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He pasted a smile on his face and allowed Mikol to escort him into the outer room, where Dartan was waiting, along with the other Tygerian who had first opened the door and the Commandant of the space station. One of the long bench-like seats was vacant and that’s where Mikol steered him. They both sat down, and Kalen glanced longingly at the empty chair beside Dartan, though he didn’t quite dare object to sitting next to the prince.
Mikol immediately took over the meeting. “Commandant Margoz, I believe you’ve met Prince Kalen.”
The man nodded distantly and produced some paperwork from a pocket in his long robe. The robe was traditional Tygerian wear, though not blue like the royals sometimes wore. This one was dark brown. Both Prince Mikol and the one Mikol had called Florin, were wearing some kind of uniforms in black, with sharp, bristling epaulets on the broad shoulders and intricately carved metallic armor pieces that only seemed to protect their throats and parts of their chests. It was probably ornamental, but it was fierce armor and unlike anything Kalen had seen before. The uniform creaked sightly beside him as Mikol reached to take the papers from the commander.
He opened them up and read over them carefully, stopping occasionally to ask a question in the incomprehensible—to Kalen, at least—Tygerian language, full of growls and clicks. It was warm in the room, and Kalen found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open as the long minutes passed. He noticed Dartan giving him a sympathetic glance when he nodded off once, and then jerked himself awake. He steadied himself, readjusted his position, but had begun dozing off again when Mikol’s deep, rumbling voice came in his ear.
“Do you agree?”
Kalen jerked awake and looked over at Mikol in confusion. “Uh, what?”
“I said, the terms and conditions of the contract seem standard. Only the details of our wedding and where we’ll live afterward need to be discussed. Do you agree?”
“Oh…yes,” he said, nodding his head up and down. He only vaguely remembered reading the papers he mentioned on the trip over from Loros, but they were mostly about money, and he couldn’t care less how much money was exchanging hands. He and his people wouldn’t benefit from any of it.
“But wait—does the contract mention the leadership of my planet?”
“No, Kalen,” Mikol replied. He didn’t sound impatient, but he was looking at him oddly. “This contract only sets out the terms of our marriage agreement.”
“Then I’d like it amended to include a timetable for our return to Loros, where I will no longer be in need of my uncle as Regent. I want that specified. Lord Nerol is out.”
A little silence fell in the room, as Prince Mikol looked over at him for a long moment, seeming to be considering him.
“You’re probably thinking that will require my uncle’s signature,” Kalen rushed on to say. “So I should warn you right now, he’ll never agree to it. The Tygerians will have to force him. Fight him in battle if it’s necessary and I can lead my army. You must back me in my return to the planet, so that I can take my throne away from him by force.”
The silence was even more pronounced this time. Mikol was the one to finally break it.
“This is all way beyond the scope of a betrothal agreement, Kalen.”
“But I wasn’t given a say before now. If I had been, I could have put all of that in there. And I won’t sign an agreement unless you meet my demands.” Kalen glared around at all of them. “I insist.”
Mikol stood up abruptly. “Excuse us for a moment, Commandant.”
He pulled Kalen up beside him and took him firmly by the elbow again to steer him back to the bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, he backed Kalen against the wall.
“What’s going on, Prince Kalen? Suddenly you havedemands?”
“It-it’s not sudden. I was never given any say in the negotiations before this. If I’m to marry, then I need a say. My uncle murdered my father and now he’s taken control. Taken my throne away from me. I need your help to get it back!”
Mikol glared down at him. “Calm yourself and stop all this shouting.” The prince regarded him sternly. “Is this the real reason you sought me out in Belline? To trick me into compromising you so I would help you launch a rebellion against your Council and your Regent?”
“What?No! No, I never sought you out, as you say. Not on purpose. And I didn’t trick you, I swear it. Finding you in that place was a total coincidence.”
“Uh huh. The thing is, I don’t believe in coincidences, Kalen. And I don’t like being used.”
Kalen’s temper, never far from the surface, came to his aid and he drew back a hand to strike Mikol. Instead, Mikol grabbed his wrist and twisted it around behind his back, bringing the long line of his muscular body to press against Kalen’s. They struggled silently for a moment, but Kalen’s strength rapidly began to wane, and bile surged to the back of his throat, choking him. Kalen made a noise that was half-gag and half-whimper and sagged in Mikol’s arms, giving in.
Mikol wrapped an arm around his waist and spoke softly against his hair. “This is making you ill again. Stop all this and I’ll take you back in the other room.” He peered down into Kalen’s face. “Or perhaps to the toilet?”
Kalen nodded frantically, clamping a hand over his mouth as Mikol released it. Mikol swept him off his feet and carried him quickly to the toilet where he emptied the contents of his stomach for the second time that morning. This time it felt as if his stomach was turning itself inside out. As he knelt on the floor of that small room, Kalen thought he might be dying, but Mikol stayed with him, kneeling next to him and holding his hair behind him—even rubbing his back. When it was finally done, and he was left feeling drained and weak and totally mortified, he sagged onto the floor and pressed his face against the cool tile. Mikol picked him up as if he weighed nothing and took him to lie down, stripped his clothing off efficiently and covered him with a thick blanket.
“Rest now, and I’ll tell the commandant to draw up the standard contract and we’ll see him tomorrow. I’m sending for the doctor again to give you those pills he mentioned. You overestimate my power to make decisions about the leadership of Loros,nobyo. That’s for my father and grandfather to decide. I can tell you’re spoiling for a fight, though you won’t be allowed on a battlefield of any kind until I’ve seen you in training and know you’re a competent soldier.”
Kalen glared at him. He hated the word “allow” but what else could he do? Mikol turned to leave. Kalen grabbed for his hand to hold him back and gaze up at him miserably. “You think I’m a liar, don’t you? That I tricked you into all this.”
“I think you’re making yourself worse by arguing with me. And I think you should stop drinking so much. Sleep a while, and when you wake up, we’ll talk further.”
Kalen closed his eyes and let him go, already barely conscious by the time the door closed softly behind Mikol.
