Authors: Tracy St John
At last they relaxed, and Breft kissed her gently before rising to untie her. Once she was free, he took her in his arms, cuddling her to his chest as he sat with his back propped against a tree. “Now that was the perfect present. We’l have to adopt this Earther custom of anniversary celebrations here on Kalquor. I’l have Rajhir bring it up at the next council session.” Amelia giggled, tracing his strong jaw. “Was it as good as your fantasy?”
“Better.” He grinned, not one trace of hunting instinct in his expression anymore. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure out what you were up to. Getting me to help you work out to lose the baby weight! And al along, I was preparing you to get away from me.” He shook his head, his smile fit to split his handsome face. “You had me fooled.”
“I bet that’s the only time anyone ever got over on you.”
“You must have studied and planned for awhile. You did very wel covering your tracks and setting up false ones. I had to backtrack twice. You are very cunning prey.”
“Flatterer.” She glowed under his praise, though she doubted he’d had any trouble folowing her. Breft was an expert tracker.
“You know I don’t lie, little one.” He kissed her and held her tighter than ever. She sighed to be kept warm and safe in his strong arms. For al his ferocity, Breft made her feel secure. Amelia closed her eyes, thriled to have made him happy.
“You know, it’s going to be a tough year ahead,” he rumbled.
She looked up at him, concerned at how his brows drew together. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you’ve never been mountain climbing before, and it’l take a lot of training for my next fantasy—” Amelia punched her mate in the chest.
Abduction
“Look what I brought you today, Narpok.” Jessica McInness, Empress of Kalquor, lifted the cover off the dish she had brought into the woman’s room. “Nelus, fresh from Plasius. You’re overdue for a treat.”
Narpok’s dul purple eyes stared unseeing at the padded wal across the room. The Kalquorian female managed to look smal and shrunken despite her Amazonian proportions. She huddled in one corner of her sleeping mat, her knees drawn to her chest beneath the shapeless white hospital gown that concealed her statuesque body.
The size difference between the two women always made Jessica feel little-girlish. It wasn’t just the eight inches that separated them in height either. Her frame was slight, almost elfin in appearance as opposed to Narpok’s generous curves. It struck her as odd to think of how they could be the same gender yet so different physicaly.
Seated next to Narpok and looking up into her blank face, Jessica stifled an unhappy sigh, her thoughts far from their disparities. She tucked a wayward lock of her long chestnut hair behind her ear. Since Narpok’s breakdown nearly three years prior, Jessica’s former rival hadn’t spoken a word. She rarely moved. The once would-be empress was an empty shel, occasionaly animating to scream and tear at her lank black hair if an unfamiliar man was around. No one knew if the once-proud beauty would ever regain her mind.
Jessica picked up one of the round, ripe berries and pressed it to Narpok’s parted lips. The Kalquorian accepted the red delicacy, chewing and swalowing automaticaly with no hint of pleasure. Jessica couldn’t help but feel a stab of pity for the other woman’s inability to enjoy them. To her the berries tasted bright and joyful like liquid sunshine. They were the empress’ favorite food.
It was hard to look at the dark-skinned Narpok, so Jessica looked around her smal room instead. She’d done al she could think of to make the quarters as homey as possible, but with the humming containment field over the windows and soft padded surfaces, there was no disguising the trappings of a mental ward. The plushest bed linens along with calming landscape scenes displayed on the wal vid did little to aleviate the industrial feel that came with a hospital room.
As Jessica fed Narpok the last nelus berry, her com unit beeped from the pocket of her demure yelow dress. The flouncy little frock was cute, an ode to the robust sunshiny day outside, but it made her feel she looked even more childlike next to the Kalquorian. Jessica had an idea that the dress, with its schoolgirl ruffles at the hem, wouldn’t inspire serious regard from her alien subjects. The empress had worked hard to earn her adopted planet’s respect, and she weighed everything, including something as seemingly insignificant as clothing, with great thought as to how the people of Kalquor might perceive it.
Jessica decided this would be the last time she wore the dress, even if its color and style did make her feel happy.
She stood and smiled at the unseeing patient. “Excuse me, Narpok. I’m going to take this cal outside. I’l be right back.” She stepped out of the room to deal with whoever caled, knowing just the sound of a male voice could be enough to upset Narpok. The woman had been sexualy abused by a brutal Kalquorian clan for years. The foul mistreatment had finaly broken her when the truth came out.
Jessica smiled to see her mother Tara waiting for her in the halway, and she quickly shut the door behind her. The locks clicked home, keeping Narpok trapped in her safe cocoon. The empress hugged Tara despite having just seen her at dinner the night before. Being separated from al of her family for over two years had been her one overriding sadness since coming to Kalquor. Tara’s arrival three months prior had been as precious as the birth of Jessica’s two children.
“What’s up, Mom? Are you the one who caled? Is everything okay?”
Tara smiled up at her. If Jessica saw herself as short, then her mother must have felt miniscule. A petite woman even for an Earther, everyone towered over her; especialy the Kalquorians whose average height hovered around six and a half feet. Tara joked about the constant crick in her neck from looking up al the time.
The elder woman pressed a kiss to Jessica’s cheek. “I missed you at breakfast. Not that I mind eating with your clan and my grandchildren. We had a very nice conversation.” Jessica gave her a rueful smile. “My schedule is off the charts today. I only had time for a quick bite before I headed out.”
“So I hear. According to your mates, you’ve al been terribly busy.”
“We have. It comes with the territory, I suppose. The Imperial Clan’s work is never done.”
“Even so, I suggested you might find a little time for each other. Earth relationships with just one man and one woman require a great deal of attention. I can only imagine how complicated it gets with three husbands.”
Jessica sighed. “Time is something we don’t have a lot of, especialy with the recent attacks on Earther Mataras.” She scowled. Someone had it in for the Earther women who had chosen to join Kalquorian clans. In the last four months, two women had been abducted with another five going missing. The situation had everyone on edge. While the vast majority of Kalquor’s indigenous population was overwhelmingly in favor of mixing the two endangered species to create a new one, the rebelious few had become more vocal in their opposition as of late. More vocal and more violent. There were rumblings that a real insurgency might be building.
“Wel, you have time now.” Tara beamed at her. “Clajak has decided your clan is meeting in Egilka’s office here at the hospital immediately. You go ahead and join them, sweetheart. I’l sit with Narpok.” Jessica stared and felt a little flare of indignation in her breast. “You’re meddling, Mom.”
Her smile only grew brighter. “Yes, I am. Mother’s prerogative.”
Jessica slowly shook her head. “You unapologetic fiend.”
“Go already. As you said, you’re al very busy, so you don’t have the whole day.”
Jessica knew better than to argue with Tara. As sweet and gentle as her mother was, she didn’t give an inch when her mind was made up. Jessica, never one to acquiesce gracefuly, grumbled as she waved her hand over the identification sensor, unlocking Narpok’s door for Tara.
“Fine. Enjoy your scintilating conversation with my girl here.” Poking her head in, Jessica announced, “Narpok, my mother is going to visit with you. Say nice things about me.” Narpok stared into space, no flicker of interest showing as Tara entered. Jessica sighed and walked down the hal.
She nodded absentmindedly at the Kalquorians who bowed as she passed. Guards, orderlies, doctors, and nurses, al of them male, stopped whatever they did to show her respect. Almost three years of being their empress hadn’t made Jessica entirely comfortable with the formality. After al, she’d only been a mere Earther nurse before coming to Kalquor.
At least she didn’t have the embarrassment of the Royal Guards dogging her every step in the mental ward. They waited for her on the next floor. Jessica was determined Narpok wouldn’t catch even the slightest glimpse of an unfamiliar, thus potentialy threatening, armed male.
Involving herself in the actual running of the planet kept Jessica busy. She could have gotten away with existing only as the mother of the next emperor or empress; she hadn’t been trained for such responsibilities as the ones she now undertook. Not like Narpok had. Yet Jessica took her role of empress head-on, like she did everything else. It was her strength and curse.
She’d also taken on the seemingly thankless chore of tending Narpok for a few hours three times a week. The broken Kalquorian bore the presence of just one man consistently; her primary psychologist Imdiko Govi. Other members of the psychiatric team that she saw routinely might escape her notice entirely or send her into a terror-filed fit.
With only two other women trained as nurses in the entire facility, Jessica had stepped up to the plate, sitting with, feeding, and bathing Narpok like any other assistant. She didn’t mind the work. She only wished the eyes of her former enemy would blaze with life again. She’d give anything to hear Narpok hurl insults at her once more. Lifeless silence from a body that stil breathed was unnerving. Heartbreaking.
Jessica was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she walked right into Ajonel, one of the ward’s orderlies. Jessica bounced off the hard, tal body of the Imdiko as he stepped out of a patient’s room.
“My empress!” He grabbed her by the arm, steadying her on her feet. “I am so sorry. I did not see you there.” Jessica gasped breathy laughter. “The fault was al mine, Ajonel. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She didn’t bother to ask if he was okay. The Kalquorian, like most his brethren, was a wal of muscle. Their colision probably had al the effect of a fly landing on his arm.
“You are leaving early?” He looked over her shoulder. “Matara Narpok is al right?”
“She’s fine. The Imperial Mother is tending her today. Apparently I’m working too hard for my mother’s liking.”
“You do work hard.” Ajonel frowned as if troubled, his broad features going dark. He wasn’t a terribly handsome man with too heavy a brow and a bulging crooked nose. Frowning definitely detracted from his looks. “You are going back to the Royal House?”
Jessica was a little taken aback with the Imdiko’s familiarity. Most Kalquorians not on the council or part of the Royal House’s staff kept a respectful distance. Stil, she was a regular fixture at the hospital now. She should expect a little more friendliness as the staff grew used to her, especialy since she was often seen joking with Govi and head surgeon Flencik. “Not right away. I have a few other things to attend to.”
Like a good fuck date with my mates. I bet you’d get quiet in a hurry if I shared that.
She had to restrain a naughty giggle.
“Have a good day, my empress.” Ajonel bowed and resumed his rounds, his steps quick as if running behind on his work.
“You too, Ajonel.” Jessica continued on her way, keeping a more careful eye out to avoid walking into any more living wals.
She passed newly built and stil empty areas as she hurried on towards the hospital’s in-house transport, anticipation growing as she contemplated spending some time with her clan. The new construction on the psychiatric wing of the hospital was coming along wel. They’d need every inch of it too, what with al the traumatized Earthers pouring in. Most of the patients were women who’d spent time in Earth’s detention camps. Scarred, mutilated, beaten, and starved, their mental states were in shambles. Convicted rightly or wrongly of sex crimes under Earth’s old regime, they’d been made to suffer horrors that brought the finest psychiatric therapies crashing down in failure. There was talk of giving some of the women ful memory wipes, a suggestion that gave Jessica horrors. Yes, the women had been savaged, some to the point where they were as mindless as Narpok. But to erase someone’s entire life, the good along with the bad, seemed incredibly cruel as wel. She personaly couldn’t stomach the idea. Fortunately, the number one and number three psychologists on the hospital’s staff, Govi and Conyod, were against it as wel for the most part. Dr. Kivokan, who’d pioneered the ‘therapeutic mind cleansing’ as he caled it, had been voted down time and again, except in the case of criminals who were deemed beyond rehabilitation.
Jessica was so immersed in her thoughts of Narpok, damaged Mataras, and mind wipes that she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late. Before she could turn around, a hand covered her eyes and she felt pressure on the side of her neck. The next instant, everything went quiet and dark.
* * * *
“Thank you. I’l stay with Narpok until I hear from you.”
Egilka’s Nobek clanmate Bevau was already sending out a ful complement of Royal Guards to look for Jessica. He simultaneously sent an alert to Global Security, informing them Kalquor’s empress might have gone missing. The Nobek emperor was frowning, a look that had no ability to mar his perfectly formed features. The expression simply made him look dangerous as wel as devastatingly handsome.