Page 41 of Radakk's Mate
“Maybe I was. Maybe I wasn’t,” I blurt. “But I wasn’t aware one must possess a cock to engage in espionage.”
His grip on my thigh tightens. “Careful, little empress. You will keep a respectful tone while you’re speaking with me.”
My breath falters at his threatening tone, and I flush when his hand moves between my thighs, lightly stroking my crotch through the thin layers of my threadbare pants and underwear.
“I must leave now and attend a meeting on theRorrsa, but I will return in time for the evening meal. When I return, we are going to have a long conversation about your past, little spy. I want to know everything about you.”
Chapter24
RADAKK
It’s latewhen I return to theHaxxal, and my steps are weighed down by fatigue. In addition to the fleet-wide meeting of captains that I attended, I also paid a visit to my uncle. While he’s often agitated and violent, today he was nearly catatonic. His eyes remained open, and he blinked now and then, but he didn’t once acknowledge my presence. It was unsettling.
End stage. Becoming suddenly withdrawn is a sign that he’s reaching end stageforlonggsa.
I pray Doctor Zahhn will be able to help him. I pray the experimental treatment works wonders.
My uncle was once a highly respected diplomat, and though I would never admit it aloud, he was wiser than my father, calmer and more rational. He was one of the few males who dared to speak up when Emperor Ghannas ordered the destruction of the Yelltzins’ homeworld.
I pause in the royal corridors as the darkness of that day surrounds me. I’d stood on the bridge of theHaxxal, watching as my father gave the order to decimate an entire race. Watched as my uncle pleaded with him to reconsider, to at least harvest females from the planet before blowing it up. Watched as my father ordered my uncle beaten and dragged away to the brig, where he’d languished until my father died and I came into power. Freeing my uncle was one of my first acts as emperor.
Yes, the Yelltzins were our enemies, but they were led by a murderous psychopath that many of them were attempting to overthrow. Differing factions of rebels sent messages to the Darrvason fleet, begging us for mercy, promising to dispose of their mad leader and make reparations for the harm caused to us. They even promised us females. Females we desperately needed.
Having just lost my mother in the attack on the Darrvason homeworld, consumed by anger and grief, and perhaps touched by a little madness of his own, my father was unmoved. A shiver rushes through me as I recall the coldness in his voice, and the deadness in his eyes, as he gave the final orders to destroy the Yelltzins’ fleet, followed by their homeworld.
I’d been a child at the time, ten years old and grieving the loss of my mother, too terrified to speak against my father. Even though I believed his actions weren’t only rash and unwise, but unconscionable.
I clench my hands into fists and growl. Some of my people believe Emperor Ghannas was a noble male who made the right call. Others believe he was a fool and a tyrant, though no one has ever made such comments to my face. But I hear reports from Admiral Tornn about the whisperings, as well as the worry that I’ll be just like him.
I want to prove I’m nothing like my father.
I want to prove I can restore the Darrvason Empire to glory. Once, we numbered in the millions, and we possessed a lush, beautiful planet filled with majestic cities as well as small, quaint farming communities. Once, we had over a thousand vessels in our fleet.
But we finally have hope.
Females. We finally have females. In six moon cycles, we’ll be in possession of over two thousand fertile women, and the next generation will be born on the soil of Planet 58-Z, a world we’ll share with the humans.
I resume walking down the royal corridors and head for my quarters, eager to return to Thalia. My mate. I must interrogate her. Learn who she was aboard theJansonna. Discover her secrets. Ensure she understands that her life as a spy is over and all she must worry about as my mate is pleasing me and rearing our offspring.
In return for her cooperation, I will protect her, provide for her, and do everything in my power to give her a comfortable life.
“Thalia,” I call out as I enter my quarters. Her scent greets me, and I follow it to the sitting room, where she’s gazing out the viewscreen.
She turns to face me, and as I take in the appearance of her clothing, shame washes through me. I haven’t yet ordered her a new wardrobe, and I must rectify that soon. She’s wearing the clothing she brought in her suitcase. Clothing that barely passes as rags.
Tomorrow, I resolve. Tomorrow, I’ll take her measurements to the royal tailor and order her a hundred fashionable gowns. I’ll also visit a jeweler and purchase the finest necklaces and bracelets created with rare jewels mined on the Darrvason homeworld. She’ll need better shoes too, a pair to match each dress. She’s my empress, and when I finally (in a few moon cycles) bring her out in public, she ought to be decked out in the finery that befits her status as my mate.
I reach out to her, and she approaches me with slow steps. Her cheeks pinken when she places her hand in mine, and a dark thrill courses through me when the faint scent of her arousal reaches my nose. I take a deep breath, savoring the aroma of her slickness, the sign that her body is preparing to accept my shafts.
“Let us eat dinner together and talk, little spy.”
Worry flickers in her eyes, and she doesn’t respond.
“You have nothing to fear. Come with me. I hear Closta setting the table.”
* * *
THALIA
