CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MELODY REEVES
I was worried as I always was when Cylo was not with me. He had a habit of doing this. First, he left me on that cliffside when he went to jump back in the water to get gold from his ship with a monster trying to kill him. Then he left me on the island of Kila alone as he fought his brother. Both times he had me terrified that he was going to die, and now I was worried again. He had been gone for three days.
“He will be fine. He and Baca are a good team. There is nothing to worry about,” Jix said as he whispered to me.
“I know I just can’t help it. That planet is very dangerous. I’ve seen what lives there,” I said.
There was a knock at the door. “Who goes there?” Jix shouted.
“It is Umbvo Corist,” the fisher Draqua said through the door.
Jix opened the door just a crack and said. “Umbvo, this will have to wait. The king is very busy for the next couple of days. I will call for you when he is ready to see you.”
“But it cannot wait. There is a problem with the fisheries on the south side of the island,” I heard him say.
“Show him to the throne room, Jix,” I said.
“What my queen?” he asked.
“Show him to the throne room. I’ll hear his problem and see if I can be of help,” I said.
“But…”
“Just do it,” I said. Minutes later, I was wrapped in long robes. I was not going to wear the island loincloth and tube top bikini with a sheer dress in my pregnant state. I sat in the throne room and listened to the fisherman’s problem. I offered up a solution, and Jix listened. He agreed with it. I put the solution into action, and before I knew it, I had seen four more Draqua and helped to resolve their problems. It felt good to be of service and to help instead of sitting on my butt all day. Then I realized something, thinking about all the time that I had stayed away from politics with my father. Here I was now actually doing exactly that: practicing politics. I laughed to myself. He would be proud of me.
The next day was another excruciating waiting game. Then a gust of wind hit my face. I looked up to see Cylo standing on the veranda.
“Cylo! Thank god! I’m so happy to see you!” I said as I walked to him and threw my arms around him.
“Mmm… it is good to see you,” he said hugging me.
“I thought you might be hurt. I’ve been so worried,” I said.
“I promised you that I would return, and I always do,” he said kissing me on the forehead. Then he moved into the chambers. “What happened?” I asked.
“A lot. Where is Jix?” he asked.
“He is standing guard outside the door today. I needed a little privacy this morning,” I said as he gave me a look like he was not happy that Jix was not in the same room with me. I was very aware of the dangers that anyone could fly onto the veranda, but I needed privacy! I was a pregnant woman!
“I will tell you everything, but let me get Jix,” he said. He returned with Jix, and they quietly spoke.
“We found Candris, and it is much worse than we thought. He was not only leading the opposition, but he was doing more than that,” Cylo said.
“What was he doing?” I asked.
“He was creating a mating program of sorts with Draqua. He was crossing them with other alien species to see what happened,” Cylo said.
“What? That is insane. How long was he doing this?” Jix asked.
“Years, judging by the fully grown Draqua we encountered that were mixed with Aeriwana,” Cylo said.
“Aeriwana! What?” Jix said.
“Yes, keep your voice down. There is a big problem. The Draqua we encountered mixed with Aeriwana had my powers of persuasion,” Cylo said.
“Mind control?” I asked.
“Yes, exactly, only this one used it on Baca,” Cylo said.
“Holy shit,” Jix said.
“Exactly,” Cylo said.
“So what now?” Jix asked.
“We have to keep an eye on it. These Draqua are too dangerous to be around. One was able to make Baca turn on me with a few words.”
“What? Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes, I am fine, and Baca is fine. We got away and killed that Draqua but I am sure there are more like it. We did not stick around to find out.”
“Anything else?” Jix asked.
“Yes. These Draqua could not shift. They looked like us, but they could not shift to full dragon or hybrid,” I said.
“That hardly makes them Draqua,” Jix said. “Where’s the dragon?”
“I know, but they look like us, which means they could walk among us. So keep an eye out for anyone that you have never seen shift,” Cylo said. “Until then we will have to figure out another way to deal with these Draqua from Tiok. For now, Candris is no more, and that should be plenty for now.
It was a heavy talk, and I had to admit that it had me very scared. The deep space politics was full of backstabbing and opportunists just like on Earth, but here there was magic, and it made it so much more dangerous. We tried to put the haunting notion of mind controlling Draqua that were out to kill us out of our minds as much as we could. We could not go living in fear forever. So we went on with our daily lives, and my new life as queen.
Months later, it was as if the battle never happened. The Draqua began to trust each other again, and they were a lively village. But I think what also gave them hope was the birth of a new generation of royalty.
“I am more happier than I ever thought I could be now that our son Teavin has been born,” Cylo said to me.
“I am too. I am so happy, and he makes me happy every day,” I said.
“And what about me? Do I not make you happy?” he asked.
“Yes, you do,” I said.
Cylo hugged me and kissed me. I was filled with happiness and hope. Now that I had our son, I was able to figure out a time to go back to Earth for a week. This was to keep my father from starting another search party. It was something that was needed, and it was one of the perks of being queen. But what was the best perk of all was the fact that I got to rearrange the household.
Yes, that’s right, I kicked the harem out. Michelle and Sarah. I kicked them out of the palace almost immediately upon getting married. Baca found a new home for them with the warriors, and I was told the women were very happy. I did not care what they did as long as they were not in the palace and were away from me and Cylo. He just laughed the first time I asked him what kind of power I had as queen because he knew what I was going to do with that power.
But even though we had endured some hardship, I knew that I did not regret any of it. I had asked for an adventure, and I got the adventure of a lifetime. It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, being abducted by an alien that happened to be a dragon shifter. My life was never the same after that moment, and I was no longer the daughter of President Reeves; I was the queen of Kelon.
The ominous presence of the opposition was still out there and would need to be faced again, but that would come in time. We did not want to live in fear of it and let it tear the planet of Kelon apart. For now, my husband kept an eye on it, and I kept an eye on our son. One day he would be dealing with the problems of the Draqua. It was something that every royal house of Draqua would face, but none were quite like what I went through and loved.
The End
Enjoy this book ? Flip next page to purchase Book #2 (Dekario: Dragons Of Kelon)!