Page 33 of Scars & Starlight (Of Blood and Conquest #1)

KAIREN

M y family is overjoyed at the news that we’re expecting, and my mother instantly demands a planet-wide celebration be held for the next moonfall.

There hasn’t been a new Veyrath heir on the way since my baby sister arrived, over one hundred cycles ago.

That same baby sister now jumps for joy, all but twirling my match around.

“Elara, there’s no need to make her nauseous before her pregnancy does,” I drawl, much tempted to roll my eyes.

Tara pouts. “Ugh. I guess my nifty nanites can’t cure morning sickness, then?”

“They can,” Mom chimes in. “But you will still have to experience some in order for them to learn the patterns and know what to eliminate.”

“I guess it comes with the bundle of joy,” my love simpers, making everyone smile. “Get it? A bundle of joy?”

I sigh affectionately. “Yes, Princess, they absolutely get it.”

“Have you told Cade yet?” Aunt Nee asks with a giant grin.

“Not yet,” I reply. I know my cousin will be happy for me, but I also know that he’s eager for a child of his own. For that, we need to run off our foes and find his match.

Mom claps her hands and rubs them with glee. “Do you want to make the announcement to every Avaren now?”

I watch as Tara’s face pales, the realization that she might have to address our people to tell them we created a life sinking in.

“Mom, don’t be silly.” Elara rolls her eyes. “We need to make the right dress and braid her hair in the traditional expectant mother’s style.”

“Ah, naturally,” Mother nods. “I got somewhat overzealous.”

My match’s eyes flit between the queen and her daughter, both of them oblivious to her mounting panic.

“Why don’t you get cleaned up, dear. You’re covered in lake plants,” Aunt Nee tells Tara gently, but the reminder only makes her pale face turn red.

We rushed here as soon as our nanites informed us we’re to be parents, eager to share the news with someone.

Guess we didn’t think about our appearance.

“Go ahead,” I tell her, pulling her in to kiss the top of her head. “I’m just going to tell Caden before he hears it from the announcement.”

I watch the most important females in my life leave to get ready for the announcement and celebration, my hearts so light they could take flight, then summon my command cube.

“Why do you look like a drowned Nekkar?” Caden asks instead of making a polite greeting like a decent Avaren.

“I chased Tara into the boreal lake,” I answer smugly.

A white eyebrow raises inquisitively. “Then why are you talking to me instead of not talking with your match? I’d think something was wrong were it not for that shit-eating grin on your ugly face.”

“Well, I hope you’re prepared to see a tiny version of this ugly face on your nephew or niece in nine to fourteen serals.” According to my nanites, human gestation is somewhat shorter than Avaren. Perhaps because they don’t need to grow the extra heart .

“You’re joking,” Cade exclaims. “You planted your flag already? And I’ll be their uncle?”

I click my tongue. “Don’t be crass. This is your princess you’re talking about. And, yes, of course.” My voice drops with the emotion clogging my throat. “You know you’re like a second brother to me, Caden.”

His chin drops as he averts his indigo eyes.

He never was very good at receiving words of affection, despite having Auntie N as his mother.

“I can’t wait to meet them, Kai,” he murmurs, his voice sounding more serious than it has in long cycles.

Perhaps since our fathers were made casualties of the Ghorvek.

Something I wish I didn’t have in common with him, and hope fervently I won’t have in common with my bride.

Speaking of.

“Could you summon Orien to take command of the Sovereign while you come stand with me for my match ceremony?” I ask, having no doubt that it’s him I want by my side for the occasion.

He’s shaking his head before I’m even finished speaking. “There will be an uprising among the officers if you hold it without them.”

I purse my lips. My mother won’t stand for me to have it on the Sovereign without my family. “What do you suggest?”

“Recall the Sovereign,” he says like it should be obvious. When I open my mouth to protest, he continues. “Send a replacement for a few moonfalls. They might be sad to miss a royal match ceremony, but will know they have their prince’s eternal gratitude.”

My eyebrows fly up into my hair. “You occasionally have a wise idea,” I praise my cousin.

His grin turns feral. “I have to earn my position as your first officer every now and then. Speaking of Orien, though. I’m almost certain he will bring that female, Elmsleigh, along.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s been acting irrationally.”

I give Caden a droll stare.

He raises both hands. “Fair enough. More irrational than usual. He’s not being his usual charming self. It seems more like he’s trying to get stabbed in the babymakers. I believe the female must be his match.”

I blink at the projection of my cousin. “Is your intuition as good as a genetic test now, my friend?”

“I know, I know,” he defends himself. “He just has that gobsmacked look on his face when she’s around for debriefing communications.” Caden tilts his head and shows me the majority of his teeth in a smile. “It reminds me of you, actually. That’s why I suspect it.”

I shrug, somewhat giddy to see that play out. “It should be interesting,” I say aloud.

“Indeed,” my cousin agrees. “But let’s not stay on Avaris for too long. Whoever replaces the Sovereign won’t do half as good a job at liberating Earth. And while I know my match isn’t on Avaris, I don’t yet know that she isn’t here.”

I chuckle at him. “Fair enough. Let’s get this pomp and ceremony over with so we find my match’s family and hopefully your own princess.”

While Caden stands behind my siblings and me – and even his mother – in the line of succession, he’s still a Veyrathi prince, making whoever his match is a princess as well.

He agrees with a smile. “A sound plan. Oh, and, Kai?” My cousin’s indigo eyes sparkle. “Congratulations.”

It takes my mother less than two rotations to organize an interstellar celebration at the announcement of the impending royal heir.

My future son or daughter is the talk of every corner of the universe where the creators seeded the QEA, and I’m shamelessly walking around with an extra pep in my step.

I love seeing my match with the traditional maternity braids as well.

She’s stunningly beautiful to me in any circumstance, but the implied meaning just guts me.

Currently drinking a glass of sparkling Drazhani prickly pear juice, meant to dampen any unpleasant effects of early pregnancy, Tara grins up at Caden’s older sister, Sa’ami, who flew in from Vasar as soon as she heard the news.

She’s very partial to the water planet, so much so that Mother made her the royal ambassador there, in charge of all Vasar to Avaris dealings.

My princess looks ethereal in a flowing dress the color of aged Nerai gold, crystals from the same region as those our palace is built from decorating her throat and wrists.

She becomes overwhelmed if too many strangers gather around her, so I’ve been subtly warning them to approach her individually over time.

I’m grateful for their compliance – I know they’re all eager to greet their future queen.

Every Avaren is overjoyed at the impending birth. Well, every Avaren barring Zeriah.

My former partner, most recently my brother’s former partner, heedlessly pushed her way into the palace the previous rotation, wanting to see not Vael, but me.

Half ranting over the murder of her brother, half begging me to reconsider our relationship, she all but prostrated herself before me, each demand falling from her lips more ludicrous than the previous one.

Lucky for her, my match was in the central library with my sister, looking up discs about Avaren gestation and the recorded variations when one of the parents is from a different planet.

If Tara were there to hear the words Zeriah spewed, I’d have the vile Vasari sea snake dragged out by her hair by one of the guards stationed at the palace entrances.

I take a deep breath, pushing away the past and focusing on my present; on my beautiful match and the growing life we made together. Skirting the edges of propriety, I approach my love, embracing her from behind as I smile at my cousin.

“Are you two gossiping about me?” I drawl, trying to subtly take in the scent of my match’s hair.

My cousin’s grin turns sharp, her dark hair with an indigo sheen shifting as she shakes her head.

“We’re gossiping about Cade, of course,” Sa’ami purrs. “I was asking Tara if she knows any human females who would be able to tolerate him long enough to give me a niece or nephew.”

I grin at the thought of Caden with small ones.

They would probably be climbing all over him, testing the boundaries of their endurance while he quietly suffers their grabby hands and poking feet.

Like many Avaren, Sa’ami hasn’t found her match yet, but in her case, she’s not in a hurry to do so, preferring female company to that of males, though I know she would do her part for our survival without complaint if the time to do so arrived.

“I told her my sisters are available, as far as I know,” Tara says. Her smile falters a bit. “We just have to find them.”

“We will, my love,” I assure her, kissing the side of her neck in comfort.

“Aw, you two are as sweet as everyone says you are,” Sa’ami gushes, her hands clasped in front of her hearts. I smile at her and open my mouth to reply, but close it when I’m hailed by the flight security hub – the Sovereign has arrived, likely pushing the speed limitations to get here this fast.

“Excuse me,” I say to Tara and Sa’ami as I straighten. “My officers have arrived.”

“Go, go,” my love dismisses me with a wave of her hand. “You don’t want Caden to feel neglected.”

My cousin snickers at Tara’s words, setting my princess off too. I shake my head – perhaps it was a bad idea to pair these two.

I opt to walk to the port – it’s not like the Sovereign can land here, and it could use a ground checkup – allowing the fresh air and the sounds of celebration from every home and business to pass through me, balancing me in the face of so many changes, welcome as they may be.

Seeing my cousin will do wonders, I think.

He was always the first one to hear my thoughts, though I recognize Tara will take over a part of that duty.

It takes me less than a mark to reach the terminal, just long enough to start missing my love. I realize I’m well and truly besotted, but don’t give a Nekkar’s ass about it. I’m happier than I ever remember being, and I know the joy will only increase.

“There he is,” Cade shouts, first out of the access chute. My wrist port signals an incoming communication from the queen, but I ignore it for the moment, embracing my cousin instead, slapping his back.

“Welcome home,” I say, looking behind him to see more of my command crew descend. That’s when my mother speaks to me through our nanites, one of the rare occasions she’s done so.

Kairen! Tara has been taken!

I step back with a jerk as a stinging cold sensation suffuses my entire being.

What? I return numbly.

My mother’s frantic thoughts take shape into words I wish I could forget.

She’s gone! Korvann took her!