Page 29 of Alien Prince’s Fake Bride (The Tentacle Throne #1)

“Be that as it may,” he goes on, “I hope your union will be as enduring and genuine as the enthusiasm displayed here today.

Though, as the Emperor's humble observer, I must confess a certain curiosity regarding the unconventional nature of this celebration.

Nevertheless," he concludes, with a thin smile that doesn’t reach his cold eyes, "I offer my sincerest congratulations to the happy couple.

I think — nay, I guarantee — that their future will be interesting . " He sits down to complete silence.

Mareliux raises his glass towards the quaestor with a friendly nod, as if thanking him for his speech, as if he hasn’t heard the sarcasm at all.

I realize with a sudden chill that what I’m seeing now is Imperial court politics.

Mareliux is playing his cards as well as anyone who’s been raised in those kind of surroundings, where you must often act differently from how you feel.

I wonder if I can do it as well as him, when we get to Khav itself.

A soldier in full battle gear comes into the tent and quickly makes his way to the general. There are whispers, and then the general leans over to whisper to Mareliux.

The prince gets to his feet, all eyes on him.

“Soldiers of the Khavgren Empire! My dear friends. My wife and I thank you deeply for this wonderful ceremony and celebration. I agree with the quaestor that our futures will doubtlessly be interesting. But whatever happens, we shall never forget the hospitality, friendship, and safety of the Twenty-Ninth Legion!”

He takes a pause to let the guests cheer.

“We regret that our stay has been this short. We must be on our way, back to Khav to see His Imperial Majesty. This happens sooner than we were hoping — we were looking forward to a longer reception and more festivities into the night. But there is news, and the news concerns you all. Vyrpy forces have landed on Grefve with three of their hordes. They will doubtlessly attack this base. For all the good it will do them. We will sweep them off the face of this moon as easily as if they were grains of sand on a glass table.”

There’s a strange mood in the tent, a combined growling and cheering, so loud that Mareliux has to take a break.

“I will of course send Princess Umbra to safety in the Gladiux , and then I will lead you all…” He can’t go on, because the soldiers in the room are protesting. There are shouts of “no!”, “get to safety with her!” and “lead us from afar, Prince!”

The general furiously calls for silence. “What is this terrible ruckus? You! Decurion Daluperian! Why are you shouting?” He points to one soldier, and it seems to me that while this is spontaneous, he has a pretty good idea about what she will say.

“Sir,” the soldier says as she gets up on the table so everyone can hear. “The Prince says he will lead us in battle! But he was just married. And we all know he leads from the front! The Empire cannot risk its best prince and soon Emperor?—”

A loud cheer drowns out her words, and it’s at least a minute before she can go on.

“We cannot risk our prince getting injured or worse in this battle,” she says.

“This is the wrong time, sir! Let the Twenty-Ninth deal with this attack from the dirty Vyrpy, while you and the princess get to Khav to fight more important battles than any of us could! Fighting a pitched battle as a newlywed is tempting the gods too much. We will do this! Twenty-Ninth Legion on Grefve will deal with this tiny Vyrpy distraction! Let us fight, Prince Mareliux! Let us fight!”

The tent explodes in cheering and supportive yells.

Mareliux takes my hand. “Very well. I accept the appeal of the Legion. The Princess and I shall go to Khav. But let me at least give the order. Twenty-Ninth Legion!”

They all snap to attention with a sound that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand out.

“You are ordered to fight the Vyrpy in any way you see fit,” Mareliux commands. “This will be the Battle of the Prince’s Wedding. I will bring news of your victory to Khav!”

“Long live Emperor Mareliux!” someone yells in the back, and the call is taken up by several thousand eight-feet-tall alien soldiers. The noise is incredible, and I clench my hands to my ears when it turns to a chant.

“ Mareliux Imperator! Mareliux Imperator!” The atmosphere is electric, the soldiers’ tentacles all a deep, war-like red and standing on end from their heads, making them look more monstrous than ever.

Caret’ax steps closer to Mareliux, and Sigise places herself between the soldiers and me. “It’s time to go, Princess Umbra.” She grabs hold of my arm and escorts me out of the tent.

I throw a glance behind me. Mareliux is following, escorted by Caret’ax.

Beyond them, Quaestor Preniat has a little smirk on his face.

For a change he’s looking me straight in the eyes.

I guess the chanting is not going to sit well with the reigning Emperor, and Preniat is absolutely going to snitch.

On an angry impulse, I focus my mind on his robes. Immediately his outer one flies off him and gets entangled in the still cheering soldiers.

“It’s not much, but it’s not nothing,” I mutter to myself as the officers start to yell orders inside the tent.

We walk fast to the Gladiux, across the stony ground.

Dozens of smaller ships that look like the gunships inside Mareliux’s ship are lined up beside it, as well as a small one that is so grey and so slick-looking that it has to be the Quaestor’s.

A bored-looking pilot is leaning up against it, then straightens and salutes when he sees Mareliux.

The Gladiux ’s hatch is open, and I lazily wonder if it has been open the whole time. If so, Mareliux really trusts these guys to not cause any mischief inside his ship. But it looks like he has reason to trust them.

Behind us, the thousands of soldiers are jogging out of the big tent and over to their own ones.

“They will change into battle gear,” Sigise says beside me, staring at them. “It’s rare to fight on Grefve itself. And even rarer on the prince’s wedding day. It will be one of the legendary battles.” Her fists open and close in frustration.

“You wish you were among them,” I state, because there’s longing in her gaze. “They’re your soldiers.”

“Some of them are,” she says as we enter the Gladiux. “But I have capable officers to lead them. And I think it’s more important to make sure you’re safe.”

Safely inside the Gladiux, we wait for Mareliux and Caret’ax.

“I don’t want us all to use one ship,” my fake husband says.

“Umbra is safe in the Gladiux . Colonel Grast, you will travel to Khav on a gunship with your squad. I want it to be difficult for any of our enemies to find out what your real mission is. If we arrive separately, nobody will suspect. You can then receive us when we return. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Sigise says. “Though it might be impossible. We will arrive after you. The Gladiux is fast.”

“That can’t be helped,” the prince says.

But I don't like the way they make it sound. I’m not a fan of being on planet Khav without my extraction squad for longer than, say, ten seconds.

“What if,” I pipe up, “Sigise replaces one of the Gladiux ’s own gunships with one of those out there?

If she and the gunship come along inside the Gladiux , they can detach close to Khav and they won’t arrive after we do.

And nobody will connect that Grefve gunship with the Gladiux . It has the wrong markings.”

Mareliux raises his golden eyebrows. “Our princess is becoming as crafty as any noblewoman at the Imperial court. Yes, that is what we’ll do, of course. Good thinking, Umbra.”

And of course he’s such a good leader that his praise makes me blush. “I’d just feel safer with Sigise there.”

“As would I,” he agrees. “See to it, Colonel Grast. Bring your squad aboard. Make sure you are not seen by the quaestor. I will instruct the general to keep that interfering slike out of sight of the Gladiux. ” He gets busy with the various control panels.

“Sir,” Sigise says and marches out, her perfect gala uniform with a mightily feathered helmet making me envious. But I don’t have the size I’d need to wear it, nor the tentacles.

The ship’s systems start coming online, more panels light up, and there are a variety of hums in the air.

“At least my fainting and the sudden Vyrpy attack created so much chaos that nobody will notice that we didn’t sign the wedding documents,” Mareliux says, still bent over the controls. “Those things give us a great deal of extra time.”

“So you did really faint?” I ask, having half suspected he was acting, for exactly the reason he just stated.