“Chitter! Chitter chitter.”
“Forgive me. Would you like to meet Thunderdrop’s lady love?”
“Clack?” Cass said.
I stood and aimed the screen at Thunderdrop and Sue. She was busy trying to pry open a fresh clam. Thunderdrop and Cass chirped and clacked back and forth.
“Where did you get that amazing creature?” Simon asked.
“Quaid found her on Nephele and gave her to Thunderdrop. Her name is Sue.”
“Eight tentacles and what resembles an abdomen. I can see the attraction.” Simon paused and studied my face. “I love you, sweet cousin.”
I felt my throat closing, my eyes swelling, and my nose tingling. “I love you, Simon. More than anything, I want your happiness.”
“Then, you will give me a hug when we dock on Chione.”
I nodded and ended the call before he could see me cry. Yukihyo’s warm strong hands descended on my shoulders even before the tension could take hold. “What will we do on Chione?”
His hands slowed. “I will take you to my family lands. There are few settlements on Chione. The land port and surrounding city have only been operational for the past few years. The Galaxic Government’s geologists discovered fuel deposits. My former home is nowhere near the land port.”
“You don’t think anyone else has moved onto your land?”
“No, the other clans would never allow that.”
“Why didn’t you join one of the other clans?”
“By the time Phillip had healed me, I had become someone you would not have recognized. Grief and anger seized me. I frightened the women. It angered me even more and made bond forming impossible, shut off as I was. Over the years, I had learned to accept my fate. Then, I sensed you, and you had closed your heart to survive as I had done. We were kindred.”
“I thought you had gone, changed your name, and had never looked back.”
“I had after realizing my life as I had known it had ended. Now, I have a wife, daughter, and clan brothers. I have been reunited with my mother and sisters. With you at my side, I am strong enough to face this.”
I tilted my head back to look up at Yukihyo. He placed an upside down kiss on my lips and stroked his fingers along my neck making me giggle. My vid-screen beeped from where it rested on my knees startling me. I tapped it. I was shocked to see white eyes with pink and blue capillaries staring back at me.
“Princess Teagan, please forgive my intrusion. I wish to make amends. My husband’s heart is filled with grief and sadness, and it pains me to know that my behavior has placed it there. I am ashamed to come between my husband and the sister of his heart. Might we cleanse the past we share and start anew?”
“We can try,” I said in a small voice.
Isidora closed her eyes and touched her chin to her chest. When she raised her chin, she opened her eyes.
Yukihyo said, “You must mean it in your heart that for Simon’s sake, you will start fresh with Isidora. Then, you must mimic her actions.”
Feeling the tingling warning in my nose that tears planned to fall, I frowned and furrowed my brow. I could forever lose my relationship with Simon over this woman, or try to get along with her for him. I loved Simon too much not to try my best. When I closed my eyes and touched my chin to my chest, my tears squeezed out forcing me to wipe them away.
“Thank you,” Isidora said.
“To whom are you speaking? Sensing your distress, I came as quickly as I could.” I first saw Simon’s stomach and then his face as he bent down behind his new wife.
“Forgive me, husband. I called your sister to make amends.”
“Isidora wants us to start over for your sake. It seems we at least have our love for you in common.”
“If you two beautiful ladies were to get along, I would have everything.”
Isidora looked at Simon with hope and adoration. She looked like she wanted him to be happy. Her soft grey hair was up in an elaborate bun, and she wore Arachnean Silk as befitting Simon’s wife. Furthermore, she desperately wanted to provide the Montgomery clan with a new generation of Arachneans to protect our spiders. Thunderdrop had climbed to the top of my head when he had heard Simon’s voice again.
“Perhaps I can take my ladies to visit what shops we might find on Chione,” Simon suggested. I felt Yukihyo as he gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze.
“That would be great,” I said. I was getting a headache.
“I will see you in a few days, sweet cousin.”
“I love you, Simon.”
“I love you, too.”
After the screen went blank, I moaned. Yukihyo continued to rub my shoulders and the sides of my neck along with where I clenched my jaw.
“That was gracious of you,” Nico said.
“What choice did I have? At least Hiroshi married someone nice. Eliot did, too. I don’t think I have to worry about Phillip.”
Yukihyo and Nico decided to spend some time on the exercise deck. They went to change as Pierce handed Neema to me to nurse. Suddenly, Neema closed her gums down upon me and ground them against each other. The pain was incomparable. I screamed. I moved my finger between myself and her gums to pry her off from where she had clamped down. Pierce rushed over and took her into his arms. I covered my breast with my hands and tried to breathe through the pain. Yukihyo went to his knees in front of me placing his arms on my back.
“What happened?”
I was unable to answer. I rested my head on his shoulder. I managed to say, “Ow, ow, ow,” as I cried. I heard Nico and felt his hand on my hair.
“I think Neema bit her while nursing,” Pierce said.
“The medical officer on duty is on his way,” Lorca said.
A horrible commotion occurred on the other side of the door. Nico and Yukihyo took protective stances in front of me. Lorca and Pierce took Neema into one of the rooms. Chef appeared with a blaster in each hand and tossed one to Nico. My thoughts calmed and my pain was hidden from me. I took a deep breath. In my mind, I heard the words, “Show me who has hurt you. I’m coming.”
Out loud I said, “My baby, but she didn’t know what she was doing. All of you, put your weapons away. Chef, Nico, please.” They lowered them but didn’t put them away. The door to my quarters opened. Zeth entered cautiously while scanning the room. He scanned my thoughts and slowly allowed the weapon he had taken to drop to the carpet. I could feel his pain. “Zeth, sit down before you fall. You’d better not be bleeding again.”
Zeth followed my order and sat. “I felt your pain. I feared someone attacked you.”
I moved my hands from my breast and saw the bloody bruise forming around my nipple. “Oh, that hurt.” Neema was screaming from the room where Pierce and Lorca had taken her for safety. “Yukihyo, please bring her to me.”
Yukihyo wore a pair of underwear and nothing else. I laughed through my tears at Nico who wore a shirt, underwear, one sock, and held a blaster in his hand. Yukihyo had calmed Neema and sat down beside me with her in his lap. He rubbed his finger along her gums, and she gnashed down on it.
“See. That’s what she did to me.” Sniffling I showed Yukihyo and Nico the damage.
“Ouch,” Nico said.
Yukihyo explained to Neema that she mustn’t ever bite mommy. He kissed her nose. Fervently, I hope she truly understood. Thunderdrop chittered and hopped to the arm of the chair in which Zeth sat. He blinked at him. I had bravely placed Neema to my other breast when soldiers entered in full armor. Kane followed. Nico explained the situation while still in his underwear. I wiped Neema’s tears away and wiped her nose. Kane listened, glanced over at me, at Zeth, and then met Nico’s eyes. Then, they started laughing.
A soldier removed the weapon from where Zeth had let it fall. Zeth looked pale from pain. “Maybe he should put his feet up,” I said to Yukihyo. He raised an eyebrow at me and pushed a stool over toward Zeth. Sweat beaded his forehead as he carefully lifted his feet up onto it.
Kane dismissed the soldiers. Then he
said to Zeth, “I will send an ensign to explain to you how civilians such as yourself are to report onboard incidents so that you will know how to behave in the future. Understood?”
“Yes, Captain Valen,” Zeth answered in a quiet rumbling voice.
“Yukihyo?” Neema had finished. Her daddy could burp her. Lorca gave me a sympathetic look and handed me a hand towel full of crushed ice. The doctor appeared seconds later. It was the one I had fussed at because of Zeth’s pain medication. I began to suggest he see to Zeth first, but Zeth said no to me in my mind. The doctor gave me a small pain patch safe enough for Niklos, a nanite patch for the bruise that had begun to resemble Sue as it turned purple and blue, and a cool gel patch that he placed over my injury.
“Leave this on until the morning if at all possible, and I will remove it when I check on you.” He moved on to examine Neema’s gums and informed us that she was cutting her two front bottom teeth. Yukihyo beamed at his baby girl with pride. I readjusted my dress and was terrified she would grind down on me with her gums again. The doctor suggested we start introducing foods to Neema which got Pierce and Lorca excited. Then, the doctor turned to Zeth.
“It’s all my fault. I couldn’t help it, though. That hurt so much, and it was so unexpected.”
“I understand, Princess. However, now I must return your brave breast defender to the infirmary and repair my work.”
“Oh, so you’re going to make light of what Neema did to my wife’s nipple with her gnashing?” Nico said.
Kane, Nico, Yukihyo, and the doctor laughed. Zeth managed a small smile. Angrily, I said, “There is a way you each could find out what that felt like.”
They stopped laughing and dispersed. Yukihyo and Nico finished dressing and went to the exercise deck. Lorca called the men who served as barbers on board. They had trained hoping to end up in salons catering to women but had ended up as crewmen on the ship. They were happy to practice unused skills on their princess. It was like having a spa in my quarters. After a manicure and pedicure, I got a deep conditioning treatment and my hair wrapped in a towel. I was on my side laying on a padded table with my private areas draped in sheets. I feared that since Zeth had probably seen my boob the other sixteen had, so that part of me didn’t feel private. I groaned in relief when fingers worked away at the area right above my hip. I heard Yukihyo chuckling.
“Whatever. Just send a picture to Isidora so she knows what pampered and spoiled really looks like.”
“She has choked on those words since she said them,” Yukihyo said.
“How?”
“Hiroshi gave her an earful.”
The man helped me to my other side. Yukihyo went to shower. I yawned as Nico walked past me. With the exception of my boob, after my every ache had been rubbed away, I was sent to the shower to rinse my hair. The other man dried my hair, brushed it, and asked permission to braid it. With my spa services at an end, I asked the men how much I owed them. They looked scandalized.
“Nothing, Princess. It was a pleasure serving you.”
“Yes, this is what each of us trained to do.”
“However, we give military haircuts.”
“Well, you are welcome to practice on me anytime. Especially, right before we dock on Chione. I don’t want to look frumpy next to Isidora.” I said her name in a rude way.
“I thought you two were starting over,” Nico said. I pouted. Lorca told the men he would contact them and showed them out.
“She called me short and round.”
“You are round with the future Emperor Niklos Tavere Cassian. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. There is nothing about you I would change. Truthfully, I find you more beautiful pregnant. I plan to keep you this way.” I frowned at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t trouble yourself. I will see to it,” Yukihyo said.
“How’s that localized defense grid project coming along? I might need one for my undies.”
Nico snorted. “Nothing is keeping me out of those.” He gave me a wide grin. I rolled my eyes at both of them and went to the dining table. Yukihyo’s playful mood grew more somber the closer we got to Chione.
Captain Valen sat in conference with General Cassian and Inquisitor Beck. Emperor Probus and Admiral Valen filled the vid-screen. Emperor Probus’ dark brown eyes shone with dangerous calculation. To date, everyone who had caused deliberate physical harm to his child had died screaming on his orders. Inquisitor Eli Beck punished the miners from Malta who dared lay hands on the Princess. He had taken their fingers first for the offense. With the hybrids, his usual methods of ascertaining the truth might harm his Princess. He had been forced to resort to painless questioning.
“Inquisitor Beck, what were their plans for my child?”
“The mercenaries were paid to bring the Princess to Arlo Dano who had become obsessed with her. The abduction caused the Princess considerable distress. Instinctual need forced a hybrid named Zared to calm her mind and sooth her emotions. When he did, she bound him to herself and with him she took the others. After delivering the Princess to Arlo Dano, their orders were to free Cleto Dano. After releasing Cleto Dano and restoring his father to power, Arlo Dano planned to marry the Princess and keep her for himself. The hybrids realized Arlo Dano’s mental instability placed the Princess in danger and eliminated him.”
“Are these hybrids a threat to my daughter, me, or the Parvac Empire?”
“No, however, the citizens of the Laconian Sector and Galaxic Expanse view the hybrids as abominations. Having the hybrids near her will not win her any popularity among them. Nevertheless, I believe they will protect her with more ferocity than Lord Yukihyo. They sacrificed three of themselves so that we could discover their weaknesses and if they posed a threat,” Inquisitor Beck reported.
Emperor Probus turned his attention to General Cassian. Tavere studied the man’s body language. He knew Nico would protect Teagan with his life and would never consider allowing unsafe elements to come into contact with her. “What is your opinion Nico?”
“I think we should treat the three we have in custody as untrusted guests on the ship. I want them under constant surveillance. I want to know everything they do at every moment of the day.” Nico met Eli’s eyes. “They don’t take a shit without me knowing. If any of them do anything that suggests they pose a danger to Teagan, we take them several parsecs away from her and execute them so she doesn’t feel it.”
“How did the one named Zeth lay his hands on a weapon?” Emperor Probus asked Captain Valen.
“He stole it from the medical bay weapons locker,” Kane answered.
“How?” Admiral Valen asked his son. Weapons lockers required hand scans to open, and Zeth would have had to get past two of their most lethal soldiers.
Captain Valen activated the recording. It began with Zeth asleep in a medical berth. Then, his black eyes shot open, and he slid from the bed and to his guards. The guards seemed to stare off at nothing with a touch from the hybrid. The man grabbed the doctor, pulled him to the weapons locker, pressed the doctor’s hand to the panel, dropped the doctor, took the weapon, and ran straight to the Imperial quarters as though he were pulled there. They watched as he ascertained the situation and dropped the weapon on Teagan’s orders. It had all happened in seconds.
“It would be such a waste to destroy such valuable weapons. How do we control them?” Emperor Probus asked.
“We don’t. The Princess Teagan does,” Inquisitor Eli Beck answered.
Chione’s land port had been designed with freezing temperatures in mind. A series of long lighted and heated tunnels had been built to connect each berth to the three-level land port operations building and its subterranean parking. Through our transport’s window, I saw a thick blanket of snow covered everything. Underneath the beautiful hooded coat Elspeth had made for me, I wore my blaster in a new holster and belt. I smiled at Neema’s little face poking out of her thickly lined fur coat that more closely resembled a sleeping bag with arms.
The tunnel lights made shadowy flickers inside of the transport as we drove its length. In the parking garage, the lighting became better. Activity was everywhere. Long transports were either being loaded or unloaded. Militia soldiers and Laconian land port workers greeted each other with laughter and the clasping of arms. Our arrival had created a lot of excitement for a planet that didn’t seem to get much.
Reaching over. I placed my gloved hands to the sides of Yukihyo’s face. I stared deeply into his eyes and did my best to share with him all of the love I felt for him. Traces of red and purple streaked his almond shaped eyes. I kissed his beautiful eyelids with their thick grey lashes. I kissed his lips, cheeks, forehead, chin, and nose.
Laughing, Neema said, “Mommy!”
Yukihyo managed a laugh and a small grin, too. The small upward turn at the corners of his mouth remained after I released his face.
“What? Did I just hear someone call my name? Neema must want kisses, too!” She shrieked and laughed as I kissed her all over her face.
Soldiers directed the drivers of our transports to park in spaces near the main entrance. Yukihyo carried Neema. I held onto his elbow and smiled up at him. Nico walked beside us. Eric and Quaid joined our group as we walked toward the entrance. Once we had entered the building, we were greeted by several Laconian women and men. They all had eyes either like Yukihyo’s or with disks like Neema’s. Captain Eric Alaric introduced me and Captain Kane Valen. The Laconians who welcomed us were each the clan leaders of their families. After they managed to welcome their Parvac visitors which glances at Yukihyo and Neema seemed to make less unnerving for them, they cautioned Captain Valen about Chione’s climate and suggested his crew explore only with an experienced Militia soldier or a Laconian guide if they ventured far.
Once some of the others had begun to leave, an older Laconian woman with white hair and thin traces of grey remaining, approached us. She smiled kindly at Yukihyo.
“Ruyo Ponidi, welcome home. You have journeyed far to return to yourself.” They bowed to each other.
“Clan leader Sabiki, my home is now with me wherever I might go. This woman is mother to my clan, Teagan Alaric Montgomery Lee of House Probus. This is the daughter she has given me, Neema.” We bowed to each other. Yukihyo indicated Nico. “This is my clan brother, General Nico Cassian.”
The Parvac Emperor's Daughter (The Space Merchants Book 3) Page 24