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The king soon dismissed him to get some rest before we left in the morning, and my omak made me sleep on the chaise lounge in their room, because he said it made him feel better and not so stressed. The king said he was just relieved Blake didn’t want me to sleep between them like I used to do as a child.
That’s the kind of embarrassing stuff they said around me all the time. My older brothers told me to get used to it, because it hadn’t stopped for them either.
I didn’t complain too much, because why bother? Instead, I made myself comfortable on the big chaise thing in their room and fell asleep right away. I was terribly relieved that the whole situation with Major Venkarr was over, and I didn’t have to worry about him ever again. I didn’t ask what was going to happen to him, because I really didn’t want to know, but I overheard my father say that Mikos was handling it. He could be harsh, but if the man was really suffering some mental aberration, I knew Mikos would be fair, and see that he got the help he needed. The Major had a husband and two children, and I could only imagine how humiliating it would be for them.
Since I hadn’t been hurt, and he hadn’t physically violated me too much, he would probably get off fairly easy. I did my best to downplay how disgusting it was when he stuck his tongue down my throat and slobbered all over me, because I did feel a little sorry for him after I learned about the torture he’d endured. Only a little, though. If he hadn’t been mated already, he could have accidentally bonded with me, and then where would we all be? The idea disgusted me.
I woke up with Omak shaking me and speaking softly in my ear. “I’ve ordered some tea and breakfast for you, dear, and the servants have packed your clothes and brought everything you need here. Get up and go to the bathing room to get ready, and by that time your breakfast will have arrived.”
I mumbled something and stumbled to the bathing chamber, where sure enough, all my things were laid out for me. I took a quick bath, brushed my teeth and got dressed in one of the black uniforms we now wore outside the palace and for all informal occasions. When I came out, Omak was sitting on the sofa thing drinking a cup of tea. I sat down beside him and tore into my first meal, which was out of Blake’s private stores. Bacon and eggs and toast and potatoes—the potatoes were some he’d grown in his own garden—or the gardeners had grown them anyway—and they were delicious. He always said the eggs were powdered, but I didn’t know the difference, so they tasted fine to me. I wasn’t even totally sure what kind of creature these eggs were supposed to have come from anyway.
The food was human food, of course, as Blake had never been able to get used to Tygerian fare, or so he claimed. He gave a lot of it to me, and I had to admit it didn’t upset my stomach like some of our regular food did. My father said I didn’t have the superior Tygerian digestion, though I’d never been picky about the taste of my food. At the training academy I’d had to eat it all the time. It was spicier than human fare, and Tygerians liked their meat more rare, but mostly I didn’t mind it, and the physicians gave me pills to settle my stomach.
Blake talked to me about Venkarr, gently probing to make sure nothing more than the horrible kissing had occurred. I got yet another lecture about how important it was to “save myself” for marriage, and how my husband would want to be the one to teach me everything I needed to know. It was embarrassing and really old fashioned, but I was used to it, so I just let him talk. It was only necessary to smile and nod occasionally.
He mentioned Tariq too. “Isn’t he the one you used to have such a crush on when you were in training?” he asked.
“Yes. He was there at the school for a while as an instructor. Everybody had a crush on him, I think. He’s so handsome.”
“Yes, he is. A shame about the scar, though it does him credit, I know.”
“It’s wonderful. He’s wonderful.” I sighed. “And did I mention how really good looking he is?”
Blake gave me a look, but only said, “You might have mentioned it, yes. You be careful, darling. He looks quite fierce. Though he is an Imperial…and a Tygerian too…” He got a thoughtful look on his face. “I imagine he lives right here on Tygeria.”
“I think he has a home here. He stays away busy with other duties a lot.”
Blake shrugged. “That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh. Nothing.”
By the time I finished eating, it was time to go. It was still early, so my father was asleep and just a heaped form under the blanket on the other side of the big room, but I hugged Omak and kissed his cheek goodbye before making my way out of the palace and down to the docks.
There was a lot of activity there, with people boarding and others loading on boxes and crates. I saw Colonel Tariq standing by the loading ramp talking to two other Imperials, all of them wearing the full uniforms, which consisted of the black clothing the Tygerian soldiers wore along with tall, black boots and an open black robe that hung past their knees and streamed out behind them when they walked. They had weapons of all varieties strapped to them or hanging from their shoulders. All of them were six feet five or taller and all muscular with their hair severely tied back and beards that were well-trimmed and handsome. I hesitated before going over to greet the colonel, as they were all standing close in the Tygerian way, their shoulders almost touching and their voices gruff as they talked together.
Losing courage to interrupt these older men, I started to slip past them, when a hand shot out and gripped my arm. I stopped and turned to see all three of them looking curiously at me and each one bowed to me.
“Your Highness,” Colonel Tariq said. “Good. We’ll be taking off soon. I’ve been waiting to escort you to your quarters.”
“There’s no need. I’m sure I can find my way. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
He glanced at me oddly. “I’m at your service, sir,” he said, as if that explained everything and seizing my arm, he steered me quickly up the ramp and onto the ship.
The ship we were flying on was more or less a cigar-shaped transport, and not intended for battle, although every ship in the king’s fleet had those capabilities. The whole front of the ship consisted of a massive scoop-like area, bristling with antennas. It provided communications for the ship and projected magnetic fields to draw in ions in interstellar space. The living spaces consisted of three decks, in the shape of huge, stacked cylinders that rotated for gravity around the inner hull. They included the top deck, which was the domain of the captain, helmsmen and navigators, and the middle deck, where the sleeping quarters were, tucked safely behind the shielding that covered the hull. Engine rooms and cargo holds were at the back of the ship and on the lowest level, and then there was more shielding. Asteroids and space debris were no joke and protection from them always had to figure heavily into design.
The entry ramp led us directly to the second or middle deck and we made our way around the cylindrical inside passageway to find our quarters, which were roughly midway around the ship. The colonel pointed out my room and gestured to the one next to it.
“This one is mine. Now that we’re aboard, I’ll be with you whenever you leave your quarters. It’s important that you follow my directions.”
“Of course.”
He gave me a brief smile. “You say that now, but I warn you that you may get sick of seeing me before we reach Loros. I take my duties very seriously.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He looked down at me and nodded before continuing. “I’ll let you get settled in. I had your bags delivered to your quarters when they arrived.”
