Raife: An Aquadomina Novel (9 page)

His eyes were burning in his face, “You are so wet.” He placed a kiss on
her face, his hips flexing. “Tight.” Another kiss another push of hips. “You
are perfect.”

Sophie felt a rush of desire at his words. When his mouth found hers, she
returned his kiss wholeheartedly. Why not have rough, giant penis sex all
night. She didn’t need to walk tomorrow. Ohh, wait…

“Okay.” Sophie stood up. Her first thought was to ban this crazy law on Deviants.
After a few calming breaths she paused for a moment. She didn’t know enough
about how things ran and if the citizens of Terragale, Norhurst or here in
Aquarian even wanted those things changed. She didn’t want to rush into saying
anything she might regret later.

One hurried to stand with her, “I can tell by your reaction that you are
not comfortable with the Deviant law.” One grabbed her arm and walked her
around. “All that I ask is for you to get to know the Three Kingdoms before
asking for any changes. Our Kingdoms cannot stand a civil war.”

“I am not considering asking for any major changes right now.” Sophie
hedged, “Just out of curiosity, how would abolishing the Deviant law cause a
civil war?” She couldn’t believe that it had any support from the people of
Aquadomina.

“There are those that are comfortable with the way things are.” Two had
hurried to walk on the other side of Sophie. “If you try to push for change too
fast, then it could backfire on us. Please have patience.”

Sophie paused, “Is that why I am in danger? Some might worry that I would
request changes?”

Three put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder, “There is always going to be a
small part of any population that violently opposes change. Especially if it
impacts their interests. You have two trips to both Terragale and Norhurst and
then celebrations to attend here in Aquarian. Let the people see you and get a
feel for the new Chosen. When you arrive back in Aquarian in twenty-one suns,
we will start negotiations on any change you request.”

Sophie stopped and took a deep breath. “Is it at least possible to put a
stop on all judgements until I get back in three weeks…I mean twenty-one suns?”

The Three looked at each other, “The main arbiter is here and we could
speak with him.”

Sophie looked at The Three and smiled, “Can we do that please. I would
feel a lot better if I knew that judgements were at a standstill until after
the celebrations.” She assumed that holding off any judgements would mean those
people would be held somewhere, but at least they wouldn’t be sent to The Hold.
Marcus Irie and the others like him would at least be safe for another three
weeks. Maybe she would be able to do something by then.

“We will send for him.” One moved to the door and called to whoever was
on the other side, “We need Chief Arbiter Ri’Carn.” The Three then took a seat
and waited, so Sophie followed suit. She may as well get comfortable. In a
shorter time than Sophie would have thought, the door opened again. She stood
up to be presented to the arbiter.

“Chosen.” The male that came into the room made Sophie bite back a groan.
It was the blond haired male that Raife had stiff-armed across medical. He had
two blooming black eyes, his nose was taped, and when he did the salute and bow
she wasn’t surprised when his eyes stayed on her. She suddenly felt like a
gazelle in a room of lions and it was lunchtime.

“Chosen, this is Chief Arbiter Ri’Carn.” The Three spoke together, “He
sees all high-level cases for judgement. His staff try cases in the other two
Kingdoms and send him the ones that need further arbitration. If he feels it is
necessary he will pass a case up to us for a final decision.”

So this male, Ri’Carn was an extremely powerful person if he held the
strings to all three kingdoms. Sophie felt something odd was going on and she
couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She did remember the feeling of doom she
had when she was on
Alexander The Great
just before getting shot. This room had that feeling to it. She needed to get
out of here, but she didn’t want to do anything stupid.

“Arbiter Ri’Carn.” Sophie whispered, “It is nice to officially meet you.
I must apologize for the way you were treated yesterday. I was jumpy from all
that had happened to me. As for my guard…as I said yesterday they were just
doing their duty. If somewhat zealously.”

The male shrugged off her apology and stepped forward placing a kiss on
Sophie’s forehead. “My dear no need for apologies.” His voice was an ice bath
down her spine, “You are far lovelier than I could have hoped for.” His eyes
trailed along her body, and Sophie was shocked at the look of open lust in his
eyes.
 
“Far lovelier.”

“Thank you.” She muttered uncomfortably not sure what to say.

“Have The Three explained the good news?” When Sophie just looked at him
blankly he smiled coldly, “I am The Chosen Consort.” He looked her over
again.
 
From the top of her head to her
feet. Sophie had the sudden urge to take a bleach shower. “We are to be wed.
After the celebrations that is. In twenty-one suns, the final celebration will be
here, in Aquarian.” His eyes were searching hers for some sign. “Isn’t that
wonderful?” She kept her face as blank as possible, when all of her instincts
were screaming at her to run. Run far and run fast!

“Yes. Wonderful.” She murmured. “Well, I have an appointment at the Halls
of Science. If you could hear me out on a small matter, then I need to be on my
way.” She waited for Ri’Carn to be seated and then sat in the seat next to him.
“I would appreciate it if you could put a hold on all judgements.” When he went
to sit forward, she hurried to explain, “Only until after the celebration trips
I am taking to Terragale and Norhurst are over. I don’t want any blowback from
adverse family reactions to impact those trips. I am not sure what to expect of
life here and am going to need help fitting in.” She looked at him in what she
hoped was a flirty way. However, she had a bad feeling that she just looked
constipated. “The last thing I want is to make a bad impression at my
celebrations.” She tried to sound calm and collected but inside she was shaking
like a leaf. Her instincts were screaming that this man was dangerous and she
needed to be very careful.

Ri’Carn studied her and then chuckled, “Of course. That does make sense.
I should have thought of it myself. Very smart to clear the way for those trips
by holding off judgements.” He looked at her with something like admiration in
his eyes and Sophie smiled weakly.

“Thank you. I do have my moments.” She looked at The Three then back to
Ri’Carn. She had a strange feeling that they
expected
her to request some type of change. Trying to think of
something to ask, she finally landed on a small thing that had been bothering
her.

“I would like to request a small change if I could.” All four of them
stiffened so she hurried to continue, “If you could please ask that the
saluting and bowing are to stop. It is really a nice gesture, but totally
un-necessary.” She peered under her lashes at Ri’Carn. She knew he didn’t like
acting subservient, his barely bent head and eye contact told her that. Would
he stop her from making a demand was the question?

They all looked at each other and The Three seemed to breathe a sigh of
relief. “We shall make it known that The Chosen has requested no salute or bow
be given. Is there anything else?”

Sophie didn’t have anything else that she could think of so shook her
head. “No. There isn’t anything else I can think of. It’s only been a few
days.” She laughed weakly, “How much could I find to change in such a short
time?” She was relieved when Ri’Carn and The Three laughed with her. Standing
up, she suffered through the embrace of her chosen mate, and then hurried to
the door.

“Oh, one more thing my dear.” Ri’Carn drawled out as he approached the
door. “I have been assigned to travel with you to Terragale. We leave in three
suns. I will come finalize travel plans with you tomorrow.”
Do not meet with him an inner voice yelled
at her. His plans go beyond travel arrangements.
Ri’Carn opened the door
and kissed her fingers, “Until then.”

“Yes. Until tomorrow.” Sophie whispered, “Good-bye then.” She hurried
down the hall, her guard taking up their usual spots.

Raife had seen Ri’Carn kissing the fingers of The Chosen before leaving.
He wasn’t sure what had been decided in that room, but he needed to find out.
Anything Ri’Carn was happy about didn’t bode well for Aquarian or even
Aquadomina for that matter. His gaze settled on The Chosen and saw that she was
pale. With her eyes averted, she had hurried along the hallway. Raife had managed
to catch up and guard her as they left the Lextrium.

“PAC take us back to Castrum.” Sophie called out and hurried into a seat.
She had a bad feeling that this planet had as much turmoil going on as Earth.
The only difference was that she was in the middle of the shit storm instead of
just watching it on T.V.

“Confirmed. Time to Castrum with current traffic thirty minutes.”

Raife heard The Chosen tell Merideth, “I will speak to you when we get to
Castrum. Until then, please be patient.”

“Chosen, may I have a word with you?” Raife released his restraint and
pulled The Chosen from her seat.

“Unauthorized release of restraint while moving.” The computer blared and
he felt the vehicle slowing down. “Please return to your seat.”

“Tell the computer to continue to Castrum. That you are moving to private
quarters.” Raife advised The Chosen.

She looked aghast at him and while he stood there, the vehicle kept
slowing down. He tightened his grip, “We want to keep moving.”

She sighed and ordered the Aquavi, “Keep moving PAC, I am just going into
the private quarters.”

“Confirmed.”

Raife pulled The Chosen to the back of the Aquavi. Opening the double
doors, he moved her in and closed the doors behind him. He watched as she
looked around at the chairs, tables and finally large bed in her private
quarters.

“So this is what is back here. Let me guess there is a bathroom here
too?”

“Yes.” He answered absently, automatically pointing at the door to the
left. “Tell the computer you want privacy, level 5.”

She looked at him and worried her lip between her teeth. He kept his eyes
on her mouth. He knew that if he looked into her eyes he would make a grave
mistake. Something about their green depths pulled at him. “Do it.” He hadn’t
meant to snap, and the stubborn look that came over The Chosen’s face wasn’t
what he was aiming for. “Please. We don’t have much time.”

“PAC. Privacy level 5 in this room.” Sophie stated then pulled her arm
free of his hold. “What exactly do you want Commander Raife?”

The Chosen had only called him commander twice, and both times, she had
been annoyed with him. This wasn’t going exactly like he had hoped, and he
wasn’t sure how to turn it around. “Was anything decided on Marcus Irie?”

She looked at him for a second and then said shortly, “No. I wasn’t able
to get any concessions from The Three or Ri’Carn on Marcus Irie.” She didn’t
add that she hadn’t brought him up by name, or that she had gotten the
judgements postponed until after the celebrations. She moved to go out the door
and he hurried to put his hands against them to keep them closed. She turned to
look at him and was pressed against his chest for a second. Then she leaned
back against the doors. “Is that all?” She looked up at him, her green eyes
burning with emotion.

“I can help you, if you let me.” Raife couldn’t stop how deep and husky
his voice came out. It was almost like the words were torn from him. He went to
step closer, trying to lean into her.

“I don’t need your help
Commander
.”
She moved her hand behind her and the door swung open. She disappeared before
he could stop her.

“Yes you do sweetheart.” He sighed, “Yes you do.”

What was she going to do? She was not equipped to deal with this kind of
intrigue. She had finished her lunch and was back in her private quarters with
Merideth and Allie. She didn’t know why, but she felt a connection with both
women and knew that she could trust them.

“I don’t know what to do.” She turned to the women sitting in chairs on
either side of table across from her. “I don’t know who to trust, and I don’t
want you to be sucked into this mess.” Sophie had a sinking feeling it was
going to get a lot dirtier before it got better.

“I am already a fugitive.” Merideth assured her. “I couldn’t be in any
more trouble than I already am. I am bound for The Hold if they catch me.”

“What is The Hold like?” Sophie asked, “Do either of you know?”

“I have only heard rumors about it.” Allie whispered softly, almost as if
she was afraid that talking about it would materialize it in this space. “It is
in an underwater city that Aquarian technology has made livable. They have
supply ships bring them provisions, but I imagine that life would be very hard
for them.”

“Underwater?” Sophie gasped. “That must be horrible.”

Merideth shuddered, “I cannot go there.”

“Calm yourself Merideth. We will figure something out.” Sophie reassured
her. “Why don’t you go rest, there’s no point in sitting around worrying. You
are safe here.”

Sophie watched as they walked out and closed the door. Allie had assured
her that there were empty rooms on level two. Merideth could have one to
herself. She turned and walked to the window and looked out over the grounds.
She saw the top of the flowering plum tree swaying under her window. After a
few moments, she realized that she needed to find a way to stay one-step ahead
of Ri’Carn.

Puzzling it around in her mind, she suddenly snapped out of her mood and
called out to the computer. “PAC, have Chef come to my quarters, and ask her to
bring a snack.” Turning to her bedroom she added, “I have some supplies I am
going to need.” She went on to describe what she wanted and was assured that it
could be handled. It took a few minutes to make all of the arrangements then
Sophie heard a knock on her door.

“You asked for me Chosen.” It was Maureen standing tall in the doorway, a
platter of food in her outstretched arms. It looked like The Three had gotten
the no salute order out, that was good.

“Yes Maureen. I know you don’t know me very well but I need a favor.” She
waved her hands around, “You are the only one that can help me.”

The Chef looked at her for a long while then said, “I will help in any
way I can.”

Sophie’s smile widened, “This is what I need.” She gave the Chef
instructions on what she would require, and when she would need it. Sophie gave
the woman credit. She didn’t raise her eyebrows or ask questions. She just
promised her that she would get it done.

“Thank you Maureen. I really appreciate it, when things calm down I hope
to get to know you better.” Sophie had been picking at the food and couldn’t
get over how good it was. This vegetarian diet was amazing. If Earth vegetables
had been this good, she would have eaten them all the time.

Walking into the hall with Maureen, she stopped at the doors and looked
over her guard. It was mid-afternoon if she had to guess and it looked like
Willem and Connor had drawn the short sticks. Her night guard weren’t on duty
yet, and she hadn’t spoken to Stefen or Thomas for more than cordial greetings.
Every time she tried to engage those two guards, they had duties to see to, or
just moved to the outer doors. Not wanting to chase them all over the Castrum
just to talk she had taken the hint and stayed in her bedroom at night. As for
Willem and Connor, she needed to get a feel for these two so she moved to stand
in front of them.

“I need help inside for a moment.” She moved back into her sitting room
without waiting for them to answer. When they entered her rooms, she closed the
doors and went to sit in a chair.

“So—” She began only to have both men jump up.

“I just remembered—”

“I have an important—”

Sophie yelled, “Stop. Sit.” The guards grudgingly sat back down. Their
expressions were guarded but Sophie could tell they were nervous to be sitting
here with her.

“I don’t know why you are so nervous, but it’s okay.” She talked
soothingly, “I only want to learn a little bit more about the men guarding me.
I would like for you to talk with me, but you can leave if you want.” She
waited for the men to make up their minds. After looking back and forth at each
other, they finally shrugged and relaxed back in their seats.

“What would you like to know?” Willem asked.

“Where are you from?” Sophie smiled, “I’m assuming one of the other
Kingdoms.” She knew that the males were probably in servitude, but didn’t want
to broach the topic of what crime a sibling had done to land them here.

“Yes. We are from Kingdom Two.” Willem had his hands on the arms of his
chair.

“The mining city?” Sophie looked excitedly at both brothers. “My father
was a miner on the planet I came from. I know that the primary resource you
mine is soil. How do you get to the ground to mine it?”

The brothers looked shocked that she would ask, “We use technology from
Aquarian to build temporary domes over a mine site. The miners are sent down to
the ocean bed pumped full of chemicals to adjust to the depths.” Connor
explained his face a mask, but his words had a bite to them.

“I would imagine the diving is dangerous enough, what about these
chemicals? What are the long term side effects?” She had an idea what was
making Connor angry. Her father had suffered from ailments due to his exposure
to mine chemicals.

“They are toxic if you use them too long but the need is too great to
slack in production, so the people of our city keep mining.” Connor spoke stiffly.
His body language was tense and unfriendly.

“If the dome doesn’t collapse, you can look forward to turning a nasty
blue color, then your body gives out and you will die from sickness.” Willem
finished for his brother.

“I know about the Deviant law and that you are not willingly in service.”
Sophie admitted suddenly, watching their faces. They both got a shuttered look.

“We serve—” Connor started to say something but Sophie stopped him.

“It’s okay to be unhappy you know.” She leaned back in her chair,
deciding to go back to the previous conversation. “My father felt like he was
doing the best by his family when he kept working. Even though he knew it might
kill him. Even when he started getting sick. He needed the feeling of pride and
accomplishment he got from taking care of us. I think I understand what the
people of Kingdom Two must be going through.” She looked at both men, “I know
the toll it takes on a family when you are between a rock and a hard place. As
advanced as your medical system, is there any hope for a cure to this chemical
sickness?”

“No.” Willem sighed, “The exposure rates are too high. The medical
facilities can’t keep up with the need.”

“We will have to work on that then won’t we?” She smiled at them
conspiratorially. The brothers looked stunned and she figured they didn’t know
what to make of her. “It’s okay. Thank you Willem, Connor for taking the time
to talk with me. I know the guards don’t like the idea of getting to know me.”

Willem cleared his throat, “It’s not that.” He looked to Connor. “We are
afraid to like you.” When Sophie looked at him puzzled both brothers hurried to
leave. They almost did the salute then forced themselves to stand back up.

Sophie laughed and followed them out the door, “Thanks again for talking
to me.” She spotted Raife at the end of the hallway and closed the door. She
moved to the table and picked at the food. After a few minutes, she was ready
for her next move. Stefan and Thomas would be here soon and she needed one more
thing taken care of first.

“PAC, inform Allie I need to see her.”