Alien General's Fated (Brion Brides 5)(9)

"Spare me," he growled, coming closer. "I will not listen to your baseless accusations. We are in the middle of a war. The time for negotiations is over."

"We could have avoided that war," another council member protested.

"No," Ryden stated.

It grated on his nerves to say that, to repeat himself. That had been what he'd anticipated when he went to the Brion senators. On Briolina, no one would have questioned his word. They knew he wouldn't speak without being sure and would trust him to be right. This council was different. It was in their nature to suspect lies and foul play, when no Brion ever lied. Except maybe their own ambassadors. Ryden could make them out in the midst of the council members. They remained silent.

Figures. They've been here too long. They've forgotten what it means to be a Brion.

"Yes," another ambassador said. "Because you killed the envoys, General. Now we really have no chance of negotiating a peaceful end to this conflict. This is another example of Brion—"

"Silence," Ryden bellowed, letting the easy authority slip into his voice.

His voice carried to every corner of the Galaya Hall. Even guards who were supposed to have stopped him from entering held themselves straighter, standing at attention. Standing beside him, Aria flinched.

"I will hear no more of this," he said. "I will only say this once. The Galactic union   called the Brions, because we were needed. That was the right thing to do. The Clayors are on the offensive for an unknown reason. We are the only ones with the might to stand up to them.#p#分页标题#e#

"I'm fully aware that not all of you approve of our methods, but that is not my problem. We fight wars. That is why I'm here and I will do my duty no matter what you have to say about it. I'm standing here as proof that your own security is clearly not up to the task. If you want to live, stay out of my way."

He paused to emphasize the last part of his short speech.

"And finally, in case some of you weren't aware of this, I want to clear up the confusion. The Clayors are a hive mind. There was never any chance to negotiate. It was trick and you fell for it."

"That is a myth, General," a voice dared to interrupt him.

"Thank you for voicing the opinion of the ignorant," Ryden said. "There is an unpleasant truth to all this. The nature of the Clayors isn't widely known, but it is known. The Brion ambassadors at least would know. Which leads me to assume that someone here kept a part of the council in the dark on purpose to let the Clayors in.

"I ask now, did you all know they were here? Before you gathered here for this meeting? Ilotra is vast; it wouldn't have been difficult to hide their presence from those who'd have known. I certainly didn't see the Brions there in the atrium. Nor the Palians."

A grim silence was his only answer. The Brion ambassadors gave him solemn nods.

"That means one thing above all else," Ryden growled. "The Clayors have allies on Ilotra. That is how far you've let things get out of hand. While my fellow generals work to destroy the Clayor armies, I will do my duty here, as I was asked. That means that from this moment, this fortress is under my command. And I swear I will find the traitors and deal them the same fate I brought to the Clayors. Is that understood?"

The council was silent. Aria was looking at him, a small smile perched on her lips for some reason.

Finally an ambassador dared to speak up. He was a Palian, a species renowned for their wisdom. His unblinking eyes didn't move from Ryden.

"I understand your concern, General," he said slowly. "What concerns me is whether you will cede control of Ilotra back to us when this threat is eliminated?"

Ryden bared his teeth in a vicious smile.

"I assure you, Ambassador," he said. "If Brions wanted to take Ilotra, we would have already. I presumed you knew this. You keep saying we can't play nice, but this is nice. Me telling you instead of taking control without as much as a word is as nice as we get."

He had nothing else to say to them, so he turned and left the Galaya Hall, stunned silence reigning in his wake.

It wouldn't end well, he knew that. If he had more time, Ryden would have dealt with the situation differently, but the messages his fellow generals were sending him were concerning. The Clayors were coming and they were coming fast. There was no mistaking their direction.

Ilotra was defenseless, not because it lacked the weapons to hold back a full-on attack, but because it severely misjudged the danger.

He knew the Elders had decreed that they should mend their relations with the union  , as well as he was aware of how badly his actions depended on that. But there was no time to coddle Ilotra, nor to teach it to fend for itself. It would die in flames long before that. No, Ryden was left with only one choice. He'd have to act out the image the galaxy had of them anyway. He didn't have time to negotiate with the council, only to intimidate them.

He'd save their lives, but Ryden was under no illusions. There was no gratitude coming.

Not that it mattered. He was Brion. Doing what was right and winning the war before him were rewards of their own.

The general had passed through several halls already when Aria caught up with him. He stopped when he honestly wouldn't have stopped for anyone else on the entire moon.

She was panting from rushing after him. Somehow, it made her even sexier to the general, watching as her chest rose and fell, and the way her pink lips were parted. He couldn't stop imagining his cock between those pretty lips, those blue eyes staring up at him as she sucked him. Ryden knew he wouldn't leave Ilotra without tasting her.

"I'm sorry, General," she said. "That was pretty amazing."

He wasn't sure what she was talking about. Noticing that, Aria elaborated.

"The way you spoke to the council. I liked it. If everyone who has a seat there spoke like that, we would get so much more done."

A smirk tugged at his lips. He liked her spirit as much as he was attracted to her body, which was saying a lot for a man like him. The urge, the temptation to take her back to her rooms was great, but a Brion warrior always finished his battles first. He had to make sure the fortress was ready before he could allow himself to take a well-deserved and appetizing break.#p#分页标题#e#

"I have urgent duties to attend to," he said simply.

Her face dropped like she'd been slapped. He wondered what he'd said to cause her pretty face to twitch like that, but just in case she didn't understand his meaning, he added:

"Will you accompany me to the command center? I need someone with knowledge of the fortress and its defenses, and I prefer your company to those lying bastards."

And like that, her face was lit up by a true, sincere smile, fixing whatever he’d broken before. She nodded.

"Very well. But we're not all that bad you know, General."

Ryden gave her a look.

"You might not be, but this is a war. You will do as I say or we could all die," he said, his words dull as if he were reciting something so painfully obvious that it shouldn’t even be uttered.

When Aria's eyes went wide again and the smile fell from her lips, he wondered if losing her smile was the price he had to pay for saving Ilotra.





CHAPTER NINE

Aria



The general's presence was exhilarating. Aria found herself taken by his rough charm, even if she still thought he was kind of a prick and a large part of her was expending effort on trying to keep her head clear. Everything he was terrified her, but there was something about the simple way of his being. For better or worse, he was the most honest man she'd ever met. She had to believe he was the right man for Ilotra.

Aria accompanied him to the command center as he'd asked, still holding Sota's words in her mind. Although so far she'd failed in her duties spectacularly. She'd let him kill the Clayors, get arrested by Ilotra's security, and finally—perhaps most importantly—she'd stood by wordlessly as he took over the whole fortress.

Pretty much the whole package. Yet she couldn't fight the nagging feeling that the general was right. Aria hadn't spent that long on Ilotra and she was already tired of all the scheming taking place behind the scenes. Ryden was a breath of fresh air on the moon. She welcomed it. The trouble was, she knew the danger such freedom posed. It was the exact reason she mistrusted the Brions, because when you were that powerful, you truly answered to no one. The Palians had been right. Ryden took the fortress and Aria didn't doubt he'd protect it too, but what then? They were relying on his good will to carry on from there.

Yet that was the hand they were dealt.

Aria was willing to admit she hadn't wanted the general on Ilotra, but now that he was there, she wanted to help him. Protecting Ilotra was her first priority, as it seemed to be his. Their methods merely needed... some compromises. In vain, she tried to remember what the word was in Brionese. In the meantime, her distraction was worrying her a bit. It was safe to say she had trouble focusing on what she had to do and what she wanted to do.

To make things worse, her body had a very compelling argument about it being perfectly easy to keep an eye on the general in her bed. Two eyes, very much on him. And even a Brion general couldn't cause too much trouble in a bedroom, could he? At least not trouble that started wars.