Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I blink. Blink twice. I'd been expecting to hear that he was important, but in my head, I'd been making all kinds of excuses for him. That he was a politician with his hands dirty or something. Hearing that he's one of the princes of this particular planet is staggering...even though I should have expected it. "Which one are you?" I ask. "Which one in line for the throne?"
Zhur straightens, his shoulders going back, and the regal expression returns to his face. For a moment, he looks as haughty as when he arrived here, despite the chopped orange fur. "I am the throne."
I stare at him.
Then, I laugh. It's either that or cry.
A scowl settles on his features. "Why do you find that amusing?"
"I don't! I find it fucking terrifying! So you're here because...what? Both of your brothers rose up against you?"
Zhur's eyes narrow at me. "I am here," he bites out each word with intense precision, "because I am the Heir of Praxii Minor, and the seat of power follows a line of succession. Rem was second in line for the throne and he disposed of our brother Wesskth, making him first in line for the throne. Then he staged a coup to dispose of me as well. It was only through the loyalty of my servants that I was able to escape. They contacted Zebah, and she dumped me here."
My mouth goes dry. What a horrible story. His brother has been murdered by his other brother, and he has to be hurting over that. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"You couldn't, unless you were knee-deep in praxiian politics." He manages a hint of a smile, but his eyes remain grim.
"So what was the plan? What are you supposed to be doing while you're here? I'm pretty sure it's not 'marry a human and help her run her homestead.'" For some reason, I feel anxious at the thought. He just got here, and it's been nice to have another person around to ease the loneliness, even if we don't see eye to eye all the time. But his stay here might be more temporary than I'd imagined.
"That's the problem. There is no plan. I have no army to meet up with. No loyal soldiers that will help me retake my throne. I'm just supposed to hide out and hope no one finds me." He spreads his hands in a helpless manner. "I more or less wait for my brother to find me, and that's not acceptable. It's why I need to talk to Zebah again, and soon, and not lay about enjoying the dubious pleasures of this planet."
"Dubious, huh?" Ouch.
"Dubious because there's only one pleasure to be had here, and it's you."
All right, I take back my ouch.
CHAPTER
SEVENTY-THREE
ZHUR
Maeve is worried. I can tell by the way her lithe body is filled with tension, her brows furrowed. The news of my title has distressed her, as it should. Now that she knows who I am, she knows how dangerous it is to be in my presence. I think a part of me did not truly realize just how far my brother would go to secure the throne. I thought I would spend some time in hiding and then stage a benevolent return in a few months and let the people fall all over me in their happiness at my emergence.
But Rem is clever. A marriage will change his image from conqueror to family man, to a devoted husband. And if he marries the right woman, she will turn all the heads of the people and keep them occupied with gossip. They will not pay attention to what he's doing on the throne as long as they are titillated by his actions. I know this, because my own advisors have suggested strategic marriage more than once. It's an excellent public relations move, and whenever I do something they don't like, I can send a pretty wife out to soothe the public. Perhaps even trot a few fat babies out to make our family seem even more endearing.
I never did it, of course. I wasn't interested in marrying someone just to grease the political gears. Now I'm seeing that it was a foolish mistake. I haven't taken Rem's ambition seriously enough.
Perhaps I haven't taken anything seriously enough.
I'm itching to look up information on the vid comm, but that feels like a trap. Could this be information dangled to flush me out? I fully believe that my brother will have spies everywhere. If he gets rid of me, his claim to the throne will be uncontested. Even now he might be spying on the comm channels all over this end of the galaxy, looking for strange occurrences of my name. There's bound to be a lot of searches for such things on Praxii Minor, since I've disappeared. But on a distant planet populated by Lord va'Rin and his human refugees? Not likely. No one here should care.