The Journey's End (4 page)

So she would go with him. She knew she could defend herself
if need be, and then when she had the chance, she would escape. She had done it
before and she would again. No one could keep one such as her captive for
long.  Having made the decision and needing to be free of his touch as soon as
possible, she stepped over the line and kept going.  He did not let go of her hand,
nor did he try to stop her.

One of the soldiers held open the door for her as she
stalked up the small steps he provided.  She felt the coach tilt and then right
itself as Menelaus sat across from her, still holding her hand.  She could hear
discussion going on outside the coach as the diplomats took over the trading,
but she was not really listening. 

The coach rocked softly with each step of the horses, and
she was trapped inside; her hand and her eyes trapped by the man across from
her.  She wondered if she hadn’t just made a terrible mistake.

When they were many slow miles from the bridge and the
freedom it represented, he released her hand in a slow glide.  She let it drop
to her lap and tried to take a deep breath, but the closed confines of the
coach were too much.

“Stop the coach.”  She knew she sounded desperate, the shade
of her eyes flashing a warning, but she was still surprised when he knocked on
the top and the coach slowed.  She had swung open the door and jumped out
before it came to a complete stop.  She landed gracefully in a crouching
position, then stood up slowly as she scented the wind.  She stood very still,
just listening to the coach come to a halt and the king jump out and stand,
watching her far enough away that she could have made a run for it if she had
the slightest doubt that one of the many milling soldiers wouldn’t stop her.

She was unsure how long she stood there, her eyes closed as
she willed herself to calm deliberation.  Animal reactions would not help in
this situation; she needed to have her wits about her.  Regardless of what the techs
thought of the intelligence of these people, she had seen nothing that proved
they were anything but highly evolved.  Indeed, in underestimating them, the tech
showed themselves yet again in a harsh light.

She turned and faced the king,  aware that he had yet to
take his eyes off her.  Her own eyes were a cool tranquil green.  She was no
longer in any danger of losing her inner demon on the world and that alone
caused enough relief that she smiled.  From the narrowing of his eyes, that was
not what he expected and she decided then and there, she would cease to be
predictable.  Keeping him guessing seemed as good a plan, at the moment, as
anything else that was flashing about in her head.

Her smile grew in volume and he was aware that she was
laughing at him by the look in her eyes,  but he could see no cause for it and
that frustrated him.

“Thank you very much.  That was just what I needed.  Shall
we go?”

She climbed into the coach ahead of him, aware of his
hesitation.  He wasn’t used to such changes in mood.  He followed her in and
sat once again across from her, this time with a puzzled look on his face.

“You are feeling better?”

“Very much, thank you.  Sometimes I just need a little fresh
air.”

“I expected you to try and run.”

“I know.  I appreciate that you stopped anyway.  You didn’t
have to.”

“I admit I was curious to see what would happen if you
became overly, shall we say, emotional. But out of respect for you, I thought I
should wait until we were alone.”

She could feel her smile turning brittle and fought back the
anger that he would deliberately try to call forth what she was so obviously
trying to hold back.

“You are too kind.”  This time it was clear that the smile
was not genuine.  “So, now what?”  She sat back in the seat, forcing herself to
relax despite her uncertain future.  “You have me, what are you intending to do
with me?  I mean I did kick the shit out of your malicious little queen to be,
clearly you have to go through all this trouble just to punish me.  So what’s
it to be?  I can pretty much take anything you have to dish out, as long as I
know how long the punishment will last.  Why you want to marry that vicious
little harpy is beyond me, but whatever floats your boat.”

He smiled.  “You certainly have a ready tongue on you.  But
you are correct,  I have no desire to wed the “vicious little harpy” as you
called her.  However, there was very little room to maneuver where queens are
concerned.  Strength is held above all other assets to be key in the queen.”

“Apparently above honor and common decency.”

“Indeed.  One would wish to have a queen with all those
qualities as well as intelligence and cunning, but we take what we can, and
above all else she must be strong of mind and body to birth strong sons.”

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Should we stop again?”

“No.  I meant metaphorically.”

“I see.”  But it was clear he didn’t.

“You choose your queen for her breeding capabilities.  In my
mind I’m vomiting.”

“That does not sound pleasant.  What do your own leaders
look for in a wife?”

“Our leaders look for many things in a spouse.  None of
which has anything do with their hand to hand fighting techniques or their
capacity for violence.”

“This does explain how you are still free to roam the
universe.  I was wondering if your own leaders had some sort of intelligence
problem not to have claimed one such as you long past.”

“What makes you think I’m any different than anyone else
where I come from?”

“Your friend is not like you.”

“Lara?”  Nori smiled again, and then briefly frowned.  “No,
but she’s not like anyone else either.  She has no evil in her at all.  So she
can’t see it in others.”

“You fear for her.”

“She is still in prison back there with the tech and I don’t
know that they will allow her to leave, or if she won’t do something foolish to
try to rescue me when she should just go home and tell Tryne.”

His eyes flashed a clear warning sign, but she was unsure
what had set off his temper.  She assumed it was the mention of rescue until he
spoke.

“This Tryne, he has a claim on you?”

“Tryne?  I suppose you could say that.  He will certainly
move heaven and earth to get me back, and he will have the League of Planets to
back him up.  So you see this kidnapping will only land you and your people in
trouble you don’t need.”

“To get you back, which he will not do, he must come and
challenge for your hand.  Then will we fight and he will die.  Thus all will be
handled according to our laws.”

“Die?”  Her eyes flashed lavender as she lost her tight hold
on her temper.  “You can’t fight Tryne. Even if he was foolish enough to
challenge you, which he won’t be, he has done nothing to warrant a death
sentence but try to see to the welfare of a daughter.  You would kill him for
that?”

"His daughter?  He is not your lover."

"Of course not, he's like a father to me."

"Then I will merely defeat him, not kill him."

Nori shook her head at his statement.  "Do you really
find it that easy?  To take a life?"

"It does depend on what I am fighting for."  His
voice had softened to a seductive degree. "What would you kill for?"

"My freedom, the people I love, but never for
sport."

“But there is more in you than that.”  His voice was soft,
his eyes searching and her hackles rose.

“What does that mean?”

“You are quite capable of violence yourself, when you let
go.”

“I don’t let go.”  She spaced each word out carefully.  Her
anger ignited by his arrogance, and the fact that he was right.  He saw too
much.  “Don’t pretend you know anything about me.”

“But I do know you,”  he said, his eyes trailing down her
face and touching all her rounded curves.  “Like calls to like.”

Nori ground her teeth, aware that her blood was rising and
her scent was mingling with his in the close confines of the coach.  She
recognized the beginning of the mating dance, though she had never felt it
before.  Lucky for her, he could not know what her scent reaching out to wrap
around his really meant; she was certainly not going to enlighten him about her
body’s betrayal.  Instead, she pulled her legs up, knees against her chest.  She
wrapped her arms tightly around herself, wanting to be as far away from him as
possible. 

He watched her, his eyes narrowed as he tried to read her. 
He lifted his chin and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and taking their
combined scent deep inside and Nori growled low.  His eyes snapped to hers,
full of heat.

“What is happening?”  His voice was a soft shiver up her
spine. She closed her own eyes, placing her head on her knee and shutting him
out as best she could.

He touched her bent head, and she sprang up as if the soft
caress had been an attack. She was on him before he could do more than fall
back against his seat.  She was straddling him, her hands around his throat,
her extended nails cutting into his skin.  Her eyes feral lavender and a growl
coming from deep inside.  Menelaus was surprised enough by the transformation
that his hands were up in the universal sign for surrender.

“It would be best,”  she growled, her voice hardly
recognizable. It had become so low and sultry, her fingers in a fine position
to crush his windpipe.  “If you kept your hands to yourself.”

He had to be aware how precarious his position was.  How
close she was to losing it completely, but he showed no fear. If anything, his
desire seemed to be heating up right along with hers.  “And if I don’t?”

For an answer, her hands tightened, cutting off his ability
to talk. Her nails dug into his neck until blood began to trail down her nails, 
she could smell his blood mingling with their combined scents.  Still his eyes
showed no fear, and she watched for it.  Finally, she released him. He didn’t
react.   

Her eyes no longer human, she licked the blood off her
fingers, never taking her eyes from his.  His pupils dilated with each sensual
lap of her tongue.

“Bloody hell,” he breathed, as if it was dragged from his
belly.  Sitting as she was, straddling his lap, she could feel his erection. 
She rubbed her body up his, her breasts against his chest and then his face,
like a cat. 

This time he was the one who growled, his hands fisting at
her hips to pull her back down, grinding her against his rock hard erection. 
She leaned down, and lapped at his neck, removing the last traces of blood and
causing him to growl again, his hips jerking against hers.  Then his hands
bunched into her hair and he turned her head, holding her still while his lips
plundered hers, his tongue catching the taste of his blood in her mouth.  He
held her tighter, slanting his head to reach more.  She was not the only one
out of control.  Her nails cut into his back where she was holding onto him. 
He could have cared less.

His hands left her hair, finding the neckline of her tunic. He
grabbed it with both hands and tried unsuccessfully to rip it away from her.

“Take it off.”  His voice was a heat blast of authority,
while his hands found the bottom of her tunic and tried again to yank it off
her.  Before he could, the coach jolted to a stop and unseated them. They
crashed into the floor with Nori on the bottom and Menelaus between her
thighs.  It was enough of a jolt for Nori to override the mating frenzy
briefly. 

He was in a fine position to see her eyes change.  He
cursed, then leaned down and took her lips, a punishing and hot plunder that
ended abruptly when she bit him.  He cursed again, pulling back a bloody lip. 
His eyes promising retribution as he reached for her again.  She got her leg up
between them and kicked, sending him crashing back into his seat.  The coach
behind him actually cracked and there were shouts outside before the door was
ripped open and she was hauled out and away from the king. 

She drove her fist into the windpipe of the man unlucky
enough to be holding her, busted the knee of another with a downward swipe of
her heel, and broke the nose of the man that grabbed her from behind with a
backward head butt.  He dropped her and she landed in a crouch, one hand on the
ground, one hand in the air for balance, waiting for the next attack.  Several
of the men were on the ground cursing or completely out of commission.  The
others unsheathed their swords, her eyes narrowed as she waited perfectly
balanced for whatever came next.

“Enough!”  The king shouted, stepping out of the coach,
looking the worse for wear with cuts on his neck and a bleeding lip.  He also
looked extremely pissed, but that could be the sexual frustration.  Nori was
dealing with a bit of that as well, not to mention more than a little fear.  She
cursed him, and her own nature, and wished like hell she was still in the tech
prison.  He walked toward her with purpose, kicking away the groaning man that
was unlucky enough to be between them.  She stood up warily.

He took her by the arm, pulling her into his side as he half
turned to look at his men.  Instinct should have been to strike out, take him
down like the others and run. But instead, she had to fight to keep from
rubbing up against him like a cat in heat.  She managed to stay still,  trying
not to breathe his scent in and wishing quite desperately that she was not what
she was. But if wishing could make it so, it would have happened long before
now. 

“No one touches her but me,” he said.  His eyes touching
every man there, his grip on her arm cutting, but she ignored it and him as
best she could, trying to get herself under control.  The mating dance was upon
her and it was hard with him standing so close.  “She has defeated three.” 

The men were quiet for all of three seconds as they absorbed
that and then they cheered, the ones that were conscious anyway.  The proof of
the new queen’s strength was all around them.