Page 20 of Ahelno
CHAPTER 21
Dakleth
My soul still ached at being parted from my mate. The pit of despair in my chest had eased, and I hoped this meant she was content. I wondered about her and her well-being without cease. Every thought I had, every day, while moving every blasted rock, was centered on her.
When I woke, I thought of her. When I ate breakfast, I thought of her. When I moved rocks, I thought of her. As other prisoners complained about their lot, I ignored them, thinking only of her. At night, when I lay down on my cot in my cell, I thought of her. That was the most difficult of all.
My thoughts often turned to our mating. It had been the most blissful moment of my life, and yet was the lowest for her. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help the lustful thoughts that raced through my mind as I remembered her lush, naked body. The smell of her. Her beautiful sky-blue eyes. The golden waterfall of her hair. I wish I had known her better, so I could run my fingers through the strands over and over.
Even though I knew I had hurt her, picturing the mating mark on her back caused my cock to rise under my skirt. In the moments of deepest depravity, I stroked myself to completionthinking of her, then shuddered in shame at the monster I had become.
CHAPTER 22
Andie
Three weeks after my lessons began, I attended the King’s ball. A trade delegation from a planet called Sapari was being hosted, and the Ptexari were hopeful for a favorable exchange of goods. Finetta had briefed me that the Sapari were known for their technology exports. Many of the vehicles and spaceships the Ptexari used were of Sapari origin.
In exchange, the Sapari needed Ptexari raw materials. The mines on the southern continent produced several minerals that were used in the production process for many of these machines. Quartz and silica were the main products they sought.
I didn’t know anything about exports or tariffs or the production cycles for six-wheeled vehicles, so fortunately, no one expected me to say much. My job, as best I could tell, was to be a pleasant novelty. Since I already had plenty of experience with that over the past few months, I expected to do my part swimmingly. Finetta warned me, though, that the Sapari were able to tell when someone was lying to them. They were obsessed with the truth. It made negotiating with them a bit tricky. The Ptexari may not want to revealwhat they were willing to give up in exchange for Sapari technology. Obscuring the truth without actually lying to them was an art. If they thought the other party was lying to them, negotiations would end immediately.
I didn’t have any state secrets to hide, so I wasn’t worried. I was there to eat food off of tiny plates and adorn the wall like a decorative vase. Or so I thought.
“Is it true that you are a human?” a Sapari delegate asked me. She was the eighth person who had asked me this exact question. Pasting my best customer service smile on my face, I said, “Why yes, I am! I am a human from Earth. My name is Andie. Greetings, honored visitor.”
“I’ve never met a human before,” she went on. “But my uncle has. There was a human living on Corommon the last time he went there.”
“Really?” I didn’t know where that was, but news of another human was still fascinating to me. “I don’t believe there are many humans in this sector. I would love to be connected to them, if your uncle believes such a thing is possible.”
“I do not know,” she replied. “But I will ask. I imagine it must be difficult being separated so thoroughly from your kind.”
I tried to keep my voice steady. “It is, at times,” I admitted. “But the Ptexari have been very kind. I know I could have ended up in much worse places.”
“Wise words,” she said. “I am curious how you ended up as a member of the royal family.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Everyone on Ptexari knew what the Prince had done to me, and that I was technically, if not consentingly, his mate, and thus the King’s daughter bylaw. I didn’t know if the King would want that fact revealed, however, so I sidestepped. “The King was unsure about my legal status since I had been kidnapped and didn’t have proper immigration papers. He was kind enough to adopt me into his household as a ward to settle the question.”
The Sapari focused all four of her eyes on me. “There is truth in this statement. It is not the entire truth, but it still rings true. I will think on this.”
I was worried that the Sapari would be offended by my partial truth, but she was more interested in M’Pak at the moment. “Is that a pet?” She asked.
Almost full-grown, M’Pak nearly came up to my shoulder. His body was shaped like a tiger, but he was the size of a pony. He was a fearsome predator, and the only reason anyone at the party was willing to approach me was because I convinced him to let me put a collar and leash on him. It was a flimsy thing that he could snap easily, but it gave partygoers the illusion that he was a domesticated pet and not a wild, savage beast that should definitely be living in a forest and not in a palace (or my tiny cottage).
“I don’t really think of M’Pak as a pet,” I chose my words carefully. “He is a Granthor who I’ve raised since he was a cub. He could have returned to the wild weeks ago, but he is content to stay at my side for now.”
“Is he dangerous?’ the Sapari asked.
“Well, he doesn’t eat people as a general rule,” I joked. “But he is a fierce protector. If I were threatened, I have no doubt he would seriously injure the attacker. But he won’t attack unprovoked.” I had seen the bones and discarded heads of animals that prowled the boundaries of my property, drawn to the ovina coop. M’Pak was a skilled hunter who couldeviscerate another animal with ease.
“Would you be willing to sell him?” she asked.
“Oh no!” I said. “M’Pak is not for sale.”
“Surely you could raise another cub,” the Sapari pressed. “A trained guard animal like that would fetch a lovely price. You could start a whole new industry, I’d bet.”
Honestly, I was at a loss for words. No one, not even the Ptexari, knew the Granthors to be anything other than wild animals. They didn’t understand how intelligent they were, or that they were telepathic. I didn’t plan to reveal this information to them, and certainly not to any offworlders.
“The Ptexari view the Granthors to be an important part of their ecosystem. I raised M’Pak because his mother died. I fully intended to release him back to the wild, but he chose not to go. I don’t think the Ptexari would allow them to be captured and raised like that. He was an exception.” I said.
