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THE NEXT FEW DAYS WERE uneventful—thank the Ancients. Despite the mayhap, none of the off-worlders had left. He was thankful for that too. He’d regained his guests’ trust. Most of them had remarked about the added security. He’d brought in some of the forces that had been assigned to the city and brought back retirees who were still in their prime. He’d kept the full force at the borders though.
If another Kgosi was behind these attempts, he would need them there, protecting the Kingdom. He didn’t think any of the other Kgosis would invade, but he also hadn’t thought any one of them would’ve made an attempt on his life, or an innocent either.
He was even doing a good job at avoiding Lanta. He’d convinced himself avoiding her was for the best. It hurt to physically be in the same room and not acknowledge her but, thankfully, that hadn’t happened too often. Princess Una had her Oncun guard with her most of the time.
He missed Lanta. Viewing security footage of her, as she made her way to and from the meditation chamber, had been his only solace. A treat he afforded himself for abiding by her wish for him to leave her alone.
On the third day after the blaster incident, Melis awoke to the palace in an upheaval once again.
There had been a poisoning. Someone had served the It’eol dignitary, Sira, a crex fruit for breakfast.
The It’eol were one of three species he’d invited who required a special diet that had to be prepared by the kitchen. They couldn’t eat any of the pre-made dishes from the food processor. The kitchen staff had trained to make the most popular foods from all of his guests’ homeworlds in preparation. This mistake should never have happened.
But Melis knew this hadn’t been a simple mistake.
Crex were large, round fruit with bumps on its hard, outer shell. Once cracked opened, it was enjoyed by scooping out the fleshy inside. A delicacy for many, but deadly for the allergy-prone It’eol. Someone had taken the time to scrape out the insides, grind it into a pulp and dye it from its original color of pink to purple. They’d then placed it on Sira’s breakfast tray to be used as a spread.
After Sira had eaten her breakfast, her body had erupted in hives and her throat swelled, effectively cutting off her air supply. She was rushed to the medics, where she was given lifesaving treatment. Although she would live, she remained in the medical ward under observation. Before it had been determined she’d been poisoned, Melis had stayed with her most of the morning, hearing her concerns and trying to convince her to stay.
It had taken a thorough search of her suite to find what had caused her reaction. They’d finally found it on her breakfast plate.
There’d been no denying it. The poisoning had been deliberate. If it had been an innocent mistake, the fruit would’ve been left intact, not dyed, with its smell and taste masked. He had no choice but to inform Sira of the truth. Because of him and his vision for Ipakethe, she was a target for those who didn’t want the change he hoped to bring.
Melis stopped all outgoing food from the kitchen and put the staff on lockdown. He also took the food processors offline. Priority number one was to find who’d tried to kill one of his guests, and if there were any other intended victims.
There’d been no more food until after each and every one of the kitchen staff had been vetted. While the security staff took most of the day to do that, Melis and some of the other security spent the day reviewing footage of everyone who’d worked in the kitchen since the guests arrived and waitstaff who’d been responsible for preparing and delivering the meals to the guests.
That’s how he’d finally found her. She’d not only delivered the breakfast tray to Sira’s room, but she’d also been in the ballroom the night the merchant had been attacked and was seen arguing with him. They’d missed it originally on the security footage, but on a closer look they’d seen her hand him something. His initial reaction had been to jerk away. They’d zoomed in and saw the silver handle of the blaster. Melis understood why the merchant had hesitated to take it. But take it he had. Then, later in the evening, they’d both moved away from the security camera, to where Melis knew they were enacting the second part of their plan.
As he’d watched the footage a sinking feeling rooted itself in his gut. The merchant was supposed to have killed Melis that night, and they could only speculate as to why he hadn’t. But the knife attack had been because he’d refused to go through with it. Melis didn’t have an opportunity to question the merchant again. When the guards went to arrest him, they’d found him dead in his house. Whether the death had been self-inflicted or not was still to be determined.
The would-be killer? They caught her trying to sneak out of the palace, with a bone blade on her person. Currently she was in a holding cell. So far, she’d refused to answer any of their questions. Even though she wouldn’t talk, they had gleaned some information from her by her appearance alone. She was petite. Like the assassin who’d come for him before.
Although all Ngonyamas looked alike, there were slight variations between the five major kingdoms. One kingdom might have smaller statured people, while another might have larger. The differences depended mostly on their diet and resources. One look at a Ngonyama and it could be guessed which kingdom they came from. But most off-worlders thought all Ngonyamas looked alike.
There were two kingdoms whose people resembled both the waitress and his would-be assassin. Kgosis Imir’s and Yolto’s Kingdoms. They’d been very vocal about their distrust of off-worlders and his plan to bond with one. But they’d also both been supportive of Melis in every other endeavor. They’d once been close to Melis’s father and, after he’d died, they’d extended their friendship to Melis. Until recently.
He’d questioned them once, and if he questioned them again, he was sure they would deny it. He had to be smarter than them and stay one step ahead of anything they had planned. They’d gone too far. One of them had sent someone, not once, but twice to do harm within his kingdom.
“They’ll just deny it again,” Themba said through clenched teeth.
They were in the conference room. Melis was surrounded by his head of security, Themba, Mxolisi, and Melis’s top advisors; Imgin, who’d been one of his father’s long-time advisors, and Hamend, an advisor Melis had brought to court when he’d assumed his title. It had been a long day and Melis was glad for it to finally end. Before he could seek refuge in his bed, he had one last thing to do.
Melis pushed the button that gave him a direct line to Yolto’s office. He didn’t bother with the projector. He didn’t want Yolto to see who was in the meeting room with him.
The line was silent as Melis waited for someone from the other Kgosi’s staff to answer the holo-call. After a few minutes someone accepted. “Hello?”
“Kgosi Melisizwe for Kgosi Yolto.”
“He’s indisposed. I can take a message,” the person said curtly.
Themba growled low. “Put him on the call. Now!”
Melis put up a hand. He was as upset as Themba, but now wasn’t the time for an emotional response. No, Melis’s approach had to be methodical. “Tell your Kgosi the call is important. I’ll hold.”
Melis expected to be on hold for most of the night. The older Kgosi would want to make him wait, to show his power, and Melis wouldn’t have a choice but to let the other Kgosi hold him hostage on the line. Melis needed answers, and he needed them now.
To his surprise, Yolto answered the line a few minutes later. “What?”
“The disrespect is inconceivable,” Themba snarled.
Melis flicked a gaze to his brother but didn’t reprimand him. He was more than right.
“Who is that? The heir who loves the human?” Yolto spat out. “Why have you called me, heir?”
“It’s Melis. My heir is with me. I’m sure that you didn’t mean to answer the call with such disrespect, knowing another Kgosi was on the holo-call. Correct? But alas, I didn’t call to talk about your incompetent staff, who didn’t inform you of who was on the line. I called to discuss another matter. Someone has breached my defenses twice now. The first was the failed attempt on my life and the other was to poison one of my guests. Do you know anything about that?”
“First, I’m called disrespectful and, second, my staff is called incompetent. All in the same breath you use to accuse me of knowing who breached your security system?”
“You’ve summed it up nicely. Oh, and I found a Nisroc amongst my guests. I don’t know if someone sent her here to kill me and she got sidetracked with stealing my jewelry, or if she was sent for another reason and, again, got sidetracked by stealing from me.”
“We might not always get along or agree with one another, but one thing Kgosis don’t do is assassinate one another. It is unheard of. And a Nisroc amongst your guests?” Yolto laughed heartily. “That is your doing. You’re the one who invited the off-worlders into your palace. You best be glad that stealing is all she wanted, or the heir and his human pet would be ruling your kingdom by now.”
Themba stood, fuming. Melis waved him to sit down. “This can’t go on, Yolto. How do we get this resolved?”
“I’m not admitting that I know anything about what’s going on within the borders of your kingdom, but it seems to me all your problems started when you came up with this idiotic plan to bond with an off-worlder. Could you not see that all your problems could then be solved by giving up this idea and taking a Ngonyama mate instead, hm?”
“What do you propose?”
“We have ways to work out our problems. There’s nothing that can’t be solved with a face-to-face meeting.”
Both Themba and Mxolisi shook their heads vehemently, but Melis hesitated.
Yolto was right. There’d never been any instance where one Kgosi assassinated another. At least there was no record of it in the historical files. Maybe meeting with them face-to-face was what was needed?
He’d never formally sat with them and explained his vision. He’d done so on a holo-call. But during a face-to-face, he could show them all the plans he’d had made up. He could be more convincing. He was sure once his plan came to fruition and the other Kgosis saw the benefits of exporting their goods and services off-world, they would be more open to his vision, and soon come to see that opening Ipakethe’s spaceports was a boon for them all.
They, of course, would try to dissuade him and he would let them try. But, in the end, hopefully they would all be able to come to an agreement, or at least a compromise.
“I would appreciate a face-to-face,” Melis finally said.
“We’ll meet in a week. I’ll make the arrangements with the other Kgosis and contact your office with the details.”
Themba shook his head. He didn’t think this was a good idea. But in order to stop whatever was going on and keep his guests safe, meeting the other Kgosis was the first step in righting the wrong and rebuilding their relationship.
“My incompetent staff will be in touch.” Yolto disconnected the line.
“Are you sure you want them here? We’re essentially inviting whoever is behind this into our house,” Themba said.
“Having the Kgosis here will allow me to officially lay out my vision.”
“You’ve already tried to share your plans with them. They wouldn’t listen.”
“Maybe I didn’t try hard enough.” Melis sat back in his chair and scrubbed his hand down his face. “If I had insisted maybe I could’ve avoided this mess. They think my plan will strip power from them. It doesn’t. It only strengthens us and our kingdoms. We’ll finally be unified, working together for a greater good.”
“And if your would-be-assassin still isn’t happy, even after hearing you out? Then what?” Themba said.
“Well, wouldn’t having the Kgosis in one place be the perfect time to present the evidence we have and vote on a forced resolution?”
“It’s still risky,” Mxolisi added
“We’re meeting in a week. Hopefully that means the attempts on my life and our guests will stop. It also means I should pick my mate before then.”
“I’m behind you,” Mxolisi said.
Melis just hoped he was right.
* * *
MELIS LAY IN HIS BED, his eyes on the ceiling. A million things ran through his mind at once. He mostly thought about his plan and how it was in tatters. It was times like these that he wished his father were still alive.
He and his father used to talk nightly about what it meant to be a Kgosi, and the responsibilities that went along with the title. When he was younger, he used to wish his father was having the talks with Themba or Mxolisi instead, and Melis could be left alone to play, without a care in the world. But now he longed for his father’s advice. He would give anything to have his father around to provide guidance.
Melis had no doubt his father would agree with his plan to unite the kingdoms. His father would’ve helped him bring his ideas to fruition. He would’ve travelled to the other kingdoms, talked with his old friends and done what Melis couldn’t do; convince them to give Melis a chance.
Melis blew out a heavy breath. Whenever he began feeling as he did now and doubted his choices and decisions, he called Themba. Themba didn’t have the same wisdom and insight their father had, but he was a trusted confidant. One of the few Melis had, and, no matter what, he knew Themba would be honest with him.
But now, Themba wasn’t available as he once had been. He’d found his true lifemate and his nights were spent with her. He knew if he needed the counsel Themba would always be there for him, but Melis respected their union and wouldn’t impose on time meant to be spent between lovers.
When was the last time he’d taken a lover? It had been well before Themba had gone into The Hunt. Once Melis had finalized his plan to take an off-world mate, he’d broken off all his relationships. None of them had been serious. They’d been sexual encounters to help him relieve stress, enjoy some fun and to break up the monotony of lonely nights. If he wished, he could call one to visit him now, no questions asked. But he only had one person on his mind.
Lanta was all wrong for what he was trying to achieve. She didn’t fit into his plan at all. She couldn’t bring him alliances, couldn’t help him open their borders to tourists, couldn’t find buyers to export their goods and services to, couldn’t help him gain a seat on the governing body of the AC-141 XM3 sector, and couldn’t help Ipakethe be recognized as a Class 5-ii planet.
But Sira on the other hand...
She was everything he needed in a mate. It had taken a lot of begging and convincing on his part, but she’d respected his honesty and refused to let someone chase her away. He needed a strong mate by his side, as she’d proven herself to be.
Even as he entertained the thought of picking Sira, it was thoughts of Lanta that kept him awake.
He pressed his comlink.
“Yes, Kgosi?” the operator answered.
Please connect me to Atlanta Georgia Moore, was on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped short of making his request. What if she wasn’t alone? If her client was near and she received a call from him, she would surely be questioned and could lose her job. He didn’t want that.
But he wanted her.
“Never mind.” He broke the connection and closed his eyes and her image popped into his head. And with it all the crazy thoughts that swarmed in his brain cleared away.
Melis instantly calmed. His body relaxed.
He pictured her face. Lights danced off the jewels and sparkled. He wanted to know all there was to know about her. He wanted listen to her talk. He wanted to breathe her air, be in her space. He wanted to run his fingers over her jewels and trace each decorative path.
In his head he did just that, touched her. His hands followed the jewels on her face, tracing to where they met her hairline. He rounded her small ears and made his way to her scalp. From there he ran his hands through her hair. He imagined what it would feel like. Would it be soft, or coarse like his? He clutched his sheets, imagining the feel of her in his grasp.
Before he could stop himself, his eyes were open again and he was linking his comlink to hers.
Melisizwe: You were right.
...
The three dots on his comlink meant she was typing. When they disappeared and her message didn’t arrive, he contacted her again.
Melisizwe: Are you typing something? Your message isn’t coming through.
No response.
Melisizwe: Maybe you were typing, “Right about what, Melis?”
No response.
Melisizwe: Then I would respond, “Right about the female waitstaff that you told Enne about. She didn’t belong here. We caught her attempting to flee.”
Atlanta: Is Princess Una in danger?
Ah, finally. A response.
Melisizwe: No. We’re holding her for questioning. But, so far, she won’t tell us any information. We’re still trying to determine if someone sent her into the palace to do harm or if her actions are her own.
Atlanta: I don’t understand.
Melisizwe: Not everyone is happy I’m searching for an off-worlder as a mate.
Atlanta: Because no Kgosi has ever taken an off-worlder as a mate? The other Kgosis will harm you because of this?
Melisizwe: That is becoming apparent.
Atlanta: Are the guests also in harm’s way?
Melisizwe: We have increased security. How did you know?
Atlanta: Know what?
Melisizwe: That the waitress wasn’t from my kingdom? Most off-worlders think we all look alike.
Atlanta: You do. Mostly. But I read there are slight differences between the kingdoms. She was shorter than everyone else I’ve seen in the palace. And her gait was different.
Melisizwe: We only knew what to look for on the security footage because Enne remembered his conversation with you. You’re good at it.
Atlanta: At what?
Melisizwe: Observations. First the Nisroc, then the waitress. You have a good eye.
Atlanta: Thank you.
Melisizwe: Is that how you rose to the station of Personal Guard Rank Four?
Atlanta: Among other reasons.
Melisizwe: ?
Atlanta: I had to prove my fighting skills.
Melisizwe: You’re smart and you can fight? I’m smitten.
...
Nothing.
Melisizwe: Your message didn’t come through.
Atlanta: Why did you contact me?
Melisizwe: To thank you.
Atlanta: You’re welcome. Goodnight.
Melisizwe: Goodnight.
Melis frowned. Had he done something to offend her? He read the messages back. Nothing seemed amiss. He pulled up a file he’d downloaded after Themba had mated with Payton.
Humans: Getting to know the protected species and their homeworld.
He’d breezed over most of it, only focusing on areas of importance, but clearly he’d missed vital information. Melis settled in for a long night and re-read the file. He wanted to have many conversations with Lanta, and obviously he’d been going about it all wrong.