I was angry, but wary of the King of Alloria. He could very easily order his guards to kill us. I disengaged from Alek and made sure the blanket was tucked around him before I sat up and faced Frek’s father. The manacle and chain around my wrist was annoying, and clanked every time I moved.
“Why have you taken us?” I demanded. “You risk starting a war with my father.”
“Your father will not go to war over this, Alexia.” The strange look on his face was still there, and his voice was weirdly soft. “You have mated my son, so you are now an Allorian, and Alek is the heir of the crown of Alloria. Coalition regulations state that I am quite within my rights to take him home with me.”
I was startled at hearing him use my name. I didn’t think he knew what it was. But anger flashed through me. I didn’t care about Coalition regulations. I was not an item to be tossed to and fro, nor was Alek, and my father would not care about Coalition regulations either—especially where his family was concerned. I gripped the sheet under me in tight fists.
“Coalition regulations will not stop my father sending forces after you. The Borakoy have always tread a fine line of what the Coalition believes to be acceptable behaviour. You should have done your research better before you chose this course of action.” I wanted to sneer at him, but Alek’s and my lives were in this male’s hands. Aggravating him wasn’t a wise thing to do.
“That may be the case, Princess, but they will find us to be amply capable of defending ourselves against attack. I have already contacted the Coalition and informed them of your new position as Frek’s mate and that I am taking you to Alloria. They believe you to be quite willing, I might add.”
A low sound of annoyance rolled up my throat. Did he really think once he let me out of this room that I wouldn’t use the first opportunity I had to contact my family, Frek, or—hell, I’d even call the freaking Chancellor of the Coalition if it would reunite me with Frek. But I wasn’t going to tell him that. It would give away the only advantage I had at the moment, which was the element of surprise and deviousness.
“Frek will not let you get away with this. He will come after us. Him and his crew of pirates. You might be able to fight off my father’s ships, but I doubt you will be able to fight off the pirates,” I told him.
A small smile tugged at the King of Alloria’s lips, and it hit me with a jolt that he looked tired. It wasn’t something on his face, like the dark circles that developed under my eyes. It was more his whole demeanour.
“I’m counting on my son coming for you. That is the whole purpose of taking you. I need Frek to come home. I need Frek to take his place at my side, and he left me no choice but to force his hand.”
I stared back at him, a little dumbfounded, my hands relaxing a little on the death grip I had on the sheet. “You went about things in a completely ass about manner,” I said and a small smile tilted my lips at Alek’s giggle at my use of a swear word. “You treated him like dirt. If you’d approached things differently, he might have agreed.”
The King of Alloria nodded and brushed a stand of hair that fell forward onto his forehead out of the way. “Yes. I am quite aware of that, but I had no choice. I needed my guards to believe I am the same ruthless ruler I have always been, or they would think something is wrong.” He looked away then, and his face twisted into a mask of pain, before he schooled his features and turned back. “I’m dying, Alexia. Everything I have done is to ensure Frek is in Alloria to claim his throne when I die, so the council does not declare him abdicated in absentia and install my oldest daughter on the throne.”
Shaking my head at him, I said, “I can understand having to behave a particular way, but really, you haven’t seen Frek in what... ten years? And the first thing you do is hit him? That’s crazy. It’s no wonder Frek hates you and refuses to go home.” I did understand needing to put up a front. I’d been doing it in public ever since my Craving Ceremony. My heart twisted a little knowing he was dying, but he was such an ass, so it was only a little.
If the way he had treated Frek on Borakoy was the way he had always treated his son, I wasn’t surprised Frek refused to go home. Nobody liked to be abused, and to do it in public in front of peers was unacceptable. If I was Frek, I would have been mortified.
Looking over the King, you wouldn’t think anything was wrong with him. He was still a very handsome male with thick wavy golden hair, not blonde golden like some of the human women my mother kept in contact with, truly gold. The strands shone in the light with a metallic sheen, the same as his skin and eyes, which had a small amount of fine lines radiating from the corners of them. He didn’t really look like Frek, who must take after his mother. The King of Alloria was handsome in a pretty, delicate way.
He wasn’t as tall as Frek. He was about the same height as Alita, while Frek was a few inches taller. The King was also fine boned and slender, while Frek had a sturdier frame. Frek was still small compared to someone like my brother Arik, but he was far more muscular than his father.
Frek’s father let out a long sigh. “Frek hates me because of what I did to his mother. It wouldn’t matter how I treated him, he would still hate me. I realised a long time ago, I made mistakes. I don’t expect him to forgive me for what I’ve done. He’s right. I was weak and allowed the council to control me. I set aside my Sacred Mate to keep them happy and to try and produce a pure blood heir. I hurt my mate, and I hurt my son, and I don’t deserve their forgiveness. But I’ll be damned if I let that interfere with what needs to be done.”
I shook my head. “You should be saying all this to Frek, not us. He’s the one that needs to know you regret the choices you made. He’s the one who needs to know you are dying. Maybe if he knows, he’ll be prepared to return to Alloria with you.” The king was a nutcase, as my mother would say. A total nutcase. He should have told Frek all this when he arrived on Borakoy instead of insulting everyone and being a complete jerk.
Really, how did he expect Frek to react when he treated his son that way? Frek was not the kind of male to just stand there and let someone hit him. I had been absolutely stunned when he didn’t hit his father back. The self-control he must have was astounding.
The King let out a humourless chuckle. “You will learn, Alexia. My son is the most stubborn male you will ever meet. He holds a fierce grudge and vary rarely forgives anyone for anything. His years living with the pirates seem to have made him stronger and more dominant than he was when he left Alloria. He will make an excellent king and I think...”
He stared at me, his gaze touching on the scar on my face and my arms.
“You are strong as well, and will make him a suitable mate and good queen. Together you will accomplish much. Together you will be the rulers Alloria needs.”
Shocked was only part of what I felt. Had he just complimented me? “So all that stuff you said about me being a poor excuse for a female and bringing shame to your family was... what? For the benefit of your guards? You know they are supposed to be completely loyal to you. If you tell them to keep their mouths shut, they have to do it. I know how it works. Royal Guards have to take an oath of loyalty to the King. They give up the loyalty to their families and even their people and do anything and everything their king tells them to do. Even if they don’t agree with it.”
The King of Alloria stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants. Nice pants. They were exquisitely tailored. The rest of his clothes were just as beautiful and well made. The Allorians had good taste and made beautiful clothes, I’d give them that. Maybe I could convince Frek to take a trip to Alloria so I could do some shopping. The thought was so out of place and absurd and, considering the circumstances, I almost grinned.
“Yes, that is the way it is supposed to be with my guard as well, but they are all the younger sons of what you would call the elite, our aristocracy, and there are a few among them who are the sons of council members. I have always questioned where their loyalties lie. I would not be surprised to find some of them spying on me and reporting back to their fathers and grandfathers. The council has long known my every move. The others, well, I’m not the easiest male to get along with. I have a reputation as being difficult, abusive and a tyrant.” He shrugged as if that was perfectly normal behaviour for a king.
Alek had been remarkably quiet behind me. I turned to check on him to find him sound asleep. Poor little kitten. He must have been exhausted.
“So what happens now?” I asked. “Are you just waiting for Frek to turn up? I doubt he will agree to return to Alloria with you, unless you explain to him everything you have just said to me.”
The king’s whole manner changed. His back straightened and when he spoke, his voice had returned to the cold arrogant monarch he had been on Borakoy. “That, my dear, is where you come in. I will not need to convince Frek of anything. You are going to do it for me. I have you, and I have Alek to ensure your good behaviour. Now that Frek has chosen a mate and you might be carrying his child, the olin is expendable. You will provide an heir for my son and you will be queen. Alek may be the first born son, but he is not your son. I would prefer for my son’s successor to be a child of yours.”
The blast of anger that shot through me propelled me off the bed and forward a few steps, the wretched chain clanking at my side. My hands curled into tight fists, my nails digging into the palms of my hands. “Alek is not expendable,” I growled. He’d lulled me into thinking he was regretful of the way he had treated Frek all these years, that maybe he wasn’t really the horrible person I’d come to see him as. But with that one statement, I realised that was exactly what he’d wanted. He wanted me to be on his side. Even his weird way of complimenting me by saying he wanted it to be my child who ended up on the throne, couldn’t stop the anger and beginnings of hatred from curling through me. Well... fuck him.
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that? Do you really expect me to do what you want? All I need to do is tell Frek what you are planning and he’ll make sure Alek is safe. My God, you’re a monster! He’s just a kid, so you didn’t even need to take him. You could have just taken me.”
“Oh, I think you will do whatever I tell you to, Alexia.” The king turned to the door and let in the guard who had dragged Alek in. “Rarlorin, retrieve the olin. The princess needs some time alone to think about her current circumstance.”
My heart almost burst out of my chest. “No!” I cried as I stepped back towards the bed.
The guard stared at me for a long moment before turning to look at the king. A slow smirk lifted the corner of his lips and he pulled his pistol out.
“Rarlorin, what are you doing?” the king growled. “I don’t want them dead yet. Your fists should be all the incentive Alexia needs to get out of the way.”
The guard lifted the weapon and pointed it at the king. The pulse pistol or whatever it was, pointed directly at the king’s chest. “I’m doing what the council ordered me to do. We don’t want no half-blood on the throne. We want a true Allorian to be our leader,” the guard growled back.
And with that declaration, he fired on the King of Alloria.
A high pitched squeak was ripped from me as I stared. The King of Alloria staggered back and looked down at his chest. It was the last thing he did before his body crumpled to the floor.
I staggered back and fell on the bed as I stared at the king’s body and breathed, “Oh, my God! What have you done!” I looked up at the guard. “You killed a king! That’s treason. They’re going to kill you.”
“Shut up,” the guard growled and swung the weapon around to me.
“Whoa,” I said, holding my hands out in front of me, clanking chain and all. Oh God! I had to do something to divert him or Alek and I were going to end up dead. “You don’t want to kill me yet. Alek and I are the only bargaining tools you have. If Frek comes and we’re dead, he will kill you,” I blurted.
“I said shut up!”
Oh, stuff it. That hadn’t helped at all. All I’d done was make him angry, or angrier. His golden eyes were the same dark bronze Frek’s went when he was furious. This was the worst possible situation Alek and I could have ended up in. The only male capable of protecting us was dead, and we were now at the mercy of this male and the rest of the males of the King’s royal guard.
“Aunty Lexie, what’s happening?” Alek mumbled from behind me.
“It’s all right, baby. Just go back to sleep,” I tried to reassure him.
I had no idea how any of the guards felt about aliens—except this male, who had made it quite clear he didn’t want an alien or half-blood as his king. I had a feeling he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me to ensure I never became queen, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Alek and Frek, either.
His gaze raked up and down me, and the look on his face sent my already racing heart into overdrive. It reminded me of the look Kareldan had on his face in the forest. I moved back on the bed, trying to put more space between us and protect Alek at the same time.
The guard saw my movement and sneered. “Put the olin in the bathroom.”
“I will not,” I growled. There was no way I was going to be separated from Alek for any reason.
He stepped forward, pointing the pistol at my head. “Do it, or I’ll kill you both.”
I shook my head. He would kill me once he had Alek out of the way, then my nephew would be alone with these crazy people. They were unpredictable and that made them dangerous.
His gaze raked over me again, lingering on the scar on my face, my arms and my chest. Like the caress of a lover, his gaze slid over my skin, lingering, stroking, touching. His eyes lightened the longer he looked, sending a flare of panic through me. Oh God, no. I knew what that meant. I backed away further, dragging the chain with me, until I was almost sitting on Alek.
“Perhaps there is an easier way to make you obedient,” he mused.
It was said quietly, like he’d spoken more to himself than me. He holstered the pistol in his hand and reached behind him. There was an ornamental golden bladed dagger in his hand when he brought it to the front. A low whimper trickled out of me. I stared at the knife, couldn’t take my gaze off it as he came closer. Fear thudded through me, freezing me to the spot as my hands started to tremble.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No!” Louder this time, all my denial and fear in that one small word.
My gaze was glued to the knife as he twirled it effortlessly around his fingers and walked towards me.
“Now, Princess, I’m only going to ask nicely one more time. Put the olin in the bathroom.”
I looked up at him, saw the sick excitement in his shinning pale gold eyes, then looked down at Alek to find him staring at me with gold eyes a darker shade than I’d ever seen on him. Whatever I chose, I was going to get hurt, but if I put him in there myself, maybe he wouldn’t get hurt just yet. He would have a small reprieve for a while longer, and I didn’t want him to see whatever it was this male had planned for me. Hearing it would be bad enough.
Wishing Frek would suddenly appear to save us was useless. I had no idea how long we’d been on their ship. I had no idea how far we were away from Borakoy. Frek might not have even left yet. He might still be searching for me on Borakoy. No, that was silly. He would know his father had taken me. He wouldn’t waste time searching my home, but my father might.
With my heart thudding in my chest and my hands trembling almost uncontrollably, I wrapped the blanket around Alek tighter, cocooning his small body in the scratchy fabric. He was heavier than I remembered, but it had been a while since I’d held him last.
“Lexie,” he whimpered as I picked him up. His small body was shaking almost as much as my hands. One little arm snaked out and he wrapped it around my neck, clinging to me so tightly it was hard to breathe.
“It’s all right, Alek. Everything is going to be fine. The guard just wants to talk to Aunty Lexie about some things that you’re too young to hear. You know how Mamma and Daddy sometimes have parent talks and you’re not allowed to listen?” He nodded his head, his soft hair brushing against my bare collarbones. “It’s just like that, all right?”
He nodded again and I carried him into the bathroom and set him down on the floor. It was colder in the bathroom, the chill prickling my skin. I stroked the hair out of his face and kissed him on the forehead.
“Whatever happens, Alek, I want you to remember Frek is coming for us.” I looked down into his eyes. “Hold onto that, all right?” He nodded as a tear slipped from his eye and ran a wet trail down his round cheek.
There wasn’t anything I could say to him that was going to make this better. The walls of the ship weren’t that thick. Soon he’d be able to hear that things really weren’t all right, and I had no way of protecting him from that. I’d done everything I could to make sure he didn’t get hurt. The rest was up to Frek.
I stood and turned away before my own tears started to fall. My legs felt like the heaviest of metals as I walked back out of the bathroom, dragging the chain along the floor, and the door slid shut behind me.
“Lock the door, Princess,” the guard said.
There was a small panel beside the door, but I couldn’t read any of it. The writing was in Allorian and I couldn’t read Allorian.
“I can’t read Allorian. I don’t know how to lock it,” I said, using my almost perfect Allorian I had badgered my father to allow me to learn as a teenager so I could talk to Frek in his own language, but those lessons had never included their written language.
A low noise of disgust came from the guard before rough hands shoved me out of the way and I went sprawling across the foot of the bed with a small cry of shock. Scrambling to fix my nightdress and make sure my backside was covered, I moved up the bed away from the guard, only to have him grab my ankle and yank me down the bed.
I clenched my teeth and tried not to scream in fright. Alek. I had to think of Alek. My nightdress rode up, exposing my backside to the chill air of the room. Mortification swept through me. I ignored it and tried to roll over to fight him off, but a hard knee landed on my backside and pressed me down painfully.
The sheet under me was tugged roughly, then the sound of cutting and tearing cut through the silence. Oh, God! No, no, no. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t. Going through this once had been bad enough, but I’d had my hands and I’d been able to fight back. If he tied me and I couldn’t at least fight, if I couldn’t attempt to save myself... it wouldn’t matter if Frek came. I’d be broken. The damage would be irreparable.
Twisting and turning, I shoved my hands underneath me, balling my fists in a desperate attempt to keep them away from him. A small noise was ripped from me when he fisted a hand in my hair, his knee moved and he pulled me back with a fierce tug.
My scalp stung, but I’d felt far more pain in my life than that. If I didn’t fight, if I didn’t try, I would lose all respect for myself. I would never be able to look Frek or my brothers in the eye knowing I’d just given up and let this male abuse and hurt me.
The guard was only a few inches taller than me and built slender like the king. I’d been taught to fight by Arik and my half Borakoy brothers who were all much bigger and stronger than me. After a year and a half of training with them three days a week, I had more muscle than it looked like I did. Under all my softness was the strength my brothers had forced me to build.
I lashed out, not waiting for him to make the first move. My fists were my weapon—small as they were, they could still do damage. I punched at his face, twisting and turning, doing anything I could to not only get away, but stall for time.
“Bitch,” he growled in Allorian when my fist connected with his mouth.
A surge of triumphant joy pulsed through me, but it was short lived as he hit me back, making my ears ring and pain explode through my face. The pain, however, just incensed me further. I fought him, using every skill my brothers had taught me. I fought like a wild desperate animal, snarls and grunts coming from me as I punched and clawed, kicked and bucked. I wrapped my hand around his pistol and yanked it out of its holster, but he was too quick and ripped it from my hand, hitting me so hard I almost blacked out. I was exhausted as I lay trying to get my bearings, but he was on me and he had me pinned to the bed with his hard body in what felt like seconds.
My split lip had reopened and my nose ran with blood, throbbing painfully, as were more than a dozen places on my body where he had hit me or blocked my attacks. One eye felt like it was swelling shut and a sharp pain radiated out from my cheekbone.
He yanked my arms behind my back with brutal hands and wound a strip of cloth around them, tying them so tightly the fabric and manacle cut into my skin. Another rough yank and he’d flipped me over. He was breathing heavily, staring down at me with those bright gold eyes. My nightdress was riding high on my hips, cool air brushing against the tops of my thighs.
The guard’s gaze zeroed in on the now visible markings on my upper thighs, and with a sharp flick, he tossed my nightdress out of the way, exposing me to my stomach. My arms ached underneath me, my shoulders protesting my position and the wretched chain dug into my body.
A breath hissed out of him when he saw the extent of my markings, the gold in his eyes lightening to almost white. He reached out a hand to touch the still raised and sensitive swirls, coils and spirals that indicated my Borakoy heritage. I twisted away, not wanting him to touch me there, not wanting him to touch me at all.
“Do all the females of Borakoy have these?” he asked as he gripped my thigh with rough punishing fingers.
I didn’t want to answer. It was none of his business, but... if I could tie him up in a conversation it would give me time and it would give Frek time.
“Yes,” I replied my lip stinging with the movement.
As the fingers of one hand dug into me holding me still, he trailed the fingers of his other hand over my markings. His touch was far gentler than I’d expected it to be, but I wasn’t fooled for a moment. His gaze raked over my thighs, groin and mound taking in every inch of my markings.
“Did they hurt? To have these put on you? They feel raised, like they are freshly done. I have seen the tattoos of other cultures, and they do not usually mark the genitals due to the sensitivity of the area.”
I stared at him as he continued to trail his fingers over my markings. I was surprised his touch wasn’t affecting me. My markings were still sensitive, but perhaps now that Frek and I were mated, another male’s touch would not arouse me. I didn’t know how these things worked for Allorians and Hrenkie.
“They’re not tattoos,” I replied. “Borakoy females are born with the markings on us. They darken as we age and become raised when we reach sexual maturity.”
His eyes darkened to a deep gold. “So they don’t hurt? They’re a natural part of you?”
Pain was obviously what did it for him. I now understood why he had looked so excited at seeing all my scars. “Yes they are a natural part of me, of all Borakoy females, but they hurt plenty. When we go into Craving, they start to throb—that’s when they become raised. The longer you are in Craving the more they hurt. Eventually they become so sensitive that just touching them is excruciating.”
I now knew that from personal experience. There were stories of females going for months before they could be eased by a male. I had no idea how you could survive something like that. One week, and I had been almost to the point of begging.
A startled gasp was ripped from me when he suddenly lunged for the knife on the bed and slit my nightdress straight up the middle and flicked it open. “These would definitely have hurt,” he said as he trailed the tip of the dagger over the scars on my breasts, his eyes lightening again.
My breath stalled in my lungs as he trailed the blade over each and every scar on my chest and stomach. I didn’t dare move or make a noise. He seemed intent on just looking at me for now, but that could change at any moment. A slight jolt of the ship made him press the tip of the knife against my skin hard enough to bring a hiss of pain to my lips, but he didn’t seem to notice, his gaze focused on my scars.
“I like body modifications. I’ve always been fascinated with them, ever since I saw pictures of the tattoos of the shifters of Radnassil. So many cultures decorate their bodies. The Dragressie royal guards, the Krilln, although theirs are natural like yours, I’ve heard the process is excruciating. Others who pierce and scar to celebrate reaching adulthood. Allorians don’t have anything like it. Our skin won’t accept inks, and we heal wounds with no scaring. We don’t even practice piercing, which is such a shame, because females look beautiful with jewellery adorning their ears and noses. But you, Princess. You do not need jewellery or cosmetics. You are stunning as you are. Your body is like a work of art.”
He said it conversationally, like we were friends just having a nice chat.
I struggled to breathe, my stomach clenching tight with nerves and dread as he moved down my body and straddled my calves. He trailed the tip of the dagger down my stomach, over my hip and the edge of my markings. Bile rose in my throat as a suspicion started to form.
“Even these, which are natural, don’t ruin your beauty. I was going to enjoy killing you, Princess, but I think I will ask my brother if I can keep you once we return and he becomes king. He and Grandfather owe me a reward for doing their dirty work. I think I will leave a little claiming mark on you so everyone will know you are mine.”
Before I could beg, plead or even struggle, he’d swiped the sharp edge of his dagger across the top of my thigh, leaving a long cut. I screamed, unable to contain my pain, momentarily forgetting about Alek in the bathroom. Tears stung my eyes as I jerked helplessly.
“Please,” I begged. I couldn’t do this again. Oh, God. Not again. Another scream ripped from me as the blade bit into my skin.
“You scream so beautifully, Princess. I want to hear it over and over. I want you with me always so I can see your beauty every day.”
There was something in his voice, the same sick excitement I’d seen in his eyes.
A sob broke from me, rough and painful in my chest. I wanted to curl into a ball and hide away from the world like I’d done for a month after my Craving. I wanted to withdraw into myself and live in a fantasy world where it didn’t hurt and I didn’t see my scars every time I looked in the mirror. In my world, I was the female I’d been before my Craving Ceremony, a female Frek would find attractive, and want to spend time with.
It was a world where I didn’t hear my screams as the guard’s knife bit into my skin again and again. But... Frek did find me attractive. Frek thought I was beautiful and strong. The real Frek loved me for who I was now, not the naive princess I had been before. My Frek, my mate saw my scars and loved me because of them. He loved me because I was strong and I was a survivor. I could be that person for Frek.
My Frek, whose voice I could hear, whose roar was so loud in the small room, the walls shuddered. My Frek who was there ripping the guard off me and throwing him across the room. My Frek who had the most wicked knife in his hand I’d ever seen.