Shiver and Bright (6 page)
Shiver tucked Rema inside the shuttle, sealed the door and called out. “We are good!”
The ship lifted off and headed for the Citadel.
Shiver slumped in relief as her parents clung to each other, kissing and caressing. For once in her life, she didn’t really mind.
She pried the mask off her face and exhaled. “Well, neither of you are getting anything for your birthdays. That was quite enough.”
Lupik laughed and clapped her hands over her mouth.
Altair grinned and Rema beamed.
“So, Mom, the drills worked. Lupik did her thing and kept you from being tortured, and you now have no excuse not to marry Dad if he asks you again. He can no longer hold office here on Miikor. He still owns the land and has the titles, but he can’t be in the government. He is an ambassador for the Citadel, and as such, if you wanted to take up travel, I am sure I can have you sent to any number of lovely locations for a wedding celebration.”
Rema blinked in astonishment. Altair sighed and rubbed his head against his mistress’s.
“Rema, after all these years, will you have me?”
Rema blinked and asked Nat. “Are you sure he can’t be a politician again?”
“Not on this world.”
She turned to him and tears started down her cheeks. “Yes. I will have you now.”
Nat hugged them both, winked at Lupik and took her seat next to Worvin.
She rubbed the back of her neck. “So, is every day like this in the Citadel?”
He shrugged. “How would I know, I was in the Sector Guard.”
She laughed and put her hand on his arm.
* * * *
Altair looked at his daughter and the fierce woman that now inhabited her skin. When she touched the man next to her, his instincts as a father rose for a moment.
If she was beginning a relationship with a man who was her partner in this kind of thing, he had no say in the matter. He was quite sure that his little girl would only move if she felt she was on stable ground.
He throttled back the instinct and forced himself to sit still when she kissed Bright on the cheek. She was her own woman now.
Altair looked at his daughter and remembered the fear in the chancellor’s face. If Bright was willing to take her on, Altair was going to stay out of their way; besides, he had finally managed to get a yes out of Rema. He wasn’t going to let the mother of his daughter get away again.
The first wedding at the Citadel was held at night with the dark lights flitting around the happy couple and Bright providing the light to read by.
Nathaly was officiating at the wedding of her parents, and the sixteen Citadel recruits held candles in the darkness as she spoke about the duty of love and how it affected those around them.
A wedding was not a trap but a boundary. It not only gleamed for the couple within, but it warned off those who were looking in. A devoted couple was obvious, but the wedding gave them the binding protection of law.
Rema and Altair held hands and the dark lights moved around them in a magical wreath until dawn began to tinge the sky. As the light painted the happy couple pink, the ceremony concluded and everyone congratulated them.
Nathaly kissed her parents and stepped aside to watch the dawn.
“You look sad, Nat.” Worvin stood next to her and took her hand.
“It is the end of an era, Worvin.”
He nodded. “The world is changing. More talents arrive every day and your training methods are unorthodox but still effective. I can see how things would be shaken up.”
“It isn’t that.”
“The population rising to overthrow the chancellor?”
She smiled and shook her head, “Not that either.”
“Well then, what is it?”
She looked up at him with serious eyes. “I don’t know what to do with myself. I am no longer a bastard.”
He stared at her for a moment before laughing and pulling her close for a kiss.
“Nat, you have plenty of unique sides to your personality. Your bastard status was merely one of them. Now, you are an administrator of a growing Citadel. Wrap that around you instead.”
She put her arms around his neck. “Speaking of things wrapped around me...”
Worvin smiled and kissed her while her parents tried to ignore them. It was odd that their daughter was entering a relationship at the same time that they were, but as far as Nat was concerned, that was their issue to deal with. They had teased her with their relationship for her entire life. Now, it was her turn.
* * * *
Worvin lifted Nat against him. He finally had his partner, and she was far more than he thought he needed and much more than he deserved.
I regret that this book was so short. I just couldn’t get a handle on Shiver or Bright. So, I rescued everybody, and I will bring them back in a later book.
You have to admit that Worvin has guts to live with his partner and her family, under one roof. That takes nerve.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
