Von found Eva sitting in her office in the dark. There was a bottle on her desk and a drink in her hand.
Von turned on the lights and came to take the drink away from her.
"I am not drunk." She gave him a weary look and took back her glass.
He pulled her out from behind the desk and settled her on the couch in front of the embroidered screen hiding her bed.
"What happened?" Von asked, sinking on his knees before her.
"Nothing." She lay her head back on the couch. "Di Mon does not desire me."
"Listen, Eva," he took both her hands in his own. "He came here, to see you. He must have had a reason!"
She toyed with reluctant hope. "He wants me to host a reception for Prince D'Ander of Golden Hearth."
"Golden?" Von sat back on his haunches. "Di Mon is allied to the Silver Demish, not the Golden."
"D'Ander has appealed to Di Mon in the name of their shared belief in Ameron," said Eva. "Di Mon agreed to meet with him, but only here, in a public place, and with Silver Hearth invited so Prince H'Us cannot claim he is forging a Golden alliance behind his back."
"Eva," Von enthused, "you are important to Di Mon! He trusts you to host a politically awkward meeting. It might even be a test." He smiled. "Liege Monitum's lyka would have to hold her own in any company. And you do want to be his lyka, don't you? To belong to him."
Eva thought it over and surrendered her reclaimed glass. "You are right," she said with rising spirits. "I must prove I can be equal to his expectations."
She took his face in her hands. "Promise me you will be here? Promise you will dance with me?"
"I don't know, Eva," Von squirmed. "Liege Monitum may not want me anywhere in sight!"
She released him to sit back, wearing her judgmental frown. "Not more of your nonsense about him disliking you." She folded her arms, long blond hair cloaking her shoulders. "Has Di Mon ever done you any harm?"
"No," Von admitted.
"Listen," she said, "you are my good luck. I need you to be there. I always do better with Di Mon when we dance together for the entertainment, first." She stroked the side of his face with her long fingers.
"All right," he agreed.
"Promise?" she insisted.
"I promise."
He turned her hand over and brushed his lips along the inside of her arm.
She stroked his hair. "Don't you have work to do this afternoon?"
"Only for the Princess-Liege of Silver Hearth," Von assured her. "Reading and such."
"I don't know, Von," she said hesitantly. But even as she said it, her naked toes slip up his thigh where he knelt before her, sending a thrill through him.
He wanted to feel complete in her arms, to make love as if the world ended beyond her office door.
"You should rest your strained leg," he told her, and rose, swooping her up in his arms.
"If you carry me to bed, my pet," she said, "I doubt I'm going to get much rest."
"I don't know," he said, carrying her around the screen. "I've been entertaining Liege Vrel. I might fall asleep on you."
Eva stiffened in his arms. "Vretla was here? Now?"
"She was looking for Liege Monitum." He set her on the bed and climbed in beside her, feeling playful.
YOU ARE READING
Second Contact (Okal Rel Saga #1)
Science Fiction☆ COMPLETE NOVEL by Lynda Williams ☆ From two cultures that should never meet, come four people who do. RIRE. The homeworld of a science-driven and inclusive civilization, underpinned by an AI network and spanning a handful of worlds. Faster-than-li...
