Wray (29 page)

“No
,
Jael, it is I
who am in your debt” Wray looked the male in the eye and Jael saw
he spoke the truth. “Empress Kim is the most important thing in the
universe to me, but she is new to our ways and anyone that can help
her with this transition has my gratitude. Lady Caitir has already
shown her ability in doing this and it is my hope that you will
too.”

“It would be our honor to serve both of you,
Majesty.”

“Good. Veron, " Wray looked to his Captain
who gave no hint of the surprise his Emperor had just thrown him.
"make
the
arrangements.”

“Of course
,
Majesty.” Veron replied, bowing slightly.

“This is so wonderful!” Kim didn’t try to
contain her excitement as she leaned over to hug Caitir. She was
going to have someone else to talk to, a female, someone that would
help her understand Tornian life as only a female could.

Caitir found herself hugging the Empress
back. How had the universe, so drastically changed, in such a short
time? All because of one small female?”

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

“Thank you
,
Wray.”
Resting her hands on his chest Kim stretched up on her toes to kiss
him.

“For what
,
my Kim?”
Wray asked, gripping her waist to keep her lips against his.

“For understanding.” She said, sliding her
hands around his neck as she kissed him again.

“What did I understand
,
Kim?” Wray ran his hands down her sides to grasp her
ass and lift her against his growing shaft.

“That…” Kim lost her train of thought as
Wray’s tongue slid along her lower lip. Groaning, she wrapped her
lips around it and suck
ed
it into her
mouth.

Wray fingers sunk into Kim’s lush ass,
lifting her off the floor, his mouth attacking hers.
Goddess
,
she was so soft. Growling Wray
moved towards their bed intent on satisfying both their needs.

“Manno!”

Wray froze at the sound of Tora’s voice
echoing through the open door of their resting chamber. He’d
forgotten Tora would be joining them for a last meal and by the way
Kim was stiffening in his arms, she apparently had too.

“Wray…” she whispered, aghast at the thought
of Tora walking in on them and buried her face in his chest. How
could she have forgotten Tora was coming?

“We will be out in a minute
,
Tora!” Wray called out as he slowly lowered Kim’s
feet to the floor. “It will be fine
,
my
Kim.” He said running a reassuring knuckle along her cheek.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

“
We?”
Tora thought to himself pausing
in the outer chamber confused. He had been on the other side of
Vesta when he’d received word that his manno had arrived and wanted
to see him. He immediately boarded a shuttle because when the
Emperor summoned you, you went, manno or not. Now he had him
waiting in the outer chamber. Why? He has never done that before.
Especially not when it has been just them… but he said
‘We’
.
Could it be Veron? If so, why couldn’t he join them?

He walked towards the window and looked out
over the darkening grounds of House Reeve. He had only been here
three months, but knew because of Vesta’s importance he would need
to stay longer than he had with the other Lords. He wasn’t happy
about that. He didn’t like it here. Didn’t like the way Reeve’s
Warriors treated those who
weren't
warriors, but it was not his place to correct it. Not yet. His
purpose here was to learn, and he was, he was learning what he
didn’t
want to be.

He hoped, that after his year of training was
finished here, he could travel to Luda and complete his training
with Grim. He knew
there
, his manno’s blood brother, would
give him no concessions for who he was and neither would his
warriors.

Grim would demand he train harder than any
other male there and Tora welcomed it, for only on Betelgeuse with
Lord Oryon of House Rigel had he been given no special treatment.
Lord Oryon had made him earn every word of praise he received. He
hadn’t wanted to leave.

“Tora!”

His manno’s voice had Tora turning from the
window, a smile breaking out across his face as his manno moved
towards him, giving him a quick hug.

“Manno.” Tora responded hugging him back.

“You look well
,
Tora. Are you?” Wray’s eyes scrutinized his offspring. He
remembered what it was like to be sent to the Houses, to be treated
differently, to never be seen as one of them. As a true Tornian
Warrior.

“I am well
,
manno.”
Tora told him, refusing to share his troubles. He would one day be
Emperor and that meant he would need to handle his problems alone,
for to be Emperor was to be alone, especially for him, since Van
was gone.

“You appear so.” Wray’s eyes continued to
assess him. It had been nearly six months since he had seen Tora.
He had been on Betelgeuse then and had seemed more… content there.
“You would tell me if there were problems?”

“Of course
,
manno.”
Tora easily lied to him, knowing any interference by his manno
would make him appear weak and many already considered him that.
Thanks to his failure to save Van.

“Good. Your training is going well then.”
Wray questioned.

“I am learning a great deal here on Vesta.”
Tora said evasively.

“Good.”

“May I ask manno? Why are you here?”

“It appears there is some problem with the
food supplies leaving Vesta for the Kaliszian Empire.”

“What?!!” Tora couldn’t hide his shock. Those
supplies were vital for the Kaliszians.

“Have you seen anything unusual?”

“No, but I haven’t been involved with the
loading of shipments. I've just been overseeing the harvests.”

“Lord Reeve claims the supplies are going
missing
after
the Kaliszian ships leave Vesta.”

“It is possible, but why would their Warriors
do that?”

“Reeve claims they would be able to resell
them for extreme credits.”

“No fit male would do such a thing!”

“They would not be fit males now would they?”
Wray said, raising an eyebrow.

“Wray?” The hesitant question had him turning
to find Kim watching them with a nervous smile on her lips.

“Kim… I am sorry.” Wray quickly moved to her
side.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, Wray. You
were talking to your son… offspring.” Kim gave him a
self-deprecating smile. “Eventually I’ll get the hang of all these
differences.”

“You are doing fine
,
my Kim.” Wray told her, rubbing reassuring hands up and down her
arms. “My world is strange to you and you have already learned a
great deal in a very short time.”

“I know I just hate being stupid.”

“Do not say that!” Wray gave her an angry
little shake. “You are not stupid and I will tolerate no one saying
you are. Not even you.”

Kim reached up and put a calming hand on his
cheek. “I didn’t mean it
exactly
that way
,
Wray. I just meant that sometimes I make mistakes I
feel I shouldn’t make.”

“They are not mistakes
,
my Kim
,
they are just the
words from your world. They mean the same and I find them warmer,
more caring, than our words.”

Tora stood frozen in shock as his manno spoke
to the small strange looking female. Where had she come from? Why
was she here? More importantly, why was his manno touching her with
such familiarity? Why was she allowing it?

He was even more shocked when green eyes
suddenly turned and looked directly at him. There was a warmth in
them that he has never seen before in a female’s eye.

“Will you introduce me to your offspring?”
she asked, looking back to his manno.

“Of course.” Wray said, turning so they both
faced Tora. “Kim, I present to you my first male offspring and
future Emperor, Tora Vasteri.”

“It’s very nice to finally meet
you
,
Tora.” Kim said still smiling.

“Tora, this is Kim Teel, from the planet
Earth. She is your Empress.”

“What?” The words exploded from Tora as his
eyes flew to his manno. “What did you say?”

“I have taken Kim as my Empress and she has
accepted.” Wray said, ignoring Kim’s small snort and continued to
stare at Tora, his eyes turning hard. “You will show her your
respect.”

Kim’s smile began to fade at Wray’s words and
Tora’s continued silence.

“Wray…” Kim began.

“Tora!” Wray roared.

Finally, Tora put an arm across his chest and
bowed. "Empress.” he said stiffly.

Kim didn’t miss how Tora called her Empress
when she had called him Tora. Apparently, he didn’t want to be
friends. Could she really blame him? This had to come as a
shock.

Wray didn’t miss it either by the way his
chest started to rumble.

A knock on the outer door stopped anything
from erupting.

“Enter!” Wray ordered, his eyes still glaring
at Tora.

At his order, the doors opened and Veron
escorted several servants into the room carrying trays of food.

“On the table over there, please.” Kim
ordered, gesturing to the large table as Wray and Tora continued to
glare at each other.

“Yes
,
majesty.”
Veron motioned to the servants, but his eyes moved from his Emperor
to his Prince. Veron has never seen them glare at each other like
that.

“That will be all
,
Captain.” Kim said, ignoring his surprised look as she dismissed
him.

“Do as your Empress has ordered
,
Captain.” Wray told him
,
his eyes still on Tora.

“Yes
,
majesty.”
Veron quickly replied and with a deep bow, he quickly followed the
servants out of the room, closing the doors.

“Alright boys, that’s enough.” Kim said as
Wray and Tora continued to glare at each other. No one would ever
doubt that they were manno and offspring. They stood the same way,
frowned the same way, set their jaw the same stubborn way. They
even crossed their arms over their chests the same way. The only
difference between them was that Wray was larger, his chest more
massive than Tora’s but she didn’t think it would be true for much
longer. Especially when two sets of eyes turned to her with the
same disbelief in them.

“Don’t give me that look." She told them.
"The food is getting cold and I for one am hungry.” Turning her
back on them Kim walked over to the table and sat down. This wasn't
how she had wanted her first meeting with Tora to go, but what had
gone the way she wanted since her parents’ deaths?

Looking at the overflowing platters, she
realized that they were once again filled with foods she didn't
recognize. Stopping the heavy sigh that wanted to escape, she
reached out for what looked to be a meat filled pastry.

"You will not like that, my Kim." Wray said,
stopping her hand as he sat down next to her. "The meat is heavily
seasoned with an herb that most find extremely strong."

"Then why is it on the platter?" She asked,
frowning.

"Because Lord Reeve's cook discovered I liked
it." Tora replied slowly sitting down across from her.

"I see." Kim said looking at the other items
on the platter. "So that would mean these are all your favorites."
She said, circling her finger at all the items on the platter.

"Yes." Tora agreed.

"Then here you go, enjoy." Kim slid the
platter towards him, then looked at the second platter, it was also
filled with strange concoctions and she slid it towards Wray. "So
these must be your favorites. And this," she reached for the third
platter that held a simple array of fruits, vegetables and some
meat. The same things that had been served to them the night
before. "Must be for the Emperor's ‘strange’ new female."

Kim didn't know why she was suddenly so
upset, but she was. She had known this wasn't going to be easy. She
should have been more prepared for Tora not immediately accepting
her. She wouldn't have, if the situation had been reversed, but she
had hoped. She was tired of everyone looking at her as if she had
two heads and had secretly hoped Tora would be more like Wray than
like the other males she'd met. She was wrong.

"You are
not
strange, my Kim." Wray
immediately denied and gently cupped her cheek so she had to look
at him.

"In your world I am." She whispered, rapidly
blinking back the tears that filled her eyes.

"Then it's
my
world that is at fault
Kim, for
you
are absolutely perfect."

"No one is perfect, Wray." She argued
gently.

"You are." He argued back defending her even
against herself. "You are perfect for me."

"So we'll be strange together?" She asked, a
small smile twitching at her lips.

"Yes, because that's what we are, Kim.
Together. My most solemn vow. I will let nothing and no one
separate us." Leaning over he captured her lips, sealing his
words.

Tora stared at his manno in disbelief. What
was he saying? What sort of power did this female have over him
that he would give her his most solemn vow? That vow reserved for
only the most dire or important occasions. It meant the Emperor
would do whatever it took to keep it, even forfeit his own life if
necessary. It was never given to a female. Especially not a
non-Tornian female. And why was his manno pressing his mouth
against the female's like that?

Kim sunk into Wray's kiss and let it ease the
hurt Tora had unknowingly caused... Tora... Pulling back, her gaze
flew to Wray's offspring and saw a very confused young man... male
staring at them.