Spice ‘N’ Solace by K.C. Burn

Author:K.C. Burn [Burn, K.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2011-12-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Jathan’s two guard contingents flanked the door. They scanned him for weapons, then ushered him into the room. The first time he’d done this, years ago with his father, he’d expected them to confiscate his comm unit, not realizing how easily both the empire and alliance could lock down communication signals.

A few seconds ago his device informed him the message to Lani had gone through; he could relax knowing his plans for later were set. Once inside the negotiations chamber, he wouldn’t have access to the outside until several hours later. He wasn’t sequestered all day at least. Jathan would return to the office in his building for a few hours to revise and prepare for the following day. But afterward he wanted to lose himself in Kaz.

Jathan glanced around the room. His negotiating partner hadn’t arrived yet, so he settled on one of the cushioned divans. He had to give the Ankylos credit. They provided some of the most luxurious negotiating arenas he’d ever come across. Either they didn’t get the customary human concept of “make ’em uncomfortable and they’ll get it done faster” or the plush surroundings were a result of the empire’s refusal to subject the ruling class to anything but the best, and Jathan benefited by association. Regardless, the Ankylos were committed to completing the negotiations within the allotted time frame; they’d never tried any phony delaying tactics.

It wasn’t easy to tell from the opulent surroundings how serious the negotiations were. Jathan set up his work console in preparation, his grin returning when he remembered Kaz moaning and coming all over it.

The door swished open, and he stood. Urthi preceded the prince, blocking Jathan’s view. When he stepped away, Jathan was struck anew at how different the ruling class—the grakosi—were from the phraxis warrior class.

The grakosi were quite humanoid in appearance, aside from their lavender skin and wider jaw to accommodate herbivorous teeth. They didn’t have the body spikes or thickened skin of the phraxis. Both classes had slitted pupils, but the warriors’ eyes were almost black, whereas the grakosi’s were vibrant purple, a shade darker than their skin. Kaz wouldn’t find them as fearsome as the phraxis.

Jathan had faced this handsome prince before, and more than once, thank goodness. R’kos was a tough but fair negotiator, and he seemed more comfortable in Jathan’s company than some of his brothers.

Jathan stood and approached R’kos. He crossed arms with the prince as required by Ankylos greeting ceremony. R’kos inclined his head as they drew apart and offered his hand to shake. His nose wrinkled, and he sniffed as Jathan clasped his hand.

Had to be coincidence.

“Good morning, Jathan One-Moon,” R’kos said as he arranged himself on another divan and set up his workstation.

“Good morning, R’kos,” Jathan responded. The Ankylos had decided long ago not to make Jathan pronounce the negotiators’ full names and titles.

Jathan relaxed a trifle. R’kos was about his age, the youngest prince of this generation; several of the older princes had children who were not of age to be trusted with negotiations.

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