Page 40 of Her Alien Prince
"Do you feel that?"
"It feels warm," another said with a sigh.
"Queen Mab, give us your blessing," many chanted and it was almost like they were inside my mind, overwhelming me, before Trent stepped forward and spread his own wings out, breaking the spell.
"What was that," I gasped, clutching at my chest. A splitting headache called attention to my kan when I tried to hold my temples and was scraped by the sharp end of the horns that were now an inch long.
Trent spun around to grab my hand and I was too stunned to stop him. He lifted my hand to his lips. His tongue flicked up my wrist, sending shivers down the back of my legs, and shooting urges I shouldn't have between my thighs. He lapped up the drop of blood from the tiny scratch, and for a moment I thought I could see something like panic in Trent's eyes, before it disappeared once more.
He dropped my hand, unceremoniously, and without a word, flew up into the hive.
"Where is he going?" I grumbled and stared at my hand that tingled where his tongue touched.
"He must have been summoned by Queen Kai," Commander Li-aq dismissed, and ushered me along the rest of the tour.
Something troubled me about Trent's behavior, but what could I do if he didn't feel the same way as me? I wanted more from him. More than what he was willing to give, but I also couldn't let go of this feeling inside that begged me to follow him. I thought he wanted more, he was so passionate about having someone to share his life and not simply someone to give him spawn.
The farther he flew away, the more my insides seemed to rip apart. I didn't like that he could make me feel this way. Finding out that my parents were either murdered, or abandoned me, in the last few days was enough to deal with. I didn't like being toyed with, and that's what this felt like. Like my guts were being twirled around for fun.
"Commander Li-aq," someone called from behind us, making us both turn our attention away from the fleeing Trent.
"Gho-ran, I thought you would stay with the ship," Commander Li-aq said with a tight smile.
"And miss the party?" The newcomer smacked Li-aq on the shoulder, though what might have been considered a friendly gesture between warriors, seemed more like an unwelcome aggravation by the way Li-aq stiffened with the contact.
"It isn't an open invitation, Gho-ran," he dismissed, "you should return to your commander's ship."
"Li-aq," he dropped all formalities of commander, and continued, "there isn't a party that I'm not invited to."
"It's for potential mates only," he said while his wings bristled, and a clucking sound vibrated around us that gave me an uncomfortable itch behind my ears.
"Then I guess all I need is Queen Mab's permission then," Gho-ran bowed before me with a mock flourish while extending his hand to me, "I, Gho-ran, second to Commander Trenton of Krelis, request the honor of attending your Mating Kloaph, as well as escorting you to the best chamber of the hive, while Li-crap returns to serious matters of importance to Queen Kai."
My eyes widened at the very slight, but distinct change in sound when he addressed Li-aq's name, which referred to him as crap. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing, and though I didn't know anything about Gho-ran, his candor and dislike of Li-aq was enough evidence to seek out his company, even if he weren't someone close to Trent. It didn't hurt that I wanted to pick his brain about what he knew about the Prince of Krelis.
"I've already picked out her chamber, next to Queen Kai, where she will want for nothing," Li-aq interjected before I could accept or deny, and he unwittingly gave Gho-ran the final blow that made my decision very clear. I wanted nothing to do with being that close in proximity to Queen Kai without investigating what was going on first.
"And the accommodations you have in mind?" I prompted Gho-ran, who read the situation as plain as if I had shouted my distrust of the queen from the top of the hive.
"They are on the opposite side of the hive, and have the best views of the mountain, My Queen."
"That sounds lovely," I agreed and took up his offered hand.
"You've crossed a line, Gho-ran," Li-aq threatened, but seemed reluctant to upset me by denying what I accepted. "Queen Mab, if you should change your mind, I will return to the heart within the hour to escort you to a queen's chamber." His wings burst open in a rush, and he bolted up in the direction Trent had left, leaving me with Gho-ran.
My new escort chuckled and kissed the top of my hand before righting himself. "Follow me, so we may speak freely."
I nodded, and through many tunnels that kept my eyes occupied, he finally stopped at a dead end, and I narrowed my eyes, thinking perhaps I'd been too hasty once more in giving him even a small bit of trust over Commander Li-aq. Then his wings buzzed, lifting him up, and he left me with no pre-amble or warning.
Flexing my back muscles, I allowed my wings to extend, but I had no practice in flying. They fluttered and flapped, but as I ascended, I smacked against the membrane of the hive several times, and by the time I made it to another opening at the top, I was practically upside down, and feeling nauseous. Gho-ran gave me a crooked smile and grabbed my hand to pull me through the new tunnel, and I quickly folded my wings back, collapsing to the floor.
"Real funny," I gritted, as he laughed, assisting me to my feet. Sweeping at my robes on instinct from the dust I was used to from the plains between the palace and the research center, I realized there wasn't any on the ground of the hive's tunnels. Curiosity made me scratch at the walls and see if the membrane flaked or not. It didn't. Whatever it was made of was stronger than any fiber I'd seen before, yet it appeared thin, and fragile. "There's no dust," I thought out loud.
"There wouldn't be," Gho-ran replied as if I were speaking to him. "The hive is designed with the heart circulating the air through the flexible membranes and sweeping any dust along with it. Trent would know more about how it works, I never really thought much on it myself, but he shoved me out of his rooms once when I was inviting him to seek out a mate. Too busy with whatever the hell he was doing, he wished for me to be swept up into its current and fly off." He chuckled heartily at the memory and thought of how similar Trent was in his dedication to his hive as I was to my clan. That same dedication was why I was so frustrated with him and betrayed by the knowledge that I'd fallen into his trap.
"He seems like the type to prioritize others," I grumbled. Others... not including me. It left a tangy grit in my mouth to know that his betrayal was more than simply tossing me into a party of krelins wishing to mate with me, but also a sign of his devotion to the survival of his hive. Could I fault him for bringing me here under the pretense of wishing to be my mate, it wasn't completely false, was it? He'd still be considered my "first mate" as Commander Li-aq had explained. I shivered at the idea of having Li-aq as any one of my mates. There was just something about him that irked me. Perhaps it was the way he leered or even the way his eyes appeared milky like he wasn't even looking at me at all some of the time.
I could end this pointless debate about if Trent was even worthy of sympathy for his actions if I knew he actually planned on saving Luan from King Sylve, or if that was a lie as well.
