Taken (Calliston Series - Book 1) (13 page)

Tarn frowned at Viktor. "You do not feel like you could go into battle and slay ten enemies?"
 

Viktor's eyebrow rose at Tarn's analogy. "Lyrissian mating is even more different than I thought."

"Why would U-man males mate if it leaves them tired?" Tarn asked.

Viktor pointed at S'rea. "Have you seen the smile I left on your daughter's face?"

Tarn looked warmly at S'rea. "Yes, it is a miracle," he said. "Thank you."

Viktor had never before been thanked by the father of the girl he had just slept with before. He just nodded and accepted the gratitude.

"About what happens next," Tarn said. "Talks will move faster. Your union with my daughter gives us an advantage. It will force the king to make a decision sooner than intended."

"And no one dies," Viktor added. "Well played, by the way."

"I do not know what you are talking about," Tarn said, feigning innocence.

"If you hadn't demanded proof," Viktor said, "I'd be dead and the negotiations would have been lost to the Orka."

Tarn grinned. "Carrying her out of the room was over the top."

Viktor shrugged. "Seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Wanted to make an impression."

"It did," said Tarn. "It drew a lot of attention."

Viktor chuckled. "I'll have to leave this part out of my report. It's probably frowned upon to mate with the opposing side's daughter in order to speed up negotiations."

Tarn barked, which made the whole situation seem more surreal to Viktor. When the Lyrissian calmed down, he looked again to his daughter, who had rolled away from them at some point during their conversation. There was one question left that he needed an answer to: "Will there be a child?"
 

Viktor felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him. He'd never considered the consequences of what they had done. He had no idea how to answer that question. Luckily, he didn't have to.

"No."

Both males looked at her. "S'rea?" Tarn asked quietly.

"There will be no child. U-man and Lyrissian physiology are too different to allow it," she explained with her back to them.

Viktor watched Tarn stare solemnly at the floor. He seemed saddened by the news. The Lyrissian already had half a dozen grandchildren, and if Ne'a and Sarn had been successful, he would have his first great-grandchild. Why was Tarn upset by the fact he would have one less grandchild? One that he probably would not have had anyway, considering S'rea seemed so determined to deter potential mates.

"How are you?" Tarn asked his daughter.

"I am fine, father," she said. "The U-man did not hurt me."

Viktor quietly winced. Not because she had injured him, but because she still referred to him as
the
U-man
, even after what they had just experienced together. He supposed he shouldn't have expected otherwise. As far as she was concerned, Viktor would be gone soon. Why bother to give him a name?

"The U-man needs to sleep," Viktor interrupted. "He's tired."

"Of course," said Tarn before ignoring him in favor of his daughter. S'rea didn't even respond.

Viktor clenched his jaw and left them to it.
Well played, all right
, he thought to himself.
Like a damn fiddle
.

* * *

S'rea felt her father seat himself on the edge of her bed and. "Do you want your scanner?"

"No," she said. "I will study the data already gathered, later."

"What is wrong, S'rea

"I do not know," she finally confessed. "I enjoyed it. It was unlike anything I had experienced before. I cannot describe it. I wanted it to never end."

She could tell he was surprised by her words. It was very rare for females to feel anything during the act of mating; it was seen as a necessity of life that was required only once a year.

"It was…beautiful," she said. "But now I feel empty inside."

Tarn placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "When your mother was taken from us," Tarn said quietly, "I died also."

* * *

S'rea turned her head and stared at her father. He had never spoken of her mother's death and how it had affected him. To her it seemed as if he had forgotten she had ever existed. "Mother used to tell me of how the two of you met and mated," she said. "Will you tell me your version of events?"
 

Tarn nodded. "I used to visit her father here at his house, for work and social obligations. Your mother was always around. She was an opinionated child. The exact opposite of her older sister, T'ea. T'ea was the one who got all of the attention from my colleagues."

"They wanted to get into grandfather's good graces by mating with his eldest daughter?" S'rea asked.

"Yes. He knew this and so did T'ea."
 

"So did you attempt to mate with T'ea?" S'rea asked. Her mother had never mentioned her sister in her stories.

"No. I found her boring," said Tarn. "Your mother, even at a young age, was more interesting. She would constantly argue with me. We enjoyed trying to change each other's minds. I knew I had won when she would call me names. Her vocabulary was larger than yours."

S'rea smiled at that. She knew her father noticed the expression, but he did not comment on it. "Mother said you had wanted to raise your status before mating with a female. She believed you had your mind set on someone and decided to change your mind. If it was not T'ea, then who was it?"

"That is only half true," Tarn said. "I was waiting, but it was for your mother. I made sure I had enough to offer her when she was ready to mate."

S'rea pushed herself up into a sitting position so she could better see her father. "I do not think she knew that," she said. "She told me that she changed your mind about your intended mate by enticing you with her scent and making you chase her across the city."

"I chased her," Tarn said, and grinned at the memory. "I always chased her. Life was never dull when she was alive."

"Are you saying your life is dull now?"
 

"If not for you and your sisters, I would have gone to an early urn," he said. "You especially, S'rea. You are so much like your mother. When I look at you I know that part of her still lives, and that is enough for me to go on."

* * *

Viktor woke the next morning, a little horny and a lot sore. Tarn, being the ever-protective father, had not held back when he had attacked Viktor last night.

"Ow." Viktor winced as he probed his injuries. A black eye and several bruises, including the one S'rea had inflicted upon him. Still, that would not stop him from doing his duty and meeting with the Lyrissian king later that morning. He had been informed of the summons after leaving S'rea's bedroom. Word had obviously traveled fast.

Tarn escorted Viktor to the meeting. Neither said a word. S'rea was nowhere to be seen, and Viktor put that down to his fulfilling his usefulness to her. Females, it seemed, were the same, no matter what the species.

"Other than insulting the king's parentage," Viktor said, breaking the silence, "is there anything else I should avoid?"

Tarn pondered the question carefully. "Do not touch any females."

Viktor frowned but nodded.

"You are mated now," Tarn explained. "Other females do not exist to you."

"You want me to ignore all females?" Viktor asked. "Is that Tarn the diplomat speaking or Tarn the father?"

"Both," said Tarn.

"I'll take that under advisement," Viktor said dryly.

"Good."

They arrived at the king's apartments, and at the entrance Viktor continued on alone. He was seated in a modest waiting area and informed that the king would be available in an hour. Instead of being annoyed at the wait, Viktor smiled and gathered his thoughts for the meeting.

Ten minutes later, Viktor was bored. It was also when he realized he wasn't alone. Movement, from behind one of the curtains that framed the main window, indicated that someone was spying on him.

Viktor considered his options: confront the spy or ignore them. He opted to fart instead and see what the smell would flush out. After all, it had worked before.

Someone thrashed behind the curtain before making a dash for the door. They had to run past Viktor to get there, and that was when he caught them by the arm.

"You're a girl!" Viktor exclaimed in surprise. He hadn't seen a single Lyrissian child since his arrival on the planet and he was beginning to wonder if they even existed.

The girl in question stared back at him while trying to block her nose.

"Sorry for the smell," he said, and let go of her. "It should be gone soon. I'm Viktor. What is your name?"

"S'ana," she said, and tested the air for pollutants. "You are the U-man peacetalker?"

Viktor sighed. "Yes, I'm the U-man peacetalker."

S'ana walked a complete circle around him, studying him. "You look funny," she finally decided.

"So do you."

She considered that for a moment, seemed to take it in her stride and shrugged.

"What were you doing back there?" he asked.

"Hiding."

"From anyone in particular?"

"A few," she said. "Will you tell on me?"

Viktor smiled. She looked so innocent with her large, dark eyes and mess of long curls. "I won't tell. Would you like to keep me company?"
 

"I am mated," she told him unexpectedly.

"That wasn't the kind of company I meant," he said, a little worried now that he may be overstepping some boundary. "You look very young to be mated."

S'ana shrugged. "We have not mated but we will. Are you the U-man that mated with Tarn's daughter?"
 

"Yes," Viktor said carefully. Lyrissians, it seemed, were very open with their children.

"I like Tarn," she said.

"I like Tarn too."

"Tarn's daughter rejected my cousin," she said, "twice."

"It sounds like he didn't learn his lesson the first time."

"My cousin is dumb," she said.

Viktor laughed, and S'ana grinned at him.

"I like that noise," she said, and tried to imitate his laugh. "Is that why Tarn's daughter mated with you?"

Viktor quieted. "I don't know why. Perhaps I was the lesser of two evils," he said. "What about your intended mate?"

S'ana groaned. "He is boring. All he wants to talk about is war, fighting, weapons, ships."

"What do you want to talk about?"
 

"I want to know what is outside of the solar system," she said. "I want to talk about new cultures, I want to talk about food, I want to talk about everything."

"Everything except war, fighting weapons and ships?" Viktor asked.

"Yes," she said. "That would be nice."

Viktor pulled a tablet out of his inside jacket pocket and sat down on the floor. "I'll see what I can do," he said, and beckoned for her to join him. Together they studied what he had to show her of the outside universe.

* * *

"How did it go?" Tarn asked when Viktor exited the apartments a few hours later.

Viktor scratched his head and said, "I'm not sure." He had been reluctant to leave S'ana, especially when he met with a young male who turned out to be rather boring. Viktor had wondered if that was the male S'ana was supposed to mate with. He hoped not.

"The public have been told the king will announce peace this afternoon," Tarn said.

"Were the public told who with?" Viktor asked.

"No," said Tarn. "I am confident you impressed the king."

Viktor did not share Tarn's confidence. The meeting had been too short and ineffectual. "I guess we'll see," was all he could say to that.

* * *

S'rea sat in the balcony with the rest of her family. This time most of her sisters had joined them. That many daughters of Tarn were a formidable sight. Large families were common on Lyrissia, but Tarn was one of the very few to sire thirteen daughters. He was envied by many males for this feat alone. Many more envied him his position and status within the government. None envied him for being the father of S'rea and the father-in-law to a U-man.

Viktor usurped Ae'a for the seat of honor beside their father. S'rea's eldest sister was livid. "How dare that U-man," she muttered.

"What about your new brother?" S'rea said. She was satisfied to see Ae'a blanch at the reminder that this outworlder was now part of her family. Smug, she returned her attention to the stage. So many futures, not just those of the Lyrissians, would be decided with this announcement.

* * *

Viktor had heard Ae'a but held his tongue. Tarn barked quietly at the exchange.

The room quieted when a small procession marched onto the stage. Viktor saw S'ana amongst them and wondered again at her position. The young male he had also met stepped forward and addressed the packed auditorium.

"People of Lyrissia," he said. "We have been at war with two different people: the Orka and the Alliance of Worlds. Our representatives and government have spent many hours negotiating two very different peace treaties. The king will only be signing one of those treaties."

"Why not both?" Viktor whispered to Tarn. This was a point that had bothered him since he had found out about the Orka negotiations.

"The Orka refuse to share peace with the Alliance," Tarn said. "We either make peace with you or with them."

"You are here to hear the decision of the king," the young male continued. "You shall hear the decision of the king."

The auditorium spontaneously broke out in applause, and it took several minutes for them to calm down. Those on the stage remained calm, while the Orka who were seated on the ground level seemed unable to contain themselves.

"The king has decided," the male said once the crowd had died down, "to make peace with the Alliance of Worlds."

The crowd went wild. Viktor closed his eyes, relieved at the outcome. S'rea breathed a sigh of relief. Ae'a huffed and someone screamed.

Viktor's eyes flew open. He scanned the large room to find the source of the disturbance. The Orka had taken the stage and raised their weapons. Weapons that they had not been permitted to carry while on the planet. One of the Orka females restrained a small Lyrissian. Viktor leaned forward in his seat to make out who from the procession they had.