Chapter 11

"Why are you flushed?"

Dijana glared at her sister – her half-sister if the rumors were to be believed. Since her father, Balak, ignored Sharisse, Dijana chose to refer to her as a bastard, especially since her behavior warranted it more often than not.

"I am not flushed!"

"Lord Taeron's brother is quite a handsome man." Sharisse stretched on the sumptuous bed taking up much of the space in the cabin and she caressed the silken coverlet as she looked slyly at Dijana. "Lord Taeron is quite attractive as well, don't you think? One of us has to marry him, and given that he is unlikely to want you, I am quite willing to undertake the task in your stead."

Dijana wasn't the least interested in the man she had expected to take as her mate. She had felt a mixture of relief and annoyance when her sister had gone to the cabin with the Calabrian. She hadn't been alone with Lord Taeron long enough to do anything improper, yet Dijana was irritated that Sharisse was attempting to usurp her position before she agreed to relinquish it.

"I don't know why my father sent you with me!" When the emperor contacted Teralon to inform them that his warlord was en route to the planet to claim his bride, Dijana expected to begin preparing for her marriage celebration. Although reluctant, she was dismayed when her father informed her that she would be sent, with Sharisse, to meet the warlord, that there would be no ceremony.

Sharisse rolled her eyes. "This agreement was made with the emperor himself and it is too important to let you befoul it."

Dijana felt shame twist her insides and she had no words to respond.

Sharisse shrugged and Dijana knew that she did not care about her opinion. "When Lord Taeron rejects you, and we know that he will, he might be appeased with what I can offer him." She stretched again to draw Dijana's attention to what would appeal to the Calabrian lord. "Even if he could be persuaded to look beyond your shortcomings, sister, I doubt he will be pleased to learn that you lied to the Calabrians about our identities."

There was nothing she could say to her accusation. But she didn't really feel the need to be honest to the Calabrian dog who waited so long to come to Teralon to take her away in marriage. When she had been told of the agreement with Calabria, Dijana had been excited to learn that she would take the warlord as her mate. That was when she was a few years younger and grateful to the man that had saved her planet. She dreamed of the hero that would take her away from her disgrace, who would cleanse her of her failures. No male would take her as his bride on Teralon and she had come to believe as so much time had passed that Lord Taeron knew enough about her to regret the agreement that her mother had made with the emperor. As she waited for him to claim her, Dijana's hopes died a slow death.

"He is quite charming," commented Sharisse.

Dijana looked at her. "I really don't care, sister. You are welcome to him!" She despised men who used flattery to charm females into becoming their pawns and she had quickly surmised that Lord Taeron was such a man.

Sharisse studied her fingernails for a moment and then said, "He is obligated to marry you. He will have to have a good reason to not honor the contracts. Princess Chaela has said that Lord Taeron's sense of honor is impeccable, so he won't easily ignore the vows he has made."

Stubborn pride and more than a little fear kept Dijana from marching straight to the Calabrian hero to tell him exactly why he should not take her for his wife. Despite her anger at his neglect, marriage to him was her only option because her father had made it clear that he would be glad if she not return to Teralon after everything that had happened.

"You may remain with me when I make my home with Lord Taeron," said Sharisse graciously. "He need never know the truth about us for our people would never dare reveal it."

Her sister had the means to hurt Dijana's feelings, and she had always used them to her advantage. Dijana had few, if any allies on Teralon since the invasion. Even before the arrival of the Varoonyans, Sharisse had many admirers. Her half-sister was beautiful, had always been beautiful, and she had many suitors. But despite all the gifts with which she had been born, she could never have the one thing she desired. Dijana had been born first and she was the rightful heir to the throne. Sharisse resented being treated as a useless appendage.

"We shouldn't fight," said Dijana with a sigh. Sharisse might be her only ally among these strangers despite the enmity between them.

Sharisse was twirling her dark hair around a finger. "I think Lord Taeron is attracted to me. I know that you are repulsed by men, so I should find it no great hardship to take your place."

Taking her place was all that Sharisse had ever wanted. Dijana's father, Balak, had even gone to the council of elders after the Varoonyan invasion to demand they set Dijana aside, but they would not do so without her mother's consent. Dijana doubted they feared her mother's reprisal when Queen Neria did not deign to leave her northern palace to which she had retired shortly after Sharisse's birth. She had not returned to see any of her children, and while Avar and Sharisse had visited her, Balak refused to allow Dijana to even meet her mother. He claimed the council refused to grant permission for her to leave the city, and for most of her life, Dijana had been confined to the palace, for her own safety. Dijana had never questioned the restrictions, but accepted them, just as she accepted the marriage to the hero of Varoonya.

They didn't speak for several moments before Sharisse remarked, "His comely half-brother seemed pleasant enough and he might be malleable if you could manage to seduce him."

"Seduce him?" Sharisse's suggestion made her feel nauseous. Although she had seen Sharisse do it often enough to hapless males who would do anything her beautiful sister asked, Dijana would not know how to do it.

"What choice do you have?" Sharisse reminded her. "Lord Taeron did not even look at you! I would not want a husband who was more interested in flirting with my sister."

Taking a deep breath, Dijana asked, "Do you not fear that he will be angry when he learns of the deception?" Worrying about it now was absurd, but Dijana had panicked after Avar had shoved her out of the ship when she had balked at leaving. She had been distracted by Lord Taeron's brother, or she would have corrected Lord Taeron when he misidentified Sharisse. If she had, she might be lying in that bed now with him sealing the pact between their worlds. The thought made her feel queasy and she put her hand against the wall to keep her balance.

Sharisse frowned at her. "You do not need...?"

"No!" snapped Dijana. There was more disgust than concern in her sister's question.

Sharisse did not hide her sneer and there was another moment of uneasy silence between them before she remarked, "Do not concern yourself with Lord Taeron. I will handle him and you will handle his brother. He was not properly introduced, so you should find out what you can about him."

Dijana couldn't imagine prowling around the Calabrian vessel seeking information about the Calabrian. All of her life she had been guarded day and night with barely any privacy. She had been told what to do, where to go, who to speak to and she regretted the one time she had strayed from the path laid out for her.

"Who would I ask?"

"This ship isn't very big," Sharisse told Dijana with annoyance. "I imagine they only have pilots. Go ask them."

Reluctantly Dijana left her sister behind, but she felt uncomfortable without either one of her female servants or a guard following at a discreet distance. Many times she had resented that aspect of her life, the lack of privacy, and now she felt naked without it. She could hear Lord Taeron and his brother talking, but she couldn't make out their words. Nor did she wish to hear their private conversation, so she continued through the corridor until she came to the door at the end of which was the entrance to an elevator that took her up to what appeared to be the control center of the craft. She would have entered immediately, but she heard two men snorting with laughter.

"I wouldn't have believed that Lord Taeron of all people would be such a coward!"

Lord Taeron a coward? The Calabrian had saved Teralon from enslavement by Varoonya, and not satisfied, chased them back to their own world where he had vanquished them. He had killed Prince Rangyar with his own sword! Dijana had heard many tales of his valor and ferocity, so she was surprised by what his men said about him. Could the stories have been false?

"I tell you he is scared witless. I think I could have taken him in a fight."

"He was sweating like a untried youth facing a canyon beast."

"I am surprised he did not lose his last meal."

They burst into laughter.

Dijana, dismayed to hear them disparage the warlord, spun to leave without asking her questions when she almost ran into the man who was the subject of their conversation.

A half-smile curved Lord Taeron's lips although he had clearly heard their words. She grew rigid with anger that he allowed his men to ridicule him.

"May I help you..." He paused and she realized that the oaf could not remember her name!

"Sharisse!"

He nodded and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked her over carefully. Dijana was used to men looking past her because she was not beautiful, and she could see in the eyes of this Calabrian who was to be her husband, that he found her lacking. Like almost every other man she had ever known, he preferred her sister, and while she should be hurt by the realization, she was not. While he was tall and lean, he did not carry himself like the warrior that had subjugated the Varoonyan thrall masters and kept them in check for the Calabrian Empire. He wore embellished silken robes befitting his station, but she saw no sign of the weapon that he had used to slay countless thralls.

His brow was arched over deep blue eyes. Those he had in common with his brother, the man she had first seen and who, even though he was not in the room, could make her pulse race with thoughts about him.

He was waiting for her to speak. Dijana sighed. "I seek the name of your brother, my lord. We were not properly introduced."

Lord Taeron grunted. "The gods know my brother is an inept buffoon where women are concerned." He motioned to one of the pilots who shared a grin with the other before coming to them.

"Lord Taeron's brother is called Stryfe," he told Dijana who glared at Lord Taeron for not deigning to answer the question himself. "He is the imperial scribe sent by the emperor to record the event of the completion of his marriage."

A scribe? He had the build of a bodyguard, stood with the stance of a warrior, and he was a scribe? Dijana had been raised to believe that she must wed a warrior and now Sharisse expected her to seduce a scribe!

She swallowed her disappointment. "I hope, my lord, that you found my sister to your liking," she managed to say. At least she could find out what he thought about Sharisse.

His lazy smile at the mention of her sister disgusted Dijana and she knew that she could not stomach the idea of submitting to him so that she could bear his children. And yet the idea of giving herself to a man who chose to wield a pen over a sword was even more repugnant. She had hoped the nightmare that was her life was over now that she had left Teralon, but it seemed that it would never end.

"Your sister is much to my liking," said Lord Taeron.

That did not surprise Dijana at all. "Then perhaps you should do now what you have failed to do in many years!" she snapped. She wanted this behind her! If Lord Taeron took Sharisse, he could not reject her, and she did not care what came of it. Her father and brother expected Lord Taeron to kill her anyway, so what did one more lie matter? Would they be pleased that Sharisse had taken the Calabrian warlord as her mate? The council might be displeased, and Dijana had no way of knowing how her mother would react, given that she had made the agreement with the emperor. Dijana had no desire to please her, having never met the woman that had given her life. Queen Neria was only a name to her.

Lord Taeron was about to speak, but he was interrupted by another deep voice that sent a hot shiver racing down her spine. The scribe!

"This ship is hardly the place for Lord Taeron to initiate mating."

Dijana frowned at him. Initiate mating? For a scribe, he was very poor at choosing his words! And if what he said was true, then why did her cabin consist of such an enormous bed?

She frowned at him. "He should do it as soon as possible! My sister has waited long enough for her mate to claim her and she would forgo any ceremonies to have the deed done." Dijana did not need to consult Sharisse to know that what she said was true.

The two men exchanged glances she could not understand. Stryfe appeared affronted while Lord Taeron seemed amused. The latter rubbed his hands together and started to move past them. "Well, I guess I have a most pleasant duty to perform."

His brother caught his arm and Dijana would swear she saw a muscle bulge in the scribe's arm which elicited an answering wince from the hero of Varoonya. They looked at each other for a moment and then the scribe released his brother.

Lord Taeron turned to Dijana. "Alas, I must wait until the celebration on Dagmaeus, the moon where my mother resides with her family. She would be disappointed to be denied the honor of hosting the momentous event, especially since she will have many words of wisdom to impart to my bride to make the experience unforgettable."

After a smirk at his brother, the Calabrian left her with Stryfe who was frowning in the direction he had gone. Dijana did not want to be left alone with him, but she refused to be intimidated by the scribe despite the discomfort she felt in his presence. She could not say the discomfort was unpleasant, and that warned her to be wary after her past experience.

Since the Varoonyan occupation, Dijana had ceased to care about how she looked, but she suddenly wondered how this scribe saw her. She felt safe wearing the tunic and leggings, and while she was armed with chakrams, she did not really know how to use them. When she asked her father to provide a trainer, he had scoffed that there was no reason for the princess of Teralon to wield a weapon. That was why she must marry a warrior. And yet he had never allowed any warrior to court her, as if any would wish to. Dijana was plain and she knew it. There was a statue of her mother in the palace grotto and Dijana looked nothing like the voluptuous, beautiful female who had bequeathed her beauty to her bastard daughter instead of her heir.

As for the scribe, she could not take her gaze from him. His very long dark hair was caught in the back and braided like his brother's hair. She doubted it had ever been cut and she resisted the urge to touch her own shorn locks. The plain knee-length tunic fit his taut, muscular form perfectly over trousers tucked in leather boots. The sight of his flawless physique gave her a strange, fluttering sensation in her stomach. These foolish woman's feelings angered her because they made her feel weak. They were feelings that she knew could betray her, had already betrayed her.

When she looked at his face, she almost regretted it because his eyes were traveling the length of her as well. He did not betray his thoughts, his very handsome face impassive as his gaze met hers. She did not think she had ever seen such deep violet eyes and she was mesmerized for a moment as they stared at each other.

Flustered, Dijana finally broke the spell between them and blurted, "I wouldn't have thought the hero of the Varoonyan War would defer to his mother! Perhaps his duty should be more important than pleasing a woman."

"I believe," he began, his voice deep and throaty, "that the pleasing of a woman is at issue."

At that moment, the pleasing of one woman was the only thing she could think of as she stared at him speechlessly. This strange scribe made her feel things that she hadn't felt for a very long time and she clenched her hands into fists at her side as she fought tears. Dijana could not be that silly princess who was so foolishly flattered by the attentions of a Varoonyan embassador that she would destroy her own life. Maybe if he hadn't shown interest in her, maybe …

He continued, cutting off thoughts she did not wish to have. "The houses of Lord Apolo and Lord Duo are eager to welcome the new bride in a manner befitting her new station."

"She is a princess of Teralon," stated Dijana, suddenly affronted by his implication that she was rising in status.

"She is now the wife of the next governor of Ulfynaeus, daughter-in-law to the governor's of two moons. Her husband's father is the imperial guard of the emperor himself and his stepfather is the brother of the emperor's wife."

Dijana leaned closer to him, her eyes narrowed. "She is the daughter of the queen!"

He raised a brow. "Of a planet that could not defend itself against a band of cutthroats and blood-sucking fiends."

Her face burned with shame. "What would you know, scribe? Did you record the event? Were you there, standing in the shadows with your pen and parchment?"

To her aggravation, he merely smiled self-deprecatingly, the effect wreaking havoc on her senses despite the anger the burned her at hearing his arrogant denunciation of her world.

"I recorded the fact of how Calabrians lost their blood on Teralonian plains as they drove out the invaders while the terrified bird warriors hid in their caves."

The truth of his words horrified her and infuriated her. Dijana was going to slap his smug face, but he caught her wrist before she could even raise it. His grip did not hurt, but it was firm, and startling heat raced through her. He did not seem affected although he must surely feel her quaking with anger.

They stared at each other silently for a moment before she tried to pull her wrist from his grip and he held it immobile as if to prove he were superior to her and all of Teralon.

Before she could snap at him to release her, the ship suddenly lurched and she fell into him as he fell back a step. But where she had completely lost her balance and sprawled onto him, he had gained his with agility she could only attribute to legendary Calabrian imperial training.

She tried not to revel in the feeling of warmth she felt as his free arm came up to steady her. The warmth soon ignited into blazing heat as she became aware of the hard planes of his body to which her curves pressed. She tingled from head to toe now, testament to the fact that she was desperately in need of a mate. Could this Calabrian - nay human for she knew that Stryfe's family was from another world - sense her response? That Varoonyan bastard had taken advantage of her inexperience and now she feared she would suffer the same fate with another male.

Then she felt his heart beneath her beating faster, and the heat of his body almost made her dizzy. Looking up at his face, she saw his eyes darken, and a tiny voice inside her warned her to escape. She could see that he was fighting an inner struggle as well by the tick in his cheek fas he clenched his jaw.

The fact that he had become disoriented was apparent when another lurch of the ship threw them both off balance and they tumbled to the floor. She ended up sprawled atop him in a manner that was disturbingly improper and yet she did not want to move. Dijana had surely lost her mind! Even the Varoonyan had not affected her so quickly but had seduced her with his smooth lies over several weeks.

The door to the control room slid open as the ship lurched again. "My lord!" The startled young man tried to maintain his balance as the ship now careened seemingly out of control.

Lord Stryfe grunted and pushed Dijana from him. "What … what … is …. is …. happening?" She saw that he was pale and he seemed to have trouble focusing. Dijana realized that the scribe suffered from space sickness and she felt like a fool thinking that he might be attracted to her when all the while he must have been trying not to vomit.

"We must have been caught in a micro-meteor storm. The stabilizers are off-line and we have lost our navigation."

As Dijana staggered to her feet, the pilot spared her only a brief glance before he helped Stryfe into the control room. She pushed herself forward to follow although her legs were strangely uncooperative. She watched the scribe lean against a flat navigation panel to watch as the pilot's fingers moved over the surface rapidly. This was Dijana's first flight into space, but she was unaffected by the ship's movements. The scribe probably would not be able to stand if he were not leaning against the control panel.

"There were no meteors detected when we parted ways from Prince Staefyn's fleet, and the energy shielding as well as the imperial alloy hull should prevent any damage," the pilot told Stryfe.

The ship had managed to stabilize although it was now traveling rapidly through space without any means of navigation. Lord Stryfe rubbed his face with his hands as if he could drive away his sickness and he turned his attention to the readout on the screen embedded in the flat panel.

The other pilot was also staring at the screen and he suddenly gasped. "My lord! The navigation system has been locked!"

Pale and trembling from the loss of his equilibrium, Stryfe said nothing for a moment, and then he slammed his hand against the panel and Dijana could see that he was angry.

"My lord?" The two officers appeared worried and the first pilot spoke. "Should we try to override the lock?"

Stryfe swallowed before speaking. "You can try, but I doubt you will be able." Pushing away from the panel, he grasped Dijana's arm and propelled her out of the control room with him. "You have accommodations. I suggest you make use of them during this crisis."

Dijana might have reprimanded him for his rough treatment of her if he did not look as though he might vomit. As he shoved her through the corridor and back to the residential level of the ship, he did not speak although his body was rigid and she could barely keep up with his long strides.

She had no way of knowing why he was so angry and thought that he should probably be trying to override the glitch in the ship's systems, but his mood was so dark that she did not dare speak. When he came to her cabin, he opened the door and pushed her inside without a word.

Sharisse had been pacing nervously and she hurried to Dijana as she leaned against the door, but she slid to a stop and her brows drew together. "Where have you been and what have you been doing? What is happening?"

Rather than face her sister's questions, Dijana hurried to open the door and slipped back into the hall. She quickly went to the room where she was sure Stryfe had gone to report to his brother. This time she could hear the voices because they were speaking in anger.

"...treachorous snake! I trusted him! Is there one in that house that can be trusted? Are they all so warped with the blood of Zeno the Butcher and Camridaeus that not a one of them can behave honorably?"

"You are surely mistaken." Lord Taeron's voice was cajoling and Dijana realized he was trying to calm his brother.

But Stryfe sounded furious. "There is no mistake! This ship's navigation has been sabotaged. I saw him at the navigation panel shortly before his departure, and he told me that he was checking the course. This trip was his idea from the beginning. Now we are being prevented from returning to Calabria."

"Why would Prince Staefyn do this? What would he have to gain?"

"Instability," she heard Stryfe say. "Do you think Lord Duo will idly accept the loss of both his sons? This will strain his relationship with the emperor since Trey insisted on this trip to Teralon."

"And without the warlord who has commanded the imperial warriors these last few years," mused Lord Taeron aloud, "there will be an absence of command. Is the emperor in danger?"

Dijana held her breath, waiting for an answer. If Emperor Trey were overthrown, the binary system would be thrust back into the same bloody chaos that had defined it for a millennium. Although her father resented the emperor's encroachment on their part of the system, he grudgingly acknowledged that life in the binary system had improved under his benevolent control.

"If he intends to overthrow his father, he will need more time to gather the necessary warriors," she heard Stryfe say. "There are many warlords that will not align against the emperor."

"And there are others waiting for the opportunity to strike," remarked Lord Taeron.

"We must return as soon as possible," concluded his brother. "I need you to fix the navigation."

"I cannot fix it," responded Lord Taeron. "I do have some rudimentary knowledge of the systems on this craft, but Quynn was the expert."

"We are traveling at hyperspace speed in the direction of the frontier,"

stated Stryfe grimly.

The frontier! Dijana stumbled away from the door, not caring to hear any more dire news. No one ever returned from the frontier! Even the worst of the Varoonyans kept their trade beyond the frontier to a minimum because there were creatures inhabiting the worlds in that part of space that were even more vile than the Varoonyan thrall masters.

Despite the presence of the infamous Lord Taeron, Dijana knew their small craft was doomed once it left the binary system and raced into uncharted space.