by Aline Ash
“When will you be able to get me?” I ask. “As comfortable as they’re making it here, I’d much rather be with you.” For however much time we have left together.
“Not for a while, I’m sorry to say. I’ve returned to Rax with Fiari. There are still loyalists who need to be put down. With the Orean army behind him, Fiari will be able to mop them up quickly and establish his reign, but it will likely take a few taks before I’ll be able to come back to Orean.
“I’m going to send someone to retrieve you and take you home – as long as the healers say it’s safe to move you.”
“Yes, yes T’maku said it’s fine and that the baby and I are good to go.”
“Good,” he continues. “Then I’ll be sending Captain L’efyen. He piloted my ship to Rax and back. Earned himself a promotion while he was at it. I trust him to take you safely back to the palace.”
“If you trust him, then so do I.”
“I’m sorry I can’t come get you myself, B’ecky,” he says sullenly. “Your arms are the only place I want to be.”
Me too. Especially since it’s all so fleetingly temporary now. I don’t tell him my decision, though. No sense in having that conversation right this minute. He needs to be focused to help Fiari for now. And besides, that’s more of an in-person kind of a talk.
“I’ll see you soon enough, my love. Stay safe and hurry home.” Home...
“I love you, B’ecky.”
“I love you, too.” Tears roll down my cheeks as the line goes silent. This is going to be so much harder than I’d hoped it would be.
∆∆∆
Three days later, S’oraj’s ship finally makes it back from Rax. I’ve had plenty of time to catch up with the girls and see Lisa’s baby, and even tell them all about my littler surprise. Somehow, I’ve managed to keep my plans to return home a secret, even from Lisa and Jenny.
Someone comes to retrieve me and sends me to the throne room where S’oraj, X’oran, V’orin, Lisa, and Jenny are all gathered. Before them, manacled and under heavy guard, are G’rava, K’orx, and that bitch K’tara.
“B’ecky,” S’oraj says formally, standing and greeting me with a stoic kiss. He apologizes with his eyes; a little acknowledgement that there are still duties to which we must attend before we can have a moment of privacy together. I nod almost imperceptibly, but enough that he sees it. He leads me back to sit beside him in a new, only slightly smaller throne next to his. God, you’re really going to make this as hard as possible, aren’t you?
“Now,” he pronounces, “where were we? K’orx. G’rava. K’tara. The three of you, your families, and all your known co-conspirators are hereby exiled to the moon Mon Alto where you will live out your days under constant surveillance. You will fend for yourselves off the land. And if the moon’s elements kill you in the process, so much the better.
“For your treason against me, against Orajal, and against the galaxy, you are hereby sentenced to this exile until the last of your family lines are expunged. Now take them away and rid this planet of their filthy treason.”
Like a rabid, cornered ferret, K’tara throws herself prostrate onto the ground, begging S’oraj to reconsider. “Please!” she begs. “Please! My father forced me to follow him! I never had any ill intent toward you, toward Orean, toward Shan B’ecky—”
“You keep her name out of your poisonous mouth, traitor,” S’oraj thunders.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize, Your Majesty. But please! Please, I beg you! Do not sentence me to the same fate as my treasonous father. Please, have mercy! Have mercy!”
“Your Majesty,” Lisa says coolly, stepping forward from her place beside V’orin, carrying her infant child in her arms. “Is this K’orx’s daughter? The one you appointed as B’ecky’s serving woman?”
“Indeed, she is. Why?”
“Your Majesty, this is the same bitch who tried to kill me in the forest when she promised to help me escape V’orin’s estate all those months ago. If V’orin hadn’t found me and rescued me when he did, I’d have been eaten alive.”
“No!” K’tara cries. “No, that’s not how it happened!”
“So, you admit that you were the traitor who snuck her out and attempted to kill her?” V’orin steps forward with a look on his face that says he’s ready to strangle her on the spot. It is unlikely that anyone there would blame or stop him.
“No, that’s not it! I was almost killed that night myself! See?” She points to the horrific scar on her neck. “I was attacked! I never intended for Shan L’isa to be hurt! I was only trying to get her to a shuttle, that’s all! I swear, that’s all!”
“A shuttle that would have taken me back to Rax and into slavery?” Lisa snarls. All eyes in the room swing back to K’tara, who stammers and sputters but to no avail.
“I’ve heard enough,” S’oraj snaps. “Get them out of my sight. And be sure that they have nothing with them when they’re dropped on Mon Alto. Not one weapon. Not one supply. Nothing but rags on their backs. Let the moon decide their fate. I wash my hands of them.”
Ranting and hollering, the three of them are hauled away until the doors slam shut upon their exit and the room falls peacefully silent. S’oraj turns to his commanders with exhaustion coating his expression. “Is there anything more, Commanders?”
“No, Your Majesty. That was the last of them.”
“Oh, thank Oraj... I don’t think I could have handled one more surprise today. In that case, that will be all, my friends. Take some rest. Tomorrow, we have a whole new universe of possibilities.”
The commanders and my friends bow and take their leave and at last, after so many days and so damn much happening, the two of us are alone. He turns his weary eyes toward me and sighs. Ah dammit... Now what am I supposed to do?
Chapter 26
S’oraj
Before another moment passes, before another interruption or problem can arise, I take her by the hand and lead her down the secret, secure passageways from the throne room to my own bedchamber. As soon as we’re hidden away in my rooms, I turn to her and kiss her as though my life depends on it. I can feel her initial hesitance at the urgency she can feel from me melt almost instantly as her body relaxes and then presses against mine, sending a swelling surge from my heart to my trousers.
“I love you, B’ecky,” I whisper in her ear. “I love you... my queen.”
She looks me deep in the eyes and something seems to transform inside of her gaze in a way that I cannot find the words to describe. She kisses me again and immediately begins fumbling with the drawstrings of my trousers. I waste no time in helping her and only moments later we are undressed beside my bed – our bed – and her hand is on me.
I kiss down her neck as she strokes me, getting my phrung harder and harder with every movement of her fingers. She moans as my lips make their way toward her collarbone. I let my teeth graze the skin that covers it and she lets out a little whimper of pleasure that I’ll savor till the end of my days.
Firmly, I spin her around by her hips and she crawls across the bed, leaning forward and tilting her hips toward me in the most deliciously inviting way I could imagine. I reach my hand around and plunge my fingers between her thighs. She’s as wet as I’ve ever felt her after only these few moments, and I have no desire to delay any longer.
I position myself and slide into her, slowly at first, gently penetrating her with my full length, but rapidly increasing the tempo. She reaches back and digs her fingernails into my forearm above where my hands are gripping her hips, pulling her onto me as hard as I can as I thrust into her, boggling my mind with pleasure.
I don’t know if either one of us has breathed the entire time, but it doesn’t take long at all before I can feel the muscles inside her clenching and tightening in rhythm with mine. I reach my hand around again and find her shuka with my fingers. I massage that tiny pleasure center as I pound into her and she has to bite down on the blankets to keep from screaming and drawing the guards into my ro
oms.
Her nails dig into my skin even harder as every muscle in my body grips and in an instant, erupts in time with her; our joint climax leaving us both panting and heaving for air as we collapse forward onto the bed in a pile of sweat and sensation.
We lie there trying to catch our breaths for some time, my phrung still deep inside her, pulsating and quivering its way back down from the intense excitement. At long last, she sighs and shifts her weight a bit as I slide myself out of her and climb fully onto the bed. I lie back onto the pillows and she curls up into the crook of my arm, resting her head on my chest. Her breath against my skin is like a salve for a wound I didn’t know I had sustained.
I stroke her hair in silence for a while before suggesting that we take some time in the royal bath. She agrees that it sounds like just the thing we both need.
As we slip into the water, we have no need for words. We each take up one of the natural sponges and wipe away the sweat and stress and confusion of the last several taks. As she strokes her sponge over my shoulders and down my back, I can feel the tension of the battle and the ensuing political upheaval on Rax and here at home melt away into the hot water of the pool, and as I return the affectionate caresses, I can see the tautness in her body thaw into a sense of calm.
I glide through the water, coming to stand in front of her as I move the sponge across her upper chest, and then down over her perfect malus. At my touch, her nipples harden, and a little gasp escapes her lips. We exchange a wry and mutual look before I let the sponge float away on the surface of the pool and let my thumbs tease those pert, pink pleasure points.
Her eyes roll back in her head at my touch and I feel her hand slip forward beneath the surface of the water, taking my phrung in her hand once more, though this time more slowly and tenderly.
There’s no desperation this time; now, it feels as though we have all the time in the universe. My phrung hardens in her hand and I give in to my desire to slip my fingers down lower and inside her. I pull her close with my tail and curl my fingers deeper, finding a spot high against the walls of her most delectable place that, at my touch, causes her to squirm and squeal with delight.
Hoisting her up and giving her space to wrap her legs around my hips, I carry her over toward one of the built-in benches against the wall the pool. As I sit back, she reaches down between her legs and sinks herself down onto me, letting her calves fold underneath her thighs, straddling mine.
I gasp involuntarily, and she smiles at her ability to surprise me with such sensations. She works her hips forward and back methodically, slowly working me inside her as I let my hands explore every inch of her body that I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to touch again.
“You know,” she purrs as she swivels her hips spectacularly, “the next time we do this, I’m thinking it should be in front of an audience.”
I feel my eyes go wide, and she giggles at my surprise. “Do you mean...? Are you sure?”
She nods and smiles. “I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
“But... The Witnessing Ceremony... That means you want... to stay?”
She smiles again and blushes. Even with me inside her, she clearly doesn’t want to wait another second before revealing what’s on her mind. “Until today, I was positive I was going to go back to Earth, back to my family. But seeing you... Being back here with you... I know now. My family is right here. This is where I want – and need – to be.”
“But your mother and sister—?”
“Will be fine,” she says gently, stroking my cheek. “I can have the girls look in on them when they go back, but on Earth, there are two people for me to take care of... Here? There are millions. I’m sure. I’m staying.”
I don’t even try to hide my elation. I pick her up and twirl us around in the pool, savoring the peal of her laughter as it echoes off the dark, stony walls. As we settle back down on the bench and she proceeds to work her hips on mine, our pleasure builds until we simply can’t take any more and we collapse once again in a heap of satiation.
“I love you, my queen,” I whisper into her ear.
“I love you, my king,” she whispers back, kissing me softly on the cheek.
She’s staying. Thank Oraj... She’s staying.
Chapter 27
S’oraj
“It’s up to you, B’ecky,” I say, gesturing toward the sacred covering.
“Nah,” she replies. “If we’re gonna do this, let’s go all the way.”
We climb onto the altar and as her hands begin to caress my body and I begin to kiss down her neck, I’m struck by the strange sensation of security I feel, even amidst – or perhaps due to – all the eyes surrounding and watching us.
Commanders V’orin and X’oran are present, of course, and with them, B’ecky’s friends and their S’ulin Karas, L’isa and J’enny. L’isa’s young one has continued to grow healthy and strong, and J’enny’s belly has gotten bigger by the day, it seems. Looking on are the priests of the Temple of Oraj and the healers, including T’maku, who insisted on a transfer so that she could continue to look after B’ecky personally. And also, the rest of B’ecky’s Palian companions. Their names are still foreign to me, but the one called Tess stands closest to Commander L’arten. Though his purpose was merely to house and look after the shanins while they were forced to remain here on Orean, and though no signs of a S’ulin Kara bond have revealed themselves, both B’ecky and I have noticed an ever-increasing closeness between the two.
Captain L’efyen stands beside Captain X’an, who also earned himself a promotion for his bravery and level-headedness during the battle and, subsequently, leading the logistical planning for the exile of the traitors G’rava, K’tara, and K’orx. His time stationed at the outpost near Mon Alto, though not over, will certainly now be more interesting since he will have those exiles to look after. It seemed only fitting that he be granted a wan-long leave to rest and enjoy himself for his valiant service.
Even Fiari – though only by way of hologram – is in attendance to witness the unification between B’ecky and myself. After all his aid and the decisive blow that he dealt, it would have been in very poor taste to not extend an invitation. I was only surprised that he’d accepted!
“You are, of course, welcome to attend in whatever capacity you are able, though I understand if this Orean custom is not one in which you wish to participate.”
“You must be joking,” he’d said. “It would be my honor to attend such a sacred ceremony. And I hope that my attendance will serve to further solidify the unity between our two worlds going forward.”
“It is my honor to host you, my friend.”
If someone had asked me even just one cycle ago if I thought Orean and Rax could make peace, I’d have laughed outright. Just goes to show, one never knows how the wind will blow.
As the ceremony proceeds, I lose track of those watching and every iota of my attention refocuses on the shanin to whom I will be forever bonded. She pulls me deeply into her until she decides that it’s her turn on top, flipping me over commandingly, eliciting a gasp from the attending priests.
“Bet they never thought they’d see that, eh?” she giggles in my ear.
The Witnessing concludes and all the formalities go forward as they must until most have departed save for my top commanders and Fiari’s hologram.
“Well, my friend,” I say, “what now?”
“Are you sure you wish to discuss political matters today?” Fiari asks. “It is, after all, a celebration. No need to sully it with business.”
“That’s alright,” B’ecky answers for the both of us. “We’ll proceed with what’s necessary. We have business of our own to attend to as well, so let’s get to it.”
“Very well,” Fiari concedes. “As you well know, King Kerx flagrantly disregarded many ordinances set in place by the Intergalactic Council, chief among them the purchase, sale, and trade of slaves. We have worked tirelessly over these last several turins to seek out
and find as many Palians as we could. The refugee numbers are now large enough that sending a carrier to take them home is possible. There’s room for a few more. I hoped to offer that space to the queen’s Palian companions, if such travel accommodations are amenable.”
“Oh my God,” B’ecky breathes. “Seriously?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
“Of course! I mean, S’oraj?”
I shrug and simply wave my hands. “It’s up to you, my love.”
“Then yes! Thank you, Your Majesty. How soon would you need everyone to be ready?”
“As soon as they’re able. I leave that to you.”
“Thank you! I... S’oraj, Fiari, please excuse me. I have to go tell the others.”
∆∆∆
I run into L’arten’s home almost entirely unannounced and start hollering for everyone to gather around immediately. Within seconds, all the girls are there, and most of the household staff who can’t help but bow repeatedly until I shoo them away.
I explain what Fiari just offered and it’s like New Years, Fourth of July, twenty birthdays, and Christmas all at once. There are a few minutes when everyone just jumps around screaming with joy until Tess reminds us, “We need to call Lisa and Jenny.”
I have a couple of cars go and pick them up, and they arrive only a short while later. Once I’ve filled them in, the seriousness of the moment settles upon us.
“So, this is it, then? This is goodbye?” Natalie asks. She’s endured more than almost any of us being away from her twins for so long, but that clearly doesn’t mean that she wants to part from so many of her friends forever.
“Not goodbye,” I say, trying to lift the mood a bit. “But it’s a damn big ‘see you later,’ that’s for sure.”
Everyone looks at me and I realize that this just isn’t the time for jokes. Tearfully, we each take some time with each other, those who will be leaving and those who will remain behind, and hug and cry and say our long farewells. I knew that it would be hard to face this moment, but nothing could have prepared me for just how hard it would be.