Jase looked at me a moment, his brown eyes studious, brow furrowed as if he were trying hard to read me. I gripped his shoulder, the Emerona crest tattooed on my wrist with the waves and sunrise cascading around it, showing stark and clear against my darkly tanned skin. I nodded again. "I really am."
"Good! Then, let's go get a drink to celebrate before you take off. And maybe get you a shave and a haircut. And a shower. Everything about you says you've been out to sea for days. Now, that might be attractive to a mermaid-type princess-like Ceritha, I don't know, but I think her father would appreciate the good hygiene…”
I let Jase continue speaking as he led me toward the nearest brewery. The words I spoke to him were true. I was honored the King of my planet was relying on me for this alliance, and that he had found a potential solution to what my region was so immensely struggling with at this time. But, his words about the princess rang in my head. He had called her fun, spunky, passionate, and spirited, but before that, he and Jase had made it clear that this woman had dedicated her life to the ocean and the rights of ocean animals, never marrying, never even dating. She had been clear that there was no Curan who deserved her time or her heart: how in the world was I supposed to change her mind?
Chapter Two
Ceritha
I pet the dolgons shiny, rubber-like skin as she purred. She was one of my favorites, a queen among her tribe. She whispered her feelings to me, pushing them through our telepathic connection, and I could feel her concern for her pod and for the rest of the animals in the oceans. Her name was Tulasa. I rubbed her porpoise-like bottlenose which led back to the horned-crown of a dragon and the feathery fur of sea lion's mane. I rubbed under her chin, and she gurgled a purr and chitter-chattered happiness toward me, her massive fins fluttering in the water, so they made a wake that rocked my little 12-foot dinghy. I brushed my hand along her forehead again, then reached back behind the left side of her crown and inserted the small needle, Willing her my intention to do so, but she still jolted a little with the spike of pain.
“Shh… Tulasa… it’s okay…” Her purring stopped, and her fins were rigid in the water, purple eyes, their pupils huge, were wide and bulbous as she watched me warily. I pulled out the needle and capped it quickly. “Thank you…”
She chittered out a string of sound that seemed more like a reprimand, then pushed back off the boat with a heave that left me rocking, her fins like wings in the water, colored oranges, yellows, and reds, beautiful and wispy at the ends of the hard rubber paddles. Her flowing tail flicked as she dove deeper into the water and disappeared, but not before she pushed back the feelings toward me that she understood why I needed her blood, and she would send others to me later that day.
I labeled her blood sample and put it in the cooler, next to the five others I had taken that day, all from different species. I was just pulling up my sail when a spaceship broke through the atmosphere and descended toward the spaceport near the Capital City.
I groaned and anger rushed to my face as I saw the Farian crest on its side, with the blazing sunrise over ocean waves of the Bristola Oceans set beside it.
There came my escort and husband-to-be. How could they make this decision for me? I had no intention of being some Commander’s Virgin Queen…
Commander Axis of the Bristola Oceans and the Seawards Special Operations Unit of the Emerona Empire. I knew all about him. I had read his files. I had had the full report form his emissaries, pitching him like a fine dinner I was supposed to be charmed to eat, or a present I was supposed to be honored to receive. There had been no request for my hand; there had been no permission asked of me. It had been a decision made by those above my head. Granted, it would be a worthy alliance for both our planets. Our water planet was much smaller, once a colony of Farian's that had gained independence many centuries ago but could do with a new alliance. We relied on Farian for many of our imports and military support, if we were ever to be attacked. We were both Curan. Serpul even had a small island of Bordash farmers to the south, but they made no trouble for us. We had developed our telepathy skills to be more in touch with our ocean planet animals, though, whereas the Curans on Farian had never made many advances in speaking to the higher sentient animals. And we also were more advanced in our nautical sciences. It was why my scientists and I had some answers to how to cure this blue flu, and they did not. They needed us, now…
But, why couldn’t we come up with some other type of alliance? Why did it have to include enslaving me through marriage to a man that, yes, I had heard about in his rumors of combat excellence, but that I had never before met?
I had long ago vowed to serve the seas, to devote myself to the animals I loved… I had never spared much time for men. Most of them were too stupid and too boring to be worth my time, anyway. They were either focused on their next conquest in battle or their next mundane academic goal. I preferred to live in a state of excitement; doing good for the world around me while chasing a bit of fun.
There was no way this Farian Curan could match me.
So… I was destined to go to his
