“How did your mother meet your father?” Dykan asked, breaking the silence.
“My father was a scientist on one of the very first Earth spaceships. It was a science vessel exploring new planets and civilizations. One day they encountered a Cassidirian vessel that had my mother on board. The king had died a year before, and my mother had started working as a diplomat again. She was returning to Cassidiri after an assignment when they encountered the Earth vessel. My father and my mother met and according to her it was love at first sight. My father decided to stay with my mother, and a year later I was born. The rest is history.”
“And your sister is the queen.”
“Yep, worst job ever.”
Dykan’s ridges went up. “Why? Being the queen of a pleasure planet seems like a very cozy position to me.”
“Are you mental?” Kat squealed. “That job sucks. Big-time. It’s mostly ceremonial. My sister isn’t allowed to have her own opinion or express her own feelings in public. Everything she does must be in the planet’s and the people’s best interest, even if it conflicts with her own feelings. There’s a lawbook that lays out what she isn’t allowed to do. Isn’t allowed. It’s this thick.” Kat held up her thumb and index finger far apart in front of Dykan’s face. “Basically, the only thing she is allowed to do is wave to her subjects while smiling and looking pretty. But my sister takes her position extremely seriously, and she’s got a highly developed sense of responsibility. She wants to lead by example. Without a doubt, she is the most honorable Cassidi on the planet. So you may think being the queen of a pleasure planet is all fun and games, but in fact it’s restrictive and suffocating.”
Dykan blew out a breath. “Wow, that sounds tough.”
“Yeah, it is. And even though it’s a thousand times worse for her, sometimes being the queen’s sister sucks too.”
“Why?”
“Because with everything I do, I have to keep in mind that my actions may have consequences for my sister. Like what we’re doing now. If this ends badly, I can only hope it doesn’t come back to bite her. She’d be absolutely mortified. And I don’t want my sister to be blamed for my mistakes.”
Dykan’s ridges furrowed. “Your brother doesn’t seem to have the same scruples you do. He only seems to care about himself.”
Kat licked her lips. She was extremely protective of her brother, as she was of all her family, but she wasn’t blind to his less appealing traits.
“I can’t dispute that Lirid sometimes seems to believe that the sun revolves around him. And, yes, at times he can be the most exhausting doofus that ever lived. But he’s also a really good person. He would sacrifice everything for the ones he loves, even his own life. Lirid’s father died when he was just a baby. And even though my dad treated him like his own child, the fact is that my brother is the king’s son. And his father was truly a great king, loved by all his people. Lirid looks a lot like his father, so people started comparing them. Do you know how difficult it is to be compared to a man you don’t even remember? A man whose memory you can never live up to, for the simple reason that you’re not the oldest child and therefore will never be king? Well, unless our sister dies, which he certainly doesn’t want. Lirid will never be able to show anyone he could be just as great a king as his father. And when he was younger, he found it extremely difficult to cope with that, and it affected his self-worth. So to compensate, my mother kept on reminding him how special he was, and she also might have spoiled him a bit.”
Dykan huffed. “A bit?”
“Okay, she turned into a full-blown snowplow parent. But she did it with the best intentions.”
He gave her a confused stare. “What’s a snowplow parent?”
“You know, a parent who constantly removes obstacles from their children’s paths with great force. So it’s no wonder Lirid turned out this way. He never learned to be responsible for his actions. In his mind, you don’t have to put in much effort to solve problems. You just close your eyes and they’re gone, like magic. No harm, no foul.”
Kat lifted her hand when she saw Dykan open his mouth.
“And before you can say it, I know I’m enabling him too by sweeping up the messes he makes. But what can I do? No matter what, he’s my brother. And I’m trying to be the cricket on his shoulder, but unfortunately most of the time his ego is talking louder. Anyhow, I would do anything for my family, even though they drive me crazy sometimes. Wouldn’t you do the same for your family?”
That last sentence had left her mouth before she recalled that Dykan hadn’t reacted well when asked about his family. For a heart-stopping moment, she feared that he would lose it again. To Kat’s surprise, he remained remarkably calm.
“My family and I aren’t that close, so I don’t know,” Dykan answered
emotionlessly. He tilted his head in thought. “The last time my father needed my help, I declined.”
“Why?” Kat asked softly.
Dykan took another sip of his drink and almost slammed his cup on the table. “He wanted me to bond to a human.”
Kat sucked in a deep breath. She felt a surge of jealousy rage through her body. Jealousy over a woman she didn’t even know and who had been rejected by Dykan. The feeling confused her.
“Why did your father want you to bond to her?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“It was part of the peace treaty with Earth. The female human ambassador needed protection, so she needed to bond to a Makaen. In our society no one would dare to hurt a bonded female. My father had tried other houses to find a suitable partner, but when he didn’t succeed, he ordered me to bond to her. He told me it was my duty as the eldest son of the Bakan house. I refused and left the planet.”
Kat had learned that in Makaen society, honor and duty with respect to the house you belonged to were important values for males to live by. That Dykan had so bluntly refused his father’s request was surprising. Well, that he was in this line of work had confused her from the get-go. It was so not Makaen.
“Why did you refuse him?” she wanted to know.
Dykan stared at his cup. It took him a while to respond. “I could never bond to a human.”
Kat felt a sharp pain. Did he hate her species that much?
“I told you about my mother dying, you remember?”
“Yes, I do,” she whispered.
“My mother was one of the pilgrims who was killed in the attack by the Earth vessel.”
Kat’s stomach churned. “You mean the attack that started the war between Makaen and humans?” she whispered faintly.
Dykan nodded. “My mother was a very devout person. She loved the Great Goddess with all her heart. When my uncle’s bonded, who was with child, wanted to go on a pilgrimage to the moon where the Great Goddess was said to have given birth to her divine children, my mother had decided to join her. There they encountered the Earth vessel. When the Earth vessel started firing upon the pilgrims’ cruiser, the pilgrims and the crew needed to evacuate. I was told by survivors that my mother, who felt responsible for my young aunt, didn’t want to leave her behind. They didn’t make it out in time.”
Kat gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, Dykan, that’s horrible. I’m so terribly sorry.”