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  “Thank you, Varin.” Brynn drew a deep breath and looked at him gratefully. “That means so much to me—more than you can know.”

  Once again she had the urge to hug him and once again she pushed the urge away. She was still wearing the ridiculous gown and he was still bare-chested. Not only that, he’d just endured the Goddess alone knew how much agony, inflicted on him by that damn pain collar even though he had only been doing his job in protecting her. Yet Brynn knew if she said anything about wanting a hug, he would hug her even though it hurt him.

  I can’t hurt him anymore, she thought, wrapping her arms around her bare shoulders protectively. I can’t! But, oh, how she longed to be held safely in his arms!

  With an unhappy sigh, she settled on the edge of her bed. It probably wouldn’t be safe to hug him anyway—who knew if they were being watched?

  “I guess there’s nothing to do now but wait,” she said in a low voice.

  “That’s right, little one.” Varin blew out a breath. “Just sit here and wait for the bad news. But don’t worry—I won’t leave you.”

  “Thank you, Varin.” She looked up and gave him a small, trembling smile. “Even with everything else that’s happening, knowing that you’ll be with me makes me feel better.”

  “I’ll be there, all right,” he promised, his bronze eyes blazing. “I’ll never willingly leave your side. That I swear.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Now then—since we’re all at ease, I think we can begin.”

  The King settled himself more comfortably in the plush, richly upholstered chair in his private apartment which was hung with tapestries depicting a zanther hunt in gold and silver threads. The Queen settled beside him on an equally rich sofa with pearlescent blue silk pillows embroidered in vermillion flowers.

  Sovereign Ysldred X’izith sat stiffly across from them, his long legs splayed out at awkward angles.

  “You said in your message that you were very interested in the Princess because of our excellent bloodlines.” The Queen leaned forward eagerly.

  “Yes, well—we do come from a long line of royalty.” The King sounded smugly impressed by his own lineage.

  “Yes—such genetic perfection and compatibility with my own species is difficult to find.” X’izith nodded stiffly. His right eyeball rolled, apparently looking at the wall while his left jittered, trying to focus on the royal couple.

  “Oh, genetic perfection! Did you hear that my dear?” The Queen fluttered importantly, preening at the compliment.

  If she or the King noticed the strange way X’izith’s eyes seemed to move independently from each other or the tiny thread of drool hanging from one corner of his thin, red mouth, they certainly didn’t show it. The riches they were hoping to get were of paramount importance—any strange little foibles of the male proposing to take their daughter off their hands and pay handsomely for her into the bargain were not their business.

  “Now, the sum you mentioned for the Princess’s bride price in your message was…a-hem, most impressive,” the King said. “Would you be paying that all in gold ore like the kind you included to show your interest, or do you have other assets you’d like to use?”

  “If gold ore is acceptable, I have a surplus of it at the moment,” X’izith said, nodding stiffly. “But there is a problem we must address before I can make payment and take possession of the Princess.”

  “Oh? And what’s that?” the Queen asked anxiously. “I’m certain we can fix any issue you have, Sovereign.”

  “It is the matter of her…” X’izith seemed to be groping for words. “Her maiden barrier. Is it intact?”

  “Brynnalla was raised at the convent of the Sisters of Chastity and Obedience so I can assure you with certainty that she is intact. A true virgin,” the Queen said eagerly.

  “The fact that she has been with no other male is acceptable,” X’izith buzzed. “But in researching your people, I have learned that females of the royal and noble families have exceedingly tough barriers within their reproductive canals. Is this so?”

  The Queen nodded cautiously.

  “In some cases, yes. But that was mostly in the past—modern females such as myself…” She preened some more. “Have little difficulty in, ah, accommodating our husbands on the wedding night.”

  “Any barrier at all is unacceptable,” Sovereign X’izith declared. “It will impede implantation—I will not take her with the barrier intact.”

  “Oh, as to that…” The King cleared his throat. “We did have…methods of dealing with this problem in the past.”

  The Queen leaned forward and patted X’izith’s boney knee.

  “Don’t worry, my dear Sovereign. We can arrange for an old-fashioned deflowering—tonight if you like. I believe we still keep the equipment down in one of the storage dungeons—don’t we, my dear?”

  “Yes—I believe we do.” The King nodded cordially, smiling as though he and his wife hadn’t just decided to torture their only daughter in order to sell her to a complete stranger.

  “In that case, if the barrier is removed, I will be happy to, ah, take the Princess off your hands.” X’izith nodded eagerly. “Tonight will be optimal.”

  “All right—if you can produce the payment in full, you can have her tonight.” The King nodded.

  “Naturally, I have the ore with me in the treasure cache of my ship,” X’izith said. “I have brought it all the way with me from my home planet of Zhymur.”

  “Oh, Zhymur…it sounds lovely,” the Queen said vaguely. She stood and nodded at X’izith and the King. “Well, if you two males would like to arrange for the transfer of the bride payment, I’ll go order the Court Physician to get the deflowering equipment ready. It might be in fairly good working order already, you know—we had been talking to the Sultanate of Yorbic Beta who also disliked the idea of a maiden barrier to contend with.” She smiled brilliantly at X’izith. “Of course that was before we received your message and were so very impressed with your, ah… credentials, Sovereign.”

  “Yes, most impressive.” The King nodded heartily. “Go see to it, my dear,” he said to the Queen.

  “And please do not be lengthy,” X’izith added. “I wish to take possession of the Princess as soon as possible.”

  “We’ll have her ready to go in no time,” the Queen promised, as though she was simply getting the Princess packed for a trip. As though she wasn’t about to hurt her only daughter cruelly and deeply and then send her off with a stranger wounded and vulnerable. But of course, Brynnalla’s ancestors had endured deflowering—it used to be a regular part of the pre-joining rituals. They had all survived that and their subsequent marriages and Brynnalla would as well. And if she didn’t, well…the Queen shrugged to herself. It was no business of hers. At least the palace would have a new bathing wing—that would be an excellent consolation for the loss of a daughter she barely even knew.

  She was about to go when the King called her back.

  “Wait, my dear…” He held out the small, silver remote he’d used to subdue Varin earlier. “Take this in case the Princess’s Kindred guard gets troublesome again.”

  “A good thought—thank you.” The Queen took it. “I don’t know what possessed you to buy her such an expensive guard in the first place anyway.”

  “I’ve often wondered that myself.” The King sighed. “Of course it would have been necessary to protect her better if we hadn’t had the Crown Prince to take her place.”

  “Yes, thank goodness for my dear, sweet Rolando.” The Queen smiled sweetly at Sovereign X’izith. “A pity my son could not be here to meet his sister’s future husband, Sovereign. Maybe you can meet him someday.”

  “Perhaps…” X’izith buzzed. “Perhaps even sooner than you think.”

  “Um…of course—if you and the Princess should ever come to visit.” The Queen smiled and nodded. “Well, I really must be going if we’re going to meet your schedule.”

  “Please do,” X’izith gave a jer