The Royal Pursuit Read Online Free Page B

would say.
    “ I’m sorry. I cannot comply
with that request. We must talk with him tomorrow.”
    She closed her eyes. She took a moment
to gather her composure. His tone was friendly but firm. He was
very clear on his intentions. If she refused his terms, then he
would never meet with them. She hated what she was about to do. She
knew Hathor wouldn’t like it, but deep down, she knew she must do
what Gaius wanted. She opened her eyes.
    “ Alright,” she softly
answered.
    Behind her, she could hear Hathor’s
gasp.
    Gaius smiled at her. “You made the
right choice. We will be arriving at noon. You know what time that
is.”
    “ That’s an Earth time,” she
replied, confused.
    “ Correct. You will let the
king know what time that is in Razian time. I look forward to
meeting him tomorrow.”
    She said good-bye and closed her
communication. The crystal ball returned to its clear
state.
    “ How could you do that?”
Hathor demanded, coming over to her.
    “ I didn’t want to,” she
said.
    “ Then don’t. You’re the
queen. You can do anything you want.”
    “ It’s not that simple. I
have responsibilities. I can’t let my personal feelings interfere
with what’s best for Raz.”
    “ Are you kidding me? You
don’t need the Augurs. Raz doesn’t need them. We’ve been fine
without them and we’ll continue to be fine without
them.”
    “ How do we know that we
don’t need them?”
    He shook his head, his arms crossed.
“I don’t like it.”
    “ I don’t either.” She put
her hands on his arms, looking at him.
    He turned his head, his body stiff. He
refused to look at her.
    She sighed. “I want you with me when I
leave for Lone, but,” she quickly added when she saw him start to
respond, “something tells me to listen to the Augurs. There’s a
good reason you have to be here. I have no idea what that might be,
but I have to do what I feel is right.”
    “ Maybe I’ll go
anyway.”
    For the first time since she became
queen, she was going to have to tell him something she never
thought she’d say. “I’m the queen, and you have to obey me.” She
said it as kindly as she could, even knowing it would still come
out harshly.
    He stepped away from her so she
couldn’t touch him anymore. “Fine.”
    When his eyes met hers, she didn’t say
anything. A cold shiver raced up her spine.
    “ May I leave or do I have
to stay here?” he snapped.
    Her faced flushed as her own anger
surfaced. “I don’t care what you do.”
    “ Good. Since I have the
queen’s permission, I will gladly leave.” He stiffly bowed and left
the room.
    She sat down on one of the oak chairs,
her hands shaking. They had had their fights before, but she
couldn’t remember seeing him so upset. She did the right thing in
insisting he stay to meet the Augurs. She had to keep telling
herself that because she was beginning to wonder why it had made
perfect sense to agree to Gaius’ terms when she was talking to
him.
     
    ***
     
    Alpha Head I
    Planet: Pale
     
    “ Queen Ann asked for our
help, and I told her we would be glad to assist her to planet
Lone,” Leader Paff concluded. He’d just finished explaining
Olympia’s crisis to First Commander Zak and Second Commander Jaz,
who sat across from him in his office.
    “ If there are only
thirty-seven Nicals,” Jaz began, “then we don’t need to send an
army of Palers.”
    “ Perhaps two Palers will be
enough for the task,” Zak added. “Since their numbers are so low, I
am wondering if they are a new species or not.”
    Paff shrugged. “I don’t know anything
about them. I did a quick search for them in our database, but they
aren’t listed anywhere.”
    “ It would appear that they
are new in existence,” Jaz said.
    “ It does appear that way,
doesn’t it?” Zak replied.
    “ But…?” Paff
asked.
    “ What troubles me is why a
new species would be interested in immortality,” Zak
said.
    Jaz raised an eyebrow. “Interesting
observation. It could be that they