“Thank you for helping me explain to cousin Radella that I didn’t want to claim the throne. I can’t believe she argued with us for so long.”
I wasn’t queen. My mother’s spire was still lit, which meant she was alive. Somewhere. That she was still the queen. Therefore, an ascension ceremony would be disrespectful and wrong.
But Radella and her husband saw things differently. They said Alera had been without a rightful ruler for too long. That further delay would destabilize the great houses.
I had to disagree. And, I later admitted to Leo, I needed the great houses to be running scared. One of them had kidnapped my mother. I was sure of it. And fat, contented bears didn’t leave their dens. I needed them to be worried. Scared about what I might do next. Afraid I would take what was theirs.
“I think your cousin wanted a reason to have a party,” Leo commented, as he looked out over the crowd. We were standing on a raised area that circled the entire central dancing floor. Music from a small orchestra guided revelers through the steps of—what I assumed—were Aleran dances. It reminded me of Scottish reels and even a little like square dancing, although without the caller.
“I’m not too excited about her since she was obviously the one who sent the Royal Consort to my bed,” I grumbled. Most Aleran women would find her gesture thoughtful… seeing to my every need, but me? No way. I spared a glanced at Leo. I didn’t even feel him stiffen beside me at the mention of the Royal Consort, but I had a feeling that was because everyone knew—and could clearly see—that we were mates. No more naked men in my bed except Leo. “But I have to give her credit. She’d make an amazing wedding planner on Earth.”
Leo turned my face so I looked at him, and I almost got lost in his dark eyes, forgot there was an entire ballroom full of people watching us. “You are not upset that this isn’t a wedding reception?”
I swallowed, thought of my family. Shook my head. “I accept you as my mate. I do, Leo. But I can’t have a wedding or celebrate with my mother… somewhere. And my sisters. Faith and Destiny can’t come out of hiding, and risk what they’re doing just to be my bridesmaids. They’re safe because they’re anonymous. And my dad should be here. Well, my step-dad, but he raised me as his own. I don’t want a wedding without my family there. I would rather wait.”
“This formal ceremony or wedding, as you call it, makes no difference to me. You are mine. A ritual of this sort or even grander reception won’t change what’s between us,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. “All of Alera knows you are mine. I am content to wait until you are ready.”
He kissed me. And just that fast, I was lost. No one else mattered. No one but Leo. We were alone in the middle of a crowded ballroom—
A roar broke out across the room and we broke apart to look. Everyone was clapping and cheering our kiss. I couldn’t help but smile, and I felt my cheeks heat. Caught lusting after Leo by half of Mytikas.
Leo wrapped an arm around me. “No going back now,” he murmured as he pressed his lips to my cheek with a satisfied, very male, grin.
I felt like Cinderella at the ball. I already had my Prince Charming—and everyone knew it—but there was no pumpkin hour and I wasn’t in disguise. I was in a frou-frou, pale blue dress and my hair was pulled up in a fancy complicated twist. I looked like some Disney princess at a southern beauty pageant.
The Alerans who had waited faithfully for their queen’s return seemed to be happy. Thrilled, even, that while Queen Celene wasn’t here, her daughter was. I gave them hope, a happiness that had been missing. The cousins who frowned, or worried what my appearance meant to their status, I ignored. For now.
Smiling, I waved to everyone and was just glad Leo was at my side instead of across the room pretending to be just a guard.
“You are mine, Trinity.” His gruff voice was a blast of heat in my ear. “We must dance.”
I wasn’t sure if we must dance, but I wasn’t going to stop him from holding me in his arms. Even with his size, he led me around the dance floor with a grace that only came from practice. He moved slowly, the dress I wore even more elaborate than the one I’d first appeared in on the palace steps after transporting from Battleship Karter. Definitely Cinderella.
“You are mine, Leo. Forever.” I smiled up at him because I could and laid my cheek to his chest, holding him close. I had no doubts. Not about his love for me. Not when this strange gift I’d been given made his love shine around him like a halo. So easy to see. The ability had grown stronger the last two days. The energy around people so bright and easy to read, i
t felt like cheating.
The dancing couples who swirled and moved past us laughed and nodded to us. Cheerful and happy. Others though, I could see the envious, mud-colored auras of several men and women around the edges of the dancing area. Either they didn’t have enough to drink or were just party poopers. I ignored them, closed my eyes, and breathed Leo into my lungs. He smelled familiar and warm. So perfect. Sexy. I could stay here all night.
But that was not the plan. First, Leo and I would make a complete circuit, then, one by one, we would be required to dance with other guests. “I must hand you off to others now. While I wish to keep you in my arms all night, it would be rude and ill-formed of you to neglect your subjects.”
Leo sounded grim, like he was going to hand me off to the Royal Consort, not Aleran citizens who wanted their turn to dance with the princess.
“I wish I had an ion blaster strapped to my thigh,” I told him. “Destiny’s mad self-defense ideas would work great with a dress this… poufy.”
I glanced down at the big skirt of my blue dress. I could hide a football team beneath it and no one would notice. A small ion pistol in a thigh holster would be nothing.
I was sure each and every guest would want to question me about my mother, the other women who had entered the citadel, the light of the spires, how I’d found Leo and all about our mating. They’d ask—but I wouldn’t answer. I had no idea where my mother was. I had no intention of telling them where to find my dad, back on Earth. My sisters were anonymous, and I intended to keep it that way. And Leo? Well, Leo was mine. All mine. They saw us kiss. That was more than enough.
There was no divorce on Alera. It didn’t exist. Leo, Radella, and even Danoth, had told me that if two people decided they no longer wanted to be together, they simply set up separate bedrooms—or, if they were wealthy, wings of the house—and went about their lives. But their children—those born of their union—inherited everything together. There was no his, hers and ours here. The society was very formal but had gone on this way for centuries. Bastard children inherited nothing unless there were no heirs born of the marriage. From what I’d been told, most of the children born out of wedlock volunteered to join the Interstellar Fleet, either as a warrior, or as a bride.
Aliens. They were so advanced in some ways, and so behind the times in others. Maybe, once I was queen, I’d change some things…
“An ion pistol? Not happening, mate,” Leo replied. “This is our only dance. I’m going as slowly as I can, but all too soon I will be forced to give you up. Whatever you are thinking about or plotting, it can wait.” His hand tightened on my hip, his strength tempting me to melt into him and let my brain turn to mush. I loved what he did when he made my mind shut off; it always involved very naughty things. But I couldn’t let that happen. No, I had to have a clear head now. Focused.
Leo and I would be in bed together tonight when this was all done, but we couldn’t have a honeymoon, or be selfish and think of nothing but ourselves, of having sex for days on end. Not until my mother had been found and my sisters were safe. Then, I’d take Leo to bed and not let him put clothes on for a week. We’d have that honeymoon. A real honeymoon where I didn’t have to wonder after my mother, worry about my dad on Earth, imagine what Faith and Destiny had gotten into. Not this tangled mess of politics and assassin hunting.
“I wish my mother were here.” Mother. She should be here. My sisters. My dad should be pestering Leo with a thousand questions, getting ready to walk me down the aisle, not hiding from some stupid Top-Secret alien hunters back on Earth.