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“What did I want to achieve?” She laughed. “You really are a stupid bitch. I wanted to achieve everything. Earth promised to make me the Governor of the Gaian Colonies, and well, once we killed off the Empress and Earth finished off Aries, we’d have the throne.”

“The throne? You forget, Aries has several siblings.”

Doorway to the Stars by Marly Mathews 69

“If they valued their lives, they would abdicate to Mathias.”

“You’re sicker than I thought.” She looked at the sword Talia wore on her hip.

“Fight me, Talia. There’s no way you’re getting out of this palace alive. Mathias has already been neutralized, and Lysander has set off the alarm. By now, word has probably even carried to Aries of yours and Mathias’s duplicity. The show stops here.”

“Does it? I don’t fancy having all of my dreams dashed by a little shit like you.”

She lunged at Talia. Talia whipped out her sword, and the two metals rang together in a deafening roar. She’d forgotten how skilled Talia was at sword fighting.

Gasping for breath, she parried as Talia thrust.

“Sometimes you just need another doorway.” She could hear Aurora’s voice in the distance. “I think I’ve found the perfect destination. Freya!”

She took the chance of glancing over to where Aurora stood with Lysander. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Aurora had opened a doorway to the stars. Aries had been serious when he’d told her they had first mastered the ancient traveling routes among the stars.

“Talia,” She gasped for air. “I’m going to give you one more chance.’

“One more chance? Hell, I think I’m winning. You’re way out of shape, Captain.

You should have kept up with your rigorous training. I remember in the days during the height of the war, you could beat the hell out of anyone that dared to challenge your command … my, my how the tables have turned. You look completely spent. You really have become a spoiled princess.”

Talia was right. She was fighting for her breath, and she still felt sluggishly weak from her injury. But she was doing just as Aurora wanted. She was leading Talia into the hornet’s nest. She wouldn’t have to worry how the fight went, Talia would be going on a little trip soon.

Talia took one desperate lunge at her. She moved out of the way just in the nick of time, and as Talia was trying to regain her balance, she drew the first blood by slashing her side with her sword.

Talia screamed out in pain. “You vicious bitch! I’m going to kill you!”

“And, I’m going to see you in hell.” Before Talia could come at her again with her sword, she roundhouse kicked her into the swirling doorway Aurora had opened.

“No!” Talia was sucked backward, and then the doorway closed.

“How did you do that?”

“Our doorway system works on different principles than yours. I think I’ve said enough for now. Aries can instruct you in our ways when the time is right. For now, a great enemy has been defeated.”

“Where did you send her?”

“I sent her somewhere where she will get what she deserves. Let’s leave it at that, Freya. I fear you won’t like the destination that I’ve sent her to, and the less you know, the better for all of us.”

She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like the way that Aurora was talking, but Talia had done some pretty horrible things, she needed to be punished. The sooner she put her so-called old friend out of her mind, the better.

“Aries.” The palace shook, and then the sound of firecrackers met her ears. It sounded as if the Gaian Peoples were celebrating.

“It is over.” Aurora met her gaze. Fear skipped in her heart. She didn’t want to Doorway to the Stars by Marly Mathews 70

think of what had gone on between the Gaian fleet and the Earth fleet. She felt unsteady.

She sank into the nearest chair.

The sound of another doorway opening met her ears. Aries stepped through the vortex. She walked toward him. She still felt as if she were walking in a trance. “What happened?” She forced the words out expecting to have her worst fears confirmed.

“Well, the threat is over. Earth can do us no harm. We’ve crippled their fleet. The battle was over in less than two hours. They didn’t know what had hit them.”

Relief washed over her. “And the dead?”

“Casualties were kept to a minimum. You don’t need to fear, the bloodbath you were dreading didn’t come to pass. With Macy’s help, we convinced the Earth fleet to surrender and acquiesce to our terms before any great loss of life came to pass. The current government of Earth will not be pleased to hear of the way their fleet fared.

Tomorrow, I will take part of the Gaian fleet to Earth’s borders. We will be staging a coup … soon Earth will have some new form of government.”

“And the touch of freedom will spread throughout its many colonies.”

“Yes.”

“You did all of this, I never believed you were in it for anything else than just seeking your revenge. I thought you had a vendetta against them that would only be solved by killing Terrans. Instead, you made me see you in a new refreshing light.” She watched out of the corner of her eye as Aurora and Lysander quietly slipped out of the room. “I hated you when I first met you, and now I couldn’t imagine life without you.”

“I feel the same way.”

“I love you, Aries.”

“That’s what makes my life worth living. I have you, and you have me, for the rest of time.”

“Eternity sounds like heaven to me.”

He swept her up into his arms, and they kissed. The kiss was scorching hot filled with the promise of their passionate love. Come what may, she would always have Aries, and he would always have her.

* * * *

Twelve months ago, if someone had told her she would be living in a brave new world where everyone was free to make their own destiny, she would have laughed and asked them if they were playing with a full deck. But in the twelve months since Aries had taken her for his mate, she had learned a good deal about the meaning of life. She’d also become a wife and mother. Her life was now complete. But they hadn’t created paradise among the stars yet. Aries had pulled his forces from Earth space, once he’d thought he’d calmed the rough waters. There was now talk that new radicals were seeking their place in government. She wondered if it would ever end, it seemed like a vicious circle, and yet Aries still had hope. And, so, she would cling to that hope, while building a new life for them and the child they had brought into this life. She’d hold onto their love ... for it constantly burned like an inferno inside of her.

She looked down at her sleeping daughter cradled in her arms.

“You shouldn’t worry about Earth. We live in our own perfect world, and someday, Earth will return to its former glory.” Aries spoke softly but fervently.

“Do you think so?”

“I know so. It’s the only way to stay sane, Freya.”

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“How?”

“You need to hold onto hope—look at our daughter, she is our hope.”

“Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you for being such a brute when you kidnapped me and for turning out to be my Prince Charming.”

“You are welcome.”

He leaned down toward her, kissed their daughter’s forehead, and then he kissed her. She was the luckiest woman in the universe.

And she knew it.

The End