"Are you unhurt?" he asked, his deep sensuous voice raw from the fight.
She wondered how many times he'd asked her that already during the brief time they’d known one another. Embarrassed and very relieved all at once, Aria replied, her voice shaking a bit:
"Fine once more, General. Thank you."
Ryden nodded, his expression betraying nothing of his feelings to her.
"What is going on?" Aria asked. "Why are all those ships here? I thought all of the union 's armies were out there, fighting the Clayors. Did you—"
She had been about to ask did you ask for reinforcements, but stopped herself before uttering such nonsense.
Ryden looked at the ships, smiling a little.
"I'm afraid the enemy has the necessary skill set to prey upon our worst weaknesses," he said.
It seemed to Aria that when he mentioned weaknesses, his eyes drifted to her for a moment, but after everything that had happened, she could no longer believe that. Maybe she'd simply been wrong about the general. He seemed intent to protect Ilotra, as was his primary order.
"They are here to relieve me of my duties as Ilotra's guardian," the general finished.
Well, lovely. Exactly as I expected. This moon is run by idiots.
She wanted to desperately pour her frustration out on someone. The union had gone so far as to attempt to make a Brion general stand down. Had they lost their minds? Would they start a petty feud at their own doorstep, with the real enemy right behind the corner and even down on Ilotra? It definitely looked that way.
"You're not going to listen to them, are you?" she asked.
Ryden observed her with a smile stretching wider on his lips.
"I will not let a bunch of amateurs tell me how to fight my wars," he said.
"I take that as a no," Aria said, relieved.
She had not liked the idea of Brions coming to Ilotra, but now that she'd seen what the hive mind was capable of, it was assuredly the right thing to do. Aria wondered when exactly she had switched sides in that debate. How did it happen that she was arguing for them to remain?
The general was watching her with an odd expression.
"You are not saddened by that?" he asked. "I understood you had little appreciation for my way of doing things."
Aria honestly didn't know, but she wasn't going to share that doubt with the general. She was still not sure if Ryden would do everything he could to protect everyone on Ilotra as well as the fortress itself and it would not stop worrying her, but...
"I don't think any of them could win this battle," she said. "I believe you will, General."
Ryden gave her a small smile, but it wasn't the warm, easy one he'd looked at her with before. Aria felt the absence very keenly, a small pain she couldn't banish from her mind. That man was affecting her.
Why him? Why can't girls ever like nice guys?
"The council will meet with the commanders soon," Ryden said. "Do you wish to attend that meeting?"
"Oh, I wouldn't miss it," Aria said, feeling more alive every second she kept living after she'd already been prepared to die. "I want to see the man who tells you to back down, General."
There, the smile wasn't entirely gone. For a second, it flashed like the sun from between the clouds, but it was replaced with seriousness in the next.
"So would I," said the general. "It would make my task so much easier."#p#分页标题#e#
"What task?" Aria asked.
"Finally finding out who the traitor is, the ally the enemy has on Ilotra. It is very clear that they were used to persuade the council to go forth with this foolishness. One way or another, they will reveal themselves to me."
"And once they do?" Aria asked carefully, although she already knew the answer.
After all, Ryden had made a promise about that in front of everyone.
The general confirmed her fears.
"I will execute them for treason, whoever they turn out to be."
Right. So much for Mr. Nice Guy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ryden
The relief he felt was practically palpable, but he didn't let it show.
All those days searching for Aria, afraid the hive mind had killed her—it had been the most distracted Ryden had ever been. He had a whole fortress to defend against an enemy that was everywhere, but his thoughts kept returning to her. It was insane for a Brion to feel that way about anyone who wasn't their fated, but no wishful thinking took it away. The little Terran had instilled a longing in him, one he couldn't deny, couldn't fight even if he'd wanted to.
He should have hated it, been disturbed by his lack of focus, but instead he found it drove him on. It edged him into action to come up with more efficient solutions. He hadn't pulled any warriors away from their search of the Clayors to focus on Aria, but he'd known that when they found them, he’d also have a chance of finding her.
Seeing her there, in the hangar, was a prize he hadn't known he'd craved. It was a rush of relief, a load off his mind that had much more of an impact than he’d been expecting. Once he realized what she'd been doing, it only got sharper. She was amazing, beautiful, and clever, and insanely enticing. Ryden ached to touch her, to gather Aria into his arms, feel the passion he'd experienced back in her quarters. At first, he'd been merely attracted to her, the most alluring woman he'd ever met. Every moment he spent with Aria proved that she was so much more than that. The ambassador was resourceful, brave, and feisty. She would have made a perfect match for him.
The fates remained deaf.
So he did nothing. It wasn't the Brion way to approach someone who had already denied them. The little Terran had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want him in her bed. He didn't know the reason she had for that when her body told him different, but he would respect it. It was made easier by other matters that desperately called for his attention.
The appearance of the other armies was, shortly put, unwelcome.
The hive mind was playing them perfectly, leaving Ryden with few choices or none at all. That particular enemy wasn't someone that could be handled easily. The hive mind needed to be outsmarted, outmatched, and the general wasn't about to give the Clayors wins if he didn't need to. That, of course, meant that he appeared to the council exactly the way the hive mind was trying to portray him.
Ryden could no longer back down. No Brion ever did, but the hive mind had shaken his position enough. The general didn't even consider it. All he wanted, all he needed, was to be able to fight the Clayors on his own terms. After that he could see if Aria was willing to hear him. She'd denied him, but that did not mean Ryden would stop trying to win her. A woman like that was worth fighting for. No great victories came easily.
I’ve been too lenient with the council, he thought bitterly.
Beside him, Aria walked silently. Her scent was driving him out of his senses. His eyes kept slipping to her perfect, curvy form, wishing he'd have the chance to explore it like he wanted to.
His control over himself was excellent, but Ryden still wasn't sure if the ambassador realized what she was doing to him. If she understood she could have had one of the most powerful men in the galaxy if she just said yes.
Judging by the trick she pulled on the hive mind, she probably knew. The fact that she chose to deny him only made her more desirable to him. Ryden swore, again, that he wouldn't leave Ilotra without having won her. She was a mystery to him as well as a treat. As much as he desired her body, as much as she made every second spent with her a test of self-control, the general needed to have her.
Not merely for fucking, not just that. He needed Aria to look at him as she did in unguarded, rare moments when those gorgeous blues softened merely from seeing him.
The council was waiting for them. Not a word was spoken as they entered, with all remaining standing as if they were on trial. Ryden didn't care about that. He would submit to none of the rulings. All he wanted was for everyone to be able to hear him.#p#分页标题#e#
The new commanders were all there. The Palian and the Fremma representatives were unknown to him, but he had heard of the Koliar warlord, Stavor. The man was the first to see Ryden enter, and he was immediately on guard. Ryden liked him at once and instantly marked the Gray Armada commander out for that.
Stavor came from a species of warriors, like he did. He was armed to the teeth, which meant he was wearing his power armor that housed every possible concoction ever crafted on any of the union worlds. The sword on his hip wasn't a terrifying weapon on its own, but Ryden didn't doubt for a second that it was coated with toxins that would leave him dead in seconds if it touched skin.
The Koliars themselves were naturally immune to all the poisons they carried. In fact it wasn't unheard of for dying warriors to poison themselves and kill their cannibalistic enemies even in death. The Brions had a unique relationship with them in that regard. One respected the other immensely, but that didn't mean they weren't natural enemies, fighting for the position of the strongest military force.
Stavor was tall and dark-skinned, the dusty gray of his armor accentuating his strong features. His body easily matched Ryden's, broad and powerful, obvious even in leisure. The warlord's long hair was tied behind his head in a long braid.
"General Ryden," ambassador Klaen said when Galaya Hall was silent. "I see you've managed to rescue the Terran ambassador."