The Golden Heart: Alliance Book One (Alliance Series 1)

by Jessamyne Hunter

  Everyone nodded absently and went on with their tasks. Only Sartak stood there, thinking about his mate and what he might be doing at this moment.

  Kellan followed Tawila, who lead their little entourage to some hidden away garden in the royal wing. He held Cyra by her hand and the little girl smiled. Well, she wasn’t so little at all. She was two heads taller than a human three-year-old should be, but Kellan needed to remember that she wasn’t human but Phy’vohranian.

  Behind him followed Barkor and Gorotas, who looked at him in amazement. They seemed to be fascinated about something concerning Kellan’s backside, but he didn’t know what it was. Hopefully, they were yet still too young to think about looking at Kellan’s little butt which was visible under the dress-like robe.

  The silver fabric hugged his body tightly and was only loose down halfway from his thighs. He wore no trousers because that robe wasn’t worn with pants underneath it. Even though he knew that in human history men had worn dress-like clothing with no pants, he still felt weird walking around like this.

  All men’s eyes seemed to be on him when he walked past them and it left him feeling like an object. Of course, no one dared to approach him or talk to him more than the average Hello, your Highness and Have a nice day, your Highness.

  It was unnerving.

  They undressed him with their gazes but didn’t dare to talk normally to him.

  It had been like this- at least then he had noticed for the first time- the day Sartak had left.

  Kellan felt uneasy as he walked through the corridor. Kohtah had invited him to come to his room, but he had politely declined.

  The palace was full of people and Kellan needed to make his appearances. Mingling with the nobles was his primary task today, but he was in no mood to do so. He wanted to curl up in his bed and be left alone for the day, but there was no chance that would happen anytime soon.

  He was about to round the corner when some lordling stepped up to him. The man looked rather dull and unrecognizable for a Phy’vohranian, but his clothes clearly screamed out his status. Everything about him was a weird color of brown.

  He bowed in front of Kellan and introduced himself, although Kellan forgot his name the moment he had spoken it. Even that voice was dull.

  He didn’t know, but maybe he was just unfair. Kellan had no mind for this and he was already about to make his leave when he noticed that Lordling was looking at him funnily.

  After some more superficial talking, Kellan caught the man eyeing Kellan’s neck and lips. The gaze went down and as they walked through the garden- they had gone there at some point of their, not at all interesting, conversation, Kellan felt his backside burn. He just knew that Lordling was watching his backside. When that sleeping-pill seriously dared to touch Kellan’s lower back, pretending to lead him to somewhere, Kellan spun around and gave a curt nod to the lord and all but fled.

  Later that day, he hadn’t let anyone else come as close to him as he had let that lord. Just because his husband wasn’t there was no reason to get touchy with him.

  So after the first days of being gawked upon by men he didn’t know, he was happy about having the meals only with the royal family. He couldn’t bear to be around more of those guys who wanted to fuck him with their eyes or looked at him like they had never seen a person before in their life- all while he ate. The talking with them was just annoying though.

  Talking with Kohtah or Jarvan, on the other hand, was always nice and relaxing because then he felt normal and not like some exotic bird in a zoo.

  He had also gotten to know the king a little better. At first, their conversations had been painfully awkward, but then they’d found something to talk about, a common ground so to say- diplomacy and Kellan’s achievements as an ambassador.

  Kellan had only contracted peaceful treaties and that had impressed King Leylos.

  Only this morning, Kellan had been summoned to the king’s office where his father-in-law had asked him for advice on two noble houses having some feud with each other and what he could do about it.

  So Kellan had told him, it would be best to arrange for both of the head’s of the houses to be invited to the palace and then clear things up. If that didn’t work…well…Kellan had already drafted several agreements about the claim both families lay upon a strip of land.

  That small piece of land held extensive resources of Phy’vohranian crystals used for building the generator of shields and as a catalyst in some industrial processes. Both families had a rightful claim to the land due to some messed up inheritance because both families had once been tied together by marriage. Since no heirs had been left, the rest of the family was now fighting over the ownership.

  Kellan’s plan was that they’d either agree on splitting the profit and the payment of the wages for the miners into half or marry into each other’s families again because otherwise they’d lose their land to the crown since the king could claim the land when no heir had stepped forward, or agreement was made within a period of ten cycles.

  This had been going on for about fifteen cycles, but only with the war’s end, the whole situation had gotten heated up for real.

  King Leylos had had something similar in mind but hadn’t been too sure whether it was a good idea or not…and he hated the paperwork. So naturally, he had been quite pleased and thankful for Kellan’s assistance with this mess.

  “Found it!” Tawila’s voice snapped him out of the memories of earlier today.

  She jumped up and down, pointing at a stone bench in the garden they’d just entered.

  Compliant, he did as she asked and sat down on the white marble bench, taking Cyra on his lap. Tawila seated herself next to him while the boys crouched down on the lush grass.

  The bench was placed under a tree with golden leaves, shining in the sun like liquid metal. Dershra flew up into the crown and stayed there, chirping down to them.

  Kellan was glad everyone seemed to be happy; only that he was missing Sartak more and more, even though he hadn’t known him for a long time.

  He was gone for five days now, but they talked via video-chat every evening before Kellan went to bed.

  Well, Kellan was the one who told the most stuff since Sartak was only sitting in a glider flying through space and waiting to finally arrive at their destination.

  Whenever they talked, Sartak was sweet and attentive. He always asked whether Kellan had eaten enough, how he felt and if he was starting to feel at home. Then, his husband would only look at him and smile so warmly, that Kellan could feel it deep inside him. His growing fondness for this man was unsettling yet wonderful.

  Those feelings frightened him. He hadn’t come to care about a partner this much before as it had happened with Sartak in such a short time.

  He also started craving his husband’s touch, but he wouldn’t admit to that. He caught himself more and more often imagining Sartak would join him in the bathroom or roll over in bed and pull him close; he would also touch himself and imagine it was his prince who explored his soft skin. It was weird to want this after only such a short time, but the hormones were probably contributing their share to it.

  Only this morning Dr. Selarney had woken him up to check on him because he should have bled two to three days ago now. And yes, now he had the confirmation.

  Kellan was indeed pregnant.

  The news had shaken something deep inside him. He felt so happy, he could burst and his hand more than once in an hour moved down to his belly, trying to feel something.

  Life was growing inside of him and he already felt a connection. It reassured him, gave him the strength to give his best to make their marriage work. He wanted this. It surprised him how much he wanted this. So Sartak was in for a big announcement this evening and Kellan really couldn’t wait for it, but it was still early afternoon.

  Again, he moved his hand to lay it on his stomach.

  He imagined the little peanut sleeping in his womb- protected and kept warm. It made his heart grow
with love and joy.

  Kellan hadn’t even known how much he wanted to have children and the Phy’vohranians and especially Sartak had granted him this wish he had held inside him even without his own knowledge.

  It struck a chord in him, he thought would never sound. Not after his mother had left him; not after the betrayal and the things that had happened two years ago.

  He had thought he was in love and that it was the real thing. He had been so wrong. It was nothing compared to what he felt now. He loved this unborn child he had conceived in a terrible wedding night, dearly. He also knew he was slowly and irrevocably falling for his silent and serious, but loving and caring husband.

  “Now, tell us more about the knight and his dragon friend! Please!” Gorotas was the first to ask and all the other children nodded enthusiastically.

  Kellan smiled. He had made up those stories about the dragon Drake and his friend the brave knight Ser Alexius.

  The kids had asked him to tell them heroic sagas and fairytales, but most of them had some kind of evil dragon in it. Since they somehow seemed related to wyverns and thus to the Phy’vohranians he hadn’t found the stories appropriate for children or at all to be told in this place. So he had made up a whole saga about a knight and a dragon and the kids loved them. Kellan knew some super old movies where dragons and such were friendly and wise, but he had barely seen one of them since those DVD’s weren’t so compatible with their new technologies. Thus he had to improvise.

  He had been telling the kids stories about the adventures of Ser Alexius and Drake every day now and it was getting more and more fun. Especially because the children’s eyes would lighten up in excitement and thrill.

  “Have I already told you the story when Drake and Ser Alexius met an evil old witch in the cursed woods?” he asked them teasingly and laughed when they answered by falling into some fidgetiness.

  It was already dark outside when he sat down on the big bed and placed his communication-tab on his lap. He opened the program and typed in a short message to Sartak, who immediately answered.

  Shortly after that, he got a call from his husband. Kellan accepted it and leaned back against the plush pillows. A window on his tab popped open and revealed his husband’s face. He looked tired and stressed out, but his smile was genuine.

  “Good evening, dear husband,” Kellan said while pressing one hand against his stomach.

  This would be big news. He was curious and anxious about Sartak’s reaction at the same time.

  He knew that Sartak had wanted this child in the first place because he needed heirs but a quiet irrational voice in Kellan’s mind kept telling him that his husband might change his mind because Kellan had too many flaws or because he didn’t want Kellan to be his consort anymore. Though, when his husband returned the greeting, his worries were blown away.

  “Good evening my wonderful kmeran. You seem to be glowing from the inside today. I suppose you’re well and happy then?” Sartak was also lying in bed, but it seemed much smaller and less comfortable than the one in their shared bedroom.

  “Yes, very happy in fact. I have some news for you. But first: How was your day? Anything new?” Kellan wanted to keep his husband in suspense for a little while.

  He heard Sartak sigh on the other end of their connection. He moved around and the picture blurred, but then went to High Definition again.

  “We reached the orbit this morning. Everything is crowded with spaceships. It’s horrible. We met with the High Lords and the Police Commander. They say gliders landed on that little planet nearby where our Phy’vohranian ship has crashed. We suspect that those landing gliders belong to outlaws and now we’re hoping our people are still alive and in hiding. It’s the mess we had expected, but it’s tiring and sucks ass. All this talking-shit and waiting. It’s fucking annoying!” Sartak using so many rude words in front of him was unusual, so Kellan knew exactly how bad Sartak felt.

  He felt pity for his husband and wanted to comfort him, so there was only one thing to get Sartak’s mind on something else.

  “I’m sorry your day wasn’t that nice. About the news…I helped your father with the two-houses-one-land-strip problem and I had another story time with the children. They love hearing about Drake and Ser Alexius. It’s quite fun to make up some stories actually,” Kellan recounted and managed to make Sartak chuckle.

  “I’m glad you’re having no trouble with the kids. They can be true pests sometimes,” he said warmly with a grin on his lips.

  “Yes…I believe you. They can be very exhausting,” he grimaced while thinking about two days ago when the girls hadn’t been able to sleep in the guest room because it was too far away from Kellan.

  In the middle of the night, Kellan had bothered some guards to bring the beds into his empty second sitting room. Now the girls were sleeping there, and while Tawila slept like a stone, Cyra was the one to struggle with falling asleep.

  Kellan could understand her. She was still little, and she had always been one room away from her kmera and her sister, at the most. She had never been at a sleepover while Tawila often visited her friends and slept there. So she was the big child.

  Kellan just wanted to make his big announcement when he heard the quiet knock on the door. Only a moment later the door opened a creak and a head full of wild brown curls stuck in. Cyra’s eyes were red and swollen and it seemed like she was crying. Immediately Kellan was up on his feet, not caring about his half naked appearance.

  Sartak said something in the background, but he didn’t listen. His full attention was on the little girl who seemed to be upset and sad.

  “Is it true?” she asked sniveling.

  “Oh, darling! Come here, tell me what stirred you up like that,” he said while offering her to come into his bed.

  Still crying, she hopped onto the mattress and snuggled under the blankets. She hugged Kellan tightly who returned to bed as well.

  “I can’t sleep. I heard people say you are a Harrison, but they’re liars. You’re not a Harrison, are you?” her eyes glimmered with hope as she asked him.

  He felt his heart skipping a beat. Oh…this wasn’t good. He was ashamed that his family’s name could upset a little girl this much. It made him feel bad for being born into the Harrison family.

  “Tell me about those Harrisons?” he asked instead of revealing that he was indeed one of those the little girl regarded as some kind of evil people because otherwise, she wouldn’t be so upset about it.

  Cyra snuffled and then nodded slightly.

  “They want to destroy us. They want to take our parents and make them disappear, so the children are alone here. And then they’ll come and eat us, they’re going to feed the children to their dogs. Those are scary, furry and barking beasts that love Phy’vohranian children as their meal and the Harrisons have a lot of them. So they’re bad and they want to hurt us. You didn’t hurt me or feed me to dogs or eat me, so you can’t be one of them. The people are telling lies and I don’t like that. Because I love you. You’re my Uncle Kellan now,” her whole body shook in fear and from her sobs.

  Kellan pulled her closer and gently stroked her head. God, what horror stories were they telling their children about his family on this planet? That was horrible! No wonder little Cyra was afraid and horrified.

  He knew there were horrible stories about is family’s deeds that circulated through space. Of course, Phy’vohran would probably tell the worst stories since Earth and they had been at war for 103 years now. It was also no surprise that those stories were told to children to scare them. Still, he was angry- not at the Phy’vohranians but at his family that had messed up so badly. It wasn’t without reason that others disliked or even despised them. Kellan just hoped that from now on there would be no need to use his family’s name in such a way ever again.

  “Oh, lovely. I love you too, Cyra. But those stories aren’t true. Not every Harrison is a bad person. Because I am a Harrison. I’m the president’s son. And I know for sure we do
n’t eat children, nor do we feed them to our dogs. We don’t even have dogs,” he said with a gentle and soothing voice.

  Cyra lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were big and still wet, but she seemed to think about it.

  “Really? You’re not going to eat me, and you don’t have dogs?” she regarded him warily.

  “Nope,” he answered.

  “So the other people were liars? Why do they lie about you? That’s not nice! I was afraid you would eat me!” she then exclaimed, looking quite furious.

  Kellan suppressed a laugh and rumpled her curls.

  “I don’t know. Maybe they just want to make you afraid. Some people like to do such things, I have heard,” he said calmly.

  He knew exactly why people would make up such stories, but he wouldn’t tell that to a child.

  “Can I sleep here? Can you sing me a song?” Cyra snuggled closer to him, yawning and already shutting her eyes.

  Her lids fluttered as if she wanted to stay awake, but Kellan supposed that the shock and the crying had worn her out.

  He didn’t mind her sleeping here tonight.

  She was a lovely girl and he really felt like her uncle. How could someone not fall in love with such a lovely child? She was so sweet and innocent. It broke his heart that she had been so upset earlier.

  “Of course, sweet,” he whispered into her hair, making her smile.

  Kellan only knew a few lullabies, and that was only the melody. So he tried to remember the lyrics of any lullaby. Only one came to his mind.

  It was a lullaby his mother had sung to him, and despite it being long since in the past he knew the lyrics by heart.

  “Rest my child, lay down your head.

  The stars will guard your sleep.

  Until you wake, they’ll watch over you.

  Don’t fear the dark, dark night.

  For your sleep will be calm and quiet.

  My dear, there’ll come a new day.

  Outside the war is raging on,

  But I’ll be by your side.