Storm Princess Page 15

  He slid from the bed and held out a long arm. "We need to get clean. You have some blood and a lot of my liquid marking you. We can wash each other then change the bedding like we are poor folks and are natives without household workers."

  I laughed and got out on weak knees. I let him hold me and we both got under the shower. The bathing unit recognized our needs and the water was warm as it washed over us from three sides.

  I let the water pound out some stiffness that I could not remember where it came from. Was it a mishandling from the fish men on the warship or a new type of pleasurable activity in my bed?

  I turned at the urging of my partner as he began to rub soap on my back and down my hips.

  "My guide, I know you as Marshall Bower. What is the name that is first in that label?"

  He pulled me against his wet chest, wrapping his arms all the way around me. Again I felt a body around and touching me.

  "My first name is Tello, and I know you are Mikla. Once that bedroom door closes us in then that is all we are, just two natives without bodyguards, or wait, people. We are two that care for each other and nothing else matters." I heard him sigh. He put his head down near my ear.

  "But once we unlock the door, I am a Marshall in the Royal Military of the Royal City and you are the Princess, first wife of the King of GigasVnee. It is a different role we will play to the best of our best ability for all the beings of this planet."

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I wondered if a body or female could love more than one male. I examined my thoughts of both the males I knew. I thought about my husband that I would never know intimately. I felt the twinge deep within my heart and I knew, after all that had happened, I still loved and desired him.

  I thought of my guide who I knew in the way I had never known any other living being. I touched him and felt him, inside and out, from top to bottom with emotions that screamed in ecstasy and realized I would not know another in this way.

  Tello watched me and I watched the King. Well, I watched everyone I could see within the Royal City. I wandered the halls and the balconies and the main landing floor. I didn't speak to anyone, I just watched them work and I learned their ways. I heard their different slang and their different terms.

  Sometimes, just to remind myself of my childhood, I would slip away from my guards, leaving Marshall Bower and his team of black-clad escorts lost in a crowd of workers.

  I would stay low, dressed in my plain brown clothes and blend in with the many laborers moving past each other. They would be moving items or carrying tools and always talking or smiling. If the universe would leave this world alone, these individuals could find happiness.

  They elected representatives on a direct level both in the law designation and at the Council choice. They had a King they loved and believed would protect them at all costs. They had a shared power to always have heat or cooling, food, and medicine. In some ways, I thought they probably didn't have to work. But they had grown up on a storm world.

  It was not the outside interference that they faced. It was the oceans and the winds and rains and small amounts of farmable land that they faced even today. So they farmed the oceans, making peace with the denizens of that realm. They constantly expanded their cave homes into cities within strong mountains.

  They were strong beings, made strong to exist on the storm planet and the storm planet gave them the Threads for all the power they would ever need. I wanted to see a Thread in its natural state.

  Tello told me all about the simple mining process, as we held each other one afternoon. He told me that they still mined the Threads right here in this mountain. He also refused to take me there saying it was dangerous for someone born off world, meaning me.

  Sex and feeling him pushing inside me was volatile, but afterward, spooned against his tenderness was a different, better feeling. Here we would talk and he would answer all my questions. But he would not grant me all my requests.

  Now I would seek out the mining area on my own, as I had at last lost my guide and guards in this busy crowd. I had been watching workers and noticed some dressed in darker clothes with heavy helmets that went into one exit. That tunnel also never had any individuals go into it except these darkly dressed workers.

  There was also a delivery system on one side of the tunnel. As I watched from a distant balcony, small dark bundles came out on that delivery system and were dropped into small black containers. Workers waited and when a container was full it was sealed and pulled away to be replaced by another pushed in place by a second worker. It all seemed very efficient for whatever was coming out of that one tunnel.

  Again, having watched for long periods, I could not find where they got their clean uniforms and hard helmets, but I found the area in the laundry section where the dark uniforms were dumped.

  It took me three trips to the laundry to find discarded black clothes to fit me. I also had to use a pair of my own boots. I took a good lamp as I couldn't find one of the helmets. The helmets seemed to contain their own lights. My hope was that if I were stopped, my authority as the princess would keep me out of too much trouble.

  I escaped from my escorts once to stash my disguise and then I took my time to find another auspicious moment that I felt would give me enough time to change and go up the tunnel. I again lost my friends near the skip ship repair area. Then I found my bundle and a place to change into the dark uniform.

  I felt all kinds of bugs in my stomach as I waited for the container change at the end of the tunnel. I looked behind, feeling like someone was following me, yet I was sure I had lost Bower. I walked into the tunnel and started the sharp upward climb. There were no other workers around me and there were dim work lights floating near the top of the rough cave. At this point, I didn't even need the light I carried.

  The delivery unit at the side of the tunnel began to run again, taking small black receptacles down, quietly and smoothly. I heard footsteps behind me and knew that some worker was coming up the tunnel. I decided to ignore that individual and act like I belonged here even as the person moved up on my position.

  The individual seemed to be in a hurry and I was beginning to worry when I heard a strange noise, like a gurgle. I whirled and in the dim light, I was careful not to scream.

  I was faced with one of the most dreadful scenes one would never want to see, even in a nightmare. The large dark figure of a killer was slowly lowering a male who had his head hanging at a weird angle. It was an angle that told me no one could live with their neck twisted in that manner. The killer was the dreaded Assassin who was the protector of the removed Queen, who was now the Advisor to the King.

  "It is still not safe to go without your guide, Princess." His voice was always his strange whisper.

  "But…no…my father is helpless and not a danger to me now." I stepped over to hold onto the wall. "He can't be after me now."

  The Assassin was now bending over the dead male, looking at his hands, then into the male's eyes and opening his shirt. "No, not your father, just a mercenary hoping to get a ransom reward. We live in strange times. Princess, go back down and find your correct clothes and do not attempt to find the Threads again. This is all I can do for you."

  I nodded, still needing to hang onto the wall and I moved down and around the big black ghost.

  As I passed him he whispered, "Do you need anything?"

  I took a couple of more steps and then stopped. Yes, he could help me in other ways besides killing another killer. There was another female in this world that loved two males.

  "Sir, I need to speak to Advisor Loralei."

  I looked over my shoulder to see him hefting the body over his shoulder. Still his soft words found my ears. "I will see that the request reaches the Advisor." Even with the additional weight, he was suddenly gone in the dim light.

  With a sigh, I understood I would never see the actual extraction of the Threads. I would read up on them, not on the standard news programs, but on the local and nativ
e and historical sites. There was the story that only those born into this world could touch the threads without serious damage to their bodies.

  I did know that everywhere else the Threads were handled with special equipment and no one ever thought of touching the power-emitting source.

  I now needed to take the Assassin's advice and hope that he would set up an appointment for me.

  Chapter Thirty

  Here I was, walking down the military hallway surrounded by my guards, with Marshall Bower leading the way. I gave a shiver thinking of the horrible results of the one and only time I had met here with Advisor Dee Con DeArmond. That wonderful, gracious old grandfather had given his life protecting me as he locked me in a room to save me.

  I was grateful when Tello led us to a turn in the hallway and we went to the end that opened to a large room that was set up like an office room with lots of individuals on many desks. We walked through and at the end was a suite.

  The Advisor lived here and I was being shown into her rooms. I had no idea when she had moved from the suite by mine on the upper level, but this was obviously where she now lived, with a young girl who bowed to me. The Assassin was present, but with a short nod of his head, he left closing the door.

  "Come in, my daughter. I will use you as an excuse to put aside all this work." The gracious Loralei moved to me and took my hand in hers, leading me over to a seating arrangement. "I owe my beloved Dee so many apologies. I had no idea how much work we piled on his shoulders until I had to sit at his desk. What is that old saying from my home world? Walk a mile in his shoes? Yes, that is the one."

  I was so grateful that she was the one talking, as I wasn't sure if my tongue would work. I had come to her for information, not advice. By the time we were settled on the comfortable furniture, the young female, a couple of turns older than my Set, was putting out food and wine.

  Advisor Loralei looked at the servant with a soft smile. "Thank you Tet, it looks lovely. You can go and relax or do your schoolwork. I think the Princess and I need some alone time."

  The sweet child set one more dish down then did a curtsy and left the room.

  I looked over at Loralei. "She is lovely."

  Loralei nodded in agreement. "She was assigned to me when I was first brought to this planet in total confusion. She doesn't know it, but she has taught me more about this planet than almost anyone with a title. I now feel like she is a daughter, so we battle over her schooling."

  I felt my eyebrows move upward. "Wait, should I be making sure my little helper also is getting schooling? She sleeps in my rooms. Oh, I bet she doesn't have any family, does she?"

  "Usually, the servants like my Tet are picked from native orphans." Loralei looked at the exit door and then down at the food arrangement. "I'm sorry, I think like me no one bothered to tell you about your servant’s situation. It will come as much a shock to you, I believe, as it did to me."

  Loralei stopped and poured some wine, handing me a glass. "What I didn't know and I think no one told you was when an orphan is accepted as a servant to someone who has enough status to support that individual, they are then responsible for that individual.

  As the responsible personage, you must see that they have food, clothing, and medical care. If they are at the proper age, you need to see that they get a basic education. Everything is expected at a fundamental level. It is a way of moving orphans out of the multi units run by the government.

  Of course, each individual with a servant can give more if they choose. They can give an allowance and set up a pass for clothes in the supply room. They can contact the school center to arrange for classes or tutors or training on a screen.

  They can have special exercise times set up with others in their size range with leaders to help build their bodies. The responsible personage should arrange that the servant gets a medical check-up on a regular basis to make sure they are healthy and eating the proper food items."

  Here Loralei chuckled. "You know, not too many sweets. Something both Tet and I have a desire for."

  I sat back with my wine glass in one hand. "So among the many individuals of this planet, having a full-time servant is like adopting an orphan."

  "Yes, Princess, it is one way they have arranged for orphans to move into homes of unmarried individuals who need others to help them. Everyone knows of this ancient practice except us newcomers." Loralei laughed and tipped her wine glass at me before she took a sip. "Although families also take in orphans to help fill out their families. They might feel they have too many male children or they have only been blessed with one child. Our orphanages are small, thank the fates."

  I took a sip and then spoke out loud what she had me thinking. "I came here for another reason, but I am so grateful for what you have shared with me. I now know I have so much I have to do to catch up for Set, my little helper. I think she will hate me when we work out her new schedule. Gosh, I think I just became a mother."

  We both laughed.

  "So, Mikla, did you come here to learn more about the traditions of this planet or just to visit. I welcome both."

  I took my breath and looked into my wine glass. "No, I came here to talk about loving two males."

  Well, that brought a silence to the room. I don't think Loralei was even moving, just sitting, one hand full of a wine glass and the other partly extended. I kept my eyes on my wine but watched her from the edge of my lashes with my head down.

  "Well, Mikla, you know my history. So, are you asking about my loves or what is the question?"

  I shifted. "You love to amazing males. In your case they both love you. I wonder if a normal person can love two males in a totally different situation."

  Loralei cleared her throat then reached for some cheese. "I read a lot. I even had some of the stories written by authors from my prohibited planet. There are a lot of sexy fun tales of one female with two males, all very happy."

  I set my wine glass down and faced her. I needed to get to the truth. "When I stepped off the ship the first time, I met your son. I instantly lost my heart to him. It has been his ever since. It hurts, as I know it is a lost cause. I knew when I agreed to come to GigasVnee to be the first wife of the Heir, that it was to be an unconsummated ceremony.

  I accepted that as it got me away from my evil father. I never expected the beauty of your son. What is worse, as I watch him moving among his people, seeing his warmth and helpfulness with them; it just enlarged my feeling for him. I have also seen him with the female he loves.

  The love I feel for him is a horrendous ache in my chest, right where my heart beats."

  Loralei started to reach for me then withdrew her hand. "Mikla, I warned you about my son. He is the product of the Twinned Dissnue. He is closer to them than he is to me. I love him and I am proud of him as a mother. Yet I feel the distance, as I know we are not quite of the same breed. His fathers passed onto him something that none of us understand since none of us fully understand the twins."

  "I understand, Mistress. I can't change my feelings for him any more than I can change my feelings for the peace the ocean's waves give me when I look out at the waters on this planet. It is just something I feel inside. That is something I am learning to live with and it is not the problem I have come to you about."

  I looked around the room, not looking at the furniture, but looking for the words I needed. "I have found another male for whom I have feelings and needs. I am confused."

  Loralei looked at me as we now faced each other. "Is he honorable?"

  I nodded.

  "Would you protect him?"

  I nodded again.

  "Would you fight for him?"

  I answered. "Of course."

  "Would you give him up for his better good?"

  Now I looked directly into her eyes and swallowed. I thought for only a moment and knew I would do what was best for Tello. "Yes, it would add to my already broken heart, but if it was for his life or his best, yes, I would give him up. I think I will then
need to join one of those religious groups of females that hide away."

  Loralei reached down and began to fill her plate. "Boy, I am really hungry. Most of the time, I only have time to eat while I am working at my desk. To eat a good lunch with a friend is a great treat."

  I looked at her in confusion as she sat back and began to chew on something. "But…but, you haven't answered anything for me?"

  She handed her plate to me and I took it as I watched her. She began to fill another one. Then she looked up at my bewildered face.

  "You have answered your own questions. Just think about it. Here, these red fruits are from the bottom of the ocean and are so sweet." She stuffed a fruit in her mouth and closed her eyes with an expression of glory.

  For me, I just sat and thought through the whole conversation. It took me three times to the same set of words and Loralei on her second plate before the message became clear.

  Desiring something you couldn't touch and loving something that was warm against your back was an easy decision. I just hoped I would never have to face the choice of giving up Marshall Tello Bower for his own good.

  I could love two males and maybe one would heal my broken heart in time.

  In the meantime, I had another I had to do something about. Set needed a lot of items and I needed help in getting her started in schooling. She needed a medical check-up and, gosh, I had a checklist of things I needed to do for my sweet little helper.

  Epilogue

  He stood on the edge of the high cliff, the wind not affecting him, as he looked down into the waters so far below. He was waiting for the big animals of the deep to show themselves.

  He thought of the fighters that had come to wreak havoc on this part of the universe. His fathers had taken them to their home as their punishment. Strange that someone would find it a penalty to be sent back to their home.

  As he waited, he felt the planet through his bare feet and listened to his people talk to him. There were sea farmers now in the southern hemisphere where the sun moved to make it warmer. He heard the markets being opened to sell the milk and butter and meat, all from both sea and land animals.