opened. Claude was the first to enter. He looked at Nancy and then glared at Truth. His hands lowered to the guns holstered on his hips.
Marthe was the next to enter. Her eyes widened. “Oh my.” She murmured that under her breath.
Valentin followed her. His lips immediately flattened. “We are ready to resume our duties, Princess.”
“Yes.” Marthe’s voice was pitched high. “Come. I’ll prepare the princess for the rest cycle.”
“The cyborg will remain here.” Claude’s gaze hadn’t moved from him.
“The cyborg requires rest also.” His female didn’t look at him. Her cheeks were bright red.
“Cyborgs don’t require rest.” Truth wouldn’t flee the confrontation. “We don’t have that human weakness.” He said that as though it were a joke, smiling as he issued the statement. It was a message to the two males. He was a manufactured warrior, wouldn’t be easy to defeat. “Go with Marthe, my princess. I will speak with Claude and Valentin.”
His female paused for a heartbeat, then lifted her chin and sailed out of the space.
Marthe looked at Claude, at Valentin, and followed his princess.
The doors closed behind them.
“You have pink pigment and sparkle all over your face and form, cyborg.” Valentin flounced to his chair. “If we didn’t need you for this rescue, if the princess didn’t look so happy, we’d slit your throat and jettison you into space.”
“Try that, human.” Truth cracked his knuckles. “I welcome the opportunity to beat you into the fabric-covered floor.” Mock battles had a high probability of resolving grievances.
And it would be a mock battle.
“I couldn’t end your lifespans.” His kill rate wouldn’t increase. “My princess loves both of you, and killing you would cause her damage. I would never damage her. In any way.”
Claude folded his fingers into fists. “You couldn’t kill us. We—”
“There will be no fighting. Now.” Valentin eliminated that delightful possibility. “We need him.” He spoke to the guard.
Claude grumbled about not needing anyone and how beings could be replaced. The male might have many solar cycles, but he remained a warrior. He wanted to fight.
Valentin wanted to fight also. That male’s gaze returned to Truth. His preferred weapons appeared to be words. “You will damage her, as you call it.” His lips were set in a grim white line. “Our princess has a kind, loyal soul. It will hurt her when you part.”
“We will never part.” Truth wasn’t an inconstant human. He was a cyborg. “Our kind bond for life.”
“You will part.” Valentin’s tone held exasperation…and a tinge of sorrow. “The queen will insist on that. The female you have bonded with is a princess. Princesses don’t align with mercenaries or warriors. They align with rulers of planets, of kingdoms.”
The queen would insist they part. “And what of my female’s wants?”
Valentin’s gaze slipped from his. “Her wants are, unfortunately, not a factor. She’s a princess. Her role is to do what is best for Royaume, and a strong alliance will keep the planet and its beings safe.”
He said that as though it negated that she was a living, breathing being, with wants and needs of her own. She was expected to sacrifice everything for others, keeping nothing for herself.
Truth knew about sacrifice, but he rejected that notion.
“If she has no choice in her future, she’s a slave.” He would help her free herself, show her she could serve the beings she cared for as well as find joy. “And if you have no concern for her happiness, you’re not protecting her. You’re guarding her cage, ensuring she doesn’t escape.”
“We protect our princess.” Claude’s eyes blazed with anger. “She’s alive, isn’t she?”
They protect their princess. Truth stood, all of his humor evaporating under the heat of his outrage. His female loved Valentin, Claude, and Marthe, and they appeared to be concerned only with the role she represented.
“Mere survival isn’t living.” He had merely survived when he was under the Humanoid Alliance’s control. The only joy he’d experienced had been on the battlefield, where he had the illusion of freedom. “I want more than that for Nancy. She can serve Royaume and serve herself.” He served his brethren and served himself. Dual loyalties were possible. “I will ensure she finds joy, and if you stand in the way of that mission, I will destroy you.”
He stalked out of the bridge.
If he stayed, he’d kill beings.
And that would damage his female.
Chapter Eight
Nancy avoided all discussions about her relationship with Truth for three planet rotations.
Marthe, Valentin, and Claude indirectly referred to it, making comments about how her cyborg looked