“Sojealous? You still harbor doubts?”
Gio had the good grace to blush. “Mayhap a wee bit.”
“If you two are finished,” Dak interrupted, “I want to hear all my hatchling has to say to those within this puzzling void.”
“Aye,” Kil grunted. “We’re lucky we have not lost the transmission—”
“—Which we could at any time,” Zor finished.
The warriors fell silent as they watched Princess Dari softly smile. “I hated Gio that day,” she murmured. “I wanted naught but to return to Ti Q’won and spend as much time with my family as I could afore Jana, Kara, and I inevitably ran.”
An unseen person asked an unheard question. Dari shook her head. “Nay,” she answered. “My hatred lasted mayhap a day at best, though I refused to accept otherwise at the time.” Again, that soft smile. “He had a gentleness about him, you see. A desire to make me happy that was at once perplexing and irresistible.”
Gio’s body stiffened. He hadn’t known her flirting had been naught but show. Likewise, he hadn’t known that she’d come to have a care for him so quickly after her arrival on Arak. But then he couldn’t fully read her schooled emotions yet for their bodies remained unjoined. He didn’t think he could wait until her twenty-fifthYessat-Yearto claim her. On the morrow his betrothed would turn twenty-and-four. ‘Twas enough already.
Again, Dari paused as she listened to a question the warriors could not hear. When at last she spoke, the dreamy look upon her face was replaced with seriousness. “Mayhap I should skip o’er—” She paused. “Nay? Alright then. I’ll tell you of my first meeting with Gio’s sire. It was the morn after I arrived when first we broke our fast…”
* * * * *
Dari’s sleep had been a restless one. Thank the goddess, Gio had given her the night to be alone in her rooms. Truth be told, she wasn’t yet ready to emerge from them, but then neither was she in the mood to begin her time on Arak by offending its king. She had been summoned by Gio’s sire, King Elian, to join the family at the raised table for the morn meal and so ‘twas to the dining hall she was now going.
The palace was nigh unto huge so a bound servant escorted her from her bedchamber to the dining hall. Just as she’d suspected by the nameArakiaalone, the Z’an Tar fortress was an opulent one. The palace itself had been carved out of the mountain of gemstones upon which it sat, giving one the feeling that they were part of the mountain. It was closer to nature than any castle she’d ever laid eyes upon, the competing hues of so many jewels giving the lavish abode an ethereal quality.
Wanting to feel as much herself as ‘twas possible given the circumstances, Dari had opted to wear a shimmering bluekazithis morn. It was her favoredkazifor it matched her eyes. Similar to theqi’kaa female fully grown would wear, herkaziconsisted of a skirt that fell just below the navel and nigh unto reached the floor. A long slit on the left side snaked up her leg to the hip. The difference between the skirt of thekaziand the skirt of theqi’kawas merely one of opacity. Where Dari’s skirt was comparatively modest because of its visual impenetrability, the skirt of an adult Trystonni female was entirely see-through. As to the upper portion of thekazi, the dissimilarity between it and theqi’ka—or what hermanireferred to as a bikini top—was, again, opaqueness. Akaziwas modest and showed nothing of the female’s intimate parts, whilst theqi’kaleft naught to the imagination.
Once upon a time, Dari could scarce wait to wear theqi’kafor ‘twould signify having reached adulthood. But now? She blew out a steadying breath as she followed the bound servant called Qenda from her rooms. Now Dari was but grateful for the protection thekaziprovided her.
“Welcome, Princess Dari,” a stranger’s voice called out. She heard the king afore she saw him. “Please join us at the raised table.”
Thegastro-geltorches grew brighter the longer Dari walked. They lit up the dining hall in an otherworldly fashion, momentarily distracting her from her trek. She couldn’t help but to gawk for the well-lit room carved from gemstones was undeniably pleasing to look upon. So many competing and contrasting hues, each one more beautiful than the next.
Remembering herself, Dari blinked away her distracted thoughts and concentrated on walking to the raised dais. Both Gio and his sire were standing as they awaited her arrival, but none else were present. Her forehead reflexively wrinkled a wee bit, not understanding why ‘twas but the trio of them breaking their fasts.
The princess came to a standstill at the raised table. As was customary, she bowed her head first to the king and then to his heir. “King Elian. My lord.”
Both Z’an Tar males inclined their heads. The formalities were done. “Please, Princess,” the king instructed her, “have a seat.”
Topless bound servants swarmed the dais, their breasts bobbing up and down as each of them carried foodstuffs to the raised table. ‘Twas the way of servitude throughout most of Trek Mi Q’an so Dari thought naught of their nakedness. Her hands clasped elegantly in her lap, the princess stared at her empty trencher.
“I wish for us to begin with a clean slate if you will,” King Elian gently prodded. “Neither I nor my son have a wish for your unhappiness, though we understand ‘twill take time to accustom yourself to your new home.”
Home. Dari briefly closed her eyes. Oh how she would that she could view any stronghold save the one on Ti Q’won as home.
“It mayhap must feel as if Arak will never be home, but I assure you that one day soon it will.”
She doubted the king’s words, but said nothing to gainsay him. “If you say ‘tis so.”
The urge to cry was nigh unto overwhelming and the desire to flee even more so. She could feel Gio’s stare blazing into the side of her face so she distracted herself by piling more foodstuffs than she could possibly eat into her trencher.
Silence. Thick and repressive.
The princess delicately cleared her throat as she picked up a ripe piece of fruit. “Are the rest of your line joining us the soonest to break their fasts?” she asked. She didn’t truly care about the answer; she just couldn’t continue in total silence. “Or are they off-planet for a spell?”
“Dari,” Gio murmured. “My sire and Iarethe whole of our line.”
Dari’s head came up. Her blue gaze flew to Gio’s lavender one.
“There was agel-fireexplosion fiveYessat-Yearsback,” Gio explained. “It claimed the lives of mymanias well as all five of my siblings.”
