Royal Cargo (Romance Among the Stars #2)

14. Karkonar

14

KARKONAR

A rkari opened her eyes and gave us a confused glare. My mate smiled pleasantly, putting a cup of coffee on the table while my sister watched with suspicion. I couldn’t blame her. She’d awoken in the Dashing Rogue’s mess, cuffed to a chair at the scratched metal table, facing the pair of us.

She didn’t look well. Decompression, fire, and a knife fight with a crime boss had all taken their toll on my sister’s carefully cultivated image. I doubted I looked much better, but I didn’t care as much about how I looked, either.

We’d run the medbay’s autodoc over both of us at Elaine’s insistence. She’d be fine, aside from a few scars which she’d be able to remove soon enough, but she’d been unconscious since before I stuffed her into stasis. Trying to make sense of the situation wouldn’t be easy for her, and I had no sympathy for her whatsoever.

“Hi! I guess you’re wondering why you’re still alive,” Elaine said, bright and cheery. “I can promise you, we didn’t save you to poison you with coffee! That would be stupid and melodramatic, and if I did want to be rid of you, I’d be more direct. You did nearly get my mate killed, after all.”

“It had crossed my mind to ask about that,” my sister allowed, picking up the cup and contemplating the strange drink inside. Her voice was cracked and rough, almost painful to hear. “You’d escaped, you were free. No need to come back for the person you blame for the whole thing. Speaking of which, how’s Vaher?”

“Dead,” I told her. “One of your Drall snapped his spine. Nothing to worry about there.”

“Aside from his sibling taking over the cartel and coming for me with everything they’ve got.” Despite her snark, she managed a small smile. “If you saved me for trial and prison, you might as well throw me back outside. Vacuum death is probably a kinder end than whatever the Vaher have in mind for me. You know that, so, honestly, why am I still alive?”

I sipped my coffee, savoring the bitterness. “I have the same question for you, sister. Traditionally, killing the king is an important step in seizing the throne. Why mess with what works?”

Arkari chuckled at that, shaking her head. “My answer’s easy, numbskull: you’re my brother and I love you. That’s how stupid I am. What about you?”

“Mm, same.” We shared a laugh and Elaine rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to kill you, but you nearly killed us, and I will not tolerate a threat to my mate. So, how do we move on from this? I can’t exactly let you stay on as a duchess when you’ve tried to usurp my throne.”

“You have the upper hand, brother, so it’s really your choice. I’m surprised you’re asking my opinion.” She took my raised eyebrow as an invitation to continue. “This mercy is a weakness, a sign you’re not ready for the Black Throne.”

I laughed. She didn’t, and neither did Elaine, who frowned and looked from one of us to the other.

“You spared me, too,” I pointed out, and she sighed.

“Maybe I’m not ready either,” she said. “Our parents raised sentimental idiots.”

Elaine snorted. “You call it ‘sentimental’ to not murder each other? What the hell kind of family am I getting myself into?”

I squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “It’s a sad and messy reality of royalty. There’s only one kingdom to go around.”

That seemed to trigger something in my beloved human. She froze, and I could almost feel the thoughts rushing through her mind. Rather than try to rush her, I waited for her to speak, and my sister did the same.

“I have a proposal for dealing with Arkari,” my mate said, speaking slowly, still feeling the idea out as she expressed it. “I doubt you’ll like it, but hear me out.”

“Always,” I said. “Whatever you have to say, I will listen, beloved.”

Arkari said nothing, but she raised an eyebrow. Elaine took a deep breath.

“I think you should let your sister have the Black Throne.”

I forced myself not to snap an instant refusal. Arkari let out a burst of laughter before she could stop herself.

“You are serious? You and my brother have just defeated me, and as punishment, you want to give me the throne I wanted to usurp?”

“Nope.” Elaine shot her a glare. “No, as punishment I want to, I don’t know, kick you in the shin. The throne isn’t a punishment for you —but, Karkonar, you’d hate it. You’ve said as much.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it. I had said it was a duty I didn’t look forward to taking up. “It is still my responsibility.”

“Great, so you’ll be in charge of a planet and its colonies and hating every second. I know you’ll do your best, love, but you’ll be miserable, and miserable leaders make mistakes. So what’s your responsibility here? To take a job you won’t do well? Or to give Aris a better leader, someone who actually wants to rule?”

“I think I like your mate, Kark.”

I rounded on my sister with a snarl, and she flinched back. “I’m being sincere, Karkonar, truly. She’s cut to the heart of the matter, found a solution that we’d never have thought of.”

“Because it doesn’t work!” My voice rose of its own accord, and I clenched my fists tight enough that my claws dug into my palms.

“Brother, did you ever think about why I tried to get you shipped to the other side of the galaxy?”

“You wanted to take the throne,” I said, forcing my voice to a normal volume. “What else is there?”

“You’ve got it backward. The important thing isn’t me getting the throne, it’s you staying off it. Karkonar, you don’t want to be king.”

“Damned right I don’t. What does that have to do with anything? It’s my responsibility.”

“Or you could let your dearest, closest, most beloved?—”

“Only,” I added, and she pulled a face.

“— Most beloved sister take that weight off your shoulders, while you and your mate go off to raise a family or conquer a new planet or follow whatever dream you want to chase.”

Elaine put her hand on my arm, her cool touch soothing my immediate anger. “I wouldn’t put it exactly that way, but yes. You can be free. We can be free.”

Her face was radiant, green eyes shining, a smile as wide as a planet. The sheer delight shining from her lit up the room and paused my anger. Short-circuited my thoughts.

I tried to speak, but no words came to me. While my mouth stayed frozen, my mind raced ahead, thoughts tumbling over each other. Why should I take up a weight I do not want and lack the skill to wield? Why suffer, why sacrifice? I stared at Elaine, the woman I loved, the woman I would lose if I took the throne. How could I crush her like that? Yet the law, and my duty, was clear.

“It is impossible. I am the heir, by the laws of the kingdom I inherit.”

“Legally, you are completely correct.” Arkari shook her head. “Historically, it’s only been two generations since the last time siblings fought over the throne. You’re a good man, brother, and that’s part of the problem. A good man rarely makes a good king.”

“But you’ll make a good queen?”

“If you’ve learned anything in the past few days, brother, it’s that I’m not a good person.” My sister laughed before continuing. “So, you were kidnapped by Vaher, I tracked you down and tried a rescue, and you died a hero, killing Corbuch Vaher as you went. That leaves me as the heir, and you two lovebirds can slip off to wherever you want with a hefty purse of reward money. What do you say?”

I thought about it, turned it every which-way in my head. There were a lot of reasons to say no. Duty, honor, sibling rivalry, pride.

None of them mattered a bit in the face of my feelings for Elaine. Oh, there were other reasons to say yes—Arkari would be a better ruler, damn her. But Elaine’s smile greeting me each morning? That outweighed everything else.

So I grabbed my mate and swept her into a kiss that shook my world. Arkari pulled a face and looked away, but I spotted a smile before she turned.

“Oh, get a cabin, you two.”

I had never agreed with my sister so emphatically.