It had been twelve cycles since the blowout at the nursery, and I had been on strict watch of the human females since then. The D’Sharr sent me out with Diana to fulfill a research mission. The D’Karr ordered Diana to take soil samples to determine which sun was burning hotter out of the two that circled Dobromia.

I flew the dark-haired girl into the T’nemtar fields, where we used to grow all of our food. The area was spotted with bodies of water and used to hold the greenest fields. Now it was where the suns shone hottest. From where we stood we could hear the greenery crisping around us.

“It’s hot,” Diana groaned, wiping at her forehead as she busied herself in the scorching dirt.

I paced around her research area and watched as she spread some sort of wand around various areas of the grass, dug up the soil sample, and then tossed both items into a bag.

“So you keep saying,” I breathed, feeling the heat dripping against my lips as I spoke.

“How long do we have to be out here?” she asked again, shielding her hazel eyes from the unbearable light.

“I don’t know. All I was told to do was guard you.”

“So, what should we do?” she said absent-mindedly as she carefully gathered. “Get to know one another?”

I tilted my face skyward and sighed under the intense pressure of light. “I think I would rather undergo excruciating torture.”

“I’m serious!” she gave a full, throaty laugh that sent a strange pang through my stomach.

I cocked a brow and offered her a small smile. “So am I.”

“I think it’s important for a queen to know her subjects,” she teased and looked up at me. “I’m just kidding! See? That's something you'll learn about me if you actually bothered to try. I tell jokes. Something I have yet to hear from you. Except that horrible ‘blaze of glory’ one, which should never be repeated by the way.”

“Hm,” I grunted and walked steps away from her. I spread my heavy wings on either side of me, keeping them extended to shield my face from the sun’s rays. “Were you actually kidding?”

She shrugged. “Boradrith said it’s important for me to get to know the people.”

I walked to the edge of one of the great ponds. T'nemtar used to be full of sprawling lakes and ponds, full to the brim with meat and sea creatures. It had all been picked dry since the heatwave. The ponds were now evaporating slowly, taking our water supply with it.

“Why’s that?” I asked, peering down into the deep well that used to be sprouting with liquid.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she laughed again, looking over at me. “He wants his people to love me as much as he does when I take rulership with him.”

“Ah,” I said with a breath. For a moment I wondered if I should pick her up by the neck and simply toss her into the well. Let her die there.

“I'd like to prove you wrong about me,” the tall brunette said, her long face beaming with heat as she stood from her dig site and marched up to me. She ran her long fingers through her hair and perched thin brows in my direction.

“Sillevia is a beloved queen,” I argued, turning from her and looking back down at the well. This would be the perfect opportunity. “I'd like to see you win the shifter's over after millions of cycles with her as co-ruler.”

She stared at me contumaciously before her face vaulted into an embarrassed grin. “Cycles are like... days, right?”

I turned to regard her; full lips and ample breasts peering out from the small top she wore; the sun making her body pink even as we spoke. I simply shrugged in response.

She lowered her brows in dismissal and peered down into the hole I had been so fixated on. Then casually asked, “Hey, if this is supposed to be a team operation, how come we're the only ones out here?”

Another shrug. “Probably just Sillevia's way of keeping you busy.”

She laughed and offered me an ‘Isn’t she wicked?’ expression before sighing, “Lucky me...”

Before long she wandered back over to her tools, waving them over the ground and holding them up to the sun, trying to find the proper angles to measure both of their rays equally.

I looked over to the west at the dragon bones that lay waste in a private graveyard, large enough to take shelter in. Then I heard a creature crawling up to us and flapped my wings back, rushing toward it.

“What’s this?” Diana asked with an adorable squeak in her voice as she carelessly picked up the creature.

I pressed my eyes shut in annoyance at her willingness to scoop up the potentially dangerous being and grimaced. “It’s a Zallu,” I said with a sigh.

“It’s so cute!” she squealed, throwing it into the air and catching it safely.

The Zallu were creatures no bigger than Diana’s foot. The small, pink Zallu was thick with fur. It was perfectly round and had stout, stubby legs that made walking a chore.

Luckily for the animal, it could glide with ease. The Zallu would usually travel in packs and glide over the waters in T’nemtar. This often made them food for any swift water creatures that could attack from the safety of the water, but with the ponds bled dry of their proteins, the Zallu were left to their own devices.

The hundreds of sharp teeth hidden in the fur of its underbelly made them difficult to eat, part of the reason the rest of us shifters didn’t bother with them.

“He’s adorable,” Diana repeated, bringing the creature up to her lips with both hands.

“He’ll rip your face off,” I warned with a laugh. “Hm. Come to think of it, go ahead and play all you want.”

“Your humor could use a little work,” she snarled before turning back to the pink Zallu and rubbing its head. The animal burbled and vibrated with pleasure at her touch and stayed by her side even when she pat its backside for it to shoo.

“Can we keep him?” Diana asked, flashing doe eyes at me and pursing her pouting pink lips.

I sighed and twirled my hand with acceptance.

Hours went by as the girl took samples, and soon nightfall was upon us. The suns had turned to the other side of the planet, and soon blue darkness was upon us: a freezing fog crawling over the land like a veil.

I set up camp not far from T’nemtar. I could have flown us back, but the heat drained me of any energy I had left. Besides, I was still supposed to get rid of the girl.

“So you're all for an Earth alliance, huh?” I said quietly, poking at the small fire I had created.

“Of course.”

My brows shot up, but I didn’t look at her.

“Would you rather I say that I hope you all die?” she laughed. “You'd all owe us a giant favor, that's for sure.”

“I should have guessed you would love to have someone indebted to you.”

Diana grabbed a nearby twig and attempted to stir the fire with it, but was foiled as the Zallu tumbled up and grabbed the twig with its array of sharp teeth, pulling it away from her and blinking immense, circular black eyes at her.

“What's wrong with saying it would be a favor?” she giggled at the sight and quickly relented the stick, bravely brushing her fingers through its thick fur with affection. “I'm indebted to Boradrith for saving my life. I have no problem admitting that.”

“Yeah, how did that all start, anyway? One day we heard Tredorphen was bringing humans back and next thing I knew I was seeing your face everywhere.”

“Lucky you, right?” she teased.

“I'm serious. You said we're supposed to be getting to know one another, right? So. Talk. It's what you girls do.”

“I guess, I mean, we were taken in to do research, right?” she said bashfully. Her long cheeks went round at the apples, and she ran her tongue across her bottom lip as though she were about to try out a story: try out the words.

“Boradrith comes in to see what we're all about and I just started talking to him,” she continued. “I didn't know who he was or that he was important. He just seemed... nice. After that I was brought to his room and, well, you can guess the rest.”

“And he's been obsessed with you ever since,” I said petulantly, and she just giggled in reply, seeming proud of herself. “And here I thought you were just being pragmatic.”

“Hey, it helped. But, I'm glad I talked to him. I wouldn't have Plovoeus otherwise.”

“Or your Zallu,” I said with a smile, and she looked down at the pink fluff that was now well tuckered out from running around with a stick nearly three times its size.

“Or my Zallu,” she repeated.

I stared off. “Right,” my mouth moved absent-mindedly. “So, you don't feel like you betrayed your people by wanting to… serve here on Dobromia?”

“I wasn't the only girl to make love to a shifter you know,” she said suddenly; her tone unsure whether or not to be defensive or seducing. She watched me, but I could only gather her expression from my peripheral vision.

“Why space travel?”

I looked at her then and watched a broad smile take over her thick lips, and at that moment, I suddenly wondered what it would be like to taste them.

Back in the Octantis Colony, she was regarded as some kind of harlot: a thief of the D’Karr's time, affection, and political attention. Power hungry.

There was something immensely dislikable about Diana to outsiders, but something incredibly alluring in the same breath. To actually speak with her, I could see exactly what the D’Karr enjoyed about her. She was provocative. She had a conversational wit that made you feel both teased and incredibly important.

She was the epitome of intelligence and charm and knew exactly how to behave in most social situations. Save for the occasional outburst. She even gave the D’Sharr her due respect in public.

“Why did I join the Vulcana team?” she asked, and I shrugged, unsure if I cared about the answer. She continued, “As a researcher space is the ultimate goal, right? So being accepted into the academy is basically a dream come true. And my, uh... my boyfriend was part of Vulcana team, so... you know, I followed him.”

I tongued the inside of my cheek and felt my sharp teeth graze against the muscle. I offered her a slow nod, and she continued, “Plus, I liked everyone. Marina was actually a great leader and Athena and I used to be friends.”

“What happened to the guy?”

Her lips squished to the side of the mouth and she gave a quick shrug, expression unreadable. “Not a hard guess. Either he was killed when they attacked our ship, or he went back to Earth.”

I raised my brows. “You don't know?”

“No point. Either answer makes me sad. And I'm with Boradrith now, anyway.”

“And you think he's only with you?” I asked curiously.

Tired eyes looked across the fire at me and a shy smile crept up beautiful lips once more as she thought over the question. She looked as though she’d genuinely never considered it before. And she likely didn’t have to.

She and the D’Karr had a fire about them when they were together. His passion for her was undeniable. It seemed like there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her.

I could safely say Dobromia had never been as politically separated... or as full of life as it was since she began having a say in how it was run.

“Boradrith has a lot of mistresses. He soon gets bored.”

“Okay, first of all, I don't care, and second, he hasn't gotten bored of me yet, and it's been three years,” she said with a careless tone. Perhaps a little too put on.

“Well first,” I mocked, “I think you do care and second, they are called full cycles. Not years. And it's been four.”

She pressed her hands against her mouth as she scoffed. “Geez… You guys have really short years.”

“You know,” I teased, “if you're going to commit to living here then you should probably commit to our terms.”

“I would be a better leader for Dobromia than Sillevia,” she said forcefully, and I let out a hard laugh. “I would! I'm the only progressive one in any position of power. I'm pursuing an alliance. Nobody else has enough trust for one another to make it happen. Just me.”

Our conversation fell into a dead silence, and I looked to her side, watched the Zallu sleeping at her side; buzzing every so often in a dream. The fog fell thicker around us, and suddenly I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep after all. Not if there were any enemies afoot.