Royal Torment - Viola Grace Page 0,1
watch.
Tydella knew what she wanted to do, and it was singing and drinking. It was a fine family tradition... that she had just started.
At first, her guards were against the public display, but after Tydella started singing and lulling them into having a fun time, they followed her lead. No one got completely inebriated, but it was fun getting close.
They had the private room for two days. It had full facilities and only one entrance or exit. That little fact made her guards happy.
There were cameras in the ceiling, but they weren’t lit during the majority of the party. For the price she had paid for the private room, watching them was going to cost a quarter of her dowry, and that was a hefty sum.
Abra sat next to her as the others played video games and sparred. The same kind of thing they would do on the ship but with slightly more aggressive gravity. “So, why are we really here?”
Tydella chuckled. “Ah, you saw through my clever ruse, huh? I just wanted some downtime before I make a break for it.”
Abra sighed. “We are trying to keep you safe.”
“I know. But I am a little tired of being safe. I just want to be normal. I don’t look like my father’s daughter, so why should I be coddled like it?”
“He loves you very much. He wants you protected.”
Tydella snorted. “And then, he hangs a dowry on me that is larger than the gross domestic product of three continents. Yeah, I am like a walking box of bait.”
Abra patted her shoulder. “You are a kind and cheerful box of bait. If you let any of the suitors close enough, you would probably have a mate in no time.”
Tydella covered her face and lay back on the couch. She mumbled. “I don’t just want to have an heir so that my father can continue his line. It was his fault; I am a girl anyway.”
Abra patted her leg. “True, and yet he never took a wife. He raised you with full honours, and you have grown up into an elegant and intelligent woman. He just wants you to be happy.”
Tydella sat up on her elbows. “Don’t you want to raise your own family? You and Kimal must be tired of chasing me around and hauling me from wedding to wedding where the security is so shabby that I have to be hustled in and out with no chance for socializing.”
Abra grimaced. “It would be nice to settle down and have a family, but there are few worlds with Kiidar societies. I would want to return home, but we are pledged to your service.”
“Right. So, I am making decisions for you eight and any little ones that you plan on having.”
Abra looked embarrassed. “Yeah. That.”
Tydella stared at Abra and looked over to the others. “You and... fuck. You are all pregnant?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. We are willing to retire in disgrace.”
Tydella stared at her, and then, she nodded. “Right. Give me four days.”
Abra blinked. “What?”
“I will find a guy myself, but I need four days to do it.” She grimaced. “And I can’t have an honour guard while I do it.”
“We can’t do that.”
“I know you can’t. That is why I am asking for this as my twenty-fifth birthday present. You can remain with the ship for the four days that it will take this station to overhaul the engine, and I will go creeping around to find myself a proper mate.”
Abra laughed. “You make it sound so ladylike.”
“Well, if you four are gonna have little ones, it is the least I can do for you.” She groaned. “Will you tell them that I want four days?”
“Um, yes, but how do you think you are going to get out of here? Even Kimal will take a while to convince.”
“Well, I am going to the ladies’ room. You can just enjoy the party.” She smiled.
“Tydella, what are you going to do?”
She leaned over and kissed Abra on the cheek. “Something I will probably regret.”
She got to her feet and headed to the restroom, closing the door and then going to the back wall where she pressed tiles and slid into a secret hallway.
She jogged through the hall and came out near the entrance of the lounge before she made a beeline for the slip that her personal shuttle had been parked in. Money smoothed so many things, and she wasn’t averse to using it when she needed to.
Tydella was clearing customs when she