Battle Queen: Red Ruler Series (Book 1)

by Kahaula

  Raucous cheers reverberated from outside the Blood Palace and within. I laughed and waved causing another round of cheers. L’Ryx pressed up from behind me with his right arm circling my muscled stomach. I looked back at him over my shoulder and smiled, “Let’s make it official then, Imperial Consort,” I teased. I reached my left hand across my body and placed it against his gold cuff. I felt power surge up the gauntlet again and the same crest on Hs’tar’s signet ring and Merooth’s ear piercings appeared, emblazoned in black on the gold.

  “Welcome to the family,” Merooth clapped his hand on L’Ryx’s shoulder and smiled happily.

  “I’ll try to hate you less,” grumbled Hs’tar.

  “Same here,” laughed L’Ryx. I looked out at the crowd in the throne room. Many faces showed joy and hope. Others suspicion, doubt, and even fear. All reactions were valid to some extent.

  Our enemies should fear us.

  Our allies could respect us.

  And the Galactic Core of Worlds? Time would only tell where our relationship with them would go.

  “It seems we have 2 reasons to celebrate tonight, my people!” My voice echoed and was amplified. “Tonight we celebrate our Independence!” A loud roar rose up, “And we celebrate the joining of a new Imperial Consort to my family!” I threw up my hands and a rainbow of fireworks lit up the skies. The music blared loudly and the moans of pleasure picked up once more. Laughter filled the throne room and the much savvier central world ambassadors, two out of the five, waited at the base of the dais.

  “If we might have a moment of your time, Empress—” the grey skinned ambassador politely began.

  “Please, Ambassadors,” I laughed playfully. I felt giddy with the release of tension. Years had been spent on this plan and now we were in the great ‘and if we survive’ that had only been loosely mapped out. “Tonight is for celebration! Tomorrow we can talk business.”

  “If you are not too hung over,” teased Merooth as he put an arm around the grey skinned ambassador. His skin became slightly darker and I tucked away my smile knowing Merooth had made him blush.

  “Go easy on our guests, my love,” I teased right back. Merooth gasped dramatically as if scandalised.

  “Never!” He pulled away the ambassadors and Hs’tar moved to my front while L’Ryx stayed at my back.

  “We did it, my Stars,” Hs’tar pressed his forehead to mine. The jewels and metal made a humming sound that mirrored our affectionate touch. He pulled back and looked over my shoulder at L’Ryx, “I know why you did what you did and I thank you for it,” I could feel L’Ryx stiffen in shock. He didn’t yet know Hs’tar as I did; he was not all cutting edges. Looking at me with amusement, Hs’tar smirked playfully, “I especially loved your ‘Red Empress’ title.”

  “That was a nice touch,” I laughed and shook my head.

  “This is only the start, L’Ryx. Do whatever you have to do to stay here with us. You’ll be safer and Welo will be less likely to burn the galaxy down if anything happens to you.”

  “Thank you, Hs’tar,” they clasped forearms briefly before Hs’tar kissed me softly.

  “Enjoy the night with your Star Kissed, L’Ryx,” Hs’tar smirked, “You’ll be sharing Welo every night after.” L’Ryx held me tighter and a low growl vibrated his chest against my back. I chuckled softly at Hs’tar’s needling.

  “If I have you all to myself tonight then I’d rather not waste a second of it,” his breath puffed against the soft shell of my ear and I shivered.

  “Well then you’ll need to be patient, lover boy,” I scolded. L’Ryx laughed and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

  “There is only one love that the mighty Red Empress holds above all others,” he purred into my ear.

  “And who is that?” I scoffed.

  “Your People.” I turned in his arms and looked at L’Ryx’s face.

  “You understand then.” I looked at him in gratitude. He had already given himself to me—body, mind, and soul. My love for him was growing, but it was like a seedling. His understanding and acceptance of my priorities dug his roots a little deeper into my heart.

  “I do.”

  “Then let’s go greet our people,” I kissed him long and deep. I could hear people gasp around us as the star patterns on his skin spiralled out again and my gauntlets shimmered with light. I could taste hope in the air and on our lips. Turning around we walked hand in hand through the crowd.

  Epilogue: Mel

  I watched Welo and L’Ryx walk together, hands clasped, and I felt happy for my friend. That and I felt exhausted. I had barely gotten any sleep in the last year. Welo had thought it would take us at least five years to accomplish our endgame and here we did it in a rough as fuck two.

  “It was pretty impressive how you pulled up those submission laws,” I laughed, “And I don’t even want to know where you were hiding that holoscreen.”

  “I swiped it off a drunk proxy,” R’Tok came up on my left and handed me a drink. Thank fuck, I needed one. “Rescued it really. Should have seen it. Poor holoscreen was flapping in time with the fat folds as the proxy fucked a bowl of Kantaran jelly.” I laughed hard, spitting out some of the alcohol I had just gulped down. This was the second time R’Tok had made me laugh. I could count on one hand how many people could do that and most of them were in a relationship together. I rolled my eyes at the direction of my thoughts.

  Maybe tonight would be different and I’d dream of the sexy blue alien again. Or maybe I’d go spend some time with Minotaur in The Pit. I sighed, no doubt the stress wasn’t going to let up just because we had declared independence. I scowled internally at all the shit I had to do tomorrow.

  “Wow,” R’Tok drawled out, “You’re looking a bit murder-y there, Commander Melinda. Do I need to move out of the splash zone?”

  “No,” I laughed again, “And you can call me Mel. Besides who’s to say there’d be a splash, not all of us are sword wielding badasses like Welo.”

  “Yes, give me a good network connection and I don’t need to be waving a sword around,” He nodded with a dramatically serious face, “Hard to swing a sword if I shut off your environmental controls.” I knew he was fishing for more information on what Ally had done to K’Tos’s ship but I wasn’t about to give it up for free. Welo may have a big thing for honesty, but I had a bigger thing for hoarding information. If I had designed my own crest it would just be a fat dragon sitting on a pile of data chips and network boards.

  “Sounds like a viable plan,” I teased.

  “You can call me R’Tok, by the way,” he winked. I looked down at his biteable lips and smiled again. Maybe this night would be interesting after all.

  Song List

  Scene in Book:

  Gudernes Vilje by Myrkur (Welo wakes in Merooth’s arms after her match with General L’Ryx)

  Take What You Want by Larkin Poe (Hs’tar confronts Welo about her needs)

  Set Me On Fire by Birdmask (Merooth and Hs’tar see to Welo’s needs)

  Nowhere by Black Match (Hs’tar lets Merooth confront him in his office)

  Pretty Waste by BONES UK (L’Ryx first walks into The Pit)

  Trouble by Robots Don’t Sleep (L’Ryx first hint song in The Pit)

  DO U LIKE ME NOW? By Dana Dentala (L’Ryx walks into BDSM Sex Dungeon chamber)

  Future Club by Perturbator (L’Ryx wandering from chamber to chamber in The Pit)

  A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard (L’Ryx’s final hint song in The Pit)

  King by Ryder (L’Ryx finally finds Welo)

  Ella by Myrkur (Welo’s contemplation over the new addition to the Blood Palace)

  Devil Like You by Gareth Dunlop (L’Ryx can’t find his holoscreen in the mess)

  Black Blood Red Kiss by GUNSHIP feat. Kat Von D (L’Ryx & K’Tos arrive to the Blood Palace for the welcome ball)

  As The World Falls Down by David Bowie (L’Ryx & K’Tos enter the throne room floor)

  Author’s Message

  Mahalo
for choosing to read my book!

  A lot going on in this one and I definitely recommend going back and re-reading sections with their scene music from the Song List. If you couldn’t already tell, my style of writing is very visual and reads like a TV Series. Writing a scene while listening to its song(s) seriously made a difference for me, so I can only imagine how it’ll enhance the experience for you as a reader. I hope anyways lol.

  This series is going to move from character to character but only as it best illuminates the overall story. What does that mean?! It means that Book 2 will be Mel’s, but Book 3 will see us return to Welo and her mates, then Book 4 will be a completely different character that you may be able to guess at *wink wink*

  There will also be a spin off series that will be lighter and more of a romantic comedy style. I may even have 2 other spin offs in the future for this world in addition to the rom-com. Who knows! I’ve got A LOT of books coming out in 2021, holy canoli pants! That’s why it’s important to head over to my Facebook Group to catch a bit of my crazy and see what else I’ve got cooking up.

  For more insider info, join my Facebook Group:

  Kahaula Dreams Reader Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/355612275565596/

  About the Author:

  Kahaula is the Hawaiian Goddess of sexual dreams. Different people view Her and Her presence in different ways. I chose to use Kahaula as a pen name out of respect, and as a devotional to Her. I hope that my readers may also be inspired by Her.

  I am a Hawaiian woman with a voracious appetite for reading and found it challenging to find stories with which I could connect. Instead of complaining, I opted to start writing my own stories. Most of my stories are romance novels simply because I believe real adult connections should happen organically, just like they do in real life, instead of silly euphemisms or fade to black nonsense. I believe my stories are made better by being honest and open about what my characters want or don’t want. I also firmly believe that story comes first, pun intended. I write in many genres: urban fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, alt-history, post-Apocalyptic, combinations of those and more. Maybe there will be a book or series that will appeal to you!

  If you enjoy my books, please leave a review! Make sure to always check the Author’s Message section at the end of my books to get the inside scoops on this book, any news, and forthcoming books.

  You can also join my Facebook Group:

  Kahaula Dreams Reader Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/355612275565596/

  Books by Kahaula

  Return Services Case Files

  (Hawaiian Paranormal, Shifter, Alt-History, Romance)

  Green Eyed Wolf (Book 1)

  Blood Ties (Book 2) Available May 2021

  As Yet Untitled Book (Book 3) Available October 2021

  Mad Annie Series (Spinoff from Return Services Case Files)

  Drenched in Darkness (Book1) Available March 2021

  Red Ruler Series

  (Multiple Female Leads, Sci-Fi, Aliens, Romance)

  Battle Queen (Book 1)

  Blue Dream Lover (Book 2) Available July 2021

  Mea Lupus Series

  (Multiple Female Leads, Sci-Fi, Shifter, Romance)

  Smuggler’s Contubernium (Book 1) Available April 2021

  Smuggler’s Run (Book 2) Available September 2021