Page 32 of Scars & Starlight (Of Blood and Conquest #1)
TARA
I can’t believe I’m having dinner on an alien planet surrounded by alien people who are now my family.
They’re all so nice and have been nothing but welcoming.
Well, except for Kai’s ex. She was a real bitch, but that was to be expected.
I felt a bit self-conscious at first, what with everyone being so tall and gorgeous, but I soon realized that they don’t care what I look like, as long as I’m not a complete a-hole like Zeriah.
“I love your hair,” Kairen’s sister Elara gushes for what feels like the tenth time. “We don’t get those warm tones here. Oh!” She covers her mouth with her hand. “I wonder what kind of hair your babies will have.” I swear even her eyes get misty.
I blush for probably the hundredth time today as Kairen squeezes my hand. Our eyes meet, and he smiles conspiratorially; only we know that they’ll find out what hair color our babies will have sooner rather than later.
“You two are adorable.”
I smile at Kairen’s aunt with gratitude.
It feels so good to be accepted, especially since I miss my own family as much as I do.
I just hope his brother’s going to be alright after that scene.
I’ve had fights with boyfriends before, and it’s never nice for anyone in the vicinity when they’re public.
Not thinking about propriety, only about how grateful I am to have him, I lean my head against Kai’s shoulder and stifle a yawn.
“You should take your bride to your quarters,” the queen says in an amused tone. I jump up, both at the words, or rather what she called me, and at the realization that I’m half lying over her son at the table. “I fear that she’s about to fall asleep,” she continues.
Before I can pull away, Kai wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“I don’t think she’s used to how long Avaren meals are,” he says before looking down at me. “We live a little slower than humans.”
I shake my head. “Traveling always exhausts me. And I did travel across the universe, didn’t I?” I wink at my malien, earning a warm smile in return.
“You certainly did, love,” he says, straightening me so he can push back his chair. “Not to mention you’ll need energy for everything Elara’s going to put you through in the next rotations while I see to some work.” He pulls my chair back and helps me up before his sister is even done giggling.
“Good night, everyone,” I say, embarrassed to be leaving early like a child with a bedtime. Kiko scrambles after us.
“I love your family,” I tell my space hunk once we’re out of earshot of said family.
He pulls me to his side, squeezing me against him. “I knew you would. Are you going to worry yourself sick next time we’re meeting someone from my planet?”
I grin up at him cheekily. “Probably.”
He throws his head back and laughs, stopping us in our tracks for a moment. “You’re a treasure, Tara,” he says, his sharp teeth flashing in the crystal palace lights and making my heartbeat move to my nether region, far from my chest.
“I live to please.” I perform a clumsy curtsey, earning a bewildered look that makes me burst out laughing too .
“This way, you curious little creature,” he says with a shake of his head.
I soak in the displayed art and the surreal architecture, like something out of a drug-fueled dream. Something is missing, though.
“Hey, Kai?”
“Yes, princess?”
“Where are all the guards?”
We’re not encountering any alien kind of knights or even servants. In fact, we’re moving through the space like we’re the only ones here.
“There’s no need for guards in the palace. None of our people would wish us any harm, and in the event of an outside incursion, for which the chances are near negligible, automated defense systems would deploy.
Well, that’s neat and unfathomable. How many political leaders did humans assassinate in the last one hundred years alone?
“Huh. And servants? Maids?”
“They’re the artificial kind. Like your little mech here.”
Kiko beeps three times, happy to be acknowledged, and I lean down so he can climb to his usual spot on my shoulders.
“Doesn’t it get a bit quiet and lonely?” I ask in a murmur once the robot is settled, not wanting to insult anyone if they overhear me.
Kai tickles my side. “That’s why we’re here. To make sure these halls aren’t silent.”
Blushing, I quickly glance around to make sure we’re alone indeed. “You’re terrible,” I mutter.
“Terribly in love with you,” he says smoothly as he ushers me to a large door, his words warming me from head to toe.
I spin around and brace my hands on my hips. “Do you think you’ll get lucky if you suck up to me?” I ask with a falsely stern voice.
His hand reaches behind me to tap on a console.
“I don’t think, I know,” he says darkly.
I spin around to see quarters fit for a prince, with a very large, very inviting bed calling for us from the other side .
“Kiko, why don’t you retire for the night?” I suggest to my tiny faithful companion. Obviously knowing where to go, Kiko scrambles inside and disappears into a side panel.
Kairen strides past me and turns so he’s facing me as he moves backward toward his bed.
“You have me all to yourself now, Princess. What are you going to do with me?” he asks silkily.
“Anything and everything I want to,” I reply, already tugging my shirt over my head.
By the time we reach his bed – our bed – we’re both naked and I make good on my promise.
The next days are a blur of outings with Kairen’s family, especially his sister, and making love with my prince under the gently waving aurora, among the glowing mushrooms. Sometimes Kai takes me with him to his meetings with other Avaren military leaders, saying I can be as involved or uninvolved as I want to be.
I told him I never imagined myself at any kind of war meeting, but I’ve gotten some experience with them these last few weeks nonetheless.
So I go and I learn about how the Avaren wage their longstanding war against the Ghorvek.
I decided to be the best princess I can possibly be, asking the queen about how to best serve her people, and listening to Kai’s musings on Ghorvek movements.
Are they deviating from the centuries of strategy they employed previously?
Are they adapting with each planet they conquer and each species they assimilate into their gene pool as unwilling husks?
Some of these meetings are more painful than others.
It was unavoidable to run into the father of the Avaren I killed, albeit accidentally, the father of Kairen’s ex-girlfriend, now his brother’s ex-girlfriend too.
General Korvann avoids looking at me whenever possible, maybe because whenever our eyes do meet, his attempt to burn me to a cinder on the spot.
He makes a point to contradict everything Kai says, turning discussions that could be short into long back-and-forths.
“I want to wipe that sneer off his face with a rock,” I mutter to Kairen after one such painful meeting. “I don’t normally resort to violence over a discussion, but listening to him throw barely veiled shade at you for hours makes me a bit murderous.”
Kai’s arm wraps around me in a comforting way.
“ Barely veiled shade is the standard when you’re a royal in a high position outside of the palace.
” He sighs, looking at the glowing trees on each side of the path we’re walking down.
Avaren nod in greeting or even bow as we pass, all wearing welcoming smiles that contrast sharply with whatever the general has been sending our way.
“I had to prove myself more than any commander has in the past.”
“Oh no,” I drawl. “Did the widdle baby pwince stwuggle wuggle?”
Kai stops walking, his embrace forcing me to come to a standstill too. “Are you mocking my plight?” he growls playfully. “Do you even know what the punishment for mocking royals is?”
I raise my eyebrows. “Being sent to bed without the evening nutrition shake?”
“That’s it.” Kai’s eyes sparkle in the pastel haze of the ever-present bioluminescence. “You better run for your life.” His eyebrows lower. “If I catch you, I’m going to tickle you until you cry for mercy.”
Without hesitating, I extricate myself from his arms and dart into the bushes, small fairy-like winged creatures scattering in the wake of my invasion, the glowing dust left behind by their translucent wings sticking to my skin and making it shine.
Giggling, I take a sharp left, squealing when I hear the plants rustle behind me.
It’s not long until my escape is stopped by a sparkling body of water, the snaking aurora reflected on its glass-like surface.
A gasp of awe leaves my lips despite having seen similar landscapes daily since we arrived on Avaris.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the majesty of this world.
In my moment of inattention, Kai barrels into me from behind, his arms wrapping around me and scooping me up to carry me into the water.
“Stop it, I’m gonna get wet,” I protest halfheartedly, clinging to my alien like a koala bear.
“Mmm,” he hums. “I love making you wet.”
With that, he sits down, and pleasantly warm water rises up to my waist. My prince’s lips cover mine, his tongue taking possession of my mouth as his hands roam over my body and the wet clothes sticking to it.
We kiss for long moments, and he eventually lays me down onto the shore, the water gently lapping at my feet.
Kairen’s kisses move from my face and down my throat, over my clavicle and the center of my ribcage, until he reaches my stomach and takes a deep, contented-sounding breath.
His eyes flash with his nanites, and they slowly rise to meet mine. Depthless emotion shines from the purple orbs, the ever-present stars made brighter still by the growing pools of silvery tears.
“What is it, Kai?” I murmur, my throat strangled by an echo of whatever pain made his eyes well up.
My nanites reply before he manages to speak, letting me know the anguish I see is poignant joy and not sadness.
CONCEPTION SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED.