Alien General's Bride: SciFi Alien Romance (Brion Brides) (32 page)

“Report,” he commanded.

The messengers exchanged a look, hesitating. Then the braver began.

“Forgive me, General. I was told to inform you
immediately
. The Elders have confirmed that you were right to oppose Senator Eren.”

Diego had believed he was right, but he couldn’t have claimed he
knew
he was. His expression never changed, but relief washed over him in waves.

“I do not know what that other part means, General, but I was told to tell you and your brother generals that Senator Eren got through. They said to tell you ‘the GU knows’.”

And just like that, they had failed. Diego wondered if he had just ceased being
grothan
.

“And you?” he asked the other messenger.

“Senator Eleya sent me,” he said. “Forgive me too, General. It is your
gesha
, she – She’s been poisoned.”

Diego stood, unmoving, fearing what he might do if he did, in the ashes of everything he’d fought for. He had just failed the Brion people. Had he lost Isolde too?
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Isolde

So far, Isolde Fenner was surprisingly okay with her space adventure. Sure, she’d been practically kidnapped and someone had tried to kill her, but she had found Diego and with her life suddenly having a center, the rest seemed to matter less with every passing hour.

It was, however, true that she could have lived without being poisoned.

When Isolde came to, she was in a familiar room aboard the
Triumphant
. She knew that by opening her eyes, taking in the contours of the room, and thinking:
safe
. It meant home. Distantly, she registered the presence of others with her, but while she drifted in and out of consciousness, Isolde could barely understand who they were. Her heart knew Diego was there, which was enough. Through voices and glimpses and scent, the picture on him formed in her mind – close, solid, strong.
Angry?

The first face she finally saw was Urenya’s. The healer was standing by the bedside, checking the cannulas running into Isolde’s arms. Sleepily drawing conclusions, Isolde deduced that if the healer didn’t look too concerned, she was probably still alive, though her body seemed to be in slow motion.

“Diego,” she murmured.

Her general appeared so quickly from the other room Isolde’s sleepy eyes only took in a blur before he was sitting by her side, face contorted in fury and relief. He kissed her gently making her sigh happily at the taste of his lips on hers. That made Diego smile at last, even if only for a moment before his expression was stern once again.

“Is she in the clear now?” he demanded from Urenya, while Isolde was still trying to piece together what precisely was going on with her.

“I believe so,” the healer said. “Lucky and alive.”

Diego growled, making Isolde giggle for some reason. “Why… what happened?” she asked, her hand idly stroking Diego’s, almost without her conscious will.

“That…” Diego began, following with an array of Brionese words that Isolde couldn’t follow in her drugged state. She assumed they weren’t exactly polite expressions judging by Urenya’s face. Whatever they had given her made Isolde snicker again, causing Diego to stop and snarl, “Do not worry about her, she will not live long enough to regret this.”

Urenya took over. “Isolde,” she said, catching her attention, “you ingested a poison. Do you remember being on Briolina, with Eleya and Deliya?”

Things started to come back to Isolde. “Yes. We were celebrating… Diego’s victory,” she said. “Aneya was with us as well.”

“Yes,” Urenya said. “You drank
alios
, but yours was poisoned. You collapsed, do you remember that?”

Alios.
So that’s what it’s called
.

“I thought I had the flu,” Isolde said. “I fainted, I think. Eleya caught me.”

Urenya smiled. “Good,” she said. “It is good that you remember. That is a promising sign.”

Isolde felt Diego relax a fraction, though he still growled like a huge predator ready to jump at any provocation.

“Who – who poisoned me?” Isolde asked, sensing Diego immediately tense up again.

Her general seemed about to speak, but Urenya was faster. “A desperate person,” she said. “She is no danger to you anymore. You are on the
Triumphant
, safe, and Aneya will pay for her actions.”

Aneya. So Deliya was right after all
, Isolde thought. She was too tired and mellow to properly conjure up any meaningful hate, but a part of her raged along with Diego.
That bitch tried to kill me…
On Terra, that would have been a horrible courting move. With the Brions, it might have been even worse, given how serious they were about their fated.

The next question was obvious. “Am I alright?” she asked. “What did Aneya give me?”

Urenya hesitated. “A sneaky little concoction. Practically undetectable even if you are familiar with it. If it had been in my cup, I might have smelled it, but even that is not certain. You thought you were with friends, or at least allies, and even if you had knowledge of such poisons, you were not watching out for them. At least you did not drink much.”

Diego was still making predatory noises, which Isolde found oddly charming, but clearly Urenya wasn’t in agreement.

“Could you leave us?” she asked.

Isolde wondered if anyone else would have dared to ask that of Diego, but she was slowly coming to the conclusion that Urenya took many liberties with her general that would have sent most others running scared. Diego glared.

“She is safe now,” Urenya continued. “I am sure you have a lot to discuss with the Elders and the remaining senators. My patient needs rest.”

“You saved her life,” Diego said seriously, standing up. “And you have been correct about many other things. But do not push it.”

He turned to her. “Rest, Isolde,” he said, much gentler. “I will return soon.”

Her name still sounded so song-like from his lips. Isolde couldn’t help but smile and nod. When he was gone, Urenya sighed.

“Warriors must always end everything in a threat,” she said, shrugging. “But given the circumstances, I think I can understand why he worries.”

“You saved my life,” Isolde said.

“I did,” Urenya agreed. “You were lucky I was close by, something which Aneya probably did not consider. I carry the antidotes to most known poisons with me at all times if possible. You got off very, very easily, but Diego still feels it is his fault.”

“It’s not,” Isolde said at once. “He wasn’t anywhere near.”

“That is what he feels guilty about, but no, it was not his fault,” Urenya agreed. “I do not honestly think it is anyone’s fault. That is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“About Diego?”

“About Aneya. Do you hate her, now that you know what she did?”

“I understand from your tone you want me to say I don’t, but she tried to kill me,” Isolde said, sitting up better. Other than her head hurting a bit, it didn’t seem as though she was sick any longer.

“She did. I wanted to explain to you why,” Urenya said. “I can just tell you what I think, not what I know to be true. Do you know what broken
geshas
are?”

That got through even Isolde’s drugged mind. “Yes,” she admitted. “A theory, as much as I know. The idea that sometimes the bond forms only one-sided. Mostly from the
gesha
. You think that was her?”

“It fits the profile, yes.”

“But it’s just a theory. I thought the whole bond functioned with both parties feeling the pull, only that women didn’t realize the moment.”

Urenya nodded, adjusting the level of a clear liquid flowing into Isolde’s veins.

“Antidote,” the healer said when she caught Isolde looking. “And theoretically yes, both parties of the bond are supposed to feel it. Some very strongly, some less so. But this is once again one of those things that are not made public since it is tragic for us. I gathered Eleya told you about the possibility of refusing the binding?”

“She told me about Eren,” Isolde nodded.

“There are actually a few other anomalies about the bond that only healers know about, but they are all very rare and are regarded as mutations. But I personally think that broken
geshas
are real. There are enough cases to support it.”

Isolde thought it over while Urenya asked her questions to determine any side effects of the poison and to rule out any possible permanent damage. “Why is it important to you that she was?”

“I do not know,” Urenya admitted. “We think broken
geshas
are born of desperation somehow, that it is a psychological trick of their brain, an intrusive delusion of sorts, which makes them feel as though they are bound already. I feel bad for them. They cannot help it. If that ever happened to me, I would not even understand it, because it would make sense in my head.”

“I do feel bad for her,” Isolde admitted. “But that’s not the same as forgiving. I mean if that happened to you, if Narath had a broken
gesha
, what would you do?”

Urenya just smiled. “Oh, I agree. I do not merely carry antidotes with me. There are one or two very real poisons as well.”

Then her tone changed as she began telling Isolde what had occurred while she was out. “There is something else you need to know. We failed.”

---

When Urenya left, Isolde had a bit of time for herself. The healer had seemed adamant about needing her to understand that Aneya was worthy of compassion, if not her forgiveness. She could live with that, but something else entirely bothered Isolde. Whether Aneya had been broken or not, she had at least fought for what she wanted.

Narath had saved her life, and now Urenya had done the same. Everyone kept saving her, making her feel completely useless. Isolde wanted to do something as well.

I swear to gods if my only job in this coming war is to warm Diego’s bed, I’ll lose my mind.

Not that that in itself was a horrible thing, on the contrary, Isolde found herself longing for him already. There had to be some humor in the fact she could go through being poisoned and still think of sex the first moment she woke up. No, she’d definitely spend a lot of time in Diego’s arms, in those strong, miraculously powerful arms… That was beside the point.

She longed to be on Rhea where she could have been useful. Now it seemed Rhea no longer mattered, for her anyway. Whatever else happened there was completely out of her hands. The planet she’d been on her way to for so long had become irrelevant to her. It bothered Isolde to think she hadn’t gotten to do her part, even if it would have been lying to the entire galaxy. It would have been worth it to prevent the war that was now coming.

Isolde shook her head clear of self-pity. She wouldn’t go around poisoning people to prove she was still relevant, but she was Diego Grothan’s
gesha
now. She wasn’t insignificant, and there had to be something for her to do.

Possibly starting with Diego, because while she didn’t want it to be her only task, it was still her alien honeymoon.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Diego

News of Eren’s escape from Briolina was barely news to Diego at all. There were generals loyal to the senator, and in the confusion of the Elders emerging and him preoccupied with Isolde, it hadn’t been too difficult for Eren to break through the blockade and flee. It wasn’t unexpected nor particularly troublesome. Diego was a hunter and he would find the traitor soon enough.

Now that Isolde was confirmed to be safe and unharmed, Diego felt strangely tranquil. The worst had already happened, and he was left in the thick of the action where he preferred to be. At least what he had to do was obvious to him – they would chase Eren and bring him to justice. It irked him not to just cut the traitor’s head off when he next saw him, but Diego knew the execution had to be public. The Brions had to know they still had justice and law, even if the galaxy had just turned upside down for them.

The Galactic Union was in turmoil, as much as he’d heard. The overall politics concerned Diego just as much as they affected the Brions. The details he left to Eleya and the Elders, waiting for their permission to begin his chase. With every passing hour Eren got further and further from them, but that hardly mattered. The
Triumphant
and the
Unbroken
would find him wherever the senator thought to flee from the Elders’ wrath.

Which was nowhere, really. Exposing their great lie to the GU had not made him popular with them, not even close. And there was no returning to Briolina, not for him nor any of the fools who had decided to side with him even after hearing the Elders. That showed Rhea’s true worth, he supposed.