Rhal Part 2 (Scifi Alien Serial Romance) (The Ujal) (4 page)

“Ten days.” Cara’s soft whisper was barely heard above the sounds drifting through the door.

“Ten days.” She licked her lips and closed her eyes. “Degenerative genetic material,” she whispered.

“Yes,” Faim confirmed.

“What does that mean?” He did not care that he snarled at the male.

“It’s the reason IGM and the ministry rejected me.
Degenerative genetic material.
”

“She’s in the middle of a transition slowly falling apart. At this point, you must mate or give her blood. I am sorry for rushing you, but those are your choices, Cara. The sooner you begin treatment, the sooner you will recover.” Faim was grim, a frown on his lips.

She nodded. “Blood.” Her coral eyes met his. “I can’t… It’s… I don’t…”

Rhal softened his features and released the pent up anger at the situation. It was not his
czira’s
fault they were in this situation, it was his—theirs. “Whatever will make you happy. I breathe for you, Cara. Tell Faim your desire and no matter your choice, we will work on the rest,” he glared at Faim, “
alone
.”

“Then we’ll go with blood.” She jerked her head in a brisk nod. “Now, what do we do?”

“We prepare a transfusion.” Faim padded to the closed door and tugged it open. He murmured a few words to whomever stood outside before returning his attention to them. “Sece will return and assist—”

“I want the most qualified assistance for my mate,” he growled, anger rising hot and fast that Faim would entrust Cara’s care to another.

“And Sece is more than qualified. She’s my youngling and has trained at my side from the moment her mother’s scales no longer clung to her. She has made a life studying human biology and the way ours interacts with theirs.” Faim sighed when Rhal continued with his glare. “I would never allow the principessa’s heart-sister to suffer, Rhal. If I believed my attendance would better the situation, I would remain.”

“If…” Rhal’s gaze met Cara’s. “If you had a mate, would you entrust her care to Sece? Would you allow your female’s life to rest in her hands?”

Faim’s response was immediate. “Yes.”

Faim was an old bastard, annoying at the best times and infuriating at others, but not one Ujal could ever doubt his love and devotion for his female. “Very well. We thank you and Sece for your care.”

“Don’t thank me yet. She is the best but has her father’s temperament.” A soft knock had Faim opening the door once more, granting a young female entrance. She carried a small tray, tools of her trade gracing the shined metal surface. Faim looked over what lay on the metal and then nodded. “Everything is as it should be. Two transfusions per day, one in the early hours and one in the evening. It will not be painful, as a rule, but you will ache each day as your body absorbs the changes.” The doctor stepped into the hallway. “Now I shall go to Tave and finish my meal. Good day and I—”

“Your meal?” Rhal raised to his full height, unfolding himself from the small chair. “Finish your meal? You were here? On UST?”

Faim frowned. “Since the morning. Sece and I traveled from Tau for a few early appointments and to examine the principessa.”

Rhal recognized the fury coming forward, and he could not suppress the emotion. “You were
here
and you did not come when my female required care?”

“I came the moment I was notified of her need. At most it took us five minutes to travel from the prince’s private dining—”

“It took you an hour.”

Faim shook his head. “No, we came the moment—”

“She was in pain for an hour. Without your care, for an
hour
,” he snarled, muscles tense as he fought the desire to tear into the male.

“Rhal,” Cara’s voice was a soft whisper and her delicate fingers slid around his clenched fist. “Calm down.”

“Rhal,” Faim’s gaze was intent and serious. “I swear on the very seas we live within, I was notified no more than five minutes before I entered. I did not delay. In fact, Tave provided me escort so I was not slowed in coming to your assistance.”

“No one came to you earlier,” he growled but not at the doctor.

“No, I have spoken with him and updated him on your mate’s status. He is concerned you had not called for me sooner and stated he intended to speak with you about it. I would not deny another medical care, least of all the principessa’s heart-sister.”

He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, fighting to recall the face of the male he had dispatched to the prince. “You did not know.”

Cara squeezed him. “He didn’t know.”

Faim did not know, but he would find the male he spoke with. Find him and teach him that no one disobeyed Rhal fa Adar.

“Who came to you, then? Was it Niax?” Rhal had not seen the male since he raced after Cara.

“No, it was Sudal.” Faim pressed his lips together and then tilted his head toward the door, telling Rhal without words that they needed to speak. Once Rhal was close enough, Faim spoke again. “Sudal claimed he was aware of your need and
forgot
to notify Tave of your request until we were midway through our meal.”

Anger had pumped through his blood from the moment he discovered Cara’s injuries and was further provoked by Faim’s delay. His message was delayed by not only the guard in the hallway, but Sudal as well… Pure. Molten. Fury. “I will kill him.”

“And I would allow you, but the king and queen would disagree.” Faim’s voice was emotionless as he replied.

“They would not have to know.”

“They are on the planet, Rhal.” Faim’s eyes were kind, knowing, and filled with… pity.

It was a pity he did not want, but knew he could not banish from the older male’s eyes.

For it was Faim who’d tended him after his training, who set his broken bones and sealed the wounds that tore at his flesh. It was Faim who saved him to… be destroyed another day. He was the male who repaired him for more abuse. He would be half-dead from his training with the king’s men only to be healed and shoved back into his own private hell.

“Both?” He did not try to hide the fear that mixed with his anger at their presence. Not because of the queen, Tave’s mother was beloved. The king was not. At least, not to Rhal.

“Both,” Faim confirmed.

Both. The queen had often visited Tave without the king, but now
he
had come.

“And, Rhal?” Faim’s voice pulled him from his worries. “They wish to speak with you. Immediately.”

“Do they know of…”

“Yes.”

Of course, they did. How could the king not know that his favorite plaything had found his mate?

He shook his head and turned away from Cara, from his worries over her health, and focused on his next task.

Rhal would not kill the king of Ujal. He
could not
kill the king. No matter the pain that seemed to follow the male. Not because it was an offense punishable by death—he did not fear the end of life. It was what would happen after his death that worried him. Cara. Cara with her sweet smiles and seductive kisses and her genetics fluctuating. He was the only one who could repair the damage done to her genetic code, and that could only be accomplished if he was alive.

He’d already made the first donation, her initial treatment to be performed within moments of his departure. He ached to remain at her side through it all, from the moment the needle pierced her skin until she looked at him with eyes no longer filled with pain. Yet he could not. Not when the king and queen awaited him. To delay would require explanations. Explanations that would reveal Cara’s condition—and her importance to him.

The ruler’s attention was never a good thing. Especially when it was caused by Rhal’s
inattention
. Cara would become a puzzle to the king, a toy to be cracked and crushed beneath his cruelty. How he managed to create such a worthy male as Tave, he would never know. Then again, Tave was truly raised by the old king, his
grandsire
, wasn’t he? Taught honor by his
grandsire
and love by his
dam
. His true
sire
had nothing to do with Tave’s education.

Sudal on the other hand. He was a youngling worthy of the title of his father’s son.

Rhal strode down the wide hallway that led to Tave’s apartments—or rather the king and queen’s apartments while they were on the planet. He came to an abrupt stop outside the double doors and pressed his fist to his heart in a brisk salute to the two guards stationed outside the rooms.

“Rhal fa Adar as requested by King and Queen V’yl.”

The male on the left needed the insolence trained out of him, forced to race through Earth sands and suffer beneath the unending waves of the ocean. He trained his younglings gradually, slowly teaching them to resist the call of the seas and giving them gentle correction. Mostly gentle. This male with his sneer deserved to be shoved hip deep into the waters and then beaten bloody when he failed to retain his legs.

Dammit. He was not yet in their presence and already his desire for blood was back, rushing him like a deep ocean current, and destroying everything good he’d worked for.

“
You.
It is not good to keep them waiting.”

Yes, Rhal had learned that many times over. Instead of replying, he merely tilted his head in acknowledgment. He would save his verbal sparring for those behind the door.

The male on the right knew enough to take in Rhal’s coloring, and he watched as the male’s maroon scales paled.
He
was intelligent and kept quiet, choosing instead to scramble for the access pad and slam his hand on the small rectangle. The moment the doors parted, he rushed inside to take up position beside the portal.

“Rhal fa Adar, Right Hand of the King, Protector of Ujal.”

Rhal stopped inside the portal, waiting for the traditional inspection the king performed each time a newcomer entered a room. The bastard made another wait, stared at them until they squirmed because he could.

Rhal did not squirm. He did not become bored. He…bided his time and observed.

Tave, Rina at his side and his hand protectively cupping his mate’s womb, sat to the king’s right. The queen, disgusted by her chosen mate as always, on his left. The woman was gracious and kind, when not near her mate.

And farther along the dais…
Him
and…
Her.

The seas hated him. They opened to swallow him whole, and he would gladly tumble into their depths if he never had to see those two again.

Rhal swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. He had hoped to leave them both on Ujal and never lay eyes upon them again. They must have worked their way back into the king’s good graces to secure an invitation on the royal transport. He flicked a quick glance at the queen and noted her disgust at the couple beside her.

They were on Earth at the king’s request, then. He wondered what lie had been told to gain attendance. What untruth poured from their lips to get here?

“Rhal, my friend, come forward.” The smile he flashed was feral, but normal. No more deadly and demented than Rhal was used to.

Rhal did as ordered, but allowed his sweeping gaze to continue through the room. Sudal leaned against a nearby pillar, his smile predatory as he spoke to a young female. Rhal would see if Rina would dissuade the girl from continuing a flirtation with the youngling. Sudal was a royal, yes, but also one that seemed to follow in his father’s footsteps. No good could come of that association.

He discarded the idea of Sudal as an immediate threat and continued his perusal. Until he landed on a familiar face. One he recalled from the hallway. As his mate screamed and writhed, begging for help, he’d stared into those eyes and issued an order.

An order not followed.

Because of Sudal? Or this stranger—a lower, insignificant guard based on his uniform? Considering the anger burning in his gaze, he imagined it started with the stranger and continued with Sudal.

Attention trained on the male, he stopped ten feet from the king and executed a perfect bow, one from times of old that the king had resurrected out of self-importance and vanity. “Your Highnesses, I pray the seas find you well this day.”

He also prayed they would suck the king to their darkest depths and never let him go, but he did not always get as he wished.

“It is good to see you so healthy and strong. It does not appear your time on Earth drifting in their waters has allowed you to grow lazy.” That predatory smile remained.

“Of course not, majesty. I am charged with training tomorrow’s guards. A teacher must always prevail over his students.”

“Hmm… Yes.” The quiet between then stretched, Sudal’s low conversation with the female, the only thing that stained the silence. “You took your time getting here.”

At least he would not have to dance around the king’s annoyance. “My deepest apologies, majesty. I was unavoidably detained.”

“Were you?” A single brow rose. “Whatever were you doing that was more important than answering a summons from your king?”

Rhal gritted his teeth and suppressed his first response. He did not inform the king that he was unaware of the summons yet even if he was told, Cara was more important than the very air he breathed.

Sudal snorted. “Nothing but a female.”

He wondered if his teeth would shatter beneath the pressure of his bite. He wanted to explain, to reveal the truth of Cara’s role in his life, but stopped himself. The last thing he wanted was to explain Cara’s importance to the other couple—a mere lady and lord—on the dais with their smug grins. Their red and gold coloring blended together perfectly, their pedigree immaculate, their souls twisted.

“A female?” Rina sneered, and he knew all was lost when her voice held that tone. “It is his
mate
,” she snapped. “And she needed him.”

The queen’s smile was radiant, her happiness for him pure and bright. As a child, he’d loved her, saw her as a goddess and one to deliver him from the evil of his days.

The king’s frown disquieted him.

The other two—a male and female who would stop at nothing to achieve their desires—they smiled while hatred burned in their eyes.

He would never fear for his own life, it was worth less than nothing. But Cara’s… he prayed to the seas and begged them to listen.