Stardust Dreams (36 page)

This time she was prepared
when a servant tossed her some food that looked like a turkey wing and a purple
banana. Although she had witnessed the barbarians' behavior the evening before,
she still wondered if talking through the meal would really be worse than all
the vile noises they made while they were eating. She almost laughed out loud
when Gallant belched in midchew. No one had better table manners than he did. Undoubtedly
that was more of his mothers influence, but he was doing a fine job of keeping
it hidden at the moment.

She tried to imagine what
was going on in Gallants head and was surprised to realize that as long as she
let go of any doubt about his loyalty she knew the way his mind worked very
well.

He never used force if
subterfuge was a viable option.

He could slip in and out of
different roles with ease and was a master at instantaneous improvisation,
going along with any situation until a solution made itself known.

He would cheat rather than
lose.

And he would protect her
life with his own.

Damned if she wasn't crazy
about that man! A warm memory of his teasing game from the morning flooded into
her system. Crazy, yes. But
love}
No way.
That
crazy, she
wasn't. She asked herself the question she always posed when a man interested
her for more than one evening.

Would she miss him if she
never saw him again?

Her stomach did an
upsetting somersault, and she frowned at the greasy bird wing in her hand. Heaven
only knew what she was eating, but it must not agree with her. With effort, she
mentally switched channels to return to the topic of how Gallant intended to
get them out of here.

Knowing they would soon be
headed toward Earth with no plans for an offensive attack was the key to
everything. Escaping from this underground vault was next to impossible. And
after all the trouble the Illusians had taken to lure Gallant here, it was
unlikely they would simply allow him to leave in his own ship with a promise to
return.

The princess put on the
pretense of respecting Gallants position, but Cherry suspected she highly
resented his superiority. As for the rest of the council, they had been loyal
to her for a lifetime, where Gallant was the new kid on the block as well as an
unknown factor.

Conclusion?

Cherry flinched at the
intrusion. The mysterious mentor
was
reading her thoughts, She took a
moment to recall the steps in her analysis thus far, then spelled out her
conclusion. The safest, most logical course of action would seem to be to go
along with the princess and head for Earth with her army. At least it would get
them out of this hellhole.
Right?
She waited a moment, but received no
response. At
least tell me who you are.

Her question fell into an
empty void.

An enthusiastic round of
rude bodily noises announced the end of the meal, and Cherry recalled the
princess's promise of "something very special" for afterward. She
only prayed the evenings entertainment didn't require her participation this
time.

The servants cleared away
the scraps, then covered the table with a white cloth. After refilling the
tankards around the table, they slipped silently out of the hall.

"A salute!"
Honorbound exclaimed, rising from the floor. They all lifted their drinks
toward her. "Our gods have smiled on us at every stage of the royal plan. May
we hope that their blessings continue."

"Salute!"
the council
members shouted in unison. Every one gulped down the entire contents of their
tankards, then slammed the metal vessel down on the stone table.

Honorbound turned to
Gallant and held out both her hands. "My lord, will you rise and stand
beside me, face our friends with joy, meet our enemies without fear, and lead
our people to glory?"

Gallant placed his hands in
hers, but wobbled a bit as he stood up. Cherry wondered if the potent brew was
getting to him. As far as she could tell he hadn't had any more than he had the
night before.

The princess's toothy smile
was feral as her eyes raked hungrily over him. "As I mentioned before,
there is no reason to put off embarking on our journey any longer, and so,
tonight we will fulfill the next stage in the plan. In order to continue our
royal family line, it has been decreed that you, Sovereign Gallant, and I,
Princess Honorbound, daughter of the late sovereign, will become life-mates and
produce the heir to the sovereignty. As fate has ordained, I am at the height
of my fertile season, and thus ripe for the royal mating."

Gallant's only reaction to
the shocking proclamation was a slight swaying movement. Cherry couldn't
believe he was so drunk that he failed to come up with one lousy word of
protest. What was wrong with him?

Drugged. Be careful.

The words had barely
registered when Honor-bound climbed onto the cloth-covered table and tugged
Gallant up beside her. Still holding both his hands, she shifted so that they
were both facing Josep. "We are ready for you to say the words."

He narrowed his brows and
stared at her in such a way that Cherry was certain he was speaking to the
princess telepathically.

"No!" Honorbound
shouted at Joseph, and Gallant swayed away from her voice. "It
must
be tonight." As abruptly as she had switched from pleasant to angry, she
calmed herself. "You will say the words now, Josep."

Clearly disapproving, Josep
struggled to his feet. "Sovereign Gallant, Princess Honorbound, although
you have walked separately since your births, you are about to step onto a
brave new life path together."

My God, Cherry thought,
they're actually getting married! She listened to Josep's words, heard
Honorbound speak vows, and watched Gallant's head bob in a semblance of
agreement to everything that was being said, and yet she couldn't believe it
was happening. Her mentor's firm warning was the only thing that kept her
silent before such a farce.

Finally, Josep said,
"The words have been said. Let the consummation begin. Sovereign Gallant,
see your life-mate as the Gods formed her." Honorbound unhooked the gold
chain at her waist and tossed aside her only covering.

Cherry had the most awful
premonition of what was coming next, but until she watched Honor-bound removing
Gallant's vest and boots, she didn't quite believe it. The princess flashed
Cherry a superior look as she undid Gallants trousers and pulled them off him.

The applause and cheers of
the council members were disgusting, but the sight of Gallant's engorged
manhood jutting out from his body was an obscenity. How could he possibly be
aroused at a time like this? Surely he didn't desire the grotesque princess!

Drugged.

Drugged? Cherry thought he
looked drunk, but that wouldn't explain the state he was in. Unless… Without
further assistance from her mentor, she reasoned that the drug could be an
aphrodisiac.
This isn't right! She's going to rape him.
She pleaded,
not knowing if she was being understood.
He has tremendous control. Help
him use it!

The princess ran her hand
up Gallant's arms and over his abdomen. With lusty appreciation she grasped his
swollen sex organ and alternately stroked and squeezed him, all the while
growling and showing her teeth like some ferocious beast.

Suddenly, she released him
and took a swipe down her own chest with her one long fingernail. As blood
seeped from the diagonal line she had drawn, she sliced Gallant in the same
manner, then pressed their bodies tightly together.

Cherry cringed back against
the wall, fully expecting Gallant to react violently, but he simply stood
there. When the princess stepped back however, Cherry—and everyone else—could
see that Gallant
had
reacted after all.

He had gone limp as a
cooked noodle. The council members found it both funny and disappointing, and
loudly voiced their encouragement. Whether it was his own doing, the princess's
bloodthirsty tactics, or help from their mentor, Cherry didn't care. Gallant
was back in control. Somewhat. He still looked like a zombie, but at least the
princess couldn't rape him in his current condition.

Honorbound's nostrils
flared indignantly, but she wasn't ready to give up. When her hands failed to
bring him to more than a semihard state, she knelt down and took him into her
mouth.

Cherry closed her eyes, but
the loud sucking sounds created an image as vivid as if she were watching. Honorbound's
husky laugh caused Cherry to reopen her eyes in spite of her revulsion.

Gallant was once again
erect and the princess had turned away from him on all fours, and was gyrating
her buttocks at him. With a low groan, he dropped to his knees behind her,
savagely grasped her hips… and froze.

He appeared to be in excruciating
pain as he held himself stiffly in place. Then slowly, unbelievably, he went
soft again.

This time, the princess did
not hide her fury as she spun around and slapped his face. In an inhuman voice,
she growled at Josep. "What is his problem?" she demanded.

Josep shrugged. "He is
not accustomed to performing in front of an audience, at least not one with
other males. You must keep in mind that, regardless of his heritage, he was
raised in a different culture than ours. Perhaps you should take him to your
private warren… with the required two witnesses, of course. I would recommend
young, un-scarred females, similar to his slave." His suggestion implied
that Gallant's lust would be amplified by the added efforts of such witnesses.

As Honorbound called for
two novitiates, Cherry wondered if she had been wrong about Josep being her
mentor, but she didn't have time to find out. Honorbound's next order was to
have Cherry taken away and safely secured. Cherry tried to get Gallant to look
at her as she was being led away, but he seemed to be drawn completely inside
himself.

The last thing she heard
Honorbound say was, "Bring along another special brew for my shy
mate."

Holy stars, Cherry thought,
as she realized Gallant would be forced to ingest more of the aphrodisiac. He
didn't stand a chance of resisting after that, and there was nothing she could
do to help him. At least he wouldn't have to be further humiliated by her
watching his abuse.

Go,
her mentor
demanded. Bowing her head, she complied, only to become more anxious when she
realized the two giants that had been assigned to escort her weren't heading
toward the niche where she had spent the previous night. In fact, they were
going into an area that had not been included in their tour of the village.

When she balked and tried
to turn back, they each grabbed one of her elbows and moved her along. Even if
she used her robotic arm on one of them, she had no doubt the other man would
break her real arm in the next instant, and that wouldn't accomplish anything
in the long run. They walked for several minutes and had to climb down two
ladders to get to their destination. Cherry didn't need to be told this didn't
bode well for her immediate future.

She supposed she should be
grateful that her guards either had no interest in her or no desire to mess
with the property of the new sovereign. It was difficult to be thankful,
however, when they lowered her into a narrow pit, considerably deeper than she
was tall, and covered it with a metal grate.

"Please don't do this,
guys. I'm claustrophobic. I'll… I'll scream all night and no one will get any
sleep. Come on! What will it take for you to forget your orders? Hey! Don't go
away!"

The moment she heard their
footsteps fade in the distance, she pressed her back against the damp rock wall
and used her feet and hands to scale her way up to the top. She wasn't
surprised to discover the grate was locked tightly in place.

Unlike the upper caverns,
the only light was coming from a burning torch on the wall above the pit. She
couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before she was in the dark as
well as trapped.

Would anyone ever come back
for her, or would they tell Gallant she simply disappeared? Surely, he wouldn't
believe that. But what would he be able to do about it without risking his own
life and his mission? What if they all left the planet tomorrow without freeing
her? Exactly how long did it take to die of starvation?

That line of thinking
caused a terrifying wave of helplessness to wash over her, and she ordered
herself to think of something positive. If she was still here in a day or two,
then she could consider the negatives. Positively speaking, she was alive and
more or less unhurt. Also, she and Gallant seemed to have an ally on the
council. What else? When nothing came to her quickly, fear started creeping
into her mind.

Okay then, happy thoughts. Flashes
of memories fluttered by like colorful butterflies. She and Aster on vacation
together, tipping over a canoe in an ice-cold lake. Her baby sister Rose
playing in the mud with the newborn piglets.

But thoughts of Rose always
made her feel sad. If only there had been some way to let her know she hadn't
abandoned her all those years ago.