His to Claim: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance - Taylor Vaughn Page 0,47

my head, instructive as ever, even though he passed into the next realm nearly a solar ago.

“You will repeat your last point,” I command the main diplomat.

The diplomat nods, his expression respectful if not quite deferential as he repeats, “The emperor has agreed to most of your terms, Kel D’Rek of Xalthuria. In addition, we will provide you with access to our vast arsenal of weapons and ally with you in conflicts with other races and/or systems. We will also relinquish our occupation of the Darlanz Asteroid Belt in exchange for half of the hu’man colony. I also put forth that if all parties agree to these terms, I believe our races can go on in peace and begin to repair much of the damage the war and the Extinction Virus has wrought upon our populations.”

“Then I said, ‘I agree,’” N’Ure reminds me, touching his ridges in polite deference. “But, of course, the final decision is yours, my Kel.”

Yes, it was. And N’Ure is correct. Our former enemy’s terms are more than fair. Some might even call them generous. Having studied Kaidorian history thoroughly, I cannot remember any of their conflicts with other species ever ending so pacifically, with both sides agreeing to pave a path forward together.

I can tell everyone expects me to quickly agree and be done with it. But…

Ki’Ra would never forgive me.

Essh! There’s that infernal thought again. Her pain does not matter. It should not matter when the future of my people is at stake. Yet it does.

Stalling for time, I pretend to consider the matter while discreetly making a deeper study of Emperor Zalias. We are of equal status among our respective races, but I must admit he strikes a much more intimidating visage.

He is larger than everyone else at the table, and even many of the soldiers he has brought along as a protection force. His horns gleam bright enough to make me wonder if he had them polished and sharpened for this meeting. And though his eyes have remained a neutral silvery blue throughout the proceedings, I can sense their underlying blackness in the set of his thick jaw.

Savage.

This emperor, the entire race strikes me as savage. And I cannot imagine what they’d do to a hu’man woman as fragile as my Ki’Ra.

Yet, this is a good deal. A very good deal….

The image of Ki’Ra smiling up at me as I donned my armored clothes suddenly floats across my eyes. And I can all but feel the press of her lips against my forehead. How many times have I touched that spot when no one was looking, trying to recapture the memory of our parting?

I miss her. Funny, I had no word for this feeling days ago, yet I feel the emotion as deeply as an open wound now.

“What say you, Kel D’Rek of Xalthuria?” Zalias asks, breaking me out of my silent musings.

I glance up sharply. These are the most words he has spoken in five days of negotiations. And his eyes have darkened to true blue. Not battle rage, but I can clearly sense his impatience.

“I will think on this,” I answer slowly.

N’Ure leans over and whispers, “My Kel, it is a more than generous offer—”

“I wish to ponder this further,” I tell Zalias before he can finish, forcefully silencing my one diplomat.

A chuckle erupts from the other side of the table, and I look up to find Emperor Zalias laughing, his eyes now a light blue.

I furrow my ridges and narrow my gaze. “You will tell me what amuses you.”

From the corner of my eye I see T’Kan move closer, as if preparing for sudden violence.

“Calm yourself Xalthurian General,” Zalias says to T’Kan over my shoulder.

He then returns his light blue gaze to me. “It amuses me that you believe me to be a patient male. I am not.”

With a blink his eyes go from light blue to black, and his voice becomes little more than a series of growls and snarls as he says, “I will give you three moons, and then you will find me on your doorstep. And if you make me hunt down your planet, I will not ask for half your humans, I will take them all, including the one I am told now sleeps upon your mats.”

I surge to my feet, ready to fight the broad-chested emperor or any other male who dare threaten my Ki’Ra. Just as abruptly T’Kan and the rest of my force falls in behind me, prepared to fight to