Alien Soulmate (Paranormal Romance Aliens) (11 page)

The grating laugh returned, the leader looking highly amused. "
You
, little boy? You are the new leader of the Sitheri? By what right?"

"Angen was my father and he passed leadership to me. It's my birth given right to claim the title."

"Hm. Well then we have a problem. We have a treaty with Angen. Angen knew how to keep peace between us. You, little boy, have a taste for war. I can smell it on you. You want to kill my people and dance on our bones. But you are just a little, tiny mouse, and you are bad at war. I should stomp you out where you stand."

Behind him, Ithril could feel the guards shifting to grab their weapons. Ten against three were good odds, but Ithril didn't delude himself in thinking that they could stop her if she wanted him dead.

"You killed my mother," he whispered, lifting his head and letting her see the fire in his eyes. "You killed her and then you denied it. Like she was nothing. So yes. I want war. I want payment for her death."

Something strange flickered through their leader's eyes, and Ithril frowned. It wasn't anger or violence but something like... apprehension maybe. Like she was worried about what he had just said.

"You want a war, little mouse?" She said, leaning in and showing those teeth again. "You will have war. Sitheri mice have lied, cheated, and snuck around. None of this was in the treaty, and it is broken. The Des'kos will make you pay for it with your blood."

She threw her head back and let out a shrill cry that sent a shock of pure terror down Ithril's spine. It was like nails on a chalkboard and glass being ground and grated all at the same time, and he wanted to slam his hands over his ears to block it out. It got even worse when the other two joined in, taking up the cry for blood until the whole Hall and the space outside of it rang with the sound.

"
No.
"

The voice cut through the cry, raised and strong, and everyone turned to look as Carver stepped in. Ithril's eyes widened. His brother looked much the same as he had when he'd sent him away weeks before, but there was something different about him. He wore an air of power that reminded him of how their father had always looked when he was truly in control.

It was like hearing his father speaking through his older brother, and Ithril and everyone else had to stop and stare.

"There will be no war," Carver said.

The leader laughed. "And you can stop us? Just because you are a slightly bigger mouse?"

Carver's lips curled in a little smile. "I can,
Ylisthek.
You see, Ithril, while rash and idiotic, is right. You did kill our mother. Whether it was you or your 'rebels' doesn't matter. Her blood is on Des'kos hands. And that is all that matters here."

As it turned out, being in a transporter alone for over a day with little to do but think was actually something that came in handy. At least on this occasion. In order to keep himself from pining for Vivian endlessly, Carver had gone back to his father's notes.

He'd known that his father was incredibly intelligent and incredibly interested in the history of their clan and the other clans that had been wiped out by the Des'kos. He was even interested in the Des'kos themselves and figuring out some way to reason with them. Ithril thought that Angen was just capitulating, but he had always been looking for ways to make things better between them so the Sitheri wouldn't have to suffer or sacrifice any longer.

The notes that Carver read on his trip back only proved how devoted Angen had been to that task. Every attack was recorded and detailed and he had even kept track of how long the fighting had been going on before the treaty finally came into place.

What Carver didn't understand at first was why he had included so much about mating habits when it seemed to be irrelevant, but then it all made sense when he found a full ten pages on the sacred nature of the mating bond.

Apparently the Sitheri weren't the only clan that had seen a decrease in the amount of females born each year, and apparently it had been happening for quite some time.

It didn't seem like Angen or anyone else had found a reason for this phenomenon, but one thing was for certain. Every couple that proved to be a mated pair would end up giving birth to a daughter.

The records went as far back as his great, great, great grandfather's time, and it had happened without fail. His parents were the perfect example of that as E'lira had been the first Sitheri female born in a three year period.

Since this was overwhelmingly the case, mated pairs were somewhat seen as sacred. Unbreakable.

Unless of course someone came along and broke the bond with death...

Carver had leaned back in the seat, a plan coming together in his mind. He'd stared out the large window into the inky blackness of space and fixated on the glittering blanket of stars, hoping that somewhere out there his father's spirit was guiding him and pointing him towards this being the right thing to do.

Of course, Ithril was a problem. Carver had heard most of the conversation between him and the woman running the transporter bay at the moment, and his blood boiled that his brother, acting as leader, would speak to someone of his own clan like that.

This had gone on long enough, and he was already planning on giving his brother a piece of his mind, but when he heard that the Des'kos leader was there, he knew that something else had to come first.

The war cry had chilled his blood, but there was nothing for it. Someone had to fix this mess, and he was the only one with the necessary information.

Silence followed his pronouncement. None of the Sitheri seemed to know what to say, and the Des'kos were staring at him oddly.

The king, a female, Carver was interested to note, stepped forward, beady eyes narrowed. "Are you going to make a point, or should we just kill you now?" she said.

"Oh, I have a point," Carver told her. "And it's one I think you'll not want me to rush to make. But since it seems like the lives of my people are at stake, I'm going to have to.

Still, his voice was measured and even as he spoke about the declining numbers of females in all the clans and how no one could figure out why it was happening. He spoke of the bond between his parents and how all of them had marveled to see it. He talked about how his mother had been attacked by the Des'kos and left to die, and then how his father had followed.

"Slower, of course," he said. "And if no one knew what they were looking for, couldn't dying of a broken heart be considered a kind of disease?"

Ithril's brow was furrowed, and Carver glanced at him for a moment before looking back to the king.

"You see,
Ylisthek
," he continued, using the Des'kos word for leader as his father had taught it to him years ago. "We all thought that my parents were just in love. That they had just found that one person they were meant to be with. And in a way, we were right."

There was a pregnant pause and then the king laughed. "Silly mouse. You expect than I will believe that the Sitheri still take mates? That they still feel that ancient pull?"

"It happens," Carver assured her, and he could feel his confidence growing. "It happens very rarely, but it does happen. About as often as a female is born to any clan on Khaosali and perhaps even father throughout the galaxy. I don't know how the Des'kos express love, but think of your own parents. Think about how they might have behaved with each other and what that might mean. Your father was killed in the battle that took out the last of the Fosiferi clan, wasn't he? How long did your mother live after that?"

The king blinked, looking shocked, and it wasn't a pleasant expression on her face. "How do you know that?" she demanded. "How do you know?"

"Because my parents were mated, too. And because I have a sister to prove it." He waved a hand and a guard came in, ushering E'lira with her. "Whether it was with your knowledge or not, one of your kind killed my mother, who was one half of a mated pair. Mated pairs are considered sacred according to the laws of this planet, and my father took careful record of every fight that happened between our kind. I'm sure my mother isn't the only member of a mated pair your kind has killed. I'd think very carefully about how much you want to go to war with us now." 

The room was silent after that. Carver could tell that none of the Sitheri present had known about the correlation between being mated and having daughters, and some of them were probably even reassessing their own families now.

Ithril looked blindsided, and he kept glancing from E'lira to the Des'kos with wide eyes.

What everyone was waiting for, Carver suspected, was for the Des'kos to make a move or have a reaction other than stunned silence. Their king seemed to be sizing Carver up, her eyes never leaving his face. The two at her side seemed agitated, though, like they were spoiling for a fight because how dare she make their king look like a fool in front of the enemy.

One of them had his hand in a clawed grip on the handle of some lethal looking weapon at his hip, and the other seemed like he could be incited to violence in a moment. The atmosphere was tense and no one moved, waiting. 

Even though Carver was mostly sure that this would work, he was poised for any violence that might occur. The Des'kos were unpredictable at best, and extraordinarily hostile at worst, and there was no telling how they would react to being thwarted like this.

All told, when one of the king's men suddenly drew his weapon, a sword that hummed with electricity, and held it so the point of the blade was inches from Carver's nose, he wasn't surprised.

Terrified and quite sure that this could easily be the day he died, yes, but not surprised.

What
was
surprising was the fact that their king's hand lashed out and gripped her man's arm, pulling it down.

"No," she barked, voice harsh and then issued commands in their language, too fast for Carver to understand.

They argued back and forth for a moment and then the man lowered his arm and sheathed his weapon, anger and the desire for a fight in every line of his body. None of the Sitheri relaxed, even when he took a step back and the king moved in front of him.

"I am sorry for him," she said. "And... for your mother. We were not knowing."

"Well," Carver replied, voice cool even though his heart was still pounding. "It would be nice if you'd cared about her before you found out she was mated, but I suppose we can't be picky here. The real question is what happens now?"

The king held his gaze. "We will go. The treaty stands."

E'lira made an incredulous noise from where she stood, and everyone turned to look at her. "That's it?" she asked, hands on her hips. "You have already killed hundreds of our kind, and you expect us to just honor the treaty? You broke the
law.
We could call a planetary inquiry against you and your people and everyone else on Khaosali would stand with us."

Carver blinked and looked over at his sister. He was used to her being quiet and only speaking when she was engaged with someone, but clearly something had changed in the time since their father had died.

She even looked a bit different, as if a spark had been lit inside of her from within, and suddenly he had an idea. But that would have to wait until they conquered this hurdle. And then until after Ithril was dealt with.

"You threaten us?" the king demanded, clearly agitated.

"Yes," she said. "I may not be the leader, but I am the proof of your wrong doing. One of many, I'd imagine. The treaty does not stand."

"What would you have us do, E'lira?" Carver asked, curious.

She hesitated for a moment, considering. "Make them give us our land back."

It was an interesting proposition. Much of the land they had given to the Des'kos had been given after the death of their mother, when really, the Des'kos should have been the ones giving them things in reparation for the crime they committed. Carver could see the anger in his sister's eyes and decided that she was right.

"My sister speaks wisely. We want our land back. You will withdraw from it and never come near our boundaries again. If you do, then we're calling an inquiry. It's as simple as that."

The Des'kos looked infuriated, but there was little they could do. The king nodded jerkily. "Very well." She held out her hand to Carver, to seal the decision.

Carver took her hand in his smaller one and shook on it, murmuring the words to seal it as he did. "Now get out," he said, voice never losing that polite quality.

All the Sitheri in the room watched them go, and it wasn't until a guard confirmed that they had left that they relaxed.

Carver wanted nothing more than a shower and to curl up in bed, or better yet, to somehow curl up in bed with Vivian who was much too far away from him for his liking, but there were still things to be dealt with. Namely his brother.

He turned and gave Ithril a hard look. "Father would be ashamed of you." Ithril opened his mouth, clearly to argue, but Carver shook his head, cutting him off. "What can you say in your defense, Ithril? You have done bad thing after bad thing. People
died
for your anger and lack of thought. People suffered and you nearly brought a war that
we cannot win
down on our heads. What would you have done if I hadn't come? If I were stuck on Earth as you clearly wanted me to be? How would you have gotten the Des'kos to back down?"

"I don't know," Ithril muttered. "I didn't have a plan for that."

"You are bad at plans, little brother," Carver said. "And when you are good at plans, they are bad plans. I'm too tired to deal with you right now." He motioned to the guards. "Please show my brother to his rooms and keep him there until tomorrow. I will send for him when I've decided what should happen to him."

The guards all bowed as one. "Yes, Leader."

There was something like relief in their tone, and Carver watched as they led Ithril out, already missing the soft quiet of the little cabin that had become more like home in the last couple of weeks than he had ever expected it would.

When they were alone in the room, E'lira grabbed him up in a tight hug, pressing her face to his shoulder. "I missed you. I just. I missed you so much."

Carver smiled and rubbed a hand over her back, hugging her just as tightly. "I missed you, too. All the same, I'm glad you were here. You were amazing." He drew back and looked at her. "Did you figure it out? About the mating?"

She shook her head. "No, I... Well. I wondered. It seemed strange that Father would have all of that together. I figured I'd see what you made of it."

"Well, it saved us in the end, either way."

"There's still work to be done. I don't think the Des'kos will do entirely peacefully."

Carver sighed. "No, you're probably right about that. We'll tell the guards to be on alert. But for now, I am barely awake and in need of food and a hot shower as soon as possible. Fixing things can wait until the morning."

Four months later:

"He's been much better lately, Leader," the doctor said as she walked next to Carver. "He's much less sullen and has started to open up about his feelings and why he did what he did. I mentioned the apology, but he didn't seem much excited by the idea of it."

Carver snorted. "I'm sure he didn't. Still, that is progress. I'm impressed with all you've been able to get out of him. He won't even talk to me."

She shrugged. "I think it helps that I show no bias. He has issues regarding you as his elder brother, I'm sure."

"That's probably an understatement,"

With that information in mind, Carver made his way back to his rooms alone. His head was full of thoughts and plans that he had been putting together ever since he'd come back, really. It was strange that being here didn't feel like it used to.