Page 58 of Alien Prince’s Fake Bride (The Tentacle Throne #1)
- Umbra -
Mareliux draws breath to say something, but at the same time Caret’ax comes up behind him and whispers something into his ear.
“Ah,” the Prince says. “Dear guests!”
Everyone looks at him, and the room goes quiet.
“It appears a large force of Vyrpy has attacked the Vark system, and our forces are being driven back. The enemy is moving fast and will be here, threatening Khav, in a few days. If they’re not stopped.”
The old widows gasp.
Mareliux smirks. “As luck would have it, I am here, ready to go and fight them and kick them out of the Empire!”
There’s applause and cheers from old throats. Crusty, moist eyes look at him dreamily. “Our warrior prince!”
“We shall kick them even further,” the prince goes on. “Until they forget all about conquering our Empire and retreat back under the rocks they crawled out from. It shall be a pleasure. But regrettably, it means that Princess Umbra and I must now leave this wonderful gathering.”
There’s more sighing and admiring looks from watery old eyes.
Mareliux squeezes my hand. “My love, we must leave. Quaestor, doubtless everything you seek is on the way from Grefve. It has only been a few days, and with the Vyrpy attacking the base right after, I’m sure it would take some time before the House of Nobles will receive it from the Imperial Messengers.
It is the law that battle-relevant messages must be given high priority, and so mere bureaucratic minutiae may be delayed. Farewell.”
The crowd parts, the old duchesses bowing as we pass them on the way out.
Flanked by guards we make our way to the transport, which takes us a few hundred feet to a small, unobtrusive door that looks like a servant’s entrance.
We’re ushered inside a warehouse. It’s full of various alien equipment that I can’t identify, before we walk past long rows of robots that are just standing there, turned off.
“In most parts of the palace, only living servants are allowed,” Mareliux explains. “But robots are used for many other things.”
“From tradition?” I make a guess.
“That is the official explanation,” he says. “Really it’s for security. A robot once got its programming messed up and killed a whole room of nobles before anyone could stop it. And there’s always the danger of those machines recording and spying.”
“AIs can do that, too,” I point out.
“Not saying the explanation is a good one,” he agrees as we climb wide stairs with long steps that tax my thigh muscles.
“Robots were the first AIs we had. So the rules for them were strict in the beginning, and they haven’t really let up.
Other AIs have fewer restrictions on them.
Ah, here we are.” He opens a door and holds it open for me.
“Another hiding place, I’m afraid. But this one is special. ”
I step inside. It’s a comfortable apartment that smells new.
There are huge windows on three walls, and the place reminds me more of a classy penthouse from a reality show on Earth than any room I’d ever find on Khav.
There’s normal, human-size furniture with accents in dark, walnut-like wood, as well as exposed metal here and there.
There are lamps and chairs and tables and a part that looks a lot like a fancy kitchen, with islands and sinks and all kinds of appliances.
It’s a mix of hyper modern and classic, timeless design.
There are artworks on the walls, in colors that match the rest, as well as a couple of sculptures that are too abstract for my simple mind to understand.
The mix of styles makes the place feel both homey and exclusive.
“There should be no eavesdropping in this place,” Mareliux says.
“This was all built by loyal army people. I will request a full Calanian Guards company to stand guard. Outside the building and on the first floor. It’s uncommon for them to protect anyone but the Emperor, but your safety is of the greatest importance. ”
I sit down on a designer couch, finding it refreshing not to have to jump up on it. “Was this all made for me?”
“For us,” Mareliux says. “I ordered it a few days ago when I realized that we might need a place that’s really safe.
Bellatriz saved a lot of data from the transmissions around Earth, and she thought that this might remind you of home.
It’s all custom made. Two hundred craftsmen made this in record time. ”
“ I made blueprints for them,” Bellatriz says. “ For every piece of furniture. I took some details from various homes that I saw were popular in the visual entertainments on your planet.”
“It’s incredible,” I state, genuinely impressed. “It could be an apartment on Earth. And that…” I stand up to be able to get a better view, “...is Chicago. So the windows are all screens?”
“You can pick a different view,” Mareliux says, demonstrating it. “From Khav or Earth or space. Or any planet in the Empire. It’s just much safer without actual windows.”
“ I can pick,” I echo, hearing the emphasis in his voice. “Because you’ll be leaving now.”
He walks over to a big window that shows the Tribune East Tower. “The borders of the Empire must be defended. The Vyrpy are alarmingly close with a large fleet. Our own forces are spread out through the Empire.”
“Then I guess I’ll be going, too.”
He looks around the apartment. “Is this how Earthlings like their homes? This filled up with various items and furniture?”
“Practically nobody lives like this,” I tell him. “This is only for rich people. But it’s very nice. When do we leave?” I’m not willing to let him change the subject. He’s clearly stalling, wanting to postpone something unpleasant.
He starts wandering around the space, touching the sculptures and furniture.
“ I will leave now. And you will not. You can stay here, in this apartment. It’s safe.
This is an army building with no windows and no way to enter except for the way we came.
It will be heavily guarded, day and night.
Colonel Grast will check on you every day. ”
I don’t like this idea. “I’m pretty sure there’s room for me on the Gladiux. ”
Mareliux strokes his hand along the massive kitchen island, made from a dark marble. “The Gladiux is a warship going into battle. It has a full crew complement now. I will not bring you into a war. You’re not coming.”
Shit. This might be the end of the whole thing.
“Then I’ll go back to Earth. With a spaceship or two that you will give to us.”
He saunters over to the wall and looks at a painting of an Earth landscape, probably England somewhere.
“When the war is won, and I am emperor, we will both go there. With more than two ships, as well as instructors and technicians and engineers who can train your people in how to fly and run them, and also how to build them. I want that done right. For now, the Empire can spare none of those things. And I can’t spare you. ”
“We had a deal,” I remind him, darkness encroaching on my mind. “I have done my part. You said so.”
“I have no complaints about your performance,” he says and comes closer. “You’ve done so well that people think we’re truly in love. That in itself makes us seem suspicious, of course. It’s not at all common for royals to marry from love.” He reaches out to me.
I pull back. “Are you telling me I did my job too well?”
His hand falls to his side. “That would be ridiculous. No, the problem is that it was real. You said so yourself. I was hoping that at this stage, after the Emperor agreed that I was married, everything would have been resolved. But there are still doubts, it seems. The Emperor could withdraw his agreement at any time, if the wrong people persuade him. That would be infinitely easier for them if neither you nor I were on Khav. It would look like we fled because we were guilty of something. But with you still here, nobody can use that as an argument.”
My jaw tightens. “You may not have noticed, but I don’t care that much about the Imperial intrigue and politics.”
“You should. Because if for some reason this fails, and I don’t become emperor after all, I won’t be able to honor my side of the deal we made. At least not fully.”
Shit . It’s come to this. “I’m flattered, Mareliux. But I won’t stay here. Give me a spaceship, and I’ll take it back to Earth. No need for engineers or technicians. We will figure it out. You can send more help when it becomes possible.”
“That is a harebrained scheme that I won’t agree to,” he growls. “You want to reverse engineer a Khavgren ship? Bellatriz, tell her how insane that is.”
“’ Insane’ is putting it strongly,” the AI chirps.
“ I have seen no sign of insanity in Umbra. But it would be extremely ill advised to start taking a spaceship apart without knowing how it works. The events in the gun turret alone show how incomprehensible this all is to even a bright and competent Earthling who is a professional in the field of space travel. Vera, can you explain the underlying physics of how a Khavgren spaceship works?”
“ No, I can’t explain it,” my wrist AI says. “ I’ve seen a good amount of the Gladiux , but its main systems are based on physics that Earth doesn’t have yet. The Syntrix may well be a part of it.”
“Problem solved,” I state. “You can give me one of your AIs that understands it, and then it can explain everything to our scientists. We’ll catch up in no time.”