouldn’t be doing this. It’s…it’s scandalous. Why are you learning to fight? You have guards.”
Gazing up into his green and gold eyes, I said, “That isn’t enough. Feeling helpless sucks.”
“Chirp!” Thunderdrop said as he stood on his back legs, moved forward, and from side to side.
“Right,” I said to Thunderdrop while he continued his fancy footwork.
Dario stood nearby with his black eyebrows almost touching his hairline.
Jazon strode past both men and said to Thunderdrop, “Put those away. Would you?”
“Chirp,” he agreed as he attached lines of silk to the balls and leapt above their drawer to drop them into it.
Jazon gave Thunderdrop’s head a scratch and then put on a pair of gloves. “Ready?” he asked me. “Zared asked me to fill in for him until he is feeling better.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Angrily, I turned from my cousin. Jazon and I bowed to each other. Jazon’s fist came out, and I moved to avoid it, but he gave me a tap with his other fist to my left jaw. Kane inserted himself between us and punched Jazon. Jazon punched him back.
“Hey! No fair!”
When Jazon ducked another of Kane’s blows and pivoted away, I popped up in his place and struck my knee into Kane’s side. Then, I punched him repeatedly in the gut. With a sigh, Kane picked me up under my arms and held me out in front of him like a puppy. “Teagan, you are just going to hurt yourself. I can barely even feel your punches,” Kane said condescendingly.
Furious, I raised my legs up, wrapped them around his head, and knocked him off balance. When he threw his arm out to catch himself, I caught his wrist and twisted it behind his back. I didn’t get the reaction for which I had hoped. My cousin was howling with laughter rather than with pain or fear. Letting go of his arm, I pulled my left leg out from under him and kicked at his chest with my right foot. Catching it, he grabbed my foot and began tickling the bottom of it.
“No, Kane!” I screeched with laughter sounding very much like Neema. Encouraged, Kane moved onto my sides. Realizing we had an a
udience, he stopped tickling me.
“Are you done?” Jazon asked calmly from where he stood at the edge of the mat with his hands clasped behind his back. His solid black eyes were calm.
“Princess, I would be honored to spar with you,” Dario said with sincerity.
Jazon scoffed and said, “You just want her legs wrapped around your head.”
Jazon’s comment pissed Dario off which made me laugh harder. Unbeknownst to me, Yukihyo had entered and now held his hand down to help me stand. Taking his hand, I let him pull me to my feet. Yukihyo’s eyes sparkled with a happy gold that worked to banish the sad purple capillaries form his white eyes. His warm soft lips tugged at my bottom lip as he kissed me and sent comfort through our bond. It wrapped around my torso like an empathic hug. Then, he walked away to join Nico on a sparring mat on the other side of the gym.
“Wait a minute. The two of you know about Teagan’s behavior? Nico, you have allowed this?” Kane asked as he stood to his towering height. Arms akimbo, I glared at my cousin’s back. Nico just shook his head at Kane and bowed to Yukihyo before beginning to spar. Turning to me, Kane said, “Teagan, this activity is unseemly. You have men in your service whose bloodlines have served as Imperial Guards for generations. That you would need to defend yourself would be seen as the gravest insult. It would shame them.”
“I’m not doing this to shame them or to prove a point. I’m not doing it for fun either. I’m doing it because I need to do it. If my guards are too mortified and embarrassed because of my activities, then they can work for someone else.”
I returned my attention to Jazon, bowed to him, and concentrated on avoiding punches to the face. Jazon and I continued to spar until I was breathless and had sweat dripping into my eyes. He sneered at me and clapped in a slow mocking way.
“Fifteen minutes. You have no stamina,” Jazon said.
I narrowed my eyes at him and then used the bottom of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my face. He had already put his gloves away and helped me to remove mine. The cool air against my skin as he pulled the left glove free was a relief. The glove had left indentions in my sweaty flesh. Jazon met my eyes as he removed my other glove. He could feel the heartbreak that rolled over me in sporadic waves. My heart was heavy like wet sand, and the waves of grief kept returning, refusing to let my grief dry.
The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5) Page 26