Chapter 2
TWO
Drex Letu stormed through the corridors of his palace.
The underground tunnels were carved from solid rock of a variety that didn’t echo.
His footfalls were marked by the thud of his boots on the floor.
Natural sunlight from two of Virilia’s three suns shone through the translucent panels overhead, which were interspersed throughout the city.
He walked faster. A glass door slid open at his approach and he strode through, into a small round chamber topped with a high, clear dome.
Inside, plants flourished and brilliant flitflies fluttered among blooming flowers.
Several graceful pacca trees stood tall with their long, weeping branches laden with sweet-smelling blooms. In the center of the chamber there was a stone.
It was sunk into the rich soil and inscribed with a name, dates, and a short message.
He crouched down and laid a hand on it. Tuli, beloved princess, adored queen, read part of the inscription. Mother to unborn child, read the other part.
“Sir, your great-aunt has landed.” The voice in his ear came from the head of his royal guard via his v-link device.
The communicator was a newer addition to his life and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked it.
There was something to be said about being able to shut out the world and all its demands for a while.
“Thank you, Wurik,” Drex said in reply.
The female had nerve. When the message arrived that his great-aunt and her two guards were returning to Virilia with an extra passenger, he knew what had happened—Ferias had chosen a mate for him—against his expressed wishes.
There were plenty of qualifying males who would welcome a mate and the child they produced, but Drex was not one of them.
These human females were paid to help perpetuate the Virilian species. The only reason they agreed to do this was for money. Therefore, he intended to pay her however much she wanted and send her straight back to Earth.
Satisfied, Drex rose. He gazed down at the stone and the words he’d read hundreds, no, thousands of times.
“You cannot survive on nothing,” said a female voice behind him.
Drex remained still. “I survive, nonetheless.”
“Do you?”
He turned to face Ferias Rigr, his great-aunt and one of the last Great Sages of Virilia.
Her two burly male attendants stood in stoic silence by her side.
The virus that killed so many females had spared her life, but had taken her eyesight.
Her clouded-over eyes could not see what he could, but his aunt’s vision had evolved into something much more, increasing her special abilities and making her the most sought-after sage in all of Virilia and beyond.
“It won’t work,” he told her. “I will never desire anyone but my Tuli. Certainly not whatever poor, opportunistic female you have brought here from that primitive world, Earth. Pay her, then send her home.”
“She is not here for wealth.”
“Then what is she here for?” Not that he cared.
Ferias tilted her head, sending silver and white braids slithering over her shoulders. She spread her arms, gesturing to the garden. “What are you here for?”
Drex shook his head. It was easy to get pulled into his great-aunt’s labyrinth of words. “Send her back.”
“No, Drex.”
“I could order it.”
“You could.” She smiled at him, full of softness and pity, which he despised. “But I could override it. I chose this female.”
“Then you procreate with her.”
His great-aunt chuckled. “In another life, perhaps, but in this one, she will give you strong, healthy children.”
Drex swung around. “My child is dead.”
“It has been ten sun cycles since their passing.”
“It could be a thousand.” His chest hurt. A terrible desperation scraped at his belly. His mate had been heavily pregnant when the sickness had infected her. He never met his daughter, who died before she could be born. “I will always feel the same.”
He hated the knowing look that slid over Ferias’ face. “Ghosts cannot love you back, nephew.”
There was no reply to that. No rational rebuttal would sound sane.
He knew what she said was true, but the happiest times of his life were spent with Tuli and losing her had been devastating.
Allowing another into his life would mean opening himself to pain again.
Drex had endured enough to last a lifetime.
He heard Ferias’ resigned sigh. “I will leave you to your endless mourning and discuss this matter no more. However, please do me the courtesy of at least greeting our guest. I have invited her to stay for as long as she wishes.”
Drex ground his teeth, but nodded. It was a perfect opportunity to show both females he had no interest in procreating with anyone.
He dismissed the attendants and escorted Ferias himself.
There was only one place a new guest was received and that was the court chamber, where the king’s throne sat.
They entered the central room of the palace.
It was a round space, undecorated but with the white stone walls polished to a high shine.
An overhead dome allowed in natural light.
His simple stone throne—which he rarely ever sat in—was in the center of the room, surrounded by stone benches.
A female stood before the throne. Drex saw her first from the back.
She appeared to be studying the decorative pattern chiseled into the arms of his chair.
A long fall of blond hair slid down her back.
Braids, shimmering with decorative metallic threads, made her locks glint in the sunlight.
She wore a long dress in light blue that pooled on the floor around her feet.
She was slender at the waist and gently curved everywhere else.
When she turned, Drex fought the need to draw in a breath.
Her face was a vision. There was no denying her beauty.
Soft pink lips parted slightly as their gazes met.
Large eyes, framed in thick black lashes, were as blue as the dress she wore.
Full breasts rose and fell heavily beneath the soft, scooped bodice.
Nestled between her cleavage rested a Virilian mating medallion.
The red stone of Exir City gleamed against her skin.
Ferias had given it to her, along with expectations he would not be fulfilling.
Her hands clenched as Ferias drew him toward her.
He would have preferred a room’s length of distance between himself and this female, but his aunt was having none of that.
She reached toward the human, who took her hand.
A wide, bright smile spread across the female’s face, lighting up her beauty even more.
Great stars, he thought. She shone brighter than any of the three suns that heated the Virilian desert.
“Madison McGurdy, may I present my great-nephew, Drex Letu, King of Exir City.” Ferias spoke in the Virilian language, so he was surprised when the human female nodded her head and seemed to understand the introduction. She smelled as sweet as the pacca blossoms in Tuli’s grave chamber.
“Nice to meet you, King Drex.” Her hair shifted and he saw the device sitting on her ear.
It was a translator, changing Virilian words into her language.
His own v-link had immediately transmitted her words into Virilian so he could understand her.
Very clever of his aunt to make sure the female could communicate.
Drex felt compressed, like his lungs couldn’t pull in quite enough air.
He wanted to get away from this female. Better yet, he wanted her out of this room where he and Tuli had ruled together.
It was impossible to hold the image of his late queen clear in his mind with this female—Madison—standing before him, smelling sweetly familiar, despite being from a foreign planet.
He gazed down at her, keeping his face impassive.
“Ferias has invited you to stay, and so you may, for a time.” His voice was coolly disinterested, despite the tightness in his chest. The female was breathtaking—literally.
“My great-aunt has undoubtedly explained that she chose you to be my consort. Rest assured, your womb will not be utilized by my seed.”
The female raised one eyebrow at the bluntness of his words.
A twist of guilt tightened his chest. It was not her fault that he would not mate with her.
Nevertheless, he needed to state it in clear words so there was no confusion—for either of them.
“Feel free to offer your attention elsewhere. You may use your time here as you please.”
Drex heard his great-aunt’s sigh and saw the female blink rapidly.
How shrewd of Ferias to choose a female who looked nothing like his Tuli but who all but radiated life and vitality.
Still, the thought of touching another female felt like a betrayal to the one he had lost. No, there would be no other female for him, ever.
Not even for the purposes of procreation. Not even with one as lovely as Madison.
The human female’s smile had faded from bright and full to a curl of amusement and surprise.
“As you wish, King Drex. I am grateful for your hospitality.” She slightly lifted up her dress and bent her knees a bit, for what reason, he didn’t know.
It must be a human custom. “And for your very candid description of my role here. I will take your suggestion under consideration.”
The coy look she gave him from under her fringe of lashes made it clear she believed his “suggestion” was for her to find other lovers.
The thought made him scowl. He had not intended that exact interpretation of his words, but he had no say in what she did.
“Enjoy your visit on Virilia, Madison. Do not get too settled in, however. You will be on the next transport heading near Earth.”
Ferias put her hand on the female’s arm.
Drex turned and walked from the chamber, still sweetened by the scent of the human.
Ferias had indeed brought a female who was a match for him.
The Great Sage knew which females to pair with which Virilians to produce strong offspring.
He knew other males who had successfully gone through this program.
Some had found their life mates and had made families with their human females.
His own brother was among their number, although he had not yet met the female or their child.
Unfortunately, Drex had already found and lost his life mate to the sickness that decimated the population of Virilian females. Ferias had once told him that when he loved, he did so with his whole heart and soul. The Sage had never told him if this trait was a flaw or a strength.
He left with a pinch of regret and a good helping of resentment. He could have spoken more gently. He could have welcomed her to Exir City, at the very least.
Somewhere behind him, the throaty sound of a female’s rich laughter wound through the stone tunnels. His gut tightened and heat spiked straight to his groin. Drex gritted his teeth and picked up the pace.
The corridors of the palace narrowed and grew darker as he descended to his private quarters. He would do as he always did and carry on. He had a city to govern and tricky intergalactic relationships to maintain. Worrying over the appeal of a single human female sat at the bottom of his list.