her from one room to another until we reach the inner sanctum of my personal quarters. She comes to a staggering stop inside my doorway. Looking over her shoulder, all is as I remember leaving it. The shelves covering my walls are filled with my horde items, and a huge sleeping platform dominates the far side of the room. Outside of that there are few other pieces of furniture.
My queen sucks in a deep breath before rushing over to look at my horde items. “Borak, I never knew.” Her fingers dance lightly over the various artifacts. She moves from one shelf to another, inspecting every item in turn.
“Now you know my deepest darkest secret,” I rumble. This is the most exposed I’ve been thus far with my new queen.
She can’t seem to tear herself away from my horde. It is satisfying to see she seems as intrigued with these items as I am. “You’ve got what appear to be ancient fossils, geodes, primitive tools and weapons from several alien races and I don’t know what all. This stuff would be fascinating enough to be accepted by any museum on Earth. People would travel from all around the world to look at it.”
Pride fills my chest. “Indeed, I am particular about the items I horde. I choose only the best specimens from the farthest reaches of the known ’verse.”
“How can you keep up with all this stuff?”
“Quite easily, for I can remember when and where I found each and every item in my horde.”
“Are you saying you found every single item yourself? You didn’t purchase anything at all?”
Dipping my head slightly, I allow my wings to drift out to a comfortable position. “Some males purchase horde items. I value them highly only if I find them myself.”
“I can’t even imagine where you found all this stuff. You even have a skull collection of some kind of miniature primates.”
“I discovered those on a planet our old queen eventually destroyed. These remains are of animals that I suspect no longer exist in the ’verse.” Swallowing thickly, I force the memories of destroying a planet of sentient beings from my mind. “Old blood warriors were sent on many off-world missions. I have been collecting since I was a young warrior who had yet to come into his hormones.”
Backing away, my queen’s voice turns cautious. “Well, we’ll have to be really careful. Some of this stuff is priceless.”
“I am pleased that you see the value in my horde.”
She shoots me a wry grin. “What about those stories you told about luxuriating on a bed of gemstones? You wouldn’t have been exaggerating, would you?”
“Perhaps I stretched the truth a little.” Moving to my sleeping platform, I hit the corner of one end and a massive drawer slides out of the base. When she comes to my side, I dip my hand down into the huge drawer filled with smooth gemstones of every shape, size and color. “Our land is rich in natural resources. Gemstone and minerals are particularly plentiful. I held back the best specimens from what I’ve mined. Truth be told, it pains me to part with a truly remarkable specimen.”
She picks up one from the drawer and examines it closely. I push the drawer shut before she can replace it. “All that I own is now yours as well. Keep this as a lucky stone. You never know when you might have need of a trade item.”
She closes her small fist around the blood red stone. “Thank you. I’ll only part with it in the direst of circumstances.”
I draw my warrior queen into the circle of my arms, for she looks glorious in the clothing I wrangled the bots into making for her. They did not understand my wishes for the longest while, but I forced them to repeat their work until it was perfect. I am glad my persistence paid off. My queen will now only wear the clothing that I provide for her. The other queens are forced by necessity to wear what their males give to them. My queen has a wealth of fine clothing, yet she prefers to wear only wear the clothing that I have made for her. It is a great honor.
Gazing up at me, she asks, “What happened to my loud and boisterous warrior? Remember the one that liked to make the jest with his queen so much?”
I have had too much happiness for one day and now I am numb. “Humans do not use that term.