Briannas Prophecy (32 page)

“How did you know?” Her eyes met those of the apprehensive older woman standing next to the table.

The woman gave a nervous curtsy. “Hello, Lady, I am Urma, and Sir Niklas sent the programs for the replicator as soon as he returned to the ship.” The woman looked nervously toward Silera.

“Now, Urma, why are you so nervous?” Silera wrapped her arm around the woman and squeezed. “You’re going to make Brianna think we don’t like her.”

The woman looked stricken. “No, Ma’am, I don’t want her to think that! It’s just that, well, she’s to be the new mistress and all.” Her hands twisted nervously in her apron.

“And you want her to adore you as much as I do, is that it?” Silera teased, her eyes sparkling with laughter.

Urma giggled. “Oh no, Ma’am!” She cast her gaze to the floor, wrung her hands together. “I do want Lady Brianna to like me, but I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to tell her how much.” She brushed imaginary dust from her apron with a trembling hand, looked at Brianna, and gave her a tremulous smile.

Brianna smiled softly. “I’m sure I will like you and everyone else just fine.” She brought her hand to her stomach and rubbed absently. “But, I’m afraid, right now, I do need something to eat.” She waved her hand toward the table. “I must say, this is a welcome sight.” She swayed on her feet as dizziness swamped her and she felt the blood drain from her face. The two women rushed to help her into the nearest chair.

Urma pushed the dish in front of her with a nervous look and went back to wringing her hands. “I hope you enjoy it, lady.” She handed her the utensils. “Sir Niklas said this was one of your favorites.”

Brianna gave her a wan smile. “It is, Urma. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, Lady. It’s what I’m here for.” She fidgeted beside the chair, waiting for Brianna to eat.

“I’ll still thank you. There is no reason to think you don’t deserve praise for a job well done.” Brianna took the fork and swirled it through the spaghetti, enjoying the aroma.

Urma looked at Silera, obviously nervous.

Silera placed her hand on the woman’s arm and smiled. “She likes you. Now stop making it look like we never thank you. You’re making us look like ogres.”

The woman became more flustered. “I never meant to do that!”

“I know, Urma,” Silera soothed. “Why don’t you go see if cook has made any more of those
Kin-berry
tarts that I like so much?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Urma gave a little curtsy and crossed the room to talk with another woman by what looked to be the stove.

Silera sat down across from Brianna and watched her pick at her spaghetti for a bit. “Don’t you like it? I could have Urma replicate something more to your liking.” She started to stand.

Brianna held up her hand. “No. This is fine, really. It’s just that, well, earlier you said that Niklas wouldn’t impose his will upon me.” Brianna watched as her wandering fork caused the spaghetti to weave in and out on the dish.

Silera nodded. “I don’t believe he would. Unless, of course, it was for a greater good.”

“What if I told you that he already has imposed his will upon me?” Brianna watched the older woman’s reaction closely for a moment and wondered if Silera could be an ally. She had to know. This was all so overwhelming.

Silera pressed her lips together. “Then I would say it was for a greater good. What that is, I couldn’t even begin to say.” She paused for a moment, a frown creasing her brow as if trying to choose the right words. “How did he impose his will on you? If it were a safety issue, I would understand, but obviously I would need more information before I accuse my son of treating you poorly.”

Brianna sighed. “It’s not really as if he
has
treated me badly. Actually, he’s been everything that’s kind.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. How did you tell a woman that her son was an overbearing self-righteous pig about some things?

“Then I don’t understand your concern, Brianna.”

“He kidnapped me. He has stolen me from my home, my friends, and everything I ever knew.” She blurted. She would have added,
to bring me here.
But another glance around the room they were in told her that it most certainly was not a fate worse than death. So she just pressed her lips together, omitting that part.

Silera’s eyes darkened to a near black.

Had Brianna sensed that the anger in those eyes was directed at her, she would have been nervous, but something told her, that the woman’s anger was directed at her son.

“If you would excuse me.” Silera nodded to her and sailed out of the room. The sound of her shoes made sharp clacking noises as she hurried away.

Brianna took a bite of the spaghetti and found it hard to keep the smile from her face. “Uh-oh. Somebody’s in trouble,” she said with a singsong voice.

Chapter Twenty-one

Niklas looked up from the work he had gotten behind on during his trip, when he heard the clacking of a woman’s shoes hurrying down the hall. He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, glad for the respite. Looking down at the computer screen in front of him, he shook his head. This was certainly one thing that he hadn’t missed while he was gone. There was an impatient knock at the door. With a frown, Niklas hoped something hadn’t gone wrong so soon after his return.

“Come.” He leaned back, stretching his arms above his head, waiting for whoever it was to enter the room. Niklas jumped up as the door flew open and banged against the wall behind it. The glass objects on the shelves behind the door shuddered ominously. The tinkling of glass heralded a doom he’d rather not face right now.

Niklas closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then let his breath out slowly. He didn’t want his mother to know that this interruption was not necessarily a welcome one, especially if this was going to be a demonstration of another one of her moods.

“Tell me it isn’t true.” Silera shook her head. “No, I know it’s true. I feel it. Just tell me you had a good reason to strip that woman of even the most basic of rights,” his mother demanded, her hands on her hips. “I don’t believe you kidnapped her.” She looked at him with disbelief.

Niklas inhaled sharply, so
that
was what this was about. He opened his mouth to reply.

His mother held up her hand. “Don’t.” She paced back and forth. “I’m not even sure I want to hear it. Do you realize that you have jeopardized your relationship with your
El’edal
?” She slowly shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t force people to your will, Niklas.” She looked at him reproachfully. “I was certain I had taught you better than that. Even your father never used such highhanded tactics on me, and
I
was a
slave
.”

Niklas heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He had known this would come out sooner or later, he’d just been hoping for the latter. After he could explain what was happening. “I know, Mother, but I didn’t have the time to court her as I should have. There are circumstances not under my control that have to be dealt with.” He turned and pulled Morwyyn’s scroll from his desk. He handed it to Silera. “Read this, and you will understand.” He looked at her curiously. “You can still read the ancient text?”

“Of course I can!” she snapped. “Who do you think taught you?” She glared at him.

How was it that she always had the ability to make him feel like a child? Niklas placed his elbows on the desk and put his head in his hands.

Her eyes widened as she read the ancient text. She stumbled backward, settling heavily into the chair in front of the desk.

Niklas raised his head and looked at his mother as she read the scroll that had changed his life so irrevocably.

“This can’t be.” She glanced up at Niklas. “Your
El’edal
has been guaranteed all this time?” She cast her gaze around the room, then stood and walked to the window. Looking up to the sky, she could still see the faint outline of
Tomar
hanging in the distance. The bright light of the sun nearly hid it in the purple sky. “What will it be like with
Tomar
gone?” she mused. Her lips drew up in a mirthless smile. “I’m sure you’ve wondered the same thing many times since you found all of this out.” She took a deep breath. “So, this is why you went on your
extended tour of the galaxy?”

Niklas nodded, watching her warily. He wondered how she was
really
taking this. He knew his mother was a magician at hiding her feelings when she deemed it appropriate.

Silera closed her eyes, pressed her lips together and took another deep breath. “I agree, you
didn’t
have much of a choice, but now that you are here, you must give her the choice to stay or to leave. You must earn her trust.”

Niklas started to agree, but she cut him off, waggling a finger in front of his face.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. You don’t understand.” She pulled the chair closer to the desk and sat down. “Your
El’edal
can be the greatest partner you have ever dreamed of, but if she can’t learn to trust you, she will hate you as no one else is capable of doing.” She leaned over the front of the desk. “Once that happens, she will be lost to you. Forever.” His mother looked at him shrewdly. “I assume you don’t want that.”

“Of course not, Mother, I love her more than life itself,” Niklas said.

She smiled. “Then show her, Niklas.” Her hand swept out, encompassing the room. “Forget about all of this for now, it can wait. She cannot. Go to her and show her how much you love her, most importantly,
tell
her how much you love her. A woman needs to hear the words more than anything.”

Niklas left his mother sitting in his office and strode to the kitchen where his mother had left Brianna. He hoped she was still there. He hated the thought that perhaps she’d started to wander around the palace without a guide. She could be lost for hours before someone found her if that happened.

He wondered briefly if anyone had shown her where the express lifts were. Probably not, and without knowing how to control them, she would think them a small room, not what she would call an elevator that moved in all directions.

Niklas’s pace slowed as he entered the kitchen. She sat with her head on her arms, asleep at the table. He smiled slightly, this had been a long day for her and she had been sleeping more and more lately. He bent down, gently lifted her into his arms and carried her to the nearest express lift.

“Level twenty-six,
kina
.” Niklas said softly as he looked down at Brianna. She was beautiful even while she slept. Her red gold lashes swept her cheekbones, creating small golden crescents against her pale skin. She sighed, and her lips parted invitingly. He felt his groin tighten at the thought of pressing his lips to hers, then smiled when he saw a piece of spaghetti stuck to her cheek and one in her hair.

She must have been exhausted. His arms tightened around her briefly, but loosened when she stirred. How could one person come to mean so much to him in such a short time? Niklas shifted Brianna in his arms and her head lolled to the side, resting just under his chin. He nuzzled her softly, inhaling her unique scent.

The doors to the lift opened, and Niklas stepped out into his wing of the palace. He had yet to take over the master wing. Even though his father was gone, and he knew that rightfully it was his, he didn’t want to ask his mother to leave the rooms she’d shared with his father for so many years.

Besides, it didn’t matter. He was comfortable here. Niklas walked toward the door that allowed entrance to his main chamber and the door slid open. He carried her over the threshold into his life. Aware of the meaning for both of them, Niklas knew it was customary for the man to carry his bride over the threshold on her world. On
Terrna
, it meant the bride entrusted herself to his keeping. He closed his eyes and prayed to the Goddess that he could earn her trust once again.

* * * *

Brianna was a bit startled when she woke. The ground was moving! Cracking one eye open, it didn’t take long to realize that the swaying motion she’d been feeling wasn’t her falling off her chair like she’d first thought. “You can put me down now, Niklas.”

He looked down at her and cocked his brow.

Brianna looked away, he must know she liked that. A lot!

“I beg your pardon?”

She risked another glance. The brow was still up. Gods he looked so sexy like that. “You can put me down now, I’m not helpless, and I’m damn sure not going to tour this, this…”

“Palace?” Niklas filled in helpfully.

Brianna crossed her arms and scowled. “Citadel, being carried around like a sack of potatoes.” She glared at him for good measure as they passed through a doorway and sighed. “Please put me down.”

He grinned. “As you wish, my Lady.”