Alien General's Fated: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (38 page)

"Very well," he said.

When Klaen ordered the commander to shoot, the scavenger shook his head, keeping Ryden firmly in his sights.

"I will wait," he said cautiously. "If what I think will happen right now comes to be, I believe it's better if the ship is in one piece."

Aria wasn't the only one staring in bewilderment, but the Fremma seemed to catch on to something that the rest of them didn't. Only Wellack looked equally pleased and Ryden was outright grinning, looking up into the sky.

"If what I think will happen comes to be,
remember
that I didn't shoot," the scavenger added.

He almost sounded afraid.

"What is going on?" Aria demanded, but Ryden answered by pointing to the skies.

She lifted her gaze just in time to see a flash on the edge of the system and heard the Fremma groan. The next second, he was talking urgently into his com link, and the fleet disappeared from around the
Conqueror
as fast as it could.

Everywhere around her, Aria could hear terrified murmurs. Most of them could be summarized as
Oh, fuck
.

And finally she saw it too. A smile so wide it nearly hurt appeared on her face. In the next second, every speaker in the Galaya Hall echoed with the same deep, powerful voice that made even the Union guards stand straighter—until they focused on the words.

"This is General Diego Grothan, commander of the
Triumphant
," the voice said. "I have your little moon in my sights, and I assure you, my guns are working fine."

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Aria

 

The Galaya Hall held its collective breath, but Aria had never felt so much like laughing out loud.

"You called the
Triumphant
," she told Ryden, not believing the words were coming out of her mouth.

"I did," the general said, looking around in the hall with obvious pleasure. "They don't seem too happy about it."

Indeed, happy wasn't the word Aria would have chosen to describe the mood in the great hall. People were talking over themselves, arguing, asking for forgiveness, some trying to flee the retribution they clearly thought was coming. Speaking of that, Aria eyed Ryden to see if he had that horrible look in his eyes he had moments before someone died.

"He isn't really going to blow up Ilotra, is he?" she asked.

"No," Ryden said. "After all the trouble I went through to save it, he better not."

He answered the
Triumphant
's call quickly, speaking in battle lingo to shorten the message. Aria heard a rumbling laugh in response, and Ryden shut the link.

"
You
," Ambassador Klaen was saying over the others. "This is exactly what I was talking about! This is a coup, and you are holding us hostage once again..."

"This is nothing of the sort," Ryden responded calmly. "I messaged the
Triumphant
earlier today to come and aid my ship with the repairs."

While Klaen was boiling with rage, the general added, "And I thought Ambassador Aria would like to meet Diego Grothan's
gesha
, who is also Terran. They will have things to discuss. I see nothing
illegal
."

Before Klaen could open his mouth to say anything further, Ryden's voice dropped from the cheerful tone he'd used to a feral growl.

"Think your words through carefully, Ambassador," he said. "I might forget you gave the order to blow up my ship."

Aria saw Klaen nearly stumble back, sweat running down his brows. "If you think to take revenge on me..." he mumbled.

"I will leave that to the council," Ryden said, raising his voice to be heard.

With that, he turned to leave and Aria followed him out of the hall, resisting the temptation to throw herself into his arms. Behind them, the council exploded into arguments, but what once seemed alluring and fun to her now sounded like a bunch of squabbling children.

Only the Fremma commander came after them, clearly distraught. He began to say something, but Ryden cut him off.

"I remember," he said.

The scavenger nodded, giving him a wide smile and let them be.

Aria was busy wrapping her head around what had just happened. Her heart was singing, but on the other hand, she couldn't believe it.

"You called Diego Grothan," she said again.

"Yes," Ryden said, with a hint of warning. "Don't take me for a fool like the rest of them, thinking I'd let my men die for my pride."

"I don't," Aria hastened to say. "I really don't."

"That being said," Ryden added. "He'll never let me live this down."

Aria smiled, thinking of the stories she'd heard. All the Brion generals had a reputation, but Diego Grothan could probably boast being the most feared man in the galaxy. She'd only heard rumors of him, but soon she might meet him for real. When she told Ryden that, the general laughed.

"Yes," he agreed. "Very soon. We're going to the
Triumphant
."

"We..." Aria began and then shut her mouth. "
Why
?"

Ryden grinned a vicious smile.

"We must thank our savior," he said.

 

***

 

The hatch of the fighter rumbled open. Aria followed Ryden out. The general still refused to touch her, at least until a healer had confirmed he posed her no danger.

At the first glance, the
Triumphant
looked much the same as the
Conqueror
did. The sister ships were so similar that after they'd been led through several corridors, Aria thought she knew exactly where they were going.

Aria could find her way quite easily through the well-lit hallways of the
Triumphant
. She thought it was probably because of Isolde, the general's
gesha
.

She turned the last corner before their guide did, earning her an approving nod from Ryden. And then she came face to face with General Diego Grothan.

The feared warrior stood in a small lounge in his quarters, and he turned when they entered. With one glance, Aria could see why hardened warriors ran from that man in battle. The look in his eyes was the most ferocious she'd ever seen. Although she met him in peace time, every move the general made told her she was seeing a killer, a brutal and efficient machine of war.

He was as tall as Ryden, dark hair cropped short, built like a tank. For a long moment, Aria stared at him, unable to say a word. The general's presence simply commanded her utter attention.

"Welcome," Diego Grothan said at last with an amused expression, "to the
Triumphant
. I see the two of you have been quite busy."

"Yes," Ryden said, with the same tone. "Not all of us can enjoy the luxury of fighting the enemy's minions."

Diego snorted, gesturing to the
Conqueror
anchored next to them.

"Some of us can make it through a battle with our ships intact. I thought they were nearly unbreakable."

"Apparently not."

"Pity you had to share that piece of information with the rest of the galaxy."

"Luckily not all of our enemies are as clever as Aria," Ryden said.

The mention of her name brought Aria back to the conversation. She'd been momentarily overwhelmed in the presence of the generals, hearing them talk about their conquests like it was something they did every day. Possibly they did. She guessed she'd find out soon enough.

"Indeed," Diego Grothan was saying and the attention of those fiery eyes was on her now. "I heard about her sabotage plan."

Aria shrunk back. "I didn't mean to. I had no idea how badly it might have ended..."

Diego Grothan laughed, an odd sound that echoed through the room, so deep it seemed to vibrate in the air.

"It was an excellent plan," the other general said then.

"But it was pointless in the end," the words escaped Aria's lips.

She had almost made peace with herself over breaking the ship's coils, and then the trial had happened. Watching the Fremma guns trained on the flagship had made her blood freeze in her veins. To think that she was going to be responsible for the deaths of all those people had been unbearable.

"You didn't know that," Diego Grothan said firmly. "Under the circumstances, you did the best you could. The fact that the hive mind never made it to the bridge is irrelevant. You removed that from the possibilities."

For some reason, his praise calmed Aria's nerves. To hear two generals assuring her that she hadn't been wrong to do what she did made it easier. Ryden had told her the same thing, but from her
gerion
, that might not have been truthful. To hear that Diego Grothan agreed meant a lot.

"In fact," the other general was saying. "I have already had the captains include your plan into their next tactical session. We have gotten too comfortable in a galaxy that doesn't hold many worthy enemies. This gives us a good chance to adapt."

My plan is going to be taught to Brion warriors
, Aria thought.
Wake me up
.

"Once we get the
Conqueror
running, we are called to Briolina," Diego told Ryden.

Aria saw him nodding, a cold flash running through her. Was that it? She would pack her bags and leave everything behind? Aria didn't even have anything to pack, if she was being honest.

"
Isolde
," Diego said then, the word rolling off his tongue like it was a hymn.

Aria and Ryden both turned to greet his
gesha
, who came and caught him in a hug before Aria had a chance to say a word.

"I am going to keep you," the woman said, laughing. "Honestly."

She introduced herself to Ryden, while Aria was busy staring at her.

Isolde was... not what she'd expected. Aria didn't really know what that was exactly, but she sure wasn't it. In her mind, Isolde was either a timid human woman, dressed like a traveler that never settled down—or a Brion, draped from head to toe in elaborate robes with a spear on her back. Both images were ridiculous, she knew that, but she couldn't help it.

In fact, Isolde was something in between. Aria's first impression of her was that Isolde had wrapped herself in a Brion shell while keeping her identity.

She was wearing a long dress akin to what Aria had had in mind, her hair done up with jewels matching her eyes. But not once did she give off the impression of someone
born
into it. Isolde carried herself with the grace of someone who knew what she wanted and took it.

Aria wondered if she could do the same.

She let Isolde lead her away from the generals, into a room that
had
to be Isolde's own. There was no way Diego Grothan appreciated small trinkets and color patterns.

"You're the third, you know," Isolde said at once when the doors slid shut after them. "At first I thought it was weird, but now I'm thinking of starting a club."

"The third what?" Aria asked, accepting a drink from her.

"Human girl to bind to a Brion. They must have a thing for us. Or their gods do."

She was speaking of it all so freely, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Seeing her face, Isolde let her grin settle into a kind smile. She took a seat opposite of Aria and said:

"I think I know what you're thinking."

Aria didn't bother questioning her, because she'd figured that if anyone knew what went through her mind, it would be Isolde.

"How did you do it?" she asked, blurting it out.

"A day at a time."

"And was it worth it?"

"Yes."

There was no
but
in that answer, not a hint of doubt. When she said that, Isolde's face was completely serious.

"Don't get me wrong," she went on, appearing to read Aria's mind. "I put up quite a fight. You understand. A guy tells you that you are his. No questions, no nothing, no first dates, jump right in. And my story was a bit more complicated than that."

Yes, I remember the Rhea dispute.

"But then the bind really hits. It doesn't give you all the answers, but it takes most of the questions away."

"Like what?" Aria asked, sipping the sweet drink.

She didn't know what it was, but she was sure to ask later. No one on Ilotra had offered her a drink, but apparently Isolde knew that as well.

"Like what it's like to live among aliens on their home planet," Isolde said, leaning back, gesturing with her glass. "If you'll be able to connect to them. If you can understand them and if someone makes pizza on Briolina."

"I take it they don't," Aria said, laughing.

"They really don't," Isolde confirmed. "I keep asking Diego to take me to Terra so I can have a slice. He doesn't understand."

"That's because he's never had any."

"
Exactly
," Isolde said, grinning again. "See, this is why I said I'll keep you. After spending most of my last year with Brions, do you have any idea how good it is to talk to someone who knows the things
I
talk about?"

Her answer made Aria think.

"So it is lonely," she finally said, while Isolde sat and waited.

"A bit," Isolde admitted honestly. "I won't deny I've spent days wanting to talk to someone about a movie I once saw, but the closest person who could understand is star systems away. But then I go and see a Brion movie and talk to Diego about that…

And Leiya makes it easier now," she added after a brief pause.

That name sounded familiar. Aria searched her memory for it, until she remembered. Briolina's singing star, rumored to be taken from Terra many years ago.

"So she
is
human," she said. "There were rumors about it."

"She is," Isolde confirmed. "I was so thrilled. At least she has the human emotions, but since she grew up on Briolina, I still can't talk to her about Terra."

There was something sad in her voice, but then Isolde looked her deep in the eye and sat forward on her couch.

"Everything I just told you," she said, "is a fraction of what it really is. You might not know it yet because your bind is so new, but it will cloud all else in the best way imaginable. Every sadness you have, every little regret, they're gone the second you look at him.