Alien General's Bride (Brion Brides 3)(31)

In fact she knew quite well she was not ready to give it up. Yet she still could not forgive him, could not trust him. And above all, Isolde wanted to love, not to be drawn together by some mystical thread of fate.

The problem was she could no longer differentiate. Did she love him? Or was she simply attached to him?

Her days were filled with worry. She had cornered Deliya immediately after the meeting and pressed for any detail of the new general. From what the Brion warrior had said, Crane was as vicious as they got, a born fighter, a natural on par with Diego and Faren, who were rarities themselves.

He had the strength to match his dark heart and no moral fiber to stay his hand. Diego was supposed to fight that monster. Isolde feared for him so badly she had barely slept even at times when her desire would have allowed it.#p#分页标题#e#

In the end, one morning she found the screen in Diego’s resting room displaying Briolina’s dark yellow globe. They had arrived.

At least Briolina wasn’t their first immediate stop, similarly to Luna Secunda and Terra, an intergalactic orbital station rested at high anchor above the Brion home planet. Much more elegantly titled Sphere, it welcomed Isolde with pretty much everything she’d expected. The moment she stepped off the shuttle, people surrounded her from all sides.

If it’d been the ancient times, cameras would have flashed, but in space, she could register their presence only by seeing lenses and complicated machinery instead of faces. She hated it. On her arm, Diego took notice. One glare from him sent nearly all of them running for their lives, leaving only those with actual purpose with them.

Eleya was the first, welcoming them properly. Isolde found herself absurdly afraid of her for some reason. Perhaps it was the trust Diego showed her, making them easy targets. Yet her handshake was firm and her eyes determined instead of vicious. Isolde relaxed a fraction, only to be kidnapped from Diego’s arms by a… human. A human! A live human!

Not for long, though. She was reminded of the old saying “if looks could kill” as Diego’s hand went to his spear before Eleya interfered.

“General Grothan, you might remember Angus, the Terran ambassador. Do not murder him for wanting a word with our sensation.”

Diego relaxed, signaling for Isolde’s guards to follow her. And so Isolde got to speak English again – with a live human! She found she’d said that out loud when the ambassador started laughing, steering her away from the Brions, her guards following at a respectful distance. She looked over her shoulder to see Diego speaking to Eleya and some other Brion, another general by the looks of his armor. She felt abandoned again, like Diego’s presence made her feel… complete and whole.

Finally, she had another human to talk to and she didn’t know where to begin.

Angus was a middle-aged man judging by his looks, with just a bit of grey behind his ears. Isolde had never met him, but she knew he’d been the Terran ambassador all his life and looked as he did only thanks to heavy rejuvenating technology.

“Could you give us a moment?” he turned to her guards.

They hesitated.

“I wonder what you think I might do to her,” he said seriously. “This is a Brion station. I merely want a private word. You can observe from a distance.”

It took a moment for Isolde to realize he spoke perfect Brionese. Not only Brionese, but the real version. Her guards nodded reluctantly, staying behind as they walked on into one of the vestibules lining the grand hall.

When they were as much alone as they could be, the ambassador turned to her. Isolde didn’t know if the whole thing with Brion politicians had put her off the occupation altogether, but she found herself a bit wary around him.

The man smiled. “Welcome, Isolde Fenner, to Briolina,” he said.

“Ambassador,” Isolde said carefully.

“First of all,” he went on, “it’s Angus. Secondly, we only have so much time before they’ll snatch you away again and honestly I can’t blame them. You have quite a few enemies here. First things first. Are you really Diego’s gesha?”

“Yes,” Isolde nodded.

“Good,” the ambassador said, unfazed by the enormity of the implications. “That is good at least. If that was a lie, my life would have been much more complicated. Now to the other problem, the much more pressing one. Will you reveal Rhea’s secret to the galaxy?”

Isolde’s mouth dropped open.

“Don’t do that, child,” Angus said. Isolde was about to argue she wasn’t that much younger than him, but she was, wasn’t she? “I’ve been the ambassador on this planet for a long time, placating manipulative politicians and temperamental warlords. Do me a favor and don’t think I’m an idiot. I would be dead ten times over if I was.”

Despite herself, Isolde found herself warming up to him. If simply for the fact he didn’t seem to be doing nothing as Terran politicians usually did. The need to spill all her secrets was so great for a moment she truly considered it, but Angus shook his head.

“No, child,” he warned. “These are the Brions. Say nothing I don’t directly ask. I don’t need to know and you shouldn’t tell. Say only that – will you give them away?”

Isolde wondered what the correct answer was, but given that she’d been asked not to take Angus for an idiot, she looked him straight in the eye and said, “No.”#p#分页标题#e#

The Terran ambassador relaxed visibly. “Good. Then I think we can work with this. You and I, we must help keep the galactic peace now.”

“What should I do?” Isolde asked, suddenly terrified of the prospect of really setting her foot on an alien planet very soon.

Angus smiled. “You just hold on. On Briolina, there is little someone without martial might can do, although we’re not powerless. Be yourself, don’t upset anyone, and let your prince charming do what he does best.”

Isolde couldn’t hold back a smile at that description. Then she remembered. “But Crane… that new general?”

“Oh, they told you, did they?” Angus asked. “He’s a beast, I won’t lie. Don’t worry your head with him. I’ve seen your gerion fight better, stronger men and keep his title. You know what grothan means, don’t you?”

She nodded.

“Mark my words, he will remain grothan when the fight is done.”

Other ambassadors approached. Isolde recognized the Palians and other important species in the GU. They all wanted a moment with her, to ensure someone wasn’t playing a great joke on them, and some surely looking for reasons to report lies to their council members. Isolde put on her blushing bride smile. Angus stayed by her side, giving her comfort, but her heart longed for Diego’s solid, firm presence at her side.

The thought of Crane didn’t leave her mind, however much she tried. In a way, it helped her sell the binding. The Palian ambassador, for example, was a kind woman who soothed her, saying they’d all seen Diego fight honor duels and that he was bound to win against a mindless brute like Crane.

Isolde didn’t find it very comforting, but it played well with the image of a gesha going mad with fear for her mate.

Other than Angus, no one seemed to fully grasp what the whole thing was about – or if some did, they didn’t let it show. To them, it looked like a Brion domestic feud, possibly having something to do with her, more likely to do with Crane and the egos of Brion generals. As much as she could tell, some didn’t care, actually hoping the generals would destroy themselves fighting each other. They seemed much more interested in her, wanting her to get on her way to Rhea as soon as possible. She told them all she would leave with Diego. They understood, even if they didn’t approve.

Eleya returned to her alone. Cold fear gripped her heart.

“Where’s Diego?” she asked.

“Entertaining our beloved Senator Eren,” she said, her voice so cold it sent shivers down Isolde’s spine. The Brion woman noticed, frowning. “Do not worry. It is not you. It is him. He makes my skin crawl.”

Isolde found herself led away from the ambassadors who started talking in whispers as soon as she was out of hearing range. Angus stayed behind, hopefully to keep up the pretense of this being a simple feud and not something greater. As they walked, Isolde was grateful for the comforting presence of Deliya and Narath behind her.

“What happened?” she asked the Brion senator. “What does he want?”

She didn’t even fully expect an answer, but Eleya explained, “To gloat. The Elders have not emerged from their meditation yet. Eren is saying Diego and the others are traitors for refusing them, and Diego is saying they are. Until the Elders take a side, there is no truth in either of their words. Everything will be fine if one of two things do not happen.

“One: Eren being stupid or arrogant enough to start a civil war with the generals loyal to him versus us. Hope that does not happen, you would be the first thing they would try to catch in the crossfire. Two: he finds a champion bold enough or insane enough to challenge our generals, mainly Diego and Faren. That did happen, against all likelihood. He pulled that lunatic maniac out of some cell he should have been kept in and now Diego will have to fight him. To the death.”