It was early on, when I was still getting my bearings. I remembered Aya’s warning about females on Naxos being subservient to all males, so I didn’t dare question or challenge him. But as time went on, I’d grown more comfortable with Lando. Unlike Crino or my mate, he’d never come across as bossy or overbearing, and I couldn’t imagine him ordering me to be punished for anything.
“Why is the queen’s garden off limits to the public?” I asked as we made our way there.
“The king goes there from time to time, when he wants a respite from his duties. It’s the one place in the kingdom where he is assured of privacy.”
I figured since the old guy was practically on his deathbed, Lando must have decided we weren’t likely to run into him there today.
He stopped in front of the weathered door, opened it, and motioned me to go in ahead of him.
I took two steps and stopped dead.
My senses were charmed. Seduced. Overwhelmed.
Colors more exotic than any I’d seen on Naxos had been gathered here, woven into a living three-dimensional tapestry. Sensual fragrances wafted along on the breeze.
I wandered along a winding path, stopping every few steps to touch a fuzzy blue leaf, bury my nose in a whirl of delicately scented petals. Marveled at the beauty of the Universe spread out before my eyes, all the while drawn deeper into the living maze by the sound of water.
I rounded a curve in the path, and there it was in front of me. The fountain was a masterpiece. An improbable fantasy in this world of so many fantasies made real. A bronze goddess hovered in the air, untethered, pouring endless golden pitchers of water into a deep pool. Delicately crafted woodland creatures around the edges bent their heads to drink from it.
I thought all of them were statues until two furry ones scampered away. I let out a little shriek and heard a deep laugh from somewhere in the shadows on my right. A laugh that sounded just like Jalen’s.
Behind me, Lando dropped to one knee, bowing his head. “My lord.”
The figure rose from a secluded bench and stepped into the light. It was the high priest. Today, he wore a deep-purple tunic and pants, with a huge medallion on a chain around his neck.
He strode toward us and clapped a hand on Lando’s shoulder. “Rise, old friend,” he said. “You needn’t observe protocol when it’s just the two of us.”
Lando got to his feet. “Forgive me, my lord,” he said. “I heard you were busy today with affairs of state. If I’d known you were here, I’d never have invaded your sanctuary.”
“His sanctuary? I thought this was the king’s private space,” I said, turning to Lando.
“It is,” Lando replied.
I stared from one to the other, comprehension slowly dawning.
“You’re the king and the high priest?”
Devan nodded. “The leader of our spiritual world as well as our physical one.”
“You…you old fraud!” I spluttered. “You tricked me!” After what I learned yesterday, I was primed for this encounter. I raised one hand in the air, ticking off my grievances on my fingers.
“First of all, you’re not exactly on your deathbed. As far as heirs to the throne go, you look healthy and virile enough to give Jalen a dozen younger brothers and sisters if you wanted to.
“Second, you had no intention of putting me to death – or my crew for that matter. I spent all day yesterday with them. They have more freedom to roam around Antaris than I do! You manipulated me into mating with your son by letting me think you were all a bunch of cruel savages.” I stopped my rant to take a breath.
“Are you finished?” the king asked mildly.
“No! Number three is worse than anything else you did! You didn’t just manipulate me, you used his sense of responsibility to force your son into a loveless mating. I made a bargain, and I kept it. You own me, but you don’t own him. Jalen is a fine and decent man. You may be king, but you have no moral right to dictate who he spends his life with. He deserves to be happy, to choose his own mate and the mother of his future child.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Now, I’m finished.”
Devan ignored me, addressing Lando. “You see? That’s why I chose this one. She has more fire than any female on Naxos.”
Lando grinned. “That she does, my lord. I can’t imagine any of the temple maidens speaking to you like that…or speaking to you at all, for that matter.”
“Leave us, Lando. I wish to spend some time alone with the female who will one day be mother of the future king.” Devan held out a hand to me. “Come, my feisty little alien. Sit with me a while so we can get to know each other.”
I sniffed and ignored his hand but followed him to the bench where he’d been sitting and took my place beside him.
“I’ve been watching you out here in the gardens for weeks now from the palace windows. Getting regular reports from Lando, too. He says you’re a hard worker, not afraid to pitch in and get your hands dirty. Lando has a way with plants, you know. He talks to them, swears they’re good judges of character. He tells me the plants respond to you. They flourish under your care – because they love you and they know you love them.”
I scooted away a fraction, ready to make a run for it. The king may not have been on his deathbed, but he certainly sounded bat-shit crazy. He was getting character references from the shrubbery?
He smiled. “You think I’m mad? I didn’t believe Lando, either. Not at first. Not until I met Jarelle.” He must have seen the unspoken question in my eyes because he went on before I could say anything.
“Jarelle was Jalen’s mother. My mate. She was an alien, too. Our union was arranged by our fathers to unite her world with mine. I was rebellious, at first. Furious with my father for forcing me to mate with a female I didn’t love. One I never even met until the day we were to consummate our union.
“But my father had traveled to her kingdom many times. He’d met her and been friends with her father for years. I was young and headstrong. I didn’t appreciate his wisdom – or how well he knew me. Jarelle was a spitfire, not at all like the meek Naxian maidens. She had strong opinions about many things, including the role of females in our world.” He broke off, staring unseeing into the distance. “If she’d lived, I think Jarelle would have changed our culture.”
I glanced at him in surprise. “You think the way your world treats females is wrong? You’re the king. Why don’t you do something about it? Sign a proclamation or whatever it is you do to change the laws on Naxos.”
He patted my hand. “I’m a king, not a tyrant. I can’t change centuries of tradition with the swipe of a pen or a royal decree. Not without causing a revolution. I govern with a council of priests and elders, all Naxian males set in their ways. They’d look upon a proclamation like that as an act of insanity. An assault on our way of life.”
“So, you’re not all-powerful?”
He laughed again. “Far from it, my dear. A ruler is like a gardener. You can’t command the plants to bloom. All you can do is give them what they need. See that they have enough food and water. Keep the garden safe from insects and predators and noxious weeds that threaten to strangle them. It’s up to them whether they flourish and grow, stay stunted, or wither away.
“You remind me of Jarelle in so many ways, my dear. Strong-willed, with a gentle heart. You keep it hidden, but it shows in the way you tend to the plants. My mate loved them, too. She didn’t plant the original gardens around the palace, but she’s the one who added the special touches to make them come alive. She brought in new specimens from other worlds, blended them together with those of Naxos in seamless harmony. She picked the location of every bench, every fountain.”
He waved a hand around. “This was her masterpiece. This garden. She’d come here almost every day. Checking on her beloved plants, inspecting each new blossom and bud. She designed the fountain herself. Brought in a team of engineers who found a way to use the magnetic forces of this precise spot to keep the g
oddess statue hovering midway between the ground and the sky.”
I gave the fountain another look. “How did they manage to keep it running? There’s no hose connecting it to a water source, no pump.”
Devan beamed. “Isn’t it wonderful? Another innovation. She held a contest for the children of our world. One of them came up with the idea of collecting moisture from the air to fill the urn. Inventing the technology was a challenge for our scientists and engineers, but now we use their creation to provide water to arid parts of our world.”
I could hear the love and pride in his voice when he spoke of his queen. “What happened to Jarelle, my lord?”
“She died when Jalen was just a lad.” His voice wavered. “She was the love of my life.”
He took a deep breath, composed himself. “But, enough about my mate. Tell me how you’re getting along with yours.”
I sensed a minefield. I’d seen him show anger when we first met. He was Mr. Congeniality now, but no one rules an entire world by being the benevolent king all the time. If he knew Jalen and I had only consummated our union one time because we were engaged in a stubborn battle of wills, he might not be praising my strength as a positive character trait.
“Jalen is intelligent and very strong-willed, my lord.” I mustered up a smile. “I think he takes after his father in both those traits. Though we are still getting to know each other, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for him.”
Though I was careful to stay away from the topic of love, I didn’t lie to the king. Both of those things were true.
I took over the conversation, replaying some of our marathon vandu matches for him, turning our verbal bouts of sparring over the differences in our cultures and traditions into amusing anecdotes.
He listened and laughed at the appropriate times, but I could feel those shrewd eyes appraising me all the while. When I stopped for breath, he patted my hand again.
“You may have noticed that it’s difficult for my son to allow himself to get close to you. I don’t know how much he’s shared with you about his past. He missed his mother terribly when she passed away. And then there was his mate Giala. His heart was broken when he lost her.”
Jalen had a mate before me? I’d heard rumors that had me wondering but this was the first time they’d been confirmed. I opened my mouth to ask about her, but the king went on.
“Love is like a garden, my dear. It grows over time. Passion is the seed. Every day you’re cultivating the soil in which it will take root. Staking up the branches of respect and admiration. Sprinkling it all with generous amounts of humor. You’ll need that to weather the storms of life.” He shot me a wry grin. “Trust me, there will be plenty of storms along the way.
“You’re a master gardener, little human. I’ve watched you work. One day,” he went on, “you’ll open your eyes and discover your garden of love has blossomed overnight. So beautiful it takes your breath away.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jalen
Father knew I was furious about his command that I mate with the alien. Every time we spoke, he used all his wiles to try and convince me she was the perfect mate for me.
I met with him over lunch when I returned from my hunting trip.
“I spent some time chatting with your mate the other day.” He dropped the news casually.
I tensed. I knew my father well enough by now to know he never made idle conversation with anyone. He had a reason for speaking with her and a reason for bringing it up to me.
I brought the mug of mead to my lips and took a long drink, killing time while I considered my response. “I trust you had a pleasant conversation.”
He ignored my remark. “She was in the queen’s garden, dressed like a common laborer. Wearing a ragged smock, with a smudge of dirt on her cheek.”
So he was playing the haughty ruler, today. I stifled a sigh of annoyance.
“I apologize on her behalf if her appearance offended you, my lord.”
“When she found out who I was, she told me off again, just like she did the day I met her. Are you going to apologize on her behalf for that, too?”
I opened my mouth, then realized I had no idea what to say to that.
“You needn’t. I deserved everything she said.” He shook his head then smiled. “She reminds me of your mother. I don’t know how much you remember about her. You were just a young lad when she died. She, too, was from an alien world, though it wasn’t halfway across the galaxy. Her planet was like ours in many ways, except for one major difference. On her world, females in the line of succession became rulers. She gave up her own claim to a throne when she mated with me.”
Father seldom spoke of his mate. She’d died before I had a chance to know her as anything other than a loving mother, but I’d heard stories about her from Sairi, her handmaiden, who became my caretaker after her passing.
“Your mother, Queen Jarelle, had a kind heart and a loving soul. Whenever she heard of a family in need in Antaris, she visited them personally, taking food and supplies. Lending not just a hand but a shoulder to lean on. She was strong as well as gentle. She wasn’t afraid to speak out when she saw an injustice. I remember one time when she faced down Crino. She’d just come to Naxos and didn’t agree with our ways. She chastised him when she heard he’d punished her handmaiden Sairi for a minor mistake. She forbade him to lay a hand on any of the female servants in the palace unless he brought his grievance to her first and got her agreement. Crino was furious. He came to me, demanding I punish her for her insolence to a male.”
I broke in. “I remember hearing about that! Sairi loved to tell the story of how King Devan publicly went against tradition and took his new mate’s side.”
I grinned at him. “Sairi also told me you took mother over your knee later that night. Gave her a stern spanking for going behind your back and confronting Crino. She said you made her promise to bring her grievances to you and allow you to handle any future confrontations with Naxian males. She said mother agreed but told her afterward she’d never stop working on you to get you to change the way females are treated here.”
My father chuckled. “And she didn’t! Your mother was a real spitfire. I had to take her over my knee many times for a good many reasons over the years, but I regretted that one. She was right. Just as your little human was when she reminded me that no matter what I wanted, you have the right to choose your own mate. What good is it to be king if you aren’t happy at home? You’ll have problems enough ruling Naxos. Dealing with the stodgy Council of Elders, who think their ways are always best. Holding your tongue when you meet with those sanctimonious priests at the temple. They’ve chosen never to mate, so they have no idea how hard it is sometimes to be ruler in your own house, let alone a kingdom. You need to come home to a mate who is loving and supportive, not another source of conflict.”
His voice softened. “I know these last few years have been difficult for you, Jalen. I’ve seen you shutting yourself away from everyone. I wanted you to find happiness. Perhaps I went about it the wrong way.
“You know, your mother and I didn’t meet until our mating ceremony,” he went on. “She was terrified and frankly, so was I. Our fathers arranged the match. We entered into a union as strangers, for the good of our people. Over time, we became friends. She earned my respect – and I earned hers, in part by learning to admit when I was wrong and ask her forgiveness. Out of that friendship and respect, love was born. We didn’t have many years together, but they were happy ones, Jalen. Your mother became the love of my life, and I’ve never wanted another mate.
“I wanted you to have what I had. But I was wrong, son. I should never have forced you into this union. Who knows? Maybe if I hadn’t, you would have chosen her yourself.”
He rose from the table, extended both arms in the air. “As High Priest of Naxos, I hereby release you from this union. You have my blessing to send this alien back to her people and mate with whomever you choose, my son.”
> * * *
She knocked on the door, punctual as usual. A remnant of her military training? Whatever the reason, it was one of the things I admired about her.
One of many things. She wasn’t meek and mild like the Naxian females. Her fiery spirit made it a pleasure to spend time with her, even when I wasn’t lusting after her body.
Father had taken away one huge obstacle by freeing me from his royal decree. Now that I wasn’t busy asserting my independence by defying him, I’d had time to think about what I truly wanted.
I wanted a mate who’d be a lover, a friend, a partner in life. Someone to share good times and bad.
My tamina was wildly passionate. She stirred every animal instinct in me. But we couldn’t spend every minute we were together in bed. I needed more than that to build a full life.
I made a mental list, ticking off the points the way she would. She had a quick wit. I’d laughed more in our brief time together than I had in a good many years.
She was highly intelligent. More intelligent than any other female I ever met. I’d even found myself discussing military strategy with her the other night, after she’d finally beaten me fair and square in a game of vandu. No one had beaten me in vandu since I was a lad.
It wasn’t blind luck on her part. I’d been struggling to stay one step ahead of her for days as she mastered the finer points of the game. She earned my respect with that victory. I felt a sense of pride. My mate had a keen mind, which boded well for any offspring we might produce.
Of course, we wouldn’t be producing any offspring unless one of us relented in this contest of who could be more stubborn.
While I was on my hunting trip, I’d decided tonight would be the night. I’d bring her to the brink, teasing her with the head of my cock, and find some way to save face as I rammed it into her.
Now, with father’s decree, I could ravage her then send her away once and for all. Rid my life of this willful alien who challenged me at every turn, awakened every dominating instinct in my body.
Her Savage Mate_A Sci Fi Alien Alpha Romance Page 8