Brianna (26 page)

“That’s what he’s been doing with half the women on the five known planets?”

“Oh, you!” Hair streaming down about her body, she pushed herself up.

Ban chose that moment to open the door and walk in— without knocking. “We’ll be docking in a few minutes,” he said with a devilish grin on his face.

Brianna whirled to face the door and froze when she saw Ban standing there.

Ban took a long minute to admire Brianna’s nude body—the full breasts with their darkening nipples, the fair skin that blushed a delicious pink, and the long legs with the fiery curls at the apex of her thighs, all surrounded by her streaming auburn locks.

Brianna jerked her gaze from Ban. She grabbed a piece of pottery sitting on the table next to the bunk.

Ban was quick enough to get out of the way of the jar that came flying through the air at him.

Char’s laughter followed him back up the companionway.

Once they were back in the palace, Char hustled Brianna to their suite and deposited her in a steaming tub. Over her weak protests, he reinstated Beti as her personal guard. Then, after changing into fresh clothing, he went in search of Findal.

The Medirian monarch had quickly secreted Brianna’s abductors in a small windowless room on one of the castle’s underground floors. Char arrived shortly after the Patriarch finished questioning the men.

“Well?”

Both the Patriarch and Matriarch raised their eyebrows at Char’s tone, but Findal waved it off. He’d have been just as angry if his wife or one of his children had been abducted.

“Does the name Zator don al’ Odam mean anything to you?”

A satisfied smile appeared on Char’s face. “Bakom’s senior assistant.”

Kahn and another Aradab appeared and led the two fugitives away. The Matriarch followed immediately after.

“Bakom’s name was never mentioned, Dragon of the Alalakans,” the Patriarch said as he held up a restraining hand.

“You have no proof he was involved. Any accusations leveled against him will be disproved.”

Findal nodded. “He’s right. Bakom will only deny knowledge of Odam’s actions.”

Char’s expression did not change. “This is only one of many incidents. Bakom is beginning to make mistakes, and it’s only a matter of time until he makes one mistake too many.”

The Patriarch clasped Char’s forearm. “Don’t make Bakom’s mistake and become overconfident.”

“There won’t be any mistakes when the time comes, Wise One. My family has been preparing Bakom’s downfall for years.”

“Not mistakes,” the old man gently stated, “but miscalculations, perhaps. Brianna’s abduction could not have been part of your plan.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Char acknowledged the Patriarch’s gentle reprimand. “I was at fault. I knew that Bakom wanted her and had made arrangements for some type of abduction, but I made the mistake of thinking he’d use only Academy or Drakian allies. The possibility of Medirians using an underwater abduction never entered my mind.”

Findal nodded. “We have our malcontents and criminals as do all of the planets. A submarine waited two miles offshore.

Brianna would have been taken to it, and smuggled onto one of our smaller trading vessels and transported to Drakan. Her abductors knew nothing beyond that. We broadcast a scrambled transmission of the kidnappers’ interrogation to Drakan’s central police. They assured us that Zator don al’ Odam will be taken into custody immediately.”

“Does my father know?”

“Yes.”

“Good, he’ll coordinate things there,” Char said in a satisfied tone of voice. Then he continued, his voice becoming flatter and harder, “What will happen to the two men who tried to kidnap my wife?”

The Patriarch regarded Char through narrowed eyes. “Put them from your mind, Alalakan. Their punishment is in our hands. Be content to know they will reside with the Aradab for the rest of their lives.”

“We’re finished here,” Findal interrupted. “How’s Brianna?

She hasn’t suffered any ill effects?”

“I left her soaking in a tub demanding that Beti ‘get the hell out of my face’ I think were the exact words,” Char stated with a wry smile.

Findal shook his head as he led the two men out of the chamber and up the hallway. “More Earth idioms,” he sighed.

“My daughters repeat things Brianna says to our linguists, and they become more and more puzzled. Do you know that there are times when the word
bad
means
good
?”

Char shrugged. “One begins to get used to them.”

Once they reached the castle’s main floor, the Patriarch excused himself. He’d been scheduled to return to his underwater city that afternoon, but his departure had been delayed by Brianna’s abduction. At this moment, one of the royal launches awaited him at the dock. It would transport him about thirty miles offshore where he would take to the water and swim the rest of the way.

Findal and Char made their way towards the king’s office.

“When will you leave for Drakan?”

“Father informed me that Bakom made an official protest to the Ruling Council and demanded the return of his ‘specimen’.

Now is the perfect time for you to inform your subjects that the dols and orcs have been found. We can’t keep Brianna’s adoption into your family secret, but everyone will be far more interested in the dols and orcs. With a bit of luck, her adoption won’t become common knowledge on Drakan.”

Findal nodded. “We did not broadcast the adoption for that reason. Only those who follow the royal family closely will know about it. And even they will lose interest when we announce that we’ve found the dols and orcs.”

“With a bit of luck, Bakom won’t find out Brianna is now a member of your family,” Char said. “The protest he’s made to our Ruling Council will prove more than embarrassing.

Identifying a member of the Hardan royal family as a ‘specimen’

will be as politically unpopular on Drakan as it will here.”

Findal opened the door to his office and waved Char in. He dismissed the servants telling them to admit no one except his wife and to fetch his nephew, Bandalardrac.

If Char was surprised at Findal’s orders, he masked it very well. Once the servants were gone, he continued, “I know my father and Rodane filled you in on our plans, so I won’t go over them again.”

Sitting down behind his desk and motioning Char to a comfortable chair, Findal nodded. “I’m sorry Carilin and I can’t attend Sheala’s Solstice celebration, but it’s best that we remain here. Meri will be our official representative, and both Jami and Vani have manipulated invitations from Brianna.”

Char smiled. Brianna had already told him she’d invited her “sisters” to visit. Both girls knew his sister Sheala well since she and Jami were the same age. And Brianna would feel more comfortable having some people she knew around her.

“Brianna certainly puts people around her at ease. You’d think my girls had known her all their lives instead of only a few days. Even Carilin’s mother is enchanted,” Findal said rearranging the papers on his desk.

Char leveled a stare at Findal. “What about the assassins?”

Findal’s eyebrows rose. “What about them?”

“I thought every member of the royal family had an assassin as a guard. Brianna should never have been taken.”

A brooding look appeared on Findal’s face. “Alalakan don al’

Chardadon, even the close family ties you share with us will gain you no knowledge of the Brotherhood. Believe me when I say you were not the only one to miscalculate. It will not happen again.”

Char stared at his father’s old friend. Finally he nodded, curtly. The Brotherhood was a subject off-limits.

Char changed the subject. Doing some quick calculating he asked, “Did you have a specific departure date in mind for Jami and Vani?”

Findal looked up. “No. What do you have in mind?”

Char smiled. “Dear friend of my father, I would like to borrow the royal shuttle.”

Findal’s swift mind had no trouble understanding Char’s scheme. Slowly at first, but then with pure joy, the king began to laugh. When he finally regained control, he looked into Char’s grinning face and said, “Alalakan don al’ Chardadon, remind me never to try and outfox you in any business dealings. The Alalakan fortunes are sure to increase under you wardship.”

*

Rodak don al’ Bakom was awakened by the incessant buzzing of his telecommunicator. Snarling, he slapped the receiving button. “What is it!”

“It’s Eliana, Doctor. Odam has been arrested.”

Bakom became instantly alert. “What? Why?”

“He was implicated in the attempted kidnapping of one of the Hardan royal family, one of the king’s daughters.”

“That stupid son of a Varcian whore. How did that happen?

My instructions were perfectly clear!”

“I don’t know, Doctor. I’d gone ahead to his room while he met with his contacts.”

“Fool! Odam thinks more with his tail than his head. I should not have sent him alone.”

“I’m sorry, Doctor.”

Bakom snorted. “Where is he now?”

“Police central headquarters. The charges are very solid.

There is talk of extraditing him to Mediria.”

Bakom frowned, thinking rapidly. “This isn’t good. Have there been any inquiries directed to the Academy?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, at least he knows how to keep his mouth shut,”

Bakom muttered to himself.

“What was that, Doctor?”

“Nothing.” Continuing, Bakom instructed, “Any personal inquiries to me, send to my Academy office. As far as you know, I left on a personal retreat to my family shrine yesterday and I plan to be gone at least two months. I want no hints that I am in any way involved with Odam’s illegal activities. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, Doctor. The police already questioned me since I was with Odam the night he made arrangements for the kidnapping.”

Sweat began to trickle down Bakom’s back. If both of his personal assistants were implicated, he could expect the police to fetch him from his family shrine. “You are not suspected?”

“No. Neither of the men Odam met with saw me. The police believe I was there for sexual adventure because the inn was not what someone of ‘my obvious class’, as the arresting officers said, would frequent for any other reason. I agreed with his assessment of the situation.”

“Very good, my dear.” Bakom sagged with relief. There was no way he could be connected with Odam now. “We will simply have to cut our losses. Odam understood the risks he faced.

We’ll stand back for a time and then seek ways to gain his release. Do you have any questions?”

“Do you wish regular reports sent to you?”

“No. It’s best if I remain completely shut off from Academy business. There will be no way I can be implicated if I have no idea what has been happening for a few months,” Bakom answered. “You have cleared my personal papers from my desk?”

“As soon as I left the police station.”

“Good. I’ll see you in two months when the Council returns from its vacation.”

Bakom ended Eliana’s transmission. He didn’t see the satisfied smile on Lorilana’s face as she locked eyes with her nephew’s sister-in-law.

The shuttle set down on the Alalakan estate’s private airstrip. Once its engines were shut off, wheeled transports rolled out onto the edge of the landing field to take everyone to the main house. Brianna was pleased to have a vehicle to just Char and herself. Sometimes she missed the weeks she had spent in forced isolation on the
Restoration
. Snuggling next to her husband in air-conditioned comfort, Brianna sighed with contentment.

Pulling her close, he kissed her forehead. “Happy?”

Brianna’s answer was to take his hand and place his palm on her stomach. Char felt a very definite kick.

“He doesn’t stay still for very long,” she said contentedly.

Char left his hand where it was, smiling at the movements of his unborn child.
My child.
Then.
Bakom is going to make
a fool
out of himself before the council when they see exactly what
his specimen looks like.

As the vehicle slowed to a stop, Brianna said, “You better get that silly grin off your face. Your parents are waiting for us.”

Char’s grin broadened. “I’m sure my grin is no sillier than that of my father when he felt a child of his move.”

He did compose himself somewhat, and the smile on his face as he helped Brianna from the car was simply that of a man happy to see beloved parents.

Xdana hugged him close. “Welcome home.”

Then she turned to Brianna, smiling broadly at her much-enlarged abdomen. “You are doubly welcome, Alalakan dem al’

Brianna.”

Before Brianna could reply to her mother-in-law’s greeting, Jamiros swept her up into his arms. “Welcome, Daughter,” he said and carried her into the house.

“Is this an old family custom?” Brianna gasped as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Old Drakian custom,” he answered with a grin. “Centuries ago, if the father of the groom could get his son’s new wife into the house without having her taken from his arms, he had the right to first sex with her.”

“
What!
”

Before Brianna could say any more, she was set back on her feet in an opulent foyer.

Xdana gave her husband a playful shove as she shook her head. “Can’t you wait until she is at least in the door, Jamiros?”

Turning to Brianna she said, “You may as well prepare yourself.