Page 63 of Scars & Starlight
“Yes, princess?”
“Where are all the guards?”
We’re not encountering any alien kind of knights or even servants. In fact, we’re moving through the space like we’re the only ones here.
“There’s no need for guards in the palace. None of our people would wish us any harm, and in the event of an outside incursion, for which the chances are near negligible, automated defense systems would deploy.
Well, that’s neat and unfathomable. How many political leaders did humans assassinate in the last one hundred years alone?
“Huh. And servants? Maids?”
“They’re the artificial kind. Like your little mech here.”
Kiko beeps three times, happy to be acknowledged, and I lean down so he can climb to his usual spot on my shoulders.
“Doesn’t it get a bit quiet and lonely?” I ask in a murmur once the robot is settled, not wanting to insult anyone if they overhear me.
Kai tickles my side. “That’s why we’re here. To make sure these halls aren’t silent.”
Blushing, I quickly glance around to make sure we’re alone indeed. “You’re terrible,” I mutter.
“Terribly in love with you,” he says smoothly as he ushers me to a large door, his words warming me from head to toe.
I spin around and brace my hands on my hips. “Do you think you’ll get lucky if you suck up to me?” I ask with a falsely stern voice.
His hand reaches behind me to tap on a console.
“I don’t think, I know,” he says darkly.
I spin around to see quarters fit for a prince, with a very large, very inviting bed calling for us from the other side.
“Kiko, why don’t you retire for the night?” I suggest to my tiny faithful companion. Obviously knowing where to go, Kiko scrambles inside and disappears into a side panel.
Kairen strides past me and turns so he’s facing me as he moves backward toward his bed.
“You have me all to yourself now, Princess. What are you going to do with me?” he asks silkily.
“Anything and everything I want to,” I reply, already tugging my shirt over my head.
By the time we reach his bed – our bed – we’re both naked and I make good on my promise.
The next daysare a blur of outings with Kairen’s family, especially his sister, and making love with my prince under the gently waving aurora, among the glowing mushrooms. Sometimes Kai takes me with him to his meetings with other Avaren military leaders, saying I can be as involved or uninvolved as I want to be.
I told him I never imagined myself at any kind of war meeting, but I’ve gotten some experience with them these last few weeks nonetheless. So I go and I learn about how the Avaren wage their longstanding war against the Ghorvek. I decided to be the best princess I can possibly be, asking the queen about how to best serve her people, and listening to Kai’s musings on Ghorvek movements. Are they deviating from the centuries of strategy they employed previously? Are they adapting with each planet they conquer and each species they assimilate into their gene pool as unwilling husks?
Some of these meetings are more painful than others. It was unavoidable to run into the father of the Avaren I killed, albeit accidentally, the father of Kairen’s ex-girlfriend, now his brother’s ex-girlfriend too. General Korvann avoids looking at me whenever possible, maybe because whenever our eyes do meet, his attempt to burn me to a cinder on the spot. He makes a point to contradicteverything Kai says, turning discussions that could be short into long back-and-forths.
“I want to wipe that sneer off his face with a rock,” I mutter to Kairen after one such painful meeting. “I don’t normally resort to violence over a discussion, but listening to him throw barely veiled shade at you for hours makes me a bit murderous.”
Kai’s arm wraps around me in a comforting way. “Barely veiled shadeis the standard when you’re a royal in a high position outside of the palace.” He sighs, looking at the glowing trees on each side of the path we’re walking down. Avaren nod in greeting or even bow as we pass, all wearing welcoming smiles that contrast sharply with whatever the general has been sending our way. “I had to prove myself more than any commander has in the past.”
“Oh no,” I drawl. “Did the widdle baby pwince stwuggle wuggle?”
Kai stops walking, his embrace forcing me to come to a standstill too. “Are you mocking my plight?” he growls playfully. “Do you even know what the punishment for mocking royals is?”
I raise my eyebrows. “Being sent to bed without the evening nutrition shake?”
“That’s it.” Kai’s eyes sparkle in the pastel haze of the ever-present bioluminescence. “You better run for your life.” His eyebrows lower. “If I catch you, I’m going to tickle you until you cry for mercy.”
