I storm closer, and it’s not until I’m almost walking through their projection to stand directly in front of them that I realize they are listing females of eligible age for a breeding contract.
I grind my teeth together and glare down at them both.
My Aunt turns off the projection and looks up at me. “Kiahn. Are you and Niska friends again?”
“How the fuck could you do this?” I growl.
She makes a dismissive noise that almost sounds like a chuckle. “Oh, my horns, Kiahn, they were only contraceptives. And yes, it’s not nice to be lied to, but in the end, what does it matter? The likelihood of you siring a child on the poor girl is-”
“I’m not talking about the pills!” I roar, startling both females. “I’m talking about forcing her into a contract in the first place.”
“Nobody forced her, Kiahn.”
My blood has reached boiling point. “What choice did she have, Zalora?! A life of slavery, abuse and early death?!” I pace away, spearing my fingers through my hair and gripping a fist-full at the roots as I really let my Niska’s situation sink in. “That or my breeding bench?” Turning, I glare at my aunt again. “You may not think you forced her, but is coercion much better?”
“And what do you think happens to the females of Xaavia every day when they sign their breeding contracts, Prince Kiahn,” she pushes back, standing and leaning on her cane. “Do you think they rejoice at being strapped down by a male their father picked out for them?”
My jaw ticks as I stare at her. “You mean the same females that you were just now trying to pick out for me?”
“Kiahn,” Vel implores, scooting herself forward on the overstuffed seat. “We’re just trying to improve relations between our principality and the capital. The king doesn’t-”
“The king doesn’t want anything to do with us, Kiahn,” Aunt Zalora interrupts. “He wants to ultimately depose us, replacing the ruling of this principality with a new branch of his offspring - ones with potent venoms that he deems useful. I only ever wanted you to sire children to challenge that.”
I say nothing as I stare at my aunt. She stares right back, her eyes going glassy as she says, “King Zeelix is battling his urge to erase all memory of your mother and the fate he left her to, Kiahn. It makes him uncomfortable to be reminded of what he did. And you and your brothers are the biggest reminders of all.”
I can not deny any of what she is saying. Even I’ve let my mind circle this line of thought like water around a drain. But we are talking about my Niska, not my fucking father and what he did to my mother. I let out a displeased snort through my nose and turn my back to them to gaze unseeing through the window. Not for the first time do I wish that my bloodline venom had properties that my father valued. If for nothing else, that I would not need to worry about shit like this.
I also wish I could feel the properties of my own venom. I could use some clarity and focus right about now.
“Your father did love my sister, Kiahn.” Aunt Zalora says. I can hear the thud of her cane against the flooring as she approaches. “He is not so cruel that he would set the wheels in motion to get rid of us, but as soon as one of his senators suggests it, he will entertain it. Once the idea garners more support. We will be replaced.”
“Maybe we should be,” I shrug before turning to face her. “Maybe it is time for new bloodlines.”
I half expect her to spout something about disrespecting my mother, or counter that we do not know what a new ruling family would do to these lands and our people. But instead, she steps close, tipping her head back to look me in the eye and says, “and then where would your Niska be?”
* * *
I stare at the single, pink, blinking dot shown on the palace bio-locator map that Vel tapped into from security. My aunt had slunk away after I’d told her she is being sent on a visit to the capital for a time - without her assistant. I can understand her intent with what she did with Niska, but the whole thing feels wrong now that I’m firmly looking at it from the right point of view. I had been angry at Niska for the lie, when she hadn’t really had a choice - or rather, she had a set of two fucked up choices, and one was only slightly less shitty than the other.
But, I need to speak to Niska. I need to apologize. First, I need to find her. And for that, I needed Vel.
“Are you sure there’s no maintenance scheduled?” I ask, still eying the pink dot on the map that indicates there is one lone person on board the royal cruiser. “What room is that anyway?”
Vel squints at the map, pinching and zooming here and there as she readjusts the angle. “Looks like the lagoon room. I suppose it could be an engineer-”
She doesn’t get to finish her words. I am already out the door, racing toward the palace port tower.
I know it’s her. My breathing speeds up the closer I get, my heart feels like it could burst right out of my chest at this rate. But nothing could prepare me for how relieved I would feel to finally set eyes on her again.
There, in the middle of the indoor lagoon, my Niska floats on her back, staring up at the artificial night sky on the ceiling while holographic moonbugs flitter over her like they’re putting on a show for an audience of one. She is wearing a silk sleeping shift, though it is different from the one she was wearing when I had so foolishly confronted her about the contraceptives. This one is cream in color and clings to her shapely form now that it is soaked through from the lagoon.
I don’t bother to take my own clothes off. Instead, I start wading through the warm waters, only caring about speaking to my Niska, and not much else.
She must hear me, and feel the ripples in the water at my approach. Her only indication of a greeting, though, is how her eyes flick to mine when I’m practically standing over her. They go back to the moonbugs pretty quickly, and I feel like I’ve been dismissed.
Sighing, I lay back and float with her.
It is peaceful with my ears submerged beneath the water. All I can hear is the faint tinkle of the lagoon’s waterfall, and my own breathing. All I can see is the artificial night sky, and dancing moonbugs.
