Page 131 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
I get up on tiptoes to get closer to the picture. “They are wearing Syntrix rings. And it looks like they have a glow to them.”
“We will never know for sure. Anyway, whenever the Empress felt that it was time for the Emperor to leave his tower, she went up there and talked him down, so to speak. Only Bavinet could deal with him. It’s likely that many of his decrees and rulings and decisions were really hers. Or her suggestions, anyway.”
“And these are their children.” I point to the three other portraits.
Mareliux strokes one finger along the frame of one of the pictures. “One of them must be Emperor Hasrinax. He ruled for forty years and put the Empire on an upward path that lasteduntil… well, until Craxallo married the Phrexz that was posing as Juriniel. Anyway, I just wanted to show them to you. Many marriages at the Imperial Court are cold and deadly. But not all.”
“Thank you,” I say. “It’s good to see. I like that family.”
“Hopefully Craxallo will last for years. But sooner or later, we must take over. And with Soulbound like us, it won’t be just me who will rule. You will, too. We will be able to rule the Empire together. As one. You will be a true Empress, like Bavinet was. It will be glorious.”
I shrug. “All right. I never wanted to rule anyone, but I will do my best.”
“Wewill both do our best.” He sits down in the armchair, making it creak. “And I won’t be walking around in this tower all the time. But I think we can come here sometimes. It depends on what happens now.”
I look around. “What will happen?”
He leans forwards, and his arms and tentacles grab me and pull me over to sit on his lap. “You tell me. I’m sure Bavinet would appreciate it if we used her room for something fun.”
I can feel his bulge twitching right under my butt, so I wiggle my hips. “Maybe that’s what they did here, all the time. Aderianux walking in circles up there was their cover story. They just wanted to have some privacy in this tower.”
His deep chuckle vibrates through me and sends a shiver up my spine as his tentacles tighten their grip on me. “Privacy, you say? Then let’s make this tower our own, just for tonight.” His hands, slide up my sides His fingers brush the edge of my shirt,while one tentacle traces a slow, deliberate path along my thigh, igniting sparks with every inch.
I tilt my head back. “You think you can handle me up here, all alone?” My hips roll again, teasing that growing hardness beneath me.
The air thickens with anticipation as he leans in, lips grazing my neck. His breath is hot against my skin. The world narrows to the creak of the armchair, the rustle of fabric, and the pounding of my heart as we lose ourselves in the heat of the moment.
53
- Umbra-
The next days fly past in a kaleidoscope of faces, names, rooms, land craft, spaceships and Syntric impressions that are sometimes stronger than all the other senses combined.
I suspect that I can’t live without the Syntrix anymore. If it suddenly vanished, I would survive, but a part of my mind would be hollow and dark, cold and longing. It’s clear to me that humans were meant to have Syntrix, and the worst thing anyone ever did to Earth may well have been the Phrexz putting a Syntric veil around it.
Mareliux secretly sends out an official order to have the legions report to him any sightings of the flying saucers that abducted Ashlynn. None of them have seen any such thing, but two of the legions recount old myths about the dracos and their servant species, the Plood. That sounds just like the myth that Caret’ax talked about before, and it feels so much like a fairy tale that it has to be one. But it’s a good start that Mareliux is letting me usehis resources to look for her. It keeps the hope alive. I will find her, even if I have to fly to each and every planet myself.
The wedding approaches fast, and the whole palace city fills up with guests and others. Despite the size of the city, it’s starting to feel really crowded. I don’t think I’ve realized fully until now what it means to be the capital of a whole galactic empire. When Mareliux and I go out on a darkened balcony two nights before the ceremony to simply listen, the atmosphere and excitement in the city are electric, even if nobody can see us.
“The people have really needed this,” Mareliux says softly. “A reason to celebrate good news from Khav. Most of our worlds have thrown out the Vyrpy invaders on their own, with no help from our Imperial legions. Our wedding will be both a Court celebration and a celebration of victory for everyone.”
“How many have come to Khav from other planets?” I ask. “Does anyone know? It’s just, the streets are packed.”
Mareliux bends down to sniff my hair, the way he likes. “According to the reports on the visuals, there’s now thirty million visitors on Khav. The legions had to provide tents for about half of them in all the parks and in a wide radius of the fields and forests around the city. There simply isn’t room for them all in the existing houses. There’s never been this many visitors on Khav. Never in the history of the Empire.”
My jaw drops. “Thirty million?”
He smirks in the darkness, and one of his tendrils strokes the back of my neck. “Well, forty. Because we had to bring in ten million legionnaires to keep everyone safe. And of course that’s in addition to all those who live on Khav already. About twenty million of them are also here now, in the palace.”
The numbers make me dizzy. “But what will they do? How will they… I mean, there can’t possibly be room for that many inside the temple where we’ll get married.”
“Not sixty million, no. But we’ll make sure everyone sees us. After the ceremony, you and I will receive the congratulations of the people. All sixty million will walk past us. The Square of Heroes has room for about one half million at a time. That’s why the wedding will take place so early in the morning. I want them all to see us. Nobody will leave the city palace without having had the chance to see their future Empress. We’ll be standing there all day and well into the evening, with only short breaks for food. There will be no other reception. Even those who think they are important must walk past our balcony to get our attention. Thepeopleof the Empire are important. I want them to know that.Allof them.” His voice goes thick at the end.
I turn around and embrace him. “Well,youare important tome.”
“I know,” my fiance growls. “And you are the center of my life. You always will be.”
“That’s the idea,” I agree, relaxing into his warmth and slow, strong heartbeat.
