Stranded with the Alien Prince: A Sci Fi Shifter Romance (Bonded Mates of the Aedini) by Shona Mira

Author:Shona Mira [Mira, Shona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: needs an amazon review
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16: TSU’MAEL

“So, has it always been a direct relative moniker connecting to the royal houses, or is that an off version just… further down the line?”

I glance up from where I work to snap h’toi strands soaked in cuuey juice over a slab of heated rock. They hiss as they meet the hot surface, hardening and giving off a nutty aroma.

“Is that one question or two?” I ask, arching a brow. Cerys’s expression stiffens before she sits back, deliberating intensely. I hide a smile as I focus on rolling the crispy strings with a bit of spongy meat of camolo.

“One,” she says. “To clarify, I guess I’m just trying to ask why your name sounds different from other royal names I’ve heard.”

“What other names have you heard?” I ask, squeezing a cuuey sack until it bursts between my fingers and the juice slaps over the sizzling food.

“Kantiye-Tai’yoh,” she starts, naming them off as she counts on her fingers. “Current Emperor of Aedin. His brothers, the first prince Kantiyun-Harukann and former third prince now second Kantiyemi-Yuei …”

“Haruk’ahn,” I correct automatically.

“Harukahn,” she says.

“No, no,” I say, motioning to my throat. “Haruk’ahn. Let the k bounce.”

“Haruchhhahn,” she tries again, worse than before. I wince.

“Close enough.” I sigh, shaking my head. “Though I don’t think you have them in the right order.”

She frowns at me. “’Course I do. One of my first responsibilities is to make sure that all the data we have is current.”

I shake my head. “The first two you have right, but Prince Tai’Yoh is the First Prince and Haruk’ahn is the second. Have been for the centuries and the Emperor is still young. I’ve never even heard of this other one, but it doesn’t surprise me. Their other brother, Kantuyesi-Laohku’men, had always been frail and no one ever expected him to live past three hundred.”

I pause for a moment, surprised at my own words. It’s been so long since I last even thought about the Empire, I scarcely believed I still remembered any of it. Cerys stays quiet, her expression carefully composed before she hums in consideration. “If you insist.”

I scoff softly, turning the cuuey in my hand to wring out more juice from the spongy flesh. “Everyone knows the names of the Solus sons. That knowledge is fed religiously to every Aedini and Aediyah child. They’re of the direct line of the High Emperor, and it is said that they’re also descendants of the Sun Emperor, Solim, himself, who was—”

“—Said to have lived close to one thousand years and unified all the galactic territories we now know as the Aedin empire,” Cerys finishes for me, nodding brightly like a good student. “I remember that from the latest data offering the Empire granted the Federation from about five years ago.”

I stare at her, shocked.

“You know, from the Treaties?” she asks, tilting her chin expectantly. I still don’t follow. “The peace talks…? Between the Federation and the Empire? The ones we’ve been having for the past five years to fully

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