Odelm’s tentacles shifted from the sudden outburst. His urge to pull Selena behind him and protect her burned within him. He gripped the edge of his waist petal, allowing the bite of the blade to keep him in the present and prevent him from reaching out to her.
The chamber quieted.
He could feel the weight of thousands of gazes on him. Normally, it wouldn’t bother him, for he always got lost playing his music and never focused on the crowd he was performing for, but this was different—there was no instrument for him to hide behind. Even though he wasn’t the center of attention—not this time—Selena was, and he could feel his nervousness spike.
Whatever got into Selena and made her vocal about her opinions made him wary. Was she taking her anger toward them out on the representatives? He was inexperienced with this chamber, and he didn’t have the courage or carelessness to speak out aggressively toward the Assembly.
“Thank you, Chamber Master,” Selena said loudly, eliminating the princesses’ chances to speak first and control the floor. She stepped toward the Circuli desk. “Destima is mine.” She stopped a short distance from the Aldawi table, looking up at the princesses’ station behind them. “What are your names?”
“Ayoza, eighth Ulax princess of Circul.”
“Rixta, ninth Wudox princess of Circul.”
“Okay, Princess Ayoza and Princess Rixta, you both just earned the privilege of being the first to be placed on my banned list. I don’t want either of you in Destima space.” Selena turned toward her party and glared at Zirene. “See to it. I don’t want power-hungry females trying to undermine me and cause problems on the moon I earned.”
“You can’t do that! The stability of the colonization would be in jeopardy. It is unnatural for males to lead. They don’t have the capabilities to govern, being the inferior gender!” Rixta exclaimed.
Selena turned toward the hostile female, her cape fluttering behind her.
“The Queens should have thought about that before they exiled their sons. From what I saw, they were completely capable of managing their ship full of a thousand crew members, so why can’t they do the same on land? Or is it because they want to be together, not separated by the wishes of the nestqueens they would be forced to have? That is exactly what you both want to do, and I won’t allow it.”
“What are you saying? That you would be a better nestqueen than us? You are an abomination. You are as unnatural as the nestmates you claimed and will never be equal to true Circuli nestqueens,” Ayoza mocked.
Selena jerked her head up. “You are right. I would never be like the both of you or any Circuli nestqueens. I don’t want to be. Not after what I was told about how the nestmates can be treated.” Glancing over her shoulder, she eyed the Circuli princes. “Prince V’dim, Prince Z’fir, come over here, if you would, please.”
Odelm watched in confusion as the princes jerked forward from their resting position and walked over to stand next to Selena.
What was she up to?
“Thank you,” she said, studying both males. “I am giving you two options. If you don’t want to do either, I will not take offense if you don’t take my offer, and I am sorry for wasting your time.”
Prince V’dim nodded as Prince Z’fir said, “We understand.”
“You once told me you wanted to either find new nestqueens to create a new royal line for your colony or change how you govern your species by elevating someone else as the leader. What if I can do both for you?” she asked softly. “Would you rather bind yourselves to these princesses and be separated from each other? Or bind yourselves to me, join my clan, and have me as your nestqueen? It’s undetermined if I can provide you both heirs—or daughters—but we would have years to try. If not, we can figure something out when the time comes. That would allow both of you the freedom to continue to lead your crew without worrying about ever being separated. Through me, you would be protected as members of my clan, settling on my land through a political bonding as many species in the CEG do.”
V’dim gripped Z’fir’s arm, gripping him tightly.
“Really? You would honor us?” Z’fir gasped.
“Why would I lie?” Selena’s expression softened. “You deserve to be together, and I am the answer to your problems… as it seems I am for many others.”
“Selena,” V’dim breathed. “We would be honored to join your clan and take you as our nestqueen.”
“You can’t do that!” Rixta shrieked.
“Chamber Master, do something! You can’t allow her to corrupt any more citizens of CEG. She has already turned three males to her side, one of them the second prince of the Aldawi Empire. She can’t be allowed to continue!” Ayoza demanded.
The Chamber Master stood up and chuckled, his lavender glass-like wings flaring open, and crossed his arms. A smile crossed his face as his magenta glow flared.
“The Assembly has no right to interfere with this… complaint. No laws are being broken. You wasted everyone’s time with this pettiness.”
“But—”
“No. Selena has argued and defended her stance. If both princes want to bind themselves to her, they are within their rights to do so. Neither of you is going to ruin that.”
In an instant, Selena grabbed both princes by their arms and pulled them close. She gripped V’dim’s face and pulled him down to meet hers. Their lips met. His tentacles came alive and wrapped themselves around her, holding her close. V’dim shuddered as his coloring kept shifting from his normal dark blue to green excitement and light blue peace.
The room watched in silence, awed by the display.
Odelm yearned to hold her, knowing deep down, she was angry at them and stressed from the whole situation. He glanced over at Z’fir, whose facial expression was laced with worry… and jealousy?
She dropped her hands and pulled away as she looked deeply into V’dim’s eyes. He
