King of Kings: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice #11)
Michael-Scott Earle
Chapter 1
“Am I gonna feel anything weird?” Zea’s voice drifted down the hallway from outside of Persephone’s galley, and I paused my walk before I turned the corner.
“The cut hurts,” Aasne said, “The sensation of being bound to someone else doesn’t happen immediately.”
“How long does it take?” I heard Paula ask.
“Uhhh, you’ll start to feel where he is standing after a day or so,” Aasne answered.
“A day?” Zea asked. “I kind of thought it would be faster.”
“Could be a few days,” Aasne said. “I still can’t quite feel him, but I know he’s on the ship.”
“He is standing around the corner,” Eve said with a soft laugh that I returned when I stepped around the hallway and walked into the galley.
Eve, Zea, Paula, Kasta, and Aasne were sitting around the long table drinking glasses of wine and snacking on crackers and cheese. It was the day after they had all returned from their rite, and I’d been in meetings with Sivaha, Madalena, Elana, and all of our admirals so that we could sort through the logistics of our combined fleets. We’d already spent a bit of time working through all of this with Aasne’s forces a few weeks ago, but we were going to need many more months until all the Nordar clans were incorporated into the Vaish governance.
“Eavesdropping!” Kasta laughed as they all stood to give me hugs.
“Hard not to,” I said as I returned the android’s hug and long kiss. As our tongues touched, I realized that it should have felt a lot stranger than it actually did. The movement came naturally, and I felt my emotions spin when our lips parted, and I stared into her blue eyes.
“Oh, hi,” she whispered as she bit her lip, and then we both laughed as our arms parted.
I hugged Paula next, and she kissed me shyly before leaning her head against my shoulder. The beautiful engineer didn’t say anything when we parted, but I could read her desire plainly on her face. When we were last together, she had told me how much she loved me. I wasn’t sure what would become of our relationship, but being without her while she took the rite had made my feelings for her and her sister crystal clear.
“How were the meetings?” Zea asked as she took her turn to kiss and hug me. She didn’t look bothered by the blonde twins who I had just kissed, and I guessed that the hacker had come to terms with their relationship with me while they were all on their journey.
“Long and boring,” I laughed as I crushed her body into me and kissed her. She gasped when we parted, and her cheeks turned bright red when she noticed the other women smiling at her.
“Sounded like it,” she said. “We were just getting to know Aasne a bit.”
“I like your wives, my lord,” Aasne said with a nod.
“We aren’t his wives yet,” Zea said.
“Soon!” Kasta giggled as she clapped her hands together.
“Would you like some food, my love?” Eve asked as she wrapped her arm around mine, leaned into my shoulder, and then gestured to the spread of cheese and crackers.
“Sure,” I said.
“I can prepare you--” Aasne began to say as she stepped over to the kitchen, but I waved my hand to interrupt her.
“Just sit down. These cheese and crackers look fine.” I sat in between Eve and Zea, and the rest of my friends all sat around and stared at me as I cut a piece of cheese.
“What?” I asked as I opened my mouth to take a bite. “You are all staring at me.”
“Sorry,” Zea laughed, and they all sat back. “Just missed you.”
“Yep,” Paula agreed, and Kasta sighed.
“They have told me some stories,” Aasne said as her green eyes focused on mine. “From before you were King of the Vaish. It sounds as if you have had many adventures.”
“We’ve been on a few.” I smiled at her, and the auburn-haired woman’s cheeks flushed slightly as she bowed. We had not spent much time together since I caught her at Oskmay and defeated The Six in their defensive arena matches, but I was going to need to in the next few days.
“Just a few…” Zea laughed as she took a sip of her wine.
“Have you all recovered from the rite?” I asked as I nodded to the food on the table. Eve, Zea, and I had spent last night together making love, but I’d woken up early to go to my meetings, and both of them didn’t even stir from their sleep when I took my shower, got dressed, and left.
“We woke up only an hour or so ago,” Eve said as she smiled at me.
“It’s a wine kind of morning,” Paula laughed, and the women all raised their glasses to toast.
“So…” Kasta said as she wiggled her eyebrows and turned to me. “When are we going to get some weddings happening? Do I need a white dress? What is the custom with Nordar?”
“The clans are a bit different,” Aasne said. “My people. Well, the people once known as Idonan would have long ceremonies with song, dance, and food. The bride would attend a sauna to sweat and wash out her maidenhood before committing to her husband, and the groom would need to create a song that he could gift his bride with. Both would wear the best outfits that their closest family would purchase or craft for them.”
“That sounds like fun!” Kasta said.
“The Skyad had many combat rituals,” Aasne continued. “I don’t know their exact ones, but Sivaha would. The Waymund would have various games in the celebrations. The Jotnar have long parties that last for weeks.”
“What of the Vaish?” Paula asked.
“As far as I know, the Vaish do not have any sort of ceremony besides the submission.”
“So they just go back to work after?” Zea groaned. “Figures. Madalena never takes a day off.”
“Once we all celebrated in the same way,” Aasne said with a shrug. “The clans have been split for a long time though, so our personalities have flavored the proceedings.”
“I don’t really need a party,” Zea said as she wrapped her fingers around mine. “I just need Adam.”
“You’ve got me,” I said.
“Not yet,” she chuckled and then stuck her tongue out at me.
“We should at least get you all nice dresses,” Aasne said as she gestured to the flight suits that the four wore. They were the same ones that we had first used when we found them in Persephone’s storage room. The material was skin-tight, and the gray and black stripes on the arms and sides of the legs actually looked a bit tiger-like.
“I prefer this outfit,” Eve said. “As soon as I wore it, I knew I was home.”
“I kinda like it too,” Zea said as she looked down at her chest. “Just wish my boobs were bigger.”
“Your boobs are amazing, Zea,” Kasta said. “They are really firm and perky. I just wanna grab and bite them.”
The women all burst into laughter, and Zea’s face turned red as she got up to walk toward the fridge.
“I don’t care about the outfit,” Kasta said as she turned her eyes to me. “I just wanna fuck Adam.”
“Ugh,” Paula moaned. “Sis--”
“What?” Kasta laughed as she shrugged her shoulders. “That’s what wives do with their husbands. Stop pretending, you wanted him when you first saw him too. Let’s just get the thing done and then move onto the fun part. Oh, do you want him alone, or can we both do it together? I’m fine either way. Of course.”
“You are incorrigible,” Paula sighed, and then turned to me. “Sorry, Adam, I--”
“It’s fine,” I said as I leaned over Zea’s empty chair so I could touch Paula’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, there isn’t much of a rush.”
“Except for the whole ‘the SAVO are coming to fight us, and we are all gonna die in ninety-ish days,’” Zea called out over her shoulder as she plundered the food inside of one of the fridges.