Page 84 of Alien Prince's Fake Bride
I think about it. Is this something she needs to know? “I don’t want to scare you.”
She tugs on two tendrils, and it’s not unpleasant. “Oh, you think you can scare me? The girl who attacked yourGladiuxin a craft made of foil and sticky tape? Try me.”
I smile at her challenge. “Some of our legionnaires think they’re seeing Phrexz. On the battlefields and in space. Just one or two, and then they lose sight of them. I don’t know what to make of it. Nobody’s actually seen a Phrexz. I mean, no Khavgren has.”
“You worry that the Vyrpy and the Phrexz are allied now?”
“It’s hard to imagine the Phrexz being allied to anyone. But yes, if they are, that is a worry. It could also be battlefield fatigue. These battles are tough on our legionnaires. They might be seeing things that don’t exist, the things they fear the most. It’s just one more reason why we really need an Emperor who can use the Syntrix right! But our forces are not getting any help from him.”
“They need you on that weird throne.” Umbra tries to tie two tendrils together in a knot, but I make them twist and writhe to make it harder for her.
“That would be better,” I agree. “But even Craxallo should be able to use the Syntrixsomewhat. He’s not that weak. Sick, yes. But even sick people have use of the Syntrix. Now we lost track of the Vyrpy main fleet. Last we saw them, they were on a course straight for Khav.”
I’m not sure if I should share all this with Umbra. It’s none of her business, after all. It’s not her war. She’s only looking forward to going back to Earth with some of our spaceships. But it feels completely natural to tell her about my worries. As if she were my real wife, and not my fake one.This is what being truly married feels like,comes an unbidden thought.This is what I want from a marriage.
“I keep wondering,” Umbra says as she keeps trying to tie all my tendrils together in one big knot, “what’s limiting his Syntrix. I never had Syntrix myself until recently. As you’ve seen, there’s not much I can do to stop it. It does what it wants. Or rather, it does whatIwant, even before I know what that is. He must be really weak to not be able to use it.”
I frown. “You think someone is stopping him?”
Umbra looks at me with her big, clear eyes. “Would that be possible? Could someone keep him so weak that he can’t use Syntrix, but strong enough that he doesn’t die? Keeping the Empire weak for years and years, while the enemies come closer?”
I think about it. “I suppose that could be possible. I’ve never heard of it happening. You’d need some kind of… hmm.” I don’t say the last word,poison. I’m sure we’re being eavesdropped on, even in this apartment. And if it is the Empress, it’s better if I don’t reveal my suspicions. “No, it’s too far-fetched,” I state as I quickly flick my gaze to the ceiling. “Nobody could keep him weak. There’s no way I know of.”
Umbra gives me a little smile, showing me that she understands I’m really speaking to our unseen audience, not to her. “All right. I was just asking. This is all so new to me. Oh, we saw the Mareliux Park today. It was so wonderful…”
She goes on to tell me about her day, and when she takes a break to draw breath, I lean in to kiss her. “Let’s continue this in the bedroom.”
Later, when I’m looking into her eyes as I penetrate her, I see the understanding in her eyes. There’s such warmth in her, such care! And she’s the one who’s kept me alive since we got to Khav. I thought she would give me problems. But she has done the opposite. She has made everything easier. And she’s made my life better.
What if it were possible? What if I could keep her here, as my wife? As my princess? As my empress? She handles my family well. She deals with the people in a way nobody else ever has. She makes friends everywhere she goes. Even my spoiled rascal of a brother respects her, having tested her with outrageousremarks and had her completely turn them back on him in an unassailable way. What an empress she could be!
“I love you,” I moan as I spray inside her and she screams out her own, Syntrix-strengthened climax.
And I mean it. I love her. Not for what she can do for me. But for what she is.
“Stay with me,” I growl into her ear when we’re both recovering from the intense exertion. “Stay. I need you.Weneed you.”
“Yes,” she says, still shaking from the aftershocks of her enviable climax. “I need you, too.”
She falls asleep in my arms. And my life suddenly looks brighter than before.
33
- Mareliux-
The Tentacle Throne sends a tendril my way, testing the air around me before it withdraws.
I give a shallow nod to the Throne’s bony occupant. “Thank you for seeing me, Your Imperial Magnificence.”
My voice echoes from the sides. It’s daytime, but the throne room is dark and only illuminated by thousands of flickering torches.
The Emperor is wearing white robes with purple piping, sitting in an awkward, hunched-over position on the seat of the Throne. It’s as if he’s not used to sitting there, as if he can’t get comfortable.
“It’s tradition for the heir apparent to be granted an audience with the Emperor any time he wants,” he says in his brittle voice. “Provided the privilege is not abused, of course. What do you want, Crown Prince Mareliux?”
Four Calanian guards stand behind me, and two are standing to the side. I’ve never been this closely guarded. It looks like they think I’ll lunge at the Imperator and cut him in half with Bellatriz. I can’t imagine this is standard procedure, but I haven’t had a private audience with Craxallo for many years. Perhaps he went paranoid over the years.
“Magnificence,” I begin, “our armies are struggling against our enemies. They lose small battles where they should win easily. They miss shots that should strike the target. They lose their nerve for no reason. They don’t trust themselves and make silly mistakes. They desert and flee when fighting smaller, weaker forces. Not all of them. But so many that it’s a concern. Our armies were better than this. Much better. These days, I can’t trust some of our legions to fight battles without me present because they start to surrender for no good reason.”
