Rion (17 page)

She looked around in shock. Rion, Merlin, and Marisa now sat on the bridge of a modern starship.

Only the key was now embedded in a shiny black plate high above their heads on a semicircular starship bridge with giant view
screens that showed the vessel already traveling on course for Honor.

“Am I dreaming?” She stood and spun around to take in the starship, a vessel so large it couldn’t have fit in the museum.

Rion grinned and placed his fists on his hips. “I think we’re in multidimensional space.”

“I don’t understand. This ship was old. Now it’s new and shiny and huge.”

“The ancient ones had secrets we can’t duplicate—like the transporters. This ship and the key may be from ancient times.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Well, wherever we are, it’s way better than where we were.” She squinted at him with
suspicion. “You didn’t hide your knowledge of this technology, did you?”

“No.” He looked her straight in the eyes. “I only hid my birthright. I am the crown prince of Chivalri.”

“And you didn’t tell
me
because…”

“I tell no one. Ever. Even when I served as a military commander, my men didn’t know of my royal blood. That’s how I’ve survived
my entire life. Not even my own people know my title.”

“But I’ve agreed to stay and help you.”

“And you could change your mind again.”

His words hurt. “Is that what you think I’d do?”

“I don’t know you well enough to be certain you’d keep your word. It’s possible that you only stayed with me to learn my plans.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Maybe you’d try to bargain with the Enforcers. Turn over the information on me in exchange for their promise not to invade
Earth.”

She stared at him. “I’m not that conniving.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t take the chance. If I’d trusted you and then you’d gone and told the Torans who I was, you could have
stopped me from going to Honor. I couldn’t risk that.”

“Phen knows who you are. And so did Drake,” she said sadly, realizing Rion had lied to her yet again by telling her no one
knew his identity.

“Phen’s my uncle. Drake figured it out—”

“And what am I to you?” Hurt slammed her, but she wanted to understand. “And why don’t even your own people know that you’re
in line for the throne?”

“The deception started before I was born. A flash revealed to my father that I was targeted for assassination. To save me,
he had my cousin Erik and me trade places. We kept our own names. But back home, everyone believed Erik was heir to the throne.
I was a free man. But once I claim my title as a prince, I’m an assassin’s target. A threat. A negotiation piece. Take your
choice.” He paused, then spoke quietly. “I’ve also had flashes about a traitor—a man who may be the same man my father saw
assassinate me in his vision. I haven’t seen his face, but he’s responsible for killing a rebel group who tried to dig a tunnel
to retake the Honorian transporter. And he possibly gave intel to the Unari that will prevent dragonshapers from going to
the hills for platinum. I kept secrets to protect not just myself but my people.”

“What else haven’t you told me?” she asked softly.

She expected him to make denials. Instead he took both her hands in his, holding them tightly. “There’s something else you
should know.”

“What?” Marisa swallowed hard, realizing that whatever he had to say wouldn’t be easy for him. And that whatever it was, he
knew she wouldn’t like it.

“I can never marry an offworlder.”

She didn’t understand. “But your mother was from Tor.”

“When the Unari invaded, my mother was an outsider and Honorians blamed her. The charges were unfair. But that didn’t matter.
The resulting discord weakened my country and helped tear us apart. I won’t repeat my parents’ mistakes. I need to bring my
people back together. I have no choices in this. My people need stability. Unity. I have to marry an Honorian.”

An outsider, her, would cause strife. Distrust. Well, he’d certainly answered her question about what she was to him. A fling.
With no chance for more.

Eager to put distance between herself and Rion, she strode toward the view screen and gazed out at the stars. The view was
dark, cold. Infinite emptiness.

Between what Rion had just told her, her disappointment, and the sudden change in the space-time continuum, her head ached.
She rubbed her temples.

Still confused by the sudden turn of events, she turned around and caught sight of Merlin. She wandered over to the owl. His
talons gripped the console. He pecked at the controls, as if he were steering the ship.

No wonder her head hurt. Marisa was losing it, attributing paranormal powers to a bird. But why shouldn’t she be thinking
insane thoughts? She was flying with a man she had feelings for to a world she knew little about, one occupied by Earth’s
most ancient enemy.

Why was she risking her life for a man who had just told her they couldn’t have a future together?

It is almost as good as bringing good news not to bring bad.

—C
ELTIC PROVERB

A
wed and stunned by the sleek spaceship, Rion looked around, taking in the helm. He yearned to use the navigation instruments
to plot their heading, to make sure they were on course for Honor.

But Merlin had settled by the controls, and a glance out the view screen at his home world told Rion they were on course.

Rion’s curiosity and elation over evading the Unari Enforcers dissipated when he looked at Marisa. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
But he didn’t have to see her face to recognize her anger.

With any other woman, he would have shrugged off his lies. Keeping his identity hidden was more important than hurt feelings.

But this was Marisa. The woman he’d kidnapped and who had still offered to help him. A woman who could put a higher cause
before her own interests. Marisa, who was willingly risking her life and agreeing to use her telepathy to save his people.

And he’d hurt her. Deeply. He could see it in her stiff posture, in the way she refused to look at him.

Taking a deep breath, he moved closer to her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be truthful.”

“Your apology doesn’t make me feel better.” She raised her eyebrow, the sadness in her voice yet one more indication of her
hurt.

“Will you hear me out?” He headed to a padded bench in the hopes she would join him.

“Why?” She looked at him with big eyes full of sorrow. “I really don’t see the point.”

He ignored her statement. Ignored her refusal to join him on the bench. “When my father saw me die in the flash, he couldn’t
see the murderer. His only clue to help save me was my age, which he estimated between three and five.”

“Since you’re still alive, I’m assuming your cousin taking your place as prince changed the future.”

“Yes. Erik and I were born within three weeks of each other. My father switched us shortly after birth. Erik was brought up
as a prince, and he lived at the palace with my parents.”

“You were sent to live with your aunt and uncle?” she guessed. “So how did Erik survive?”

He shrugged. “We don’t know. Maybe the switch changed our fates. It’s happened before, flashes that allow us to alter the
future. But although Erik seemed safe, my father still refused to let me return to my rightful place.”

“Why not?”

“He saw many flashes, all leading to my death.” Rion had long since accepted the necessity of his father’s action. “If I hadn’t
had flashes, my parents might not have told me who I really was until I’d reached adulthood. But my gift is well known to
pass only through the royal line of Chivalri. So I was trained from the time I could walk to never speak of my flashes, to
never reveal my true identity.”

“Your aunt and uncle… were they loving people?” she asked.

Odd how she speared straight to the difficult part of his past.

“I was well fed, clothed, and educated. I wanted for nothing—including love. My aunt and uncle could have resented the bargain
they’d made. Giving up their own son couldn’t have been easy.”

His aunt and uncle had done their best by him. And he missed them with all his heart. He couldn’t bring himself to speak about
his last day at home, the day someone had betrayed him, and the Unari had come searching for the Chivalri prince. Because
of him, his aunt and uncle had died screaming in pain, sacrificing themselves so he could live. “Raising me… was not easy.”

“Why am I not surprised?” She cocked her head and folded her arms over her chest. “Did you lie to them, too?”

“Sometimes,” he acknowledged, recalling how they hadn’t understood his curiosity about the world, how they had sought to keep
him safe from all things, how the boy in him found their overprotectiveness stifling. “I often escaped to the palace to play
with my cousin. My real parents treated me as a beloved nephew. It was difficult for us. Perhaps most of all for Erik. Raised
as Chivalri’s future king, he was brought up with wealth, power, and privilege, yet he knew that when my father died or abdicated,
it would be me who took the throne.” Rion paused. “But that time never came. Erik saved me. And the Unari took over and…”
So many good people had died that day. It would not be in vain. He’d promised his dying uncle that he would return and set
his people free. “You know the rest.”

“Why did you keep up the deception after you left Honor?” She paced in front of him, her steps quick and furious.

“When I landed on Pendragon, survival was my primary goal. I didn’t speak to anyone until I’d healed from the crash and hiked
to civilization. As an uninvited alien, I was uncertain of my welcome. To survive, I went even deeper undercover and hid not
just my heritage, but my ability to dragonshape, as well as my planet of origin.”

“But you told my brother you came from another world. Why not tell him your position, too?”

He shrugged. “Telling him could have put him in danger. I suspected that the Unari have advance teams already in place on
Pendragon and Earth. And if those advance teams had known I lived, that your brother knew, the Unari wouldn’t have hesitated
to come after him to get to me.”

Anger and understanding flashed in her eyes. “You kept your secret because it was to your advantage to do so.”

“I did.” He should have known she’d accept nothing less than the entire truth. “I may be the only surviving member of the
royal family. It’s up to me to free my people.”

“I get it.” She shook her head. “You must put the safety of your people before everything else.”

He lowered his voice. “There won’t be any more lies. I’m all out of secrets.” He shot her a contrite look. “I really am sorry.”

Her expression didn’t soften. She didn’t say anything.

He sighed. “I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone.”

Still she said nothing.

“While the needs of my world must come before my own, and the needs of my people must come before my own honor, I don’t have
the luxury of taking the high road—not when that decision means billions of my people are at risk.” He leaned back and closed
his eyes. “Choosing between duty and honor is a choice no man should have to make. In truth, Erik might have been more cut
out for the role of king than I will ever be.”

“Because he was raised in the palace?”

“Perhaps.”

“If you weren’t born to be king, what would you have chosen?”

“As a kid?” He grinned. “I wanted to be a planetary explorer. As I grew up, any career where I didn’t have to spend hours
in school studying diplomacy, protocol, leadership skills, and military tactics held major appeal.”

Her tone was soft but threaded with thoughtfulness. “So you don’t covet power?”

“Power is merely a tool, which can be used for good or evil. But I would prefer to be a leader of peace, not war.”

Marisa sat on the bench, kicked off her shoes, and tucked her legs under her. Her spine was straight, her blue eyes thoughtful
yet steely with determination. “If you lie to me again, I won’t help you.”

“I understand.” He had to be grateful for small blessings. Yet he could see that she’d retreated on a personal level, and
he was truly sorry for that.

But this withdrawal was for the best. He was becoming too attached.

He stood and located the ship’s head, where he quickly turned his skin back to its normal bronze. When he returned to the
bridge, Marisa stood staring out the view screen. “On Honor, we don’t tint our skin. And when we land, I’d rather we didn’t
look like Torans.”

With a nod, Marisa disappeared into the head. A few minutes later she came out, wearing her Earth clothing—jeans, layered
tank tops, a loose jacket, and shoes. Her skin was once again flesh toned, her hair its natural chestnut. It didn’t matter
what color she was, Marisa was beautiful, regal. Even when disappointed, she handled herself with intelligence and grace.

Merlin hooted shrilly, pecked the touchpad, and fluttered his wings, drawing Rion’s attention. A computer voice came through
the speaker system. “Captain, I’m picking up a message.”