Triad In The Stars: Sci-Fi MFM Menage Romance (Celestial Mates) Page 8

  In short, Vanor was a great second fated for Chloe. The children she would have carried for them would be unlike any their people had seen in generations.

  So what was holding him back? Just his own pride?

  Beside him, Chloe had opened her eyes at last. The playful, satiated smile on her lips was also tired and Elias anticipated her words before she ever uttered them.

  "Okay," she said, trying to sound less distraught then she was. "Now I definitely know."

  She was silent for a moment before continuing.

  "I understand you want answers from me too, but I've only just gotten here and so much has happened. Is there some place I could rest? Maybe find some new clothes? Eat a little? Alone, if you don't mind. I just need to… digest a little."

  "Of course," Elias said, seeing Vanor give him a quiet nod. "Come, I will lead you to the rooms of the queen."

  Getting up, covering herself as if she had to hide from them, Chloe shook her head.

  "No," she told them. "This whole queen thing is giving me a headache as it is. Any room with a bed and a closet would be great."

  They could all see some sort of levity had gone out of the air. Chloe looked a little lost, like the world was bearing down on her harder than before. Wordlessly, Vanor handed her the black shirt he wore underneath his armor. The thankful smile that appeared on Chloe's lips was as beautiful as dawn and she pulled it over her head at once.

  As she stood there, dressed in a long shirt way too big for her, with her hair damp and falling over her shoulders, somehow she looked the most gorgeous. Elias saw that Vanor noticed it too.

  She was the most stunning creature Elias had ever laid his eyes upon. Seeing her like that was already making him hard again, a problem which he had only managed to cure by focusing on it intensely before, but out of respect for her he didn't say anything. It was clear she needed rest and for now, her wellbeing had to come before all else.

  They led her to the rooms of the queen's second male partner instead. Elias knew Chloe couldn't have told the difference one way or another, but he didn't want to lie to her. He ordered for food to be brought to her, and some dresses. She thanked him quietly, almost asleep on her feet when they made it to the room.

  Elias wanted to post guards, but Vanor shook his head.

  "I will stay," he said, taking up a position in front of her door.

  Elias waited for the inevitable "because you're too cowardly" or "I alone will be enough to protect her, unlike you" or something like that, but Vanor didn't say anything of the sort. In fact, the commander seemed to be deep in thought just like he and Chloe.

  It seemed all three of them had troubles and burdens to carry that they had to settle alone.

  "Very well," Elias said. "I trust you not to let anyone harm her. We've already seen she has enemies."

  Chloe rolled her eyes slightly as she closed the door, leaving them to their more courteous than usual bickering.

  Vanor's eyes flashed at the compliment, but once again, no insult followed.

  "They will be dealt with," the commander said. "She is the future. We both agree on that, at least."

  "Yes," Elias nodded. "That's why I need to go. There is a possible threat to her that I need to resolve. I will return as soon as I can."

  Walking away, Elias turned back at the end of the corridor. Vanor was standing in front of Chloe's door, stern and unmoving like a statue.

  "You wouldn't take up residence in the king's rooms, would you?" he asked.

  Vanor glared, much more like his usual self.

  "Of course not," the commander said distastefully. "That would be inappropriate. The crown's not mine yet. I have no intention of taking something I haven't won."

  Elias nodded, satisfied, and left the palace behind, even more thoughtful than before.

  Step by tiny step, something was breaking inside him. It might have been Chloe's influence, but he doubted it was her alone. Fate was dragging all three of them by invisible ties and Elias was finding them harder to resist with each second.

  Vanor wasn't as bad as he'd thought. In fact, Elias thought that if the commander had been born a Greole, they would have gotten along. Been friends, even.

  The root of the problems that bothered him was simple. All the reasons why everything was wrong ended with "because that's the way it is".

  Only that morning, Elias had told Leah that very same thing. He'd believed it, too.

  Now, he wasn't so sure.

  Leah was gone.

  She had permanent rooms in the warlord's residence, but they were empty when Elias got there. In the widow's absence, he turned to her remaining guards.

  "Where is she?" he demanded roughly.

  The guards were intelligent enough to pick up on the urgency in his voice and rushed to explain.

  "Lord Greole, the lady has obeyed your command and returned to her home in the country, to be with her children. She left a note of farewell to you, sir."

  After knowing her for years, Elias had a hard time believing a word of that, but it wasn't the guard who was lying. Leah had a way of convincing people of her sincerity. He of all people knew that.

  He opened the note, reading the tooth-achingly sweet row of apologies and promises to always love him.

  You must think I've gone blind, stupid and deaf, my lady, if you expect me to buy into this.

  Of everything she'd said, Elias only believed the part about love, but even that with reservations. Leah's love was conditional and possessive, nothing like what he felt towards Chloe. She wanted him because she thought he owed her something, mistaking it for real feelings.

  As for the rest, Leah had never apologized to anyone in her life. If she really was back home like she said, it would have marked the first time she ever obeyed anyone too.

  He was starting to wonder what he ever saw in her, besides her looks. Judging by his reaction to Chloe, fierce and strong women excited him.

  Yet to compare Leah to Chloe felt like blasphemy.

  "Find her," Elias ordered his own warriors. "She is to be put under careful surveillance. Find her before my duel and the coronation of my queen!"

  Returning to the palace, his mood was sour. Leah's disappearance left a bad taste in his mouth. He had no doubt she'd try something. The widow had many friends. The trouble was, unlike Vanor's treacherous warriors, Leah would never have attacked Chloe in broad daylight. She would never have left his fated a fighting chance.

  She was too clever for honor.

  Elias might not have had all the answers yet, but one thing remained as true as it always had been. He would not let anything happen to Chloe, not if he had to tear down the foundations of their world to achieve that.

  13

  Vanor

  It was still night when the door behind Vanor opened and Chloe stepped out, wrapped in a long white robe adorned with golden symbols of the royal family.

  She smiled to them sleepily, adorable in her unguarded moment. It warmed the commander's heart to see his fated like that – happy. He would have given everything he had to make her look like that all the time.

  Elias had returned not long after he left to join Vanor in the duty of guarding Chloe’s door, with a grim expression on his face and a warning that Vanor had expected in any way. The news of the disappearance of Elias' mistress was a surprise, but the fact that the warlord chose to share it with him was doubly so.

  It told Vanor in no uncertain terms that Elias was putting Chloe's needs and safety before his own pride, which was what a male was supposed to do for his fated. The blooming, unbidden respect in Vanor's heart thoroughly bothered him, mostly because it was irrational.

  From the moment they wordlessly decided to make peace for Chloe's sake, if only for one day, the commander hadn't been able to conjure the hatred Lord Greole righteously deserved.

  He didn't even remember why the hatred was so righteous in the first place.

  They both turned to her when the door slid open.

 
"Have you been here all this time?" she asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

  Elias' eyes flicked to him, waiting for Vanor to make a biting comment about him leaving, but the look of content peace on Chloe's face was so beautiful the commander couldn't ruin it by stupid bickering.

  "Yes," he said. "We've been guarding your sleep. Do you feel better rested now?"

  Elias looked positively shocked, but the warlord said nothing. After all, the lie wasn't that big. He'd returned to the palace swiftly as he'd promised, taking up guard next to Vanor. All those hours, they hadn't spoken a word.

  The situation they found themselves in seemed to speak for itself. A Merive and a Greole standing together. Something that ridiculous hadn't happened in ages. It was so impossible to imagine that Vanor still wasn't convinced it was actually real.

  "Yes," Chloe said, leaning against the door frame and resting her head against the wood. "Thank you. That was great."

  "Would you like something to eat?" Elias asked. "We could set up something for you. After that, I believe this situation needs a resolution, for your sake and ours."

  Silence fell and the smile faded from Chloe's lips. Vanor wanted to strike out at Elias, but he knew the warlord was right. They'd allowed themselves to come so far and there was no backing away. They were fated to each other, one way or another, and nothing in the world was going to change that.

  They could either accept that or cower from it like fools.

  "Alright," Chloe murmured. "Give me a second. I'll just go and pick one of those dresses that looks like they could have bought my old apartment ten times over. I've never understood why dresses need jewels on them."

  "I'll arrange for a meal to be brought to us," Elias told him when Chloe slipped back into her room. "She liked the balcony so much before, I think she'd enjoy the fresh air now too. Bring her there when she's done. In the meanwhile, I suggest you figure out what you're going to tell her."

  "About what?" Vanor asked with a frown, although he could guess quite well.

  "This whole mess," Elias replied, right on cue, rolling his eyes. "Everything."

  Vanor bristled.

  "Do you know what you're going to say?" Vanor demanded, but the warlord just smiled.

  "No," Elias admitted, walking away. "I don't. I guess I'll know when the words are coming out of my mouth."

  With that, Elias left, leaving Vanor growling at his infuriating answer. He waited, not moving an inch from the position he'd assumed many hours ago.

  Only when Chloe finally exited the room, Vanor stepped back. He couldn't help it. She was simply breathtaking, the very image of a queen despite not having any gold in her eyes. The commander was so used to considering it a weakness, but her deep hazels were beautiful beyond anything to him.

  Chloe wasn't a Haverin, which was why her colored eyes weren't signs of decay on her. On the contrary, Vanor found himself drawn to them like they were two deep wells, dragging him in with immeasurable power.

  The white dress she had chosen was working for her body, not that she needed any favors from the clothing. It was long and form-fitting, before dropping to the floor in a wide arc, sleeves falling off her naked shoulders, leaving them bare.

  Vanor had to force himself to stand still and not rip this new dress to shreds as well. He imagined the perfect body underneath, wondering if she was wearing anything under the soft fabric. If he'd lift the skirt up and push his hand between her legs, feel her wetness...

  "You know," Chloe said, snapping him out of his musings, a playful smile on her lips. "I don't know what kind of women you have here on Corolon, so far I'm having a hard time understanding the men, but Earth girls can understand when you're obviously undressing them with your eyes. I thought you were supposed to be the one always in control."

  The way she said that told Vanor in no uncertain terms that she didn't mind at all, so he had no problem replying in much the same fashion.

  "I am. Trust me, compared to Elias, I am. But near you, everything we are takes second place. I was doing exactly what you were thinking."

  Chloe said nothing, just nodded with a smirk on her lips. Vanor offered her his arm and they returned to the balcony, this time under the light of their single moon and the lanterns burning all around the gardens. Chloe's eyes went wide as she saw all of that, but Vanor only had eyes for how the flicking glow of the fire danced on her dress.

  She was perfect, utterly perfect.

  It marked the first time in his life when Vanor wasn't prepared to die. From the earliest moment of his existence that the commander could remember, he'd been a dutiful warrior and a Haverin.

  His family, the Merives, had long excelled in space warfare in their little corner of the universe, far from the meddling of the Galactic Union, and so Vanor followed in the footsteps of his forefathers. He led his first unit to battle when he'd been thirteen and commanded larger forces from that day until he was made the commander of the fleet by the previous king.

  In his heart, Vanor had always suspected that Elias' father hadn't given him the promotion because he believed in his skills and leadership. Undoubtedly the aging ruler had wanted to give him an incentive never to come down to Corolon again, to keep him far from the path he had decided on for his own son.

  It had happened before. Some warriors loved the battlefields so much the throne didn't really interest them, but Vanor never forgot about what was rightfully his.

  Until the moment under the stars and in the flickering torch light, he had always known and accepted the fact that he would one day die. In battle, probably.

  Preferably, actually.

  Vanor had never feared death and still didn't, but for once, he wasn't prepared to go. He wanted to stay and live and see Chloe smile at him, see her shine like the brightest star that she was.

  There was a table laid out for them. In the absence of the king, the palace still worked and lived. They must have been aware of the future ruler, whoever that may be, staying in the building, because it looked like a true feast.

  Chloe dashed over to the table like she hadn't eaten in months. The excitement of the long day had made Vanor hungry too. Elias was waiting for them both, helping Chloe to her seat when she reached him.

  “You look beautiful,” he said with a smile.

  Vanor couldn’t do anything but agree with the man wholeheartedly.

  They sat around the table, pouring sweet drinks and eating. He and Elias watched as Chloe picked a little of everything, trying it all. She was through about half of her choices when she dropped a piece of bread to her plate and stared at them with wide eyes.

  "Can I – can I even eat all this?" she asked. "I mean, it's not dangerous to Earthl- to Terrans, is it?"

  "The messengers wouldn't send you here if you couldn't digest the food," Vanor relaxed her. "What kind of torture would that be, to leave you here to starve?"

  "Right," Chloe murmured. "The drink. Yes, yes, I remember now. They gave me a drink that was supposed to protect me from anything I might come in contact with. Though knowing Reuben, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that I’m allergic to the best food you have here, or something."

  “Reuben?” Vanor questioned with a quirked brow.

  “Long story,” Chloe said with a sigh, waving the notion away.

  She kept eating, looking at them with newfound glee.

  "But I have to say," she put in between two bites. "This is delicious. I think I'd still go on eating if I knew it was poisonous. It's excellent. And the view here! It's no wonder everyone wants to be king."

  "You could have all this," Elias said, demanding the attention of Vanor and Chloe both, mostly because of the seriousness of the warlord's voice. “You will have all of this.”

  He'd barely touched his food, only sipped a little of the drink.

  "All this could be yours. Any food you might desire, any jewels you want to wear. There would be an army of people dressing you in whatever you want to wear and taking you to see the wonders of our world.


  “All you have to do is say you will stay after the two weeks are done. Say that when the messenger comes, you will not desert us. One of us, Vanor and I, will die that day. It would be a comfort to know that you, at least, would still grace our domain after that."

  Elias took a deep breath, glancing in Vanor's direction.

  "I would even go so far as to say that if I should be the one to lose that duel, I trust Lord Merive to take care of you."

  Vanor had a hard time believing his ears. Yet he could not stay silent either.

  How did we get here! My forefathers must be spinning in their graves.

  "And I would trust him," the commander added when Elias fell silent.

  The words left his lips before he could even consider them, drawn from him by the moment. He didn't regret them. Elias had showed himself to be a worthy rival. It proved he would be a good mate to Chloe. Vanor knew this.

  "You still mean to go through with it," their fated said then and Vanor saw the cheer once again gone from her face. "Even after today?"

  "You asked us to pretend," Vanor said. "It was only a show, a play. It can't be like that."

  The words sounded hollow in his mouth, like poor excuses. He felt his own expression twisting, an immediate reaction to the words he spoke.

  Couldn’t it?

  Chloe was looking down, but when she raised her gaze, it was sharp and firm.

  "I've given this thought," she said, making her voice as certain as her gaze. "I slept on it and the answer remained the same. I think you are insane to duel each other. From what I've seen, you'd both make great kings and fate has given you a chance to do that.

  “If you think for one second I will stay with the man who just slaughtered the other under my very eyes, you've both lost your minds.

  "And don't give me that tradition and ancient blood feud crap. We had that back on Earth – I mean Terra. Do you know how it ended? It just did. People stopped following the stupid rules and nothing came of it. The sky didn't fall, the mountains didn't crumble."