Chapter 1

Slowly the Queen-Elect re-read the story she'd written. The bulk of it was rubbish, but she didn't really care. It wasn't for anyone else's enjoyment, it was just for her. She didn't expect anyone to read it, or if they did, they certainly wouldn't attribute any credibility to it. Except, maybe, for the fact that yes, there were turians. And yes they had arrived on K'OrSachea. And yes there was an individual called Garrus Vakarian, about whom she had in fact had the most unbecoming and frankly obscene thoughts. Beyond the descriptions of him, his intellect, his body, his voice and blue eyes, his talents and his instruction in warfare, he did not have an interest in the Queen-Elect. For him, the Queen-Elect, whose real name was Tai', was a student and little more than an aggravation. He tolerated her because he'd been ordered to. These K'OrSacheans that the turians had so matter-of-factly annexed five years ago were citizens of Palaven for no other reason than their planetary shielding had failed, and the planet was in the turian's system. Therefore, the K'orSacheans were citizens and subjects of Palaven High Command.

Oh, and the other things that were accurate were the internal turmoils of the government. But the Queen-Elect was not the Queen, and probably wouldn't be, because she was well aware that the K'OrSachean Council, who had held power for centuries, had paid well to make sure that she did not survive the ground conflict with which she and her platoon were assisting Garrus and his squad. The moon was a strategic vantage point for the remaining die-hard Cerberus troops, and they had taken advantage of the turians weakened state after the last Reaper Battle to dig in. They had chemical warfare down to an art form, not to mention the last of the biological weapons, mutated aliens of all sorts, and a truly nasty force field to protect it all. So the turians had enlisted the K'OrSacheans and their Zeni technology to dig under the Cerberus base and try the assault from the ground under them. It had been slow going, but it was proving effective. Tai's guess was that whoever in her group had taken the bribe to kill her, or who had had their family kidnapped and held as leverage to ensure the order was carried out, would wait until the campaign was over, or nearly so, to make their move on her.

So she knew she should finish her story as soon as she could, just for her own enjoyment. She had no real intention of sharing it, she felt sure that no one back home would understand how she would want to be intimate with an alien. She had watched the turians, and they were a truly randy and bumptious group. Whenever the opportunity arose for the group to bed down to rest, the turians started moving around to the various quarters, tents really, sometimes switching partners two or three times in an evening before deciding to sleep. Her squad had started taking bets on who would tag up with whom the next time they made camp. When dawn would come, the turians gave no indication of whether they were any more or less attached to whoever they had been with the evening before. One of her group had asked about how they managed not to have jealous fights with the way they behaved, and the group of turians of whom he had asked this question seemed literally baffled by the query. No one in the group was mated, and they would not mate until the campaign was over. Sex with an unmated individual was nothing more than relaxation and group-bonding. Sex with a mated individual was a death sentence from the offended mate. It was a whole different situation. Neither Tai' nor her group really understood.

But it intrigued her. Tai' watched Garrus from afar. He had visits occasionally from one female in particular, Pila, but only her. No other females approached him. He spent most of his nights alone, watching the landscape, going over plans for the next day, exercising. If it could be called that. What Tai' would have described it as would have been a cross between Tai Chi and kung fu. He moved slowly, gracefully for his size, the obvious power of him in every controlled stance. Sometimes he used a long rod in his exercises, sometimes a long, heavy pole with a wicked blade at each end. He moved so fast that sometimes he was a blur. He was so strong that the target dummies would pause a moment before they would fall in shreds to the ground. Sometimes he would engage in target practice with one of his aides, using laser sighting instead of real bullets. Always his group treated him with the greatest respect, and he treated them the same. He was a beloved leader, she could tell that much. Beyond that, he did not move close to her. She had for a long time assumed that it was because she annoyed him with her inexperience, but she'd proven herself useful, talented in the field. That was another thing that was accurate from the story she had written. She had extensive training and experience in the field, in warfare and combat theory. That she had portrayed herself in "The Last Queen" as such a girly-girl was an attempt to be something that she knew she wasn't. Tai' was strong, bold, highly educated, but she would never be able to see herself as pretty, or desirable, or anything that a man would want, let alone an alien. But she couldn't resist trying the role on for size, speculating on what a palace would be like, trying to pretend that she was a true royal beauty, shy, demure, inexperienced. Well, that part was true. She had no real experience. No one on K'OrSachea would make love to, or fuck, a half-breed. Tall, with long black hair, big dark eyes, skin with the telltale Mirrorian spots, pegged eye teeth … no human man or woman would touch her.

So, yes, she had a rich fantasy life. That was no secret. And Garrus was part of that fantasy. Tai' watched him, that distinctive V-shape of a man, long legs, powerful shoulders… he was a dream. She remembered seeing him naked in the turian showers one afternoon. She had a report, and his aide had led her into the enclosure. Tai' had thought it was like any other facility, but it was… their 'showers.' That was another thing. The fiction drummed up by the folks back home was totally wrong. Turians loved to take their clothes off. Especially in sand storms. That was what a turian shower was all about: it was a sand shower. Fine sand was blown in a kind of centrifuge, and they would all get in it and, well, shower. They loved it. So Tai' was led into this room to wait for Garrus, and out he came, tall and naked as the day he was born. And stood and had a long conversation with her. He was, as always acutely attentive, listening hard to every word, commenting when needed, thanking her when she finished, excusing himself and leaving. And Tai' stood there, trying hard to look at just his face, but when he looked away occasionally to speak to someone else who was passing or to read her report, she looked. Yes, indeed. And he was delicious to behold. Broad, strong shoulders, beautiful gleaming skin, blue veined cock wagging there, exclaiming loudly that it was in fact the finest example of parallel evolution that any self respecting woman could ever hope for.

And that was when the story started. She wanted to be wanted by him. Hunted and craved by him. She imagined herself to be the kind of strong, beautiful, exotic creature that he would desire. He would want to try her out, just to see what a human might be like. She would be confused by his alien-ness, but intrigued just the same. They would find each other through the confusion. It would be satisfying. Then he would save her from the bad guys, and they would live happily ever after. He would leave Palaven for her, and they would raise a family together.

But so far, no, he hadn't shown any interest.

And she knew why.

He was so absorbed by the reclaiming and rebuilding of Palaven, and the saving of his own people, that there was little room for anything else in his thoughts. That was all that mattered. They were all that mattered. It was his life. Saving people was what heaven had built him for, and he neither wanted nor needed anything else. And she had a hard time keeping the tears from filling her eyes when she realized that. He would never look her way. He hardly looked at even a female of his own kind, lovely as Pila was.

Tai' was so lost in thought the she didn't even hear Terry come up behind her. Terry was her Second-in-Command. Big, raucous, bald head, handle-bar moustache. He looked like he'd fit better into a biker movie. "Pining away for Spike-Head again, are you?" Terry left a lot to be desired in the diplomacy department.

"Yep." No use in trying to hide it. "He'd probably die of boredom before he got anywhere with me in any case, but fantasies don't hurt anyone." She turned to face him, her trusted comrade. She hoped. She hoped he wasn't the one who would kill her in the end. Or rather, maybe she did. If anyone had to do it, she'd prefer a friend, and she would know that, if he did, it was because they had threatened his family, and not because they had been able to bribe him instead.

"You were out late. Or should I say, glad you got here early enough to get packed to move."

"You will not believe where I've been…" He waited, but Tai' didn't bite. Instead she just stood there, hands on hips, crooked smile on her face. She knew he would spill the beans any way. "I spent the night with Pila." He waited for it to sink in.

"You what?!" Tai' was dumbstruck. The look on her face was priceless. Terry enjoyed that for a moment before elaborating.

"Yep. She came knocking last night, and I took her up on it. She said that she had always wanted to try out a human male ever since she had seen some old Earth porn, but that she hadn't been able to get close enough to one since the Reapers hit. And boy, let me tell you, I have never had a ride like that. She taught me things like you would not imagine."

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit." Tai' was finally able to talk again. "What are you going to do if Garrus decides to tear your head off and carry it around as a souvenir on one of those double-bladed things he uses in hand-to-hand drills?"

"Yeah, I asked her about that when she came in last night. She said that she and Garrus are not an item. She had known him way back when they first started in the service, and she tagged back up with him for this campaign, but she would never mate him. He's too philosophical for her taste." Terry waited for it to sink in. He knew the Queen would be intrigued.

For Terry, Tai' was his Queen, and would be the only Queen of his home world. He would do anything for her. He would die for her, kill for her, go to war against the K'OrSachean Council for her. She represented the only chance his people had to overcome thousands of years of caste tyranny. She treated him like a human being, with respect, even love. Him, a lowly soldier. A grunt. He wanted her to be happy, but he would never touch her himself. He felt he would never be worthy, and he would not cheat on his own wife with her. He knew that Tai' had no idea of her own pure gorgeousness, but just a glance from those beautiful dark eyes, or those fleeting moments when she favored him with a glimpse of her angelic smile, her perfect skin, every graceful thing about her was enough to make him babble if he wasn't careful. But he would take up the female turian for a little cross-species diplomatic exploration. And it had been worth every single sweaty, exhausting second. Yes, indeed. It took him a minute to come back to reality….

"Terry, you let your mind wander."

"Sorry, what did you ask?"

"What else did she say about Garrus?" Ok, she couldn't resist. Just couldn't. Didn't even really try.

"I mentioned that I knew about a human female who might be interested in a little bit closer contact with Garrus, and she said, now get this… she said that she knew. And she knew it was you. And all the turians knew it was you. And that Garrus knew it was you. And that none of them can figure out why you haven't visited him in his tent when we make camp."

The words caused a very real tingle to run up her spine. Tai' could almost hear her bra snaps trying to get themselves undone. After nearly a minute, she managed a small, embarrassed "What?"

"That's right. Apparently what happens is that the males wait to be chosen. They don't make advances. They don't have the first clue what flirting is. All they know is that when a female makes a move on them-invites them, as Pila says-then the motors start up. Before that, they're clueless. The only thing a bull turian is good for is fighting, making war, strategies, all of that. The only way a female will get a male, is if she goes after him. Not the other way around."

"Really… ?"

"Yeah, but once a female picks a male, and he knows he's been invited, and he has you in his sights, then watch out. You've got him for the night, and he will deliver. No questions asked. No ifs, ands or buts…"

I can have him… If only for a night, or however long the campaign continues, I can have him… "You mean, all I have to do is go knock on his door, and he'll… uhm…"

"Yeah, he'll acquire target." Terry was hoping in his heart of hearts that it would be more than that. He had been doing everything in his power for years to protect the Queen, as had all of the members of the Chehada Guard. But they couldn't be everywhere at once. And the one place they could never be was in her bedroom. And since her mother's choice in father for her heir was so unpopular, Tai' would never have a husband. No high-born would have her. But Garrus. He was strong. He had pull in the right places. He could be the bodyguard in her bedroom, keep her safe until the Council could finally be overthrown.

"So why don't you take the evening off and go give the old bull a night to remember?"

She stood for a long moment after Terry had left to join the rest of their group. The sun was coming up over the moon. It was craggy, rocky, pitted. The majority of the turian forces were underground. The campaign to find the best underground base tunnels to get close enough to the Cerberus stronghold was the best bet they had to expunge the bastards, but it was taking time. For the first time, she didn't really mind. She did mind that it would take all day before she could try out Terry's theory and visit Garrus.

The day went as usual: sweep, clear, map, place seismic markers, update mapping, make the next camp site and set up, establish perimeter security, eat. And all the while, Tai' watched Garrus and fantasized. But what she didn't realize was that Pila had gone to Garrus. Like a high school girl, she reported every detail of what Terry had asked, though she did not discuss what she and Terry had just finished doing before Terry asked. It had seemed strange to her that the human male would want to know these things, like the social structure of casual turian sex. They didn't actually have a social structure, didn't think that hard about it, they just did it. Only humans were so inclined to think so hard about a natural act, even instituting all kinds of laws and rules and taboos about it. But then Pila had realized that he was asking for the benefit of the young female leader, who always carried the scent of arousal when Garrus was near, but never approached him. Garrus had been mystified by that, had thought that perhaps it was one of those taboos that kept her at bay. He did know that he would have to wait until she approached him, scent was not enough for him to take the initiative. Maybe she simply did not know that she could have pleasures with a turian. If she'd asked, he would have told her.

Not that he was that driven to be with her, he was simply aware, and would make himself available should she decide to have him.

He let the thought of the human female go, and turned his focus back to Palaven. Reports for the day were the same as he'd read for the last eight months. The Zeni technology was in fact helping make real progress on the planet. Where some turians had been angry that K'OrSachea had been spared, so close to Palaven, what they were really beginning to understand was that if they had been found by the Reapers, the technologies that were healing them would have been lost if K'OrSachea had been detected. Those technologies had provided medicines so powerful that they had actually reversed the marauders and brought them back. Tunnels had been built for shelter. Food was synthesized fast enough and in great enough quantity to stave off starvation in whole populations. And for the most part it was because this human female leader had handed the technologies over to them. Spirits knew that her Council had hidden them the best they could. Tai' had handed it over, against her government's instruction. She had told the turians where to get it, how to use it, where there was more. And for her treason, even though the turians had warned this Council that Tai' was the one with whom the true treaty had been established, the Council had made sure that she was on this moon campaign. It was a diplomatic exchange, she would be nothing but an observer. But Garrus knew right up front what it was. It was a way to get her killed while she was off-world. That way her people would not know she had been assassinated. It could simply be a result of being in a dangerous place. She was smart, but she had no real power, not yet. She had information, but no royal status beyond her bloodline. She was a pain in her government's ass. And Garrus didn't want any of his group getting killed by standing too close to her. Cold as that seemed, what it boiled down to was that he had lost a lot of people who meant a lot to him, and he had, whether consciously or unconsciously, decided that he wasn't going to let anyone else into his heart. Not again. Not ever. Since he had lost Commander Shepherd, and so many others in the Reaper War, and so many after in the wake of the destruction, Garrus shut down his heart. If she came to him, he would do as she wished for the treaty's sake. But he would not mate her. He would not mate anyone. He would give his seed to the repopulation programs, but he would not be a husband, or father, or lover. His heart was too broken, and he knew it. He would be of no value to her even if she asked.