Chapter Five
Azalyn awoke at the sound of the door chime. The computer stated, “Kelzal Burrig.”
“Allow entry,” she answered with a yawn.
The door opened, and Azalyn admired the tall form of her son. It was still strange to think of him as such, but he was. At least something good had come out of her time with Keltor all those years ago.
Kelzal looked around the room before he spoke, “Where’s the prince?”
“He sent his apologies and will be an hour late.”
Pulling up a chair, Kelzal whispered, “Secure the room against any entry.”
As her son tapped his fingers against his thigh and kept his gaze trained behind him, she didn’t hesitate to say, “Computer, secure room. Only a level ten override can enter.”
Level ten meant only the worst-case scenario—such as an invasion or palace takeover—and would allow anyone, even Prince Keltor, from opening the door.
“Understood.” The computer paused a second before stating, “Room is secure.”
Sitting up in her bed, Azalyn said, “Tell me what’s wrong, Kelzal.” He continued to drum his fingers, but didn’t respond. She softened her voice, “Kelzal.”
His green eyes finally met her own. “I want to tell you a secret.”
Happiness bubbled inside her chest. While Kelzal wanting to confide in her was a small thing, it signaled he was starting to trust her. She might never be able to get back his childhood, but she wanted as much time with him as she could in the future. “I’m pretty good at keeping them, as you well know.”
It was risky to joke about giving him up for adoption and hiding it from Keltor, but Azalyn wasn’t going to hide who she was. She’d had more than enough years of doing that and was through with it.
Nodding, Kelzal whispered, “I know. But this is one you must keep from him. Can you do that?”
“I wish you’d give Keltor a chance.”
“That is not what I wish to discuss. If you can’t keep something from him, then I’ll wait until you can. Because I have a feeling he will use this knowledge against you and hurt you once more.”
Azalyn sat a little taller. “That’s going too far, Kelzal. Keltor has dedicated his life to protecting Keldera, no matter the cost. We all make mistakes in life, and believe me I know that more than anyone else, but to judge someone solely on one mistake is wrong.”
“I don’t disagree.”
She frowned. “You aren’t making any sense.”
“To judge only one party for a mistake that involves two is wrong. However, the prince was the one to cause you pain and hardship. There’s a difference.”
Not for the first time Azalyn wished she’d had a chance to talk with Keltor and have him answer some questions. “Not even I know the full story of what happened with Keltor. Until I do, I refuse to hate him. Because without the prince, I wouldn’t have you.”
At her words, Kelzal stood and paced the room. “Do you really see me as worth all the trouble you’ve experienced?”
“You’re proof that my long-ago love was real. And in a strange way, I take comfort in that.”
He stilled his movement and kept his gaze averted. “What if there was more proof?”
Scrutinizing his face, she looked for any clues as to what he was talking about, but didn’t see anything. “Please just tell me the truth, Kelzal. I hate dancing around something. In that, your birth father and I are very different.”
“Promise me that you can keep a secret first.” He met her gaze. “It’s important to me and not something I want to risk.”
She could almost hear a touch of protectiveness in Kelzal’s words. Considering he rarely had emotion in his voice, it told her that whatever secret he held, it truly meant a great deal to him. “I vowed honesty with the prince. However, as long as it doesn’t affect his safety or ability to lead, let alone the security of the planet, then I suppose I can keep it from him until you think he should hear it.”
Kelzal hesitated. Azalyn wasn’t the sort of person to make false promises, so she waited. She wouldn’t push him, no matter how much she desired a closer relationship with her child.
He finally spoke again. “I suppose that will have to be good enough.” Kelzal took a small notescreen from his pocket and tapped the surface a few times. She was just about to prod for him to continue when he moved back to her bedside and flashed the screen at her.
The image was of a young female, probably about Kelzal’s age. She smiled at the camera, her teeth white against her lavender skin. She also had golden hair, which was a genetic rarity on Keldera. Azalyn knew that well because her own mother had the same hair color and had often boasted about it during Azalyn’s childhood.
“Who is she?” Azalyn asked.
“Her name is Toralyn.”
A memory from decades ago, of Azalyn suggesting a male and female name for her child to her foster family, flashed into her mind. Kelzal had been her male name, but Toralyn had been her desired female name. Both had bits of hers and Keltor’s name in them.
Brushing it off as a coincidence since names ending in -lyn had always been popular on Keldera and Toralyn could be seen as a tribute to King Kastor himself, Azalyn looked back up at her son. “I didn’t think you had a bride.”
“I don’t. She’s my sister. Twin sister, if I’m to be more specific.”
Glancing back at the image of the young female, Azalyn started to notice bits of her and Keltor. The skin and hair color came from her family, but the shape of the eyes and smile were just like Keltor’s. Even some of the symbols on the female’s neck resembled some of the ones on Azalyn’s own body.
Did she really have a daughter?
And yet the resemblance was clear to see. Keltor might need a blood test as proof, but Azalyn’s gut said Kelzal was telling the truth. “I—I…how is this possible?”
“From what I know, the Sulanis kept her existence a secret from you. Since a female can’t inherit the throne, she was deemed less of a threat and was adopted to one of the distant cousins. She works in a shop in Bakren. She found me shortly after our eighteenth birthday, when her family revealed my existence.”
Azalyn couldn’t tear her gaze away from the smiling female. She didn’t care about genetic tests. The girl took after Keltor’s family. On closer inspection, it wasn’t so much Keltor as his sister, Princess Kalahn.
Keltor. How could she keep from him that he had another child? Or, rather, that they had another child.
Glancing up at Kelzal, she murmured, “He should know.”
“No. Toralyn already has fewer freedoms because she’s female. To sentence her to a life as a princess would take even those few exceptions away.”
Azalyn risked touching Kelzal’s arm. He tensed a fraction but didn’t move away. “Look at me, Kelzal.” After several breaths, he finally did. “If I can secure an agreement with Keltor about his offspring and their future marriages, keeping it vague to protect Toralyn as well, will you let me tell Keltor about her? That way she won’t be married off, as you put it. I may even be able to negotiate a few more freedoms.”
He raised his brows. “I thought you didn’t like dancing around issues, which you’d have to do to keep things vague and not give away my sister’s identity.”
“Normally, I hate it. But for the chance to meet my daughter and have both of my children in the same room, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He searched her gaze. “Why are you so passionate about this? Toralyn and I are both fully grown. Fomenting any sort of relationship is going to be difficult, especially as her adopted parents are still alive.”
Tightening her grip on Kelzal’s arm, Azalyn didn’t miss a beat in replying, “Because even if I didn’t raise you, I gave birth to you and will do whatever it takes to protect you. I have no doubt that her identity will come to light eventually.” Kelzal opened his mouth, but she beat him to it. “Not through me. However, once your identity is confirmed and your place in the succession solidified, many will either come forward claiming to have a royal child born outside of marriage, or go looking for any other potential heirs. However, if we act now, then Toralyn may have more rights to her own life in the future. But to do that, we need to act quickly. It’s easier to put in place changes for a hypothetical situation than an existing one.”
After considering her words, he murmured, “He will hate you when he finds out the truth.”
“I can handle Keltor and any anger that comes my way if it means you and your sister may have a less daunting future ahead of you.”
He nodded. “So, what’s your plan?”
As Azalyn explained her idea, she only hoped she could pull it off. She’d learned a lot over the years about Kelderan law and royal traditions, in an effort to make up for her teenage naivety. She only hoped it was enough to convince Keltor to at least consider the changes when it came to marriages and forming alliances without a royal offspring’s consent or input.
The difficult part would be in convincing the public of her ideas without causing the antimonarchy extremists to riot, or worse. Some wanted the complete dismantling of the institution. Laws or agreements that could secure the Kelderan royal family for generations to come would be deemed the utmost threat to their agenda.
But she’d never find out if it were possible to change things without trying. She wasn’t about to sit back and give up any chance she had to meet her daughter. Even if the idea was deemed too much of a threat, she’d search for another way, and then another.
~~~
Keltor stood around the corner from Azalyn’s room and wished he could pace like a normal person. But with his guards following his every moment, it would be a tight squeeze for five grown males to walk and turn around in the narrow space.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so hesitant about a meeting. However, Keltor didn’t think it was an everyday occurrence to inherit a grown family out of nowhere.
Stop being ridiculous. If he was to ever develop a relationship with Kelzal, then it would mean including Azalyn as well. It wasn’t as if he’d be tempted to kiss her with the boy in the room.
Taking a deep breath, Keltor walked the remaining distance to the touchpad scanner. Once the door opened, he signaled for his guards to wait in the hall and he went inside.
While Azalyn still sat in her hospital bed, she’d twisted her dark hair up off her neck. He wanted to drink in the long, graceful curves, but forced himself to glance around the room before focusing on her profile. It was then he realized Kelzal wasn’t in the room. “Where’s the boy? If he’s going to be a prince, he needs to learn how to follow orders.”
Azalyn turned her head and raised her brows. “Kelzal isn’t a boy. The sooner you realize that and treat him as the adult he is, the sooner you might have a chance at a relationship.”
His first instinct was to make a diplomatic comment and avoid an argument. However, the way he acted now would forever dictate his future interactions with Azalyn. He may not be able to have her as a bride, but he wanted to see and talk with her from time to time. And not just concerning Kelzal.
Maybe he should be as forthright as she was.
Of course, that could give her the wrong impression.
Before he could decide how to proceed, Azalyn rolled her eyes and sighed. “Keltor, just say what you want to say in front of me. Who am I going to tell about your lack of diplomacy?”
He must be letting his guard down if she could read his mind so clearly. He cleared his throat. “Maybe I just want to avoid angering you. I have a feeling your temper hasn’t changed over the years, and I won’t risk your health.”
“And just what do you remember? Because if you think I’m going to rush over and jump you so that I can tackle you to the ground, then rest assured I can restrain myself.”
His reply slipped out, “You’d lose, Aza.”
She smiled, and Keltor felt as if someone had punched his gut. “Do you challenge females on a regular basis?”
His brows came together. “Of course not. I am an honorable male.”
Snorting, she turned a little more toward him. “Hm, maybe your protestation means that it’s your secret fantasy to be attacked by a female? That would be something new, as I don’t remember that being a fantasy of yours before.”
Grunting, he took a step toward her. “And it still isn’t. My brother is the one who enjoys the warrior-like females, or I should say one particular female warrior. I prefer ones who battle with words and wit.”
“And none of the females being proffered to you by their fathers fits that bill?”
“How do you—”
“Rumors spread before I left on the colony transport ship, and I’d assume you’re still searching.” She tilted her head. “Unless you’ve found a female that no one knows about?”
A thought rushed into his head—I found you again.
If Azalyn wasn’t watching him so closely, he would’ve blinked. He’d barely spent any time with the female. He surely shouldn’t want her.
And yet, as she looked at him with blatant curiosity, he felt more at ease with her than any other female in over twenty years.
No. To want Azalyn would be selfish. Keldera had to come first.
He decided to change the topic. “None of that is your concern. How about you tell me why Kelzal isn’t here?”
She scrutinized his face a second before shrugging. “You two have enough trouble getting along without the awkwardness between you and me hanging in the air. We have much to discuss, Keltor. So, let’s get started.”
“First, I have something for you.” Taking out a folded document from his pocket, he held it out to her. “Sign this and you’ll have a private section of the palace, where even I will have to request permission for access.”
As she took the synthetic sheet of paper, her fingers brushed against his. The brief whisper of warmth sent a tingle through his body.
He watched her unfold and read the declaration. Much like when she’d been younger, she occasionally bit her lower lip as she took in the information. Her bottom lip was plumper than the top one. But with a little nibbling, both would swell slightly from his attention.
Taking the opportunity, his gaze moved lower to her breasts. Even in the billowing hospital gown, he could see their plump outline. He wondered if the rest of her had also grown just as plump.
An image of her naked and writhing under his hands flashed into his mind. Blood rushed to his cock, but Keltor forced his thoughts to move to the dry agricultural reports from earlier in the day. When that wasn’t enough of a distraction, he started to recite the Kelderan Royal Charter inside his head. Little by little, his body cooled.
The damn female did something to his libido; Keltor was acting like a teenager all over again, constantly thinking of how and where to caress a certain lavender-skinned woman with green eyes and black hair.
A memory of Azalyn stroking his chest, down to his belly, and finally brushing the head of his cock flashed into his head. She’d had such soft fingers back then, and he wondered if they were slightly rougher with age or not.
Before his body could react once again to images of the woman, Azalyn finished reading and looked at his face. “This is a start, but before you officially acknowledge Kelzal as your heir, I want a few more things in writing.”
Raising an eyebrow, he stated, “That guarantee in your hands is more than generous. You may be Kelzal’s biological mother, but you have no say in political matters.”
“So all of that talk when we were younger, about how you wanted to see more equality in the world, was just to get me naked. Good to know.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then what’s going on, Keltor? If you’re worried about me seducing you to become the eventual queen at your side, don’t worry, I have no interest in it. All I care about is my offspring.”
He leaned down to try to intimidate her, but Azalyn didn’t so much as move an inch away. “Do you want the complete truth, Azalyn? Because you’re not going to like it.”
Searching her gaze, he tried to read her thoughts, but failed. Was she truly indifferent to him now? Had her earlier kiss been merely a means to an end, in order to sway Keltor’s mind?
Her voice was husky as she murmured, “Tell me the truth, Keltor. Always the truth.”
He placed a hand on either side of her body. As her feminine scent filled his nose, any restraint or reason he’d once possessed regarding Azalyn was gone. He didn’t hold back the truth. “If I let you into my world and we work together toward making changes to the status quo, or even plan the future of our son, I’m going to want more, Azalyn. Keeping my distance is the best way to protect both of us.”
Her face moved a fraction closer to his. “How is this, right here, keeping your distance from me, your highness?”
He growled. “I’m not kissing you, am I? That’s a giant chasm between us in my mind.”
Azalyn’s hot breath danced against his face, and Keltor wanted to close the distance and devour her sweetness.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered.
He leaned over and nuzzled her cheek with his own. “No, we shouldn’t.”
Moving his lips to her neck, he kissed her warm skin. “And yet, I can’t seem to push you away.”
Lightly biting her neck, Keltor reveled in Azalyn’s sigh. He soothed the same spot with his tongue before saying, “You must, or I might do something we both regret, Aza.”
Running her hand down his cheek to his jaw, she forced Keltor to meet her gaze again. At the desire in her eyes, he wanted to growl and rip off her clothes.
But he focused on her words as she said, “Once I’m healed, I’ll give myself to you, Keltor. All I ask in return are a few guarantees about Kelzal’s future.”
A chill replaced the heat in his body. Keltor stepped away as if he’d been slapped. “So you’re offering your body as part of a deal?”
“Yes. No, that’s not what I meant. Keltor, let me explain.”
He moved to closer to the door. “You’ve said enough. You must be tired, so I’ll leave.”
Turning his back to her, Keltor exited the room and walked briskly down the hall, barely paying his guards any attention.
Out of everyone he’d ever known, Azalyn was the last person he would’ve expected to make deals with him. And for sex, no less.
It seemed that his boyhood dreams of a female who wanted him for himself were just that—dreams.
At least now he should be able to clear his head for his important meeting in the morning. The Azalyn he’d spent years yearning for was nothing more than a memory. Her actions were also a wake-up call.
Keltor’s days would be nothing but political moves and diplomacy for the rest of his life.
And he’d start his new path in the morning, by greeting the latest candidate in his effort to find a queen. The sooner he took a bride, the sooner Azalyn would give up trying to sway his mind with her body.
Because if she kept it up, he might capitulate, and he couldn’t afford for that to happen. Especially now that she knew his weakness for her. It looked like he’d have to keep his distance from her after all.