Voices - M J Marlow (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📗

I told him and tried to pull free.
“You need to do as you are told now, Princess,” Ystban
replied. “If you had nothing to do with it, then you have nothing to
fear. If our prince dies, his son will be the one who avenges his
murder.” He nodded to the men. “Take her now.”
They led me out of the Medical Center and we entered
Magistrate Aken’s office. I felt a little better about his presence
there as I was put in a seat and strapped down. A medic came over
with a hypo disk and I shook my head. He remained standing
there; a promise of drugs and the inability to tell lies.
“You can’t drug me,” I protested. “My baby…”
“The drug will not harm your child, Princess,” Ystban
broke in; “but we need the truth from you. This will be applied
only if I feel you are not being honest with us.”
“Why would I lie?” I sobbed. My eyes widened as a man
was brought into the room in shackles. “Iyan?”
“So you know this man, Princess?” Ystban was intrigued.
“He has already confessed that you put him up to this, Princess. Do
yourself a favor and tell us who else is in on this.”
“He would not testify to a lie!” I shook my head and looked
over at Iyan. “You coerced him into telling these lies!”
“And why would I do that, Princess?” Ystban feigned
confusion. I started to speak and remembered his threat. I lowered
my head, biting my lip to keep from crying. “You are the one on
trial here, Princess.”
“I want to talk to Aden,” I said as I glared up at him.
“Unfortunately, prince Aden is still in surgery,” Ystban told
me. “Your friend did not do as good a job as you had hoped.”
“I did not do this!” I cried in protest. I looked over at Aken,
who was watching closely. “Please, Magistrate Aken…”
“We have evidence,” he said stiffly. In his mind, I could
see he knew it had been planted; but he could do nothing about it
now. “You will be held here until you tell the truth, Princess,” he
continued. “Tell us why you wanted your husband dead.”
“But, I…” I looked at the two stone-faced men and did the
only thing I could think of. I burst into tears. “I didn’t do this!”
“You see how she is,” Iyan said as he looked at Aken. “All
smiles and promises when she wants something, and then just as
quick to betray when she isn’t getting her way.” He met my eyes as
I looked at him in disbelief. “Tell them the truth, Laura.” I turned
my head away from him and he looked at Ystban. “Laura and I
have been lovers since she became a woman. We planned to marry
when she came back from her first duty tour.”
“Iyan!” I cried in disbelief. He was doing this to me on
purpose! “Why would you tell such a lie?”
“It’s no lie,” Iyan laughed. “We were lovers until she began
duty on the Solace.” He looked at me angrily then. “You promised
you would always love me, Laura! When I heard you had married,
I was so angry I couldn’t think!”
“So you thought murdering her husband,” Aken said
tightly; “would make her come back to you?” Iyan nodded and
Aken was satisfied. “The princess is innocent in this, lord Iago.
She cannot be held responsible for the actions of this man.”
“It does not matter if she is responsible,” Ystban said as he
nodded for Iyan to be taken away. “The princess will be removed
from her husband’s presence.” I looked at him in shock. “You will
only be allowed in his presence at social functions, Your Highness;
until we are certain you had no hand in this matter.” He turned to
Aken as one of the guards helped me up. “Thank you for your
assistance in this matter, Magistrate. We will leave the farmer to
you.”
I wanted to argue but I was very tired. By the time the
guards got me to my rooms, all I could do was lie down and fall
back asleep. I woke to find the women preparing a meal for me.
The smell of the food made me turn pale and I was shaking when it
was over. The Medic came to check on me and told me this was a
good sign. It meant the pregnancy was secure. He left something
for the nausea with my women and encouraged me to eat what I
could. I finished what I could and went back to lie down.
“She may sleep a lot the first couple of days,” the Medic
told the women. “Our princess is having triplets,” he informed the
beaming women. “We must make certain nothing happens to her.”
“Triplets?”
“Yes, Lord Councilor,” the Medic bowed his head as the
Ystban entered the bedroom to check on me. “Our prince’s wife is
remarkably fertile.”
“Aden will be overjoyed by this news once he is over his
anger at her for lying about her virginity,” Ystban nodded. He
watched me sleep a moment. “Is she sedated?”
“No,” the Medic told him. “The Princess will probably be
very weary during her pregnancy. Carrying three children is going
to put a strain on her system. She will require round the clock
oversight.”
“Triplets!” Ystban smiled. “There has not been such a birth
in the Imperial household in over a century. The Emperor will be
delighted with this news.” He nodded and left the room muttering
under his breath. “Triplets!”
Terrh entered his quarters and placed a call to the
household on Remus, back in the Empire. He busied himself with
going over security arrangements and issuing orders. As fleet
Commander, he soon had troops down on Jarusian looking for the
assassin who had nearly killed Prince Aden. Iyan had disappeared
by the time he arrived, but he heard the news about the children.
Triplets! His nephew’s friend had outdone himself. He saw a
woman’s face on the screen several moments later and his smile
widened.
“There is news, my wife,” he said as he laid his hand up
against hers. “Our benefactor’s new bride is bearing him triplets.”
“So soon?” Mavus Jo’rek smiled. “That is excellent news.
How is her health?”
“The Medic has her on 24/7 monitoring and security,”
Terrh informed her. “She is sleeping a lot at this stage. He tells me
this is to be expected.”
“Bearing triplets,” Mavus nodded; “she will probably be
suffering exhaustion through most of the pregnancy.” She thought
over the situation. “It might be best to get her out of this situation
so we can look after her properly.” She saw his frown. “It was bad
enough to involve the child, Terrh. Now that she is pregnant, you
are risking other lives. That is not right.” She sighed. “You know I
am right, Terrh. You must remove her from Ystban’s keeping.”
“That might be best,” Terrh nodded. “There is some unrest
in these worlds, but they are still safer for us now than the Empire.
Prince Aden was shot and his bride nearly shared his fate.” He saw
Mavus’ shock. “He is well. He merely needs time to recover. I
have a feeling the news of his heirs will speed his healing time.”
“We are missing you here, my husband.”
“I am missing you here, my wife,” Terrh answered. He
nodded and lowered his hand. “I thought the news should be given
quickly. Move quickly now, my lady. I will call you with updates.”
“You had better,” Mavus nodded. The channel closed and
she turned to see her daughters smiling and dancing behind her. “I
take it you eavesdropped on my private conversation.”
“How else do we know what is happening, Mother?” Ael,
her oldest daughter smiled. “Triplets! I can not wait to meet this
fruitful little alien bride of our cousin’s friend.”
“Then start packing,” Mavus replied. “It is time for us to
go.” She got to her feet and called to the servants. “A feast of
celebration,” she ordered them. “Ael, send a message through our
holdings. All are invited to join us as we greet this wondrous
news.”
As happy as Tal’s household was, the news was not well
received by a certain party on Romulus. The princess Rhianna read
the communiqué and stormed into her uncle, the Emperor’s office.
He sent his aides out and waited for her to vent her displeasure.
Rhianna was always displeased these days; ever since he had
exiled her favorite. She sat down on the arm of his chair and
looked down at him with angry eyes.
“You assured me, Uncle,” she said as she stroked his arm;
“that Jo’rek would beg you to reconsider his exile out of love for
me!” She showed him the communiqué. “Instead he remains there
with those aliens.”
“You want him that badly, Rhianna,” the Emperor frowned;
“that you would ask him to disobey my orders?”
“He should be here with me!” Rhianna protested. “Please,
Uncle. You must let him come back and make me his bride.”
“And if he does not wish you to be his bride, Rhianna?”
“How could he not?” Rhianna sniffed. “He is an ambitious
man. He will see the advantages to being allied to the imperial
throne.”
“If you want Tal,” the Emperor reminded her; “you will
have to go to his household.” He saw that this did not please her.
He thought it over and agreed an alliance between his niece and
Tal would be quite advantageous. He was no longer amused by her
attempts at ruling the Empire to suit herself using his fondness for
her as her tool. He cupped her chin in his hand and smiled at her.
“You may issue a communiqué in my name, Rhianna. Tell your
prince Tal that he is to return to us at once for your joining.”
“And the aliens?”
“Your brother, Sa’vek will continue Tal’s duty,” the
Emperor replied. “It is far too important to halt.” He shoved her off
his chair. “Go, Rhianna. I have other business to see to.”
Terrh received the communiqué and he was not pleased.
The Emperor had declared a union between Tal and the princess
Rhianna. He did not like the little witch and the thought of her
having anything to do with his house made him very angry. But he
could not argue with an imperial edict yet. Tal was to be sent to the
Emperor immediately. Terrh knew what that meant: Prince Sa’vek
was on his way to take over the work Tal had set up as a means of
freeing his people from the Empire. The rebels they had come here
to stop would soon be in control.
“No!” Tal shook his head when Terrh showed him the
communiqué. “I do not care what that says.”
“We knew this might happen, Tal,” Terrh reminded him.
“The princess Rhianna is now your wife. Is that not what you
wanted?”
“I am sacrificing my own freedom, Terrh,” Tal said
weakly. “I knew it could happen, but it is hard to bear. And
Sa’vek!” He looked at his uncle. “He will have the Hazri in chains!
We can not allow this atrocity to occur!”
“It is the Emperor’s command, nephew,” Terrh shot back.
“As much as we might wish otherwise; this is what he has ordered.
We can not disobey him so openly at this stage in our plans or he
will begin to suspect...”
“I will not leave until Aden is well enough that I can speak
to him,” Tal said stiffly. He gripped Terrh’s arm. “He must be
warned, Uncle.”
“Very well, nephew,” Terrh nodded, deferring to the boy’s
greater rank.
Terrh left and Tal lay back and closed his eyes. He would
have to go to Romulus. Of course, once his family disappeared, he
would be executed. His