Hauk seemed to wrestle with himself. “And she was delighted?”
“She was,” Gaelen snarled belligerently.
“Which is what has put him in such a glorious mood this morning,” Kadin said dryly.
Princess Valee planted her plate noisily on the table top at that moment, distracting all three, who had been so deeply into their discussion they had not noticed that she had entered the dining hall—rare for her since she generally slept till nearly noon.
“Good morning, Lord Hauk, Prince Kadin,” she said cheerfully.
Gaelen slammed his utensil down on the table, shoved his chair back so abruptly it screamed its way across the floor before flipping over and shot to his feet.
For a moment Hauk thought he might have to intervene between the siblings for Galen looked as if he was struggling with the urge to throttle Valee—who was stupid enough to smirk at him when he was in a mood most foul and unlike his generally impassive self.
Instead, thankfully, he merely scooped his plate up and stalked off.
Kadin and Hauk exchanged a long look.
Kadin shrugged.
Hauk looked down at the food he had not even touched yet, wondering if Valee would take it as an insult if he excused himself and finally decided to eat what he could while he had the chance. In any case, he was curious to know what had transpired between the two and knew there was probably a very good chance Valee would spill it fairly quickly.
“I suppose he is still angry that I interrupted him last eve,” she said casually.
Kadin and Hauk both looked at her in dawning suspicion.
Realizing she was waiting for a prompt, Kadin obliged. “You interrupted?”
She snickered. “I had no idea. Well, I headed to my quarters to go to bed and there they were, fucking like two jackadoos—His Majesty staring at them like he thought they might be fighting but was not sure. Gaelen’s ass in the air ….”
Hauk stared at her in disbelief for a long moment and then abruptly got to his feet. “Excuse me, I think I may be late … for something.”
“Hold up!” Kadin said, getting to his feet, as well. “I will walk with you. I want to see how the repairs are coming.”
“No wonder he looked like he wanted to choke her to death,” Kadin muttered as they got to the corridor.
Hauk grunted non-commitally. “It is his own fault for having bungled the entire courtship.”
Kadin was taken aback. “But …this is the way it has always been done. If she accepted him and his gift, I am certain that he thought it would be acceptable.”
“In the first place,” Hauk growled, “it may be the Hirachi custom, butsheis not Hirachi and you cannot expect it to be the same. And, in point of fact, it isnotthe same.”
“It is not?” Kadin echoed, clearly dismayed. “Well, I am glad he beat me to the … uh … punch.” Because he had thought it might be best to allow her time to get past what he had told her that he had done and, possibly, the sense that he had taken unfair advantage by using the mating kiss to subdue her—which the Satren typically did because their females were very reluctant to be bred at all and the Hirachi never did because they could not. But would not have done away, he was convinced, because it offended their sense of fair play. The females decided who they wanted to sire their offspring—period. “How is it that you would have this knowledge? And how is it that their mating practices differ?”
“The differences would be subtle and seem insignificant to you,” Hauk said dismissively, having no real desire to give up information that might give him an advantage.
Not that he really felt he needed one.
He was no prince as Kadin and Gaelen were, but he was a lord of some distinction on his own world.
And, he knew that Earth women were far more susceptible to the mating enzymes Satren males produced than their own women—who still had to fight hard to overcome it. Little short of absolute hatred prevented them from succumbing to any male who had the chance to use it.
“I have a reasonably good understanding of things,” Kadin said tightly.
Hauk shrugged. “They will not accept any gift if it is too intimate or too expensive—only love tokens and pretty words. And at that, you cannot tell if they are willing to accept. You must dance attendance upon them until they decide to give you the boot or accept you.”
Kadin was outraged. “Iam a prince, gods damn it!”
“Which may grant you points,” Hauk said cheerfully. “But as it was you who told the Sheloni that she was our love slave, I think that that might be a stalemate at best.”
That was even more outrageous. “You know that I did it to protect her! I could think of nothing else that would not convince them that she would be more useful to torture to keep us in line. And I did not hear you or Gaelen objecting or suggesting anything else.”
“I know this and you know this and I am not convinced that will weigh with her.”
Kadin felt like choking him, but he was afraid he might be right.
Not that he planned to bow out without a damned good try, but he felt like the odds were stacked against him.
He was not pleased when Hauk laughed.
“This is humorous to you?”
“What? Oh that! Well, actually, yes, but I was laughing at the image of Gaelen’s ass in the air when Princess Bitch decided to barge in. You think it was purely bad luck?”
Kadin grinned despite his own problems. “Hell no. I know Gaelen. He is not a fool. He would have bribed the guards … just in case.”
“That is what I was thinking.” He was silent for a few moments. “I do hope I can avoid getting on her wrong side.”
Kadin laughed outright. “I would
