Carefully, he planted a thought deep in her mind. Nothing radical. Nothing she would notice or consider uncharacteristic for her. It was simply a suggestion that she should do as Ksar wanted for the time being and that she could always turn the situation against Ksar at some point in the future—a very remote future.
She didn’t notice anything.
But then again, why would she when everyone knew it was impossible to plant thoughts without eye contact?
Ksar smiled.
Infinite power corrupts, a voice said scathingly in the back of his mind. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Seyn’s.
Ksar frowned and checked his mental shields, but they were impenetrable as always. He had imagined it.
Or perhaps it was the voice of his conscience he’d thought he no longer had.
Pressing his lips together, Ksar discarded the thought. He had no time for this. He had a busy day ahead of him. More people in need of persuading.
Persuading was a good word. It could mean a number of things.
Ksar drummed his fingers on the armrest.
But first, he had a special meeting before he could return to the political negotiations.
“Borg’gorn, is Lady Leylen’shni’gul here already?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Ksar schooled his face into an amicable expression as the door whooshed open again, admitting Harht’s bondmate.
Ksar studied her. She was pleasant to look at, pleasant in manner and appearance. Harht was lucky. She was definitely less of a bother than Seyn.
A flash of irritation at the thought of Seyn made it more difficult to put on a smile for the girl.
“Lady Leylen’shni’gul,” he said. “Please, take a seat.”
Blushing slightly, she did. “Your Highness. Is there a reason you requested my presence?”
“There is,” Ksar said, dropping his gaze. For a moment, he considered simply forcing her to do his bidding, but he dismissed the idea. It would be too risky. A skilled mind adept could discover that she was being influenced—and if everything went as he planned, a skilled mind adept was going to examine her mind for a very specific reason.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much time, so I’ll speak candidly,” Ksar said, softening his voice. “In a few months, an amendment to the Bonding Law will be passed. From then on, anyone who reached the age of majority would be able to request the dissolution of their bond. You reach the age of majority in three months.”
She stared at him. He could practically see her mind working. She wasn’t a stupid girl. “You want me to request the dissolution of my bond to your brother?” she said slowly. “Why would I do that? I’m perfectly content with my bond.”
Of course she was. While she was of noble blood, and her family owned one of the biggest deposits of korviu, the invaluable chemical element necessary for the use of transgalactic teleporters, her family’s social standing wasn’t very high. A prince was a catch for her. She would never willingly dissolve the bond to Harht.
Not for the first time, Ksar wished he could simply break Harht’s bond to the girl himself—he was more than capable of it—but it wouldn’t solve Harht’s problem. It wouldn’t make him free in the eyes of the law.
Ksar also wished he could simply wait until Harht reached the age of majority and could request the dissolution of the bond himself, but after seeing the state of his brother’s mind, he didn’t think Harht had that much time. Of course Ksar could have pushed for a complete repeal of the Bonding Law, but the Council would never vote for it, and it would be highly suspicious if everyone suddenly changed their mind.
So negotiating with Leylen’shni’gul was the only option. Luckily, Ksar knew something she would be more than willing to break her bond for.
Ksar met the girl’s eyes. “And what if I offered myself in my brother’s place?”
Her eyes widened. She blushed. “I... I’m afraid I don’t understand, Your Highness. I thought you were bonded to Prince Seyn’ngh’veighli.”
Suppressing another surge of annoyance, Ksar forced a pleasant look on his face. “Soon, I won’t be.”
She smiled.
CHAPTER 25
Calluvia didn’t have winters. It didn’t have deserts or wastelands. The weather was perfect most of the year. The surface was green and lush, ridiculously tall trees everywhere.
Harry had always loved this about his home planet, but now he couldn’t help but notice how artificial it was. All of this was genetically engineered from the remains of extinct plants, and millions of agricultural robots looked after it. The planet looked vibrant and perfect on the surface, but it wasn’t natural.
Harry wondered what Calluvia would look like if his people didn’t interfere with the natural order of things. The lovely gevishku tree he was sitting under had been extinct for a million years before the geneticists decided to bring it back just because it was so pretty. Was it right?
Similarly, the throwback gene he was carrying would have never existed if the geneticists hadn’t interfered with the natural order of things. The surl’kh’tu were long extinct, but here he was, a throwback to ancient times.