I nearly wondered if he was speaking to me or Basra. The latter was looking at Arjan like a particularly perplexing set of accounting figures.
Nev assumed he was talking to me. “Then let’s go.” He strode down the ship’s ramp as if he owned the massive bay we were entering. As heir, I supposed he practically did. The waiting group of soldiers—Bladeguards, all ten of them—certainly treated him like he did.
But they looked at me, and at our linked hands, as if they weren’t sure I should even be here, let alone touching their prince.
Everything I was afraid of.
“Welcome home, Your Highness. Might I advise against such proximity to the…Alaxan,” the head guard said, clearly searching for a suitable word as we approached, “until we know whether she is safe.”
At first I was horrified, ashamed…and then I was furious. As if those who had stolen everything from my planet thought they had any right to say what I could even touch from theirs.
At least, this time, Nev was furious too. He dropped my hand, but not in any sort of chastised fashion. In fact, as soon as he turned his ferocious silver-gray eyes on them, it was the whole group of Bladeguards that looked thoroughly chastised, if not cowed. His now-freed hand twitched at his side as if he wanted to move for his own blade strapped to his back.
“Never, and I mean never, speak about Captain Qole Uvgamut in that tone again. She is our guest, to be accorded every honor befitting a diplomatic envoy. You will hereafter address her as Captain, and never question my actions with regard to her.”
His words lent me some pride, even though the fact that he had to give it to me stung. My back straightened, and my shoulders squared. I glared at the guards.
“Yes, my prince. I beg your pardon.” The head guard bowed to him, and then, shockingly, to me. “My apologies, Captain.”
“It’s fine.” Angry or not, my voice still sounded so tiny, so out of place in the cavernous space. I was used to it filling the Kaitan, the comms.
On the other hand, I’d never seen Nev like this, and yet he was undoubtedly in his element. He was Prince Nevarian here. That, followed by a bunch of other names, ending with Dracorte.
“And this is her brother, Arjan Uvgamut,” he said, “also to be accorded due respect.”
Arjan nodded nervously and they all nodded back. The head guard even said in a careful tone, “Sir.” I was pretty sure Arjan had never been called that in his life.
“Now,” Nev—the prince—commanded, “escort us to my father.”
Qole, Arjan, and I strode across the landing bay with the Bladeguards flanking us. My hands burned with the effort of staying clenched, of keeping my outrage under control. These were my visitors, and I wouldn’t tolerate their mistreatment.
I glanced at Qole and Arjan as we made our way to a series of turbolifts at the end of the landing bay. Arjan seemed to have retreated inside himself, but his eyes were taking in every detail around us. He was wary, but fascinated. Qole, in contrast, wore the same expression she had when the Treznor destroyer had boarded the Kaitan. There was a bubbling fury underneath the mask of her features, which she was keeping contained as she focused on the task at hand. She had a job to do, whether or not it was unpleasant.
With such a bad start at pleasant, I had my work cut out for me.
When I’d spoken to my father over the QUIN, he’d assured me that Qole would be received properly. Perhaps our definitions of proper differed, though our perspectives on something so basic had never varied that much before. What else might have changed, since I’d been gone?
Being surrounded by familiar walls and faces filled me with elation and relief, but a new sense of unease tainted it all. I supposed, if I strained, I could see why my father had ordered out the guard. I had been at risk on this voyage, and Qole was an unknown element, possibly dangerous, and of unfamiliar standing. But I would soon correct that perspective. My father would know Qole as the astonishing person she was, worthy of the utmost respect. Even from princes and kings.
Our arrival at a single turbolift set apart from the others stopped our procession and my thoughts short. Optic filigree with the family crest pulsed softly above the doorway, the only indication that this might lead anywhere different from the other lifts we had passed.
The Bladeguards flanked the official entrance to my family’s private quarters. As I approached, the doors silently slid apart. Attuned to my biometric signal, they would open only for a member of the royal family. There were other ways to the family quarters, but this was the fastest.
“Thank you.” I nodded to them as I entered the turbolift, and turned, clasping my hands behind me. “That will be all.”
Qole and Arjan entered behind me, arranging themselves somewhat awkwardly to one side of the circular space. The Bladeguards at the entrance saluted and stepped back, and the turbolift doors slid to a close. Someone not born with people listening to them wouldn’t have noticed the beat of hesitation after the dismissal. I did.
Anger nipped at the heels of my unease again, but I brushed aside the feelings sternly. It was uncommon for anyone, let alone strangers from offworld—one of whom was known to possess unusual powers, at that—to be so summarily invited into the depths of the family chambers. The guards were on edge because the king clearly was. As with any other rare occasion that my father and I were at odds, all I would have to do was demonstrate that my judgment was sound in how I was proceeding—pass another test—and all would be well.
I raised an eyebrow at the two Uvgamut siblings standing so close together and grinned. “Feel free to spread out. There’s plenty of space.”
“I wasn’t sure how many guards you might need to ride a turbolift,” Qole replied, her fury giving way to familiar irritation as she sidestepped away from Arjan.
There you go, I thought, just make her annoyed at you and she’ll forget to be angry about everything else. What a strategist you are, Nev.
“With people I trust and respect? None.” I gestured upward with my open palm, and the lift began to rise slowly, before accelerating with stomach-dropping speed. “Pardon the lift. It has a ways to go, and some people find the velocity unsettling.”
Arjan actually laughed. “Let us know if it hits escape velocity.”