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I nodded. “Vra.” We both knew that keeping secrets from Lady Madeema was nearly impossible, especially something like this.
“You want me to find out who was behind it, why, how they knew about it, and most of all if it is true, or if she’s still keeping him somewhere,” Commander Noctus summarized.
“It’s dangerous,” I warned.
“I’m aware.” But I’m up for the challenge, were the unspoken words following his first statement. There was no love lost between the two of them and sooner or later one of them would face the consequences; I had always been aware of it. Both were invaluable to me and I had been dreading that day. It didn’t surprise me that it was coming sooner than I had hoped. What surprised me was that it looked like Lady Madeema wouldn’t be the victor.
“There is one more thing,” I added, hating myself. Distrusting Lady Madeema was one thing, but voicing it in the company of her arch competition, setting him on her trail, was unforgivable—especially if I was wrong. “The males who abducted Lady Heather, crosscheck them with any males who are or have ever been in Lady Madeema’s employ.”
The silence that followed was telling, more so than the shocked expression on Commander Noctus’s face before he got himself under control again. “I will keep you posted, Emperor,” he said a bit stiffly and without glee, realizing full well what a blow to the empire it would be should Lady Madeema be found guilty in this.
“I’m counting on you,” I said, breaking the connection and leaning heavily against my desk. Automatically, I took a few deep breaths to ease the anger that always burned a hole inside my stomach, ready to come out, but surprisingly there wasn’t any, only emptiness.
“That must have been hard,” a soft voice called.
I turned and found Heather standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”
“I woke when you left the room.” She nodded, walking over to me. “I’m sorry I eavesdropped.”
I couldn’t fault her for it. She was as entangled in this as me, and if it eased her suspicions of me, I would gladly take it.
“Who is Sir Priough?” she probed.
“King Crough’s closest advisor,” I told her, seeing no reason to keep secrets from her. She was my mekarry and she would be my empress soon. If I couldn’t trust her… That was just the crux of it though, wasn’t it? Vra, she was my mekarry but for some inexplicable reason, the gods had seen fit to make our bond one-sided. Had I bonded with a Pandraxian merrily she would have not only reciprocated my feelings for her immediately, she would have died for me just as I would have been ready to die for her.
Staring into Heather’s beautiful face though, I realized I wouldn’t want it to be anybody else. I already loved her with every fiber of my being. She was the ONE, my all. I would just have to fight harder to make her see that I was hers.
“Lady Madeema had him abducted too? Why?” Heather brought me back to our conversation.
“Because I needed proof of certain atrocities the Cryons are committing to take it to the GTU to help Earth,” I summarized.
“But you didn’t know she ordered him to be abducted?”
I shook my head. “Nocc, I would have never sanctioned something like that, not from my planet, not while he was under my hospitality.”
“She wants to please you,” Heather said thoughtfully.
“Vra. She always had my best interests at heart.”
“Hmm,” Heather uttered noncommittally.
“Hmm, what?” I asked.
“She’s in love with you,” she stated, looking a bit abashed, as if she felt she shouldn’t have told me.
“Lady Madeema?” I asked astounded.
“Women will do all kinds of crazy things for the man they love,” Heather argued.
“Nocc. We were a couple for a little while, but… nocc.”
One of Heather’s eyebrows rose as she inquired, “You don’t have those feelings for her anymore?”
“I never did have those kinds of feelings for her,” I explained badly, unsure of what I should and shouldn’t tell her and deciding on the truth. “It was a pairing of convenience, that’s all.”
“At the time you didn’t remember the mekarry bond anymore, though, right?” Heather probed.
“Vra, but it didn’t matter. Lady Madeema would have never made a good empress.”
