Page 35 of Her Alien Prince
"Not on Estreldez," Mabel sucked in a breath, "It's all my fault..."
Why would Luan's disappearance be her fault?
She continued, while sniffling, "I should have said something sooner. I'm so sorry..."
"Say what sooner?" Loric demanded, and I clicked deep in my throat in warning for him to check his tone with my mate. "Stay out of this, prince." The way he said my title was purposeful, ignoring that I led a great fleet of warships as a commander of the Krelis Horde, but that I was a prince and should maintain a dignitary's stance on this situation.
I waited to see what Mabel would say. This was her choice to answer him or not. I only hoped whatever she had to say did not mean we would have to fight our way back to my ship, because every one of the warriors before us were protected against my musk, and our only chance would be for her to stun them with the queen's bliss, it didn't need to be absorbed by breath... it merely needed time to sit on their skin, which was still exposed due to their reliance on their loh for battle and defense.
"She wanted to leave to be an off-world diplomat," Mabel blurted, and then quickly added, "I think she intended to use the bounty hunter's ship to meet with our closest trade partners and negotiate new deals."
"How can you take blame for her choice to risk her safety by leaving Estreldez?" I tried to assure her that this was not her fault if Luan did choose to abandon her clan by leaving secretly.
Imploring Loric, she shed fresh tears. "Please, we need to find her. I thought I had time to tell her about King Sylve... it isn't safe."
"How do you know about King Sylve?" Loric's blue eyes hardened, and his loh glowed as if preparing for battle, and I stepped between them defensively.
"You will not speak with the Queen of Krelis like this," I warned. The glands in my throat clucked, and my wings flared out.
"Queen," Loric's voice trailed off, and he stared around me. Mabel's hand gripped the bottom of my wing, and her soft fingers stroked making me shiver. "Mab... is this true?" Not liking the way he had a sweet nickname for her, my face became blank and just a tad unsettled. I folded my wings back, and she chewed on her lip. She didn't feel comfortable with the title, I knew that, but Krelis needed her. Would she deny her place among the hive?
"Not officially," she shrugged, trying to act unaffected, but I felt her unease. What could I do to help her? Did she even need me? I backed away, feeling foolish for thinking that a queen would require a warrior such as myself for anything but to help fertilize her eggs.
I had snapped at her for being estreld when I told her of my desire to have a mate that wanted to stay with me, but krelin queens were no different. More certain now than ever that she was the daughter of Queen Leahme, and she was the next Queen of Krelis, but what did that mean for us? Was there even an us to have? Queens were different than warriors, not any different than what I'd learned of the mating habits of estrelds. I had accepted the queen of our hive had obligations to the many, not the one, but when I met Mabel... I had hoped my kansa mate was only for me.
As queen, she would have her pick of any warrior she chose, and there was no obligation to bond with any of them, as she would be bonded with the hive. I was selfish to want her for myself... she would bring the next generation of warriors... and one of her offspring would be the next queen. An overwhelming need to throw her over my shoulder, bring her to Kai Mountain, and make sure every last egg of hers was fertilized by my seed consumed me. If every egg was mine, then she would have no need for another mate.
The genetics of our hive would be screwed, I thought disgruntled with either option. I couldn't ruin the hive, but I couldn't reason with myself to allow another male to touch her. She had already made up her mind anyways, there was no need to think on it further. She did not want to officially be my mate, and my hearts tore a bit at the thought. I folded my arms over my chest to hide the ache and took a step back to give her the space she needed.
Loric tapped behind his ear, and I could hear on the other end of the communication that they had news about Luan. "A transport tech admitted that they let Luan use a carry pod to board a ship registered to an off-worlder."
"She can't be too far, that our own ships can't follow," Mabel insisted, but there was doubt in her assertions. The way Loric's face fell only added to the affect.
He shook his head. "The ship's logs were falsified, somehow they had a scrambler from the black market that as long as the ship was docked at the moon's waystation's computers it was constantly replacing the accurate ship data with the falsified data as long as it was connected to our network."
"How did we not catch it?" Mabel fumed at him, as if he were the technician behind the problem. I shouldn't have been even partially relieved to see her upset with him, but aside from the worry that Luan's disappearance caused, I had no issues with her disliking a male that otherwise had developed a relationship close to her enough to have a nickname.
He had nothing but the face of a trained diplomat, I should know, I was trained from a young age to have the same neutrally pleasant expression, no matter my feelings. "It's new technology," he said firmly before explaining, "the virus was attached to its original data logs, and preyed on the fact that we scan everything, using it to its advantage that it wouldn't be the only ship being scanned within a short amount of time. The delay allowed it to burrow and replace its own data with the falsified information. The original files are too corrupted to have any other lead except the virus was built by a well-known outlaw hiding out on Necias Delta Fal, called Xel.
"He's never been caught, and he's too cocky to hide his signature. After a job is completed, he has extra code in his programs to shove that fact in people's faces, while not revealing who the client is."
"So, we have nothing..." Mabel heaved in dismay.
"Not necessarily," I added, not able to stand the way seeing her upset made me feel. They all turned their attention to me. "Xel's work is expensive, and there are very few who can afford it. Given the warships that I passed on the way to Estreldez, we can reasonably assume King Sylve was one step ahead of us, and the ships were not his first action."
What I had to say wasn't comforting, but the simplest explanations were usually the most accurate. And truth was never very smooth in its acceptance, which made the assumption, though distasteful, have that much more merit. We need only search for the evidence one way or the other, but it was something to work from.
"We can't rule anything out, so it's a start." My hearts warmed when Mabel gave her agreement, supporting my theory. I imagined her leading the hive with such understanding, and firmness towards truth, wherever it may come from, that any warrior would be honored to proclaim her their queen. She sighed. "We also know who we should be looking for... Luan wouldn't have boarded just any ship, she had her eye on the bounty hunter. He was a shol, as I recall."
This wasn't Mabel's fault at all. I had let the shol go, even knowing he had interest in Luan. My guilt over my planet's part in destroying Sholunus had clouded my judgement. He was working with King Sylve all along, and if I had killed him, Estreldez and Krelis would have a better chance at stopping whatever King Sylve had planned, and perhaps, Luan would still be here.
"I've met many unscrupulous types over the years," Loric said while rubbing the exhaustion from his face, "I knew the shol was lying about something, but I hadn't thought it was as devious as kidnapping Luan. Mate with her...yes. I saw that in the way he watched her, but not this. We should speak with Almder."
A long silence passed amongst everyone as we traveled back to the palace, until Loric spoke, "So, queen, then?" He grinned, but sadness still clung to his eyes.
Ignoring his prompt about her title she diverted with discussing a plan instead. "We need to contact King Sylve and gauge his reaction. We can't tell him we think he has Luan, he could just lie, and if he doesn't have her, then we've revealed that she's missing."
Her dismissal of what she was gave me doubts she ever intended to free Krelis from my mother's savagery. And with that thought came many more, instilling fears that I had never felt before, ones where this journey was the last time I would admire the way the moon's light reflected off her black hair like stars lighting the way through the galaxy. I would follow them, if she'd have me, but if she refused to lead Krelis then I would have no choice but to dethrone my mother without her help. My people could not continue to suffer.
