Page 7 of Royal Mate

7

P aige, House Natosi, Queen’s City

General Addan held out a hand to assist me as I stepped out of what I could only describe as a space-limousine, with two armed guards in the front seats. One of them I recognized as the guard from the transport room. The other, I had never seen before. Two more armored vehicles had surrounded us, one traveled in front and one behind, like Secret Service protecting the president.

“Thank you.”

“Welcome to my home, Princess.”

All the warm fuzzies I’d been feeling sitting next to him in the back of the luxurious vehicle, at the soft rumble of his voice as he answered my questions about everything I saw passing by on the other side of the window, evaporated with his words. They were formal. Stiff. For public consumption.

He spoke to me like he hadn’t just had his dick inside me a few hours ago. Like I hadn’t grabbed his hair and screamed his name. Like he didn’t still have the taste of my wet pussy on his tongue.

Rude. Because my pussy still ached from the hard pounding he’d given me. I still craved his touch. His taste. His attention. I felt like a love-starved puppy desperate for pets. Which was foolish and illogical, and I was soooo freaking over myself. I had more control than this. More self-respect. I was about to meet my mother’s best friend, someone who knew me when I was a baby. I needed to get a grip and not make a complete fool of myself.

Addan dropped my hand immediately the moment I was out of the vehicle. Gigantic double doors, easily three times my height, swung open and a group of guards dressed in uniforms nearly identical to Addan’s, except dark gray and black instead of blue, jogged forward to surround me, Addan, and the vehicle.

“Greetings, General. Welcome home.” An older gentleman with dark streaks at the temples of his bright white hair, stepped forward. He wore the same gray uniform, but I recognized the fact that he had more symbols embroidered in his collar and cuffs than the others. Very similar to Addan’s.

“Thank you, General Niemini. Has my mother been informed of our arrival?” Addan and Niemini clasped one another’s forearms like medieval warriors in a documentary I might have watched on The History Channel.

“Of course. She, your father, and your sisters await your arrival in the gallery.”

“Thank you.” Addan released him and turned to me. “General Niemini, may I present Princess Edelene Merrienne Peigi, daughter of our late queen.”

The elder gentleman bowed low, his dark blue eyes suspiciously shining, like he was about to cry. “My greatest honor to meet you, Princess. You are the spitting image of your mother.”

“Nice to meet you, too. You can just call me Paige.” I held out my hand to shake his, only to drop it when he stared at it, confused. Addan and Niemini talked about soldiers and security while I stared at the monstrous fortress before me.

House Natosi, Addan’s childhood home, and apparently a place my mother had spent many happy days, wasn’t a house. It wasn’t even a mansion. It was like three mansions, five watchtowers, and a four-story European stone castle had all been mashed together around a courtyard. We’d even driven across a bridge that spanned what I’d assumed was a river, but Addan told me was a security barrier.

His mega-tower-castle-house had a freaking moat at least twenty meters wide. I wondered if the liquid that flowed through it was real water or something they could set on fire. Or acid. That would be freaky.

I thought outer space was supposed to be civilized and utopian. Not medieval warfare and castles with moats.

Of course, the rest of the city looked nothing like this place. On the drive over I’d seen skyscrapers and fast-moving train systems. A few vehicles like ours zoomed around, but not many. The people looked clean and well dressed, hustling and bustling along the sidewalks just like they would in London or New York. Their clothes were odd, of course. The people in the city looked like they’d just stepped off the movie set of My Fair Lady, the women in brightly colored, fancy dresses with large, decorated hats. The men wore gray or muted brown suits with vests, ties and matching hats. I’d watched that movie dozens of times. My adopted father’s aunt was obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. Looking out the window as we traveled across the city made me feel like I’d been sent through time, not outer space.

Could the Coalition’s transporters do that? Send someone forward or back in time?

The sidewalks didn’t look like concrete, they looked like earth-toned brown, green and gold marble stamped with geometric designs. The sky was clear and a shade of blue that made me think of frigid winter days in Montana. I’d tried my best to take in all the sights, the strangely beautiful flowers of every color imaginable, and some I’d never seen before, the throngs of people who looked like they’d just stepped out of a history book on Earth, the fully armed military guards standing on every corner, in front of every door, at every crosswalk.

Were the soldiers around because they had problems with crime? Or was there some other reason?

I tried to gauge the mood of the people walking around the city but could not. Some smiled. Some scowled. Some were animated, speaking to acquaintances. Some stared into the distance as if worried. They looked like normal people going about their day. There were tons of stores and busy open-air markets. I didn’t see a single homeless person loitering on the streets. No dirty children. No pets.

Didn’t these people have dogs? Or the alien version of a dog? What kind of animals did they have here?

The city, aptly named Queen’s City, was where the queen’s castle had been built thousands of years ago and was, apparently, the capital of the entire planet.

Addan proudly informed me that my ancestors built the city. I couldn’t wrap my head around that. My mother, and her mother before her, and hers before her, had ruled an entire planet. Waged wars. Solved problems. Built mighty castles.

And here I was, gawking at everything like a three-year old during her first trip to a zoo.

“Princess. Please, this way.” Addan and General Niemini were apparently finished discussing their soldier talk because Addan held out his arm indicating I should accompany them inside.

I walked into House Natosi wearing Addan’s oversized coat. His scent surrounded me as I pulled the lapels closer to hide the hot pink Trus-T-Kleen shirt, khaki pants that nearly had holes worn in the knees that I still wore beneath. My white tennis shoes felt as ridiculous as fuzzy slippers since I had a very serious military general, complete with deadly weapons and heavy boots, on either side of me. My clothing made me feel like a clown. An imposter.

Except, it wasn’t the clothes.

They escorted me through a grand foyer that glittered with light from hundreds of crystals that hung from at least ten chandeliers. There were small, ornamental trees with bright orange and yellow leaves growing inside. I squinted up, way up, to see the back portion of the four-story ceiling was open, the roof of the building retracted to let the warm, butter-yellow sunlight shine down on the trees. Their black bark sparkled as if the bark itself was run through with veins of shimmering copper. I’d never seen anything like it.

I must have stopped walking because Addan and General Niemini both halted and looked back at me.

Close your mouth, Paige. Don’t stare. I snapped my mouth shut and hurried to catch up.

They led me down a corridor lined with what I assumed were family portraits and floor to ceiling murals displaying outdoor scenes painted in vivid color. The floor was smooth as glass, different colored sections inlaid with more of the strange writing I was coming to associate with this planet.

Everything was too beautiful to be real. If I could have gotten where we were going without stepping on it, I would have. Walking on it with my rubber soled, toilet-water-industrial-cleaner-dirt-soaked shoes felt wrong.

General Niemini came to a halt in front of a set of double doors twice my height and nodded to the two guards standing at attention on either side. These doors were made of black wood streaked with shimmering copper, inlaid with intricately flowing branches and leaves.

Without a word, one of the guards opened the door. General Niemini entered first. Addan held out his arm, indicating I should follow. I did and he fell into step behind me. A shiver of apprehension raced down my spine when the door closed with a quiet click of a lock that sounded like thunder in my ears.

Three women—aliens—holy shit, I was an alien!—turned to face us. I did not need to ask to know these were his mother and his sisters. The resemblance was uncanny.

All three had long, shimmering white hair like Addan and bright blue eyes. They wore what I assumed were gowns, but when they moved, I realized the bottom halves of the gowns were split in two so they could walk freely. Their gowns were different colors, Addan’s mother wearing a pale, shimmering silver lined with a gray so dark it looked almost black. I could totally see Audrey Hepburn wearing the high collar and fancy cuffs on her wrist. His sisters wore rich burgundy decorated with gold embroidery and a vibrant, bright blue accented with a darker, midnight blue lines that made her eyes appear ethereal. Their clothing made me feel even more like I was living inside a fairytale with queens, armored knights on white horses, wizards and dragons. The ladies were what humans would consider classically beautiful, if a bit on the curvy side. Like me.

Just like my resemblance to my mother in the portrait Addan had shown me. Seeing her face—my face—on a decades old portrait had been a real sucker punch to my gut. I’d never looked like anyone in my adopted family; never knew where I got my laugh, my mannerisms, or my curvy hips. Seeing my real mother’s portrait had settled something inside me I’d given up ever soothing. I knew where I came from, who I took after, the reason my hair was curly and red and my eyes pale green. I had answers I never, ever thought I would have. I belonged somewhere. Had a past. History.

A shocking, out-of-this-world, alien history. As crazy as it all seemed, part of me was glad. Most of me was freaking the fuck out, but part of me– the lonely little girl who wondered why my mommy and daddy didn’t want me, wondered what was wrong with me, wondered what I’d done wrong? –she was oddly silent. Content.

Addan’s mother rushed forward, hands extended, practically shoving General Niemini out of her way.