Voices by M J Marlow (uplifting novels txt) 📕

Romulus and my sister, Prince
Tal,” Sa’vek hissed as he grabbed my arm to keep me from going
to my friend. “Why are you here?”
“Someone had to warn the princess about you,” Tal replied
coldly. The guard to his left slapped him and he glared at Sa’vek.
“Go ahead and beat me. I will not leave this child ignorant of your
plans for her.”
“They should not differ from yours, Tal,” Sa’vek replied.
He brought a knife up to my throat. “We could spare her, and put
an end to her life here and now.” I bit my lip as he pressed the edge
into my skin. Pain coursed along my nerves and I refused to cry
out. “You would rather she be dead, Tal?”
“Then hostage to you?” Tal spat. “Yes!” He watched the
blood begin to flow down my throat. It was the fact that I refused
to cry out that made him lose it. He attacked the guards and I
watched as they forced him down to the ground. “You will pay for
this, Sa’vek. I will see you dead!”
“When my sister is through with you, dog,” Sa’vek laughed
as the guards forced Tal to his knees; “you won’t be able to do
anything but what she commands.” He nodded to the guards.
“Take him to the ship and send our little traitor on his way.” He
saw Tal’s look. “Did you really think we didn’t know you were
planning to turn, Tal? My sister and I have been watching you for a
long time.”
“I will not let this stand!”
Tal attacked before the guards could restrain him properly
and Sa’vek shoved me aside. I watched in horror as Tal ran straight
towards Sa’vek’s blade. He fell to his knees as I shoved him out of
the way. Pain blazed through me and I looked down at the knife in
my shoulder in shock. Tal caught me as I collapsed to the deck and
I reached up slowly to touch his cheek. I watched in horror as one
of the men drove a knife into his back. I saw the light die in his
eyes as I lost consciousness. When I woke, he had been sent away
to his family in the Romulan Empire for burial as a hero of the
Empire. The official report had him murdered performing his duty
to the honor and glory of his family and his Empire. Danel was not
going to tell me the truth, but there was no way he could keep it
from me. I agreed to keep his secret. Tal was now free to join the
rebels in Hazri to fight against prince Sa’vek.
Two days later, the Doctor finally let me out of the
Infirmary; but only if I promised to remain in bed for another day.
Doug, the Major, and David were frequent visitors. Even the
Doctor’s brother, Marcus Crow, was finding reasons to come visit.
Wainwright came to speak to me and found all of them hovering
around me in the main room. I had bullied them into carrying me
downstairs and I was seated on the couch with pillows behind my
back. The younger men pulled back as he came to kiss me on the
forehead.
“I see you are being well looked after,” Wainwright smiled
at me and I blushed. “Smart men.” He looked at the men. “I need a
few moments with the Princess, gentlemen.” Once they had gone,
he took my hands in his and looked at me with regret. “I am sorry
about prince Tal, Melaura. He was a good man.”
“He did not deserve what that bastard did to him,” I said
coldly. I looked at the Admiral and saw his hard eyes. “I appreciate
what little you could do.”
“If it were in my power…”
“No,” I shook my head and then wished I hadn’t. I closed
my eyes a moment and tried to calm down. I was frightened that
something was wrong. “Something is wrong, Admiral. Could you
call the Infirmary for me?”
“Lie back and try to calm down, Maya,” Aitli said as he
came in from his counseling chamber to help. He kissed my
forehead and frowned as he felt the heat. He went to make the call
and came back to lay his hand on my cheek. “You’re burning up!”
The doors opened and Martha came in with a bag. “She’s running
a temperature,” Aitli told the woman as Martha came to sit next to
me. “I don’t know how long. I just got here about five minutes
ago.”
“If it was longer, Marcus would not have left,” Martha
assured him. She ran a scan on me and gave me a shot. “She’s just
worn out, Counselor. You are going to have to insist that Marcus
and the others quit hovering. The Princess needs to rest more than
she needs company.”
“They’re out in the corridor, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” Martha nodded. “I am certain that they will subject
me to intense questioning when I leave…”
“Do you have to leave?” Aitli asked. Martha looked up at
him in confusion. “I mean,” he actually blushed. “You have to eat
sometime? The princess is going to be asleep for a while, and I
could use the company now that Maya is spending all her free time
with Doug Carey.”
“All right,” Martha nodded. She called the Infirmary and
told them she was taking a dinner break. “Now,” she smiled as she
packed her things back in the bag; “why don’t you take Melaura to
her room. I’ll start dinner.”
As my friends celebrated the wedding of the Admiral and
his captain, I woke up and frowned. Something was not right. I
looked down to see that I had thrown off the covers during my
sleep. They were pooled off the side of the bed. I looked for my
robe and it was in the pile. I got up and moved across the room
naked. I had no need to be modest here; it was my room and no
one was here watching me. I got dressed; and was running a comb
through my thick gold hair as I made my way downstairs, when
my attention was drawn outside. They were shooting off fireworks!
“In celebration of the wedding, Princess.”
I whirled as I heard the man’s voice behind me and saw
Major Thompson come out from behind a column. He had
obviously been drinking and his mind was a haze of jumbled
thoughts. I could see him still struggling to come to grips with
some decision he had made that had brought him here.
“I did not mean to startle you,” Thompson continued as he
came towards me. “Your grandfather asked me to check in on you
before I went back on duty.”
“Thank you, Major,” I smiled up at him gratefully. The
next moment he was kissing me and I stood there stunned. I
pushed him away and shook my head. “I did not mean to make you
think that I wanted…”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Princess,” Thompson
said as he backed away. “I had no right to do that. Good night.”
I bit my lip as he left me alone. He remained only long
enough to make certain a team arrived and then he was gone. I
hugged my knees to my chest and leaned my chin on them.
Something was going on, and I was at the center of it. I did not
understand it and that made me very uneasy. I had to talk to
someone about the matter, but everyone I would confide in was on
the Commitment right now congratulating the Captain and Admiral
on the marriage. I smiled at that thought. They were going to have
a very happy life together; I was certain of it. At least someone I
knew was going to have that.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself!” I chided myself. I went to
get some more juice and frowned as the door chimed. I pressed the
button on the intercom device in the kitchen. “Yes?”
“Your Highness,” the security guard said from the corridor.
“Lieutenant Wainwright is here to speak to you.”
“Please ask him to come in,” I told the man. I didn’t want
to be alone, and David was a friend. He stepped into the room and
saw my face. I was in his arms before I could even think. But
unlike with the Major, I felt safe in David’s arms. He did not kiss
me; he just held me until I stopped shaking. Then he made me sit
down and sat on the table holding my hands in his. “I wanted him,”
I said after a moment. I looked at David and he nodded
encouragingly. “After all the anger and denial; I wanted Aden as
my husband.” Tears blurred my vision and David reached up with
a handkerchief to dry them. “You’re so good to me, David. I don’t
deserve a friend like you.”
“I can think of several reasons,” David said softly; “why
that is a remarkably stupid comment for an intelligent young
woman such as yourself to make.” He went to get himself a drink.
“I stopped in to see Durn. He asked me to remind you that he will
be entering your service when he is fully recovered.”
“There is no need of that,” I protested. “I did nothing.”
“Durn does not see it that way, Melaura,” David said to me.
“As far as he is concerned, he owes you a life debt and nothing you
can say is going to change his mind about how he means to repay
it.” He smiled at my frustration. “Ferengi can be very stubborn. If I
were you I would let him have this. Otherwise, he will be stalking
you.”
“I remember Captain Harrison telling me you were raised
by Ferengi,” I said to him. I beckoned him to sit. “Come talk to
me.”
For the next several hours we talked; or he did. I listened as
he told me about the shuttle accident that had taken his parents
when he was only four. He had been the only survivor and a
Ferengi vessel had found him. He had not realized that he was
being held as a hostage, he told me. When he found out, at the age
of ten, he had marched into the office of the man who was holding
him and demanded to be let go. The man, now Nagus Wesh, had
laughed at him and had him beaten and locked in a closet as
punishment. It wasn’t until he was fourteen, he told me, that he
was rescued. It was Durn, a Liquidator for the Grand Nagus, who
had taken him from Wesh and helped him get back to his family.
“So you owe Durn a life debt of your own?” I smiled at
this. It explained a lot. “He lost his place among the Liquidators
because of what he did, didn’t he?”
“Wesh had power,” David nodded; “and he used it to see
Durn dishonored. I convinced my grandfather to take him on as a
spy. As a former Liquidator, my friend has a lot of contacts and
knowledge.”
“Isn’t telling on other Ferengi frowned upon?” I asked him
bluntly.
“There are more like Durn among their kind these days,”
David told me; “people who actually have scruples. You would be
surprised at the number.” He looked concerned. “But their culture
rewards the minority so they are not in positions of power.” He
was smiling as he thought of it. “They are in positions where they
can watch those in power, and they can send alerts along the
channels Durn and I set up.”
“You’re risking a lot if anyone realizes what you are
doing,” I frowned. I laid my hand on his and he met my worry.
“You have to be careful, David. I would hate to think you got