The Parvac Emperor's Daughter (The Space Merchants Book 3)

by Wendie Nordgren

  As Simon began to passionately kiss Isidora, the rest of us gathered our things. Izaac carried an armful of the new toys Sherman and Gina had gotten for Neema. Careful of the flowers, I gave Stewart a hug and a peck on the cheek.

  “Lady Teagan, I am pleased to see you and Miss Neema. You will find your bath drawn, napping attire laid out, and your bed turned down. I removed a table and two chairs from your room in order for the rather elaborate crib purchased by the Lady Montgomery to fit.”

  “Thank you, Stewart. You’re the best.”

  “Indeed, my lady. I prepared the rooms in your hall for your entourage. Please, alert me should you require anything.” Stewart continued to wait patiently to meet his new mistress. However, Simon and Isidora had ended up back inside of the transport where the windows were beginning to fog.

  Once we were in the foyer, I froze. “Something is wrong.”

  Quaid took a protective stance in front of me and Nico, who held Neema, and asked, “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure. Oh, it’s Simon. His current feelings aren’t driving me crazy. Usually, Simon, Eliot, and I share our emotions. I’m not picking up anything.”

  Quaid turned his head to look at Izaac. “Izaac is shielding us from emotions that should remain private.”

  “Oh, thanks. You won’t mask our regular feelings from each other, though. Will you?”

  Izaac shook his head.

  Quaid explained, “Simon asked Izaac to help him protect his wife’s privacy. Attempting to shield them all on her own had become a strain.”

  “Oh, that makes sense,” I managed to say before I yawned and stepped into the lift. Nico and Quaid looked around. “I love this house. My room has a retractable wall and a view of the courtyard. Simon’s pool is beautiful.”

  Neema had fallen asleep in Nico’s arms. He laid her down in a gorgeous bed made of Arachnean wood. I removed her clothes and shoes, covered her with a soft silk blanket, and kissed her forehead. Silently, Izaac arranged Neema’s toys on the floor by her crib. Taking his hand, I walked with him into the hall.

  “Phillip stays in that room, but this one was Hiroshi’s room. He won’t be leaving Ling, so why don’t you stay in here?”

  “Thank you, Teagan. This is very nice,” Izaac whispered in my mind.

  “Where are Zeth and the others staying?”

  “When they are not out exploring, they are content to remain on board our ship.” I snickered thinking of the women on Arachne who would be throwing themselves eyelashes first at my newest family members. “No, Teagan. They sense we are different and fear us.”

  “Why would anyone be afraid of you? I don’t get it.”

  “Most of the fear I sense emanates from the belief that I will take away the person’s free will, credits, power, and make him or her a slave of my demands.”

  “Could you do that?”

  “I have the ability but not the desire. Father had begun to entertain the idea of selling us to the highest bidders to serve as weapons against enemies or political rivals. It was then that our eldest brother first suggested that we needed to escape. We should have listened.”

  “Do you mean Xavier?”

  Izaac seemed a little surprised. “I sense you know more of him than you have been told.”

  “Sometimes, he speaks to me in my dreams.”

  “Speaking of dreams,” Quaid said from the doorway as he held his hand out to me, “your bath is waiting.”

  “See you later.” I took Quaid’s hand.

  Half an hour later, I was curled up in bed between Quaid and Nico sound asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When I woke up, I found myself in Quaid’s protective grasp. Nico wasn’t in the room. I stretched out my senses to search for him, but didn’t feel him in the vicinity.

  “He is with Ambassador Jiri at the Parvac Embassy. For the moment, I have you all to myself. Shall we make the most of our time, Lady Bosh?” Quaid asked as his lips met mine and pleasure fell upon me like raindrops.

  We lost our individuality in each other and were consumed by a passion and love that surprised both of us as I gave up struggling against my feelings of shame in loving three men. Quaid filled my body and mind as I filled his soul. I shattered with the feel of Quaid’s thighs between my own. With a thundering heart, I shattered once again as he pulled himself from me and came down to his side next to me brushing through my hair with his fingers.

  Staring into my eyes, Quaid said, “For Eriopis males, our mates assist us in retaining mental focus and stability. Unmarried males usually prefer to remain close to their patriarchs. For those of us in the Militia without mates, hours of meditation are required each day. Yukihyo has told you of the hours of physical exertion he devoted to each day to keep his emotions tightly controlled?” I nodded. “Laconians marry as few or as many wives as they wish. The same is true for Parvac females for different reasons.” Quaid gently traced a finger along my breast. “Teagan, were I to lose you now, I fear my mind might break. For so long, I fought daily for control and my freedom. Then, I bound us together and ceased to struggled. All of the concentration I had used to center my mind was free for other mental pursuits. Being your husband has made me a better officer and a stronger man.”

  I watched Quaid’s eyes as he spoke. His eyelashes and brows were a light brown in contrast to his short blonde hair. I ran my hand along his handsome jaw. He caught my fingers with his lips and then took them into his hand.

  “Teagan, for all of his deplorable actions, Dr. Crispus may have suffered such severe mental trauma as not to be legally responsible for his actions. Once he is captured, he should be turned over to a Galaxic medical facility for psychological testing. His research, creation of the hybrids, plot to abduct you, and attack of Ephors are obviously the result of a mind broken from reality.”

  I felt my jaw clenching. “I still see the faces of Ephors’ dead. Dr. Crispus did that. Dr. Crispus could have saved my mother or at the very least given the inquisitors a lead. What would I have become had I grown up with my mother and father on Parvac? What would it have been like to have been loved? I’ll never know. Perhaps, when the Empire is done with Dr. Crispus, we will give what is left of him to a Galaxic medical facility.” I thought of my mother trapped, helpless, in pain, and begging an obsessed madman for help. A knock sounded at the door.

  “Lady Teagan, shall I send the ladies up to help you dress?” Stewart asked.

  “Please, give me a few minutes.”

  I could tell Quaid was disappointed in me, but my own sense of anger and need for revenge obscured my ability to see his point of view. I slipped away from Quaid and into the bathroom. He followed and turned on the shower. I could tell he wanted to point out to me that Dr. Crispus was a Laconian citizen, had committed a long list of crimes throughout the Galaxic Expanse, and should answer for his crimes once he was mentally stable. Quaid thought it but didn’t say it.

  While I washed Quaid’s back, I thought about how satisfying it would be to turn Dr. Crispus over to Uncle Kagan. Quaid’s thoughts focused on how important it was to his superiors to avoid any further antagonism of the Parvac Empire.

  Tired of arguing silently, I said, “He brainwashed Arlo into hiring the hybrids to abduct Neema and me. Do you know how terrified I was? You realize that was when the bond formed between either Jazon or Zared and me, right? Now, Arlo, whose weak mental state Dr. Crispus manipulated, is dead. Cleto has lost his father and his brother. Five of the hybrids are dead, a moon was destroyed, and my new father-in-law, well, who knows what he thinks?”

  Quaid’s hands found my shoulders and began working away at the tension now knotting them. “Lady Bosh, know that I love you.”

  I felt the moment when Yukihyo arrived. By the time we had dried ourselves and I had my hair wrapped in a towel and a robe around me, he entered our room. “Did you complete your business?”

  “Not entirely. However, I would not miss a chance to escort my lady wife to our second ball at th
e Glaucia estate.”

  Thinking back to our first ball, I remembered the Peace Talks on Amphictyon. So much had changed since then. Quaid dropped his towel and put a foot through one of the legs of his shorts. I giggled at the view. He slid his other foot into his shorts and pulled them up with a smirk. “You weren’t laughing a few minutes ago,” Quaid said as he continued to ruin my view with pants.

  “I see you have not missed me at all. You have been amusing yourself with this hairy blonde beast,” Yukihyo said.

  “Perhaps Bosh Technologies could provide you with a hair growth stimulating nanite application for your chest, Yukihyo,” Quaid said with a smug attitude.

  I couldn’t help my infatuation with Quaid’s manly attributes. I wanted to rub myself all over him.

  “Yukihyo, don’t listen to him. I think you’re perfect.” I kissed his neck since he was too busy scowling at Quaid to bend down. “Maybe I should get one of those applications. How would you like me with a beard?” I asked Yukihyo as I stroked my chin.

  Laughing, he kissed my nose. “The women waiting down stairs would promptly remove it were you able to manage it.”

  “Oh, no. I forgot about them.” I went to the intercom and pressed it.

  “Yes, my lady?”

  “I’m sorry for the wait. I’m ready now. Are they coming up, or do they want me to go down?” Yukihyo snickered. I looked at him. He waggled his eyebrows at me and thrust his hips toward me. “Maybe later,” I told him.

  “Daddy?” Neema said as she sat up.

  Stewart entered with two ladies who had pampered both Auria and me in the past. Then, he began making my bed.

  “Quaid, will you assist me in the feeding and entertainment of this miniature version of our wife?” Yukihyo asked.

  I gave Yukihyo a questioning look. “Neema is a tiny female version of you. She looks just like you.”

  “She may look like me, but her personality is all from her mother.”

  I kissed my baby’s soft little cheek from her perch in her daddy’s arms. She pointed at her basket of spiders. I bent down and retrieved the one with the red abdomen for her. As the men left the room, the ladies took over. They carried cases. For the next two hours, I submitted to their attentions. Once they had divested me of my body hair, seen to my fingers and toes, and lined my eyes, they began working on my hair.

  The ladies wanted to know all about the Laconian Sector and specifically about Consul Dano and Governor Chorgh. “All of the ladies are so jealous of you having two handsome Laconian husbands.”

  “Well, I happen to know of seventeen handsome and single Laconian men in need of wives. I’d be happy to make introductions.” They giggled at me. They thought I was joking. “Izaac, is it possible for you to bring me a cup of coffee?” I thought toward where I sensed him standing guard over me in the hall.

  “Yes, my lady,” whispered into my mind.

  One of the ladies busied herself by placing sections of my hair into curls. The other lamented to us how the man for whom she cared was interested in another woman. A soft knock had me saying, “Come in.”

  I smiled at Izaac. Izaac was twenty, had the same soft grey hair as Yukihyo but clipped in the style of the Parvac military, solid black eyes, and the body of a weapon.

  “Oh, Izaac, is that for me? Thank you so much.” I smiled sweetly as he handed me a cup and saucer. He bowed and returned to the hall. I hid my true smile behind my cup. Izaac looked just as good walking away.

  “Who is he, one of your guards?”

  “Well, I guess. He wants to protect me. Actually, Izaac is a newly adopted brother of mine. The poor thing.”

  “Why? What happened to him?”

  “Well, for years he and his brothers survived alone without a real family or home. Izaac doesn’t even speak.”

  “Oh, that poor man. How tragic for him.”

  “Yes, Izaac and his brothers are accompanying me to the Empire for a chance at a new life and whatever happiness they can manage.”

  Two sets of distraught eyes looked toward the hall. A knock startled us. “You are shameless,” I heard in my thoughts. I smiled.

  Yukihyo strode in with Neema tucked against his side and a white box tied with black ribbon in his free hand. “A gift has arrived for you.”

  Neema smiled at the ladies who fussed over her as I opened my present. “Who sent it?”

  “Your brothers.”

  Lifting the lid, I saw two hair combs of delicate platinum laying flat atop white silk. Each comb had delicate sprays of alternating lengths which ended in small onyx beads. Amidst the onyx beads on each comb was a single diamond on its own like a star in space. “How lovely,” I whispered.

  “Would you like to wear them tonight? They will be perfect to each side of your up do.”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Mommy. Mommy,” Neema said in a fussy tone.

  “Ladies, will you please give us a few moments? Perhaps Izaac will accompany you to the kitchen for some refreshments.”

  “Of course, my lady.” The looks I noticed them casting upon Izaac were a combination of sympathy and lust.

  Yukihyo gave me a half smile. I shrugged. I rubbed Neema’s soft tiny feet as she nursed. Yukihyo sat in a chair and watched us. “For a moment, I sensed tension between you and Quaid.”

  “Quaid thinks to convince me to turn Dr. Crispus over to the Militia rather than my Uncle Kagan, should he even be captured. Quaid thinks Crispus should receive psychological treatment. Can you imagine? After everything that man has done, Quaid wants to let him stay at a hospital.” Yukihyo’s eyes began to take on tinges of orange and grey, and I felt the worry accompanying the telling sign. He dropped his gaze from my eyes to his daughter. “Don’t tell me you agree with him.”

  A knock prevented his answer. Simon’s shock of red hair had me smiling involuntarily. “Forgive me, cousin, but Pierce and Lorca have arrived. Also, I wish for Yukihyo to try on his suit.”

  “I didn’t know Pierce and Lorca were coming.”

  Yukihyo said, “They will remain here with Neema this evening.”

  “Wait. We’re leaving our baby here without us? We could be trapped at the ball for hours. I don’t want to leave her.”

  “She will be fine. I can’t remember the last time we had an evening out.”

  Shocked, I said, “I’m sure Jae won’t mind letting Pierce and Lorca watch Neema in one of their spare rooms.”

  “Teagan, Cass and Thunderdrop have returned from their romp in the forest. Stewart will be here along with a combination of Militia and Parvac guards. An evening out will do you some good,” Simon said. The thought of leaving Neema made me want to cry. “Aw, there you are, Pierce. The little princess seems satisfied with her mother’s attentions and ready to spend the evening playing in the toy store formerly known as my living room.” Simon moved aside for Pierce.

  Neema sat on my lap. I smoothed her hair and gave her kisses. She bounced and laughed when she saw Pierce and went to him. “Pierce,” I said.

  “She will be fine,” Yukihyo assured me as he gave Pierce a nod. I witnessed Neema giving Pierce a sloppy kiss on the cheek on their way out of my room.

  “Might I steal your husband for a moment?” Simon asked. I shrugged and plucked at my robe with my fingers.

  “I suppose I should be thankful that it was Phillip and Hiroshi who found, healed, and rehabilitated me. With the resources of Dr. Crispus, I would have done far worse to seek revenge against Parvac while in the grip of my maddening emptiness and rage.”

  My eyes followed Yukihyo in stunned silence as he rose. My cheeks heated in embarrassment. Yukihyo kissed my forehead and followed Simon. Once, Yukihyo had told me that I wouldn’t have recognized him after the loss of his clan. Had Phillip and Hiroshi not saved him from his own rage, would he have been incarcerated? Might then we never have found each other?

  “Why are you just sitting there? We need to be in the transports in forty-five minutes. Did you just change a smelly diaper?
Is that why you have that expression on your face? Ladies, please finish Teagan’s hair. I caught these two throwing themselves at your new guard. It’s a good thing I caught them before he did, or you’d never be ready in time,” Gina said as she gave the ladies a disgruntled look.

  “Adopted brother, Gina.”

  “Well, is his job going to be that of a merchant or as security?” I took a deep breath. “That’s what I thought. If he doesn’t articulate, how can he negotiate? Oh, these are nice. Are you wearing them? They match your bracelet,” Gina said of the hair combs.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Okay. I’m going to check on Isidora’s progress.” Gina turned in a swirl of silk and hurried down the hall.

  White ball gowns were brought out of the closet. “Is there anything with some color?”

  Hearing me as he entered, Nico said, “Princess, this is an official event. Ambassador Jiri and Lord and Lady Galatea are hosting the ball in your honor.” Nico appeared strong and capable in the formal dress uniform of a Parvac general. He wore the diamond pin that I had given him. Papa had given two identical diamond brooches to me to give as gifts to Nico and Yukihyo. The pins were traditionally symbolic and signified a man’s status as consort to an imperial princess. I frowned when I realized that Quaid didn’t have one. The ladies smiled and excused themselves from the room.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Quaid understands. He will have his own at the next ball.”

  “It’s nice. Isn’t it? Sharing feelings and thoughts without a word?”

  “With you, yes. With the others, it is a security risk.” Nico placed his hands over my abdomen. “My son, you were conceived on a night such as this.”

  “Your hands used to be large enough to cover my stomach. Now, look.”

  “You grow more beautiful each day.”

  “Nico, what do you think should be done with Dr. Crispus?”

  Nico’s eyes turned deadly. “The man has committed acts of war against the Parvac Empire, killed her citizens, wreaked havoc on Ephors’ ecosystem, and implemented a plot against the Imperial family. That plot threatened to take both you and our child from me. After Dr. Crispus is tried for his crimes, I’m sure a quick execution will be considered too merciful for him.” Nico’s words vindicated me.