Daemon & Sunny Ch. 08

"…No, Your Majesty; I have failed you again. They were among the ones dismissed, as they were lower-ranked staff."

She thumbed the button again, pressing his head firmly to the floor with her foot as the rest of his body writhed in a soundless scream of agony. Releasing him after a minute, she let him catch his breath, then continued. "Find a way. Hire an assassin, and ensure that the assassin dies before he, she, or it can be interrogated. If you fail Us, We will ensure that you take all of the blame, and suffer the slow and excruciating death of a traitor of Ruyikan. Even if We must eviscerate you Ourselves."

"—Yes, Your Radiance!" Lord Crellan gasped, as she removed her foot from his face. Once more, he shifted himself shakily into position to kiss the foot that had crushed his face to the floor.

…

Ragol paced the deck of his ship. He had withdrawn from Astorran orbit, sending out a signal to the other ships in his fleet of pirates. He did not rule a planet, but he did rule over a lot of ruthless, greedy, power-hungry criminals. That took brains, power, persuasion, confidence…and cunning. There was some sort of formal gathering going on, down on the surface. Something at which princesses and queens were gathering.

The doors to the recreation lounge hissed open, and a dark-haired young woman stalked inside, an ops patch over one eye, her hand on the butt of a blaster slung at her hip. "You ordered me here, Father?"

"Shut your mouth, you insolent brat. The Matrix is somewhere down there on the surface, in the hands of some Craidan bedslave. The last time I tried to get close to her, she captured the party I send to kidnap her. The direct approach has failed. So we will try the indirect approach. As I am a Pirate King, that makes you a princess, being my brat. You will dress up yourself befitting such anoble title, and go down to the surface with a delegation of your and my men. You will pretend to be a Princess of Praedo…which is an old, obscure word for 'pirate'," he smiled, enjoying the irony, "and claim to be from an asteroid mining-colony deep in the Rim. Since our main base is hidden in an abandoned mining colony, it won't even be a lie."

She looked up him and down contemptuously. "…And why should I do this? What's in it for me?"

"Fine food, fine clothes, a chance to knobble with the rich and powerful, and laugh behind their backs while you're smiling at their faces. A chance to lie and get away with it—though you should skirt as close to the truth as possible. I still don't know how my men were discovered and captured. Oh, and if you can discover the whereabouts of that little worm, Edouard Saunders…kill him for Daddy, won't you?"

She mulled that over. "…Does it have to be quick?"

"Preferably not."

"Are you footing the dress-bill?"

"Already bought, paid for, and shipped up from the surface. Providing you haven't bloated yourself since I bought you that dress for your birthday."

The face she made at him was not very princess-ly. She fingered her gun. "Do I have to go unarmed?"

"Claim your culture is very martial," he directed her. "But wear your weapons discreetly, anddo not attack anyone. At least until you can kidnap Sundrea Dannonee. That's the name of your target—oh, anddon't think you can sell the Matrix off to someone else. I brought you into this galaxy, and Ican and will take you out, if you try to double-cross me."

A snort was her only reply. Ragol debated backhanding her for her insolence, but the bruise from such a blow would show, and people would wonder if a 'princess' showed up with marks of abuse on her body.

"Go. The crates with your gear are in cargo deck 3. And for stars' sake, take a bath!"

"Why? You don't, and you're my daddy. That makes you the swaggin' king."

"Princesses don't smell like a cross between a dockworker and a cheap whore."

No, that definitely wasn't a princess-ly face.

…

"I was wondering if you would lay an offer on the table, Your Highness," Daemon addressed né-Princess Irisia. "It almost seems as if everyone's daughter wants a chance at being an Astorran Queen."

"Astorr is one of the strengths of the Imperium, Your Majesty. It is important to maintain ties to these strengths, to help cement the fabric of the Empire, and maintain what we can of the Pax Imperium."

Sunny smirked. She couldn't help it. Daemon glanced her way, trying not to smile himself. He scratched idly at his hairline; his lover and he had rushed through a quick, hot, sweaty encounter before coming to this meeting. What he really wanted to do was to cool off under one of the waterfalls in thesaeda, preferably with his Sunny in his arms. Not be stuck here, pretending to feign interest in marriage proposals he had no interest in, and no intention of pursuing…

The né-Princess was staring at him. Daemon quickly reviewed his memory for what she had said while he was distracted, and found nothing. Yet she was staring at him as if he'd gained a Tarkelian tail or something in the last few moments. Her gaze flicked to Sunny's face, then back to his…and her eyes widened. "…Your Majesties…"

Daemon stared at her. "So. You've figured out what we are. Or rather, what we will be."

Sunny snapped to attention, at that.Daemon knows? …Well, it's about time! The other woman wasn't an idiot; she'd probably just noticed the faint white freckles lining the edge of Daemon's naturally tan face, and her own freckles were always on display, given that Armon preferred the maids to style her hair with the golden locks pulled back, accenting her unique appearance. "Highness, I would bevery careful in mentioning anything like that. In fact, I think it would be wise if you didnot pursue such a line of thought."

"As you wish, Your M…Royal Consort," Irisia murmured, confusion in her eyes. "But…I don't understand. If you are…why have you not said so?"

"Our situation is more complicated than you know," Daemon demurred. "It is not yet time for the revelation of such things. We trust you will be a loyal citizen of the Imperium, and not reveal what you know to anyone?"

"—Not even to the Regent's Ambassador," Sunny added. "We do not want anyone in the Imperium to know, just yet. When it is time, everyone will know. Until then…"

"You will be silent, and respectful, but no more so than you would have been before you realized," Daemon instructed the other woman.

"I…I think I shall withdraw my petition for a marriage alliance, if it's all the same. I think I shall retire to my quarters and rest, if you will please excuse me," the né-princess murmured, rising and curtsying before letting herself out of the conference room.

Sunny looked at Daemon. There was no audio recording equipment allowed in this room, no video surveillance, just the thick, buffered window through which guards could watch them. The Regency guards had departed from view, leaving a few of their own guards loitering in the sun-drenched garden outside. They were as alone as they were going to get.

"So. You've figured out what we are," she murmured, echoing his own words deliberately.

"White, and Black," he agreed, holding her gaze. "I realize why you didn't tell me, earlier. I was…well, I was a bit of an arrogant brat, wasn't I?"

She smiled at that. "Yes, you were. Although I didn't really realize it myself until that time in thesaeda, the first time you came to me right after my dancing lessons."

He nodded, tapping a finger idly on the tabletop. "So…what happens now?"

"I don't know. Other than that Armon is ecstatically planning my 'coming-out party', whatever that means, during the Formal Familial Ball."

"I really don't pay him enough," Daemon muttered, smiling at her. "He's going to break the Marriage Mart wide open with your grand entrance, isn't he?"

Sunny rolled her eyes. "I haven't been so sick of dress fittings since he first put me through the grinder… Natura, it's hard to believe it was less than a month ago that I was gifted to you, and not long before that when I encountered the box. I don't know why it happened, or why we were chosen, but we were."

"And I thought ruling a kingdom would be bad. How do I make sure my people don't feel neglected?"

"You can always hold holographic Courts," she demurred, smiling.

"I don't want to leave Astorr if I don't have to—"

"—Imeant, you can hold theother Courts holographically. From here, on Astorr Prime," Sunny corrected him.

"Oh. I suppose that could work. At least our firstborn son or daughter wouldn't have to languish in the hopes of receiving a Regency," he allowed. "They'd have this kingdom to rule, after our passing. Or even before it, once they're of-age and mature enough to handle the responsibilities."

"Agreed. I'd rather we had enough kids that one of them would prefer to rule, and be good at it, and we could pick that one, rather than following the rule of primogeniture," she sighed, "but traditions are traditions…"

Daemon snorted at that. "—We're going to cracktradition wide-open, at the Marriage Mart, my love. Speaking of which, I should probably insist that Armon send his wardrobe designers my way, so that we could wear coordinated outfits. I want the whole galaxy to know that I am yours. When the time is right."

"Instead of just all of Astorr?" Sunny quipped.

"The whole universe needs to know that I am yours and you are mine," he whispered, glancing at the window, "…but they don't need to know it graphically. Shall we retire to thesaeda, light of my eyes?"

"Gladly." Accepting his hand, Sundrea rose and walked with him out of the conference room.

…

"If I may speak boldly in this moment, when we are more or less aurally alone," Princess Filini murmured to Queen Nulkuta, "I heard a rumor that Your Majesty proffered a time-table to His Majesty for…certain intimacies?"

Queen Nulkuta wrinkled her nose. She glanced around the garden discreetly, but both their guard contingents were located a discrete distance from them. Close enough to protect both women, but far enough to give them privacy. "…Truth be told, I'm being forced into making an offer by my council. I can't stand men, sexually. I just threw out that absurd schedule in the hopes that he'd reject it. You should've seen the look on his face."

Her smirk was buried in the rim of her goblet as she sipped at some of the fruit juice supplied by the palace servants. Princess Filini arched a brow, but sipped at her own crystal cup. Clearing her throat, she spoke delicately. "So you prefer…women?"

"Most definitely. A man just has no idea how to properly please a woman. How can he? He is male, not female. There is no way for him to tell what a woman really wants."

"I see."

"Have I spoken too bluntly for you, Your Highness?" the Chonbei queen enquired, arching a brow.

"No, actually, I do know what you mean. There are times when I prefer the feel of intercourse, but women are…more. I don't know how else to explain it. I do like being with women."

"There are strap-on devices to simulate penetration; they can be pleasurable with an experienced partner. One doesn't need a man for that—one doesn't even need a man to beget an heir, provided one doesn't mind the heir being guaranteed a female, and if one allows certain medical techniques to be practiced.

"True…"

"The Zagros Cluster is only a couple systems from Chonbei's borders. Independent worlds, but civilized."

"Yes, they have been good buffer-states between our two realms. We have also had good trade between our own worlds. Our treaties have been mutually favorable for a couple of generations."

Nulkuta eyed the other woman over the rim of her goblet. Her tongue snaked out and licked the rim suggestively, gaze bright with undisguised interest before she sipped again. "…Perhaps we can arrange a different sort of marriage treaty? I find you attractive and intelligent. Shall we retire to a more private location, and…negotiate?"

Princess Filini's dark eyes gleamed with desire. "I would be honored, Your Majesty. I find you attractive and intelligent as well…"