Page 48 of Princess of Draga

Baron Kace and his wife the Baroness Lyria of Deytis were next with their daughter, Lady Lora. The heir to the barony, Leo had been at court for nearly a cyclenow.

Then Lord Jaydon and his sister Lady Rory of the Barony and planet Seprilles were announced but a small commotion at the doors to the throne room drew her attention. The guards seemed distressed. As Lord Jaydon was quickly escorted out with barely a nod to acknowledge his bow and gift, Nadyah watched as Adelina’s guard – Alpha, frowned. Each of the guards had a simulcast implanted and tuned specifically to the scrambled cast of the palace. The chatter he heard over the cast must have concerned him as he took a step closer toAdelina.

Nadyah’s heart skipped abeat.

Slowly she slipped her hands in the pockets of her skirts and through the holes to wrap her fingers around the sharp blades strapped to her thighs. With a quick calculation, she decided it would take no more than two seconds to reach her princess’s side. A glance to Elara proved the older courtesan was just as prepared to protect the royalfamily.

Nadyah waited as she scanned the throne room for danger. Should they have the royals leave to be safe? The royal family seemed nervous as they watched the head butler have a furiously whispered conversation with the footmen at the door and then the butler rushed over to theking.

Before a decision could be made a man, she recognized from hours of studying the different noble families burst into the throne room with a small contingent of soldiers, all dressed for war. The uniform of the Treon army was a declaration to everyone in that room. Then the soldiers knelt in front of the king; a fist over their hearts in a show of loyalty to theCrown.

Lord Lucas stood first. His following words struck Nadyah like ice to the heart. “Your majesty, I arrived as quickly as I could. An attempt was made on my life; by my brother and father. We were involved in three more skirmishes on our way here from Treon. I came to warn you, to prepareyou.”

The air was charged and tense. If he continued then everyone would know the threat of war was real, that it was imminent. The Draga galaxy was already giving way to the Neprijat. If they remained passive, if the king did nothing then the Neprijat would do to her princess what they did to Nash’s family and Nadyah refused to let that happen. She didn’t know what exactly she would do to prevent it, but Nadyah had to make a plan. She and the princesses already searched for answers to Nash’s questions, a battle plan wouldn’t be much morework.

Lucas didn’t look away from King Orion when he spoke, a true sign of bravery. “My father and brother have gone in league with the false king of KharaPrime.”

The whispers turned into a roar as each person voiced their own concerns. Finally, the king held up his hand and the silence was instant. “Thank you for the warning, Lord Lucas. I would ask that you and your men see to the butler for accommodations. Please cleanup for dinner and we will speak on the matter later. An emergency council meeting will be called to discuss our options andprecautions.”

King Orion stood then and addressed his people. The strength Nadyah saw in him overshadowed his sickness and she was awed. “I want everyone here to know we will not stand idly by. We will not let them take and destroy what we’ve worked so hard to build. Precautions are already in place. Please, go to the Great Hall and remember this is still a time of celebration. We willnotgive in tofear.”

His words echoed and reverberated through the massive room. Prince Nash was the first to stand and bow. Nadyah couldn’t help but admire his fortitude and strength. The Corinthian male knew exactly what he was doing and what he needed to accomplish his goals. She would have to keep an eye on Nash as well. He already had Adelina halfway in love withhim.

The nobles stood and followed Nash’s example. The king and queen rose and exited the throne room. They didn’t go into the Great Hall, but rather the small private parlor behind the throne room itself. Elara grabbed Nadyah’s arm and pulled her into the hallway. “Come with me,” shehissed.

Nadyah had barely spoken to the king’s mistress since she’d arrived at the palace, but she had seen how close she was to the royal family. They treated her as one of them. She was a mother to all the children and a fast companion to both the king andqueen.

Elara dragged Nadyah through the hidden servant passages into a secret alcove covered by a thicktapestry.

“Elara, wha—” she was cut off by the other courtesan shushing her. Elara turned to the wall and slowly lifted a small flap. They both peered in and Nadyah saw the royal family sit down in the small parlor behind the throne room. “Do they know this is here?” she whispered, tuning her auditory implantagain.

“Queen Adele knows, and so does the crownprincess.”

Nadyah glanced at Elara. The former courtesan didn’t look a day over fifty cycles. There wasn’t a wrinkle to be seen or a grey hair. Most didn’t arrive until the second century, but court life could be stressful. She wondered how exactly Elara had become the personal mistress to the king. Had she been mated? No one spoke of it when she left the House to live at the palace. It had been a shock as the king and queen had a happy marriage and they were deeply in love. They still were, but as Nadyah watched her study Queen Adele with concern she wondered if it wasn’t something elseentirely.

The king leaned against the mantle over the fireplace and stared into the embers of a dyingfire.

Giselle paced as the silence stretched. “Isaidwe needed to take action,” she ranted. Giselle filled the entire room and Adelina flinched at the break inprotocol.

Was there even protocol in these privatemeetings?

“Yes, something needs to be done,” the king agreed slowly, frowning as he considered his strategy. “Raena and I will activate the defense shield during dinner. It will take weeks to fully surround the galaxy. Once it’s been sealed there will only be four entry points to the Draga galaxy and travel will be limited outside our own space. Any who wish to leave Draga space will need permission from the palace. This alone will give us time to make a plan to further protect our people.” The king then turned to face his family. His shoulders slumped and he looked sadly at Raena. “I’m sorry this falls to you. I will do everything to assist while I stillcan.”

The crown princess nodded; her facegrave.

“We have a defense shield large enough to surround theentiregalaxy?” Nadyah asked, quieter than the flap of butterfly wings. Why did no one know aboutthis?

“King Beo commissioned the secret project after he pushed the Neprijat back to their ravaged galaxy the first time. He knew they would return one day.” Elara shrugged one exquisite shoulder delicately. “It was kept secret so no one could sell the information before it could be used. The chance someone would want to destroy it was toohigh.”

Nadyah pulled Elara down into a crouch. “How did you find this out? Did the king tell you or is it written? Are there records during King Beo’s war with theNeprijat?”

Elara gave her a curious look. “Of course, there are records, but they are kept in the private library. Only the royal family can access it. The library is keyed to the Draga genetics, not even Adele can goinside.”

She would have to warn Adelina to look there first. This was a task only the two princesses could do. Varan had already sent her a cast that morning to meet so he could transfer some intel he’d gathered. His network of spies was trulyamazing.

Nadyah hadn’t gotten the courage up to visit Mistress Jael with her request after what had happened the last time she’d seen her. She would have to soon; things were progressing far faster than she had anticipated. They peered again into the private room and Raena stood with her father. “What if we send out a deployment now to ease the minds of our people? We can triple the warriors at each outpost in the outerrim.”

“That is outrageous. There are over a thousand outposts,” Asher protested. “We don’t have that manywarriors.”

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