Karac: Kaldar Warriors #1 (24 page)

“Greetings, friends, from near and far.  We welcome you to our home tonight to celebrate the finding and mating of our son, Karac.”  He looked back to Karac and I, and Karac pulled me forward to stand with him beside Junrik.  “Karac and his warriors have searched long and hard to find mates for our warriors, and finally, they came across one planet that will help replenish our world with truemates.  These new mates will bring a new way of life and changes will be inevitable.  We look forward to integrating their culture with our own.  For now, we would like to welcome my new daughter, Ashley of Earth, mate of Prince Karac, and Princess of the Galtina Sector.”  As he finished speaking, the crowd burst into thunderous applause and cheering.  Overwhelmed by their acceptance of me, I was finally able to relax and truly smile.  There was so much I had to learn about this new life, but it helped to know that those in the room were welcoming and approved of me being there. 

Karac tugged me towards Junrik and I turned to find him and Renita standing side by side, with a delicate crown in Renita’s hand.  Shocked because no one told me about a crown, I turned my head and looked toward Karac.  He was smiling and appeared he couldn’t be more pleased about what was going to happen.  At his nod, he gently nudged me forward as Renita reached up to place the crown atop my head.  The weight was small, barely noticeable, but the finality of the action had me taking a deep breath.  Karac turned me toward him, leaned in and pressed his lips firmly to mine.  Lost in the feeling, I wrapped my arms behind his neck, keeping him in place.  The crowd’s volume rose even more.  Finally, Karac pulled back and smiled down at me.

“My Princess, my truemate.”  He kissed my forehead before turning me around in his arms to face the crowd.  As one, everyone in the ballroom, except the guards standing strategically around the room, knelt to one knee with their right fist over their heart.  The guards around the room simply bowed their head slightly with their fists over their heart.  The show of loyalty and respect emanating from everyone in the room was something I was never going to forget.  At some unseen signal, everyone rose at the same time. 

“Come now!”  Junrik said clapping his hands together.  “Let us celebrate!”  With that, the music picked up and the crowd flowed to the tables behind them and took their seats.  Karac guided me back to our chairs and sat down once I was seated.  Two guards brought up a small table that fit in front of Karac and me, and looking over, saw the same setup was happening for Junrik and Renita.  The food was delicious and Karac kept me entertained by telling more stories about his youth and experiences from different planets. 

“When are you meeting with the other leaders?”  I asked after a while.

“After the dancing is underway.  We want to slip out unnoticed as much as possible.”

“Unnoticed?  You do realize that if someone were to just look around and happen to see that all the leaders were no longer in the room, they might possibly think that something might be up?”

“Yes, but that is why we have dancing and entertainment planned.  We hope everyone will be distracted enough to not notice or just dismiss it.”

“Do you need me to go with you?”

“No, this meeting is just a preliminary meeting and there will be lot of information sharing to get everyone on the same page.  All of which you already know.”

“So I’m supposed to sit here and do…what, look pretty?”

“You always look beautiful.”  He smiled before continuing.  “Enjoy the show.  Dance.”  He paused for a minute, then scowled.  “No, scratch that.  Don’t dance.  I don’t want another male’s hands on you.”

“We’re mated.  No one is going to try anything.”  I chuckled. 

“You’d be surprised.  Just the same, I’ll have Merrik stay close.”

“Closer than he already is?  Cause he might be touching me then.”

“Ashley,” Karac growled. 

“Fine.  Do what you want.  You usually do anyways.”  I rolled my eyes. 

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” he said softly in my ear.  I tried to keep the smile from my face but didn’t succeed. 

“You already owe me for allowing your mother to pamper me for six hours.”  I pointed out.

“Guess I’ll just have to make it extra good then,” he kissed the side of my neck.  I laughed and turned my head to kiss him on the lips. 

“You’re incorrigible.” 

“Possibly.  But look how much you have to look forward to for a long, long time.”  He replied with a wink. 

After the meal was done, the music picked up a lively beat and soon the floor was flooded by dancers.  It was fun to watch, and something I was going to have to learn in the near future.  The whole dance looked choreographed as everyone dipped and swung in rhythm.  Finally a slower beat started and Karac stood and held his hand out to me.

“Dance with me?”

“Of course.”  Smiling, I put my hand in his as he led me down to the dance floor.  The crowd made room for us and soon there was a large, open circle where we stood in the middle.  Glancing around at all the faces watching, my nerves started to climb. 

“Just look at me.”  Karac said softly.  I looked back at him and barely noticed as the world faded away as I gazed into his eyes. 

“I don’t know this dance.”  I said.

“I’ll lead, you follow.”  Slowly, Karac moved us around the dance floor.  He was right.  I didn’t even have to think about the steps, I forgot about the people watching with approval in their eyes.  The only person I noticed was the handsome warrior who held me close to his heart.  After the first song, other couples joined in. 

An hour later, everyone was ready to sit down for a while.  The entertainers were setting up in the middle of the floor as Karac guided me to a different set of seats off to the side and not quite in the center of attention.  Renita sat beside me and I knew this was the point where the leaders were going to “sneak” away to talk. 

Karac leaned down and kissed my forehead.  “We will be back shortly.”

“Ok.  See you in a bit.”  I smiled as he and Junrik left through a door behind our seats.  As they left, our guards seemed to have doubled and closed in around us. 
Yeah, no one was going to notice they were gone.
  I shook my head and turned my attention to the performers. 

A little over an hour later, I was stifling yawns.  I wasn’t bored, the performers were great.  I was sure it was from the long day and the rollercoaster my nerves were on.  I glanced over at Renita to see her grinning at me.

“Why don’t you retire to your rooms, Ashley?  I’ll let Karac know when he returns.” 

“Don’t I have to stay for the whole thing?”

“Goodness, no.  This crowd will be going for three days if we let them.  Don’t worry.  All formal introductions and protocol have been followed.  You are fine to retire if you would like.”

Nodding, I smiled.  “Yes, I think that would be a good idea.  Otherwise I might fall asleep here and I don’t think that would look too good.  I’ll just stop by my family first to say goodnight.”

Chuckling, Renita nodded.  “I will see you sometime on the morrow then.  Goodnight, daughter.”

I smiled.  “Goodnight.”  I stood up and walked over to where my family was seated.  They were all enthralled with the performance and I was really happy they were here with me.  I hugged each of them, letting them know I would spend more time with them tomorrow, and sidestepped around their chairs.  Merrik motioned for me to move toward the door behind them and I followed.  Merrik and two other guards walked with me out of the ballroom and down a side hallway. 

We were about halfway back to the royal wing and just turned down another side hallway when Merrik stopped.  I looked at him and was about to question why we stopped when I noticed how tense he was.  Without talking, the other two guards stepped closer to me with their backs facing me.  As one, all three drew their swords from their back and I was surrounded by lethal warriors.  I peeked around Merrik to see the empty hallway.  It should have had at least one guard stationed along the stretch.  I looked behind us, and again, saw nothing.  Peering back to the front, I saw movement from the shadows and over ten men step forward.  They all had swords drawn and slowly advanced on our small group, stopping ten feet from us.

“Give us the female.”  The one in front said gruffly.

“Degren scum.”  Merrik growled.  My eyes widened as realization hit.  How did they get in here?  Merrik was thinking along the same lines as he demanded, “How did you get on our planet?”

“Easy,” the Degren taunted, “but I’m not telling you how.”  The Degren’s gaze shifted to me, then back to Merrik.  “We want the female.”  I almost rolled my eyes. 
Duh, didn’t he already say that?

“Why?  What good is she to you?”  Merrick asked. 

“The fact that she is mated to the heir is one.  She has also become an interest to another.”  The way he said that had me frowning and unpleasant shivers running up my spine.

“Who?”  Merrik commanded. 

“Now, now, if I tell you that I’ll have to kill you.”  He smirked before adding.  “Oh wait, you’re already dead.”  With that, the Degren raised his sword and attacked.  Clashing from behind me had me looking over my shoulder to see that the guard directly behind me was also fighting with the Degrens. 
Geesh!  How many bad guys does it take to kidnap a girl?
  Slowly, my warriors backed me to the side of the hall to have a better defense against what was turning into five against one.  The guards were holding them off, scoring hits on their opponents but it seemed like they weren’t gaining anything.  Finally remembering my hand computer, I pulled that up and sent a quick message to Karac, warning him of what was going on. 

A sudden roar of pain had me looking up at Merrik.  He was down on one knee, still battling with one hand while the other clutched his side.  His other sword had fallen to the ground.  I could see the dark blood flowing from the large cut on his side.  Knowing that I needed to help if we were going to get out of this alive, I grabbed the short sword Merrik had strapped to his hip and pulled it out.  While he blocked a downward swing from his opponent, I leaped forward and jabbed my short sword into the attacker’s stomach.  Trying not to think how easily the sword slid into his body, I quickly pulled back and stepped behind Merrik who was getting back to his feet.  His opponent fell to the floor, gasping in pain, as the next one stepped forward.  I kept turning to see if I could help the other guards at any point and managed to slip in three more times to stab the the Degrens. 

I was just turning back to Merrik when one of the guards stumbled back into my shoulder, knocking me sideways.  I lost my balance, dropped my short sword, and fell forward on top of one of the dead Degrens.  I tried pushing myself up, trying not to look down at the lifeless eyes staring back at me.  Suddenly, two hands caught my upper arms and dragged me across the dead Degren, away from Merrik.

“Ashley!  NO!”  I could hear Merrik yell from behind me, but the two hands that pulled me up and away did not falter.  I finally got my legs under me and glanced over my shoulder at Merrik.  He and the other two guards were now fighting side by side as all the Degrens were now following me and my captors down the hall while holding them off.  I planted my feet and pulled, trying to stop the forward momentum, but these guys were just as big as Kaldarhn warriors.  My efforts were little more than small child tugs.  We rounded a corner in the hall and I noticed a big door leading to the outside.  I couldn’t go outside.  I had to do something.  Racking my brain, I remembered something Karac had taught me on the ship.

I took one large step forward to brace myself then stuck my other leg sideways in between one of my captor’s legs.  Our legs got tangled up and he let go as he stumbled forward, but the other Degren kept a firm grip.  He turned me and I didn’t see the blow coming before pain lanced across my face.  My eyesight went black for a few seconds and my cheekbone hurt like hell.  Before I could regain my sight, I was upended over his shoulder and carried like a sack of potatoes.  My head was throbbing and I was fighting losing consciousness.  Vaguely I heard the door open and I was thrown like a rag doll inside a vehicle on the floor.  Doors slammed and we were moving. 

I pushed my dizziness to the side and struggled into a seated position.  Looking around, I noticed we were in a cargo vehicle with seats around the walls where five of the Degrens sat with smug looks on their face.  One in particular, the leader from earlier, was sneering down at me.

“Such a petty little female for so much fuss.  I lost seven fighters because of you.”

“What do you want with me?”

“Ranirc wants you dead.  But first he wants to make you suffer.  Torturing and killing the only truemate of the future ruler will be the highlight of his decade.  No truemate, no heir.”

“He’d kill me just so Karac can’t have children?”

“The Kaldarhns need to die.  If they don’t have mates, they will be gone in a few hundred years.  Sooner if Ranirc has his way.”

“Why do you hate them so much?”

“They are self-righteous.  Think they are better than everyone around them.  The Degrens would be much better rulers.  We command millions by showing a small show of force.  The Kaldarhns have what rightfully belongs to us.  It is time we return the balance.” 

“How are you going to do that?”