The Ilia's Lovers - chapter Twenty-Eight

Elaine slept between them in their bed in Dahnus’s chamber. The clothes she’d been sorting through the first day were hanging in the walk-in wardrobe behind the bed, which in the Amaran style, sat in a nook of its own, the curtains drawn on the nook, the second set of curtains drawn around the huge bed. Dahnus and Hadith lay in the centre, feet of space behind each of them, and between them, their world, Elaine.

The conspirators were sat in cells undergoing interrogation.

If Dahnus were less of a leader, he’d have them tortured. The problem with knowing torture didn’t actually work was that there was no easy excuse for him to have those males harmed simply because he wanted it.

Everyone deserved due process, even the males he wanted to end.

Especially the males he wanted to end. Because if he could allow them their rights under the law, then it was easy to ensure all his people had the same rights.

“When the road is harder, the destination is more worthy of the journey, Dahnus.”

Dahnus could practically hear his Davvi’s voice as he sat in the office from which Dahnus now worked, learning how to be a leader and from his father’s example, how to be a good leader.

Even now, it was hard. Even now, he’d love nothing more than to send Elithan down to the law enforcement station in Farin and have them all brought to the ancient cells here at the palace and have terrible things done to those people in retribution for what they almost took from him.

But then what kind of leader would that make him? What future would that signal for Amara? But hadn’t he already done terrible things in retribution? Dahnus sighed. That was a younger, angrier him. He had to be different if he wanted a different Amara. Better, if Amara were to be better.

It wasn’t strength to give in to anger. Strength was doing what was right, despite how he felt. Strength was the ability to hold himself back and let justice unfold as it should.

Dahnus sighed. He’d been going over this since the three of them lay down last night.

As soon as he had his Nidila and his Nidilan in his arms he took them away back to the palace. There, they gave full statements of everything they’d been through, though there was still more to do this morning to ensure that everything happened on the record properly. But Dahnus needed them home, back in the palace, the shield up, though usually it was only up in wartime.

Outside, his guards covered every single entrance, both known and, by the vast majority of the staff here, unknown, meaning the escape tunnels that went through the mountain. Even the entrances that dotted the mountain were covered. Outside their room, Elithan, Hemian, Zinif and Thalvuten stood watch, ensuring nothing got past them.

Dahnus intended on gifting them many things for the previous day. He also had gifts in mind for Thanesh and Alethia. He could never be grateful enough to all four of them.

Again, Dahnus kissed Elaine and Hadith who were both squished into him as close as he could get them. They’d been like this all night.

Everything he’d almost lost. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and willed his heart to slow down.

He couldn’t sleep. How could he? They had been so close.

Ariana called while they were in the flyer coming back to the palace. Her and her mates all looked furious and scared. They were now tucked into one of the guest suites with their twins, safely under the palace shields.

Ket’Kitara couldn’t come fast enough. Elaine, surrounded by her mates, warriors Kuyon, there were four sets of bonded males who matched Dahnus and Hadith’s profiles. That wasn’t a guarantee that any of them would feel the bond when they saw Elaine, or all of them might feel it. three Zenin, including Radiin Vitia who came from one of the four principle families there. A mating with him would ensure a renewed bond on both sides. It was just the Sehn who were being historically reluctant to hand over any information, but they said they had one potential match, who was currently hunting on their homeworld and if they could find him, they would send him, though don’t expect him to be happy if the human turns out to be his mate.

If all of them matched, Dahnus was sure it would never be enough.

His grip tightened around his mates.

They would never be safe enough.

The room was brightening in slow degrees. He hadn’t slept at all. Even after he made slow, very attentive love to them both, the usual lethargy hadn’t touched him, his mind raged at it all, his body primed to destroy the threats. All he could do, was hold them. Feel the comfort of their warmth beside him, their weight upon the mattress.

If it was lighter in here, then the sun must be up.

Dahnus pressed one last kiss to each of his mates, and released them, slipping out of the covers and, with barely any grace at all, crawling from the bed, amused that the Ilan of the great Amaran empire was crawling like a child.

He got to the end of the bed and stood. With one last look at Elaine and Hadith, he slipped out of the curtains both around the bed, and the ones that covered the nook.

The sun was crawling over the horizon and shining into his windows, brightening the natural stone of the rock to look like gold.

Dahnus turned and took one of the doors to enter the bathroom and dressing rooms behind the bed. He showered and dressed quickly and left the suite.

In the antechamber beyond, Elithan, Hemian, Zinif and Thalvuten stood against the wall where he left them last night.

“Elithan, Hemian, go get some sleep. I have plans for today. I want you refreshed for them.”

Elithan nodded, then looked at Hemian who stepped forward.

“If I may have a word with you later today, my Ilan?”

Dahnus nodded, looking between the two adalan. Something had happened.

“Of course. Contact Marstam for time in my schedule. I’m sure he’s up already.”

Hemian nodded and the two of them left.

“We will need to talk about your schedules later. I will be hiring more guards to protect Lady Franklin and Lord Efari both.”

Both males nodded.

“We will make an appointment after Hemian,” Zinif said.

Dahnus nodded.

“My gratitude is beyond words.” Dahnus could feel the emotion choking him. it was the first time he’d said anything aloud and he believed it would be some time before he could even think of this whole situation without wanting to tear the world apart. “We will talk later about rewards—”

“Rewards are not necessary,” Thalvuten said.

“No. But rewards of lands, homes, titles, are a wonderful way of keeping you on Amara protecting my… lovers.”

Both males nodded, though neither looked entirely happy.

Whatever it took to keep them here. Dahnus would have their profiles run and see if he could find them Amaran lovers to keep them here if that’s what it took.

He nodded once again and headed to his office. Just as he thought, Marstam was already at his desk. He stood as Dahnus entered, heading to his door, Marstam joined him.

“You have hundreds of enquiries about the welfare of Lady Franklin and Lord Efari. News companies across known space are running the story and want quotes and interviews. Farin law enforcement have sent reports of everything they have so far. Ilissa Danari has sent her own report of everything she found in Farin about who the males were and their connections. She also had several of her guards run the route through the waste management system. Except for the blood Lady Franklin left to confuse the attackers, there is nothing more, though forensics already went through it thoroughly, I have that report also.”

Dahnus nodded. He’d watched his personal physician treat the wound on Elaine’s arm. He both admired her ingenuity and was angry that she’d harmed herself at all.

“The bodies of the two males killed in the initial attack in the alley was sent to a morgue by the waste system—”

“It does that?” Dahnus asked, surprised.

“They all do that, my Ilan. Bodies are tagged at the point of entry and sent to a morgue where they are forensically assessed to find where they came from and why. Apparently when the first such system was created over a thousand years ago, thousands of murders went unsolved until they discovered they were being discarded through the waste system. Tagging the bodies and creating a shunt for the morgue was enacted immediately.

Dahnus nodded, then shook his head. The use for the system should have been obvious. Still, the lengths people would go to, to harm one another always shocked him.

“Anything else?”

“Your agba has sent a message expressing his concern for your lovers and to confirm he and your siblings will be attending Ket’Kitara. He has already hired a mansion in Buyon, next to the beach and is looking forward, very much, to seeing you all there. He and your siblings all send their love. And High Protector Thanesh has requested you call him anytime.”

“Call the governor of Ket’Kitara and ask him to find somewhere more private for my family. I want somewhere completely out of the way.

“Yes, my Ilan.”

“And put in a call to High Protector Thanesh first.”

Marstam nodded, left the pad with all of the reports on Dahnus’s desk and went back to his office to field the call.

Dahnus sent a request to the kitchen to be sent to the balcony in his suite for three hacri from now for the three of them. He would have Hadith and Elaine woken in a couple of hacri, giving them enough time to shower and dress, and him enough time to get the first stage of his plans done for the day.

If this attack had taught him anything, it was that every moment he had with Elaine and Hadith was infinitely precious. In this office, he would be a bulwark to protect them. Outside of it, he would be their mate, their Nidan, their lover.

“High Protector Thanesh on the channel one, My Ilan.”

“Thank you, Marstam.”

Dahnus hit the channel. It lit up, though barely. Thanesh sat in darkness, with only one small light. Of course, because of the Caelin interference in their colourings, Thanesh was pale. White skin, white hair, pale blue eyes and white horns sitting atop his head.

“It’s late for you?”

Thanesh nodded.

“We went to bed two hacri ago. Alethia is fast asleep. Any injuries?”

“Elaine cut her arm deliberately to throw them off.”

“Did it work?”

“There were two routes. They have split their party anyway.” Dahnus shrugged. “I’d kill them all for that cut alone.”

Thanesh nodded, understanding in his eyes. This was why he needed to talk to Thanesh right now. There was no one else he could be this honest with. Hadith and Elaine must be protected from his darker impulses, and there was no other leader he could say these words to without wondering if they would be later used against him. with Thanesh, not only was there the loyalty both males felt for the long association of the high protector with Dahnus’s family, but there was the personal friendship the two of them had. A friendship that would extend to Dahnus’s children someday.

“Talk me down, Thanesh. Stop me from doing something foolish.”

Thanesh chuckled.

“By that sentence alone, I know I do not need to. As angry as you are, as selfishly as you may want to act, you will not. You and I both know that doing so would lead to a dark destiny for both our worlds.”

Dahnus sighed and nodded.

The rebirth of the Amaran empire. Conflict with the Tessans, or worse, the Tessan empire joining them. Domination, death, slavery, pain.

Everything Dahnus was, at the very core of his being, opposed to.

“How are the Huan plans coming?”

Dahnus frowned, confused by the topic change.

“Hannigan was asking.”

Dahnus laughed.

Tara Hannigan, who confronted him two solars before on the IGC about the state in which his people had left the Huan home world a thousand years before.

“Of the eight asteroid belts in the system, seven of them were previously worlds.” Dahnus closed his eyes, horrified by that fact. His ancestors had gone to the Huan system, found it rich in amot, enslaved the Huan to strip mine their system, destroying seven whole plants to root the amot out of the very core.

“I commissioned several universities to come up with ways we might reincorporate the planets. An engineer out of Colsa university has suggested a device which generates a huge gravitational field. It would act as a core, pulling the asteroids to it. He says it mimics how planets are created in the first place when a system is new. After a while, the forces exerted on the device would crush it, but by then the resulting planetoid would be large enough to finish the job. It would take a couple of centuries, less if we could get greater gravitational forces. The cost would be relatively small considering what we owe.”

Thanesh nodded, knowing how hard this was for Dahnus, how deep the shame.

“She will be thrilled to hear it.”

“I think, within ten years, we will have a full package of restoration to give to the Huan.”

“Tara has requested you hire some people knowledgeable about a thing called Terra Preta. She says if you get them working in your Huan greenhouses on Athia now, you can have mature transplants for Huan by the time you’re ready to offer the package. Terra Preta is something they use on Earth and Mars, according to Rhona. Also…” Thanesh sighed. “I should tell her to put a package together. Nodules. Rare Earth minerals, they generate oxygen in the ocean by separating water into oxygen and hydrogen. She says it will help to restore the air quality. There are twenty other things on this list. I will tell her to write a report, that should make her happy and keep her from my office for a while.”

Dahnus couldn’t help but laugh. Still, he added the suggestions to his mental list of things to send to the Amaran ambassador stationed on Athena Station just outside the Earth system.

“Cleansing the amot slag particles out of the air is going to be the biggest job. I have people working on it, but nothing so far.”

Dahnus sighed.

“Did you just circumvent my anger using shame?”

“I didn’t need to circumvent your anger. But yes. What are you going to do next?”

“The first chamber forced me to take Elaine’s security detail off her. Within seventeen rotes, there is an attempt on her life. An attempt that was very nearly successful. The first chamber and I shall be having a talk. You might want to keep the news cycle on tonight.”

“So this will be a public dialogue?”

“No. The word ‘dialogue’ suggests I will allow them to speak.”

*****

“Hemian here to see you, my Ilan,” Marstam said, standing in the doorway.

Everything was set for their visit to the first chamber later. Elaine would be making her first official visit there. Even now, Hadith was arranging what they would wear. Knowing him, he was coordinating the outfits so they spoke of their unity.

Dahnus nodded and Marstam opened the door, allowing Hemian through. He stood in front of the desk until Marstam had left.

“I understand you’re angry that the first chamber took you off Lady Franklin’s security detail. I will be fighting them about it later, but I doubt it will make much of a difference. The first chamber are determined no human will have the security of my personal guard.”

“I understand, My Ilan.”

Hemian held out a tablet to Dahnus, which he took.

“I will be hiring more security for—”

Dahnus looked up at Hemian.

“You’re leaving?”

“In a sense. Myself and all of the officers previously attached to Lady Franklin’s guard are resigning, my Ilan. I am setting up a private security company and on behalf of my new employees, we would like to offer our services for Lady Franklin’s safety.”

Dahnus swiped through the letters of resignation and came across the registration documents for Hemian’s new security firm. He’d fast tracked the vetting process for him and his people, and they’d all passed with flying colours, making them perfect for such a high profile job.

Dahnus laughed.

“I take it this contract will be extremely expensive?”

“Extremely,” Hemian confirmed.

“By law, I have to offer things like this out to tender,” Dahnus said, seeing the bump in the road.

“Yes, my Ilan. But Lady Franklin does not, and as your lover, she is entitled to an allowance, which also includes a stipend for her personal security. It is not something the Ilan has had to invoke for several centuries, since the first Ilan brought in aliens for their Ilia’s lovers. As your lover, she is entitled to the same income and security provisions set up for the Ilia’s lovers.”

Dahnus barked out a laugh.

“How long did it take you to find out about that?”

“I was doing research almost the moment I was taken off Lady Franklin’s detail. I must admit, Marstam and his people helped.”

“Marstam and his people are getting generous raises,” Dahnus muttered. He saw the amount of the contract.

“And this amount is allowed?”

“Adjusting for the change in currency to galactic standard, and inflation, that is the upper end of the amount allowed. And the first chamber will have to authorise it.”

Dahnus laughed again.

“Marstam will work out the contract negotiations. I expect this done by the end of the day.”

“Marstam helped me draft it. Everything is ready to go. My people are waiting for word and ready, and eager, to return to our duties. All we need is your signature. The first chamber has no basis for denying it.”

Dahnus signed his name to the end of the contract.

“I am sorry you are leaving me. Welcome to the team.”

Hemian laughed, then quickly schooled his face.

“Get back to work.”

“Yes, my Ilan.” Hemian bowed and walked to the door.

“And Hemian,”

“Yes, my Ilan?”

“Have Hadith arrange a new uniform for you. He will enjoy that.”

Hemian smiled. “Yes, my Ilan.”

Dahnus sat back in his seat and flicked through the resignations, company information and contract once again. The fact that Elaine’s security detail was arranged so smoothly, and that the first chamber would have to approve it; Dahnus chuckled.

The meeting with the first chamber was going to be fun.