Keir (25 page)

“They what?” He glanced over his shoulder at the trio of saurian women, his heart racing painfully as he found himself still under their observation.

Before Quin could pursue the subject, a trilling fanfare announced a new arrival. Everyone turned to face the main entrance, a sudden respectful silence falling as a regal figure descended the steps, moving sensually with a slow swing of her hips. Those nearest bowed deeply and hid their eyes in the appropriate reverences, and she inclined her head in acknowledgment as she passed.

As well as the high crested collar worn by all the court, a collection of slender silver spires forming a coronet of spikes adorned the regent’s bare head. Her robe opened at the front, held by a single white jewel across her chest. Beneath it a white tunic finished mid-thigh, showing lithe, muscular legs and silver sandals with straps crisscrossing up to the knee. Around her neck she wore a length of large pink pearls, a single tear-drop suspended just above her cleavage, her tunic cut so low as to be almost too revealing. Her pale-green skin gleamed with a golden shimmer, and her slitted eyes shone a brilliant turquoise color, like the sky on a hot summer’s day.

Even though not of her species, Keir found her attractive. It would seem most of the court shared his view, as there was many a longing or wistful expression as she passed. She met his stunned gaze, imperious and yet provocative, and he dropped his eyes as he had seen others do.

“Bow,”
Quin whispered in his head.

He did so, knowing that she repeated the obeisance beside him as the queen approached. Her sandaled feet enter his line of vision and a sudden rush of heat scoured his skin, leaving him uncomfortably warm, with his heart pounding.

“Quin!”

Her voice was surprisingly deep and dulcet, brimming with welcome. Quin nudged him to rise, but he kept his eyes down, swallowing hard with a mouth gone dry. When he found the courage to lift his gaze, he found that the woman had taken Quin into her arms, bestowing a kiss on her forehead with obvious affection. Short of stature, Quin had to look up at the queen, rendering her more childlike than ever.

“T’rill.”

“You haven’t changed one tiny bit, my dear, and yet it’s been years.”

“You’ve grown up, Your Highness. You look very much the queen you deserve to be.”

“Thanks to you.” She turned to look at Quin’s companion. “And who is this gorgeous creature?” she asked, reaching out a hand to touch his face.

“Don’t move!”
Quin warned him.
“Flinch and you’ve insulted her!”

Obediently, he froze as a finger stroked his cheek then lifted his chin to further raise his head. He met her gaze steadily, and her scorching look sent thrills through his body as if her fervent scrutiny had stripped him naked before the assembly.

T’rill smiled slowly, setting his skin on fire. “Is he a gift for me, Quin? Tell me he is!”

The sultry gaze of her bejeweled eyes rendered him speechless, too stunned to feel anger at her question. Even as he prayed for Quin to rescue him, he found himself wondering whether the delicate scales of her skin covered the whole of her body beneath the white fabric of her clothing, whether they would be soft as the satin feel of her hand on his face, or as hard as the metal they resembled.

The sound of Quin’s voice tore him from such thoughts, breaking the spell and leaving him rigid with shock at his own reaction. “I’m afraid not, Your Highness, much as I would like to give you such pleasure. This is Keirlan, my companion.”

Keir trembled, glad that his dark skin hid his blushes.

The queen sighed and released him. “I envy you, Quin. You always have the most fascinating companions.” She gave Keir a last smoldering look which was interrupted by another trilling fanfare. The queen glanced over her shoulder at the sound. “Ah, family have arrived,” she said irritably. “I must greet them.” She turned back to Quin, lowering her voice. “I have something most urgent to discuss with you, my friend. Will you promise to be my guest overnight and meet me in the morning? I cannot tell you how important this is.”

“As Your Highness wishes,” Quin murmured, bowing again.

T’rill mirrored her gesture and slinked away, hips swaying.

Quin watched her go. “Everyone seems to need to talk to me urgently,” she mused with a frown. “I wonder what I’ve done now?”

Keir cleared his throat, dragging his eyes away from the retreating monarch. “You could have warned me,” he said in a hoarse voice, still struggling, with the strange sensations rippling through him, to draw breath fully and ease the pressure within himself.

Quin gave him a blank stare, before understanding dawned. “Oh, T’rill? No words could prepare you. She has that effect on everyone. That’s why she’s their most powerful queen in three centuries.” She looked at him sharply. “She made quite an impression on you, didn’t she? Although I think it was mutual.”

Keir could not explain his response to the alien monarch. It had been like the power surge of opening a gate combined with burning at the stake on Adalucien. It took him a moment to register that Quin had spoken again.

“I said, do you want a drink?” she asked, slowly and concisely.

“Please!”

He followed Quin as she led them to a table set with frosted jugs and glasses, watching as she poured him a cup of something blue and full of ice. With a faint smile she handed it to him before filling a second for herself. He sipped it cautiously. Apart from being cold, it had a faintly sweet taste like honey, yet burnt his mouth.

“What do you think?” Quin asked him.

He took another experimental mouthful, trying to decide whether he liked it or not. As he did, he noted another pair of eyes staring at them with a hostility he had not yet encountered in any other native of the planet thus far. Fiery red eyes, deep-set in an older face, stared back. They belonged to a male with dark green scales dressed in a close-fitting black one-piece unlike the dress robes of his contemporaries.

“I think we are being watched,” he said, averting his eyes.

Following his lead, Quin did not try to look.
“Who?”

“Dark green, red eyes, dressed in black.”

“Are the eyes ridges gray?”

He scanned the room, as if looking around generally rather than straight at their observer.
“Yes.”

“R’hellek,”
Quin said with venom.
“He doesn’t like me.”

“I thought you were well liked here.”

“Not by him. He’s Minister of War, except the Metraxians don’t make war. I stopped the last one he tried to start.”

“I can understand why that might upset him.”

Keir tried another mouthful of the drink, disliking the spicy aftertaste. “I am still not sure if I like this or not,” he told her out loud. “What is it?”

“Beetle juice,” she told him, without hesitation.

He coughed in disgust, having already swallowed whatever was left in his mouth. “Beetles?”

“It’s a plant!” she reassured him with a wicked grin. “I’m not trying to poison you. Here.” She took his glass and poured something red into a fresh one. “Try this.”

“Is he still watching?”
she asked silently.

“Yes. He is coming over. Should we go?”

“No, let’s find out what he has to say”.

Keir sipped at his drink with trepidation and, finding it more pleasant, drank deeply. The higher ambient temperature had made him thirstier than he realized, and the slight acidity cleared the unpleasantness of the blue drink. His eyes remained fixed on Quin as the Minister approached. She kept her back turned as he came to stand beside them, bowing with a resentful stiffness.

“Tarquin Secker,” he greeted her, his voice neutral.

“R’hellek,” she returned, equally polite. “You’re looking well.”

“I have a restful life,” he responded, with a hint of spite. “There is not much requiring my attention in times of peace.”

“Surely you can’t desire a war simply to keep you occupied, at a time when your people have never been more prosperous?” Quin asked, her tone accusatory. Keir saw her eyes sparkle dangerously and knew she was keeping her temper in check with an effort.

“No one seeks war, but we must always be prepared to defend ourselves.”

“Against whom? Metraxi has many friends.”

“Friends may easily become enemies. Prosperity attracts envy. We must always be wary of complacency and misplaced trust.”

“Why do I feel you’re accusing me of something, R’hellek?” she asked, a trace of steel in her voice.

“No one would doubt your loyalty to our queen, Quin.” He held his hands up, his tone suddenly placating. “Your friendship is well known.”

Quin said nothing, her brow furrowed with suspicion. Seemingly anxious to dispel any rancor, the Minister turned to Keir. “And this is your companion?”

“This is Keir.”

“Ah, Darion is no longer with you, then?”

Keir felt a jolt of pain though Quin showed no outward sign that the question had cut her so deeply. He watched her as she kept her face blank and her tone impersonal.

“No, he is no longer with me.”

“Welcome,” R’hellek greeted him. “It is a brave man who chooses to travel with Quin.”

“And a foolish one who crosses her,” Keir countered, pleased to see the comment annoy the Minister and set a crooked grin back on Quin’s face.

“Are you staying long?”

“The queen has invited us to stay the night. I would not disappoint her.”

“Then no doubt I shall see you again in the morning.” He bowed to each of them with rigid formality–although the shallowness of the bow was only the barest fraction shy of insulting–before leaving them. Quin seemed to sag as he left, as though her strength had departed in R’hellek’s wake.

“What was that about?” Keir asked her, concerned.

“Point scoring mostly,” she muttered. “It almost felt as though he were gloating. And he seemed far too pleased to hear we were staying.”

“Could that be what J’dahzi was worried about?”

“Maybe. We’ll find out soon enough.”

She took a deep swallow of her drink and shuddered with the cold of it. Keir knew the hurt that Darion’s name had caused her, coming in spite from someone who clearly wished her no joy. Hard enough to lose those you loved without their loss being flaunted by an enemy. He let her feel that, feel the understanding he wanted to offer. “He hurt you badly with that, did he not?”

She glanced up. “Yes. But that’s R’hellek all over. He knows just the right way to get under someone’s skin, keep them unsettled.” She sighed, her voice wistful. “Darion was my companion for over two hundred years after I lost my world. I loved him more than anything, Keir.”

“I am so sorry, Quin.” Keir hesitated, then touched her shoulder for a brief moment in sympathy. The fleeting contact sent a more focused welter of pain along his arm, and he jerked back. Quin’s sorrow was a tangible wound time had not yet healed.

“Thank you.” She made a face, a tell-tale gleam in her eyes, but forced her tone light. “It was a long time ago now. I survived.”

“You still grieve for him.”

“Yes. And I always will.”

The band had started up again, playing something softly melodic, full of strange trills and bird-like sounds. Several guests took their places in the open hall to dance, and Keir watched them in silence as Quin poured herself another drink. She moved to his side without a word, but Keir felt her hand brush his in warning. J’dahzi was threading his way among the dancers toward them.

“J’dahzi,” she welcomed him, raising her glass in a toast.

“Quin,” he said gravely, taking her hand. “May we talk now?”

“Of course.”

She walked with him and Keir followed automatically. The courtier hesitated and glanced at Quin, who nodded in confirmation. J’dahzi escorted them to a more private corner and, once seated unobserved in a secluded alcove, wasted no time in coming to the point.

“I think it best you leave as soon as is polite. I believe a trap has been set for you and that you are in danger as long as you remain here.”

“But I’ve promised T’rill I would stay until morning. She also had something important to discuss.”

“Quin, I do not believe you can trust the queen on this,” he said, his trepidation in admitting such a thing clear in his voice.

“J’dahzi, what has happened?”

Blinking his green eyes with a nervous flicker, he took a deep breath. “Our queen was recently approached by an emissary. He was vouched for by R’hellek.” He nodded at Quin’s expression. “Exactly. That was the first hint that all was not as it should be. He came alone and we have been unable to detect any other presence on his ship.”

“And you’ve no idea who or what he is?”

“No name and no origin, but I was able to take a DNA scan. He is human, but keeps his face concealed behind a mask.”

“Why do you feel he’s a threat to me?”

“From their first meeting, our queen’s behavior has changed. The Emissary expressed a wish to see you, and she agreed to arrange it even though I had warned her against it.”