“My people have done you a great injustice. It was not done with malice, but from a completely selfish place. Our race is dying. A species known as the Vraigor occupied and laid waste to our world. In their departure, civil wars broke out as different factions scrabbled to fill the power vacuum, then finally a corrupt council was put in place for many years. We have been through much as a people. When the decision was made to pursue options for our fertility problems, we embroiled ourselves in yet another civil war. In our state, we made a rash decision to replenish our race, and no, we gave no thought to how you all would feel about it.”
He rubbed his hands together. The chill in the air was undeniable, even with the fire blazing. He hoped after hearing his apology, the females would soften toward him and the plight of the Vaturian people.
As he inspected them, he tried to determine which would make the best mate. There were two blondes, a redhead, and the dark-haired one. She had the coloring most like that of the Vaturian females, plus she appeared the most docile. He judged selecting her the wisest course. She would be most likely to listen and understand his needs, and the dark hair would then be passed to his son. He placed his hand over his heart and continued his apology before he lost his audience.
“I apologize to the deepest part of my soul for what you have gone through. I cannot change what is past, but starting today, I can correct the situation.”
“By sending us home.”
He held his jaw tight, but tried a smile. “Our situation is still the same. We need young to survive as a race. Our females no longer become pregnant. None of the Cassarian females who were brought here with you have become pregnant, either.”
“Sounds like you have a cock problem, not a hen one.”
The one blonde was a smartass. She would be trouble to any man who chose her. He thought briefly of the loyal seven, trying to decide which of them could handle this beast—perhaps Vaimok—but he forced his thoughts back to the present.
“Be that as it may, we are not ready to give up having young. We hope—no, we ask, humbly—that you could consider our request.”
The blonde stepped forward, hands on slim, yet curvy hips he could not imagine bearing an infant. These humans were much smaller than he remembered.
“Let me get this straight. You kidnap us, hold us in this internment camp, with no toilets, no running water, and have you seen the bugs on this godforsaken planet? Then, simply because you apologize, Your Majesty”—she mocked him by bowing sweetly before him—“we’re supposed to submit to your fucking us, impregnating us with your alien bastards? Then what? Give away our children to be raised by your women? So you simply want breeders? Disgusting! Go fuck yourself.”
She stepped back with the other females, placing her arms around the brunette who looked as if she might cry.
That sounded like a no.
Antares was at a loss. Females were a complete mystery to him as he’d spent essentially every second of his life dreaming about battle and castles and great victories. In all his dreams and plans, why had he never planned for a mate?
Of course, to be fair, back in the prime of Vaturia, there had been certain arrangements between men and females. Everything from sexual contact, to intellectual stimulation, to young, was negotiated and contracted by the Ohpan, a council provided to handle all these issues so a man really didn’t have to understand a female to obtain one. Now, however, it seemed that in this endeavor, he had no experience and little chance of success. He wondered if any of the Ohpan still lived.
This was not going well. He was going down in flames, and though he hated to admit to it, he needed Nikolai’s diplomatic abilities here. He turned and silently pleaded for exactly that.
After a prolonged moment of silence that Antares knew was solely meant to torture him, Nikolai kicked his boot against the dirt floor, looking disinterested, then stepped forward.
“Representatives of Earth, I am Nikolai. The king’s brother. The bottom line here is that you are on our planet now, and the civil war we have just endured has destroyed any chance we had of taking you home, or anywhere else. We can no longer leave the planet. Our technology is destroyed and our planet lies in ruins. It will take many years to bring us back to where we were even a few decades ago. I’m afraid you are stuck on Vaturia.”
“That’s not acceptable.”
Nikolai laughed and stepped closer to the blonde. Antares had to step closer to continue to hear their conversation.
“Ranai, what are your alternatives?”
She stiffened her spine and held her hands in fists at her side.
“My name is Naveenah, and we will refuse you. Are you rapists?”
“Ranai is simply a Vaturian word one would use to address a child.” He slowly smiled. “Or someone behaving like one. And have you been raped?”
Nikolai’s retort seemed to quiet her momentarily, but not for long.
“No. Your men have been respectful, kind, and even apologetic.”
Nikolai ran the back of his curled fingers along her cheek. Antares would have sworn he saw her shiver.
“Then why would that change all of a sudden?” Nikolai stepped back, though his focus clearly remained on the blonde. “Tell you what. My brother has been making a lot of deals lately. I will extend one to you on his behalf.”
He looked over his shoulder, back at Antares, evidently wanting a carte blanche to promise the female whatever his imagination came up with. The thought terrified him, but bloody hell if his hands weren’t utterly tied. He nodded a silent agreement, to what, he was not sure, and waited.
“I will personally see these three females housed, clothed and fed, given freedoms, treated like ambassadors.”
He picked up the blonde’s hand, turned it over, and ran his finger down the inside of her arm. Antares watched her physical response to the touch. It was remarkable. Her breath caught and her eyes flared. She snatched her hand away from him, then held it out of reach behind her back.
“And what of me?”
“You will come and live in the king’s current residence. It’s not much, but you also will be treated like royalty and want for almost nothing. You will make yourself available to Antares, not sexually, but you will get to know him. You will become familiar with our culture—what we have gone through, who we are as a people. If, at the end of one year’s time, you still feel the apparent loathing for us you do now, you will be freed. It’s as simple as that.”
She narrowed her eyes, searching first Nikolai’s face, then his own. Antares wanted to disappear into the floor from those penetrating blue eyes. They made him feel things he was certain he didn’t want to feel. The temperature seemed to rise about twenty degrees in the space of a heartbeat. He was furious at Nikolai because, out of the four females, the only one he did not want in his home was that blonde. What was done was done, however. He had to honor their bargain, even if it killed him, and in that moment he thought it actually might. He truly didn’t know how much time he’d be able to spend with her before he felt the need to silence her annoying mouth, but for his people, he would try.
“You said we could not go home.” The female’s eyes flared and her cheeks colored. “You lied?”
“I did not. But I know my brother. He is an honorable man. If you make this deal with me now, he will find some way to get you home at the end of one year.”
She fidgeted and chewed the corner of her bottom lip, all things that made her appear softer than she had at first. Her red shirt was torn at the sleeve, and threading had fallen out at the bottom. It was peculiar dress, especially for a female, but he would have new clothing made for her, he supposed.
“And what of the others? They will be free as well?”
Antares gave the blonde a closer look. He did not wish to find her attractive. Somehow that felt disloyal to the Vaturian females. Still, her wild array of blonde curls and feminine curves had an effect on his cock. Several of her toes appeared through a hole in her boot, which he also f
ound absurdly attractive. He could imagine disrobing her and studying her form, but he would not allow himself the luxury of such feelings. They distracted him to an extent he could ill afford at this crucial time in his rise to power. “They will.”
He watched Nikolai stretch out his hand to her. She viewed him warily, then slowly placed her hand in his. For a moment, Antares lost himself in how delicate her fingers looked against his brother’s palm. A strange, unseen energy seemed to flow between them, and Antares wondered for a moment if he could convince his brother to bed her instead. After all, he had traveled extensively, and Antares knew for fact that Nikolai had been with many females outside of their own race. His overall irritation at the entire episode began to anger him. Pushing the female off on Nikolai might not be the honorable thing to do, but it was a good idea, nonetheless. He definitely needed to see if he could bring it to fruition.
“I’ll go with you.” She looked over her shoulders at the other females, who were all looking a bit shocked now. “You promise me they’ll be all right?”
“None of them will spend another night here. They will be moved within the hour.” Nikolai stepped behind the blonde to speak directly to the other females. “Now, you have to promise—no escape plans. I cannot keep you safe if you wander into the outlands alone. We have wildlife here you would not be able to defend yourself against and plant life you are not familiar with, some of which can cause violent death.”
The females whined, each voicing a complaint, but the blonde took the hands of one of the females and they all silenced.
“Do as he says and trust me. I will get us all out of this. I promise you.”
Nikolai stepped away from the females, coming back to Antares. “How’d I do?”
“You chose the blonde.” Antares was not amused, but if the end result was what he wanted, he supposed he could live with it.
“I liked the blonde. She has spirit. Besides, you would get bored with a more docile female, and you know it.”
Antares growled deep in his throat. “I have no time to seduce a female who wants nothing to do with any of us.”
Nikolai scrubbed his chin, his gaze clearly stuck on the blonde as she said her good-byes. “Well, you’d better make time, or a year from now, she, and all the human females, will be leaving…with me.”
Annoyed, Antares walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“I have meetings with the architects for the castle.”
“What about the female?”
Antares turned and smiled, his gaze traveling from his brother to the blonde and back. “For the time being, she’s your problem. You decide what to do with her.”
As he walked out of the compound, he set his mind to the plan of foisting the female on his brother, and a lightness came back to him. Sticking his brother with the female might not be a permanent fix, and in the end, he might have to keep his end of the deal his brother bartered, but for now, thinking of her giving Nikolai hell gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He strode across the courtyard, the morning sun just now starting to trickle through. Antares raised his head and breathed deep of the morning air.
It’s good to be king.
Chapter Three
Nikolai sprinted up the rickety metal steps lining the side of the once-grand hotel. He felt particularly pleased with himself this morning as he had successfully arranged for his brother to fail in his current quest, assuring his own guiltless freedom at the end of one year. For the first time in years, he actually felt hope about something. A beautiful thing.
“Sire?” A man shaking out rugs on the third-floor landing looked at him quizzically.
Thanks to Antares declaring himself king, Nikolai had received much unwanted notoriety as part of a royal family, which made absolutely no sense since royalty was supposed to be a blood thing and every last trace of the rightful royal family of Vaturia had been wiped off the face of the planet by the Vraigor. He smiled and bowed his head slightly in the man’s direction nonetheless. One short year from now, he’d never have to worry about it again.
He held up one finger to his lips. “Shh.”
The bewildered young man nodded but looked at Nikolai as if he’d lost his mind. He supposed it was odd for someone to be climbing the auxiliary staircase, but he wanted to avoid people in the old hotel courtyard or lobby. He understood the people’s need and desire for a reigning monarch. It was what they knew. After all they’d been through, he couldn’t blame them for desiring some sense of normalcy and comfort. It wasn’t that he had no compassion for them either. He simply didn’t want to be a part of it. That was why he was sneaking up a little-used staircase in the hopes of avoiding both staff and people hanging around wanting Antares to magically fix their lives.
He could not wait until he was soaring through space to God knew where, encountering God knew what. Yes, that life could be a bit lonely, but he was well suited for it. If his mother had taught him nothing else in her short lifetime, it was that no one would ever truly accept him for who he was and it was best not to even try.
He reached the seventh floor and jogged down the hallway, still hoping to avoid people. He could definitely see his brother’s point in wanting to move the keep to the new location on the cliff. Lodged now in one of the old cities, in a broken-down hotel, this place was hard to defend and hard to secure. It was cold most of the time, and there was little privacy.
He acknowledged a few more servants as he made his way to his brother’s suite of rooms then hesitated, hand raised to knock, as a hint of melancholy crossed over his heart. He would miss Antares. For as much as he wanted away from this hell that was Vaturia, he loved his brother.
A servant cleared his throat and spoke with a note of apology in his voice. “His majesty is not here, Your Highness.”
Nikolai tensed. “Please don’t call me that.” He attempted a smile at the man who’d only done what he thought was right. “Where is he, then?”
“I believe he went out to the castle. Quite early, actually.”
That made no sense. He should have been getting to know the female, making sure she was settled in and feeling secure. Nikolai sighed. As usual, he’d just have to do it himself. He would never say it out loud, but Nikolai knew no way to forgive himself for his part in the kidnappings. Though it only amounted to knowledge of the event, it was not right and he desired anyway to atone, “And the human female, where is she?”
He pointed down the long hall Nikolai had just come through.
“She’s in the third room on the left. We are to bring her anything she wants, but she has not asked for anything yet.”
He gave the man a jovial slap to the forearm.
“I’ll see to her and let you know what we’ll be needing. Has she been assigned any females to see to her?”
“No, Your Highn…sire.”
“Ah well, can you see to that? Perhaps reassign some females from the laundry or kitchen?”
“Yes, sire.”
Nikolai tried to make the man more at ease by smiling softly at him, but he knew that most of those chosen to serve Antares had been victimized in some way by the previous reigning society and hierarchy on Vaturia and were fragile creatures now. As much as he loathed the way his brother had come to power, in his deepest heart, he knew Antares was the right man for the job. His dedication and loyalty would go far to repairing this broken and desolate world. Ultimately, his passion for the people would save them.
In this instance, Antares expressed his compassion for these poor souls by giving them all positions on his staff. Additionally, he vowed to care for them and their families—an arrangement that seemed to serve everyone. Nikolai had to admire his brother’s knack for this leader thing.
The man bowed his head, and Nikolai went back down the hall, unsure what exactly to expect when he arrived at the female’s room. The human females differed greatly from Vaturian females, not just physically, but in spirit as well. He didn
’t think they truly made a very good match for Vaturian males who would be used to their females being quietly submissive. Any mating contracts were always hashed out by the Ohpan, and when entered into, the female knew her duty was to be silent. He thought the council had made a huge mistake in bringing these females here in the first place and was quite pleased with himself for coming up with a way to rectify the situation. A year from now, the females would be free, as would he.
He stepped into the alcove that held the entry to the room he sought. The door before him was made of dark wood, clearly a replacement for the otherwise metal sliding doors that no longer functioned. This one, however, had been badly damaged over time. Burn marks and axe scars made so many holes in the wood that the door was practically transparent. Light flickered through those holes, dancing in patterns on the sleek flooring beneath his feet. Again he readied himself to knock when he heard a sound from within, something of a moan, or a soft cry.
Perhaps the female missed her companions. It could not have been easy for her to have spent last night alone. She’d been in the constant company of the other females. When Nikolai had taken the other three and left them in the care of Rodolph, he probably should have come back and checked on Naveenah, knowing his brother would have forgotten about her, but he’d shared a few drinks with Rodolph and Maidrik instead.
More sighs and moaning emanated from within the room. As he listened more intently to the sounds, he began to seriously doubt his initial impression that they resulted from sadness. He stepped away from the door and looked to both ends of the hall, seeing no one. This solitude pleased him. He stepped back to the door and heard yet another, longer, moan.
Nikolai was not the saint his brother was. Sent away as a small boy, he’d grown up primarily off planet, gone to school on Larkin Three, then traveled extensively through the Annarah System, among others. He’d learned the pleasures of the flesh firsthand from some very accommodating females, but he’d never met a human before, and her sounds could have just as easily been a part of a human prayer ritual or meditation as sounds of carnal pleasure.
To Love a King [The Reformation 1] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Page 3