Chapter 26
Dirty Clothes
Darren’s brothers were waiting for him when he walked from the jail block, a free man. They hugged him in turn. Blayze even wept, sniffing on Darren’s shoulder like a baby.
“Feel free to get snot on my jacket. It needs cleaning anyway,” Darren quipped, but he was half-serious. He liked to be well turned out. Also, he was overcome with tenderness for Blayze and they comforted each other.
“You stink, if the truth be known.” This from Lero as he shouldered Blayze out of the way, hugged Darren and slapped him on the back.
“Thanks for your candor, middle brother.”
Lero was reluctant to let him go, surprisingly. “We thought you’d be shipped off to the arse end of the empire and we’d never see you again,” he added.
“Been there, done that. Drypso, remember?” joked Blayze.
“We’re at the heart of the empire, more’s the pity,” Darren mumbled over Lero’s shoulder, feeling a rush of affection for his other brother.
He pushed Darren to arms’ length and scrutinized him with a frown. “You look awful. Do you need us to call a doctor to check you out?”
Darren did his best attempt at a smirk, painful with his split lip where a guard had landed an extra-hard punch. “Thanks for the compliment. The emperor’s doc already checked me over and given me various treatments.”
Blayze whistled. “The emperor’s personal physician, no less. You are going up in the world. What are your plans?” he asked, hooking his arm in Darren’s, Lero took his other arm, sandwiching him between them.
Darren explained as they walked to the officers’ barracks.
“Things are looking up. I’m to join the emperor’s personal bodyguard at the palace, but first I want to find Aelanna.” He halted in place and frowned at Lero. “Do you know where the females are? Are they safe?”
He didn’t dare ask if they’d already been assigned to lizard high command. He couldn’t bear to think he’d lost Aelanna forever.
“I think they’re still in their rooms in the barracks. We should find out,” replied Lero. That was something, at least.
After they had returned to their rooms and Darren had showered and changed, they went to find the girls. He did his hair in the neat bun and cast a critical eye on his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
His injuries from the fight with Crukugs and from the going over by the guards were healing. His black eye had faded, and his split lip was mending, though he tried not to grin because that opened it again and it bled.
Darren told his brothers the good news on the way, which was, Emperor Uchantik had decreed that the humans wouldn’t be given to the Ohirins.
In Uchantik’s opinion, it was a bad idea to match mammals with reptiles.
Instead, the Dheltans and humans were free to find their fated mates.
“And he’ll make a public statement tomorrow,” Darren finished up.
Blayze was shocked, in a good way. “Really?” was all he could utter.
Lero was more cynical. “He doesn’t want to let Dheltans go.
He wants us to settle here, put down roots, and have families.
We’re too useful to him.” Darren nodded thoughtfully.
He had to agree, but even life on Ohiri, which was everything he hated, was bearable with Aelanna at his side.
He could only hope she’d agree, but she’d told him she loved him.
They entered the guest section of the barracks.
Reception was a small space, furnished by a counter with a fierce female officer behind it and a few wooden chairs.
His heart was in his mouth as he asked the dragon duty officer if they could see the girls.
His brothers felt the same, judging by the nerves coming off them.
She wouldn’t let them go up to the girls’ rooms.
“Wait here,” she instructed, and strode through a door behind the counter. The brothers waited in raw silence. They could only express their hopes and fears aloud, and Darren didn’t blame them for not doing it. After a tense few minutes, the dragon strode in; Kora, Nayli and Aelanna behind her.
All three stopped dead, jaws dropped, at the sight of the brothers.
Kora recovered first. A sour look on her face, she crossed her arms and said, “I guess you’ve come to take us to our new husbands.”
Darren took control before the situation got out of hand.
“No, let me explain. The emperor has decreed that you aren’t to be given to anybody. You have the right to choose your mates.”
A stunned silence followed his announcement.
“And you know this, how?” Kora again. Nayli looked bewildered and he couldn’t read Aelanna. She hadn’t said a word.
“The emperor has ordered Darren to join his personal guard,” volunteered Lero.
Stupefaction filled the air.
“But what does this mean for us?” Nayli asked, looking at Blayze.
Aelanna couldn’t admit that she’d seen Darren in jail, because Joel had sworn her to secrecy. She hadn’t even told Kora and Nayli. She was relieved that he’d been released and couldn’t quite believe he’d seen the emperor and been promoted to the imperial personal bodyguard.
As he told the story, he made his visit to the palace sound like a cozy chat with his imperial highness over a cup of tea. Maybe it had been that way. He was always truthful with them, but events were changing rapidly and she could’ve done with more time to process them.
What did he mean that they could choose their own husbands? Was it true?
She had missed him so much, it felt like her heart had been cut out of her body and it hurt. She’d never get over the pain.
He went down on one knee before her and took her hand in his, adding to her confusion.
“Aelanna, from the first moment I saw you, I fell for you, and I knew you were my fated mate. I recognized you, and I felt it in my soul and in my heart. My life isn’t worth living without you. Will you be mine?”
All the while he looked up at her, holding her gaze with those lovely blue eyes of his, such a look of pleading in them.
“Say yes,” she heard Kora growl.
“I’d do anything for you, give my life for you,” he added.
He’d already done that twice, the first time when he’d saved her from the Drek and nearly got sucked into space, and the second time when he challenged Crukugs, fought him, and landed in jail for his trouble.
She had to trust again. The room seemed to hold its breath; she could have heard one of his pins drop in the silence.
He squeezed her hand. “You’ve drawn out my mating marks, when you visited— the last time we saw each other, and you told me you loved me,” he told her, in a low voice, but Blayze heard it and gasped.
She needed to reply. His two brothers, her two friends, and the lizard officer were waiting for her response. And Darren.
He lifted the front of his jerkin and showed her one or two marks on his top ribs.
She reached out to touch one and he winced.
“No, actually, that’s a bruise. Here.” He raised his jerkin higher and showed her more marks, genuine darker shapes marking his skin.
They were beautiful, and they showed because of her.
She nodded. “Yes, Darren, I’ll be yours.” She was too choked up to say more and tears stung her eyes. Darren got to his feet and hugged her, rocking them from side to side. Nayli clapped and Kora congratulated them, and his brothers cheered.
When Darren released her, though not totally, he put a possessive arm round her and pressed her to his side, she noticed the female lizard dab her eyes with a handkerchief.