Page 61 of Her Alien Delegate
"Queen Riley fell for our king when she thought he was nothing more than a criminal with no honor. Violet fell for Roe-el even knowing his status as commander was just a title with no ship to command. The ship was always Mier-Lo's, andhe only had command because of his escort mission under the contract signed by the princess and future ruler of Trillume. He has no tribe to give her, but she still chose him over that of a commissioner for an entire planet. If humans can mate for warriors in those conditions, then I have a chance to be more than a medic for the rest of my life."
"I'm sure there are others who would see your worth beyond your title in the tribe."
He shook his head. "I would lose a Rakturan duel, and our females require winning a duel against them to be worthy of mating. I may live my whole life serving the tribe to earn privileges to bathe them, but nothing more."
I frowned.
"Evie!" I heard my name called out in desperation. I turned to find Riley rushing through the hut flap of the medical huts connected together.
"Why are you running?" I asked her, quickly meeting her halfway. She huffed and adjusted the spear at her back. She carried that thing everywhere.
"I didn't know... I'm so sorry," she said, panting.
"Didn't know what?"
"The unGor have been requesting to see you for weeks. They've been surface side this whole time. They are very sick but refusing medical treatment."
"What do you mean, they're sick?" I felt my chest clench like my heart would explode.
Her lip wobbled, and she looked about to cry, but then she angrily shouted, "Direl thought he was doing what was best for his tribe brother, Wren-Kal! He's been sneaking off in the middle of the night and I caught him doing it again this morning! He's going to regret it!"
"They're here? Are they okay?" I tried to get her to speed up and get to the point. Where were they, and are they okay?
"I'm sorry, I know you've been hoping they would come and explain themselves. My mate was trying to do something he thought would make me happy. He stupidly thought that if you mated with Wren-Kal that you would join the tribe and both me and Wren-Kal would be happy. And of course, in his mind, he knows both of us would bring you happiness, so he didn't understand. I know you've missed the unGor, and if it weren't for Violet... you would have looked for them."
"They agreed to have me fuck someone else to prove their bond was stronger..." I grumbled with my arms crossed over my chest. The panic on Riley's face reminded me that now was not the time to worry about the past. "How bad is it?"
"I didn't check..." Riley admitted sheepishly. "I just took Direl's word for it and came to get you. They said they were willing to die on Necias Prime and create a diplomatic nightmare for our tribe if they didn't get to at least talk to you. Direl was going to wait until you completed a Rakturan with Wren-Kal before telling you anything."
"Take me to them."
When I arrived at the cave guarded by several necia warriors, I realized that it was more than just Direl that had kept the unGor a secret from us.
Riley smashed the bottom of her spear into the ground with annoyance. "You are dismissed."
"Yes, my queen."
Another warrior averted his eyes, and the other bowed his head with reverence before saying, "We will submit ourselves towhatever will quell your anger. King Direl has said the unGor will gift the tribe with kengak to promote your fertility."
"Did he now? So he's making baby plans without me, too?"
"Never," the warrior denied. "It was to be presented to you as an offering."
I whispered into Riley's ear, "You know what kengak is, right?"
"We talked about it," she said with a blush. "Direl said it could help us with having an offspring of our own if I'm concerned about not being able to carry a hybrid species."
I wouldn't embarrass her with what it was in front of her tribe. She could decide about it later.
"Can I go in?" I asked her instead.
"Of course you can," she said while glaring at the warriors to not interfere.
They watched as I rushed past them to find Broma, Pheyal, and Vaquel sweating profusely in beds with a healer rubbing herbs on them.
"What's wrong with them?" I asked her.
"Evie?" Broma croaked, but when he opened his eyes, they were all milky and glassy, like he couldn't see. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Forgive me."
