Bianca D'Arc (9 page)

“
You could’ve said something.”
Alex was angry on Della’s behalf. For his own part, he didn’t give
a damn what the other man had seen. Soldiers lived together in
cramped spaces and got used to nudity. But he knew Della was
embarrassed and that made him mad.

“
I tried. Truly.” Tren chuckled,
which turned Alex’s anger toward annoyance. “You were too caught up
in your mate to hear anything. I vow a Zithian helabeast could have
bitten you on the ass and you wouldn’t have noticed.”

Alex had to admit the kid had a point. “All right.
So what was so important that you had to stalk us in our quarters?
I’ll tell you right now I don’t like sneaking around behind your
uncle’s back. He’s been straight with me. I won’t repay his
kindness with deception.”

“
I can respect that. In fact, I
expect he’s aware I’m here by now. It wasn’t my intent to keep my
discussion with you a secret but if I’d told my uncle I wanted to
talk to you, he might’ve found ways to prevent it.”

“
Why?” Alex was interested now and
not quite as annoyed.

“
Sometimes he operates under the
misapprehension that the less I know, the better. I think he’s
wrong on that score.”

“
Why would he think that?” Alex
insisted. Alex had come to know Theos as a very deliberate man. If
he thought the younger man should be kept in the dark, he very
likely had good reasons.

“
Because of my father,” Tren
admitted. “My father was the second son, never meant to rule. Only
tragedy brought him to the throne and sometimes my father can be
ruthless in protecting the succession. If he knew about
you...”

“
He’d order my death.” Alex
sighed, reading the truth of his words on the young man’s face.
Moving to the door of the lavatory, Alex knocked on the
panel.

“
Is he gone?” came Della’s voice
from inside.

Alex did his best not to laugh. “No, he’s still
here. You can come out, Del. I don’t think Tren’s going anywhere
until he talks to us.”

The panel slid open a moment later and Della came
out, her face red. Alex tucked her under his arm and walked her
over to the side of the room where there was a couch and two
chairs. Tren followed them and took a seat on one of the chairs
while Alex and Della settled on the couch.

“
I apologize for intruding,” Tren
began, speaking directly to Della. “I tried to get your attention,
but...”

“
But we weren’t aware of much.
We’d been apart too long.” Della smiled shyly at the future
emperor.

Tren grinned back at her. “They say that’s the way
it is between true mates. If it’s any consolation, it was an honor
to witness the strength of your bond. It gives me something to look
forward to when I find my own mate, though I fear that may not be
for many years yet.”

Della blushed again, but held her head up high. Alex
liked the way she handled the situation. Other women would have
been too mortified to function. His Della, though disconcerted,
didn’t let it throw her off her game.

“
I’ve seen your wife,” she said
quietly, shocking both men. “In a vision. She’s going to change
things, to upset the status quo for the better. In time, because of
her, you may be the instrument of peace between our galaxies. She’s
not going to be what you expect. She’s of both worlds, like
Alex.”

“
I don’t see how. They don’t allow
women to volunteer for Enhancement. Only a handful of us were
created,” Alex put in.

“
And if Father Theos is to be
believed, you and that handful of soldiers will begin reproducing.”
Della looked like a feline who had just eaten a small bird. “The
future jit’suku empress will be one of their daughters. She could
even be your daughter, Alex. I have no way of knowing her lineage.
I only see her face and she is a beauty. Talented too.” Della
turned to look hard at Tren. “It won’t be easy for you to find her.
There will be many obstacles in your path. I see only
possibilities. Whether or not you find her and make her your own,
depends on you. You have to be proactive in your search for her. Do
not expect her to simply show up on your doorstep. You’ll have to
put in a little more work than that. Take nothing for granted,
Tren. The future is what we make it.”

“
Yes, my lady.” The young man
looked suitably impressed by Della’s warnings. “Is that how you
knew about the ambush? You saw it in a vision?”

“
I knew only that Alex and I would
grapple with a man who intended to kill you and that we couldn’t
let him succeed. I didn’t see that there would be so many of them
or that we’d be gassed in the struggle.” She shook her head with a
rueful expression.

“
I wanted to thank you for saving
my life. You did so at great risk to your own wellbeing and that’s
not something I will ever forget.”

“
As I said,” Della spoke quietly,
respectfully. “We needed to be there. I believe it is because of
the possibilities for your future. If you can forge peace between
our peoples, we will have been repaid amply.”

“
Well said,” Tren complimented
her. “I’ll remember what you’ve told me and though I can’t see how
any of this might come to pass right now, I’ll look for the
opportunities you’ve told me about.”

“
That’s all I ask.”

They talked for a little longer but eventually Tren
took his leave. While the compartment would remain locked to Della
and Alex, Tren had the run of the ship. The lock disengaged for
him. His uncle waited in the hall, eyeing all three of them
expectantly.

“
Did you discover what you came to
learn, Tren?” Theos’s express was thunderous.

“
Yes, uncle.” Tren didn’t buckle
under the pressure of the older man’s disapproval. “Thank you.”
Tren took off down the hall before Theos could question him
further.

“
That boy is as headstrong as I
was at his age,” Theos told them.

“
Your pardon, Father, but he isn’t
a boy,” Della corrected the priest, surprising Alex with the
amusement in her tone. Theos didn’t take it amiss, thank
goodness.

“
You’re right, my lady. He hasn’t
been a boy in a very long time. It is the perspective of age that
allows me to still see the toddler who begged treats from my cook.
He was a precocious boy and has grown to a strong man.”

“
He’ll be a good emperor, Father,”
Della told him softly. “Your legacy will be one of strength
tempered with compassion. You taught him that.”

“
Thank you, Lady Della.” The old
priest seemed genuinely touched by her words. “I’ll see you both
tomorrow afternoon.” With that, he left, the door closing and
locking behind him.

Alex and Della spent the rest of the night in
passion. Speaking without words. Knowing without being told. As
he’d said, every time they were together, it only got better.

In all his prior experiences, after the initial
excitement of being with a new woman wore off, the sex became stale
and old. Not so with Della. What had started out as Earth
shattering was quickly becoming universe altering. He felt things
he didn’t fully understand. He was developing needs that he feared
would never be assuaged with another woman. But how could he keep
Della? How could he subject her to the kind of life he led?

The obstacle of sterility was gone, if Theos was to
be believed, but Alex had a whole new set of problems to worry
about. Could he subject Della to the uncertainty of his life? Would
she want to be with him, knowing what she now knew about his
background, his DNA and the threat that would hang over his future
forever, no matter what Theos said?

He didn’t know. He only knew she was becoming
necessary to him. Necessary to living. Necessary to breathing.
Without her, he would be lost.

So the question really became, was she willing to
put up with his problems and did he have the fortitude to ask her
to share his life? He had always prided himself on his courage.
This test, however, was one he wasn’t certain he could pass. If
Della turned him down, he would be lost forever.

Every night they came together with increasing
desperation. They’d shocked more than a few crew members by nearly
attacking each other in the hallway before they even made it to
their quarters. A few times, the hatch had been left open
accidentally when they hadn’t cleared the sensor and guards had
been dispatched to prod them gently inside the chamber so the door
could shut and lock.

Della had been scandalized the first time but Alex
knew she’d secretly enjoyed the little exhibition. The guards
hadn’t seen much, but they damned well knew what he and Della had
been doing to forget such a simple thing as moving inside the room
so the door could close.

During the days that followed, Theos would teach
them both about his belief system for a few hours. Then he’d send
Della on her way to play cards with the crew while he tested Alex
and trained him in the Zenai fighting style. Truth be told, Alex
enjoyed learning from the old man. The Zenai order had some very
intense ways of fighting that complimented Alex’s abilities. In
fact, the old priest seemed very pleased with Alex’s proficiency
and quick study.

Toward the end of their journey to Solaris Prime,
Theos brought in two others he introduced as novitiates. He asked
Alex to spar with them and even Alex was surprised by how easily he
defeated the men using the new techniques he’d learned from Theos.
Alex was just too fast for them. He saw both surprise and respect
in the novitiates’ eyes when they faced him after their repeated
defeats. Finally, after a number of bouts with the same outcome
every time, Theos called a halt and decreed Alex ready for the test
of skill he would face when they reached the Zenai Temple in the
capital city on Solaris Prime.

The test of faith was something else altogether.
Each day Theos quizzed him on the teachings of the jit’suku
Goddess. He had the basic tenets down, but the intricacies of the
way the priesthood had interpreted Her laws over the ages escaped
him. Della helped. Every night as they lay in bed after making love
and each morning over breakfast, she would help him study. Just
thinking of her and how Della would react to a particular question
posed to him helped Alex pull the right answers out of thin
air.

Della was his guide. His spiritual compass. When
they disembarked at Solaris Prime he knew he’d done all he could to
prepare for the trial ahead. He only hoped it would be good
enough.

He’d secured a promise of protection for Della from
both Theos and Tren should things go badly for him. They would see
to her safety even if he was put to death. At least he could do
that much for her. It helped that she’d done nothing wrong. She’d
used her Goddess-given gift to save the imperial heir’s life. That
alone secured her safety. Being associated with Alex could be a
problem, especially if she had conceived his child. They hadn’t
been using birth control. At first, Alex was certain he didn’t need
it and Della hadn’t brought it up. After Theos’s revelations,
they’d had a short discussion about it.

“
If it was going to happen,” Della
had said philosophically, “it’s probably already happened. I passed
my fertile time a few days ago. We should be to Solaris Prime
before it becomes an issue again.”

Alex hadn’t liked the idea of taking chances but
trusted Della to know her own body and its cycles. She wouldn’t put
herself or a possible child at even more risk.

If things went wrong for him, as his mate, she could
be in danger too. That’s where the promises from Theos and Tren
would come into play. With them on her side, she wouldn’t be
harmed. It was the best Alex could do under the circumstances.

The possibility that Della could become pregnant
with his baby still boggled Alex’s mind. Looking at her trim form
it was hard to imagine her swelling with his child. The image his
mind conjured created a hunger unlike anything he’d ever known. He
wanted a baby with Della though such things had never really
mattered to him before. He wanted whatever time he could have with
her, whether it be a minute, an hour, or the rest of their
lives.

If he didn’t pass the Zenai tests, that lifetime
could be very short indeed.

“
Wait here. I must attend my
brother first, then request a private session with the High Priest
and his Council. They will have to come down from their mountain,
but for this, they must. An imperial summons is something they
cannot ignore, even if it comes from the deposed emperor.” Theos
had left them in a locked room in the palace, under
guard.

Only the men who had been on the ship with them were
allowed to know of their presence in the royal household. Several
familiar faces took turns bringing them meals and one or two
brought news of the goings on outside their little room.

Della and Alex were sequestered for nearly a week
before Theos sent word through one of their guards to prepare for
their hearing in front of the High Priest. The next day, an escort
arrived to take them from the palace to the Great Temple in the
heart of the capital city. The air car was secure and cloaked. They
could see out but nobody could see who was inside the vehicle as it
swept over the massive city center.

Solaris Prime was unlike any human city Alex had
ever seen. Della too, judging by her expression. The air car had a
pilot and a contingent of guards seated both in front and behind
them. They were effectively surrounded but the guards were familiar
faces. All were men who had been on the ship and two were
novitiates Alex had sparred with at Theos’s request during his time
aboard.