Chapter 6

APO PRIME

NEXT DAY

"We smelled it." Gorgo spoke softly. "All of us, we smelled it on her and we did not know what it was. We did nothing."

The meeting room was adjacent to the main foyer of the Royal estate just outside Tuya's limits. The front of the massive property faced the capital city three kilometers distant, while the rear of the property backed up to the kilometers spanning glass surfaced lake that stretched into the horizon. Martin and the others had protested when they first saw it from the air, saying they didn't need something so large and it wasn't fair. Deia had shaken her head and explained to them that the Royal Estate acted much like an alternate command center for the government, and that the people of Apo Prime had voted unanimously to build it hundreds of years ago. There was a four story barracks on the property for the Spartan Royal Guard, large guest quarters for visiting dignitaries, and a huge winding walkway through a garden with flowers from every planet in the Union.

The Royal property itself spanned five square kilometers, with thick towering trees, and a beautiful lush forest. The beach along the lake was all white sand and lined up exactly with the expansive patio and two level balconies that opened into the rear of the walled compound. There was a long steel pier decorated with flowers that extended out into the lake and ended two kilometers distance from the Compound on the massive island that filled the view from the main bedroom.

Now however, no one was interested in studying the beauty of the place. Quite the opposite in fact.

Deia was standing near the large window and speaking with the older Lycavorian male on the wide monitor. She hadn't changed from her dress the previous day, coming with Gorgo and the others as Martin was brought here immediately after Chetak had departed the planet.

"I don't care what you need to do Aspon," Deia spoke to her most trusted and senior aide. "You find out how this happened. Find out how that vile scum was offered a position in the Union and you find out who buried their petition in a totally unrelated Appropriations Bill. Olalla didn't work alone on this of that you can be sure."

The man nodded quickly. "I will see to it Prime Minister. The Senators and Delegations are demanding to know why the Acceptance Ceremony is not taking place Deia. What should I tell them?"

"Tell them the King has fallen ill and needs to rest after his long journey here." Deia answered evenly.

"Deia ... they all saw him these last two days." Aspon replied. "Almost all of them commented on how healthy he appeared ... so young and vigorous"

"Pen arne nubou sebball atle hnes sey menn!" Deia hissed at the monitor, causing her aide's eyes to go wide. (I don't fucking care what they have seen) Deia looked at him and exhaled heavily regaining control of her emotions. "Forgive me Aspon..."

"Given what has occurred Prime Minister ... please ... do not apologize. However vent to me or your mate and not someone else." The man spoke.

Deia nodded. "Cyn Forn, amlian." She spoke. (Thank you my friend.)

The man nodded, "Innyne." He spoke. (Always) "I will contact you as soon as I know something."

"And Aspon ... insure Senator Olalla is comfortable, well fed, then bring him to me here. I am going to stay here at the palace until such time as we can get a handle on what to do." Deia spoke. "I want to interrogate that worm myself, before I have him executed for High Treason."

"I wish to be there when you do Deia." Aspon said. "Good luck."

Deia turned as the monitor went dark and the door slid open into the meeting room. Anja and Dysea walked in with Isabella and the Hadarian handmaiden directly behind them. They both had changed into Spartan body armor and carried their Nehtes. She saw Gorgo go to them quickly as Deia moved back to the table.

Anja squeezed Gorgo's hand. "He's sleeping finally." She said softly. "He wouldn't let me or Seanna heal him so I had to slip him a sedative. It wasn't easy ... the gouges she gave him were very deep, and he is going to be very upset that I knocked him out."

"Harna ye Enda." Dysea spoke in barely a whisper, (Wounds of the Heart.) Isabella stepped up closer to her and slipped her hand into Dysea's.

Gorgo shook her head. "And in my ignorance I accused him of taking her before the Age of Consent." She spoke. "I am a fool."

Anja shook her head. "No Gorgo." She said. "He will need all of us now." Anja took a deep breath and then turned her jade green eyes on Deia. "But first ... I want to know when we are going after her."

Deia looked surprised. "After her? We can not go after her."

"You don't honestly believe we are going to just let them take her from us do you?" Anja said.

"Forgive me my Queen, but neither you nor the King has a choice in this matter." Deia said. "Aricia made her decision." Deia moved to the table and picked up the data pad with the tubular object connected at the bottom. There was a dark red substance in the tube. "This was delivered to my office immediately after Chetak left. It is a sample of Aricia's blood. I've already had it checked in every possible way against what we had on file from her physical on the LEONIDAS I. It is her blood and there is absolutely no trace of any known mind altering drug in her blood. She made her choice freely."

Anja moved closer to her, her face stoic and unreadable. "Let me tell you something Prime Minister Deia. Since the moment she came into our lives, even before we met her physically, she has been a part of our minds, our very conscious. For the last year we have been together, slept together, and pleasured each other in ways you can not begin to imagine; we have fought together and shared the one thing dearest to all of us. That was Martin Leonidas. Dysea and I have known since the beginning she was Martin's favorite the moment she entered his life, not for any simple reason either, but because she was the one thing we would never be; Lycavorian." Anja moved closer to her. "This fact never deterred us from loving him or her any less, and Aricia returned that love with all that she was. We know her ... you do not ... if you ever speak to me again that she chose this freely..." Anja was in front of her, her eyes now changed and her fangs coming out. "Pen gur fecla dur terit gai for fele un forn." (I will rip out your heart and feed it to you.) Deia's eyes went wide. "Am I being clear enough for you?"

Seanna moved up next to her quickly. "My Queen ... this ... this does not help." She spoke softly taking her hand and drawing her back.

"Seanna is right Melyanna." Dysea spoke. "We ... we must remain calm and in control."

"I am in control." Anja snapped her eyes never leaving Deia's face. "You don't want to see me when I'm out of control!"

Deia turned to Gorgo as Seanna drew Anja back slowly, pulling her close and whispering to her. "Gorgo what... ?"

"I was going to talk to you about it later." Gorgo spoke. "It is happening with Martin as well. Somehow ... somehow he is learning the ancient language. I can't explain it ... and I was going to explore it more with him when we got here, but it is obviously bleeding over to the Queens because of the connection they share."

Deia looked at Anja's back. "I did not mean to imply she would choose this consciously Lady Anja." She spoke quickly. "This is something the Lunmai did to her. She could not refuse the fever. Joric ... Joric simply got to her first." Deia finished with disgust in her voice.

"Deia ... what did Chetak mean?" Gorgo asked. "Our history is not the truth? There is no mention of this Lunmai in the scrolls of our history, and I should know, I teach our history at the University."

Deia motioned to the chairs around the table. "Please ... sit down everyone. I will explain what has happened here. Perhaps then we can decide how best to proceed." Deia waited until they reluctantly moved to the chairs and settled into them. "The Lunmai is an ancient part of our history. A part many of us my age do not want to remember. It is the part of our history that Resumar brought us out of, for he found it just as distasteful and barbaric, more so since this same thing happened with Eliana, the only wolf he ever truly loved."

"What?" Gorgo gasped.

Deia nodded slowly. "Chetak was right." She said. "Eliana was Chetak's mate. He was the first to reach her when she Came of Age." Deia walked around the table slowly, her hands now clasped behind her back. "Eliana fought Chetak ... she was deeply in love with Resumar as well. They had grown up together from childhood, sworn their eternal love before Eliana was a hundred years old. When Eliana Came of Age; Resumar was in another province of Lycavore, our original Home World. Chetak reached her first and took her violently, claiming her as his own. This did not sit well with either Eliana's family or many of our people. Resumar was trying to bring our people forward, and most supported his efforts. There were a few families, like Chetak's, powerful families that did not want this. They reveled in the old ways, the violence and bloodshed and dominance." Deia took a deep breath. "Eliana's sister detected the Lunmai blossoming in Eliana first. She was the only one Chetak would allow to visit her, as she was the youngest, and he had hoped to claim her as well when she Came of Age. Eliana's sister took this information to her mother, and then to Resumar. The King was despondent, and had been for months after Eliana was taken from him." Deia moved back to her chair and settled into it with a heavy sigh. "It was arranged for Eliana to be in one of our markets and to be kidnapped. Chetak knew who had done this immediately, and he went crazy. Resumar took Eliana high into the mountains, and together they waited until the Lunmai was upon her. When the fever was at its peak, he claimed her as his, and the joy in their singing howls echoed through the mountains for what seemed like forever."

"He stole her back?" Gorgo spoke.

Deia nodded. "It was wrong yes; and completely against the old laws and all of our traditions. Resumar did not care and neither did Eliana. When they returned mated ... Chetak challenged Resumar in a blind rage. With hundreds looking on, Resumar killed Chetak's father and two of his brothers, quite handily mind you. He was every bit as large as Martin is in wolf form, though Martin appears to be a little broader and more muscular, and Resumar was even more vicious. When Chetak attempted to strike Resumar from behind, Eliana leaped between them and laid open Chetak's chest and abdomen with her own claws. She was in the tail end of the Lunmai, and still being ruled by the fever, it was instinct within her to protect her chosen mate, and that was increased by the fact that she loved him so."

"That is why Aricia attacked Nauta Melme when he went after this pig Joric?" Dysea asked. "But she doesn't love Joric! She loves Nauta Melme!

Deia nodded. "As deeply in the fever as I witnessed that she was, as I said, all rational thought was gone from her. Chetak was also right that the Lunmai only affects one in five hundred billion of our females. I would say now that those odds are not even accurate because our people have evolved out of our natural instinctual reactions to such things. It is also why no one detected it in Aricia. The Lunmai removes all rational thought, and brings out the most primal basic instinct of our females. That is the need to mate, to reproduce. At it's peak Aricia would have been operating at the instinctual level, all rational thought gone from her. I surmise because she was raised among the Spartans, with no contact whatsoever with her true people, with us, she did not know what was happening to her. The Spartans were far closer in instinct and traditions to our original people Gorgo, you know this. Leonidas followed the rule of law the humans had established for the most part when he became King in Sparta, and humans have, for the most part always given their females choice. But without the knowledge we had here on Apo Prime, no one in Sparta would even know what to look for in relation to the Lunmai. I would suggest contacting whoever is in charge on Earth and have every Lycavorian female, mated or not, have them examined to insure this is not happening in any other females."

"But what he is done is no better than rape!" Anja protested.

Deia nodded. "Yes Milady ... I would agree. As would many others ... except for the part where he demanded from Aricia to speak what she did. He was very careful to insure she announced most clearly she was choosing him as her mate. Given the information they were able to obtain, there was no doubt they knew Aricia would never do this willingly, so they waited until the fever was at its peak and Joric hit her with his aura. He is a powerful Alpha in his own right."

"More powerful than Martin?" Anja gasped. "I doubt that."

Deia shook her head. "Let me explain." She spoke. "Our males ... Lycavorian males ... their aura is like a ... it is like an invisible energy field of sorts. I was never very good in school physiology, but essentially the male aura is a weapon of sorts. They can control it, direct it, I'm sure you have felt it with the King, as Gorgo and I have felt it with our mates. When he nuzzles you, caresses you and touches you with his aura, what do you feel?"

Anja looked at her. "It ... it is like an aphrodisiac." She answered softly, remembering how she felt when he touched her with that part of him.

Deia nodded. "The King ... any Lycavorian male you come across on this planet or across the Union, they have instinctually and with the help of their fathers and grandfathers, they have learned how to harness their auras. How much they release, who they direct it too." Deia explained. "Resumar began this and it has continued to this day. I have sensed the King's aura, in the hover lift going to the Greeting Center. I have not felt one so powerful since Resumar himself. I would dare say with the force of the aura that the King keeps shielded, if Martin ever hit you or Dysea with his full aura, complete and unprotected, you would both become utterly helpless before him. You would refuse him nothing; do anything for him, anything at all. He could turn you into babbling fools in a heartbeat, and you would want nothing more than to surrender to him in every way. That he has learned to control it as he has without guidance or direction of any sort," Deia sat back in her chair. "That bespeaks of a power unlike any I have ever seen. His Mindvoice powers are already immeasurable and I have had our most powerful Mages probing him since he set foot on this planet attempting to break through his shields, men and women who do this for a living."

"What?" Dysea yelled. "You are no right?"

"I had every right and he knew of it. He allowed it. He acts like a King and doesn't even know it." Deia said quickly. "It does not matter now ... none of them came even remotely close to penetrating his Mindvoice Shields. They stopped within the first few hours of trying for fear of setting off some sort of psychic trap." Deia looked at Anja. "Chetak ... Joric ... those who follow them ... they use their auras as weapons, against our females primarily. In the grips of the Lunmai as she was, Joric most likely hit her with his unshielded aura, and that was all it took to send her over the edge."

Gorgo looked at Deia intently something still bothering her. "Deia ... how do you know all this? How do you know Chetak? You two ... it seemed like he knew who you were and..."

Deia met her eyes. "I am Eliana's sister Gorgo. That is how I know all this. That is how Chetak knows who I am. I am the one who first discovered the Lunmai in Eliana." Deia spoke softly.

Gorgo simply stared at her in unabashed shock and astonishment. "I ... I thought ... I thought the Coven butchered everyone even remotely related to them."

"They did." Deia spoke. "My mate ... my mate saved me. I have hidden this from everyone all of these years and that is how it must stay. I am not that young woman anymore. This is who I am."

Anja shook her head. "She was controlling it." She spoke up attempting anything to not believe this. "She was fighting this ... this Lunmai. Aricia is nearly as powerful as Martin in terms of her Mindvoice powers. Surely she could have fought Joric."

Deia looked at Gorgo. "She is that strong?"

Gorgo nodded, "Surprisingly so yes."

Deia was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "Regardless of how strong she is," Deia spoke finally. "The combination of the Lunmai and Joric's aura, there is no way she could have withstood both."

"That is no different than rape as Melyanna has said!" Dysea snapped.

"And I would agree again Milady." Deia spoke. "However because they were careful enough to have her verbally choose Joric as she did in the images we saw, as distasteful as they were, we can do nothing. It would be a violation of our laws in every way. No politician or Enforcer of the Laws would touch this. And believe me when I tell you, I would like nothing better than to take the whole of the Union military and go to Enurrua and rip Chetak's face from him myself. I can not ... because it goes against everything that King Resumar began here." Deia sat back. "And because he has threatened to release this information publicly in regards to Martin and Yuri, not to mention the fact he has a child by her. That would be more ruinous, for it would send the Union into a tailspin from which we might never recover. To know the King we have waited so long for, the grandson of Resumar, to know he has fathered a child with our most hated enemy? That would be far more perilous and damaging."

"That is easy for you to say Deia." Isabella spoke now. "This does not affect you in the way if effects Martin and Dysea and Anja. They have had ... they have had a part of themselves ripped from them in a particularly cruel way."

Deia looked at her surprised at the emotion that was now in her voice when she spoke. "Isabella ... I ... I would have thought you would look at this more objectively than the others."

"And I do." Isabella answered. "I understand why we can not go after her, or move against this pig Chetak. I have seen what Aricia means to Dysea and Anja, and what she means to Martin even more so. This wound ... it is not something that we can just wish away."

Deia looked at her for a long moment. "Forgive me for being so callous, but there are other Lycavorian Pureblood females out there, beautiful young women who would give almost anything to take Aricia's place. He is King ... and you are his Queens. You must get past this. Once ... once Aricia has his child she will be tied to Joric forever."

"His child!" Anja gasped.

Deia nodded. "Part of the Lunmai ... the vilest part, is that it makes her extremely fertile. She will mate with Joric endlessly until the fever passes, as many times as possible, wherever and whenever the fever surges. When it is over ... she will undoubtedly be with child. I'm sorry but that is not something we can change. If her feelings for the King are what you suggest, given her actions and the fact that she will be carrying Joric's child when the Lunmai passes, this knowledge will destroy her. If she does not submit to Joric whenever he demands, and you believe she will not, then he will eventually tire of her resistance and kill her outright."

"They are part of the Union now!" Gorgo barked. "Is there nothing we can do about that? Surely that barbaric practice can not be allowed!"

Deia shook her head. "Part of our constitution states we can not intervene or interfere in the traditions and cultures of a member state no matter how vile and barbaric we deem them to be."

"Will we be allowed to see her?" Anja spoke. "Once this ... this fever passes I know she will..."

"It is very unlikely that Chetak or Joric will allow that, especially you or Dysea. He knows the connection you have with her. Nor will I allow it." Deia spoke cutting her off. "The two of you are now too valuable to risk in going to Enurrua. Though you are not at risk of the Lunmai ... there are many things that could happen to you there, none of them good."

Anja opened her mouth with a come back but Dysea took her hand in hers and shook her head. [Mindvoice Shielded] No Melyanna.

Dysea ... we can't just abandon her. You know as well as I that she would not betray Martin ... betray us willingly. I refuse to believe that.

I do not wish to believe it either Melyanna. I will not believe it. But what are we to do? The ... the bond of a child is not something broken easily ... if at all.

Deia's voice interrupted them. "The bigger problem we have now is to discover how Chetak got the information he has. We have a traitor among our people, and I intend to find out who it is." The chime on the table had started before Deia finished speaking, and she reached out to touch the small panel. "Yes?"

"Prime Minster ... the Elven delegation is here. Ambassador L'tian is with them." The voice spoke. Dysea's head came up at that.

Deia nodded. "Very well ... show them in." She said getting to her feet.

The doors slid open and they watched L'tian smugly lead the group of three elf males and two women into the large meeting room.

Dysea saw his smug face and she lost all pretense of the elven self control she prided herself on, and she leaped from her chair. Dysea had grown in muscle and power since her life with Martin began, and she was the largest of them next to Aricia in wolf form. Her hundred and thirty-five pound body was all muscle and strength, and before L'tian had gotten halfway into the room she was upon him. She lifted him clean off the floor and smashed him into the wall of the meeting room, shattering a light fixture on the wall with the force of the impact, the Shukur fighting knife appearing in her hand, the blade pressed tightly to his throat.

He gasped loudly, his eyes open in fear as Dysea glared at him. "What ... what is the meaning of this?" He demanded.

Deia was the only one who had come to her feet in shock. Neither Anja nor Isabella had moved, both of them with slight curls of satisfaction on their faces, while Gorgo simply glared at the elven ambassador. Seanna looked on quite impassively, her dark green eyes unreadable, and no one saw her deftly move along the table and remove the data pad with the blood sample, the item disappearing into her uniform.

"Lady Dysea! Release him immediately!" Deia snapped.

Dysea glared at L'tian, her emerald eyes now fully changed, her wolf fangs extended and looking decidedly angry.

"Mark my words carefully Ambassador," Dysea growled in a low menacing voice. "If I find you are in any way involved with what has taken place here, I swear upon my love for Nauta Melme that I will see you rot for eternity in the pits of the darkest hole I can find in this universe. Then ... then you will know the pain we are enduring at this moment."

"Are ... are you threatening me?" L'tian demanded, reaching up to grasp her vice like grip on his shirt.

That was when Isabella rose and got to her feet, moving quickly to stand beside Dysea. Her eyes were also changed to cobalt blue and she glared at him.

"She is not threatening you, L'tian you fool!" Isabella spoke heatedly. "She is merely stating a fact."

"Deia what is the meaning of this?" One of the other elves demanded now. "Spartans of the Royal Guard, to include the King's very own Captain, barged into our meeting hall and ordered us to come here. Ordered us!" He exclaimed. "Who are they to think they can order us about? They are not even from this planet!"

Anja rose to her feet now, as did Gorgo. "Who are they?" Anja spoke softly. "Right now they are the only people we can trust completely. Martin was right ... ever since he discovered who he was ... ever since we started this journey; with few exceptions, everyone has tried to manipulate him in some fashion. I can tell you with the utmost certainty; soon he will grow tired of it. And when he does ... he will strike back. And I guarantee you will not want to be on the same planet as him when he does." Anja spoke these words while looking directly at Deia.

"Lady Anja ... please you must..." Deia started.

"We are done talking here today." Anja spoke. "We're going to be with Martin if you need us." Anja said. "It seems we are the only ones who are concerned for anything more than political folly."

Anja spun around and marched out of the room, Seanna directly behind her, followed quickly by Isabella and Dysea.

L'tian turned and looked at Deia. "You had better explain to me what is going on right this minute Deia!"

It was then Deia let her anger overruled her own control, and all of them saw her dark eyes change and her fangs extend.

"Ambassador L'tian, why don't you explain to me in the simplest of terms possible how you came across the information regarding the King that you did?" Deia spoke striding towards him. "If you do not choose to reveal this information to me here and now, I will have you arrested for treason and every member of the elf delegation will be expelled from Apo Prime until I do find out."

DAY ONE

Betrayal

I love you Martin Leonidas. With all that I am. I will never betray you, never hurt you. Nothing will ever come between us as long as I have your love.

His dreams were chaotic and random, and so very cruel. Always centering on her, always her, and nothing else.

Betrayal

Her lavender coco scent filling his being; her female aura wrapping around him; the feel of her lush body against his. Anja and Dysea he loved without shame, without remorse. They were beautiful and strong and he reveled in their embrace.

He loved her without reason, without question, and without knowing why.

I will never betray you.

She was in his blood, around his blood, she was his blood.

Never hurt you.

Azure blue sparkling in the light, her smile so inviting, so free that it had set him free as well. Discovering who he was ... what he was. She was the catalyst. The beginning of it all. And now the ending.

I love you Martin Leonidas.

Her skin like soft satin, deeply tanned and deliciously tasteful. Her sweet essence the flavor of her scent, like nectar from a fruit he could not live without, a drug that he was addicted too.

With all that I am.

The curve of her firm breasts, the sensual line of her legs and the perfection of her center. Her wolf coat so like his, as black as the darkest night, yet like touching the softness of feathers. Her flanks finely shaped and so maddeningly enticing. Her muzzle perfect in its shape and size.

I will never betray you.

The violent slap of flesh. Her cries of pleasure for someone else.

YES! I choose you! Claim me! Take me as your mate!

BETRAYAL!

Martin's yellow/gold wolf eyes sprang open, the silver/white flash of light bathing the bedroom and then the black wolf howled.

LYCAVORIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC CORVETTE

DAY THREE

Chetak watched as the stars flew by as they made the next LSD jump that would put them into their home system. He had ordered the captain to not waste any time in leaving the capital system as quickly as possible. He relaxed after the first day and the first two Gates, finally coming to realize she wouldn't chase him. He couldn't help but smile.

He could hear the lighter sounds of Joric rutting with the wench in the rear cabin. He had to admit she was a fine piece of flesh, and even with the fever beginning to burn off, she was still willing to submit to him with a simplr burst of his son's aura. He had no doubts that she would conceive within a week of returning to Enurrua. Joric must have emptied himself into her forty or more times by now. The one thing he had noticed was that no matter how hard he screwed her tight body into the bed or chair or even the floor, driving her insane with pleasure, he could never get her to scream his name. That was his son, always feeling full of himself when they screamed his out his name.

It mattered not to him. He had his revenge. After over ten thousand years he finally had his revenge, and it felt so sweet. And now with the information he had in his possession, he could begin to take even more revenge. His seat on the Lycavorian Senate would now allow him to change things. Slowly for sure ... but ultimately he dreamed himself being crowned King.

He turned as the door to the rear cabin opened and Joric came out tucking his cock back into his pants and smiling. Chetak caught a glimpse of the tanned leg on the bed and the swell of the perfect breasts before the door slid shut. He watched as Joric went to the dispenser and keyed in the code for ale. When he drew it out he turned to his father and moved to the chair slumping into it exhausted.