DangerouslyHis (4 page)

But with Taio wise to his hijinks, JB would have to
straighten out—fast— if he wanted to continue breathing.

“Yep.” Jess picked up the clothes scattered across the floor
and threw them on the bed. “Fun’s over, ladies. Time for you to leave.”

As much as he wanted to stop Jess, JB didn’t dare.

“I suggest you get dressed too, lover boy. In fact, it’ll be
best if you leave too. We can hide out somewhere until Taio calms down.”

“I don’t need to hide from him.”

Jess snorted. “Really, now? You have
met
Taio, right?
Big, beefy guy, way too serious, doesn’t not how to smile, carries a weapon,
always ready to fight. Do you know him at all?”

Thinking better of it, he pulled on his pants. “Throw me a
shirt.” He clapped his hands together. “Chop-chop—hurry up, ladies.”

As the royal transporter came to a complete stop, Saia tried
to pull her hand from her sleeping mother’s grasp to unfasten her safety
harness. Her mother inhaled sharply. Her grip tightened, painfully squeezing
Saia’s fingers.

“Mother, we’re here,” Saia coaxed.

This time, Olo had beaten Fainia so severely, Saia feared
the healing tank wouldn’t be able to repair all of the damage. It was the worst
beating Saia had seen thus far.

Fainia opened a red and swollen eye and looked around as if
she couldn’t remember where she was. “Are we in my transporter?”

Saia enclosed her free hand over Fainia’s. “Yes, we’ve
arrived on Sonis.”

Taio wasn’t expecting them for another two rotations, but
Saia couldn’t risk her or her mother’s safety any longer. Olo had almost killed
Fainia. Thank the Ancients that Aria, Fainia’s personal aide, had come to get
Saia just in time.

When she saw Aria running toward her with panic written
across her face, Saia knew something terrible had happened. And she had been
right. The beating was so fierce that Aria risked her own death to run for
help.

Normally her mother would have suffered through Olo’s temper
and then, afterward, Aria would help her visit the healing tank to cover up all
signs of the aftermath. Fainia went through great lengths to hide her bruises.
She’d do anything to avoid unnecessary embarrassment.

Aria had gone first to her mother’s guards for help. Only
after they’d turned her away, not wanting to get involved in the royals’
personal affairs, had Aria risked Olo’s wrath to involve Saia, but Aria knew it
was the only way to save the queen.

And yes, it had been a great risk.

The bruises across Saia’s own face, arms and legs as a
result of shielding Fainia from Olo’s heavy punches served as a reminder of his
anger over Saia’s interference. She had tried to block out the pain as each
powerful blow struck. She had lain across Fainia’s bleeding, bruised and broken
body for fear that if she moved, her mother would surely be killed.

After Olo finally left, she and Aria had gathered Fainia and
some belongings and fled. There hadn’t been time for either of them to visit the
healing tank, as they’d done before fleeing Olo’s wrath in the past. Getting to
safety—to Taio—had been Saia’s only concern. Even if her father followed them,
he wouldn’t dare finish his handiwork on Sonis. He never had before.

“Mother, we’re safe now.”

A flicker of realization began to dawn on Fainia’s face. She
slowly released her grip. “Sonis. Is it time for your engagement party?” she
asked, referring to the party Eva had planned.

Eva had explained that the gathering was a way to get Ranuit
Pi to Sonis prior to the bonding ceremony. Taio would have the opportunity to
speak with him alone—regarding his expectations of how Saia would be treated
under Ranuit Pi’s care.

When Taio had found out about the bonding contract with
Ranuit Pi, the leader of a warring nation, he had gone crazy. He wanted to
force Olo to break the contract. When Fainia explained that she had
unsuccessfully tried to get Olo to change his mind, Taio considered invading
Drazlan to overthrow his father.

But there were consequences to that hostile action.

For one, every native on Sonis had come from Drazlan; many
people had relatives on the opposite world. If Olo declared war on Sonis, he
would pit brother against brother. How would the people of Drazlan and Sonis
feel if lives were lost simply because Taio didn’t like his little sister’s
intended bond mate? His people would grow to resent him.

Many couples across the galaxy wed for reasons other than
love, and many races practiced arranged marriages. Why should people die
because of her?

Then there was the Galactic Council. Taio was a member and
had held his seat for over fifteen cycles. It was his responsibility to be a
pillar of the community and lead by example, which he had done for so long now.

He’d dedicated most of his life to improving the welfare of
their species. When Olo hadn’t bothered to research the reason for their low
birthing rates, Taio had sought out scientists to help solve the problem. When
Olo had opened his mining company on Drazlan and “employed” his subjects without
pay, Taio had opened Sonis to anyone who wanted to get away from King Xochis’
rule.

Saia understood her brother was upset over her
circumstances, but she couldn’t let his emotions cloud what was best for the
overall good of their species.

What she really wanted was for Ranuit Pi to break the
bonding contact himself. That would legally be the only way out of it. But it
was unlikely. Ranuit Pi had too much to gain from the deal.

Saia had even thought to run away for real, somewhere other
than Sonis, somewhere outside their planetary system, a place where Olo would
never reach her. But that was also unlikely.

Her father was King Olo Xochis, the ruler and commander of
the famous Drazlan royal guards. No one would harbor her. What did she have to
offer someone in exchange? She didn’t have any credits to her name to pay for
passage or even to feed herself. Besides, Sonis was the farthest the
transporter would take her without first getting clearance from Olo.

She visited her brother whenever she could. And with the
birth of Taio and Eva’s son Josanis, coupled with her father’s abuse, she and
Fainia traveled to Sonis often. It wasn’t the grand escape she wished for, but
at least it would give them a short reprieve from Olo.

After exiting the transporter, the palace healing tank would
be their first stop. While Saia’s injuries were minor in comparison, her mother
would require extensive care. Taio could never see them in this condition. The
last thing she wanted to do was have him readying his warriors for an invasion.

“No, it’s not quite time for the party, Mother. We had to
come a little earlier. Do you remember now?” Saia watched Fainia with worry.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Fainia said.

Saia sighed. “It’ll all work out. Taio will speak with
Ranuit Pi and after he’s done with him, I’m sure my mate will treat me like a
queen.”

“I know,” Fainia said. “I’ll be sad to see you go, but at
least you’ll get away from your father for good.”

“King Xochis,” Saia corrected.

Fainia looked at Saia with sadness in her eyes. “I’m so sorry
that your fath— King Xochis does not treat you as he should.”

“Don’t be sorry. The fault lies with him. I came to that
conclusion a long time ago.”

Fainia nodded. “I wonder if Olo will do his best to publicly
humiliate me at your party. I wish we could skip this farce of a gathering.”

“We have to go through with it. It’s the only way Taio can
speak to Ranuit Pi without Olo knowing. King Xochis would never allow it
otherwise.”

“I understand,” Fainia said. “I just dread going to the
party. And I used to enjoy grand affairs.”

Before Olo had begun to publicly humiliate them by allowing
his mistresses to attend the events. It had been easy enough to ignore the
presence of one mistress, but when that number grew to five or so, walking
around in family heirlooms, she and Fainia had stopped attending palace
gathering altogether.

She gave her mother’s hand a soft squeeze. “I know, but
we’ll get through it. We’ll ignore him as we’ve learned to do. Eva said the
guest list is large, we’ll be too busy entertaining to be worried about King
Xochis and what he’s doing.”

“My queen, we will have the tailors make the most stunning
dresses for the event,” Aria said from her place in the backseat.

Fainia closed her eyes and exhaled. “No matter how grand I’m
dressed, I will not forget the purpose of the party.”

Saia looked away and blinked back the tears threatening to
spill. “Taio will speak with Ranuit Pi. He will guarantee that I am treated
properly.”

The transporter door finally opened. Saia released her
harness. She waited patiently for Aria and Milin, her personal maid, to exit
first. Once they cleared the door, she followed and waited on the platform for
her mother to exit last, as was custom. She glanced around the bay. There were
four long platforms where multiple transporters could dock, and almost each
space was filled. Luckily for them, the normally bustling transport bay was
almost empty of others.

Her mother exited the transporter. The scarf she wore didn’t
properly cover her face. One of her eyes could only crack open while the other
was swollen shut. She had green-and-black bruises on her cheeks and forehead.
Although she was covered in royal garb, Saia knew she had bruises on her arms,
legs, torso and back as well.

Saia rushed to her side and adjusted her scarf. Satisfied
her mother’s bruises couldn’t be clearly seen, she hooked their arms together.
“Come, we’ll go to the medical center.”

Two Sonis royal guards approached. Their stoic faces turned
into frowns when they saw Saia and Fainia. She pulled her mother closer as the
guards took in Saia’s bruises. “Queen, Princess…what happened? You have been
injured,” one of the guards noted.

She had concentrated only on getting to Sonis and getting to
the healing tank before Taio could see their appearance. She forgot about the
guards who always met them when they landed.

“No. We’re fine,” she said.

The guards exchanged glances. “We will notify Taio
immediately.” One raised an arm to initiate the com-link attached to his wrist.

Saia quickly stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. “No,
please. We’re on our way to the healing tank.”

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I should notify Taio.”

Saia gripped him more firmly. “
Please.
”

“I will take care of this, Deru.”

Saia’s heart dropped at hearing Ship’s ominous voice filling
the bay, coming from nowhere and everywhere. Although Ship traveled and lived
in electrical currents, he could maneuver through air when it suited him. If
anything was going on within the palace walls, Ship knew about it immediately.
He would surely tell Taio that Fainia had been beaten severely.

“Should I wake Taio?” the guard asked Ship. His eyes
wandered to Fainia. “The queen is injured. I’m sure he’ll want to be informed
right away.”

If he told Taio that she and her mother had come to Sonis in
this condition, he wouldn’t hesitate to invade Drazlan.

“No. I will speak with him directly,” Ship said.

The guards nodded as a sign of respect and left.

“Ship,” Saia said. “Can I please speak with you before you call
Taio?” She needed to plead with him not to tell. Surely he wouldn’t want a war
between the two worlds.

“There is no need, Princess,” Ship replied. “I’ll make sure
you get to the medical center without crossing paths with anyone else. There is
no need to start a war when you two have landed safely.”

The tension that had swiftly built began to drift away.

“But you understand that Taio will find out what has
happened, don’t you?”

“Find out what?” Saia asked, trying to keep her voice even.
For all Ship knew, they had both fallen or slipped down stairs. Many, many
stairs.

“King Xochis sent numerous transmissions to the pilot to
turn around so he could finish ‘giving you both what you deserved’. I entered
your transporter, and upon seeing the extent of your damages, I knew what he
meant.”

Fainia opened her eyes wide. “Why didn’t the pilot turn
around? Olo will have his head.”

“I blocked the communications. The pilot never received
them.”

“Ship, thank you for helping us escape, but I’m afraid Olo
will be furious.”

“As soon as I ensure that you and Saia are in the healing
tanks, I will inform Olo that our systems had a glitch and it caused
disruptions in the surrounding airspace. I will inform him that while testing
for errors, I came across the messages he had tried to relay to the pilot.”

“But what about Taio? Can you keep this from him?”

“I don’t think this is something that
should
be kept
from him, Saia.”

Saia groaned. “I’d hoped he wouldn’t ever have to find out.
After Taio speaks with Ranuit Pi, I was going to try to encourage my intended
to have our bonding ceremony immediately following the engagement party.”

“Saia!” Fainia exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me about this
plan?”

“I don’t want to return to Drazlan. If Ranuit Pi wants me
sooner, then I’ll leave Sonis with him.” She looked away briefly. “And take
you
with us.”

“Oh, my sweet baby.” Fainia grabbed her into a hug. “You
know Olo would never allow it,” she said in a whisper.

“But he might, if he thought he had something to gain. We
would pretend you’d only be gone for two or three lunar cycles—to help me
acclimate to the Zumagala culture. I was thinking King Xochis would be so busy
counting his gold and enjoying his females that he wouldn’t notice if you
didn’t return.”

Fainia pulled back slowly. “I think that plan just might
work.”

Saia smiled at her mother encouragingly. “See, Ship? Taio
would never have to know that we’ve arrived with bruises.”

“I’m still unsure,” Ship said.

“I understand where
your
loyalties lie, Ship, but
please think of Taio’s. You know how protective he is of me. If he found out about
the abuse, there would be no reasoning with him. Taio would leave for Drazlan
tonight. Think about what that would mean for Sonis and Drazlan. We have a way
to avoid a war. Please, we have our worlds’ and Taio’s best interests at
heart.”

Ship was silent for a moment. Then, “I agree.”

Thank the Ancients.

Fainia and Saia both let out a breath.

“Thank you,” Saia said.

“Come, we have a ways to go,” he said. “If Taio sees you
now, it won’t matter what plans are concocted.”

Saia followed Fainia through the halls, on edge the entire
time. But thankfully, because of the lateness or due to Ship’s involvement,
there were no passersby.