Briannas Prophecy (29 page)

He frowned. “Wasn’t that the correct word? I read it on some stereo instructions.” He rubbed his hands together. “I love stereos, a most marvelous invention. You don’t have to put up with the musician’s incessant nagging.” He raised his voice an octave. “I don’t like this food. Get me something to drink. Yeech! You call
this
ambrosia?” He made a face, then glancing at the crew, he waved his hand impatiently. “They are in suspended animation. Which is why that one over there hasn’t hit the floor yet.” He cocked his head and looked at Minra. “She looks a bit uncomfortable, don’t you think?”

Minra hung in mid air. Her head was a foot or so from the floor. If she landed like that, she would probably break her neck. At the least, she’d have a very bad concussion.

The thought barely entered Brianna’s head when Larin waved his hand. Minra gently floated up and was seated in her chair, safe from harm.

Brianna smiled. “That was a nice thing to do. Thank you,” she said, turning back to face him.

“Don’t get used to it,” Larin snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “What did you want anyway? I know you didn’t want to chat. You never want to chat.” He wrinkled his nose and spoke in a falsetto voice. “Larin, I need to speak with Morgaine. Larin, shut up. Larin, I summon thee.”

Brianna studied him closely. What was wrong with him now? He seemed, well, hurt.

“We need to know who would want to stop us from saving
Terrna
.” Niklas said.

Larin looked at his hand, thoroughly examined his fingernails and looked at Brianna quizzically. He stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it, then glanced at her again. “Did you hear something? I thought
I
heard something, but I’m not sure. I’m here to do what
you
ask, not to be just anyone’s slave.” He glowered.

Brianna crossed her arms. “Do you find it easy to be this difficult, or do you have to work at?”

“I work at it!” he bellowed. His Fae voice sounded eerie as it echoed over the bridge, the picture on the viewscreen wavered and flickered.

Brianna looked on with interest. She tilted her head to the right. “How do you get your face to turn purple like that? I meant to ask you about that the last time I called you.” She smirked at him. “I would consider stopping that sort of behavior. You lose cool points when you do it.”

Niklas looked from one to the other. “Will you two stop it?” He was furious. He paced between the two, his anger lending him energy he obviously needed to expend. “We don’t have the time for you two to sit and trade insults. We need answers!” He stopped to stand in front of Larin. “And we need them now.”

“You heard him,” Brianna challenged. “Just pretend that every time Niklas asks you a question, it’s really coming from me.”

Larin gave her a curt nod.

She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. Holy moly! Did you always have to be so literal with the Fae, or was it just him?

Niklas gave Larin a hard look. “Who wants to stop us?”

Larin shrugged. “I have no idea who is doing these things. They haven’t asked for our help, and we are honor bound not to interfere unless we are asked. Even
our
powers are not unlimited.”

“Can you help ward off this attack?” Brianna asked quickly. She glanced back at the giant ship that hung in space over them like a thief. It sat framed by the viewscreen. It looked intimidating with its weapons charged and glowing orange like eyes in the blackness of space. “Can you help us ward off this attack?” she repeated.

Larin shook his head.

Disappointment welled within Brianna. She’d been hoping for his help. She really wasn’t looking forward to getting blown to bits. Her shoulders slumped visibly.

Larin sighed. “I
can’t
help you repel them, Brianna. If I destroy the ship, I will be imprisoned in the land of Fae one hundred years for every mortal life I take.” He glanced back at the ship. “There are nearly one-thousand mortals on that vessel. I do not care to be imprisoned for one hundred thousand years. The last two thousand six hundred and seventy-two years were enough!”

Niklas nodded. “I understand. We cannot ask you to sacrifice yourself for us like that.” He resigned himself to the fact that they would die this day. He gazed at Brianna with longing, wishing they had more time. Even one more day with her love would be a precious gift.

Brianna smiled at him, letting him know that she had heard his thoughts and felt the same.

Larin looked at them and smiled. He threw a glance over his shoulder toward Brianna. His eyes shuttered. “Yet I am not totally without the power to help you.” He looked toward the viewscreen, held his hand in front of his face, blew across his palm and disappeared.

The bridge returned to the previous chaos. Minra sat in her seat with a stunned look on her face. The rest of the crew looked confused for a moment before the sound of the proximity alarms caught their attention.

“I don’t believe this! Where did that ship go, and how did we get back to Terrna so fast?” Rodel exclaimed. “Brace for emergency shutdown. Docking compound in three, two, one.”

They were nearly knocked from their feet. Niklas reached out and steadied Brianna so she wouldn’t fall. She closed her eyes said a small prayer of thanks to the Gods. She also sent a heartfelt thanks to Larin.
Thank you, Larin, wherever you are. Maybe I will call you just to chat sometime.

I will hold you to it, lovely Brianna.

She smiled and hugged herself. He’d heard her. She turned to face Niklas.

“We need to return to our quarters and retrieve your stone before we leave.”

She nodded. Butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach. Apparently, Larin had somehow transported them to Terrna. She
so
wasn’t looking forward to meeting her mother-in-law. Sighing, she realized her week had been taken away from her. After only one day of listening to the subliminal disks, she was going to have to learn to function in a totally alien environment. No matter how much she tried to stall, Niklas had her off the ship in record time.

Brianna wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it sure wasn’t this. It was Earth with two moons. Well, sort of, that’s what it felt like anyway. It looked like Earth, smelled like Earth. Some of the animals were different, though.

She spent the first twenty minutes off the ship with her mouth hanging open and Killer cradled to her chest. Everyone here was tanned and beautiful. It made her feel like the ugly duckling.

Niklas leaned down, pressing his lips into her hair. “There is nothing ugly about you,
Laharra
. You are loveliness itself.” He pulled her through the milling crowd. Family members of the crew hurried toward the docking compound to welcome their loved ones.

Word of their return spread quickly, that they had appeared virtually from thin air already legend. No one could explain it, and no one really cared once they saw the blast scars on the hull. They were just glad their families and Niklas had returned home safely.

“What’s this?” Brianna asked, when Niklas led her to a hoverpod, fastened her safely into it, placed Killer into a small caged compartment in the back and climbed in behind the controls. She inhaled sharply when they took off. He drove slowly, most likely not wanting to frighten her. He was ever mindful of her condition. She wondered what his mother was going to say. Like it or not, the woman was about to acquire another daughter and three grandchildren.

After a while, they left the city, and Niklas gradually drove faster and faster. Brianna rode silently, thinking and watching the scenery as they passed. It was exhilarating. They flew across the ground at speeds she’d only dreamed of. She inhaled deeply. The air was fresh, clean.

Niklas had told her that the industrial revolution had been over for centuries and scientists had perfected the process of drawing the unlimited energy from crystals. It was an ideal world, with virtually no pollution, no crime.

“
Terrna
is beautiful, Niklas.” She smiled, turned her head to look at him. Even his profile was perfect. She loved the way the air that entered through the opening in the top of the pod blew his hair back away from his face, making him look so young, so free. She loved his soft sensuous lips, strong jaw and chocolate eyes that could melt her with just a look. “How can anyone be so perfect?” she whispered.

“Did you say something?”

Brianna’s cheeks flamed. Had she really spoken aloud? If there was one thing she had learned to do over the last few months, it was to think quickly. “I said, how can anything be so perfect?”

Niklas smiled at her. “I’m glad you like it.”

She looked out over the field to her right and saw a herd of horses grazing. Their colors were beautiful. White, black, roan and a palomino. She pointed. “Oh, Niklas, look at the horses. Are they wild? I don’t see any fences.”

“No fences would hold them,
Laharra
. The
Abicon
is a magical animal. It stays if it wants, it leaves if it wants.” Niklas turned the hover pod closer to them, knowing she would want to see them up close. “Only a precious few have ever been tamed.”

Brianna’s breath hitched. “Oh, Niklas!” Her hand covered her mouth, her eyes filled with tears. “I never thought to
ever
see one of these.” She stared out the side glass that revealed the herd of unicorn. She swiped at her tears. If this was the only good thing that came of her coming here, it was enough.

He squeezed her hand gently. “I knew you would want to see them. I saw the pictures and figurines in your house.”

She turned, focused her blurry eyes on a small town in the distance. They seemed to be heading straight for it. She pointed, “Is your home there?”

Niklas nodded. “Yes, that is my home.”

She squinted, tried to distinguish between the buildings. “I can’t seem to make out a difference between the buildings. Where exactly do you live in town?” She had expected to see some sort of castle or something, or at the very least a big house. She peeked at Niklas from the corner of her eye, then frowned. Why did he look worried?

He cleared his throat. “Ah, Brianna, that isn’t a town.”

Her eyes widened as she turned back to what appeared to be a huge structure in the distance. Oh, boy! She was in
way
over her head!

Chapter Nineteen

Brianna shook her head in wonder. “Don’t even tell me that’s your home.” She pointed to the structure in the distance. “That’s a—”

Niklas put his hand on her leg and squeezed gently. “Breathe,
Laharra
, you must always remember to breathe. In and out, in and out.” He made a sweeping motion with his hand.

Brianna reached over and slapped his arm. “Don’t you
dare
tell me to breathe,” she snapped. Then she drew in a gulp of air because
she
wanted to breathe, not because he told her to. She glared at him, quickly losing her courage. Any anger she could dig up would be helpful. “You didn’t tell me that you lived in a…” She glanced at Niklas. “What do you call something that huge?”

“A palace?” Niklas offered helpfully, his eyes wide and brows raised.

Brianna dropped her head into her hands. “Gods, Niklas, I can’t live in a palace,” she groaned.

He stopped the hoverpod near a grove of trees, climbed out of the vehicle and walked around to help her stand on rubbery legs. He held her for a moment, trying to still her trembling, letting his warmth and strength seep into her.

After a moment, he stepped back, took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “You are my Queen,
Laharra
. But if you wish, I will surrender the mantle of rule to my sister, and we will return to your world. I only ask that you fulfill your destiny and save mine.”

Brianna looked into his eyes. He was serious. He was willing to give up everything for her. Could she do any less? Tears rolled down her cheeks and Niklas wiped them away with his thumbs. “Niklas, I don’t—”

He covered her lips with his finger. “Do not answer now,
Laharra
. Right now, all I ask is that you walk with me.” He turned, held his hand out, waiting.

Brianna took it and followed him across a meadow into a stand of giant trees. She looked around. The trees looked like giant redwoods. She’d never seen any up close, but from the pictures she’d seen, she would almost bet that redwoods were not indigenous to Earth. The trees were huge, some of them so tall she wondered if it would even be possible to see the tops. The trunks were so wide she was sure they could cut tunnels through them if needed.

Niklas inhaled deeply, obviously glad to be home. “I wanted to show you where I go when I am troubled. It has never failed to give me peace.” He led her to a small stream. The water moved gently over the boulders, dotting the surface and lapping gently at the rocks on the bank.