Page 13 of Scars & Starlight (Of Blood and Conquest #1)

KAIREN

A fter hours of talking with the leadership of Tara’s domicile, I watched as her chin began to dip, and Kiko took over the majority of the translation. Soon after, she’d shake herself out of sleep, and I had had enough. I called an end to the meeting and walked Tara to her quarters.

I only got a peek inside her room through the doorway, but I could already tell that she’s a little chaotic, if not disorganized, and that everything in there smells of her.

As much as I wanted to become a part of her inventory, I had to give her privacy.

We had only known each other for two rotations of her planet, yet leaving her to sleep alone proved harder than expected.

Leaving the planet without her wasn’t an option.

Kiko was with her, which meant I could easily be summoned to her side in case of danger, but not if I were in orbit, far above her.

So I returned to the Talon, where I could eat nutritious food (I’ll only accept her planet’s so-called delicacies from her hand, and that just wasn’t appropriate during the meeting), rest in the small sleeping area for a couple of marks, and contact the Sovereign for the supplies and staff the humans needed for repairs .

By the time firstlight spills over the horizon, Lirael lands, along with Kael, Orien, and Cyrel.

I roll my eyes at my cousin and her entourage.

“Half of Sovereign’s command staff is here.

Was it entirely necessary for the chief medic and engineer to be here?

” I move my eyes from Lirael and a somewhat flustered Kael to Orien, who gives me a sly smirk, and Cyrel, who busies herself with examining her toolkit.

“How about the intelligence chief and science officer? What’s your excuse? ”

Cyrel speaks first. “Kael and I have adapted fresh nanites specifically for the human brain. We thought it prudent to be the ones overseeing their implementation.”

I hum in patronizing acknowledgment.

“Lirael?” I address my cousin next.

“Well, I have some experience in treating humans now, more than my colleagues, at least. I berated myself for not joining you sooner and hardly slept. I’m certain there are many injured humans after the Ghorvek raid.”

Flimsy, but plausible. My eyes cut to Orien.

“Oh, no, I just came to look at the females,” he says nonchalantly, brushing a non-existent speck of dirt off his shoulder.

I narrow my eyes at my intelligence chief. “I’d expect that answer from Caden.”

The male grins widely, showing his teeth. “Oh, he’s pissed that he had to stay behind, trust me.”

“Very well,” I say in defeat. I eye Kael. “There is a wall in need of fixing. You can see what assistance you can provide the humans with that.”

The engineer blinks. “Do they think walls will keep out the Ghorvek?”

I shake my head. “No. It’s to keep out other, predatory humans.”

“I can’t believe they’re attacking each other when they should be standing together,” Lirael murmurs sadly.

“Perhaps if they were more unified, they’d be using nano technology and the arrays alongside us, and we would have met sooner. ”

I tilt my head in acknowledgment of Kael’s hypothesis. Before I can delegate tasks further, Sergeant Potts appears from the main bunker entrance.

“Good morning,” he greets stoically.

“It means good firstlight,” I tell my confused senior officers. I nod at the human, but don’t return his greeting with words he wouldn’t understand. “Did anyone think to bring an assistive unit?” I ask my fellow Avaren.

Cyrel cringes and shakes her head, Kael and Orien are eyeing Potts like they’re looking for weak spots in their competition, and Lirael bites her lip.

“Only a medical droid,” she admits, abashed. “You already had the med bay’s assistive unit with you.”

“Tara has him,” I reply, though they likely already surmised. I check with Kiko regarding her status. “She’s breaking her fast and will be with us shortly.”

“Why don’t you introduce us to the rest of Tara’s humans, Your Highness?

” Orien suggests, his voice so slick, one could almost slip on it and fall.

I resist the urge to pull my neural interference gun and incapacitate him for a couple of marks.

He’s quieter than Caden, less effusive, but at their core, they’re both single-minded and driven.

Unfortunately, that drive is often centered around finding their females.

With a sigh, I gesture for Potts to lead us inside.

I don’t think we should start handing out nanites in the middle of this dusty courtyard.

The human hesitates, and I can see his jaw working as he considers whether to let five aliens into their buildings, where their children and the elderly are still resting.

After a while, though, he seemingly comes to a decision, the promise of hope we bring likely outweighing the fear of our betrayal, and he turns on his heels with military precision.

I’m relieved Tara had someone like him leading her and her compatriots through this post-Ghorvek world of theirs, and not one of the politicians we’ve read about in our briefings, with dozens of young girls in their harems.

Not long after we find our seats at their round table, Tara walks in with Kiko on her heels. The effect she has on me is instantaneous. My shoulders drop. My breathing evens out. My lips curl up into a smile. My pants grow tighter.

She takes the seat opposite me, and I wish I could kick my cousin or engineer out of their seats by my side without looking like a desperate Nekkar.

“Good… firstlight, Kairen,” she greets me, her voice husky. Just like that, I’m enchanted. I’m lost in her warm tawny eyes, so different than Avaren orbs, but no less enticing. Rather than galaxies or nebulas, her eyes hold striations and shade nuances, like an alien planet’s topography.

Orien clears his throat, none too subtly.

“Good morning, Tara,” he says, mimicking their custom and making her gaze slip from mine. My gun-hand twitches.

“Ah, good morning, Orien,” my match replies with pinkened cheeks. She then turns to the rest of my crew. “Lirael.” Her voice is warm when addressing my cousin, and for whatever reason, it warms me too. “Kael and… Cyrel?”

The engineer and science officer both grin at her, thrilled that their princess remembers their names. I wonder if I’m close enough to kick them under the table – they need to tone it down somewhat.

“Have you guys really come to help us?” my match asks, Kiko providing a background noise of excited bleeps. The two are almost becoming symbiotic.

“Kael and I have brought nanites for anyone wanting to understand us without the need for translation,” Cyrel explains. “Lirael came to check on your injured. And, well, Orien came to give your females long, brooding stares.”

When Tara bursts into laughter, Potts’s frown deepens. “What are they saying?” he asks my female.

She shakes her head. “The last part was a dumb joke, but the important thing is that they have more of those nano robots with them, so you could talk to them yourself, if you wanted to. Which I wouldn’t mind,” she adds, leaning back. “I feel like I’ve just been in one week-long meeting.”

I look down and bite my lip. Meetings are an inextricable part of my everyday life, but I must admit that I find myself eager to set out into this world with Tara, get to know her… To enamor and seduce her.

Potts rubs his chin. “How many of these nanites did you bring? How many of my people could use them?”

“They’re self-replicating,” Kael explains with the help of Tara, who’s now rubbing a smudge off Kiko’s shiny head. It looks like some of her breakfast found its home there.

“We’ll augment as many of your people as you need,” Cyrel reassures him by proxy of translation.

When the other humans begin to file in, I let my officers and Kiko do the diplomatic talking.

Instead, I let my senses rest on my new match.

Every few moments, her eyes cut to mine, then she looks away quickly when she catches me staring, her cheeks warming under the yellow lights.

I lean forward, and she follows as if my gravity pulled her in.

Or perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.

“While my staff is here, assisting your humans, I’d like us to proceed with our plan,” I tell her for her ears only. She takes a deep, bracing breath and nods. She’s so brave. I resist the urge to snort. And I’m entirely in her thrall.

“Are we traveling by ground?” The sound of her voice, pitched low, sends a shiver down my spine. I shake my head, both to dispel the feeling and in answer to her question.

“We’re taking the Talon. I want to avoid the Ghorvek and their drones as much as possible with you in tow.”

Tara bites her lip and looks at me from underneath her long, dark lashes. Is she trying to be seductive?

“Kiko’s joining us, right?” she asks in a lilting tone.

I smile and bite my lower lip. So that’s the agenda.

“I would not dream of separating you two, Princess,” I purr.

Orien clears his throat with a noise that sounds suspiciously like ‘ Nekkar’, but when my eyes cut to him, he’s patiently looking at Sergeant Potts, now asking endless questions about what it means to have nanites, Kiko translating the answers.

“Kairen?” A sweet voice calls my name, drawing my attention back to her. Where it should be.

“Yes?”

“Where will we sleep? I don’t imagine the Talon is big enough to have bedrooms.”

Tara’s question warms the tips of my ears.

“There is actually a sleeping area, just large enough for two.” When her eyes widen, I quickly continue: “But I can sleep on the medical emergency table,” I hasten to reassure her.

It would be mighty uncomfortable, but nothing I wouldn’t endure to make my match feel safer.

“Oh.” She looks around, maybe to see if anyone else is paying attention to our conversation. It looks like everyone is focused on Cyrel and Potts, but I’ll bet the Talon that the Avaren have at least one ear on our words.

“No, that’s okay. I like… um, I trust you. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She bites her knuckles, then looks away. “It’s f–fine.”

I’m glad she’s not looking at me now and doesn’t see the probably evil-looking grin on my face. I love that the thought of us spending nights together both appeals to her and flusters her. It must mean she feels our connection, at least a little bit.

“It’s settled then,” I say, leaning back in my seat. “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll grab your things and head to the Talon.”

Satisfied, I watch as Cyren and Kael gift Potts and Feldman the first nanites and count down the marks until it’s time to sleep.