Bryn’s black eyes flickered to me. ‘There’s a cross-Sector peace summit on Natare in a few weeks’ time. It’s supposed to be focused on theRoth issue.’ He gave a fleeting grin. ‘What if we went?’
Alcide blinked. ‘The Tirians would shoot us down the moment we arrived in thequadrant, Bryn. They wouldn’t let usnearNatare, peace summit or no peace summit.’
‘So we don’t tell them we’re coming, and once we get there, we present Scytha’s new King – andQueen,’ Bryn answered. ‘We introduce the summit to our beautiful, verynon-RothQueen, who makes a pretty speech about how happy she is with her beloved husband, and howconcernedshe is about the civil war tearing her new planet apart, and the plans that she and her husband have to not only keep the peace on Scytha, but tosign the Intergalactic Pact and commit to halting the Roth’s policy of expansion, something thatno other Roth ruler has ever done.’
Alcide went so still I could imagine even his heart had stopped beating.
We waited.
‘Do you think that would work?’ he said eventually, his voice barely a whisper.
Bryn shrugged. ‘I have no idea. But I think our chances of emerging alive are better in this scenario than they would be if we rushed home.’
Alcide’s eyes flickered to me. ‘I’d need to claim Anna soon.’
‘Now,’ Bryn said.
My stomach sank. ‘Has she agreed?’ I said gruffly, not really wanting to know.
Alcide closed his eyes. ‘We didn’t talk about it. But I am … hopeful.’
I turned away.
There was a trick I’d been taught during military training. Take a breath, then take a mental step to one side, and leave your feelings behind. When you were part of a unit and commanded to do something that invoked emotion, you took that step to the side, and it allowed you to do things you never would in your normal life. Like discharging a weapon, or hurting your own kind, or planning an attack that would wipe out a town.
Or, in this case, reconciling the fact that the male you were in love with would claim the female you were fairly sure you werealsoin love with, and that you would have no part in their relationship.
I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes. I took a mental step to the side.
I opened my eyes, and turned back around. ‘All right then,’ I said calmly. ‘What do we need to do to make it happen?’
Alcide straightened. ‘I need to ask Anna again. Explain the situation.’
‘Darius trained at the temple,’ Bryn said, surprising me. ‘He can officiate. There can be no question of the ceremony’s legitimacy.’
Alcide gave a sharp nod. ‘That’s all we need.’ He swallowed. ‘I would have liked it to have been special.’
My nostrils flared and I took another mental step to the side. ‘Itwillbe special, Cide. You respect Anna. You’ll give her everything she wants and needs. It won’t just be special – it will beremarkable.’
Alcide gave me a look I could not read. ‘All right,’ he said, after a moment’s silence. ‘Cal, will you get her, please?’ He leanedover the control panel and pressed the comms button. ‘Darius? When you’ve finished the task at hand, will you come to the bridge?’
I stared at him. ‘Now?’
‘There’s no time like the present,’ he said tightly.
‘You’re going to claim her …now,’ I said slowly.
‘Callan –’
‘Now, now. As in,here.Now.’
Alcide adjusted the already-perfect collar of his jacket. ‘We’ve established that. Only if she agrees, of course.’
I took a breath, and another step. It was both mental and physical; I stepped back from Alcide. It didn’t work, though; hurt bloomed in my chest, as tangible as any real injury. I’d lost both of them –and I’d never had either of them to begin with.
My hands clenched into fists. ‘As you wish, Majesty,’ I said, and I turned on my heel and left the bridge.
I barely saw the corridors as I stormed through them, and I ignored Taran’s startled glance when I brushed past him without apologising. It seemed only a heartbeat later that I was at the cell and stepping inside.
