Abziarr and his unwilling Queen (Lords of Arr'Carthian 1.5) (7 page)

“Yes, of course, Your Highness. I’ll set about looking for your queen now and will most humbly ask for the return of my documents.”

“Yes, do that,” I said, distracted. In my thoughts I was already at the forthcoming meeting with Marruk and the others. I was curious to see how they would react to my wild tiger.

I sat in the hall and waited. When I finally heard voices and footsteps, Susan had still not appeared and no word had reached me concerning her whereabouts. I sighed and braced myself for the imminent meeting.

The door opened and Marruk entered the hall first - Keela to his right, one step behind him and Kordan immediately behind. A few steps behind came the males whom Marruk had selected for the mission, amongst others the younger Prince Berka and Amano, the captain of the
Cordelia
.

“Where is she?” asked Marruk when he saw me sitting alone at the large table.

“If I only knew,” I said, annoyed. “She’s running around here somewhere, driving everyone crazy.”

“Have you already had enough of her perhaps? Will you set her free now?” asked Marruk.

I shook my head, smiling.

“I can’t let her go again because she is my mate and my queen. And what’s more, I doubt that she will want to leave here. She loves it far too much, making my life difficult. And even if I do complain about that a little now and then, I still enjoy every second of it. I must say, these earth females are certainly an interesting species. Now I also understand why General Kordan has such shadows under his eyes.”

To my amazement the corners of the general’s mouth twitched briefly before his face became expressionless again.

A loud growling sound could be heard in the corridor and my guests, some of whom were still standing in the doorway, leapt hastily to the sides as my mate galloped into the hall and sprang over the table to position herself next to me.

“Tell me where Susan is!” Keela insisted angrily. “I want to hear, from her own lips whether she wants to stay here or not.”

“Umm, I think she’s already here, Carisha,” Marruk pointed out awkwardly.
 

Keela cast her mate a questioning glance before scanning the room until her eyes rested on Susan’s tiger.

“No! Is it?” she gasped in disbelief. “That’s not possible, is it?”

“Tiger shifters are different in several ways from cheetah shifters,” explained Marruk. “One difference is that their females cannot shape shift in the same way as the males - not until they become mates do they gain this ability and as it appears, that also works with females of your race.”

Keela’s eyes returned to Susan’s tiger.

“Susan?”

Susan shifted before the amazed eyes of our guests and her eyes shone as she looked at her friend, laughing.
 

“Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked, throwing her arms around my neck.

“It’s …” began Keela, shaking her head. “Wow! That is so … amazing!”

Relief spread amongst my guests and they all stepped closer, to take a seat, at my invitation.
 

“Maara, have drinks brought to the hall,” I commanded.

“Already on their way,” responded Maara.

“May I therefore presume that you now want to stay here voluntarily?” asked Marruk.
 

Susan sat down on my lap, beamed at me and gave me a kiss before turning back to Marruk

“Yes, I think I can get to like that idea,” she said, smiling. She cuddled her back into my chest and I put my arms around her.

“Wow, so are you now a real queen?” asked Keela, her eyes wide.

Susan shook her head.
 

“No, I’m Abziarr’s mate and I’m half-tiger, but I can’t deal with being a queen!”

I shook my head in frustration.

“You are and will remain my unwilling queen,” I said, but I said this full of pride.

THE END