beside her, half dressed and looking as wanton as she probably did. She reached out to push the long strands of his black hair away from his face so she could see it better and then paused as it hit her.
She would have to marry him now. In her haste to have him, she hadn’t thought about the consequences. She hadn’t thought about protecting herself. He murmured something in his sleep and smiled. He had a beautiful smile. If they had a child, perhaps it would also have his smile. In a way, she hoped it would have his eyes too. Now that she was used to them, his eyes were stunning.
She brushed his hair away from his neck and ears, and smiled too as she mused what life would be like with him. Her smile faltered when she realised that she might not have a life with him. Her father hadn’t consented to the match and Regis might not want to live on Lyra Prime. What if her haste had left her pregnant and Regis didn’t want to stay with her? What if he didn’t love her enough or still refused to believe that he could love?
He could. Her mother was right. Everything Regis had done had proven that he loved her. She had felt all the feelings in him, everything that she had been feeling herself. He couldn’t deny that he loved her. Would it be enough to make him stay on a planet that didn’t suit him though?
Or was her love for him enough to make her leave Lyra Prime for a world and a species that she knew hardly anything about?
A place where the brightest the day got was evening light?
Her fingers traced the black band of marks that started just behind his ear and followed them down his throat and over his shoulder. They were so familiar.
It dawned on her where she had seen them before.
They had been in one of the books from the palace library.
Pulling her clothes closed around her as best she could, she rushed from the room intent on reaching hers unseen.
There was something important about the marks.
Something very important.
She had to know what.
****
Chapter 7
Regis smiled up at the hot Lyran sun through his visor. It warmed him to the bone but it wasn’t the reason that he was smiling. He lowered his gaze to the garden and his smile widened as he saw Sophia. She was beautiful in her flowing sky blue empire-line gown, her wavy black hair tumbling around her smooth graceful shoulders. He laughed with her as she danced around, her smile broad and infectious. The laughter of the two small children joined theirs and he stopped to watch them again, fascinated by the sight of her and the younglings.
Younglings.
Their red eyes told him that they were Varkan. Or at least in part they were Varkan. They had their mother’s beauty.
His younglings.
Their younglings.
He had never seen such a beautiful sight as her playing with them, never in his long years. A sigh escaped him and he allowed himself the moment of whimsy as he watched them. In this moment, he was no longer a commander of his people but a man with a family.
It was a beautiful dream.
No. It would be a beautiful reality.
Sophia turned and looked at him, waving as she laughed, the light breeze tousling her hair and dress.
She was a beautiful reality.
He flinched and gritted his teeth as something hit him. The dream slipped through his fingers as the pain came again and he was torn from sleep. He frowned as he opened his eyes and then smiled when he saw Sophia kneeling beside him on the bed.
“ You utter sekta no uso cruskin nyaaeso!”
She hit him again with something rectangular and very hard. His head ached and he blocked her next strike with his arm, unwilling to be beaten up any more. His translator hadn’t understood the last part of what she had said but judging by the thunderous black look in her eyes and the fact that she was beating him to a pulp, he deduced it wasn’t words of love.
“ You lied to me.”
He understood that.
Sitting up, he placed his hands out behind him to prop himself in place and