AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'll send some men to collect it immediately." Bowing his head before stepping into the bedroom, Stark activated his comms unit, sliding the door closed as he started talking.
"Well, that makes things less complicated." Aldous breathed a sigh of relief.
"Complicated?" I asked skeptically. "If I was already joined, I guess my life would be forfeit, wouldn't it?"
"Not at all." Saboa squeezed my hand again. "Zira, you hadn't come of age, and he didn't have your parent's approval. Any joining would have been void immediately."
"My King and Queen were dead. He'd just added my brother's body to the pile, effectively erasing all line of kin. Just like now, I was at the king's mercy."
"If your parents are dead, who were the two we killed last week?" Aldous asked suspiciously.
"The King and Queen were her aunt and uncle. Her biological parents rescued her," Saboa answered quietly. "In Avalonia, the king must be born from the womb of royalty. So, it is the king's sister who usually gives birth to the next king. The throne is passed from King to nephew, unlike in Cyra, where it goes to the eldest son. It's why Zira is important to the Avalonian people. As the prince's sister, her womb was always going to produce the next king. From birth, her parents weren't recognized as kin any longer. The eldest son and daughter of the King's sister immediately become the heir to the thrones, and thus, are under the care of the throne.
"The heirs live with the King and Queen, are raised by them. Because Zira's world was at war, their King insisted they stay away that last year. The elders frowned upon it, but apparently, now, they are relieved, as it probably saved her."
"How?" Hartwin asked curiously as his father came back out of the bedroom.
Swallowing at how much Saboa knew already, I found my voice. "Had I been living at the castle, the Barbarian king wouldn't have been delayed by having to wait for us to be fetched and brought to him. That delay allowed my parents to gather the royal army's last vestiges and lead an attack to get me free. If I'd been there when he took the castle, he would have… won."
Lowering my face, I shivered at the idea. Squeezing my hand, Saboa indicated the contracts. "Are they ready, Aldous?"
Nodding, Aldous turned them so that we could read them. Flipping his open, Saboa started reading. I stared at the cover page.
'Contractual joiningof Prince Luther Saboa and Princess Zira Sallee.'
Grunting,Saboa flipped my first page to show many bulleted paragraphs. "You will want to read this, Zira, so that you know what is expected of you and what is expected of me."
"Please don't do this." I barely breathed; my eyes locked on my knees. "How are you any better than that barbarian if you do this?" Suddenly my hand was empty.
Saboa stood above me angry, Hartwin stepped forward, mouth open ready, but his father beat him to it. "Lady Zira, you are not looking at the whole picture." Movement caught Stark's attention. He turned to face the elite guardsmen. "Out! You can serve your shifts from the rest of the residence."
Waiting for the three by the door to leave, Stark looked over his shoulder at his son and gave a gesture he should follow. Moving to the table to pour himself a drink, Saboa now stood watching Stark and me.
"Child, this isn't about a throne to the prince. He already has the responsibility to produce heirs; by marrying you, he takes on another. If he really wanted Avalonia, he has the men and the technology to go in there and destroy Abaddon. But your planet's only resource is water, and we have both that and Crystalstar here in Praldia. Luther doesn't want you for your womb and the crown that gives his son."
"Then why me?"
"Because I've wanted you since the first time you came into my throne room calling me a sack of shit for not caring enough about the natives," Saboa answered from across the room. Glancing up at his prince, Stark bowed his head and stepped away from me.
"I didn't know who you were, your title, or anything other than your species. You stormed into my throne room, flung a report at me, and proceeded to call me several names no one else on this or my home planet would call me, even behind my back.
"I was just shy of reaching wisdom, and I think you were barely sixteen. You hadn't even come of age yet. It was probably the only thing stopping me from getting up and kissing you until you didn't have the breath to call me any more names."
That had been the first time I'd attended an open court session. The report I'd thrown at the prince detailed the abominable ways the natives were being treated in Simpia. I gripped the sofa beside my thighs. "Why… why didn't you court me?"
Saboa chuckled. "I tried. Your parents forbade it. So, I did everything within my power to force you into my presence. Do you know how much research was involved in finding causes for you to fight for, getting them brought to your attention just so you would be forced to come and petition me for help? Aldous here earned his position as a chief advisor after discovering and sending you the information about Claymar. Those miners' mistreatment brought you to my palats ten times in one week. That included two long walks around the cliff-top that we spent negotiating. Though, trust me, I tried several times to get you off subject, to attempt to seduce you, but you were so passionate about the welfare of the natives, it never worked."
Mouth falling open, I stared at the prince. "You were my anonymous informant?"
The prince gave a noncommittal shrug. Closing my eyes against the onslaught of emotions, I cursed beneath my breath. All this time, I'd thought those envelopes full of reports and photographs came from another Cyran man I befriended. The last person I would have ever suspected was the prince himself. "You made me your bleeding heart."
"No. You made you my bleeding heart. You never had to take action. You could have been like many of the wealthier Praldians and ignored those in need." Saboa sat back down next to me. "You made them your cause, your way of avoiding who you were and where you came from. You did what I couldn't do without looking weak, but in letting you fight for them, I got to look merciful, and it endeared you to the people. For that reason, we will make the best companions, Zira. You will never let me lose sight of the little people because you were raised not to rule but to give of yourself and let others rule."
"You promise not to block me in helping the less fortunate?"
"So far as it doesn't cause conflict in my interests, you will have my full support. That's how it has always been between us, Zira. Though, I won't make you work so hard to gain that support any longer." The quirk of a smile was upon his lips, and it suddenly made them so very appealing.
All these years, he'd been courting me through my cause, supporting it secretly, wanting me for who I was, not the title I was born with. Or so he claimed. How could I trust that? Words were easy and as a prince, he would know how to use his words to manipulate others to his will.
