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  Chapter Thirteen

  Two Moon-risings Outside Khan-Gori Airspace

  Zyrus Galaxy, Seventh Dimension

  6049 Y.Y. (Yessat Years)

  Kari Gy’at Li studied Princess Dari Q’ana Tal’s wide-eyed expression. She’d finished telling her story and the princess looked ready to faint. Out of all the horrors Dari had endured, surely Kari’s life story wasn’t that freaky. She hesitated. Her deductive reasoning skills were usually spot-on, but this situation eluded her.

  “Dari,” Kari said, “Why are you so upset? Is it—oh damn.” She sucked in a gulp of air through her teeth. “I’ve already considered the possibility that the evil Isar was hunting is the same one we hunt now. My training in the warring arts was completed long ago so I’m more formidable an adversary than I once was.”

  “I feared as much. About the evil one I mean. Leastways, ‘tis not the cause of my upset.”

  Kari’s face scrunched up. “Then what is?” Her eyes rounded as the answer struck her. “I forgot you are still a virgin. I shouldn’t have been so graphic in the details.” She grimaced. “Forgive me?”

  The princess’s mouth worked up and down, but no words came out. Kari stared at her quizzically, not understanding Dari’s reaction.

  Kara—the very high princess whose birth had required Kari to change her name—had been taken in by the Gy’at Lis as one of their own. Before Kara’s Sacred Mate had tracked her down in Galis, she’d lived many years in Klykka’s stronghold. Kara’s stories of Tryston had been terrifying, but enlightening. As such, Kari knew that Trystonni females were accustomed to seeing decadent displays of sexuality so hearing about them shouldn’t be this anxiety-provoking.

  “’Tis true I am a virgin,” Dari stuttered out, “yet I find naught offensive in your tale.”

  Kari frowned. One wine-red eyebrow inched up. “Then what is wrong, sweetheart? I’m confused.”

  Dari’s glowing blue eyes were round as saucers. Her hands were shaking. By the time the young princess made eye contact with her, Kari felt as nervous as Dari looked. She swallowed heavily.

  “What is it?” Kari whispered. “Tell me.”

  “There is something you needs must know. Leastways, there are several things.” The princess took a deep breath. “For a certainty I know not where to begin.”

  Kari’s eyes were as wide as Dari’s. A chill worked up and down her spine. “Begin anywhere, but please do start.”

  Dari inclined her head. She was quiet for a long moment before she finally spoke. “The sister you mourn, the one you say has been dead for mayhap hundreds of Earth years?”

  “Kyra.” Kari’s gaze fell to her lap. Hundreds of thousands of Earth years could go by and the pain would still be as fresh as it was the day she arrived on Galis. She sighed before raising her head to meet Dari’s gaze. “My sister’s name is Kyra.”

  “Your name was taken from you.”

  Kari’s forehead crinkled. “What does that have to do with—”

  “Please,” Dari said, holding up a palm, “let me say all what needs be said.”

  “Okay,” she replied, her voice lowering in timbre. “I’m listening.”

  “Your name was taken from you upon the birth of the High Princess Kara Q’ana Tal. ‘Tis an odd name in Trek Mi Q’an, Kara is.” At Kari’s nod, Dari continued. “Kara, my cousin, was named by her mani—mother.”

  “I realize we’re conversing in Galian, but I speak Trystonni fluently. I know that mani means mother.”

  “Kara’s mani, the empress, named her in deference to the memory of her dead, beloved sister.”

  Kari rubbed her temples. “Dari, that’s a sweet story, but we have a lot of important matters to discuss. Every moment brings us closer to Khan-Gor if indeed this planet even exists! I need to know what awaits us there.” Her expression softened. “You’re a sweet girl telling me heartwarming stories, but right now I’m more concerned with keeping you and Bazi alive than with—”

  “The empress’ name is Kyra,” Dari interrupted. “Kyra Q’ana Tal.” She grasped Kari’s hand. “She was born in first dimension Earth by the birth name of Summers.”

  Kari’s eyes widened. Her heart raced and her breathing grew labored. “Why would you say this?” she gasped, pulling her hand from Dari’s grasp. “Is this some cruel joke? What the—”

  “My mani was also born in the first dimension,” Dari continued, undeterred. “Her name then was Geris Jackson, daughter of Hera Jackson. Hera was a famed singer on a planet called Broadway.”

  “I never told you about Hera,” Kari breathed out, her voice guttural. She sounded like a wounded animal. “You couldn’t have known that.” Her eyes were wild, her face drained of color. “Unless…”

  Dari removed the anklet she wore, a bangle with a single holo-charm dangling from it. She handed it to Kari. “Look through the holo-images in the charm,” the princess softly instructed. Her glowing blue eyes were filled with emotion. “Please.”

  Kari’s hands shook as she accepted the charm. Everything felt surreal, like it was happening to someone else.

  She turned the charm on and the holo-images zapped to life. Her heart raced faster as a three-dimensional photograph of two best friends opened before her. “Oh my God,” Kari murmured, her voice hoarse. The strongest chill she’d ever experienced coursed down the length of her spine. “Oh my God.”

  * * * * *

  Meanwhile, also in Zyrus Galaxy…

  “Dari’s holo-charm has been turned on!” King Kil Q’an Tal announced on a roar. He could hear the heavy footfalls of warriors rushing toward the front of the gastrolight cruiser. “Leastways, I’m trying to bring up the signal without alerting her.”

  “Is my hatchling alive?” Kil’s brother bellowed. King Dak Q’an Tal ran toward his elder sibling. The anguish he felt from failing to protect his beloved daughter was extreme. “Is my Dari alive?” he growled.

  Gio, Dari’s betrothed, ran beside Dak. The desperation he felt just to see her holo-image was apparent to any warrior who looked upon him. “If she has passed through the Rah,” he rasped, “’tis my desire to reunite with her there.”

  “Cease this bedamned talk of doom!” the emperor shouted. Zor Q’an Tal, the eldest of the brothers, slashed a hand through the air. “’Tis a command!” His teeth gritted as he addressed his brothers and his niece’s betrothed. “Leastways, the only warrior on this gastrolight cruiser not driving me nigh into panic is High Lord Death.” He absently waved a hand toward the giant in question. “‘Twould be wise did the lot of you follow his lead.”

  Death’s golden gaze revealed nothing, but in truth he was mayhap in more agony than all of them combined. All those Yessat Years past, had he held his tongue when the young princess had innocently flirted with him rather than follow the obligatory protocol of debriefing her sire, Dari never would have been removed to Arak and ‘twould be safely in Tryston. And then to find out the evil he hunted had been on Arak terrifying Dari all the while…’twas difficult to forgive himself.

  Death maintained his composure on the outside, yet felt anything but on the inside. ‘Twas the young princess all the warriors fretted over, but he knew for a certainty his unclaimed Sacred Mate would die did it mean saving her. It angered him that the others cared naught of the fate of Kari Gy’at Li, yet neither did they know she belonged to him. Leastways, they should still care. “Does her companion live?” he asked Kil, his voice betraying no emotion.

  “Even if she does,” Kil answered, “she will still be sent to the gulch pits for aiding and abetting Dari’s escape.”

  Death’s jaw tightened. “You would rather Dari be alone than accompanied by a woman skilled in the warring arts?”

  “Nay,” Kil answered, “but ‘tis the holy law.”

  “Laws can be changed.” His glowing golden gaze narrowed at the emperor. “Leastways, do you desire me to continue to rule o’er your sectors, the law will be changed.”

  All the warriors fell silent as they gaped