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  “Someone like Letos.” Mirella unclenched her hands and placed them on her hips. “Now you sound like you’ve met him, like you know him. What’s really going on?”

  Nodding toward the sofa, the queen said, “Sit and I’ll explain. You look as if you can’t decide if you want to hit me or run away.”

  The analogy was so accurate it made Mirella smile. Rather than admitting how close she was to losing her temper, she took a deep breath and sat.

  “You’ve been horribly restless lately, like a bird beating her wings against the cage.” She sat as well, and gathered one of Mirella’s hands between hers. “You’re more than old enough to think about finding a mate.”

  “Now I’m not only naïve, I’m also old?” She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms.

  “Stop pouting or I’ll leave you wondering.” She reinforced the warning with a mild scowl.

  “Fine. I’m listening.”

  “I looked into your future.”

  Mirella gritted her teeth. Queen Aurelia had one of the most powerful gifts of precognition Bilarri had ever produced. She had books filled with verified predictions. Still, it would have been nice if the queen asked before invading Mirella’s future. “What did you see?” She was almost afraid to ask.

  “It was unexpected, to say the least.”

  Tension gradually drained out of Mirella’s jaw as curiosity unfurled inside her. “You saw Letos?”

  “Yes.” Aurelia smiled, affection and amusement warming her gaze. “As you know, visions reveal possible futures, even probable futures, but there is always room for change. I did an in-depth study of Letos to determine if he was worthy of my granddaughter.”

  Her heart fluttered in her chest and her mouth suddenly felt dry. “You allowed me to go to Rodymia. May I presume you found him acceptable?”

  “He’s a bit rough around the edges, but that’s to be expected with a Rodyte. He’s trusted by those who know him best and nobility shapes most of his actions. I was pleasantly surprised, but I didn’t want my opinion of him to color your reactions.”

  “But why the deception? Why make him mistrust me if you want us to bond?”

  Queen Aurelia shrugged, clearly unrepentant. “Paytor showed up before I could decide if I wanted to summon Letos here or escort you there. The general’s grand scheme was so amusing, and so infantile, I decided to play along.”

  “And you objected enough to make me think it was my idea.” Mirella shook her head, feeling foolish and utterly outplayed.

  “It allowed you and Letos to meet without either of you knowing what I suspected. As I said before, I only predict possible futures. I wanted your reaction to him to be natural. Besides, it gave me a clearer understanding of the Rodyte situation.”

  For a long, tense moment Mirella stared at her grandmother. “You were playing matchmaker?”

  Another careless shrug was her only answer.

  “But he hates me now, because of the deception. How will I—”

  “Don’t be melodramatic.” Aurelia lifted her chin, transforming from grandmother back into queen. “I’ve already spoken with him and explained that the fault is mine, not yours. He seemed quite willing to give you another chance.”

  “How magnanimous of you.”

  “Don’t be impertinent, young lady. You’re addressing your queen.”

  Mirella sucked in a ragged breath and nodded. “I apologize.”

  “I thought you felt the mating pull when he kissed you. Was I mistaken?”

  She closed her eyes, angry and mortified that something so personal had been observed by her grandmother, and gods knew who else.

  “You’re red as a ruby, young lady. Did that rascal do more than kiss you? I stopped watching after I was sure you were enjoying the attention.”

  Thank the gods for small favors. “I enjoyed the kiss,” she stressed, hoping her grandmother would let the subject drop. “You weren’t mistaken.”

  “Then what’s the problem? Why are you still glaring at me?”

  Mirella started to list all the ways Aurelia had disregarded her feelings, but decided it was a waste of time. Instead, she focused on the one aspect of the failed mission that Aurelia had yet to address. “What about AG Paytor? He will be furious when he learns that, not only did I fail to deceive the Triad, but I will likely bond with one of them instead.”

  “Only if I decide to allow the Triad to continue. You have a legitimate claim to the Rodyte throne. That might still be the direction I choose to go.”

  Queen Aurelia’s tone was suddenly so imperious, Mirella was stunned into silence. Then anger surged through the shock, freeing her tongue. “Why is any of this your decision to make?” Heat crawled across her face as she heard her own words, but the question would not be suppressed.

  Aurelia arched her brow and then slowly narrowed her eyes. “I am your queen, and your grandmother. You will do what I feel is best.”

  For a long tense moment, Mirella stared back mutinously. She needed to stand up for herself, but decades of training and expectations gradually eroded her ire. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “I’ll take care of Paytor, but what became of his spy?”

  “Xorran seemed unwell when we arrived, so I offered him accommodations. I’m sure the general will send someone to collect him tomorrow.”

  “Very well.”

  Mirella stood and started for the door when her grandmother spoke again.

  “If you’re still interested in Letos, I suggest you contact him quickly. He told me he’d wait to hear from you.”

  Afraid she’d say something she’d regret, Mirella only nodded. She left her grandmother sitting on the sofa in her presence chamber. Emotions twisted inside her, so convoluted she could barely name them all. Her grandmother had set her up, allowed her to make a fool of herself rather than trusting her to react “naturally” to a potential mate. No matter how hard she tried to prove herself a mature, competent adult, Queen Aurelia would always see her as a defenseless child. It was so frustrating.

  She walked through the palace, lost in thought, barely noticing her surroundings. Staff nodded as she passed. A few offered greetings. Soon she stood before the door to her suite and triggered the lock with a telepathic pulse. Rodytes might need biometric scanners and mechanical locks, but on Bilarri most everything was powered by magic.

  The door swung inward and she moved into the largest of the suite’s three rooms. Lights responded to her motion and she released a ragged sigh. The misadventure was over. She was finally home.

  Home? This was her grandmother’s home. Mirella had never felt at home here. She was a prolonged guest, an obligation. The last time she’d truly felt at home had been in the seaside cottage she shared with her mother.

  She walked through the bedroom as the lights flickered on and went into the large adjacent room that served as both bathroom and wardrobe. She tugged off her boots and pulled the pins from her hair, tossing them on the vanity. Then she removed the wretched headband, feeling sick inside as she threw it in the recycle bin.

  What should she do about Letos? She knew she should contact him, knew she eventually would, but right now her emotions were too raw and her mind too uneasy. She’d give herself a day to process and then apologize for her part in the deception.

  Satisfied with the decision, she finger-combed her hair as she walked back into her bedroom.

  His warm, woodsy scent reached her first. Letos! She froze in the doorway, heart thudding in her chest.

  “Did you miss me?”

  His deep voice drew her disbelieving gaze to the chair on the far side of her bedroom. He sat there, grinning from ear to ear, his stockinged feet propped on the edge of her bed.

  Chapter Five

  Letos watched Mirella’s eyes grow rounder and rounder until he barely contained his laughter. She was so damn adorable that he couldn’t hold back a smile. Golden hair framed her lovely face then flowed in shimmering waves to her waist. He’d never seen it down before. It
made her appear less determined princess and more desirable female.

  “Did you miss me?”

  “How did you get in here?” She looked around as if she expected guards to come crashing through the door at any moment.

  “I was invited.”

  Her gaze narrowed and a deep flush appeared on her cheeks. “Of course you were.” She moved out of the doorway and the lights behind her went out, making the opulent bedroom feel more intimate. “What did my grandmother tell you? Her story keeps changing.”

  “She only confirmed what we already know.” He stood and strolled around the bed, taking his time as he made his way toward her. “We’re genetically compatible to mate. The question is, what do we want to do about it?”

  “Choosing a mate isn’t that cut and dry with a Bilarrian,” she reminded.

  “You’re half Rodyte,” he countered. “What does your Rodyte half tell you?” He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her forward, but she folded her arms in front of her and placed both hands on his chest.

  “They want me to challenge your authority, to claim the throne in the name of my father.”

  He wasn’t surprised by the admission. Queen Aurelia had basically told him the same. Still one word lingered in his mind and kept him from relaxing. “Who are ‘they’?”

  “Can’t you guess? Who has a profound reason to hate the battle born?”

  To make sure they were thinking about the same person, he asked, “How is Paytor mixed up in this?”

  “He approached us, claimed that Rodymia was in chaos and only by taking the throne could order be restored. He insisted that many on Rodymia, especially the elite, would support me if I challenged the Triad.”

  He didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to spend the next few hours debating the situation. Still, he had to understand why she’d agreed to mislead him. “And it never occurred to you that he might have ulterior motives for wanting you to challenge us?”

  “Of course it occurred to me.” She shoved him back and twisted out of his embrace. “I came to Rodymia to determine if anything he told us was true. If I’d wanted to assert my claim, I would have arrived with an army at my back.”

  “And now?” he challenged, determined to resolve the conflict before they moved on to more personal issues. “Do you still intend to assert your claim?”

  She hesitated. Her gaze darted away, then returned, only to dart away again. “Nothing I told you was untrue. I am the Bilarrian Ambassador to Rodymia and the Council of Kings has empowered me to negotiate a peace treaty. If the Triad is interested in ending this war, we should continue negotiations. The identity of my father is irrelevant.”

  “Paytor was lying about the chaos, but he was right about your support. The elite lost the most with the shift in power. What assurance do I have that you won’t change your mind once they learn of your existence and beg you to save the monarchy?”

  Her chin lifted as she looked into his eyes. “My word is not enough?”

  “It is for me, but it won’t be for Bandar.”

  She looked as if she would argue, then she glanced toward the door. “What if I gave the Triad Paytor’s current location?”

  Excitement and doubt wrestled inside him. Was she serious? And how could she possibly deliver something the entire battle born fleet had been unable to produce? “How?”

  “Would it make a difference?”

  “Of course. Paytor is fanning the flames of discontent. If the entire fleet accepted Garin’s authority, the elite would have no hope of regaining their former power.”

  She nodded then turned and walked from the room.

  Unsure if she’d meant for him to follow her, he waited a moment then walked to the doorway. She was speaking with one of the palace guards, but the man quickly nodded and left the suite.

  “What are you doing?” His gaze scanned the elegant splendor as he joined her in the outer room. About three times the size of her bedroom, the open, sun-drenched area possessed living room furniture as well as a round table and chairs. She could live quite comfortably and never leave this suite.

  “I want to make sure I can accomplish this, before I make the official offer.” She took him by the hand and led him to the sofa. “It will take him a few minutes to get here. The guest quarters are on the other side of the palace.”

  “How will your grandmother react if you give us Paytor?” The possibility was so important that he shouldn’t have cared, but she was his mate. He didn’t want to cause a rift between her and the queen.

  “She has no allegiance to AG Paytor.” Then she shrugged and added, “Even if she did care, it’s not her decision to make.”

  There was an undercurrent to her tone that he didn’t quite understand. He started to ask, but thought better of it. If she’d wanted him to know, she would have been more specific.

  Someone knocked on the suite’s main door and Mirella called out in Bilarrian. The guard she’d spoken with earlier opened the door then motioned for her “assistant” to enter. He didn’t remember the man’s name. But he’d been suspicious of him from the start.

  “What can I do for you, Your Highness?” The man glanced at Letos then focused on Mirella.

  “Please tell Letos your real name and current assignment.”

  “I’d rather not.” He clasped his hands behind his back and stared straight ahead.

  Mirella stood and approached him. “You need to do this. Paytor is no friend of the battle born. He is hampering the recovery of our world.”

  Our world? Did she mean Bilarri or was this man Rodyte?

  Silence descended and tension pulsed through the room.

  “They can protect you,” she urged. “This has to end.”

  Her assistant hissed out a breath then looked at Letos. “My name is Xorran Blytor. I am first officer aboard the Triumphant.”

  Letos stared at him in stunned silence. Even knowing Paytor was involved in the deception, Letos hadn’t expected this.

  “According to Xorran, most of the crew of the Triumphant will not protect Paytor if the battle born go after him.”

  “And if the Triumphant falls, the other elite commanders will surrender,” Xorran predicted, looking a bit less annoyed with Mirella.

  “You’re willing to give us Paytor’s current location?” Letos wanted to know.

  Xorran nodded.

  Letos thought he was starting to accept his role as double-agent, but then he hesitated again. Xorran looked from him to Mirella then back at him.

  “I have a friend coming for me tomorrow morning. We’ll fly out and verify the ship’s location and then I’ll send an encoded message to you or Mirella, but I can’t be involved in the actual raid.”

  “That’s fine.” Letos didn’t need more than the location from the reluctant spy.

  But Mirella picked up on something Letos didn’t understand at first. She moved closer to Xorran and touched his brawny arm. “What happened? Why is a friend coming to get you? Aren’t you returning to the Triumphant?”

  Xorran took a deep breath then squared his shoulders and looked into Letos’s eyes. “Paytor ordered me to kill you, sir. I won’t turn assassin for anyone.”

  Mirella gasped softly, then looked upset. “And you weren’t going to warn him?”

  “I intended to send you a message after I was safely away.”

  “Are you sure this friend can keep you safe?” Now that he understood the source of Xorran’s hesitation, Letos felt a strange protectiveness. “I’m sure General Nox will give you passage anywhere you want to go.”

  Xorran shook his head. “It’s not necessary. My friend’s a smuggler and he’s already doing business with General Nox. He’s currently operating out of Lunar Nine. I figured I’d join his crew.”

  Letos arched his brow. “Are you talking about Rex Dravon?” The man was more pirate than patriot, but Garin seemed to like him.

  “I am. We’ll make a quick pass of the Triumphant and then get out of this star system before Pa
ytor realizes I sold him out.”

  They worked out the details of how the message would be transmitted and then Xorran left the suite. Letos turned to Mirella with wonder in his eyes. “How did that happen?”

  She chuckled, tucking a strand of silver-streaked hair behind her ear. “Paytor was foolish enough to believe we’d be his puppets.”

  “Foolish indeed.” Letos closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I need to contact General Nox, but I want things settled between us first.”

  She smiled, but her gaze was suddenly shy. “What remains unsettled between us? I don’t intend to assert my claim. I’m no threat to the Triad.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” He raised one of his hands to her face, brushing his thumb over her lips. “I know the Rodyte in you will accept my claim if I so much as kiss you, but what about the Bilarrian princess?”

  A smile parted her lips then she nipped his thumb. “Bilarrians choose their mates. We are not slaves to our physiology.”

  “I’m aware.” He moved closer, staring deep into her eyes. “So answer the question. Will Princess Mirella Menjani of Erotious do me the honor of becoming my bonded mate?”

  Her expression became so haughty, it made him laugh. “Compatibility must be established in phases. First, are our personalities compatible?”

  Mischief glistened in her eyes, so he played along. “We haven’t spent that much time together, but I’m satisfied that I could put up with you.”

  She laughed, breaking character for just a moment before she recaptured her arrogant expression. “It would be a sacrifice, but I suppose I could put up with you too. So that brings us to genetic compatibility. I am satisfied that our genetics will get along famously.”

  He chuckled. “Glad to hear it. What other forms of compatibility must we establish?”

  “Why sexual, of course. I will not spend my entire life with someone who can’t satisfy me in bed.”

  There was no way he was going to waste that invitation. He swept her up in his arms and carried her back into the bedroom. “Was my performance in the observatory acceptable?”