And you're going to risk all this by telling him you're L'ira?
Ruthlessly, Kass quashed her inner voice. Tal wasn't the only one in need of the healing forgiveness of sex.
As his hands rose to play with her breasts, from featherlight flicks to the insistent kneading of growing passion, Kass threw back her head and developed a rhythm that excluded all problems, present and future. Yes, yes. Faster. Tal, only Tal. Ah, goddess, but it was glorious. Minds and bodies joined. Faster. Sparks flying. Heads filled with joy. Bodies . . .
The room went nova, sparks lighting the cavernous tent of the large bed as Tal's body followed hers into oblivion. Boneless, Kass slid forward, resting her head on his chest, her maternal urges easily dismissed. Princesses did not do birth control as they were presumed virginal until marriage, but Kass had no doubt Tal Rigel had been sexually active since a very young age and was fully protected against an accidental child. So no worries there, although she admitted to a twinge of disappointment.
Bearing Tal's children was . . . falling back into fantasy. Someday, perhaps, when their world was a safer place.
Tal's arms encircled her and held her tight as their bodies quieted, the stunning power of their joining giving them peace. Soulmates. No matter what happened, this special bond could not be broken.
And on that thought, the world rushed back. In spite of Tal's warmth, Kass shivered.
The next morning Kass sent for B'ram Biryani.
"How may I serve you, midama?"
Solemnly, Kass regarded the elderly servant who had known her since birth. It wasn't easy to admit she wasn't omnipotent, but Veranelle's majordomo was loyal. He would never tell.
"Biryani, tell me what my people think of my . . . relationship with Captain Rigel."
The old man drew in a sharp breath. "Highness, it is not my place to say."
"I ask for information, Biryani, not an endorsement."
"Ah." B'ram Biryani found his favorite line of sight just past Kass's left ear. "Though born a Regulon, which he could not help," the majordomo pronounced, "the captain heads the rebellion against the Empire. Which makes him our hero. For him we have great respect. As we do for you, Highness. It is the general opinion that you are fairly matched. There is even great rejoicing in some quarters," he added more carefully. "Some fear the Sorcerer Prime almost as much as the Empire."
Kass offered a regal nod, struggling not to show the glow Biryani's words produced. If her people, many of them psychic, agreed with her feelings about Tal Rigel . . .
"Biryani, you have seen far more of Torvik Vaden than I have. Do you consider him trustworthy?"
The majordomo took his time before answering, even forgetting himself enough to rub his chin. "Before the krall, Highness, I would have said yes. Since then, I am less certain. I could conduct a discreet survey, discover what some of the others think. Unlike the captain and yourself, the chairman is not a daily topic of conversation."
Daily topic of conversation. Kass couldn't subdue her blush. Fizzet! Perhaps it was good she was going to Psyclid. Out of sight, out of mind. "Forgive me for pressing you, but I have one more question."
Biryani, reverting to his customary stoic self, didn't so much as blink. "Highness?"
"Have you formed any opinion of Captain Tegge?"
Kass would swear the old man almost smiled. He saw too much!
Which was exactly why she was questioning him. "Well?"
"Captain Tegge," Biryani reported, still standing at stiff attention, "appears to be everything a captain should be. Firm, fair, and sheltered by the devotion of her crew."
Well, fyd! "So she has your approval?"
"She has given me no reason to disapprove."
Kass studied her hands, properly draped in her lap as her mother had taught her. She suddenly felt very young and foolish, just when she needed to be regal. To think of her people, of Tal's people, and not let her imagination go wild over a twinge of jealousy.
Kass looked up, straight into her respected servant's eyes. "Thank you, Biryani. I value your judgment."
"Highness." The majordomo bowed himself out.
Kass sighed. When they went on the mission to Crystalia, Tal would undoubtedly leave Dorn in charge. But, technically, Jordana Tegge would become the ranking officer on Blue Moon. And if courted by Torvik Vaden . . .
Pok! Just another risk they had to take. And Tal didn't need her to tell him so.
But perhaps a word of caution to B'ram Biryani before they left . . .
And to the Psyclid officers who controlled the ridó . . .
To Dorn and Mical and the remaining marines . . .
Tal might not know it, but on Blue Moon she had responsibilities. She needed to protect both her own people and Tal's rebellion. She needed to make sure they came back to the same Blue Moon they left.
Chapter 34
Tal leaned back in his chair, locked his hands behind his head, and stretched out his long legs beneath the desk where King Ryal once sat. He had about a thousand problems to deal with, yet here he was with a silly smile on his face, basking in thoughts of his night with Kass. Omnovah bless the architect who had designed Veranelle's secret passages!
Tal's smile broadened. What did he say when he met the king? I havee enjoyed your office, Your Majesty. Enjoyed your bed. Enjoyed the easy access to other parts of the palace.
And what did that say about Ryal? Tal had heard Psyclids were more-ah-flexible about sex, but did Ryal actually practice droit de seigneur, the sexual rights some rulers assumed included anyone who took their fancy. Hadn't Kass once accused him of doing the same?
In his own case it wasn't true, but he had doubts about the king. On second thought, however, promiscuity by a man whose wife was a sorceress of the caliber of the ParaPrime seemed like playing with fire. Tal shivered as visions of a limp cock and withered balls rose up before him. More likely, Veranelle had been built by one of Ryal's ancestors, more with the idea of accommodating the proclivities of guests than easing the path of the royal wandering eye.
Ha! If he believed that . . .Tal sat up abruptly, planted his feet flat on the floor, and glared at the stack of reports on the antique desk. No good. Kass's body, fully naked, blotted out the work that lay before him. Kass's long sinuous flow of black hair. Rosy lips. Flushed cheeks. Breasts just the right size to fit his hands. Mallick! He was growing hard just thinking about her.
A shout. Banging doors. K'kadi burst into the room. Tal, grateful for the interruption, waved his guards away. Nothing dire, he concluded. K'kadi was grinning from ear to ear. The teen lifted his hands high above his head, and a cascade of pink and white roses fell from his fingertips, gradually forming into an oval of whirling blossoms . . . expanding, expanding until the air around Tal was filled with flowers. He could almost swear . . . yes, he was certain he could smell them.
The roses suddenly coalesced into images. Tal and Kass, dressed for some grand occasion. He in a uniform he didn't recognize and Kass in an elaborate white something-a wedding gown?-sparkling with brilliants and pearls, with a train six feet long. And on her head-Tal sucked in a sharp breath-on her flowing mass of black hair, she wore an elaborate diamond tiara. The instantly recognizable symbol of a princess of a royal house.
The images changed. He and Kass were standing on a balcony, waving to a wildly enthusiastic crowd below. This time Kass wore a crown.
Another image. Kass holding a baby. A baby with a circlet of gold on its head. A crown prince or princess. The message was shockingly clear.
A gasp. The image winked out. K'kadi, suddenly looking horrified, backed away. When he encountered the far wall, he slid down to the floor, hugged his knees, and dropped his head. The epitome of remorse.
Tal's first attempt to speak failed completely, words of comfort dying unborn. Fyd! He thought back to that long-ago summer. He'd just graduated from the Academy and was visiting his family on Psyclid, where his father was the Regulon ambassador. There had been two Psyclid princesses, mere children whose names he could not remember. The younger was a red-head; the elder might have had black hair, but she'd been a solemn little thing, of no interest whatsoever to a bran new ensign ten years her senior.
Kass, a Psyclid princess? That would certainly account for her tendency to forget who was boss. Pok, dimi, and fyd! Now he was the one who needed comfort. But, as always, there was no time to deal with his own problems. K'kadi had to come first. He was S'sorrokan, K'kadi one of his own. Not that it wasn't disconcerting to realize K'kadi's exuberance must have come from knowing Tal and Kass had reconciled. Which meant that while thinking themselves totally isolated in the Round Tower, he and Kass might as well have been making love in a goldfish bowl. He was going to have to have a long talk with the kid about boundaries. But not right now.