Abducted: Alien Mate Index Book 1: (Alien Warrior BBW Science Fiction Paranormal Romance) (The Alien Mate Index) (50 page)

Which was easier said than done—especially when Sarden was eating me up with his eyes.

“Um…are we all ready to go?” I asked, trying and failing not to lust after him. He looked really
hot
in fancy dress clothes. The fitted jacket seemed to emphasize his broad shoulders and the snug trousers showed off his perfect ass.

“Tellum is preparing the shuttle—we’ll go directly to the palace,” Sarden said. “We should be just in time to catch the last bit of Grievance Day.” He looked at Sellah. “You look lovely, little sister. Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

He nodded briefly. “Then let’s go.”

* * * * *

The atmosphere of Eloim was surprisingly Earth-like with blue skies and green grass and vegetation—well,
greenish
anyway. It was more turquoise than what I would call actual grass-green. Still, it looked close enough to home to make me happy.

The royal palace, however, wasn’t what I had expected. But of course, what I had expected was Cinderella’s Castle from Disney World. I don’t know why—because that’s what comes to mind when I think of palaces and kings and queens and fairy tales, I guess. But the palace of Eloim wasn’t like that—there were no soaring buttresses or high turrets or tall towers. In fact, it wasn’t very vertical at all—I think the whole structure was no more than one story high.

But
what
a story. It was a long, low, gray stone complex that seemed to stretch for miles. In fact, I thought it looked more like a small city than a dwelling place for a royal family.

“These halls we’re passing through are behind the common areas,” Sellah explained in an undertone as we made our way through what seemed like miles of echoing stone corridors. “This is where the lower couriers and servants live—the footmen, the maids, the—”

“The muck workers?” I suggested, grinning.

She smiled. “Yes, them too, I suppose. We’ll be coming to the more restricted area soon.”

“Will we be able to get in?” I asked. We were traveling by hidden routes through the palace as much as possible. Also, Sellah was wearing an opaque black veil that hid her face. We didn’t want Hurxx alerted until the moment we stepped foot into the throne room.

“There will be guards posted at the doors of the throne room. I suppose we’ll find out if they’re loyal to Hurxx or Sellah,” Sarden said grimly.

“Doesn’t matter.” Despite his fancy clothes, Grav looked positively menacing. “They’ll get out of the way if they know what’s good for them.”

“Please—no violence.” Tellum sounded nervous. “We cannot appear to be a gang of thugs pushing our way into the throne room.” He gave Grav a nervous, sidelong glance which the other male returned with a wild, white grin. Clearly Grav was spoiling for a fight—I wondered if he would get one.

“We’ll rein it in as much as possible,” Sarden promised. “But one way or another, Sellah has to be seen—and not just by the Council—by the common folk as well. They love her.”

“They
loved
me, you mean.” Sellah sounded unhappy. “I’ve been gone for months.”

“They’ll remember you,” Sarden said reassuringly. “In fact—”

But just then we turned the corner and found ourselves facing a broad, arched wooden door bound with golden hinges. And standing on either side of the door were two Eloim guards. They were wearing scarlet and gold uniforms and holding some nasty looking weapons that looked like a cross between a spear and a pickaxe.

They turned at once and one said,

“Halt. None may enter the throne room without a pass.”

“And even if you’ve got one,” the other guard said. “Grievance Day is almost over. You’d do better to return on the next one.”

“We’re not going back.” Grav stepped up to face them, a low growl rising in his throat.

I saw the guards go pale but they stood their ground, leveling their pickaxe-spears at the huge alien.

“This isn’t necessary,” Sarden said. He looked at the guards sternly. “Open in the name of the Ria.”

Sellah stepped up and lifted her veil to let the two of them see her face.

At once, the two of them fell to their knees.

“My lady! Forgive us! We didn’t know!”

“That’s all right,” Sellah said gently, smiling at them. “Just open the doors—quietly if you please—and let us pass.”

They fell over themselves doing it and soon the arched door was swinging quietly open, allowing us to enter the throne room.

We came in from the side, with the throne on our left and stopped just inside the doorway. There was a kind of shadowy alcove there where we were able to stand unnoticed.

I noticed at once that the people in the room seemed to be divided into different groups. The ones at the back of the room, farthest from the throne, must be the common people, I thought. They were dressed in simple clothes and seemed to be waiting patiently. Closer to the throne, the clothing got dressier and dressier—these must be the nobles and couriers, I supposed. Standing right near the throne I saw a group of older Eloim males, all wearing long, sober black robes. Tellum was dressed the same so I assumed these were the members of the Council of the People, which appeared to be sort of like a Parliament that kept the Rae and Ria in check.

The throne itself was a long golden chair, almost like a fancy bench with a high back. It had two crimson cushions on it and was clearly meant for two people to sit on. However, it had a single occupant now.

A large, rather flabby-looking Eloim male with a long, luxuriant curling mane of black hair was lounging on it so that he took up both cushions. He was dressed in a gold brocade jacket which was too small to contain his gut. It spilled out under the jacket and over his tight gold trousers, resulting in a pronounced potbelly. The crimson satin-like material of his shirt was stretched tight over it in a ridiculous and not-very-attractive way.

That
has
to be Hurxx,
I thought, eyeing the lounging Eloim with distaste. On his head he wore a golden circlet with a single, luminous blue-green jewel set right in the middle, like a diadem. The jewel seemed to pulse with some kind of energy. Though his hair flopped when he turned his head, the crown—which had to be the Star of Wisdom—stayed very firmly in place and didn’t move so much as a millimeter. Around his neck he wore a gaudy gold chain set with jewels of the same color.

“There he is—the bastard,” I heard Sarden growl.

He started to go towards the throne but Tellum put a restraining hand on his arm and pulled him back to the shadowy alcove we were standing in.

“Be patient. Let me pick the moment to reveal the Ria,” he said in a low voice.

Sarden subsided, still growling, but I could feel his anger and frustration through the link we now shared. I couldn’t say that I blamed him, either. Hurxx had sold his sister into slavery just to get rid of her and he didn’t look like he felt guilty for it one bit.

Asshole.

“What’s that necklace he’s wearing?” I murmured to Sellah—for some reason the gold chain with its blue-green stones kept drawing my eyes. “Is it official court jewelry—like the Star of Wisdom?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Or at least, it wasn’t official before Hurxx had it commissioned. He had it made before we were crowned to wear to the coronation and he’s never taken it off since. He wears it
everywhere,
whether it matches his outfit or not.”

I made a face. “Doesn’t look like it would match
any
outfit.”

“I thought not too,” she murmured. “But he loves it for some reason.”

“And now,” one of the Council members said, stepping forward. “Before this Grievance Day is ended, we have one more matter to put before the Council and the Court.” He glanced back at Hurxx who made a languid gesture with one hand and nodded for him to go on.

“That’s Yancy—one of the Council that’s in Hurxx’s pocket,” murmured Tellum. “You can be sure that anything he says comes straight from the mouth of the Rae himself.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say, then,” Sarden growled.

“As we all know,” Yancy, the Councilor continued in a loud voice, “Our beloved Ria was taken from us by shameless ruffians many solar months ago.”

There was a murmuring in the crowd and I saw several of the common women dabbing at their eyes. Sarden must be right then—Sellah was loved and missed.

“Our ships pursued these pirates tirelessly,” Yancy continued. “But alas, we were too late to save our Ria. It is my sad duty to tell all who are gathered here today that she is dead.”

There were more murmurs from the crowd—some sad and some shocked. Most of the couriers and nobles looked upset as well.

“That
bastard!”
Sarden started forward again but again, Tellum held him back.

“Wait,” he said simply. “Let Hurxx dig a deep enough hole to bury himself.”

I personally thought he already had but since Sarden apparently decided to stay put, I stayed too.

“For proof of our Ria’s sad and untimely demise, I offer you this—the single object recovered from her captors.”

Yancy clapped his hands and a courier wearing scarlet hurried forward, carrying a jeweled case in one hand. He opened it and Yancy reached in to pick up what was inside. Then he held it up—showing the crowd, who
oohed
and
ahed
over it.

It was a crown, much like the one that Hurxx wore on his head. Only in this one the circlet was silver instead of gold and the glowing jewel set in the center was a slightly different color—pinkish-purple instead of blue-green.

“As you know, there is no other female of the blood to be Ria to our esteemed Rae,” Yancy continued. “And even if there was, our Rae would not wish to replace such a beloved Ria so soon. In fact…” He paused dramatically. “He does not wish to replace her at all.”

There was a louder murmur coming from the crowd now and some of the Councilors were visibly upset.

“What are you saying, Yancy?” one of them called. “How can Eloim retain its balance without both a Ria and Rae to rule it?”

“Why, in the same way it has always retained its balance,” Yancy said smoothly. “Through the use of both the Star of Wisdom,
and
the Star of Compassion.”

“What? But if there is no Ria, who is to wear the Star of Compassion?” another Councilor protested.

For the first time, Hurxx spoke.

“
I
shall,” he said, at last sitting up straighter on the throne. He had a high, nasally voice that grated on my nerves. “I shall wear both of the Stars at once and they shall guide me.”

The murmurs of the crowd were so loud this time that the Councilor who had been objecting had to shout to make himself heard.

“Impossible!” he exclaimed. “No one person can wear both Stars at once.”

“Why don’t we let the Stars themselves decide that—shall we?” Hurxx purred. Leaning forward, he motioned to Yancy. “Yancy—the Star of Compassion.”

Stepping forward, Yancy held out the silver circlet with its purple-pink stone and Hurxx took it carefully, holding it with his fingertips as though it was hot.

Just as he was about to place the silver crown on his head, on top of the gold crown he already wore, Tellum murmured,

“Now!”

Sellah stepped forward, out of the shadowy alcove we’d been keeping to. The rest of us followed her and Sarden shouted,

“Stop!”

“What?” Hurxx paused, frowning. “Why, Sarden, my royal cousin, whatever are
you
doing here?”

“Stopping you from taking over all of Eloim,
cousin,”
Sarden growled.

“How? Do you plan to take the throne yourself,
half-breed?”
Hurxx sneered.

“I didn’t say that, but there is someone here who has a claim to it.” Sarden motioned to Sellah, who once more threw her black veil back to reveal her face.

“Hello, cousin,” she said in a low, carrying voice. “As you can see I am not dead at all but very much alive. And I do not approve of you wearing my crown as well as your own.”

The murmuring from the crowd was absolutely deafening then—it was really more of a roar. Many of the common people were surging forward but the palace guards held them back, keeping us from being overwhelmed. There were shouts of,

“Sellah! The lady, Sellah has returned!”

“The Goddess of Mercy be praised!”

“The Ria! I knew she wasn’t dead!”

But mixed in with the shouts for Sellah, there was a surprising amount of commotion for Sarden.

“Lord Sarden has brought our Ria back!”

“Mayhap they will rule together—as is proper and right.”

“Lord Sarden has returned—now all shall be set right.”

I even heard some things about myself. People wondering who I was and if I was with Sarden. I blushed and made sure not to meet anyone’s eyes. Let them think what they wanted. But it was clear to me from what the crowd was murmuring, that Sarden wasn’t regarded as an interloper or an intruder, despite the fact that he looked more Vorn than Eloim.

Despite the shouting at her back, Sellah kept her face towards the throne. She and Hurxx seemed to be having some kind of a staring contest but at last he spoke.

“Well, cousin,” he remarked. “So you return. I am so glad you are well—we feared you dead.”

“You feared no such thing,” Sellah said in a low, carrying voice. “For you are the one who plotted to have me kidnapped and sold into slavery in the first place!”

“I?” Hurxx put one hand to his chest and made an offended face, though I noticed he kept a tight grip on the Star of Compassion with the other hand. “Surely you must be mistaken.”

“There is no mistake,” Tellum said, stepping forward. “For I heard you and Yancy speaking of the plan—which is why I went to find the Ria myself. She was put up for auction to be sold to the highest bidder—that was
your
doing, Hurxx.”

“Blasphemy!” Yancy gasped, retreating to stand beside the throne. “How
dare
you speak such lies in the presence of the Rae, Tellum?”

“He only speaks the truth,” Sarden growled, stepping forward. “Put the Star of Compassion down, Hurxx—and while you’re at it, you can take off the Star of Wisdom too. You obviously don’t deserve to wear it.”