"Different?" Mac frowned at him. "I'm not sure I understand. I was informed I would be meeting you after Last Meal." She frowned when she saw the remnants of Last Meal scattered across the table. "Is there something wrong?"
"I need your help with solving a problem," Liron told her.
"My help?" she asked and looked to Nikhil for guidance, but when his expression remained blank, she looked back to Liron. "What kind of help can I give an Emperor?"
"I was hoping you could tell me about these." Liron lifted the chain holding the rings.
"What?" Mac took a step closer then reached out to cup them carefully. "What are they?"
"Are you saying you don't know?" Liron asked.
"Why would I?" she asked, her gaze returning to Liron's. "I mean if we were on Earth, I'd say they were a set of wedding rings, but since Kaliszians have beads instead of rings, I'm sure these are something different."
"So these are similar to your wedding rings?" Liron asked.
"Yeah, but none of us had them except…" Mac's eyes widened, and she spun around to look at Jen. "Todd… he had Jen's and his on a chain. It's why that Zaludian attacked when he saw them. Are these yours, Jen?"
"That's what we need you to tell us." Liron's words had her gaze snapping back to his. "Can you identify these as Jennifer's?"
"I… I never actually saw them, not up close," Mac said, even as she took a step closer staring intently at the rings.
"You see!" Rachana exclaimed, surging to her feet. "She was lying! Those aren't hers! They are mine!"
"I said," Mac bit out, "that I've never seen them up close." Mac didn't know who the other woman was, but whatever was going on seemed to involve her. "But I have seen them."
"When?" Liron demanded.
"Back on Earth, the night before the Ganglians took us. We were all sitting around the fire. Jen had just finished making us these amazing steaks with a mushroom sauce, and I commented on how beautiful her rings looked in the firelight. That's when Todd realized they would do the same in the sunlight and made Jen take them off.”
"Made her?" That question came from Treyvon and turning her head, Mac saw him frowning down at Jen.
Mac turned, looking to Treyvon. "On Earth, removing a wedding ring would be like a Kaliszian female voluntarily removing her Ashe bead," she told them. "It doesn't mean you’re not still married or Joined, and there can be some valid reasons for a woman to take hers off, but many refuse to… ever."
"What valid reason could there possibly be?" Liron asked pulling Mac's attention back to him.
"When an Earth female is with offspring, she sometimes gains weight causing her fingers to swell to the point that wearing the ring is impossible."
"But Jennifer was not with offspring," Treyvon said, then his glowing gaze shot to Jennifer. "Were you?"
"No! Of course not! We had decided to wait to have children… offspring," she corrected.
"Anyway," Mac pulled their attention back to her. "Todd put his and Jen's ring on the chain he wore around his neck. If you'd let me look closer, I might be able to tell you if they came from Earth." Mac pointed to what Liron still held.
"And how could you do that?" Liron asked.
"Because on Earth, people often have inscriptions engraved inside of their rings. Something personal that's meant just for the wearer." Mac didn't realize she had just verified what Jennifer had told them before.
"Did Jennifer tell you her rings had such… inscriptions?" Liron questioned.
"We never discussed it. Why?"
"Would you please see if there is an inscription in either of these?" Liron held out the rings to her.
Mac took the rings from Liron, letting the chain slip through her fingers as she rolled the ring with the large diamond between her thumb and index finger, the diamond flashing as she looked inside the band.
"There's nothing inside this one." Mac frowned at that. For some reason, she had thought Todd would have inscribed something inside Jen's.
"Why does that surprise you?" Liron asked.
"I… I just assumed there would be one," Mac told him then lifted the man's ring. "There is an inscription in this one."
"Can you read it?" Liron demanded.
Mac spun it around, so the writing was right side up and read, 'T, I will love you forever, J. 10-7', then looked around as silence filled the room.
"Thank you, Ashe Mackenzie." Liron carefully removed the ring from between her fingers then moved toward Jennifer and held it out to her. "I believe these belong to you."
• • • • • •
Jennifer didn't remember rising from her chair, didn't remember walking around Treyvon's desk to take the chain from Liron, clenching it to her chest. She didn't notice the way the guards parted respectfully as she moved out of the room, or hear Rachana's growing protest. All she knew was she had something of her old life back and no one… no one would ever take it from her again.
She found herself stumbling down one of the softly glowing paths of the gairdín, not caring that the wind was picking up or that the sand was beginning to swirl, indicating that a storm was fast approaching. She found herself before the Crann of Bounty.
"Todd…" she sobbed out. "Oh God, Todd!" Suddenly, all those feelings she'd had to force down, had refused to acknowledge, had refused to express or work through came roaring up, overwhelmed her, and she collapsed onto the bench.
"Why?!!" She found herself screaming into the night sky as she raised her fist holding the rings to the sky.
"Why did these matter more to you than me, Todd?!! I was supposed to be the most important thing in your life! Just like you were to me! But I wasn't, was I? Things mattered more to you than me! Status and appearances mattered more to you than me! Was that all I ever was to you, Todd?!!" She found she was screaming as the winds grew. "A beautiful, talented thing to have on your arm? If you saw me now, would you still stand beside me? Or would you turn away?"
That she didn't immediately know the answer to that question tore at her soul.
She'd been enthralled with Todd from the moment she'd first met him, but that didn't mean she'd let him know it. She'd been Jennifer Diane Teel, after all, homecoming queen, prom queen, and valedictorian of her class. Men worked to get her attention. She didn't work to get theirs.
Goddess, could anything be more conceited?
But that had been how she'd thought back then. After all, she was her parents’ first born child, their favorite. While Kimmy had been… Kimmy. An oops. Something they'd just had to deal with.
But Kimmy had been the only one who saw Todd as he truly was and had known he wasn’t good enough for her sister. And she'd said as much, but Jen hadn't listened. Instead, she'd defended her fiancée and called Kimmy a spoiled brat.
But what she'd discovered in a safety deposit box after her parents’ death had stunned her. Her father had paid for her engagement and wedding ring. Todd had told her it was a family heirloom, one that his father had given his mother. It had seemed odd to her at the time, what with the setting being so modern, but Todd had assured her that his parents, who had died when he was a baby, had been very forward thinking people.
That receipt told an entirely different story as did Mr. Royer, the owner of her dad's favorite jewelry store. He had created every piece of jewelry her father had ever given to her mother. It was where Jen had gone to verify what she had found, but she'd found so much more. She could understand Mac's surprise that her rings hadn't been inscribed. She had been too, because Todd had said his dad had inscribed them for his mom.
It had been the first of the many lies she discovered Todd had told her.
"Why?!!" she screamed at the darkening sky. "Why couldn't you have just told me the truth?" But the stars gave her no answers and the wind stole her words.
Looking down at the rings that had caused her so much heartache, she flung them toward the wall that crossed the path she hadn't yet cleared. "I should have mattered more!"
Hearing the sound
of them bouncing along the rubble, she immediately regretted her actions.
Those rings were all she had left of her old life, but it seemed the universe didn't agree. As she rose to retrieve them, her world exploded, destroying them and throwing her back against the Crann of Bounty.
• • • • • •
Liron didn't protest as Jennifer took what was hers from him. He'd never seen such anguish or pain in another being’s eyes as he witnessed in Jennifer's, and he hoped he never did again. Looking to Treyvon, he saw that he had seen it too by the way his cousin's hands fisted.
Yes, something was going on between those two, but he had other things to worry about, and he turned to Rachana.
"Where did you get that chain, Colleen Klueh?" he questioned again.
"I… I told you," Rachana stuttered, her gaze meeting his for a moment before quickly looking away. "It was a gift."
"From who?" Liron demanded, taking a step toward her.
"I don't remember." When she looked up at him this time, her lower lip trembled, and tears filled her eyes. "Why are you treating me like this? I have done nothing wrong."
Treyvon saw how many of the Warriors seemed to soften their stance at her tears, leaning toward the female that was so obviously upset. But Treyvon had seen this act before. It was one of Rachana's many tricks to get what she wanted from a male.
"Nothing wrong?" Liron questioned, his hard tone telling Treyvon that Liron realized what Rachana was trying to do too. "You were in possession of Zaludian contraband and will not explain how that came to be. Therefore I must conclude that you received it directly from a Zaludian!"
"No!" Rachana instantly denied. "I am the daughter of an important Minister! Why would I consort with a Zaludian? They can’t provide me with anything that a Kaliszian male cannot!"
"Except for what you wore around your neck," Treyvon said quietly. "Only a very powerful male, one with an abundance of credits, could have given it to you and you would return to him often, demanding more. So you should be able to remember his name."
Rachana's tears miraculously disappeared, and she turned hard glowing eyes to Treyvon. "You are just jealous. Would say anything to disparage me because I no longer offer you my friendship!"
"As if I would accept it if you did! You are not a worthy female."
"How dare you! I am the daughter of a worthy and powerful Minister. While you, you come from a tainted and unworthy bloodline!"
"Are you saying that my bloodline is tainted, Colleen Klueh?" Liron growled quietly. "That I am unworthy?"
"What?" Rachana spun around, paling as she realized what she had just implied. "No! Of course not, Majesty!"
"And yet General Rayner and I share the same bloodline."
"Only… only distantly, Majesty," she stuttered.
"Blood is blood, Colleen Klueh. General Rayner is like a brother to me, and to disparage him," Liron used her word, "is to disparage me!"
"My apologies, Majesty, that was never my intention," she began. "But surely you can understand why I reacted the way I did. The General had no right to imply what he did."
"You mean that you have given your friendship to so many males that you can no longer remember their names?" Liron asked his gaze hard.
"I… yes." She was forced to admit. "It's an untruth!"
"It does not seem to be, as you cannot recall the name."
"But I received it so long ago that…"
"It would be within the last six moon cycles," Treyvon cut her off. "Surely you can remember that far back."
Rachana glared at Treyvon and was opening her mouth to respond when the door to the Command Center slid open, and Gryf came rushing in.
"General! We are under attack!"
"What? From who?" Treyvon moved around his desk and stormed into the Command Center.
"Three Zaludian ships. They are trying to mimic the Emperor's battle cruisers and have just appeared from behind Pontus's moon," Gryf told him following behind.
"What?!! Where is the Defender?!!"
"Moving to intercept, as are three of the Emperor's battle cruisers. I've ordered the other three to remain where they are, in case this is just a diversion for a larger attack."
"Good." Treyvon's gaze flew to the screens that covered one wall taking in everything that was going on above them. "Have the Monarch move in closer, so we can evacuate the Emperor, if necessary."
"Yes, General." Gryf opened the comm to relay that order.
"No." Liron quietly commanded coming to stand next to Treyvon. "Have them help defend Pontus."
Treyvon wanted to argue, but just then all three Zaludians ships simultaneously fired a barrage of missiles at the planet.
"Fuck!" Treyvon's hand slammed down, activating the base alarm calling every Warrior to battle stations. Then he grabbed the comm from Gryf and ordered. "All ships, defensive fire! Take out those missiles! Don't let them get to the surface!"
Treyvon could only look on in frustrated silence watching the screens as the battle raged far above them. Slowly, one by one, the Zaludian missiles began disappearing from the screens, telling him none of them were getting through.
It seemed the three Zaludian ships had realized that too, but instead of continuing toward Pontus, they altered their course taking them into deep space.
Treyvon was just about to order the Defender to pursue them when one of the retreating ships sent out a single missile, one moving faster than all the others, and it shot past his ships heading directly for the base.
"Brace for impact!" Treyvon shouted through the comms. Then grabbing Liron, threw him under the table, covering him with his own body, just as the missile impacted.
The explosion shook the entire base, stirring up a thick layer of dust while knocking anything not secured off shelves.
Chapter Twenty
Treyvon coughed as he pushed himself up, waving his hand to clear away the dust. "Liron!"
"I'm fine, or will be when you get the fuck off of me!" Liron bit out angrily, but his anger wasn't directed at Treyvon or the fact that Treyvon had used his body to protect him. No, his anger was directed at the Zaludians and the fact that he didn't know why they kept attacking Pontus. "Check on our people, Treyvon. Find out the damage."
"Yes, Majesty." Even though he agreed, Treyvon helped Liron to his feet before moving to check on anyone else.
"Gryf! Report!" Treyvon ordered seeing his Second was already at the control consul working to bring all the screens back up.
"Sir, all I know right now is that the missile struck somewhere on the far side of the base."
"Send out a group to investigate," he ordered, then turning searched behind him. "Nikhil, is your Ashe unharmed?"
"Yes, General," Nikhil said helping Mackenzie up, and Treyvon could see she had only the slightest layer of dust covering her, indicating just how quickly and thoroughly Nikhil had shielded her.
His gazed traveled farther around the room, and saw Rachana slowly rising to her feet. While she was unharmed, she was covered in a thick layer of dust, and she was slapping at the hands of the Warrior that was trying to assist her.
"You overgrown idiot! Don't touch me!" Rachana exclaimed. "How dare you throw me to the ground like that."
"Shut up, Rachana!"
Rachana reared around ready to spew at the male that dared speak to her that way when she realized it was the Emperor and had to swallow them back.
"Treyvon?"
Treyvon knew what Liron was asking. "All systems are coming back up now, Majesty."
As he said it, every screen responded, and they could see that there were no more incoming missiles.
"Damage?" Liron asked.
"Defender, scan the base and report!" Treyvon ordered.
"General, the missile missed any major structures, hitting an area between the buildings and the protective walls. Not far from the Last Meal area."
"You mean in the gairdín?" Treyvon demanded, a sick feeling growing in his stomach.
&nbs
p; "Gairdín?"
Treyvon ignored the question and demanded. "Are you finding any life signs there?!!"
"Life signs, General?"
"Yes! Was anyone there when the missile struck!"
"Treyvon?" Liron questioned quietly.
"Jennifer likes to go there after serving Last Meal," he replied just as quietly.
"General, I am reading one very weak life signal. It could just be interference from the missile and growing ground storm."
"Oh God, Jen," the barely heard whisper came from Mac, and Treyvon's head whipped around to her.
"Go!" Liron ordered. "Gryf is more than capable of handling this.
Treyvon needed no more encouragement and ran out of the room, knocking down Warriors that were too slow in getting out of his way.
• • • • • •
"Luol! What's going on?" Maysa asked, her voice shaking as she looked up at him. They'd brought their Last Meal to their quarters, preferring to spend their time together alone and had just finished eating when the alarm sounded.
"I don't know, but I need to get to Medical in case there are injuries."
"I'll come with you," she said rising, and at his shocked look gave him a putout look. "What? I know I'm not a Healer, but I can still help. And besides," she gave him a beseeching look, "I don't want to stay here alone. If you think I'm in the way, I'll leave. But please…"
"Maysa," Luol wrapped his arms around her surprised to find her trembling. He should have realized. She'd never been in a combat zone before. "It's alright, my love. Take a deep breath." He waited until she did before continuing. "Of course you can come with me, but if it becomes too much for you, just go into my office, alright?"
"Alright." Stretching up she gave her love a kiss. "Let’s go."
• • • • • •
Treyvon's heart was pounding harder than it had when he’d set a new qualifying record on the obstacle course every cadet had to run to get accepted into the Academy. Something told him that Jennifer had been in the gairdín when that missile had struck. It seemed to be the place that called to and soothed her when she was upset, and tonight she had been very upset. If she had been anywhere close to that missile when it exploded… He couldn't let himself think about that. He just needed to find her.