Page 20 of Jorhee

“It is. There will be a lot of media coverage, I’m afraid.” He grimaced. “We can expect to become inundated with paparazzi as the palace will press the advantage to promote the colony program amongst both our peoples.”

I made a sour face. “I’m with ya there. I’m sure they’ll all find out about my family, and they’ll twist things to make themselves look like the good guys. Since they won’t know me from Adam, folks will believe whatever they say about me too.”

“So, why not tell them the truth of who you are, Your Grace?” one of the guards asked.

“Like, give an interview?” That would be even more journalistic BS that could get twisted. No, thank you.

“I was thinking more of you doing a vid channel, introducing yourself, talk about why you applied, how you hope to bring your horses, and show what it's like as you settle in on New Haven.”

By now we’d reached the Corsair and boarded, starting to make our way to our quarters. The interior had the same sharp, clean lines as the exterior, all bright white ceilings and walls with a mottled dark gray flooring. The corridors were wide, but then the Dragonii were huge, so the room would be needed to allow two of them to pass. It had been the same on the Mylos ship, what little I’d gotten to see of it, though theirs had been less stark.

“A vid series…now that might be an idea. Showcase my journey as a wannabe colonist who just happened to be matched to the prince who is the colony’s governor.” I nodded slowly. “If I get a few episodes out before the big announcement and have one we can release shortly after, it could benefit us both as we could get ahead of the curve.”

We stopped in front of a door, one flanked by two more guards who saluted the prince by doing this “two arms crossed with their hands in clenched fists” thing before giving a small bow in my general direction. They wore the same military uniforms I’d seen aboardThe Talonor whatever the hell it had been called, so I figured they were also members of the Dragonii space navy and not more personal guards.

“Please remain here. My guards will be in a meeting with my mate and I, so will not be relieving you. Please instruct the captain that as soon as Jesse’s belongings are aboard, we wish to return to the surface.”

Another salute and bow and then the prince was opening the door to reveal an interior almost impossibly more opulent than the one I’d recently vacated.

Shit. Is this really okay to get dog hair all over?

13

JOHREE

I watched as Jesse’s eyes flicked over every aspect of my quarters visible from the doorway, where he’d come to a standstill upon entering.

I tugged him forward gently with my tail, which served to make him cognizant of the fact that he was blocking the entrance.

“Oh! Sorry!” he said, looking embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to keep y’all from coming in.”

Both guards smiled at him.

“It’s fine,” Fethri assured him as he and Kiprr made it inside, allowing the door to close behind them.

I gestured towards the main seating area. “Let’s all take a seat.”

Jesse’s eyes widened. “You’re sure you don’t want to put a throw over the couch or something? If Buster gets up on it, and he’s quite likely to try to sit with me, he’ll get it covered with hair. Don’t be fooled by the short coat. He leaves his hair everywhere.”

I widened my smile. “That’s perfectly fine. The droid will get it when it cleans.” I pointed to a vaguely humanoid droid dockedin a niche between the main living area, the elimination and cleansing chamber, and the two bedrooms.

He still didn’t release Buster from his leash, instead bringing him along as he wandered over to inspect the droid.

“Wow! This looks almost exactly like Rosie from The Jetsons. That’s, ah, an animated TV show about a family who lives in the future. It’s really old but still funny. Um, they had a housekeeping droid.”

“You may redesignate it as Rosie,” I told him. “It will be coming with us once the manse is built.”

He shook his head. “I can clean.”

His jaw jutted out stubbornly. He really was adorable when he tried to be obstinate, not that I’d ever tell him that, as I was certain he wouldn’t appreciate it.

“You’ll have plenty of other things to do, but if you decide to perform some of the household tasks before the droid gets around to them, that’s not a problem.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, I should hope not!”

I settled onto one of the couches and patted the space next to me. Fethri and Kiprr sat opposite where they could keep a visual on the entrance. Jesse sighed, coming to sit next to me as I’d requested. He then unhooked Buster from the leash, which he draped over the arm of the couch, and sure enough, Buster jumped up on the other side of him, looking very pleased with himself.

“I guess I can't keep putting off telling you, so please wait to ask questions until afterwards.”