Chapter Twenty-Three
Aphrodite sat at the large crystal table with Xexis and his siblings for an eternity.
Droids of varying shapes and sizes came to dish out food to each person.
A circular roomba was also put on the table after every course to suck up the plates and crumbs.
It was cute to find it had a tiny tiara attached to the top of it.
Xnasis and Xreck dominated the conversation.
Bringing the pack up to speed with life at the capital, the crown prince broke down what social scandals happened, who flubbed what task, and who was sent back to the planet side for this, that, and the other.
Aphrodite was enraptured with everything from harvesting scandals of goods from the planet to high level scandals of researchers stealing other people’s work.
Unfortunately, just like any other civilization, not everyone was a hero in a fairytale.
She enjoyed the stories more to see the scope of how alike Humans and Vroz were.
“And Quagmor is set to be here soon, he is to go with me to the Council later, so that will be nice.” Xnasis talked with his food in his fingers.
“Fantastic! I’d love to meet him,” Aphrodite gasped.
“Oh, he has made a request we do not get to leave until he meets you, my Mphronatch,” Xnasis snickered, wiggling a curved bone at her.
He caught the meat falling off it with his other hand before stuffing it in his mouth.
The Crown Prince sat back and dunked his hands in his wash bowl then dried them on plum colored towels provided for everyone.
“A human? Would have seemed impossible before but now? It would be the Kannatch who fate gave a human.”
“Speaking of humans,” Xexis stated with a tone of seriousness.
The table quieted. Xnasis took up his goblet of watzer and motioned for Xexis to continue.
Aphrodite’s mate raised his own goblet before throwing back a hefty gulp.
He continued with a grunt, “The humans made a massive lie and spread it to all their people that Aphrodite was stolen.”
“What?” Xreck choked on his liquor.
“Ah, that makes more sense as to why the humans in the Council station were asking questions.” Xnasis scowled, swirling his drink before tossing it back.
“We spoke with her previous captain, and they wish to make it quiet.” Xexis sat back, draping an arm behind Aphrodite.
“So, they do not wish me to leverage their trespassing on protected space for them to silence their screaming?” Xnasis raised a singular brow.
“No, and they know the rules for mating hunts.”
“Well,” Aphrodite laughed nervously, glancing into her goblet. She’d hardly touched her watzer, instead opting to keep drinking her water.
“Well?” Xreck, Xnasis, and Xexis parroted.
She glanced at Xexis nervously then at Reevar for support. Finally, with a wince, she answered, “I didn’t know the Council existed or what mating hunts were. Neither did my crew. There’s no way everyone knows the rules.”
“Ah! Yes, she’s inferring the fact that humans are not told their government sits on the Council like all other beings.” Reevar nodded, folding his hands over the table.
Xnasis furrowed his brows, staring at Reevar then to Aphrodite, “And your trespassing?”
“We were told to go there by my captain; we had no idea it was off limits.” She shrank an inch in Xexis’ arms.
“Interesting.” Xnasis slipped to his feet. “Excuse me, I have some calls to make. Please, continue to celebrate Xexis and Aphrodite’s arrival. I will see you both later before we go to the Council.”
“Go to the Council?” Xexis shook his head, baffled.
“Yes, you two will have to explain what happened to the Council. No matter what the humans want to do with the story, I will not have our good name smeared because they are foolish.” Xnasis stood with a swift snap and the droids zipped to his spot.
Buddy came floating down from above Aphrodite and plopped himself onto her head.
They both watched in horror as he stormed off.
Xnasis’ coattails fluttered behind him as people swooped in to walk behind him.
“Did I just make things worse?” Aphrodite winced.
“No,” Xexis pulled her in close and went to put his forehead to hers. He stopped and glared at the drone. “Do you mind?”
Buddy chirped metallically before fluttering down to the table.
Xexis laid his forehead to Aphrodite’s head and inhaled deeply.
She wrapped an arm as far as it would go around him.
Yet, she still felt the gut tingling worry that she’d somehow made it worse.
Getting her own government in trouble with the larger government at play wasn’t a nice move.
If they weren’t pissed before, they definitely would be now.
Could they even touch her now? She’s Mphronatch!
She twisted to press a kiss to Xexis’ shoulder.
The table began to open back up to communication.
However, the pair was mostly silent. They sat back and let everyone else join in the merriment.
He rested his chin over her and watched his crew chat.
Aphrodite chuckled as Kiefgr and Reevar got into a chugging competition.
“I love seeing them this happy. I wish things didn’t have to get messy,” she murmured.
He sighed, “I agree.”
“I really wish I had liked my crew like yours like each other,” she wheezed, leaning back into his chest.
“You mourn them, yet you didn’t like them?” He teased with a soft squeeze of her arm.
“They truly sucked. Max was annoying, always in my face, touching me, and breathing on me. Carso and Tedros were researchers, but they couldn’t use a data pad. I know children who can send an email, and they were so incompetent and selfish. Then Danny…” She let out a low whistle.
“Ahh, yes, the human hunter.”
“Pfft,” she sputtered, “calling him a hunter is insulting to the Vroz. He was a bodyguard at best. With a hero complex but like in a gross ‘I have to kill everything’ way.”
Xexis hummed, putting his forehead against her hair. “Insulting to the Vroz?”
“Well, he’s no Xexis,” she teased, poking at his side. He breathed heavily. Her core shivered in delight. She continued, stroking his ego. “You’re far more agile, smarter, sneakier, I’ve never seen a better hunter…other than me, that is.”
She chuckled only to have the laughter die in her throat.
Xexis’ hand slid down her arm before slipping to her torso.
Her heart spiked as he stroked his hand up and down her side expertly.
Then his other hand ran up and down her back till it slipped under her cheeks.
He squeezed heartedly and she knew instantly where his mind lingered.
“Shall we?” he growled against her hair. “Test that theory? Can my mate best her Kannatch?”
“I’ve won once, and almost won the second time, you really think I can’t take you? Xexis?” She twisted only to freeze. Warm, gooey insides turning to angry butterflies at the hunger in his obsidian pools. They bore through her and stirred her to her feet. He rose with her, towering over her.
“Oh! Look, there they go, can hardly keep their hands to themselves,” Reevar snickered from the table.
“Excuse us, I have a hunt,” Xexis exhaled sharply, tugging Aphrodite with him across the mess hall.
Aphrodite caught the flash of Kiefgr snapping to their feet only to be wrestled back into their seat by Grooug.
The words, “Not that kind of hunt, he’ll kill you if you join this one,” from Reevar echoing across the walls made her legs weak.
She stumbled after her mate, failing to keep up with his fast steps.
They came through archways in quick succession until they trotted up a handful of steps.
A black door with crystal etching in it, much like the decoration on her skirt.
He opened and held them ajar with two arms. The other two put her in the hallway.
Aphrodite spun under the shimmering stars.
Dizzy and horny, she panted for air and jabbed her arms out to steady herself.
“My mate, I will close this door, you have until I open it again…to run.” He stepped back from the doors, and they hissed shut.
A strip of crystal through the door, like windows, showed her a restrained Xexis stood on the other side.
Not a man to give empty threats, Aphrodite knew better than to stick around.
Buddy raced forward down the hallway, blue lights scanning ahead of her.
She glanced behind her and found a solid wall.
To her left, decorative crystal and obsidian wall with faces etched in memorial.
Probably past Kannatch. To her right, a wall of pure glass with obsidian and crystal pillars.
She could see the abyss of space beyond the stars, glittering and the thick, forest-heavy planet beneath them.
There was no time to study how the trees climbed into their atmosphere or the veins of water, or the massive size of their home world.
Aphrodite took a deep breath and bolted down the hall.
One hand holding up the skirt of her dress, she immediately kicked off the painful flats.
She was only a few feet down the hall, hair fluttering behind her, when the door whooshed open.
The sound of Xexis entering the hall made her heart shudder.
Adrenaline and giddy excitement pumped through her.
The hall was covered in shadows but there were no twists and turns.
It was a straight shot. She was a fish in a barrel. And Xexis had the faster gun.
She pumped her arms, glancing down at the map Buddy was frantically drawing her.
Not that it mattered, Xexis knew there wasn’t anywhere to go.
She was being chased down a hallway, dress rippling behind her, where there was only one exit.
The door at the end of the hall, Buddy was furiously trying to figure out if it was locked.
His panicked text came up on the screen swiftly.
He’s behind you!