AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She never got suspicious? What prevented her from reading their minds and discovering they were LOP?” I asked.
“With Sandria’s past history, it was easy to convince her others were unhappy with the social order. She rarely met any of the recruits I suggested. She merely passed on the names. Ranking high in the organization, she didn’t waste her time on foot soldiers. She focused on recruiting and utilizing powerful, well-connected people who could inflict significant damage to the LOP. She may have had contact with the full-bloods with psi-powers, but they are able to block and project for the situation they faced.”
Kind of like he had done, convincing us all he was a die-hard believer. Seeher never suspected he was an informant.
“Having infiltrated the GJW, the LOP was able to undermine the organization fairly quickly. Still, much of the distrust people have toward the League of Planets can be traced to GJW propaganda. Propaganda is an insidious way to brainwash an entire populace. Repeat, repeat, repeat, and even die-hard doubters start to believe what they hear.
“However, the Galactic Justice Warriors were getting desperate. The Aurelian government had bombed their headquarters. The LOP had swooped in and arrested most of their members. They were losing the battle and needed a game changer to turn the tide and topple the league. You, Your Highness, were their secret weapon. If they had succeeded in getting an official to assassinate you while trillions of people watched, with the distrust already seeded, the LOP would have collapsed.
“Without the league to enforce law and order, unrest and chaos would have ensued. The GJW would have rushed in to fill the void, crushing dissenting speech, diverse ideas, and personal freedoms. Within a few short years, life would have become very bleak for many, many people.”
I shivered at how close they’d come to succeeding. “Your intervention saved me, saved the galaxy.”
Da’an shook his head. “Your love for Kat saved you. Your attachment bond was unbreakable. Sandria couldn’t sever it, though she tried repeatedly. She ordered you to kill Kat, but you didn’t. You couldn’t. You never would have.”
“Even under the influence, you brought me food, covered me with a blanket,” Kat said.
“Sandria demanded total control, absolute obedience. Even the slightest noncompliance had to be stamped out. You resisted executing Kat. The partition she’d constructed was breaking down. The more time you two spent together, the more unstable it became. Each small resistance—like you bringing food—undermined the wall. The more she pushed you to take action against Kat, the weaker the partition became. Eventually, it would have crumbled, and your memories would have rushed back.
“But it might not have crashed before the pan-summit. Ironically, if she hadn’t been so intent on eliminating Kat—if she had let her be—you may have delivered the speech as scheduled and been killed. The league would have been discredited as the GJW had planned.”
“Why didn’t Sandria kill me herself?” Kat asked. “Wouldn’t that have severed the bond like she wanted?”
Da’an shook his head. “She correctly suspected killing you herself would bring him great grief, which would shatter the partition. Her only hope—in her mind—was to get him to kill you. Sandria had become mired in a dilemma—if she let you live, his attachment to you would break the partition. If she killed you, it would crumble sooner. Either way, he was going to get his mind and memories back.
“All I did was hasten the collapse of the partition.”
Impressive modesty from the man who’d prevented the overthrow of the LOP and saved the galaxy.
“The depth of your bond is a rare and precious treasure. Your love and faith in each other transcend logic and reason,” he said.
I studied Kat’s dirt-smudged but glowing, happy face, remembering how she’d defended me, refused to leave my side when her own safety had been at risk. She’d always believed in me. And when I hadn’t been myself, my love for her had prevented me from doing the unthinkable.
Viq ogurk gat. I couldn’t wait to hold her and show her how much I cared.
“Your bond is so powerful, I doubt even I could have severed it,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kat
Two days later.
The ship had no sooner touched down at the Araset spaceport when an entourage of guards ushered us into a hovercar with blackened windows and whooshed us to the palace. “They’re not taking any chances with you.” I giggled.
“Nor I with you,” he said somberly, gazing into my eyes. “Viq ogurk qat.” He told me he loved me in his language at least ten times a day. That Seeher had used those words as a trigger had been insult to injury.
“Viq ogurk qat,” I repeated, enunciating to get it right. When we weren’t making love on the two-day flight to planet Nomoru, Lomax had taught me some Ara-Cope words and phrases. It was a difficult language. I looked forward to getting a translator. I had to be able to communicate, since I would be living on his world.
“I am so happy.” I hugged his arm against my breasts.
“I am overjoyed,” he said. “We can finally be happy together. There are no more clouds hanging over my head—or in my head. My mind is my own. I’ve been cleared of all charges, and I’m about to be bond-mated with the woman I love who saved my life.”
We kissed, and, when we came up for air, the windows had steamed up a bit. The guards sitting in front and behind us pretended not to notice.
“That’s what Da’an said but—”
“That’s what I know—”
