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“Yes, barely. Thank Bastet this boat will be docking for a few weeks so my team can do some maintenance.” Jaxson leaned back and stretched, the long furl of a tail curling around his hips like a fluffy skirt.
“You thanked Bastet.” Ardol blinked. Canids had their own belief system. He’d rarely interacted with them, but from what little he knew, they weren’t often devotees of Bastet or Durga.
“Well, Alana and I were multi-denominational. We shared our beliefs, our foods, our cultures—we shared everything with each other. She was... She was the most amazing Queen in the universe.” The rugged, handsome face sagged a little. “Sorry. I’m going to go hug my new nephew and niece. Nothing like a baby to cuddle to keep you from wallowing.” He clapped his paws together briskly and jogged out of the Freight Coordination Office.
Ardol slumped in relief. Over the past two days, his fury at Cala and his misplaced, irrational anger at every other male in the galaxy that dared to have a female when he did not had faded to an endless loop of nauseated desperation.
No one had applied to his job offer. Of course... that wouldn’t matter if he had more time, but he was acutely aware that his father expected to hear news of a wedding within a cycle.
His father was going to skin him if he found out he’d lost Cala. That half-truth about her ability to bear cubs would be his only saving grace. He might even accept a human substitute for a daughter-in-law if the alternative was seeing the family line wither and stagnate.
With a sudden spring, Ardol launched out of his chair and easily caught Jaxson as he was heading to the elevator. “Jaxson! Wait.”
“What’s up?” Jaxson turned, ears pricked forward, eyes narrowed.
“Um. My... An old acquaintance of mine, a Felid, is marrying a Hawkite. What do you think about that?”
“Cats and birds, hm? Well, I can’t judge. Alana and I defied all the rules about fighting like ‘dogs and cats.’” He chuckled and shook his head, tail wagging slightly. “If you’re in love, it works.”
Ardol felt the pit in his stomach deepen. “Rupex and Layla, Talos and Wendy... They’re so different.”
“You noticed, huh?” Jaxson winked.
“They seem happy.” I can hear them being “happy.” I can see the evidence of their love. Both couples plan to make it official when we land on Lynx-Nineteen...
“They’re in love,” Jaxson repeated the words slowly as if he were talking to someone who could barely understand speech. “Love is what matters.”
Ardol resisted the urge to shake his head. Love? His parents weren’t really in love. He thought of the other District Lords he knew and the upper-class families he’d mingled with before Queen Fever ruined their opulent lifestyle. He’d watched Queens paraded through formal introduction ceremonies as a mark of a Lord’s success, a chance for a wealthy King to unveil beauty after beauty.
“My family was very successful. They didn’t believe in the sort of love you’re talking about,” Ardol murmured, mostly to himself.
Jaxson cocked his head. “Yeah? Maybe they never had anything to overcome. No differences that made it hard to be together?”
Problems? With his father’s wealth and power? Nothing that a quick message or an influx of credits couldn't solve. “No,” he whispered.
“Heh. I don’t know what that’s like, but I know that struggling together makes you stronger. Maybe you don’t need love if everything else is perfect.”
The elevator door slid open with a soft metallic hiss, and the rangy Canid stepped inside. “Must be nice!”
Ardol managed a weak smile. “It is.” The door shut, and Ardol put his paws to his head. “It was.”
Nothing is perfect now. Everything is about to fall apart, thanks to Cala and her stupid ideas about romance! What if the only Queen who applies to my offer is a human? I’ll have to accept the first offer I get, I don’t have time to waste! She’s going to be so different, and I don’t love her. She won’t love me.
I never put that in the contract. Wouldn’t have mattered if I had. Cala was supposed to love me...
He looked at his reflection on the shining floor.
One handsome hunk of Leopardine. How could she resist? How could she choose a fucking bird over me?
He stalked back to his office. Maybe some young Lynxian, just coming of age, would see his offer and want to be his Queen.
“Yeah. Get off of that dusty little backwater on the ass-end of the galaxy. Come away with me to a life of luxury. Of course! Any Queen would want that. Why would she choose some scruffy farmer when she could have this?” He licked his sharp, pointed fangs and slicked back the thick curl of fur that he wore on his head. He ran the other hand teasingly down his chest. “I’m everything a sweet young Queen could want.” He could seduce. He could woo.
He could make her forget her own name after she was legally his.
Leopardines were known for their sexual prowess. They were legendary lovers. How else could they keep a half dozen Queens satisfied through their heats?
Then why did Cala leave you, Ardol?
