“I've brought your breakfast, Your Majesty.”
I turned at the sound of the voice to find Ynora standing in the doorway, bearing a tray full of food. I gave her a small smile. She stepped across the balcony and set the tray down on the table next to my favorite chair. Everything smelled magnificent and for the first time in days – perhaps even weeks – I was ravenous.
“Thank you, Ynora,” I said as I sat down in the chair.
“My pleasure, Your Maje – ”
I held up a hand. “Please, it's Jendrish. Just Jendrish,” I said. “There is no need for all of this Majesty stuff.”
She avoided my gaze. “It would be improper, I fear, given my station.”
I looked up at her. “Your station?”
“Yes, Majesty,” she said. “I am but a servant in the palace.”
I shook my head. “You are a valued member of this household, Ynora,” I said. “And I am sorry if I've ever made you feel otherwise. I truly appreciate all you do for me around here. And I'm also sorry if I don't express that very well either.”
Her smile was small, but genuine. “You are not like the other Royals I've served here in the palace.”
“Because I'm not Royalty,” I said, my voice still somewhat thick. “I'm just a soldier who got stuck into a position unexpectedly. I'm just trying to do a good job on behalf of all the people.”
“And I believe you will do just that.”
I cocked my head and looked at her. “Do you?” I asked. “Truly believe that.”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Why do you believe that?”
For the first time, she looked at me, her eyes haunting and yet – filled with hope. It was a look I savored. It heartened me greatly to know that other people believed in me. Even when I did not believe in myself.
“Thank you, Ynora.”
She smiled. “You two were a lot alike, you know,” she said. “You and Riley.”
“How so?”
“She was much like you,” she replied. “She did not care for formalities or a person's station. She judged a person by the content of their character. Not by what they did or what they had.”
I nodded and smiled. “That sounds like her.”
“And she too, hated to be called by a formal title,” Ynora said. “She insisted that I call her Riley.”
My laugh was soft and nostalgic. It had been only a couple of days, but I missed her tremendously. Ynora gave me a small curtsey and turned to leave, but I stopped her.
“You two were close,” I said, not a question.
She nodded. “We were,” she replied. “I miss her a great deal.”
“Was she happy here?”
Ynora opened her mouth to speak, but then hesitated and remained silent for a moment.
“Was she, Ynora? I would really like to know.”
“May I speak freely, Your Maj – ”
I cocked my head at her and she gave me a small smile.
“Jendrish,” she corrected herself. “May I speak freely, Jendrish?”
“You’re very free to speak your mind, Ynora,” I said. “In fact, I would prefer it if you did.”
She shifted her feet and looked down at her hands, which were clasped in front of her. She was clearly, still uncomfortable with the idea of being so – familiar – with a king and speaking her mind. That was something she was going to have to get used to though. I wasn't a typical king. And if I ever turned into one, I would hope that Vink put me down himself.
“She struggled here,” she admitted. “She felt alone much of the time. Lonely.”
I nodded. “She mentioned it, but it didn't seem like a large problem. She said she would handle it.”
Ynora was wringing her hands nervously. “With all due respect, what would you expect her to say in that situation? That she was not okay?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again. I did not know how to respond to that question. My hope was that she would have felt comfortable enough with me to give voice to her concerns.
“Riley feared that you had enough on your plate without adding her own troubles to your pile,” Ynora said. “She told me that she would find a way to deal with it. But she wished that you had spent more time with her. She knew that you are a busy man, what with a world to run, but all she wanted was to spend time with you.”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I wish I had spent more time with her, to be honest.”
“Then why did you not?” she pressed. “You are the king. Surely, you could have delegated some of your responsibilities to others.”
“Because I don't want to be the kind of king who pushes his work and responsibilities off onto others.”
She laughed. “I tend to believe that the kitchens will run just fine without your guidance. Or that the janitorial crew can function without your insights.”
I gave her a small smile and looked away, feeling the heat creep into my cheeks once more.
“I suppose I can be a bit – overbearing – at times?”
Ynora nodded. “Indeed.”
“I am just trying to feel my way through this, Ynora,” I said. “I do not really know what I am doing.”
“Then don't try to do everything,” she said. “Trust those around you to do the jobs you can't. Give them more responsibilities. Empower them to have a say. If you truly want Optorio to flourish, let the people you surround yourself with help you.”
She was not much older than I was, but she had a wisdom that was well beyond her years. I had not spent much time talking to Ynora, and now I was sorry that I had not. She was very intelligent, very well spoken, and had a fiery spirit. I could see why she and Riley had bonded the way they had.
“Perhaps, I need to start doing that,” I said.
“One thing I can tell you with certainty, is that she loves you,” Ynora said. “Very truly and very deeply. The love she carries for you is something I hope to find one day for myself. And she was looking forward to the future with you.”
The stabbing pain of guilt cut through me. I knew she cared for me as I cared for her. Sending her away had been one of the most difficult things I'd ever done. But it had to be done.
“I was faced with a difficult choice,” I said. “I made what I believed was the best decision.”
She stood silent for a moment and I could tell that there was something on her mind. Something she wanted to say or a question she wanted an answer to.
“What is it?” I asked. “What is on your mind?”
“I – I would just like to know why you sent Riley away,” she asked. “It's obvious to me that you cared for her every bit as much as she cared about you. I just don't understand why you sent her away.”
I debated with myself about how honest to be with her. After all, it was my personal business. It was a decision I had to make and that fell upon my shoulders – nobody else's. Still, Riley and Ynora were close and there was a small voice whispering in the back of my mind that argued she deserved the respect of some answers – which gave me the answer I needed.
“It's not because I did not love her,” I said. “I did. I still do. It's because I love her that I sent her away.”
“Forgive me for being thick, but that doesn't make sense to me.”
“I just watched my oldest and dearest friend nearly die,” I said. “I was wounded myself. I watched several other people murdered right before my very eyes. And that was at my own coronation. If I couldn't keep order, keep people safe there, how could I expect that I could keep them safe elsewhere? I sent Riley away because I don't want anything to happen to her. I don't want her being hurt or killed on my account. If somebody is going to attempt to take my life again – and I have every suspicion that they will – I don't want Riley in the way of that.”
Ynora nodded, but I could tell she wasn't satisfied. “But shouldn't she have had some say in that? I don't mean to speak out of turn, but it seems to me
that if you two love each other, have thrown your lots in together, then she should have had some say in the decision. If she felt like risking her life by being with you was worth it, shouldn't that have been her right? I imagine that you would expect the same consideration, right?”
I leaned back and ran my hand through my hair. I hadn't considered things in quite that light before. It was an angle I hadn't seen. Ultimately, she was probably right. And in an ideal world, I would have asked Riley how she felt about things. But we weren't living in an ideal world. We were living in a world where people were trying to kill me. And until that threat was over, the decisions about how to best handle it fell to me. That was my duty. My responsibility.
“Vink almost died on my account,” I said, my voice soft. “I could not bear it if Riley had been hurt or killed because of me.”
Ynora opened her mouth to argue, but I raised my hand to stop her from speaking.
“I understand your argument. And I don't disagree with it. You've given me a lot to think about as I hadn't considered that viewpoint before,” I said. “But like I said earlier, I am still just figuring this out as I go along. And that seemed to be the best – and only – way I could ensure that Riley remained safe.”
Ynora looked at me a long moment before nodding. I knew she didn't like my answer, but it was all I had to offer her at the moment. She excused herself and left my chambers. I looked down at the tray and suddenly didn't feel very hungry anymore.
Standing up, I walked to the railing and looked out at the ocean. Perhaps, when this was all settled and we had a true peace on Optorio, I would travel to Earth and find Riley. Explain myself to her – and hope that she was willing to take me back. Maybe one day, we could be together again.
But until that day, I made the best decisions I could. And I deemed it best to keep her safe by removing her from the equation. It pained me terribly, but I cared for her too much to watch her die. It was the best decision I could have made. And I intended to keep telling myself that until I believed it.
Chapter Two
Veshna
I was a cautious man. I considered things carefully and thoroughly and rarely left anything to chance. I had known going into our assassination attempt that there was a possibility – if not a probability – of failure. But, it was a chance I'd had to take. It would have been ideal for us to be done with Jendrish with one, clean shot.
But life, very seldom, was ideal.
Which was why I'd had a backup plan in mind. If I couldn't kill Jendrish and be done with it at the coronation, I knew I would need a secondary plan. If he survived the assassination attempt, getting close to him again was going to be all but impossible. He would be on guard for it. Even worse, the Royal Guard would be watching for another attack. Waiting for it.
Which meant that I would have to find another avenue of attack. One that would hurt him every bit as much as I wanted him to be hurt – except that it wouldn't require a drop of his blood to be spilled.
I looked back at the human woman I had bound in the back of the transport ship. Riley, they said her name was. Jendrish's human whore. I supposed that physically, she was an attractive woman. I had seen a number of human women that my father had imported and had always been surprised by their physical similarities to Optorions. They were similar and yet different in the many ways that mattered.
Still, it wasn't entirely difficult to see why an attractive human woman like this one might tempt men like my father, Jendrish, and even Bazarok, to indulge themselves in what I considered to be a rather – peculiar taste. Though, for me, I would never find alien women attractive enough to forgo the sheer beauty and grace of an Optorion woman. I believed in keeping ourselves – and our bloodlines – pure. Clean. Optorion.
I had heard plenty of rumors that scientists, working under the orders of Jendrish himself, had been developing a way that he and this human could produce a child. A child of mixed blood. Impure blood. An heir to Jendrish's throne.
It was an idea that had made my blood boil. It disgusted me thoroughly and completely. The idea that a child not of pure Optorion blood – a mutant – could one day sit upon the throne of our world, had enraged me. I had vowed that I would never allow that to happen – or I would die trying to prevent it. Optorio should be ruled by Optorions only. Our bloodlines should be pure. Clean. Untainted.
As I looked at the woman in the back of the transport, I felt nothing but disgust and contempt for her. She glared at me with hatred in her eyes. But lurking just beneath the surface of that rage, I could see something else – fear. The woman was putting on a brave face, but deep down she was terrified. I could see it. I could smell it. And it was intoxicating.
It was going to give me great pleasure to kill her. Though, it was going to give me even greater pleasure to force Jendrish to watch me kill her – right before I killed him.
With our assassination attempt a failure, I would never get another shot at him. But given that I had his whore, I could force him to come to me – on my terms, in my place of choosing. At which point, I would kill him and enact my own plans.
It wasn't perfect and it wasn't ideal. But again, life was seldom ideal and you had to take what you were handed and make something of it.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
I gave her a small smile. “I am the man who is going to force Jendrish to watch me kill you right before I kill him.”
“Why are you doing this?”
I turned and looked at the pilot. “Why are we doing this, Pykor?”
“We are doing this to make Optorio great again,” he said. “For Optorions.”
His expression was grim. Earnest. He was a true believer in our cause. I appreciated men like him. And honestly, wish I had more like him. Many more. Too many people were willing to embrace change. Diversity. Too many people had been poisoned with the idea that accepting aliens within our society was a good thing.
But I was a student of history – not just on Optorio, but the history of many other planets in our system. I had seen all too well what embracing change and diversity did to a society. I had seen the effect aliens had on a society and their culture. Violence. Death. A complete whitewashing of the native culture in the name of acceptance and tolerance.
I would not let that happen to Optorio. Not so long as I drew breath.
I turned and looked at the woman. “Did you really think I would allow you to taint my world? That I would allow you to sully the Optorion throne?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea who you are or what you want,” she said. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
I shrugged. “It matters not,” I said. “All you really need to know is that you are providing me with a very powerful chip to use against Jendrish. That, and you are going to die. As will he.”
She struggled against her bonds, but the sonic shackles held her fast. She wasn't going anywhere. Unlike Optorion women, this one was feisty. Fierce. I had no doubts that if she'd been able to, she would have attacked me. Optorion women were above that. They had an elegance and charm no human woman could ever hope to achieve.
“We'll be touching down in a moment, sir,” Pykor said.
I nodded. Good. Now that I had her, I was anxious to figure out what to do with her. The opportunity to snatch her had come suddenly and without warning. I knew that having her in my possession would prove incredibly beneficial and important, but I hadn't yet developed a thorough plan about how best to use her.
But I would figure it out. I was good at seeing the bigger picture, figuring things out and putting together devastating strategies. That was my gift. It always had been.
“Jendrish is going to find me,” she said. “And he's going to kill you.”
I shrugged. “Perhaps,” I replied. “I cannot see the future and do not know how it will all play out. But one thing I do know is that he will never intentionally put you in harm's way, Riley. He will hesitate if your life is in
danger – like say, if I am holding a blade to your throat. I will not hesitate, Riley. When he does, when he gives me an opening, I will seize the opportunity and kill him. I promise you that.”
Chapter Three
“Why did you not tell me?” Kalmor asked.
We were walking down the corridor toward one of the underground rooms my father had built in secret. He'd used them to indulge his strange – and disturbingly twisted – fantasies and desires and keep them from the family. He never counted on my persistence or ingenuity when it came to gathering information.
The more I learned about my father though – about who he really was – the more disgusted I became. That he could not only condone – but actively participate – in mating with aliens was something I could not understand. Something I did not want to understand. It was filthy. Disgusting. And not the way of a true Optorion man.
But for now, the underground rooms served a purpose. They were actually quite helpful. I'd had Pykor take the human to one and lock her in. There she would stay until the rest of the details of my plan could be worked out.
Kalmor was angry. I had no doubt that he felt slighted by being left out of the planning. It was as if he felt entitled to know everything I was planning or doing. Eventually, I was going to have to disabuse him of the notion that he was privy to all of my plans. But that time was not now.
“This opportunity came up suddenly,” I said. “I had to act quickly.”
“What opportunity do you see in this?” he asked. “Our goal is to take the usurper off the throne once and for all.”
We entered the room I used for our strategy meetings. I'd had a table and chairs set up along with our computers, communication, and surveillance equipment. It was my war room. And I had no illusions – I felt that we were at war. We were fighting for our way of life. For the very soul of our world. There was no way I would let somebody like Jendrish come in and change everything that made Optorio exceptional.
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