Chapter Four
As the valet stroked the curling brush through Julietta’s hair, ringlets formed, shortening her waist-length tresses. The woman gathered up the face-framing strands and drew them back, preparing to clip them into place.
“No, leave it down,” Julietta said.
“But, Princess…your hair will hide your face, and this will be the first glimpse you and your chosen have of each other. Do you not wish him to see you?”
Exactly. She needed a shield so she could pretend she wasn’t one day closer to being bonded. But to have people think she was hiding wouldn’t do. “As you wish. You are right, of course.”
The servant secured her hair. “There! Much better. Tomorrow morning I will come bright and early to prepare your face and help you dress.” Females painted intricate designs over their cheeks and temples for the ceremony. The special tints lasted until the union was consummated then, activated by hormones, they faded, revealing that the couple had soul-bonded.
The valet moved to the wardrobe and removed a lace huber-colored shift, much lighter in weight than the bonding costume since only the hem was adorned. Chiming crystals sewn to the garment’s edge would tinkle with every move. It was supposed to emit a joyful, festive ring, but to Julietta’s ears it sounded more like a dirge.
The events of her life had converged to this moment. Attending the Terran university had presented her best chance of escape, but she hadn’t taken it, and now it was too late. Defection would have brought shame on her family and thrown her planet into political chaos, so conscience had prevented her from putting her desires over the needs of her people. The future empress did not spurn her duty because she’d met a man with eyes as blue as the Terran sky, a man who filled her being with laughter and lightness.
Since the tribes of the planet had been united under one empire a millennium ago, no ruler had ever abdicated. Forty emperors and empresses had held the scepter in their thousand year history; not one had ever refused. Only in case of death did a fallback exist. Her family’s rightness to rule would have been forever questioned if she’d abdicated. They’d be viewed as weak, unfit. She couldn’t do that to her father, her mother, her sister, their descendants. Dying offered the only way out.
She wasn’t prepared to go that far.
She should have been cradling a baby in her arms but had managed to put off bonding with a series of excuses. Excuses and time had run out. Next year, her father would have to pass the scepter, giving her only one year to produce her heir. She and Naimo would have to get busy. With any luck, pregnancy would occur quickly and allow her to avoid intimacies for a while.
The valet waited for Julietta to rise.
Her heart felt as heavy as her feet as she shrugged out of her robe. She pulled on pantaloons of pale rose then allowed the servant to drop the tunic over her head. A quick sweep with the curling brush restored her hair to its perfected state. “Beautiful. I would hope I could be half as poised as you, Princess, when I prepare to meet my chosen. You are an inspiration, an example for us all.”
A bad example. Her throat thickened with the irony.
“Do you require anything else?” the servant asked.
“No, thank you. I wish to be alone in contemplation before the banquet.”
“Very well.” The servant bowed and departed.
Julietta sank into the chair again. I was born for this. I will bond with my chosen mate, produce an heir, and rule. Naimo will be a fine consort. The seer cannot be wrong. She buried her face in her hands.
If only she had someone to talk to, but being first in line for the throne eliminated all confidants. Palace councilors could assist with matters of rule, but no one could help with matters of the heart. Her sister was too young and impressionable to confide in. She considered Penelope Aaron, who would be attending the ceremony, a friend, but her advice, though honest and well-meaning, came from a Terran perspective so it offered limited help.
“Don’t marry a man you don’t love,” Penelope would say. Julietta could almost hear her voice. The Terran woman didn’t understand the grip Xenian customs, traditions, and responsibilities had on its citizens. Penelope’s “marriage” to Brock Mann resulted from a love match. She and Brock had chosen each other. Her Terran friend couldn’t imagine anything else, and, to her, the solution to the dilemma was easy. “Don’t do it,” Penelope would advise.
Julietta couldn’t even identify the source of her turmoil. Did she not want to be bonded because she didn’t want to rule—or did she not want to rule so she wouldn’t have to be bonded to a man she didn’t love? If she were an ordinary citizen, she could choose to remain single, but the future empress didn’t have that option.
Rising from the chair, she moved to the window and peered out. Pale-pink clouds drifted across a lavender heaven. Beautiful. And so very, very Xenian. She rested her head on the frame, closed her eyes, and pictured the Terran sky.
* * * *
Coward! Who will you lean on tomorrow night? Julietta entered the banquet hall on the arm of her sister. She’d asked Marji to accompany her in hopes adolescent chatter would get her through the dinner attended by one hundred bonding ceremony attendants, family, and some special guests. Worry about tomorrow when it comes. She tried to push the impending ceremony out of her mind. Much of her life had been spent in denial of the future.
Marji squealed. “Oh great Xenia, there he is! Your future consort! He is supernova!”
“Where?” Stomach clenching, Julietta swept her gaze along the length of the banquet table in search of a man in a royal huber tunic with a chest sash bearing his tribe’s crest.
“Near the far end…” Marji’s voice faded away.
Xenia stopped its rotation around its star as the past slammed into the present. Her gaze locked onto a pair of eyes as blue as the Terran sky. Her heart stopped beating. It can’t be…how…not…not March…
“His twin is supernova, too… Oh! They’re looking at you… Naimo is smiling. He likes you!”
Terran-blue eyes widened in shock.
Claimed by the Cyborg, a standalone read in the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance series, is available at all major ebook outlets.
Book Description
March Fellows assumed he had all the time in the galaxy to pursue a relationship with Jules, an alien exchange student from Xenia, until she vanished without a trace. After years of searching, he finds his lost love on the eve of her arranged marriage.
The daughter of the Xenian emperor, Julietta, never meant to fall in love with a Terran man while visiting Earth. Leaving to fulfill her responsibilities on her home planet opened up a hole in her heart that could never be filled. When March, now a cyborg, unexpectedly shows up just before she is to be bonded, she struggles to find the courage to turn him away a second time and follow through with her duty.
Before she can act, the lovers are thrust into a political conspiracy that threatens the Xenian empire and their lives.