Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (52 page)

“Yes Lady,” the man said. His fingers moved over to a computer to do as she commanded.

“Evening Dove, ten, twelve, one, out,” Nadja stated. Flipping off the communicator, she dropped it on her father’s chest. It blinked a signal for the ship to trace.

“Nadja?” Olek asked.

She shivered as if really looking at him for the first time. Weakly, she said, “Just let them come, don’t get in their way. If you give them no trouble, they will take all this away and leave for good.”

“Nadja,” he insisted, worried about her. Suddenly, she paled. Olek darted forward, catching her as she blacked out into his arms.

N
adja awoke
in the medic unit. She saw her husband speaking to Yusef. Olena was nowhere to be seen.

Sitting up, she whispered, “Olena?”

Olek glanced at her, rushing to her side. “She’s fine. She was injected with something and they have her in the medic unit trying to discover what it was.”

“I want to see her,” Nadja said. She moved to stand.

“In a moment,” Olek insisted. His eyes darted over her with caring, but she was still too numb to see it. She had to make sure Olena was all right first. If her foolish actions in running from her home had caused any harm, she would never be able to forgive herself.

Olek studied her.

She blinked, looking at him. “There is a baby.”

Olek grinned, nodding happily. “I know. He’s fine.”

Nadja nodded. She didn’t return his smile. Her eyes drifted back to the door where Olena was in the medic unit.

Suddenly, the medic, Tal, went to the door and opened it. Yusef was right behind him in the doorway.

Nadja stood, brushing past Olek to go forward. Lightly, she touched Yusef’s arm and whispered, “Can I have a moment?”

Yusef frowned, but nodded his head. He motioned for Tal to leave the women alone.

“I’m sorry,” Nadja said when the door shut behind the two men. She was glad to see Olena was indeed alive and well. A dam broke in her, as she rushed, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Olena chuckled lightly. “Don’t apologize. You saved my life.”

“I couldn’t let him kill again. You have nothing to worry about,” Nadja said. She swayed slightly on her feet and Olena could tell she was worn out. “As Doc’s heir, I dissolved the family. They won’t be back.”

Nadja moved over to the machine as it beeped. Absently, she moved to the panel and pushed a button for it to continue. She pulled up a chair, waiting as it cycled, and then she again pressed a button.

“Nadja, I’m sorry. I know he was your father,” Olena said.

Nadja held up a hand to stop her from saying more about it. “I am one of the few who could have done it without backlash. No, it was time for his terror to end.”

“Still,” Olena tried.

“Thank you.” Tears came to Nadja’s eyes and she sniffed. Shaking her head, she again held up her hand for silence. No more words were needed on the subject. A part of her was saddened. He was her father and a part of her loved him. But she didn’t regret her actions.

The unit beeped again and Nadja glanced down to the screen.

“Are you in pain?” Nadja asked at the panel’s prompting.

“No,” Olena said.

Nadja pressed a button.

“How’s your baby?” Olena asked.

Nadja sniffed and wiped her eyes. She thought of Olek, desperately wanting to see him now that she knew Olena was all right. It was as if she’d finally crawled out of a nightmare. Reading the panel, she grinned. Laughing lightly, she said, “Hopefully as healthy as yours.”

N
adja was
quiet as Olek walked her home. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but she was scared. He didn’t mention what he thought about her father or about what had happened. And she was too ashamed to ask him.

As they went to bed, Olek didn’t say a word. Nadja lay down beside him. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly against his chest. That night, he didn’t let her go.

A
sweet
, exotic scent curled around Nadja in her dreams, causing a smile to touch her lips. All around her were the small brushes of silken softness. Blinking awake, she realized Olek was gone, but petals of solarflowers were sprinkled all around her.

She sighed, running her fingers over his pillow. Her fingers met with a piece of paper and she instantly sat up. It was a portrait of her sleeping, surrounded by the petals. In the corner, Olek had written
, I have to go meet with my brothers. We have discovered King Attor’s camp and will go to face him. I couldn’t bear to wake you when you looked this beautiful asleep. I’ll be home as soon as I can.

Nadja felt tears coming to her eyes. She rushed from the bedroom, out into the hall to see if she could catch him. The portrait was clutched in her fingers. He was long gone. Her fingers trailed to her flat stomach. He couldn’t go to battle without her speaking to him first. She had so much she needed to say to him.

“Open,” Nadja ordered the door, ducking under into the hall before it was even up. “Olek!”

Nadja ran down the passageway barefoot.

“Olek, wait,” she yelled, not caring who heard. Coming around the corner, she nearly toppled over the king. “Oh!”

“Hey, easy,” King Llyr said. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

“No,” she mumbled, trying to get past him. “Olek.”

“Shh, daughter, wait,” the king said. “You can’t go to him now. He’s in the lower dungeons. Agro discovered from the spy that King Attor is camped along the southern border, planning an attack.”

“Then take me down to the prisons,” she ordered.

“No,” he denied gruffly. “They are no place for a lady.”

“But,” she tried to protest.

“Now, come on,” the king said. He took her elbow and led her down the hall toward her house. She still held the picture and he glanced at it briefly. “Let’s just get you back inside. You shouldn’t be straining yourself in your condition.”

Nadja blushed, following her father-by-marriage’s guiding hand. The king ordered the door to her home shut behind them. He led her to the couch and urged her to sit.

Staring up at him, she asked, “He told you about the baby?”

“Of course he told me,” the king said. “He’s told everyone.”

Nadja sighed. “Then he does know.”

“He heard your father mention it.” His eyes turned serious as he took a seat. “How are you, daughter?”

“Fine,” she said absently. “And he wasn’t upset about it? He was…happy?”

“Of course Olek was happy,” the king answered loudly, but Nadja could see the caring in his eyes. “We all are.” He paused. “I don’t know what that man did to you, girl, but he’s not your family. We are.”

Nadja blinked, tears forming in her eyes.

“Ah,” the king grimaced, “don’t go getting all emotional on me.”

Nadja bit her lips, sniffing her tears back, and dutifully nodded.

“All right, then, good.” He relaxed when he saw she wasn’t about to start bawling. “Now, why would you think he wouldn’t be happy? Surely you sensed his feelings about it.”

Nadja shook her head in denial.

“Well, why didn’t you read them for yourself if you were curious?” The king looked at her like she was crazy. “That is why the gods gave you the gift of it.”

“The gift of the baby?” she asked, confused.

“Did those Galaxy Brides people tell you girls nothing?” He frowned in dismay. “The gift of himself.”

Nadja just stared at him blankly.

“Ah,” he sighed heavily. “You remember the whole crystal smashing, right?”

Nadja nodded.

“All right, then,” he grumbled. “Pay attention. Our crystals have magical powers. They glow and we find our wives. We choose to take them back to our tents for…well,” he paused and cleared his throat. “You stay and choose us, you crush the crystal, our life extends yours and there you have it. You’re joined.”

Nadja blinked at the rough description of a wedding.

“You understand?”

Nadja shook her head in denial.

The king sighed. “Qurilixian babies are given a crystal when they are born. They’re magical.”

Nadja nodded, trying not to laugh at his exasperated face.

“When you were paired by the crystal, your lives became joined in such a way that can never be taken back. You exchanged part of your souls, or so the women keep telling us. By crushing the crystal, you assured the exchange would never be reversed. And in the process, he gave you some of his years so you could live longer together. Do you understand what I am telling you, so far?”

Nadja dutifully nodded. She didn’t dare smile too brightly at the king, lest he stop his explanation.

“All right, good.” His hands clenched into large fists on his lap as if he forced himself on. “Each of you are like half of a, uh, a sword. Without the other side, you can’t…”

“Lob someone’s head off?” Nadja offered.

“Exactly!” the king exclaimed with a smile. “It means he’s yours and so on—”

“So on?” Nadja probed.

“Yeah, he’s done sleeping with other women,” the king answered. “Now, since you’ve bonded together, you can read each other’s, you know—
ah, hell!
Ask your husband. It’s his job to explain all this. I only came by to tell you Zoran approves of your warrior cream. He’s requesting a larger batch to issue supplies to the men. Make a list of what you need and I’ll get a worker right on it.”

Nadja smiled and nodded, thinking more of Olek than her herbal creation.

The king stood and placed his hands on his hips. “Now stay here. Olek should be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. I don’t want you running about risking my grandson.”

“Is that a royal decree?” Nadja asked with an impish grin. She couldn’t help it.

“Yes,” he grumbled, trying to frown at her but failing. “Yes, it most certainly is!”

T
he news came
that night that the men were off to battle with King Attor and his Var warriors. The Draig trackers managed to confirm the spy’s words as to the position of Attor’s encampment. Nadja was worried, lying in bed for most of the night, the dome curtains drawn, as she tried to sleep.

She’d found the box of jewels her father had given her, and had spent most of the day crying over them as she tried to remember the good things about him, though they were very few in number. Replacing the last piece in the box and closing it forever, she finally wiped away the last tear she would ever shed for him.

Doc Aleksander was the past. Olek and their baby was the future.

O
lek didn’t make
his way home until late the next afternoon. Nadja was waiting for him when he walked through the door. To his surprise, he was greeted with a sprinkling of kisses on his face and a long pair of legs wrapping around his waist.

His hands instantly cupped beneath her ass to hold her to him. His mouth parted in astonishment and she moved to kiss him deeply, her tongue dipping to explore his mouth as she tried to steal his breath.

“Mmm,” Olek moaned, pulling back. A quizzical grin on his face, he whispered, “What’s this?”

Her hands roamed over his shoulders and suddenly she flinched. “Ow, your sword.”

She swung her legs back around to the ground. Olek chuckled. The hilt of his sword had poked her in the upper thigh. When she had safely landed, he let her go and unstrapped the weapon from his waist.

“I am so sorry I didn’t tell you about my father, Olek,” Nadja rushed. “He was one of the leaders of the Medical Mafia. The Alliance is just a front. They could easily save lives, but they don’t. They take them. I couldn’t stay there and marry his associate, Hank. That’s why I ran away and wanted a farmer. I was scared he would find me. And then I saw that dart in Morrigan and I knew he,” Nadja inhaled a deep breath, “had come for me. He used to make me carry them across border checkpoints in my hair. Anyway, that’s how I knew what it was. I knew he was watching us and that’s why I yelled at you. He hated anything not completely human and I was afraid he would try to torture you. I was so scared. And you don’t repulse me, and I don’t care that you shift—in fact it was kind of…oh,” she blushed, but hastened on. “So what happened with King Attor, was anyone hurt? Why were you gone so long?”

Nadja stopped, looking expectantly at him. Her wide blue eyes blinked beneath her fanning lashes.

Through her whole babbling tirade, Olek managed to piece her story together. She searched his face as if her whole life depended on what he would say next. Gone was his reserved Nadja who always had a calm answer. He found he liked the babbling version. She was adorable.

“We all are fine. Attor is dead. I’ve been negotiating peace with his son, the new Var King. It looks promising—” he couldn’t finish his answer.

“So you know I’m pregnant?” Nadja broke into his words.

Olek was going to say that peace looked promising. That it would be slow going, but could be achieved. Some of the older nobles would protest on both sides. However, in the end, they would bow to the decision of their leaders.

“Yes,” he said. “I heard your father mention it in the forest and you told me in the medical ward before you spoke to Olena.”

“I did?” she asked, surprised. “It is all such a blur.”

“Yes, you did.” Olek was about to say more, when she broke in again.

“Do you hate me?” Nadja hesitated. “I’ve never killed anyone, I swear. Well, no one but my father. I never did the things he did. I understand if you want me to leave. I know this has to be an embarrassment to your family. So, do
you
hate me?”

Olek swept forward to her, gracefully wrapping his arms about her waist. “How could I even think of hating you, Nadja, when I have loved you since first seeing you?”

Nadja trembled. Tears poured down her face and she jumped up and wrapped her legs back around his waist. “You love me, you really do?”

A rush of feeling poured out of him, connecting her to him and him to her. This connection was strong and free. It would never be severed.

“Y—” Olek couldn’t even get the word out.

Nadja started kissing his face. “I love you. I love you,” she whispered into him, panting her words between her light, scattered caresses. “I love our baby. I love our life. I love this. I love you, Olek. I love y—”

Olek captured her lips to his, chuckling happily into her. Nadja instantly melted, moaning against him. He pressed her to him. Suddenly, she pulled away, her eyes shining with mischief though her face was serious.

“What?” he asked, his lips curling with his perfect smile.

Nadja licked her lips and squirmed naughtily against him. “I think your sword is poking me again.”

Olek growled, “Keep moving like that wife, and it will be sure to impale you.”

Nadja’s laughter was cut off by her prince’s kiss. She clung onto him, taking everything he gave her. Life was perfect. They were perfect. And, as he carted her off to his bed, she whispered, “I hope you never let me go.”