Hard to Fight Read online

  The dragon agreed, and they were off.

  Power was definitely running through her veins as she soared through the sky. Brenn had never felt this kind of energy before. It was better than drinking wine.

  She cruised upward until her hand could nearly touch the moons and then fell groundward, changing direction twenty feet above the soil to speed along the surface that was hers and hers alone.

  The wind pulled its fingers through her hair and tickled her feet. She cruised back and forth over the land, moved under Dret as he flew and taunted him with her increased speed.

  They played a form of tag as they moved over the ocean. When Dharthom called a halt to her exertions, he asked Dret to take her home.

  Brenn sat in her body while Dharthom moved her onto Dret’s back and made her hold on. So, he could and would move her around to suit him. It was good to know.

  Dret wheeled slowly and flew back the way they had come.

  Brenn felt warm, despite the cool air coming off the water. It was exhilarating.

  Dret’s scales were warm under her skin, and when Brenn looked down, Dharthom had hitched her skirt up to her thighs in order to get her settled. It wasn’t exactly decorous, but there was no one else to see.

  Dret flew her home, and it was when the sky started to pink that she realized they had been flying all night. It had only felt like minutes, but they had covered an amazing distance.

  The light was coating her shuttle as Dret landed next to it. She was looking for a way to slide off him when he shifted under her. When she was riding on his shoulders, he simply plucked her off and set her on the ground in front of him.

  She faced him and smiled. “Avatar Brennika reporting for duty.”

  “You could have told me what you were doing.”

  “Yes.” She nodded and took a step toward her naked Drai.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I love your beast, I love the city we built, I have heard your song and dreamed of you. Those are all the criteria that I am aware of as a prelude to mating with a Drai.”

  “You just became the Avatar; don’t you need to rest?”

  “No. Drathom is doing all the work, blending my mind with his but staying out of my conscious thoughts. When I am with you and I kiss you, the planet merely observes.”

  She pulled his head to hers and demonstrated. Dret was frozen for a moment, as if altering his own plans. When he wrapped her in his arms and carried her into the shuttle, she smiled at his adaptation to her change in circumstance. It boded well that he could see his way to being intimate with a woman hosting a living world.

  In her quarters, he learned her body, she learned his, and when the lesson was over, they came together.

  * * * *

  Drathom watched his Avatar and her mate as they came together for the first time. The power that Brennika was emitting had nothing to do with Drathom and everything to do with who she was. If there had been night above them instead of daylight, the waves of light would be dancing above her city.

  He was very happy with his choice of an Avatar. The Drai half-breeds were not common, but they were the best and most durable Avatars that had been discovered. It was sheer chance that had gotten word of Brennika’s existence.

  He quietly examined her memories and winced at the content. She had grown up in terror and had restrained herself until she could barely function. Now, he was more than ready to help her become what she was always destined to be, a true imperial power with an entire world to call upon and a Drai at her side.

  * * * *

  Brenn lay in Dret’s arms and smiled at the satisfied feeling that was running through them both. She had forgotten that the mind sharing that was supposed to come with the Drai mating. She now had two males vying for space in her brain, and she got the feeling that neither of them was going to do laundry.

  She chuckled to herself, and Dret pulled her tight against him as their minds slowly wove together. This wasn’t what she had planned when she had arrived to design the city, but as she closed her eyes for a nap, she couldn’t think of anything else that she wanted.

  * * * *

  It took four days for the first of the Citadel engineers and designers to arrive and examine the suitability of the city. Within three hours of their arrival, they sent in their approvals and supplies were on the way.

  As she had little else to do while the examiners were roaming the city, Dharthom had her practicing fine energy control by having her plant blades of grass with her mind.

  Her report to her father had been a little awkward. Dret had been nibbling at her shoulder while she sent it. It had affected her typing.

  Dret approached her from behind and pressed a kiss to her neck. “How is the detail practice going?”

  “Pretty good. The grass is actually standing up now. I have stopped punching holes in the dirt.” She had been told she needed to imagine the force she commanded wrapped around the grass and easing into the ground, not her fist around it pushing it into the soil. It was a distinction that she appreciated.

  “So, you still cannot move objects you cannot see?”

  “No, it is still a line-of-sight process.” She wrinkled her nose and planted two hundred blades of grass in quick succession.

  “Well, you seem to have mastered this exercise.”

  She smirked and turned to wrap her arms around his waist. “Yes. Now, I just need another project. I can hardly wait until the supplies arrive.”

  He grinned. “You want to do the unpacking?”

  “You bet.” She smiled. Dharthom preferred her to dress in gowns, so there were some clothes in the requisitions. Morganti was sending the bulk of the supplies, and they would be arriving in a day or so.

  “What else can you practice on?” He smiled slowly and waggled his eyebrows.

  “I am thinking that practicing my distant touch requires a willing subject. I don’t suppose if you know of any engineers who want a massage from ten feet away.”

  He scowled. “I am fairly sure that the engineers would not be interested in risking the injury.”

  “Oh, I will be very gentle.”

  “I will not. Any male offering to let you massage him with any part of you, no matter now distant, will be limping away.”

  She sighed and took his hand. “I suppose you will have to be my practice dummy. Are you willing to stand out here or should we seek privacy?”

  “Privacy. I am offering you my entire body. I hope that you make use of it.”

  She grinned. “I do enjoy having such a selfless and helpful mate. Let us adjourn to one of the lecture halls so that I can test my distance precision. The Citadel is all about education, after all.”

  He swept her into his arms and carried her to the primary lecture hall. He sat on the stage, and she sat in the audience. The rest of the day passed in a blur of twitching muscles and a flicker of his clothing as it was hung from the rafters. The laughter filled the room as things progressed to the point where she was practicing near contact and wasn’t using her talent at all. It was definitely a very educational afternoon and she wondered what would happen when the actual Citadel arrived.

  Chapter Eight

  Two months into the populating of the city, Brenn made a mistake. The enjoyment of the new inhabitants of Dharthom were so much fun that she neglected to return to her shuttle on the appropriate day. She missed sending a message, and the following day, the information was sent to the Citadel communications centre.

  “Avatar, there is an urgent message for you in the com centre.” The courier bowed low, and Brenn turned away from her discussion on the best plants for the horticulture centre.

  She walked with the courier and asked, “Is there any identification of the message?”

  “The imperial seal of Threemar has marked the message.”

  Brenn winced. “Right. Well, it was bound to happen.”

  She walked with him to the com centre and had the message routed to a secure room.

  �
��Access code Imperial Princess Brennika Michkin.”

  The screen grew lighter, and the impatient face of her father was glaring at her. “Where have you been? Why is your hair exposed? What are you wearing?”

  She smiled politely. “I have been occupied with the new city, my hair is exposed because I like it, and I am wearing a gown by a designer on Morganti. It is a gift from that world’s Avatar.”

  Brenn skipped the honorific greetings, and her father caught it. His look could have melted the com array. “Come home at once.”

  “I am home.”

  “That is against the contract I agreed to.”

  Brenn cocked her head. “As I am a freewoman of Threemar, born a citizen, to a citizen and am above the age of majority, I can immigrate to any world that will have me. Dharthom has graciously offered to host me, and I have accepted.”

  “I will send my armada to retrieve you.”

  “And I shall not come. I am a citizen of Dharthom now, and to remove me is an act of war. The Avatar of this world will defend me to the death.”

  He snarled. “We shall see.”

  The communication cut off.

  Well, you were right. He is coming here. Are you ready?

  I feel I am. Facing my father on relatively equal terms will be a delightful experience. These two months have not only bonded you to me, I have learned a few things from you.

  Dharthom’s mental voice was wry. You have learned a few things from Dret as well, but none that you can use against your father. Do not worry. When he comes, we will all be here, side by side. Well, I will be inside, but I will come out if necessary.

  Thank you. I will have to let Dret know. He is teaching a flying course right now. I wonder if he will mind if I interrupt him.

  I believe you are safe. He never minds an interruption as long as you greet him with a kiss.

  Thank you for that plan. She chuckled mentally as she left the com centre and took to the skies.

  She turned slowly and spotted her mate and his flock of students approaching over the plain. They had to have just come from the lake.

  She glided over to her mate and paced him. The fuller skirts of her dress kept any of the students from getting an intimate view.

  Brenn wrapped her arms around Dret and kissed him, keeping them both at a steady altitude and speed. “Hello, love.”

  “What is it, Brenn? You look tense.”

  “I just got off the com.”

  “Was Gant after you for gardening secrets again?”

  “No. It was my father.”

  The air left her lungs as his hands contracted around her waist.

  “Why did he call?”

  “I missed my contact time yesterday. He is coming here himself, possibly with his army.”

  Dret shook his head. “I doubt it. As far as he knows, there is minimal population here and no one who can defy him.”

  “He knows about you.”

  “If you did not mention it, he will not suspect that we are mates. The odds were exceedingly unlikely, after all.”

  She grinned. “Very unlikely. See you at home.”

  He released her, and she streaked away from him, circling the Citadel twice before entering their balcony and walking inside to finish working on her design for the Avatar’s palace.

  She had kept other Avatars in mind and made the walls easy to slide and change. She doodled and smudged the image of the stained glass window that she wanted in the central entryway. The kneeling Drai was an evocative image, and it made her smile every time she saw it, whether on paper or in the bedroom.

  It was an image she loved to see when she closed her eyes, so putting it where she could view it anytime she wanted to was something she wanted in her customized home.

  She was flexible on the timeline. She didn’t need that much privacy and was truly delighted with the assembly of talents who were already beginning to flock to her world with their tutors keeping track of them.

  The horticulturalists had just arrived, and they were making lists of likely insect species for pollination, with secondary uses. Until the food chain and eco system was fully implemented, pollenating by hand was going to be the means to grow fruit and vegetables on Dharthom.

  It took Emperor Michkin three days to land his armoured shuttle on their soil, and Brenn flew out to greet him with Dret at her side.

  The rest of the Citadel occupants had been ordered to remain inside the city.

  Her father exited his shuttle and spread his wings to make himself appear larger.

  Brenn and Dret landed ten feet away, and she stood with her head high.

  Her father stared at Dret, and for the first time since Brenna could remember, he looked nervous.

  “I am assuming that you are the voice of Dharthom?”

  Dret inclined his head without agreeing or disagreeing.

  “I will take my daughter with me. You have no right to keep her.”

  Dret smiled. “On that, you are incorrect. The Drai sleepers have the right to any mate that will have them. It is both Drai law and the regulation of the endangered species action that the Alliance put into place.”

  “Just because she tossed up her skirts doesn’t mean you own her. She is mine.”

  Brenn smiled. “I am not. By the rights of your own people, by the rights of the Threemar, I am an adult who has chosen a mate. I have been given citizenship of Dharthom and have accepted it. This is now my home.”

  He stepped forward to grab her, and she slammed up a defensive wall between them.

  “You will not touch me. You will not strike me, you will leave here and forget that you ever had a daughter.”

  He pushed at her wall, and she retained it. “You are mine. You were meant to be mine! I had to wait until you were an adult, but I was going to make you mine!”

  Her mind reeled, and she finally understood part of his madness. “Is that why you had my wings cut off?”

  He pounded his fist against her defenses. “You could not be allowed to leave me. You were meant to be mine.”

  He flapped his wings and tried to go over the wall, but she rose up and met him, keeping him back to see how deep his insanity went.

  “On Drai, you killed your wife and nearly murdered your daughter.”

  “My wife didn’t understand. She needed to be removed, and my daughter saw it and was trying to call for help, so she had to be silenced.”

  He thrashed from side to side, and she watched his efforts with a cold soul. When he finally exhausted himself, she looked at Dret hovering behind him, and she nodded, steeling herself for what was about to happen.

  She weakened the wall, and the emperor lunged at her. “Unworthy bitch.”

  Brenn held her hand out, but what he couldn’t see was the invisible blades that she was projecting. He impaled himself with alarming force, sending her back.

  His shock when he looked down was almost pitiable.

  Dret caught him, and with one swift move, he ripped his throat out.

  She spoked to Dharthom. Thank you for remaining out of it.

  It was something you had to do, and something you had to know.

  It was sick. Sicker than I thought it could be.

  He did not get to you, and you saved any other sibling that may have been started. Be happy with that.

  I don’t think that I will be happy for quite some time.

  Let Dret handle that. He took the final blow to save you from patricide. Do you know what you will do with the crown?

  I know an admiral who is well able to take up the reins of power. If he makes a wrong move, I will kick his ass. I would also like to offer the people of Threemar a place here. Is that all right?

  Of course. I need a base population, and there is much of me that will be of no interest to the Citadel. If they are willing to come, we can make arrangements to make them welcome.

  Excellent. What shall we do with the body?

  Allow me to tend to that.

  Brennika landed next to whe
re Dret had placed the body of her father. She took his hand and stood close as Dharthom took her free hand and gestured twice.

  The ground under the body glowed, and it sank into the small puddle of magma that had formed beneath the surface. The body caught fire and burned on the stone pool.

  “Are you doing that?” Dret asked it of her.

  “Dharthom is. Thank you for what you did for me up there. Throughout my life, I had fantasized about killing him, but I could not do more than stab him when the time came.”

  “I wish I could have pulled him apart in tiny pieces. Are you sure that he never...”

  “I am sure. He was waiting for me to reach the Drai age of majority. Next year would have been my doom. One of us wouldn’t have survived what he had planned.”

  They stood and watched the pool for another hour as the bones burned to ash and were blown away on the wind.

  “I am going to have to contact the Threemar government. I wonder how large a party they will have when I tell them he is dead.”

  Dret chuckled. “Be easy. Take your time with this. It will take some time to absorb all of the ramifications of this.”

  Brennika nodded. “I know, but at least I have the Citadel to keep me busy.”

  “And me.”

  “And you.”

  Together, they left the hardening stone and flew back to the city. Brenn had some calls to make.

  Brenn woke screaming. Dret held her tight and soothed her as he had the other twenty nights that she had dreamed. A minder was on its way to help her with the memories that had been torn open with the death of the emperor. It wasn’t his death that was causing her the issue, it was her life. Now that she didn’t have to be on guard all the time, her subconscious was showing her all the things that she had suppressed.

  “It’s all right. We are here, at home, and your father is gone. The sun will rise in two hours, and Dharthom is waiting until you tell him he can comfort you.”

  She chuckled weakly and leaned against him. “I am sorry for this.”

  “I am not. Your waking mind knows what it needs; it is you unconscious that needs to be dealt with. We have time.”