Chapter 13 Secrets

Chapter 13 Secrets

Our routine became morning and evening. We’d often make love and fall asleep cuddling each other, then wake up and make love again before showering and starting our days. Once the Phoenix had her power core up and running I could finally shower in privacy without worry about the others finding my purple scales. Finding this ship was one of the best things that happened to us, Duke was right, I’ll give him that!

We did trust the others on the station, after 3 years we had no reason not to. Some of our clients however were not so trustworthy. There was an equine race from down spin that would frequent the wastelands looking to trade or sell their “products” among the lawlessness the area provided. They were not so trustworthy, I once caught one on our living level checking the doors, luckily everyone knew to lock them. Normally I locked the airlock door to Phoenix while we slept and during the day when we were away, or Deakon would remember to, but evidently last night we both forgot.

I was awake first, I opened the shade to our one window ever so slightly, letting the star we orbited shine in. Deakon stirred so I kissed him awake then getting up on my knees while keeping face to face with him I wiggled my hips. “I love fucking love you, and I love the way you wake me now” I giggled as he got up, and got behind me.

The best thing about living in the Phoenix now was the privacy, I could be a bit loud! Now that our relationship was physical I realized Deakon had awoken something inside me, I was insatiable! Deakon had told me more than once already he didn’t know if he could always keep up. I was being loud, a little too loud, we didn’t hear the footsteps coming, not that bare dragon feet on metal grate floor made much sound to begin with.

Even with the ship to ourselves we often kept the door to the captains suite closed when we slept, most out of habit. Suddenly it slid open and Duke just started talking. “We got a lot to do, there’s two more arriving to- WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!”

Never mind the fact my mate was inside me, Duke could see I was purple, plain as day! I pulled forward and pulled my wings tight against myself and started rolling up in the one sheet we had trying to hide as Deakon started yelling back “DUKE! THE HELL MAN! DON’T YOU KNOCK?!?”

“Well I didn’t think you’d be fucking! Hell I didn’t even think you’d still share a room with this entire ship you have!” Duke was trying to defend barging in, but he knew he made a mistake.

“The other rooms are ‘occupied’ anyway, remember?!?” Deakon reminded him

“Well you two lied to us! You said you weren’t a couple!” Duke looked down Deakon’s front and said something completely in character for him, the shameless flirt “I see why they like you tho, that’s impressive!”

“Duke! Stop looking at my dick!” Deakon grabbed a pillow and held it in front of him.

Duke laughed “Sorry, it distracted me with all that… ANYWAY you two lied!”

“No we didn’t! We weren’t together when we arrived!” Deakon explained “This is sort of recent!”

“How recent?” he asked

“When we found the Phoenix, we were alone for weeks, remember?” Deakon told him “Things just evolved”

“You should have told me! Deakon I wouldn’t have played that prank with the power core” He stifled some laughter “Though it’s still really funny” Then he just instantly got back to serious “Were you two just going to keep your relationship secret from us all?”

“Well what business is it anyone’s?” Deakon said

“It’s not really anyone’s business! But running this place as long as I have I’ve learned one thing, secrets fester into problems!” Duke explained “People get resentful when secrets are kept from them, they feel they can’t be trusted, then it grows from there!”

That’s when I spoke up, I was rather confused, there’s no way he wasn’t seeing me, even though I tried to cover up, my head was poking out of the sheet the whole time, and since he had surprised us and already saw, I wasn’t going to bother trying to use my powers to convince him I was green or not even in the room. “Seriously, Duke, this is what you’re pissed off about?”

“Yeah, why? What other secrets are you two keeping?” He looked at me, then back at Deakon, then back at me. “Well?!” I gestured at myself. “You? What about you? Tell me!” he said sternly. I gestured at my face “WHAT?!” he yelled

“Duke, I’m fucking purple!” I yelled back

“I can see that! But I want to know what else are you keeping from us? Tell me!” he was annoyed, thinking we were playing some game or something. But after a moment his famous realization face hit him.

“There it is, the smooth brain look” Deakon teased

“Shut up, Deakon” he retorted, his brain soon after finished processing “Exodus, is that why you hide in your flight suit? Because you’re purple?” I nodded “Why?”

“Don’t you know Duke?” I asked

“Know what? That some old people think you’re weird just because of your color morph? I’m not fucking old or think so narrow minded, and neither do the others on this station, I hand picked everyone else here and I did that for a reason, I wanted smart people, and they are! And they wouldn’t be bothered in the least!” his expression was changing, from the flirtatious lovable hardworking idiot we knew into just for a moment, sort of a father figure “Exodus you are loved around here, you should come clean about this too, then you don’t have to be restrained in that suit anymore!”

I took a long sigh, really considering it. “I don’t know, Duke, let me think about it, okay?”

“Please do, you won’t regret it” Then the flirtatious idiot came back out “You have really pretty eyes too, I’d like to see them around more!”

“Duke!” Deakon got his attention back, seemingly he was a little defensive of his mate, “Why did you barge in to begin with?”

“OH! We got two more ships coming in today, small repairs thankfully, I’d like you to take care of.” He paused “We’re all getting tired as hell. The lightning festival on Sandpit is coming up in a week, and it takes 5 days to get there, as well as everyone needs a break. So what I came here to ask, is did you speed test this ship, and can we take all 15 of is to get there, well 16 if your brother comes?”

“Yes, we speed tested it, we can definitely get there in 5 days” Deakon answered, keeping our speed a little secret for now, in defiance of the conversation we just had “I think the ship is definitely big enough for us all, but with the crew quarters being used as a morgue it’s going to be floor and hammock space like when a lot of use the Talon go somewhere”

“That’s fine!” Duke said “I’ll let everyone know you two are taking us”

“What about the station? Is it going to be okay with no one here?” I asked.

“Well, someone might have to draw straws, as much as everyone wants to go you’re right, someone should stay behind for security and to keep the place together for the time we’re gone” Duke thought about it for a moment “Okay, we’re going to stop work early then, get the two quick repairs done and call it a day, then we’re going to have a meeting, take it easy tomorrow while everyone prepares, then head to Sandpit the day after”

“Okay, we’ll get the ship ready tomorrow for the trip” Deakon replied.

“See you in a bit then” Duke turned away and left the ship, returning to the station. Deakon started putting on his cloth and top while I got off the bed and started messaging Pike. I was going to be late, I needed to talk to Glavous about something.

“So it’s finally begun then?” Glavous was busying himself at one of his counters, his back to me “I honestly thought it would have happened longer ago. I felt the drop in your power after your mission to retrieve your ship, but I thought maybe I twas just exhaustion from events”

“Drop in power? What do you mean?” This surprised me, I hadn’t even noticed anything in myself.

“It wasn’t extreme, you loved him for a while now, but a relationship does distract from your powers. If it had happened sooner it may have held you back, but now you’re quite powerful, so it doesn’t make a large difference, but it does still have an impact” He turned and brought two mugs, one for me and one for himself. Glavous really enjoyed his morning char. He made it better in his room than the machine in the common area did as well. “You will also feel your love much stronger than a typical dragon, it’s an emotion that strongly connected to the powers of the mind, over time you may notice things that other relationships don’t experience. If he is in pain, you will be as well, when he is happy, you will share in that happiness.” I accepted the mug and sipped, Glavous sat down on the rug in front of me “Which brings us to an awkward conversation now” he looked into my eyes, his spikes were rosy pink, a little embarrassed which was very strange for him.

“Glavous, look, I don’t need ‘the talk’ I’m an adult!” I laughed

“Oh, I’m already very aware you two have discovered how physical love works, remember, your old room was not far from mine.” I blushed, I didn’t realize “But there is a certain ‘problem’ that arises when a master of the mind finds themselves physically involved.”

“Glavous, please don’t tell me I’m even more abnormal”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, Exodus. All your emotions are extreme for you, you do feel them much stronger than others normally would. You are quick to become happy, but also quick to anger, and you cry very easily. It’s not a sign of weakness, it is in fact, a sign of your strength.” He took a deep breath, this was awkward for him, I could tell “It’s something I’ve seen happened to every master of the mind or soul that I’ve trained, who has also ended up in love” He looked around “You may already be experiencing it” he looked into my eyes then away again, this gold dragon was really fighting to tell me this, and I was becoming worried as he was becoming more embarrassed. “Your stronger than normal emotional connections will awaken things inside of you. The connection to physical touch and stimulation from your lovers is extremely heightened for you. The emotions of lust and love will become like a drug, calling to you constantly.

“So I’m horny as fuck?!” I exclaimed, I much more open about the topic of sex than Glavous.

“Exodus!” He paused “Although your correct, your wording is a little distasteful”

“Sorry, Glavous, but you’re right, I have been feeling it. Since the first time, I can’t keep my hands off him, I think it’s already getting to him. Although so far he is very receptive”

Glavous raised his hand to me “Exodus, I know the topic of sex is normally an open topic for other dragons, however I am not interested in the details between my students.”

“Oh, I’m very sorry Glavous, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but I did come to you with this question, I had a thought it was related to my powers and it seems it is”

“In my experience, yes, yes it is. Though most have been more discrete, you’re also not the first to open up and ask for my guidance in the topic.” He took another long breath “However, even with my many years of experience in life, sexual interactions has not been a topic that I am thoroughly wise or invested in. This is a very ‘different’ interaction for me, but it’s also necessary for you to know going forward, this intense sex drive can and will distract you at time from your training”

“So, how do I overcome this?” I asked

“From what the others told me in the past, they really don’t. You will lean to control these emotions and feelings with time, and you will regress in your abilities until you have control over them, but they will always be there. They will require either an outlet or great concentration to eliminate.” He took a sip of his char “Knowing you as well as I do, I feel like the first is the better option, Deakon helped you awaken this state within you, for now, only Deakon can help you deal with it”

I thought deeply about things for a second, we had briefly talked about being open, what if at some point I become too much for him? Would he want me to seek a second “outlet”? Would it damage our relationship? Wold I have to just learn to ignore it completely? I think from here it was a personal talk between Deakon and I. I finished my char with him and stood up. “Thank you for your time, Glavous, it means a lot to me you endured this conversation to help, I feel now how awkward it was for you”

“Of course I wish to help, even if it’s hard for me” He smiled and sipped from his mug as I left.

“Deakon, the others are busy finishing up, I know you’ve got this!” Duke said, before sending me off to fix the two new arrivals nearly along.

Duke was mostly right, the two repairs of the day were mostly easy. The first one was a little more complex than originally thought. A small dragon cargo ship had lost her right coil drive, they limped her in to us. It turned out to be a blown up capacitor bank, not a big deal, and we had one of the same spec around, but it was a bit of an involved job to get it replaced, it took Lask and I 3 hours.

The second job did turn out to be easier. The other ship belonged to some Orions, an equine like race I had seen before, they caused trouble around the station before but luckily these ones didn’t even need to dock. They told us they were having a hard time getting the ship to turn, one of their thruster groups wasn’t responding. Our inspection found a group of thrusters had somehow been mysteriously damaged. They claimed they had no idea but it was obviously shot. They paid ahead for the service, they had a habit of negotiating after the work was done Duke had had enough, their species always paid before work now. We replaced the thrusters quickly, and away they went.

I went back to the common area, it was nearly time for Duke’s little meeting. I was assuming it would be about the trip to Sandpit, but oddly there wasn’t a big meeting before with previous years. Maybe it was only because of the fact nearly everyone was going this year. Usually their ship could only handle half the group, so I figured that was the big deal. Oh how wrong I was.

Duke and Drito were already in the common area, a couple bottles were brought out onto the bar and a lineup of shot glasses. This was different for sure. A few moments later Glavous and Jake appeared, Jake appeared a little tired, I guess they were training him on his flame. Exodus and Pike came next, coming from their joint Lab, Exodus hidden in their suit as always. Sash and Kelly showed up together “Oh, it’s been a while since we did this, things bust be a little rougher than I thought!” Kelly said.

“Did what?” I asked

“Oh, Deakon, you’ll see, it’ll be refreshing too, I hope” Sash added.

Over the next few minutes the rest would gather, sitting around the long rectangular table. Duke standing at one end. Drito placed shot glasses in front of everyone, Glavous declining his. Next he placed three bottles along the table, so everyone could reach them as they wanted. Exodus and I sat at the corner furthest form Duke, Glavous and Jake sat across from us.

“Okay, everyone is here!” Duke starting going off “There’s been some friction lately, it’s been a while since we’ve air our grievances together like this, since before Exodus and Deakon came around. We all know this is going to go one of two ways, we’ll be at each other’s throats in 10 minutes, get it all out of system, and we’ll be fine in a couple days, or we’re going to talk it out and be fine by the end of the night.” I was really surprised at the topic, I thought this would be about the trip or plans for the station, not to get things off our chests. Duke raised his small glass and took his shot, after swallowing he asked “So, does anyone want to start?” Surprisingly he didn’t look at us, he looked at Kelly, then around the table. Apparently there were a few things going on the station Exodus and I weren’t aware of”

After a few seconds Exodus stood up. “I know over the last 3 years some of you have been curious about me, why I’m always covered. I want you all to know over this time I’ve come to trust all of you. After consulting with Duke earlier today, I think it’s time you met the real me.” Their voice was shaking as hard as their hands now. “I think he’s right, no one here is going to be afraid of me.”

“Exodus” I grabbed their arm “Are you sure?”

“Of course, we all care about you, and each other, Exodus” Olto spoke up “Tell us what’s on your mind!”

Exodus nodded at me “It’s time” they said, and I let go, nodding back.

“Okay” I said softly

They raised their hands in front of them the backs facing the group, and with their other hand unclipped the glove from their suit. They switch sides and unclipped the other glove. Jake, Glavous, Duke, and of course myself already knew what was under there, but finally after 3 years so would everyone else. They all leaned in over the table looking past each other to watch as Exodus removed their gloves, shaking the whole time. There was a couple gasps as their purple hands were exposed first, but so far nothing bad. Exodus could of course read a room very easily now, and they kept going. They twisted the ring holding the head of the suit to the body now and unzipped the bottom of the helmet, and slowly removed it. They looked into the group with their bare eyes for the first time, expecting scowls or looks of disgust they were greeted with smiles and trust.

They sighed a breath of relieve and unzipped the front. They leaned down and unstrapped their boots, now faded and worn from the last 3 years of use. They slipped out their feet and stood back up, pulling the body suit off their shoulders. They pulled out their wings and tail, dropping the suit to the floor then stepping out of it. They picked up the body and draped it onto the table, moving their boots under the table out of the way. “Hi, I’m Exodus!”

The table erupted, but in a very positive way, everyone had something to say, all talking at once.

“Wow, you’re actually quite beautiful!” Olto started

“Your eyes!” Kelly said.

“Really? I though you were a burn victim or something!” Said Micah

“Oh wow they’re purple who could have ever known I most certainly didn’t” Pike said, poorly trying to cover up the fact they knew.

“You could have shown us this long ago!” Sash told them.

“You really are so pretty!” Valthy declared!

“I really had no idea.” Pike tried to reaffirm, badly.

Everyone kept talking at once, it was hard to understand it all but Exodus put up their hands. “Thank you so much for not judging and being so welcoming. As you can imagine after hiding for 3 years from you all this was very hard for me. I trust each and every one of you now, and this is my proof of that!” They sat down and the room got a little quiet. I could tell by the faces there might have been more questions but nothing serious.

“We’re proud of you, Exodus, we’re you friends and you can always trust us all!” Drito said. I thought about things for a second, and figured the big secret was out, we may as well come clean.

“Are you good?” I asked Exodus, I could tell their heart was still pounding and the newness of finally being able to be exposed around them was still sinking in. They looked at me and I could see in their eyes they would be fine. I Stood up “We have another secret, we recently became a cou-”

“No way!” “naaaaaaww” “oh really we had NO idea” the group interrupted me before would could even finish. I slowly sat back down blushing, Exodus leaned over and kissed my cheek and a few started with “aaaawwww”

Exodus filled their shot glass and took the shot, able to ingest ANYTHING in front of the group for the first time as Kelly stood up next. “Look, I know it’s been weird around here lately too but Sash and I we’re also-” She was meet with the same sarcastic ‘naaaawwws’ and ‘no ways’ I was. She was rather annoyed though “Wait, who told you all?” Sash was burying her face, he spikes were pretty red.

Olach spoke up “You two need to know, when you have bad days so do we. Your bad moods affect us all as you’re both sort of more in charge than the rest of us. On the bright side when you two are having a good time you’re both pretty easy to please!” He started laughing “Oh, and Sash’s room is next time, apparently fixing driver coils isn’t the only things you’re really good at!”

“OH MY GODS!” Sash buried her face into the table in embarrassment. Kelly came around, laughing a little and tried to comfort her mate. “Well, on the bright side now we don’t need to hide it either!” She said into the table as she wrapped her arms around her face.

Jake turned to me while everyone else was distracted “You met Larice, what did you think of her?”

“She seems great! Are you two a couple?” I asked

“No. Well, not yet, I’d like to be honestly. We’re friends though, really close.” He paused “We have a little agreement about our heats. But I have some feelings for her, I’d like to make it happen, but military life, you know?” He poured a second shot and took it. “Then there’s Jude, a year after me and Larice started having sex I found out they had a similar agreement. Which is okay, I’m not really jealous, I’m glad our little circle is close.” He paused “Me and Jude had a few drinks one night and screwed around once, but it’s nothing romatic between us” He chuckled, not realizing the others had stopped teasing Sash and Kelly to listen to him. “Sorry, I know you probably don’t want to hear about your brother’s sex life, but I guess as my only family I think you should know someday I hope you’ll see Larice like how I should see Exodus”

“What do you mean ‘should’?” Exodus butted in.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. We had our talk, but after getting to know you, I think I’m over it” Jake defended himself.

“What talk?!?” I asked

“When we first met, while were strapping the two ships together, I told Exodus I didn’t like them very much. I guess I was resentful that they took you away from us. But then they said something that I’ve had time to think over. It was probably for the best.” He looked at Exodus and back to me before saying something dark “Your head could have been with Mom and Dad’s, if you hadn’t run off to save them”

Exodus walked behind Jake and put their small hand on his strong shoulders, The size difference between them was so obvious even with Jake sitting. They rubbed Jake’s shoulders for a second then leaned in and hugged him. “Brother in law!” they said.

There was an outburst of “AAAAWWW” from the group, making us realize they had been listening.

Sond was next to stand up. “Hey Olto? Remember that 15 Kilogram Sledge I said I had no idea wh-”

“YOU ASSHOLE I KNEW IT WAS YOU!” She yelled

“I KNOW! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied!”

“That was my favorite hammer!”

“I’m going to replace it when we go to sandpit okay?! Out of my own vacation share!” He explained.

“Wait, what’s a vacation share?” Exodus asked.

“You don’t think we just keep all the money we make to ourselves do you?” Duke started explaining “We take the profit and keep it aside, whats left after giving everyone their needs we keep in a community pot for our own extra wants.”

Sash spoke up “Right now there’s 10 thousand coin worth for everyone each to-”

“TEN THOUSAND COIN!?!” I yelled “When were you going to tell us?!?”

“Well, now.” Sash said

“It’s been extra busy, you didn’t think we’d be going the Lightning Festival flat broke did you?” Duke added. “We don’t keep all the profits for ourselves you know! After feeding everyone and getting the supplies we need we put the extra funds in a pot, then when things like this happened we can divide out some spending money!”

We didn’t go the previous years, just the way things worked out with ship salvages or just generally being too busy and not enough room on the ship. We didn’t know there was a spending fund associated with the little vacation they all took turns taking!

Argin stood up “I ate most of the junk food. We’ve been out for weeks and it’s my fault!” There was a couple boo’s “Sorry, but after looking at vegetables all day in the hydroponics rooms they start to look less appetizing!”

“That’s fine” Drito stepped up to defend him “You’re keeping us all healthy, both by feeding us and keeping the junk food away!” They laughed Argin sat back down.

Olach stood up “I leave my char mug on the counter, that’s me, I forget a lot”

“I’ve washed it 100 times” Said Valthy “Get better!”

“Sorry, I’ll try” she said and sheepishly sat down.

“Well, this is healthy, no one wants to kill anyone else” Said Duke

Drito was next to fess up. “Sometimes I mess aorund with our clients. Not all of them, just those who are seeking it. Honestly I’ve gotten a soft spot for those Orions”

“So that’s why they keep coming back!” Duke explained. “Tell you what! From now on it’s your responsibility to keep them out of trouble when they are staying!”

“But Duke, it sort of already is!” Drito snapped back.

I stood up, a little fuzzy from the shots “We hit warp 6 in the Phoenix” Exodus and Jake stared at me in shock.

“I though we weren’t telling them yet?” Exodus said.

“Warp 6?!? No there’s no way you did that!” Kelly exclaimed

“100,000 times light speed?!?” Duke cut in “That’s not possible!”

“It is, I don’t know what human coils do differently than ours, other than being much more efficient, but with the dragon fusion core, we his warp 6 for about 30 seconds before the coils over heated. We can cruise at nearly warp 5”

“So we can get to sandpit in what, a day?” Pike asked

“Yea, but if we’re taking the Phoenix, I do still want to leave sooner. We need to lay her crew to rest” I admitted. “It’s a planet three days away at her speeds, then two days back to Sandpit for the festival”

“Wait a minute” Kelly said “So the human crew that’s dead, is still…”

“On board, yes, that’s why the crew quarters are closed off” I explained. The room when quiet. “We promised we would lay them to rest, instead of just blasting them off to space. We’re going to keep our promise.”

A few more moments of silence passed before Olto spoke up. “Please don’t expect me to sleep in the crew quarters after we drop off the humans!”

A little more light hearted, I replied “No, of course not, it’ll still be closed off until we get back here and give that section a really good cleansing, both spiritually and physically”

“Oh good, I don’t want to nap with ghosts on later trips” Sash said.

“You won’t!” Exodus said “They’ll be at peace soon!”

The rest of the evening went on, stupid little confession and little tiffs as everyone got things out on the open. Duke was right, it was healthy. A couple hours later Exodus, Jake, and I retreated to the Phoenix. Jake wanted to try sleeping there with us, giving Glavous some space.

I walked onto the bridge, something was bothering me. E.M.B.E.R. told us the planet they diverted to was not the ship’s full mission. We knew already knew where to lay them to rest, but why not go all they way for them? “Ember?” She appeared on screen, Exodus stepped up beside me “What was the Phoenix’s original mission?”

“The original mission was exploration of the ‘Eagle Nebula’, M16, for planetary and stellar formation research.” Her holographic display came up, showing the location of that nebula, my heart sank. Exodus saw the same thing.

“Singh, your mission was doomed from the day it was planned” They said, speaking to the spirit.

“We know that now, and that is why we requested to go to the planet, not the Eagle Nebula. I wish I could lay to rest at the Pillars of Creation, but I know it is a task you can never complete. I know that is not meant to be my final resting spot.” Singh said to Exodus, I was unable to hear it.

The Eagle Nebula was inside Lycan space. The Phoenix would have been torn to pieces like an animal at their border. Ember told us the details on how another human ship was the demise of the crew, but if they entered Lycan territory, there would have been nothing left. The wastelands bordered their space, periodically taking attacks at random. There was a reason Duke’s station was closer to Titan’s border than the far one. It was safer.

Titan’s Throne Room, top floor of his sky scraper;

His rhythmic footsteps echoes off the panes of glass, as they had hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. Metal feet hitting the marble floor. Sampson approached his brother, placing a hand on his chest and tried to lean forward. Selena stood beside her brother, his large muscular body filled the throne he forcefully had made by the hands of the finest artisans. Two High Honor Guards in bright red armor adorned with gold trim stood off to his side, distant, nearly against the glass panes themselves. Their traditional long gold axes with gold tassels stranding straight up in front of each of them.

“What is it now, Sampson? We were busy!” said Titan.

“My Liege, intelligence has located another revolutionist base in the wastelands. It is small and insignificant, however since it is in another Guild’s territory, you authorization is required to seek it out and destroy it.” His robotic voice echoed in the cavernous room, well lit in the setting sun.

“You know better than to annoy me with such small matters!” he yelled.

“Yes, but I do no wish to risk the anger of the Gold Council in your name, Brother. If I err it could mean significant trouble for-”

“I don’t fear the council! You know this!” He announced

“Then your consent is given!”

“Yes, Send a Longsword and two large support ships!” Titan ordered.

“Brother, I think a single Longsword would be more than sufficient to send the messa-”

“SEND 3!” Titan yelled “Our military is idle as these revolutionist gain ground! Show them total domination!” He paused “And address me properly!”

“Yes, my Liege” Sampson obliged

“Make my will done! You are excused!” and Titan waved his hand away. Sampson Walked away, his metal feet echoing off the glass again. The large door closed by the guards in normal uniforms behind him, two more in the vivid red and gold armor stood to the side, door duty was beneath those two.

Once “alone” Selena leaned down, and whispered into her brother’s ear. “I find your authority arousing, your rule, your might, your iron will!” She turned and crawled into his lap. “The decision to send the extra ships was right, but I think you underestimate our brother’s devotion to you.” She was lying. “He has learned his lessons, you made sure of that”

Titan bared his teeth at her “Get off my lap, we are siblings, this is not right!”

“So were our parents, Titan.” She leaned closer to his face “And their parents” She whispered into his ear “Someday, you will need an heir to this throne” she whispered, getting even closer “You had no arguments about it two evenings ago, did you, Brother?”

“I will not make our father’s mistake! Giving himself an heir just to betray him!” He stood firm. “I will take you now, but any eggs will be destroyed!” Titan stood up with his sister in his arms, carrying her away with his abnormal strength. For now, this amount of control over him would be all she needed.