Knightqueen

Chapter 2

By the coward’s bones.

Seeing the large form of the enemy made Sten Carahan want to charge out and kill.

The Gek’Dragar was tall, with powerful legs and broad shoulders. It was humanoid, except for the long, scaled tail behind it. A high-tech suit covered most of its body, but pale-gray, scaled skin showed on its neck and face. Two ridges ran along its cheeks, and four bony horns—two on each side—swept back from its face. The soldier had black hair that almost touched its shoulders, and its green eyes glowed in the gloom.

Sten’s jaw was so tight it ached. They’d dared to take the knightqueen. They’d invaded Oron, attacked the palace, and stolen her away.

He’d been forced to watch them hurt her and lock her up.

His hands balled into fists. It had been pure instinct to link them with a dura-binding during the attack.

It meant the Gek’Dragar had been forced to take him with them.

They hadn’t been happy. He’d taken several beatings and still had the bruises.

At least he was with her. And he would get her home.

He tightened his hold on her body. She was staying still and watchful.

Holding her like this…it wasn’t something he usually did back on Oron. Over the years, he’d memorized how she looked, how she walked, every nuance of her beautiful features. In his darkest fantasies—ones he tried to keep ruthlessly locked down—he’d imagined touching her.

He breathed her in. Yes, they were both dirty, but his enhanced senses could still pull out her scent. It always made him think of sun-kissed honey.

You’re the head of her knightguard.

His jaw worked. He had no right to touch her. He was older, scarred, her guard. That was it.

I am Knightguard Thorsten Carahan. It is my duty to protect my queen. I am her sword, her shield, and her devoted servant.

He repeated his private vow a few more times.

The Gek’Dragar soldiers marched past their hiding place. But it was clear they were searching for them.

Sten and Carys had escaped their rocky prison built in the mountains here. There had been some sort of commotion at the prison, and they’d escaped in the chaos.

As they’d climbed down into the deep ravine, he’d heard the explosion that had destroyed the prison. It had provided the perfect distraction for him to get Carys far away from the Gek’Dragar.

Now, they were stuck on an unknown alien planet.

Alone.

The first thing they needed was food, and a safe place to rest. He knew that Carys was tired, and even though they had combat implants, they still weren’t functioning at full capacity. He ground his teeth together. The Gek’Dragar had shot them full of drugs that had left them unable to use their implants.

But it was wearing off. Soon, they’d be at full capacity again.

Still, even their tech couldn’t keep them upright for days on end. They needed rest. Carys’ feet were scratched up badly, and he hated seeing her golden skin damaged. He hated more that it wasn’t healing like it should.

Sten leaned closer to the opening. He listened, using his enhanced hearing.

The Gek’Dragar were gone.

“Come on.” He moved the rocks carefully, then helped her out.

She looked as graceful as ever, even in her tattered and torn dress. Days ago, she’d asked him to tear the long skirt shorter to give her more movement.

She was tall and slender, like a dancer. Her white-blonde hair was dirty and tangled, but she still looked like a queen. Her eyes were a brilliant gold.

He took her hand, loving the way her elegant fingers tangled with his. He pulled her in the opposite direction to the Gek’Dragar. They moved swiftly along the bottom of the ravine.

He hated it down here. This planet had too many wild beasts that bred and lived in the shadows. From what he could tell, there was something unnatural about them. They were twisted and mutated.

He looked up. There was nothing around them but sheer cliffs that seemed never-ending, reaching for the sky.

Then his gaze snagged on something. About halfway up the cliff face, a broken bridge dangled high above. And on one side, he spotted stone dwellings cut into the cliffside.

“This way.” He walked until he found a narrow, steep path that led up the cliff. “We’re going up.”

She nodded. “Where are we going exactly?”

“There’s some sort of dwelling cut into the rocks above. Maybe an old village.”

She arched her neck and looked up. “It looks abandoned.”

“If there’s shelter, we can rest there.” He just hoped there were no gul-vexed beasts up there. He was pretty sure the creatures stuck to the ravines, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

Sten started up the steep path, keeping one hand pressed to the rock face. In places, the path was crumbled and narrow. They reached a spot where the path deteriorated away, leaving a wide gap.

He leaped over it. He turned and held out a hand. Carys easily jumped across the gap, bumping into him.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes. Lead on.”

They kept moving, but eventually the path petered out. It stopped at a sheer face of dark rock.

“What now?” She sounded so tired.

Sten spun. “Hop on my back.”

“What?”

“Come on, Carys. It’s getting dark.” He waved at his back. He had no idea what other creatures might come out at night. “We need to scale this cliff before we lose the remaining light.”

There was a pause, then she leaped onto his back.

He froze for a second and closed his eyes. The knightqueen’s long legs were wrapped around his waist. She was pressed against his back.

For a second, all he could do was feel.

Guilt punched him in the gut. She was his queen. He was supposed to be getting her to safety not reacting to her body.

He shook his head, then faced the cliff wall. He pressed a hand into a crack, then launched himself upward.

He needed to focus on his job, and not how soft and warm she felt.

Sten climbed. Her weight barely added anything. He’d trained with packs heavier than her. She held tight and didn’t move or complain as he worked his way up the cliff.

He gripped a crack and moved to haul himself up.

The rock crumbled away. He lost his grip on his right hand, his body sliding downward.

Carys gasped.

With his left hand, Sten clung hard, his arm muscles straining. “It’s…okay.” He found a ledge with his right hand and evened his body out.

“I can climb myself—”

“No.” The thought of her clinging to the rock face had sweat breaking out on his forehead. “We’re almost there.”

He hauled his body up and searched for his next handhold.

Finally, he climbed over the edge into the ruins. Thank the knights.

He set Carys down and wiped the sweat off his face. She straightened, staring at the silent, dusty rock-cut dwellings.

A quick scan told him that there was no one here. At least no one living and breathing.

“This was once someone’s home.” She walked to the closest carved building, stepping through a doorway. Inside, some rotting furniture lay tipped over and abandoned, and rubble had crumbled off the walls and ceilings. She bent down and picked up a rotting piece of fabric. The color had long since faded.

The sunlight was nearly gone, and Sten used his energy to create blue light on his palm. They used it to search the rest of the village.

The dwellings were all empty.

“The Gek’Dragar are responsible for this.” Anger coated Carys’ voice. “I know it. Whoever lived here, the Gek’Dragar forced them out.”

“Yeah, the guls have a lot to answer for.” Something moved in the shadows and Sten spotted a small lizard. Quickly, he chased it, and gripped the small creature. It wriggled, but he quickly twisted its neck.

“Sten!”

“It’s food.” He scanned the creature with his implant. It was fine to eat and had a high protein content.

Carys’ nose wrinkled. “I’m not eating it raw.”

“Yes, my queen.” He took her arm, and led her into the least ruined building carved into the cliff. At the back, he saw a vine growing over one wall. It was laden with white fruit. A quick scan told him the fruit was edible as well. He plucked several off the vine.

Carys ducked into an adjoining room. “Sten, in here.”

He followed her and saw where water trickled down the wall, pooling in a basin carved into the rock. He scanned the water. Potable. Something else to thank the knights of old for. A quick circle of the room, and he found a carved bowl made of some type of wood. That meant there might be trees on this planet somewhere, although he was yet to see any. He rinsed the bowl out, and filled it with water.

When he handed it to her, she drank greedily. He watched her graceful neck, his gut tightening. A droplet of water escaped, sliding down her neck. He swallowed. He had the sudden urge to lean forward and lap at that drop. At her skin.

Gul. He made himself look away.

He needed to find his control. His hand flexed. He was usually very good at not letting himself notice how beautiful his knightqueen was.

He’d had years of practice.

I am Knightguard Thorsten Carahan. It is my duty to protect my queen. I am her sword, her shield, and her devoted servant.

“Come on, let’s find somewhere to rest for the night.” He led her back into the main room of the house. He found a small table that was kicked over on its side, and righted it, setting their food down. He found a few other things buried in the rubble.

There was a candle made from some sort of slow-burning wax. He lit it, and it gave the room a flickering glow. Next, he pulled up some netting, and realized it was a hammock. He dusted it off and affixed it to the wall, then he tested it with his weight.

“It’s stable.”

He crouched down on the ground, then used a burst of energy to cook the lizard.

Carys sat down beside him. She pulled a face as he used a knife to slice the cooked creature, but she took a hunk of the lizard meat. He watched her gingerly test it.

“I’d give anything for some berrigian broth right now,” she said.

A popular meal on Oron, it was made from a flavorful vegetable, and he knew it was one of her favorites.

“As soon as we get home.”

She shot him a small smile that made his chest tighten. “And you’d want a thick brod steak.”

She named his favorite meat. “You know me too well.”

“I do.”

Quietly, they ate the fruit and meat, taking sips of water in between. The silence was comfortable and familiar.

They’d spent a lot of time together since he’d become her guard.

She’d been a young, bubbly, seventeen-year-old, and already so amazingly beautiful, when he’d been assigned to her protection detail.

It had been an honor to protect the life of the knightprincess.

Then the Gek’Dragar had organized the assassination of her parents. They’d tried to kill her, as well, but Sten had stopped that attack. He reached up and stroked the scars on his cheek.

“I’m surprisingly full.” She leaned back against the wall.

The candlelight made her pale skin look a deeper gold. By the stars, she was beautiful.

He cleared his throat. “Feet now.”

She huffed out a breath, but rested her feet in his lap. He soaked some fabric in water and then started cleaning her feet. They were long, narrow, and elegant. There was gold color on her toenails.

“I wonder what this planet is called,” she said. “And what happened to all the inhabitants.”

Sten remained silent. As far as he could tell, they were in Gek’Dragar space. The enemy had killed the locals, or driven them out. He had no idea if there were any left.

It was what the Gek’Dragar did.

They were selfish, only thinking of the needs of their own species. They thrived on combat, and hated any sort of harmony.

They took whatever they wanted with no regard to the consequences.

His jaw tightened. They wouldn’t take Carys again. He wouldn’t allow it.

“We need a plan, Sten.”

“You need to rest.” While she slept, he’d stand guard and make sure no one snuck up on them. “Tomorrow, the first thing we need to do is put more distance between us and the Gek’Dragar. We’ll search for a local village or settlement. If we’re lucky, we might find a communications device. We need to get a message to Oron.”

She nibbled her lip. “The Gek’Dragar are looking for us.”

“They are. But Knightmaster Ashtin and the entire Knightforce will be working to find you.” Sten called Knightmaster Ashtin Caydor a friend. The man was a dedicated knight, and Sten knew Ashtin would do everything in his power to bring the queen home.

Sten finished with her feet, and let himself have one last stroke of her heel before he gave them a tap.

As she pulled them out of his lap, they brushed his thigh, and he stifled a curse. His cock was not listening to all his reasons why he had to keep his feelings locked down.

Once they were back on Oron, it would be fine. Things would go back to normal.

He saw Carys’ eyelids droop, and then she shivered. The temperature was dropping, now that the sun was gone.

“Time to sleep,” he ordered.

With a slow nod, she climbed into the hammock. It rocked gently. Sten shifted to lean his head back against the wall.

“Sten?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you…lie with me? It’s cold, and I don’t want to be alone.”

He froze. It wasn’t right, and his control didn’t need any more testing. “I don’t think—”

“Please?”

She was his queen. He could never say no to her.

I am Knightguard Thorsten Carahan. It is my duty to protect my queen. I am her sword, her shield, and her devoted servant.

He climbed into the hammock, and it rocked more this time, as he settled his weight into it. She instantly curled into his body. She was half lying on top of him, since he took up most of the space.

As they swayed, she pressed a hand to his chest. She snuggled in and let out a sigh. “You’re so warm.”

And her skin was chilled. He shifted his arms around her. By the stars, she felt nice. Soft. Feminine.

She nuzzled her cheek against his chest, and he closed his eyes. Moments later, he sensed when she fell asleep.

I will keep you safe. I will get you off this planet.He vowed it.

She shifted again, her thigh sliding over his.

His cock hardened.

Sten mentally cursed himself, staring up at the rocky ceiling above. She was over ten years younger than him. She was his queen, and he was nothing. He was the simple son of a farmer. He was her guard, and it was his duty to keep her safe.

Jaw tight, he forced himself to find some control. But he still held her tight.