I held her tightly to my chest, tormented by the small, chilled hand that rested against my neck, and spoke the truth neitherof us wanted to hear. “I’m afraid, Your Highness, you have no choice.”
7
Paige, House Natosi, Queen’s City
General Addan heldout a hand to assist me as I stepped out of what I could only describe as a space-limousine, with two armed guards in the front seats. One of them I recognized as the guard from the transport room. The other, I had never seen before. Two more armored vehicles had surrounded us, one traveled in front and one behind, like Secret Service protecting the president.
“Thank you.”
“Welcome to my home, Princess.”
All the warm fuzzies I’d been feeling sitting next to him in the back of the luxurious vehicle, at the soft rumble of his voice as he answered my questions about everything I saw passing by on the other side of the window, evaporated with his words. They were formal. Stiff. For public consumption.
He spoke to me like he hadn’t just had his dick inside me a few hours ago. Like I hadn’t grabbed his hair and screamed his name. Like he didn’t still have the taste of my wet pussy on his tongue.
Rude. Because my pussy still ached from the hard pounding he’d given me. I still craved his touch. His taste. His attention. I felt like a love-starved puppy desperate for pets. Which was foolish and illogical, and I was soooo freaking over myself. I had more control than this. More self-respect. I was about to meet my mother’s best friend, someone who knew me when I was a baby. I needed to get a grip and not make a complete fool of myself.
Addan dropped my hand immediately the moment I was out of the vehicle. Gigantic double doors, easily three times my height, swung open and a group of guards dressed in uniforms nearly identical to Addan’s, except dark gray and black instead of blue, jogged forward to surround me, Addan, and the vehicle.
“Greetings, General. Welcome home.” An older gentleman with dark streaks at the temples of his bright white hair, stepped forward. He wore the same gray uniform, but I recognized the fact that he had more symbols embroidered in his collar and cuffs than the others. Very similar to Addan’s.
“Thank you, General Niemini. Has my mother been informed of our arrival?” Addan and Niemini clasped one another’s forearms like medieval warriors in a documentary I might have watched on The History Channel.
“Of course. She, your father, and your sisters await your arrival in the gallery.”
“Thank you.” Addan released him and turned to me. “General Niemini, may I present Princess Edelene Merrienne Peigi, daughter of our late queen.”
The elder gentleman bowed low, his dark blue eyes suspiciously shining, like he was about to cry. “My greatest honor to meet you, Princess. You are the spitting image of your mother.”
“Nice to meet you, too. You can just call me Paige.” I held out my hand to shake his, only to drop it when he stared at it,confused. Addan and Niemini talked about soldiers and security while I stared at the monstrous fortress before me.
House Natosi, Addan’s childhood home, and apparently a place my mother had spent many happy days, wasn’t a house. It wasn’t even a mansion. It was like three mansions, five watchtowers, and a four-story European stone castle had all been mashed together around a courtyard. We’d even driven across a bridge that spanned what I’d assumed was a river, but Addan told me was a security barrier.
His mega-tower-castle-house had a freaking moat at least twenty meters wide. I wondered if the liquid that flowed through it was real water or something they could set on fire. Or acid. That would be freaky.
I thought outer space was supposed to be civilized and utopian. Not medieval warfare and castles with moats.
Of course, the rest of the city looked nothing like this place. On the drive over I’d seen skyscrapers and fast-moving train systems. A few vehicles like ours zoomed around, but not many. The people looked clean and well dressed, hustling and bustling along the sidewalks just like they would in London or New York. Their clothes were odd, of course. The people in the city looked like they’d just stepped off the movie set of My Fair Lady, the women in brightly colored, fancy dresses with large, decorated hats. The men wore gray or muted brown suits with vests, ties and matching hats. I’d watched that movie dozens of times. My adopted father’s aunt was obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. Looking out the window as we traveled across the city made me feel like I’d been sent through time, not outer space.
Could the Coalition’s transporters do that? Send someone forward or back in time?
The sidewalks didn’t look like concrete, they looked like earth-toned brown, green and gold marble stamped with geometric designs. The sky was clear and a shade of blue thatmade me think of frigid winter days in Montana. I’d tried my best to take in all the sights, the strangely beautiful flowers of every color imaginable, and some I’d never seen before, the throngs of people who looked like they’d just stepped out of a history book on Earth, the fully armed military guards standing on every corner, in front of every door, at every crosswalk.
Were the soldiers around because they had problems with crime? Or was there some other reason?
I tried to gauge the mood of the people walking around the city but could not. Some smiled. Some scowled. Some were animated, speaking to acquaintances. Some stared into the distance as if worried. They looked like normal people going about their day. There were tons of stores and busy open-air markets. I didn’t see a single homeless person loitering on the streets. No dirty children. No pets.
Didn’t these people have dogs? Or the alien version of a dog? What kind of animals did they have here?
The city, aptly named Queen’s City, was where the queen’s castle had been built thousands of years ago and was, apparently, the capital of the entire planet.
Addan proudly informed me that my ancestors built the city. I couldn’t wrap my head around that. My mother, and her mother before her, and hers before her, had ruled an entire planet. Waged wars. Solved problems. Built mighty castles.
And here I was, gawking at everything like a three-year old during her first trip to a zoo.
“Princess. Please, this way.” Addan and General Niemini were apparently finished discussing their soldier talk because Addan held out his arm indicating I should accompany them inside.
I walked into House Natosi wearing Addan’s oversized coat. His scent surrounded me as I pulled the lapels closer to hide the hot pink Trus-T-Kleen shirt, khaki pants that nearly hadholes worn in the knees that I still wore beneath. My white tennis shoes felt as ridiculous as fuzzy slippers since I had a very serious military general, complete with deadly weapons and heavy boots, on either side of me. My clothing made me feel like a clown. An imposter.
