“Why?”
He wiped his chin against the back of his hand in a gesture that was an odd mixture of little boy and all-sexy, rugged male. “Andarions have supersonic hearing and I’m not completely sure my dampeners will work against it, especially if they’re using any kind of amp.” He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder to the opening of the cave. “Those guys out there… they’re not your usual crew. You and I hit the mother lode of bad luck. We didn’t just land on an Andarion planet. We landed on one of their colonies.” He pulled a small device out of his pocket and put it in his ear.
Call her stupid, but she didn’t see what the big deal was. The Andarions were members of the council, subject to the same laws as anyone else. Why was he freaking out? “Meaning what?”
“Their colonists are under martial law. Any offworlders caught without proper papers, visitation passes and authorizations are automatically marked as spies, especially human ones. And prosecuted as such. Standard practice is to lock us up and leave us there to die without ever notifying anyone that we’ve been taken. In fact, if ever asked, they’ll deny all charges. Bastards are good at that.”
She lifted her chin at his ridiculous far. “We’re royalty, they can’t do—”
“They can do anything they want,” he said, interrupting her. “Someone has to prove we were here, and since the only person who knows our whereabouts is an assassin out to kill us, I don’t think he or she’s going to be real chatty trying to save us should we be captured.”
“Can’t we explain or even offer them a reward?”
He laughed out loud. “Have you ever been around an Andarion?”
“Well… no.”
“Then take my word on this. They can’t be bribed. I have several Andarion friends. One of them was born their crowned prince, but because he has some human features, his own biological grandmother sent him to a human work home where he was kept beaten, chained and declawed and raised like an animal. You don’t ever want to know what was done to him. Suffice it to say, if they won’t protect their own prince, you and I are, pardon the pun, royally screwed. They won’t care about us and if it means war? What the hell? Again, they make your people look like pacifists. A war to them is the bonus fun round they live for.” He raked his hand through his hair. “This is why you pray to the gods you never get stranded on foreign soil. One wrong battle, one foul landing and your entire life is forever screwed up or ended.”
Like her father.
He’d been a pilot who’d crash-landed on Qilla. Taken as a war prize, he’d never been allowed to contact his people or family. His only shot at freedom had been one battle, which he’d been forced to fight while wounded. After that, her mother had never allowed him another chance to let his family know what had happened to him.
For the first time in her life, she understood the real horror that had been her father’s existence.
“There’s a whole universe out there, Daria, where your mother doesn’t rule. A universe of diverse people and experiences. Promise me when you grow up, you’ll take time to visit them and learn that though we might be different on the outside, inside we all want the same things. Safety. Love. Family. And peace.”
As a child, she’d thought the peace part made him weak. But now she understood what he meant. He wasn’t talking about peace from war. He was talking about the inner calm that she’d never known. That comfort that came with understanding who and what you were, accepting your limitations. With being comfortable in your own skin.
Instead all she heard internally was the constant criticisms of her mother, aunt and sisters. If there was one thing in life she knew, it was every shortcoming she possessed.
What was strange to her was that Caillen had the same inner peace her father had always held. That ability to be calm under duress and chaos.
Not wanting to think about those uncomfortable comparisons, she turned her attention back to their current situation. “So what do we do?”
Caillen paused as he considered his options. None of them were stellar.
< was taheight="0em" width="27">They couldn’t stay here too long or they’d be found. Since there weren’t any bodies in the wreckage, the Andarions would comb this area until they found them. Andarions were, unfortunately, a tenacious species who would be itching for a fight. Not to mention, they had to get off this rock and let his father know what was going on. And as much as he hated to admit it, the Qill queen needed to know too.
Maniacal bitch.
Desideria’s dark eyes burned into him. Thank the gods she didn’t look anything like her mother. Her features were much softer and kinder. Far more attractive. If she’d been a ringer for her mother, he might have left her in the pod to burn.