Unbound Read online

  “Are you suggesting the Princess ought to stay cooped up indoors and out of the sun?” the Queen demanded. “She’s already too pale and pasty as it is! She has to look presentable at the ball tonight if we’re to secure an advantageous match with her new suitor.”

  “New suitor?” Varin felt a rush of possessive rage which he struggled to push down. In the back of his mind, he had known this day would come. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that Brynn was his. The idea of her with any other male drove him into a murderous rage. But he couldn’t show that to the King and Queen—not if he wanted to be able to continue to guard their daughter. Instead he cleared his throat and said, “I have not heard that you had found someone you considered a worthy candidate to wed the Princess.”

  “Worthy candidate?” The Queen gave a derisive laugh. “Please—it’s been no secret that we’ve been seeking her a husband from the moment she came back from the Sisters of Chastity and Obedience. Her brother the Crown Prince will take the throne once the King and I are gone—we don’t need a second heir.”

  “I see.” Varin nodded, striving to keep his face calm and emotionless. “And as the Princess’s protector, may I know his name?”

  “The impertinence!” the Queen exclaimed but the King made a dismissive gesture.

  “Peace, Isolde. It makes no difference if the slave knows or not. He is Sovereign Ysldred X’izith,” he said, addressing himself to Varin. “Ruler of a planet somewhere outside our sector. Zelum or Jelum—something like that.”

  “Somewhere outside our sector? You don’t even know the exact name or location of his planet?” Varin demanded.

  “We know that he’s wealthy and he’s expressed interest in the princess,” the Queen snapped. “And that’s a good deal more than you need to know. Your only function at the ball tonight is to guard the princess from afar and don’t interfere! I won’t have you ruining this chance for her!”

  This chance for you, you mean, Varin thought bitterly. The chance to sell away your only daughter like a trinket you don’t like very much.

  He felt a helpless rage sweep over him. These two had never cared about Brynn—especially after they had a male heir! Packing her off to a convent for the first eighteen years of her life so they wouldn’t have to be “bothered” with her…never visiting her a single time…and Brynn had told him herself, in a shamed whisper, how the Queen had called her a “disappointment” at their very first meeting.

  Varin struggled with himself for a moment, fighting to keep his composure when what he really wanted to do was knock their royal heads together for being so callus and uncaring towards the beautiful, sensitive girl who should have been their most precious treasure.

  “Was there something else, slave?” the King asked, frowning at him.

  “Yes, your Majesty—there is.” Varin took a deep breath. “This is a delicate subject but…there were some rumors about a possible ‘deflowering.’ I normally would never ask you such a thing but as Princess Brynnalla’s protector, I need to make certain that’s all they are—just idle rumors with no basis in truth. The old customs were barbaric…brutal. I cannot see the Princess subjected to such cruelty.”

  “Well!” The Queen sounded offended but the King answered, still frowning.

  “I will answer only because you are, as you say, the Princess’s protector. As you know, the royal females of our lineage used to have…difficulties in accommodating their new husbands when they were first joined. But that was in ancient times, before our blood was somewhat diluted and thinned. We no longer have this problem, and so the deflowering ceremony and the equipment used to perform it is no longer needed.”

  “Good.” Varin felt a rush of relief. “Thank you for reassuring me, your Majesty. The Princess is too delicate for such treatment.”

  “Yes, yes…” The King waved one hand in irritation. “Now go—Queen Isolde and I have other matters to attend to—you have taken up enough of our time.”

  “Yes, your Majesty.” Varin bowed stiffly. “I thank you for your kind indulgence.”

  “Very well, then go.” The Queen sounded irritated. “And be certain you’re on your best behavior tonight!”

  Varin simply bowed again and left. There was nothing else he could do or say except stay as close to Brynn as he could and protect her with his life.

  Chapter Twelve

  “My Sovereign, your costume and mask are ready.” The buzzing hum of the worker in his ear drew Ysldred X’izith’s attention from his view of the small blue and pink world outside his window.

  The Hive had been scouting Galen Prime for some time now, considering whether to make it their next conquest. The world was rich with resources but it was also overrun by a fleshy, humanoid species that might prove to be troublesome. X’izith had been weighing his options, waiting to see if they were good for breeding, as well as for meat. Some fleshers were incompatible with his species—in which case it wouldn’t be worth the risk to the Hive to expend the energy and resources to take them.

  About two solar weeks ago, the scout he had sent to the planet had returned with a flesher female with long yellow hair and pale skin. She had shouted and screamed, the strange water the fleshers called tears pouring from her green eyes, until the workers had drugged her with the Blood Honey.

  After she was brought to heat, X’izith had implanted her with multiple common grubs—(he would not risk royal grubs on a female of uncertain pedigree.) The implantation had been somewhat problematic, though—there had been a barrier between her legs, in the way of his breeding barb which he disliked, for it impeded the proper implantation.

  But his barb was sharp for a reason. After piercing the flesher female’s abdomen multiple time from above, he had finally implanted the grubs. And, to his intense satisfaction, they appeared to be thriving within her—at least, if the ripples in her distended belly were anything to go by.

  Of course, such methods would not do for royal grubs and anyway, he preferred sheathing his breeding barb between a female’s thighs rather than stabbing it into her abdomen. The pleasure was much more intense that way.

  Upon accessing, translating and reading more about the fleshers of Galen Prime, he found that this abnormally tough membrane was common to Galen females who had yet to be bred—those of noble or royal blood, anyway. But they appeared to have a method of dealing with it, which would take care of the problem. X’izith had filed the information away and promised himself that with the next female—the royal female he would take—things would go more smoothly.

  But the fact that the breeding was possible at all, decided him. Accordingly, he had made plans to take the small world of Galen Prime, but it had to be done stealthily—which was where his new costume came into play.

  “Bring it to me,” he ordered the worker, clicking his mandibles eagerly. “Let me see how it fits—it had better be perfect!”

  “Yes, my Sovereign.” The worker scurried off, his many legs clacking over the metal floors of the stolen flesher spaceship. Of course, the Hive had their own ships for space-faring but they tended to look different and alien to flesher eyes. X’izith had found it was best to disguise his outside appearance in every way—including the ship he took—until he was certain a target was within his grasp.

  This was the same reason he had kept the original crew of the stolen ship—for their humanoid appearance as well as their piloting abilities. Of course, they could no longer think for themselves. They had blank looks on their fleshy faces, staring straight ahead as they worked the controls of the ship. X’izith had injected a special serum only he could make into the base of their skulls which gave him complete control over them. They were most useful as a backdrop for his disguise, which the worker was currently fetching.

  “Here you are, my Sovereign.” The worker was back, grasping the flesher clothing carefully in several appendages. “This new disguise should fool even the most discerning flesher. The artisans have worked for many long solar hours to complete it.” He held