“As the Vaturians struggled to make sense of their new world, powerful men decided the only way to make sense of it was to blame the nay-chi. I think they felt impotent to have done anything against the Vraigor and so they took out their rage on the nay-chi instead. They accused the nay-chi of being in alliance with the Vraigor, even accusing them of calling for the Vraigor attack so that in the end, they could rule the planet alone.
“One man in particular started a persecution of the nay-chi so fierce that it wiped a third from this realm, my mother included. Naveenah, that man was my father.” He paused for a moment, looking away from her, and she saw emotion catch in his throat. “I am nay-chi.”
Naveenah shut her eyes against the coldness that swept through her soul as she read between the lines and filled in blanks from the other night.
“So Antares was raised…”
“With a deeply instilled hatred for the nay-chi, yes. When my mother realized I was nay-chi, she sent me away with a nay-chi elder so I would be safe from my father’s wrath. I have no idea what transpired between my father and mother after that, and I was very young at the time so I barely remember their interactions regardless. I was an adult, living on my own when I heard that Antares was born.”
She shook her head, thinking she hadn’t heard properly.
“But…that makes no sense. You look the same age as he.”
He drew a long breath, dropping his gaze momentarily to the floor before steadying it back on her.
“The legend says that the nay-chi were one of four immortal races of Chibelle sent through the barrier before its collapse to protect the beloved races here in Terra-li. Something here in this realm has poisoned our people and we are no longer immortal. We can be killed and we do age, but slowly. Most nay-chi I know of are thousands of years old, counting their age from the day they stepped into Terra-li. Naveenah, I am nearly seventy-eight years of age.”
“Seventy…” She became dizzy and pulled her hands from his. She stood, needing to move. She paced away, then turned back.
“Okay, I have no hooks to hang that one on, so, your father killed your mother?”
Nikolai also stood, sadness so entrenched in every line on his beautiful face.
“That is what I was told. Antares was only two years old at the time. I never saw her again after she sent me away. I believe she was afraid for my safety.”
“So he was raised by a man with hatred and prejudice for your kind, even though he had married one and had a son that was…”
“Yes.”
She pressed her fingers into her temples. Her ears were still ringing, and her head was beginning to throb.
“I don’t understand. Your father knew your mother was nay-chi. How could he turn against the woman he loved?”
“He did not know. The nay-chi rarely seek mates, but it is a sacred agreement within our people that if we mate with anyone outside of our race, we take on the characteristics of that race and never reveal who we truly are. It isn’t all that difficult with other humanoid races, regardless. The only real outward signs of how we differ are the sacred markings that anoint our skin. Each set is different and special in meaning to the nay-chi who wears them, but we hide these from most and if a nay-chi mates, there is a spell which can eradicate them altogether. It is meant to keep our people safe, and as we almost always outlive any other race, it is deemed the best way. I believe my mother kept her secret, because why else would she send me away?”
She tried to slow the information as it began pouring into her mind. More and more questions came to her, but where did she even start?
“Okay, wait, so if you and I…I mean if not for right now, but if we’d met and decided to be together, you’d pretend to be human?”
He rubbed his cheek, then folded his arms across his chest.
“No. I’d pretend to be Vaturian, as I have done for years.”
She thought about that for a moment and couldn’t decide if she should be irritated or not at the deception. For the moment, she put those thoughts aside for more pressing ones.
“So do you think your father found out? About your mother, I mean.”
“There are two schools of thought. One, that yes, he found out and in his rage, killed her. Or that he never found out, but feared she would make Antares disappear the way she had me. Either way, my mother ends up dead, and as she was of the kiyentsu lineage of the nay-chi—our royal family”—He sucked in a breath, pressed his fingers to his forehead for a moment, then looked back at her—“it did not sit well with my people. We were losing so many of our people that it was decided that we would retreat into secret, giving the Vaturian the belief they had killed us all, until the day of the sohngala. A day where prophecy tells us our people will once again be united with the Vaturian as we prepare for the ultimate battle that will once and for all reunite Chibelle and Terra-li. Honestly, Naveenah, I did not believe I would see this in my lifetime, but…”
He paused and walked to her, taking her hands again in his, holding them against his chest where she could feel his heart beating beneath.
“It is you who will create the bond and bring peace back to our planet. You will bring on the sohngala.”
Chapter Twenty
“No.”
Naveenah shook her hands free on Nikolai’s and stepped back.
“No. You can’t put that on me, Nikolai, and I won’t. You saw Antares. I can’t face him. I want to go back to Earth. I’m not staying here.”
“Naveenah, you have no choice in this. You cannot fight destiny.”
Panic grabbed hold of her, and if she had thought she could find her way out of the labyrinth he called a home, she would have walked out. She grabbed for whatever words she could to push him away.
“I don’t believe in destiny. I don’t believe it can be one’s destiny to be kidnapped to an alien planet! That’s just not right! I’ll go one further, it’s absurd!”
He stood utterly still, unnervingly so. In all the time she’d known Nikolai, he’d always been full of raw passion. This Nikolai before her now was different. He had a new calm and focus that almost scared her.
“I don’t know what to tell you, sienta. It doesn’t have to make sense.” He shrugged. “It may even be absurd. But I know, with everything that I am, that it is true.”
He walked toward her. This time she let him near, let him cup her face in his hands. She was confused. What he said didn’t make any sense to her, and she still had a million questions for him, but every time he touched her the way he was now, her brain short-circuited.
“Why then, when you came to Antares, were you so out of control? Was that destiny? You scared the hell out of me, Nikolai!”
Tears began to surface as she remembered the fury she had seen in him and how he and Antares had nearly killed one another.
“Not one of my better moments. I was so high on my fear for Antares and so worried about you. I had just had an extraordinary experience here with the council, and then I walked in and saw you naked in his arms.” He closed his eyes tight. “I wasn’t prepared for how much it would hurt.” He looked back into her eyes. “I have never lost control like that in my life, and I’m very sorry you had to witness it.”
She thought back on the night and all that happened. Burned into her memory as it was, it was not difficult to bring it back.
“You very nearly killed your brother. You destroyed the room. Damn, Nikolai, you scared me, did I say that part already?”
Emotion swept his face. He closed his eyes as if to shut her out, but she didn’t want to be shut out. She touched his cheek, making a silent promise to at least listen.
“Something happened to me that night, Naveenah. It supercharged my abilities. I’ve never blown up like that before. I’ve never done anything close to that before. The nay-chi have very sacred rules about using our abilities. We never use them alone. Perhaps it’s to prevent what you saw that night, but I was lost to the pain, to rage, to the darkness of my race…�
�� He ran his hand over his head. “It’s not an excuse, but I can’t take it back, Naveenah.”
Exhaustion swept through her entire being. She pulled away and moved back to the settee. Feeling dizzy, she placed her palm across her forehead as if that would settle the spinning world.
“Naveenah.” He came before her, back on his knees. “What is it?”
“Honestly, I’m wiped. I’m so damn tired, Nikolai, I can’t think straight.”
“Of course.” He swept her up into his arms and carried her across the room to the bed. “You need sleep, sienta.” He stroked her head. “Rest. We can finish this when you wake.”
She didn’t want to wait to finish it, but fighting the exhaustion was becoming a losing battle. Her eyes closed, and she struggled to reopen them. “You won’t leave?”
He took her hand in his and squeezed. “Nothing could make me.”
She smiled. She was so confused, but the feeling of love and safety that Nikolai sent out embraced her tight. It was warm in his bed, and the sound of streaming water soothed her very frayed nerves until she finally allowed the sleep to take her.
Even in sleep she didn’t rest, tossing and turning in the grip of nightmares. Images of Antares screaming, his flesh on fire. Of the men who tried to rape her turned into carnivorous animals, and no Nikolai around to save her. Even memories of the night she was kidnapped. Each time she woke, unable to breathe, but each time Nikolai’s presence comforted her. He brought her food and promised her that things would be all right. He held her hand, chanting softly. It soothed her. She would try sleep again, but her mind would take over, scaring her, trying to convince her to run from this world that was collapsing around her.
“Nikolai.”
The sound of a woman’s voice penetrated her subconscious. She attempted to open her eyes, but could not find the strength. She felt Nikolai leave her and became very intent on listening.
“You’ve come back.”
“Only for a moment. The portal to my world will close this evening and I must go through it prior to its closing.”
“Why are you here, then?”
Naveenah pushed herself back to full consciousness. Sitting up on the bed, she saw Nikolai across the room speaking with the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen. It almost hurt her eyes to look at her.
“Naveenah, come here please.” The woman held a hand out to her.
Naveenah didn’t hesitate—she just went. As she got close, Nikolai put an arm around her, holding her by his side.
“What do you want of her? She has nothing to do with this. If I am to be reprimanded for my actions, that is on me, not her.”
The woman reached out and grazed Nikolai’s jaw with her fingertips. “Shhhh, Nikolai. You worry too much sometimes.”
Naveenah thought that funny as she always thought of Nikolai as so carefree. “Naveenah, I am Taryn. I am a protector. I live outside of your time, and to be honest, I rarely have direct contact with any species, but the time of destiny is upon us and the future of Vaturia hangs in the balance this time, and as I personally hold the responsibility for the future of this planet, I have been given rare permissions to speak with you directly.”
She reached out, taking both Naveenah’s hands. An energy surged from Taryn’s hands into Naveenah’s body, leaving her feeling strangely energized and exceedingly calm all at once.
“Naveenah, by the next cycle of the moon you will already be carrying the child that will bring peace to this planet. You cannot leave. You must stay and allow both Nikolai and Antares to love you. There will be many children between you, but this first child…”
The dizziness she’d been feeling all day returned and nearly knocked her off her feet. Nikolai caught her, supporting her by his side.
“Naveenah, do you understand what I’m telling you?”
She blinked, wondering if she had missed something.
“What?”
Taryn stepped even closer, and she cupped Naveenah’s face and tipped her head back so she would have to look into the soft blue eyes of the angelic creature.
“There is not time for you to come to understanding of all that is going on. I need you to surrender to the part you will play. All you will see is how your decisions will impact Vaturia, but I see how this one act will influence all of the cosmos. I cannot tell you which brother is the father of your child. This is the final test. The three of you must find a way to broker peace, first between you all, for the child’s sake, then for your planet.”
“But this isn’t my planet. I’m from Earth.”
“I speak the truth when I say that the realms of Chibelle and Terra-li are still linked and everything in them flows from one to the other. You cannot change something here and it not have a ripple effect throughout the universe. Your actions here will have an effect even on Earth. Naveenah, search your mind. When did you ever feel as connected to Earth as you feel here?”
It was true, in the past few months she had come to love Vaturia—had grown roots in the fertile soil beneath her feet—and she never wanted to go anywhere else.
She rubbed her hand over her flat belly, thinking of having a baby, a thought she had never really contemplated in her entire life, not even when she agreed to try for Antares’s sake. She never really thought she could get pregnant, but now everything she thought she knew was changing…again.
“It is destiny. Now are you woman enough to make these brothers set aside their prejudices and hatred and convince them to love you and your child?”
“I have to do that?”
Taryn smiled softly and looked from Naveenah to Nikolai.
“I think that, in truth, only Antares will need convincing and your faith is needed to do that. This child will restore peace and give the breath of life to the reformation he wants so dearly.”
She started to step away, but Naveenah still had so many more questions.
“Wait!”
“I have told you more than I should have. The rest, you will have to figure out. Nikolai, lead your people to peace and be true to your rianu. We will meet again.”
She stepped through the door and it closed behind her. Naveenah closed her eyes and wondered how much was too much. How much could a person handle before they completely lost their mind? Maybe that was exactly what had happened. Perhaps she had never come back from that moment with…
“Sienta, this is all very real.”
He put his arm around her and attempted to lead her back to the bed, but she dug in her heels and refused to move.
“You can hear my thoughts now?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure she liked where this seemed likely to lead.
“From the day I met you, sienta.”
Everything that simple statement represented flashed in her mind. All the thoughts she’d had…She tried to get angry, but mostly she felt embarrassment. Nikolai caressed her cheek.
“Dear one, really, your thoughts are not so shocking.” He scorched her with a heated gaze. “And ‘fuck me harder, Nikolai,’ whether in your mind or said aloud, is a pleasure to hear.”
She gasped and pushed him away. Her cheeks burned so hot she thought they might burst into flame at any moment.
“Make that woman come back. I want to go home!”
Nikolai came close and wrapped her tenderly in his arms. “Mi sienta, honatra say vientro de havenue. I cannot lie to you any longer. I have the ability to take you home, but I would beg you to stay.”
His words hit her as if a million gallons of water had just been poured over her head. She pushed him back.
“You lied?”
“We have several spaceships that would take you home.”
He was stoic. There was something dark in his eyes she had never seen before. It sent a chill through her.
“You could be carrying my child.”
She closed her eyes. Was it true? If she were pregnant with the child of either one of them, could she really leave? Would they let her?
&nbs
p; “I would not stop you.”
“Stop doing that!” She threw her hands to her side, making fists in her frustration. “I don’t want you to read my thoughts.”
He stepped forward, and she allowed him to place his hands on her head. The heat that always transferred into her body when he did that made more sense now.
Then read mine. I love you. Don’t stay because of Taryn. Don’t stay because of the child. Stay because you love me in return.
His voice sounded within her mind, and tears began to form in her eyes. In a moment of complete clarity she saw for the first time the truth of all of it.
Destiny?
Maybe, but the bottom line was she’d fallen head over heels in love with both these men, and now she could be carrying their child, a child who would bring much-needed peace to the planet and the people they all loved. Nothing on Earth would ever be that important.
“I do love you, Nikolai.” She watched as he held his breath, clearly awaiting her answer to staying.
I’ll stay.
She smiled deep inside her soul, knowing it was the right decision. Nikolai’s response was swift. He swept her into a passionate embrace that singed her right down to her toes.
“I will never make you regret this, sienta.”
She touched his cheek, knowing he never would.
“You have made me happier than I knew it was possible to be. I love you, Naveenah, with all my heart and all my soul. With everything that I am, I will love you until the day I die.”
He kissed her again, softly, until she felt all the love he was vowing to her, and her knees went weak.
“I love you, Nikolai.”
He placed his hands on her head again, caressing her, but the look on his face had changed, and not that she could hear his thoughts at the moment, but she had a very good idea where they had gone.
Now only one hurdle remained for them to overcome—something they would have to cross together—before assuring a happy ending for all of them: Antares.
To Love a King [The Reformation 1] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Page 20