the teardrop shaped diamonds—or something that looked just like diamonds—dangling about a half inch apart along the entire length. She wasn’t supermodel thin, either. From what Isaak had said, she’d had given birth to at least one set of twins, and her body showed the signs. But she owned her body in a way I admired. She stood proudly, not an ounce of embarrassment or shame in her stance or her expression because she was scantily clad. No, she was covered completely but still exposed. Trion dress wasn’t like skimpy, sexy lingerie. It was alluring yet modest. Carnal but protected.
Isaak had used the word adorned before. Well, she had that down. Besides the fancy chain, both of her arms were covered in gold and silver bangles so that every movement she made was accompanied by a faint tinkling sound like fairy bells. Her hair was pulled up into a loose style, and holding it in place was more bling, a circlet fit for any princess.
She looked like a fairy queen. Or a goddess… with her breasts showing.
“I did miss you, Mother.” Isaak’s tone was softer than I had ever heard before, and I was suddenly envious of this woman, of the love in Isaak’s voice, of the way the guards and Isaak’s father stood in a protective semi-circle around her, weapons out and at the ready to defend her. Then I realized they were all pointed at… me.
At last, she released her son and looked at him at arm's length. “You’ve been gone for over a month. And look at you! You’re a man now. What have you been doing out there? Why didn’t you come home sooner?”
A month?
Isaak told me he hadn’t been home in four years. But then, Isaak and I had only been on Trion for just over a day and Ivy and Zenos said that out there, in space, it had been about 5 weeks. This Trion time difference thing was serious business. If it had only been a month, Isaak had been a man before he left. And now. Many adults didn’t see their parents for a month or longer. Four years was a little extreme, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as Isaak had made it out to be.
Isaak’s father had his arms crossed again. “Captain Erick, take the female into custody. Then we will deal with my rebellious son.”
Or maybe it was just as bad. Or worse.
“Yes, Councilor Henrick.” One of the biggest, sexiest aliens I had ever seen stepped forward, around Isaak and his mother, and approached me.
“What?” I set a hand on my chest. “Me? Is this supposed to be a joke? Because it’s not funny.” Holy fucking shit. Seriously? I left Earth to get away from gangs and crime and a bullshit existence, and the first time I set foot on Trion, my mate was murdered in front of me. And the second time they wanted to arrest me? If it had been a month since Isaak had been gone, then it had been maybe a day on Trion since I’d transported from Earth?
“What are you talking about, Father?” Isaak stepped back from his mother as Captain Erick and two additional guards moved around him and toward me.
It was Isaak’s mother who answered. “She’s dangerous, son. Killed her mate, Naron. Both his brother and Councilor Bertok are demanding justice.”
Bertok? Did she just say Bertok? I took a step back and sputtered. “No. This is a huge mistake.”
Captain Erick stepped closer and despite the fact that I was trying to be strong, I looked to Isaak for help. Was he going to stick his neck out to help me? Sure, he’d brought me here, but family was family, and I wasn’t that. He wouldn’t defy his father, the Councilor. I remembered that term because Bertok was one as well. Clearly Isaak’s dad was just as important as Bertok. Most likely Councilors stuck together. No one had ever tried to protect me. Not in my whole life. Not my deadbeat father who disappeared when I was a kid and not my mother who’d always been more interested in her latest boyfriend to waste energy worrying about me. Or protecting me. Or standing up for me.
Earth. Trion. It was all the same.
“I need you to come with me, Zara Novak of Earth.” Captain Erick stood before me now, blocking my view of Isaak, his father and his mother. Which was just as well. I wasn’t going to run down the street half naked,