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Page 18 of The Royal’s Bumblebee (Operation Colonise #2)

It’s all in the trifecta

Izule

“What do you think you’re playing at?”

I keep my mouth shut and try to go around him.

“Izule, you just showed your fangs to your own kin.”

“Szelor is not going to be mean to your human after that.”

Halas swung his head out from a side corridor, the sneaky little rat, and his grin was as wide as it was cheeky.

“That was awesome.”

I quirked a smile briefly.

“When I bring a human back to the palace tonight, do you think—”

“No.”

Vrujac and I chorus at the same time.

“But.”

“No.”

Uczaz joins our chorus.

“Killjoys.

The lot of you.”

Uczaz wrapped his arm around Halas’s hood, flattening it and putting the pretty royal into a headlock.

Like Vrujac, his scales were golden like sand, glossy, and he had vibrant yellow framed black bands alternating from the top of their heads to the tips of their tails.

Their fronts, face, neck, underbelly, and arms were sandy gold.

Vrujac was larger than Halas, wider too, but nowhere near my league.

“Well, where is she? Billie, right?”

“She is in my nest and waiting for me to collect appropriate adornments worthy of her.”

I puff my chest out with pride.

“Worthy of her, no less?”

Vrujac snorted and made a real effort to keep up with me as I wound down the yellow stone corridor to the Royal tailors.

“Just how special is this human to you brother?”

“Are you kidding me?”

Halas twisted his head and hood free to zip between me and Vrujac.

Fast little rat.

“The big guy just bore his fangs at Szelor.”

Vrujac subconsciously tried to widen his shoulders.

He didn’t like not being the big guy, when I’m around.

I swear Halas points out my stature just to shuck off our eldest brother.

“I’m thinking it’s more than platonic.”

He sang and turned to wind backward on his tail with his upper body facing us.

“How is she?”

“Halas?”

I warn him.

I know exactly where this slit chaser’s mind is.

He practically lives for getting inside the next female.

Ucfeni or Human; Halas didn’t care.

“Tasted her yet?”

“Halas?” I growl.

“Not every female is a conquest waiting to happen!”

Uczaz lunches forward playfully to wrestle Halas off to one side, and they end up pulling down large rolls of red fabric down onto them.

I scoff, amused, but leave them to it to approach the central island in the tailoring chamber.

I fold my arms over my chest and Vrujac coils around the other side of the platform to offer a hand to our sister.

Coiled elegantly on smooth yellow stone, Jajana looks like a real Queen.

When I think about how my Mother would have looked, I imagine it would be exactly as Jajana did right now.

She had lovely sandy scales, a black and white banded underbelly, and black and white ‘eyes’ on her hood.

Hers wasn’t as wide, and it didn’t have spikes on the edges as a male Royal’s did, but she still looked striking.

She wore a silver headdress with an explosive mane of blue feathers.

Her com-gem sat in the middle of a silver setting that hung as the centrepiece of a web of silver chains that made a decorative shrug.

She wore blue fingerless gloves, and silver bangles that clinked as she offered her wrists gracefully to Vrujac.

Around her hips a matching set of delicate silver chains held long pieces of chiffon close to her pelvis.

The rest fluttered and swayed as she wound forward on her tail to lower herself from the pedestal.

Aided, by Vrujac like the graceful princess she is.

Neatly clustered blue fathers were attached to either side of her skirt to fan and flutter if she was to dance. Her brown eyes were warm as they looked upon me, as they always did. My sister was the only motherly figure in my life, and she seemed to yoyo from the role of matriarch and future Queen, to my pouty sister that wanted to get her own way. I could already tell which version I was about to be met with, when she released Vrujac to cup my cheeks and giggle with excitement.

“What’s this I hear of human conquests?”

“Jajana, please?”

I beg her.

“Yes, don’t indulge this.”

Golden boy chips in and I take a deep breath.

“Izule, you know father enjoys watching his younger sons take part in festivities.

That should be your priority.”

He shook his head and his hood like he was disappointed in me.

I honestly didn’t give a damn what a smaller Royal, that hadn’t been outside the palace in years to hunt his own food, had to say.

“You’ve pined long enough to get a compatible human to choose you as a sponsor.

Father has been worried about you, holding up in your nest all this time.

At least having this human seen by everyone at the festival will alleviate any concerns for her wellbeing…yes.

You should bring her.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

I laughed at his gall to think I needed his permission? For anything? Jajana saw the way we were looking at each other and decided to intervene.

She even flashed our younger brothers the silent command to come to her aid.

“I am looking forward to meeting your charge.

What’s her name?”

She hugged my left arm and nudged her right shoulder to my left to steer me to the other side of the tailoring room.

“Billie.”

I turn to look between our hoods to see Uczaz and Halas are herding the crown prince to the other side of the chamber.

We have just been ‘handled’.

“And she’s…special.”

“Because she’s shy of loud noises and colours?”

My sister tried to recall when we last spoke of Billie.

“Because she is an Aspergers?”

“She has Aspergers.

It’s what she has, not who or what she is.”

I allow my sister to lead me over to my true target.

A set of shelves filled with the finest adornments for Royal ladies.

My hands reached immediately for the green rolls of fabric and remembered that she wanted something that would be soft on her skin.

The first material I ran through my fingers was stiff, for shaping ruffles, and not something Billie would enjoy at all.

I discarded it right away, and looked to my left when I saw Jajana also examining some of the green rolls for me.

“It’s complicated, but Billie’s mind and body can be very sensitive to stimulus.

Particularly too much of it.

She takes longer to process how she feels about things, but she thinks really quickly.

Like, she’s a literal genius.”

Unbeknownst to me, my brothers are listening just as intently as Jajana is as I talk of my Billie.

“I listen to her when she’s working and it’s another language she’s speaking.

Computer code.

The language of their technology, and ours.

She can use her computer and control machines anywhere the satellites can reach.”

I hummed with approval as I lifted a long piece of sheer green material that was so soft, it felt like it was barely there at all.

“When there was some sort of life support failure on one of their cryo-ships last week, she didn’t even panic.

She sat at her computer, her fingers clicked across her keyboard, and she took control of the ship.

She saved 2000 human lives without any difficulty whatsoever.”

“That is impressive.”

Jajana helped me gather up the roll of soft Pezaxon silk.

“Yes.

She is impressive.”

I lifted up on my tail to examine a shelf of adornments.

My left arm hugged the roll of fabric to my chest and shoulder, and my right hand felt around the various items.

Periodically I picked one up, thought about if it was too heavy, too shiny, or too distracting, or just too ugly, and put it down.

“She’s putting me through my paces.

If Szelor wasn’t such a shucker, the two of them would get along well, considering her love of learning.

I’ve read more books this last month and a half, than the last year and a half.”

“Come now, that’s not a boast.”

Halas lifted up to my right and was looking at me with mischief.

“Normally you can’t be dragged out of the forest long enough to even look at a book, never mind read one.

Or, you know, have any interest in the fairer sex.”

“Whereas you have too much interest in the fairer sex.”

I palmed at his face and sent the smaller Royal off balance so he landed on his back with a winded laugh.

“Joking aside, it sounds like your Billie is an ally worth keeping.”

Vrujac seemed to emphasise the keeping bit more than I would have liked.

“You have no expectations to mate for offspring brother.

You should mate this human and keep her close.

As these humans become more established on Thelia, having their genius mated to one of the Royal family, can only put Orna’s alliance with them in good standing.”

“I am not mating her because it would be a political advantage to Orna.”

I hiss down at him, glaring as he finished fastening an ornate golden wrap-around skirt around his waist.

“Why not? You’re a Royal.

Our duty is to the throne and to our people.

The union would ensure the humans stay on good terms with us, since their genius is living in the royal palace.

On that note, you two should move into the safety of the main walls.”

“I am not mating Billie because you, or anyone else, says so.”

I snarl and seriously think about showing Vrujac my fangs too.

“We are staying in my nest, and we are perfectly safe there.

She prefers it.

It’s quiet.

She can work and no one can turn up unannounced.”

He was rolling armlets and bangles up his arms and giving me a look like I was being an unreasonable brat.

“For once, just once, could you think about more than just yourself? See, this is why father only brings you out for grunt work like wrestling and putting on a novelty show for the masses.

You have way more potential than this Izule, and yet you want to waste your days away hunting.”

I turn my back to him and chew my lips together.

That was rich coming from him.

He didn’t want me to live up to my potential, because that would put his future reign in threat.

No, he wants me to be obedient and be a useful pawn in his power play.

“Fine, you don’t want to mate the human.

It’s still a good plan.

Halas, you enjoy mating with humans.

You should probably settle down soon anyway.

Izule, make sure to introduce the two of them tonight.”

I raised my head and my hood shot wide open.

“Oh, shuck me, I want nothing to do with any of this.”

Halas raised his hands, his hood flattened and he skulked back from us.

I turned to look down at my eldest brother with more venom than my glands could ever produce.

He even seemed startled by my expression, and more so when I started to ululate in a deadly warning.

“Billie isn’t being mated off to anyone else. Got it?”

Vrujac hissed defensively and made himself as tall and wide as he could.

Not tall and wide enough, golden boy.

I was just about to drop my cargo and launch at him, when Jajana squealed at my left.

“So you do want to mate her!”

My sister single-handedly killed the aggression in the room.

“Seriously?!”

Vrujac snarled with frustration.

“Then what the shuck is your problem?!”

“His problem, dear brother, is that Izule loooooooves her, and doesn’t want his precious mate to be anyone’s pawn.”

Jajana cooed and patted my back.

Stars, I wanted a pit to curl up in right now.

“Hey, brother? I have some amazing tips to share if you want to make those human toes of hers curl.”

Halas wriggled up to rest his chin on the shelf by my right.

“It’s all in the trifecta.

Tongue, dick, and tailtip.”

“…Halas?”

“Yes?”

He wagged the end of his tail and I looked down at him with my left eye twitching.

“…shut up?”

I nod at him.

“Shutting up.”

He chuckled nervously and slinked away.

“Seriously though?”

Vrujac lifted up on his tail to fill the space Halas once occupied, but rested his elbows on the shelf.

I did my best to ignore both my older siblings and find adornments that Billie might like.

I hesitated, realising that they were both caging me in and leaning on the shelf as they watched me intently.

I would have happily ignored them and gone about my business, but my siblings had other ideas.

“Personally I think this is a win-win.

You want to become a mated pair with your human.

I’ll support you when you want to tell Father.”

“Because it serves your agenda, not because it’s what I want.”

I looked him right in the eye and he shrugged.

“What part of win-win, don’t you get?”

I pursed my scaly lips together.

Ancestor’s bones, I want to hit him.

Right between the eyes.

“Use your head here Izule.

Father isn’t going to approve of a Royal becoming mated to a human you can’t breed with, but you’re the 37th hatched Royal, so there isn’t a burden on you to continue the line.

Still, you…are the biggest and strongest of us.”

My lips parted and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Did my brother just admit I’m bigger and stronger than him? To my face? “You are a prize to be matched off.

He’s a King.

He has to think of our people, and you’re not female.”

“That’s right.

You don’t get to arrange your own mating.”

Jajana sighed and picked up a headdress from the shelf.

It caught my eye, but my mind was elsewhere at the moment.

“You’re a son.

Father will start sending you off to present before other Royals in other cities with the hope of you becoming King there one day.”

I had to admit, I had feared that future in the back of my mind for a while now.

If I wasn’t the youngest, I think that fate would have already befallen me.

“But a significant asset like your Billie? A super genius responsible for the humans’ technology and the significant advancements we’ve gained as a result? She would be something he would agree to.

Especially if you let me do the talking for you.”

Vrujac moved to slap my back, but with one look from me daring him to try, he retracted his hand.

“You don’t have to like my motives, if you get the outcome you want.

And you want Billie, right?”

I swallowed thickly and coiled the end of my tail into a spiral bashfully.

Honestly, there aren’t words for how much I want Billie.

Not just to share a frenzied tangle each night, but for waking up in my nest with her every morning after as well.

For every questioning game and every precious smile she gives me.

“Brother your throat is so dark right now.

It’s priceless.”

Vrujac teased me, so I bumped my right shoulder into his left and knocked him over.

“Hey! That’s no way to treat your future King, and your personal matchmaker!”

“Well, that’s Vrujac’s contribution.

Now for mine.

This one.”

Jajana handed me the green headdress, scooped up a few other items, and then coaxed me with a gentle bump to my left shoulder to lower back to the ground comfortably.

“Come on then.

Take me to your genius.”

“Oh, no.”

I try to head Jajana off, leaving Vrujac to go looking for father and the wonderful news of my upcoming bonding, I’m sure.

Knowing Vrujac, he’ll make it all seem like it was his idea and claim credit somehow.

He is…right about one thing though.

I don’t care about how I get Billie to become my mate…as long as she chooses me, she can have me.

“You’ll spook her.”

I fuss, trying to deal with my current pain in my scales.

I beg her to stop.

I am ignored.

“She needs a woman to dress her.”

“She needs warning before any stranger comes into our nest.”

We are about to reach the bridge and my arms are full of fabric and adornments.

My crafty sister did that to me on purpose so I couldn’t grapple her to the floor.

Damn it.

“Please, sister, you’ll scare her!”

“Then I will wait here.”

She giggled and circled on the spot outside the door to my nest to make a tight coil to rest on.

“Go inside, explain that your sister would like to meet her and help her dress for the festival.

I hope she allows me to come inside.”

“…”

I look from my sister, larger than me and covered in vibrant blue, twinkly silver chains, bangles that chime, and feathers on her head, and know that Billie would not like to be suddenly thrust before her.

“…if she says you can come inside, and I mean if…then no touching her.”

Jajana beamed and nodded eagerly.

“No sudden movements.

No loud noises.

Speak softly and be patient.”

“You make her sound so delicate.”

Jajana giggled.

“She isn’t delicate.”

I insist.

In the month and a half since we first met, she’s warmed up to me so much.

I’ve earned every touch, and being easily forgiven for picking her up.

Where she only allowed me to hold her hand, she now bathes with me and sleeps in my upper nest.

I have earned those things by being patient.

If Jajana bundles in there, colourful, loud and handsy, Billie will flee and shut down.

“She just needs time and patience.”

“And you, clearly.”

Jajana smiled at me in the way anyone would hope their mother would look at them.

With adoration and pride.

“Just…wait here.”

I grumble and press the bio scanner to unlock the door.

I give my sister one last look, before I go looking for Billie.