Page 45 of Touch the Stars
A moment later, he stepped through the wavering hatchway and strode down the short ramp, Kaitlyn at his side.A flurry of motion drew his gaze to a small, furry imperial attendant scampering across the white metal floor of the bay.
“Attendant Nak.”Baatar lowered himself to one knee to be closer to the Kavian as they spoke.
“Warrior Baatar.”Nak skidded to a halt and rose to stand on his back legs.He darted a quick glance at Kaitlyn.“Your mission was successful?”
“It was.Have you heard from your missing friend yet?”
Nak smoothed his whiskers with his hands.“Nothing have I heard.Fear the worst, I do.So many strange things happening.”More smoothing.“The grand emperor, he worries too.Much stress.I know not why.”
This was not the news he had hoped for.
“Warrior.”Nak spoke now in a murmur.“An outsider you have brought to the imperial complex.Why?”
The mission had been secret, but Nak would find out very soon anyway, so what harm could come from telling him now?
He leaned close and placed his finger to Nak’s cheek.“Do not share this until the great one announces it, but she is the one he sent me to retrieve.The Ancient Ones have chosen her as the heir.”
Nak made a soft squeak of excitement, trembling from his whiskers to his tail.“The heir?We have anheir?Glorious is this day.Yes, yes!”
The Kavian cast a quick glance around the bay, then turned to Kaitlyn and fell backward to expose his vulnerable belly to her.“I am Attendant Nak.I live to serve.”
Nak’s eyes were full of utter adoration for Kaitlyn, while her mouth hung open.Who knew that a Kavian falling prostate at her feet was what it took to stun her into silence?A hearty laugh rose to his chest, and he pressed his lips together to keep it from escaping and ruining her chance to make the best first impression on someone who would serve her.
Speaking of which, she seemed unsure of what to do next, and he was the only one present to instruct her in imperial protocol.
He stood and leaned closer to her.“Give him leave to rise.”
“Um, oh, right.”She cleared her throat.“You can rise, er, Attendant Nak.”
Nak flipped over to stand on his back feet.“Please, if you will follow me, Empress.Turn in his weapons, Warrior Baatar must, before entering the imperial complex.Then, to the grand emperor I take you.Come, come.”
Chapter 15
Kaitlyn.
First,thethree-armedstoneemperor, and now a giant talking rat who was leading the way through the stark, beautiful corridors of an alien imperial palace.
Did I fall through a magic fucking wardrobe, or something?
Only this wasn’t a fantasy world.It was real, and full of weird-ass creatures.Who lived in a very minimalist and somewhat monotone palace.Sure, the white marble floor and ceiling would make any stone mason drool, but dang, this place was duller than space travel.Even with the pale-yellow columns supporting the archways, which looked like they’d each been cut from single topaz gemstones.Good lord.
She tilted her head toward Baatar.“This place must’ve taken a long time to build.”
Nak made an excited chittering noise as he turned around to walk backward.“All simulated, it is, for the comfort of the current grand one.Changes, it does, with each new imperial leader.”
“Oh.”Good to know.If it had been real, her first act as empress would be to sell it all off to feed and educate poor people.If there were any poor people in the empire.“Well, someone sure likes his stonework.”
“HeisRagatian.”Baatar gave her a pointed look.
Right.The whole rock-like life-form thing.Guess living in houses made of marble and oversized gemstones was perfectly normal on Ragat.
Nak faced forward again as he led them through a set of open doors that were at least fifteen feet high.“The corridor to the grand emperor’s audience chambers, this is.Come, come.”
Good thing she still had her tennis shoes on, because the next set of doors looked like they were a mile away.
They covered the distance in a few minutes.As they approached, a soft, eerie gong echoed through the hallway.A shiver cascaded down her spine as the doors swung soundlessly inward.This was it.She caught her lip between her teeth and glanced at Baatar.Damn.That expressionless mask was back.No last look of reassurance from him.
She stepped through the doorway and moved to the center of the spacious—and also starkly opulent—room.Her gaze was drawn from one tall marble table to another topped with geodes or cut stones.Ragatian fine art, maybe?
