“Relax,” Darios urged from beside her when she twisted around to see who had entered the room for the tenth time in as many minutes. It was the kitchen staff coming and going as they laid the table.
“Easy for you to say. You aren’t about to face your father and brother after spending the entire day abed with a man.”
He chuckled in between dumping more nuts, which he’d been happily munching on since they’d arrived as if he hadn’t a care in the world, into his mouth. “I should hope not. Things really would get lively if I had to tell Daryk I’d spent the day holed up in my room with a man.”
Her head whipped around, and she frowned at him. “What?”
“Aurelia, settle. You’re a married woman now, and newly so. There is nothing unusual about our desire for each other, or our pursuit of privacy to explore and revel in it.”
“In your world perhaps, but you’re not on Voltarre.”
“Of that, I am fully aware.” He glanced down his length, and her eyes followed. He was attired in his constricting winter garb, as he referred to it, thanks to either Cogar or Iyo who had left a large satchel of his personal effects outside her door that morning. When she’d inquired, Darios had explained the two were acting as his personal guard, their assignment, protecting their leader while on an alien world, and her as well, since ensuring their overlord’s wife’s safety was also a part of their duties, especially with an unknown kidnapping, murderous, traitor still at large.
She took no offense. If their positions were reversed, and her father visited Voltarre, he’d have a much larger contingent of his personal guard accompanying him.
What she found intriguing was his easy confidence. Whether commanding his men, or visiting his new bride’s family, which, to most men would be an extremely uncomfortable situation—not Darios—nothing shook him. He seemed perfectly at ease munching on nuts while reclined on the couch. As he chewed, the muscles in his jaw and throat working, she couldn’t help marveling at how handsome he was in his civilian clothing. If not for the short-cropped hair, bronze skin, and the hint of body art visible above his collar, he’d look like any other Aeldorian man relaxing at home at the end of the day.
His warlord garb garnered attention. How could it not with so much gorgeous skin and all his bulging muscles on display? But she found him as delicious covered in a long-sleeved shirt that hugged his chest and brawny arms, and his snug-fitting trousers molded to his powerful thighs, which revealed as much as they concealed. He’d left off the cape since they were dining with only family tonight but replaced it with a buttery-soft leather vest.
When one of the household staff approached and refilled his nearly empty wineglass then offered to do the same for her, she waved him away politely because she hadn’t taken the first sip.
“Maybe the wine will calm your nerves,” Darios suggested.
She shrugged, thinking it highly doubtful, but raised the glass to her lips anyway. Before she could taste the locally grown sweet-berry blend she favored, the door opened, and Cogar and Iyo strode in.
Aurelia set her glass aside and anxiously popped up from her seat. Beside her, Darios unfolded off the couch as if receiving friends at home without a care in the world.
“You have news?” he asked.
“All the men have been transported up to the Atagan,” Cogar replied.
“With only a few bumps and bruises,” Iyo put in next.
Darios frowned. “I thought the fighting was minimal.”
“The injuries were obtained during evasive maneuvers when some straps broke, and cargo shifted, but in general all fare well.”
Irked suddenly, Aurelia snapped, “Of course, they are well. Did you think we would beat them?”
The man’s head jerked back as though she had struck him. “I meant no insult by the comment, Princess.” At a loss, he glanced at his leader for direction.
Darios’ hand curled around the back of her neck and squeezed. “Stand down, Aurelia. Iyo is only providing the report I requested.”
She angled her head up to him. “When did you do that?”
“It’s standard procedure after we’ve had men captured and detained, but we had a chance to speak earlier, while you were napping.” He looked to his second, next. “And the meeting, how did it go?”
“King Aziros, the prince, and his generals have just finished reviewing the data file.”
“What data file?” Aurelia inquired, wondering why she hadn’t been included.
“The one from the rescue mission on the Napsalese barge.”
She’d been naked the entire time, including when he’d carried her from the ship. Though she was afraid she wouldn’t like the answer, she posed her question anyway. “You mean you recorded the attack, from the outside of the barge, right?”
“No. Our ship’s computer interfaced with theirs and recorded everything,” Cogar advised. “Inside and out.”
She closed her eyes as heat suffused her cheeks. Wasn’t that perfect? Her father, brother, and his generals, who numbered seven, knew she had a mole on her lower back and the color of her nipples. Her blush of embarrassment spread down her neck to her chest, leaving her feeling scalded when she realized both Cogar and Iyo were in on this viewing and had seen everything, too.
Completely mortified, she turned to her new husband and bit out tersely, “Was it necessary for everyone to see it?”
“Everyone didn’t see, only a select few. Visual evidence of what transpired is indisputable proof of our honorable intent. Your father would have had it from the beginning, and all of this could have been avoided, if not for that damned cloud of dust.”
“It has dissipated now, my lord,” Cogar informed him.
“Which is shit timing,” Iyo muttered.
“Indeed,” Darios agreed grimly.
“What will happen to this file now that it’s no longer needed?” Aurelia asked Cogar calmly, when she really wanted to kick something and curse her infernal bad luck.
“It has been archived in the database.”
“Delete it, and any copies that might be floating around, if you please.” Wiping out the archives to ensure it was destroyed would probably be asking too much.
Darios’ chin dipped nearly to his chest as he peered down at her. “Why are you so agitated about a recording? It’s material evidence, like at a trial, and needs to be preserved.”
She threw up her hands. “I didn’t have a stitch of clothes on, remember? Couldn’t you have cut those parts out?”
“And be accused of manipulating the evidence? That wouldn’t have accomplished what we wanted it to.”
She leaned into him, burying her hot face in his vest, glad when his arms slid around her. “I’d like to leave for Voltarre, now, before I have to face any of them. It’s humiliating.”
He swept his hands up and down her spine. “I don’t like the idea that others have seen what is for my eyes only, but it was necessary to keep the peace.” He tugged gently on her hair until she looked up at him. “You were prepared to make even greater sacrifices to preserve the truce only days ago.”
“At the time, I didn’t know it meant being naked on a crystal-clear floor-to-ceiling viewing screen.”
“That’s old technology,” Iyo informed her. “We used the three-dimensional holographic projector.”
She groaned and planted her face back into his chest.
“Flaming hell, man,” Cogar snapped. “Do you not know when to keep your mouth shut?”
“Now would be a good time to learn,” Darios growled.
“At least tell me the king and prince were convinced by what they saw that Voltarre wasn’t involved.”
“I’m sure of it,” Cogar reassured in a gentler tone, “but you may ask them yourself. They will be joining us momentarily. And, Princess...” When he didn’t continue, she turned her head enough to peek at him with one eye. “You’ll be happy to know we moved quickly through or skipped the, um, embarrassing parts.”
Darios’ s
econd was discerning, considerate, and kind. Him, she liked. Iyo, the insensitive, stone-hearted ass, not so much.
“We are here,” Aziros announced as he walked in, Axton a step behind him. He stopped a few feet from where she stood with Darios and bowed.
Yes, bowed!
Her lips parted, but she stopped short of letting her jaw drop because this was serious. She’d never seen her father bow to anyone before—ever.
“Lord Darios, the recordings depict the efforts you put forth to save my daughter. You have my eternal gratitude.” His eyes cut to her, brimming with tears. He appeared shaken, her strong papa. “They put you in a cage,” he whispered, so distraught his voice broke.
He held his arms out to her. She didn’t hesitate and wouldn’t have even if he hadn’t been wearing gloves and his thick royal robes to act as a buffer. Rushing forward, she slipped her arms around his waist, while he enveloped her in a tight hug.
“I cannot say it wasn’t awful, Papa, or that I didn’t think every second I would die there, but thanks to Darios and his men, I came through unscathed—mostly.”
“You came an instant from death by fire before he snatched you back. Thank the Gods he arrived when he did and had the strength to save you.” His arms tightened, cutting off most of her air, but she gave him that, savoring every moment, especially when he bent his head and rested his cheek on the top of her head. “If I live to see another fifty winters, I won’t be able to erase those images from my brain.”
Aurelia couldn’t move much in her father’s crushing hold, but she managed to twist her head to the opposite side in order to see her husband. He didn’t appear smug that he’d been proven right or aggrieved about being wrongfully accused; he simply looked on quietly, a soft smile curving his lips.
While locked in her father’s seemingly endless hug, Axton walked into her limited line of vision. As he approached Darios, Iyo came to attention, and the always vigilant Cogar grew more alert. Even Darios tensed, though she’d have missed the ever-so-slight clenching of his jaw and the barely perceptible stiffening of his spine if she hadn’t been watching so closely. It revealed he wasn’t as laid-back and nonchalant in her family’s home as he let on.
Her brother stopped in front of the warlord. “Like my father, Aurelia is very dear to me, and my gratitude for her safe return is immeasurable, but we also owe you much more. It is no excuse, but our emotions were running high after hearing of her abduction. Several of her guards were critically wounded, many did not survive the attack. We acted on a series of circumstantial evidence but now see our error in acting hastily. We will make restitution to your men for their detainment and pay whatever penalty you deem fair. Until this recent event, the king and I have honored our peace agreement without fail. We are hopeful this will bring us back into good standing. It is in the best interest of both our people that this peace between us continues.” Axton inclined his head before he continued. “Regardless of your decision, Lord Darios, please accept our sincerest apologies.”
After the merest of pauses, Darios replied, “If Aurelia had been taken from my home world, put up for auction by slavers, and, at the same time, an Aeldorian battleship were sighted in the vicinity, I cannot say I wouldn’t have reacted the same way. Restitution, the return of our ship, and an earnest apology, which you have given, are acceptable repayment.” He held out his hand to Axton. “I also want what is best for our people.”
A palpable easing of tension permeated the room when Axton clasped the warlord’s hand in return.
“There is one other thing.”
“Name it, Lord Darios,” King Aziros replied.
“The perpetrator of this crime that could have led to her death and our worlds into war is still walking free. I propose we join forces to capture and hold accountable the real culprit immediately.”
Her father’s chest rumbled beneath her ear. “Of course, we will not rest until they are brought to justice, although our search of the site, what was left of it, produced no clues.”
Aurelia shifted out of her father’s arms. “I just remembered something. The Ophig who attacked me knew how to exploit my limitations. He had a sonic wave generator given to him by a friend.”
“Your weaknesses and the device aren’t a secret,” Darios advised. “We have used it in the past to inhibit your powers.”
“Yes, but he also claimed to have that matter-displacement portal. Although the ability to transport people across space seems incredibly farfetched, my point is, the Ophigs aren’t the most intelligent or likeable species around. They must have had help in order to gain the knowledge and technology they did have. No one would have simply offered it without something in return.”
“Say again, Sister.”
She looked at Axton blankly. “Which part?”
Rather than reply, his stunned gaze tracked over her head to their father. “She’s right; how else would they know about the portal?”
Her jaw dropped. “You mean it’s real? Why wasn’t I told of such a device?”
“It is a classified military project, Daughter. Besides, it’s still in the research phase, a long way from practical application.”
“The device the Ophigs used went well past any experimental prototype,” Darios told him, a deep frown darkening his face. “They entered our security perimeter and took three women without landing, and did it within minutes.”
“This can’t be,” Aziros muttered.
“I’m afraid it is. I personally confirmed he was speaking the truth.”
Aurelia watched her brother and father exchange worried glances. She’d seen them do so many times before, and it never boded well. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“The results of transferring inanimate objects from place to place was so promising, we moved on to living things, like plants and test animals, but those outcomes were a disappointment, and quite frankly, frightening.” Aziros grimaced. “I ordered the planned trials on people halted several months back.”
“Someone carried on without your knowledge, apparently,” Aurelia commented.
Her father nodded grimly. “Your women, Lord Darios, how have they fared since going through the portal?”
“They are recovering from their ordeal, but having no idea this device existed we may have overlooked something. What side effects might we expect?”
“The early test subjects didn’t survive,” Axton said grimly. “With later iterations of the portal, they fared better but were often quite sick afterwards, with the side effects severe.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Hemorrhage, blood clots, heart failure, and death in the short-term. We don’t have research to know what the long-term effects will be.”
Crossing to Darios, she laid her hand on his tense forearm. “Heaven help us,” she whispered. “Callae and the baby.”
“What’s this?” her father interjected.
“His brother’s wife, Papa. I mentioned Callae—”
“Yes, yes. She is expecting. I remember now. We need our scientists to speak to your physicians immediately,” he stated. “The symptoms are often delayed.”
Axton moved quickly to the door and called a guard.
“Summon General Xalged back to the castle at once, and send for the director of the research lab and his lead security officer, as well.”
“Yes, my prince.”
“Press upon them the matter is urgent and, needless to say, this is to be communicated discreetly.”
The guard bowed and hurried off.
Aurelia curled her hand around her husband’s hand and squeezed. “They should arrive soon; the lab isn’t far from here. In the meantime, I’ll take you to the communication room, and we’ll contact Daryk.”
“Use the one in my residence,” the king urged. “It will be more private.”
She nodded, leading an unusually subdued Darios to the door. “After, we’ll make plans to leave for Voltarre.”
“No,” he said gruffly, coming to
an abrupt halt. “The scientists and healers will have to handle this. I’m of more use here.” He twisted back to the men, his jaw set in determination. “We must find out who is responsible. Viewing the surveillance from your lab seems like the best place to start.”
“Agreed,” Aziros and Axton stated as one.
“Before the others arrive, I’ll break this dire news to my brother.”
Over his initial shock and in full control again, his grip tightened around her hand, and he led her out into the corridor.
“Which way?”
She gave him directions, breathless by the time they arrived from trying to keep up with his long legs. It wasn’t until she opened the door using the digital facial recognition security scan that she noticed a grim-faced Iyo and Cogar had silently followed.
Chapter Seventeen
IT WAS LATE WHEN DARIOS joined her in bed, and Aurelia knew he didn’t sleep when he did. He didn’t toss and turn and disturb her. In fact, he neither moved nor spoke, but she could feel the disquiet rolling off him in waves. She’d awoken several times to find him lying on his back, staring at the ceiling in the dark.
Figuring he’d dozed off somewhere near dawn, she rose from bed careful not to wake him. Planning to bring back a breakfast tray for them both, she dressed and quietly left their chambers. With the constant interruptions of late, they had yet to share a morning meal, and Aurelia figured in bed might be the only way to make it happen.
With a persistent dark cloud of worry hanging over her head that Callae and the other two women may have survived abduction and enslavement only to succumb to life-threatening complications of the perilous portal, as Aurelia traversed the corridor, she couldn’t help thinking of her own future. Far more certain now than when she had left Voltarre, Darios was absolutely a part of it. She’d miss her father and brother dearly, but was also excited to begin her new life.
Despite all that had occurred, she had a bounce in her step that hadn’t been there a week ago. She’d been content in her royal duties, but no more than that, with a monotony to her life. Now, a bright future lay ahead with love, passion, and a family she never knew she wanted because a husband hadn’t ever been part of her plan.
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