Welcome To Try

Letting out a long sigh, Ba'dqeel punched a few commands into the keypad on his desk beside the computer. A light blue shield encompassed the room, and Ba'dqeel sat forward, staring at the screen and the male in front of him.

"I need your word that what I am about to say next will not be repeated by anyone," grunted the ambassador. The blue shield would prevent anyone or anything from recording the conversation he was about to have, but that didn't mean Da'kea wouldn't tell.

"I cannot promise you that," Da'kea shrugged as if Ba'dqeel's entire existence wasn't hanging on this conversation. "I tell my mate everything."

Ba'dqeel blinked rapidly at that statement. "The Saalistaja don't take mates," replied Ba'dqeel, feeling like the ship under him had just been yanked away, leaving him drifting in space.

"No, they don't," replied the other man. The worst part of the Saalistaja was that they wore armor every second of the day, leaving it impossible to be able to read any physical cues, and Ba'dqeel felt like he was drowning.

Could he trust this stranger with a secret of such magnitude? Could he not?

"I have a Dryadalis on my ship by the name of Zalena; she came to us just over a rotation ago seeking sanctuary. She claimed that she was working for your Alliance right before it fell and that the ones who destroyed them would come after her next."

While Da'kea normally didn't move much, the perfect hunter that he was, Ba'dqeel could have thought that the feed between the two of them was frozen with how still he was.

"Did she happen to tell you what she was working on?" asked Da'kea, his voice soft as it came through the speakers in Ba'dqeel's office.

"Something so secret that my Captain of the Guard can't find any information," admitted Ba'dqeel.

"And who did you say she was trying to kill?" pressed Da'kea. The male was no longer taking this call as a joke, and while Ba'dqeel appreciated it, the tension coming off the hunter was enough to be felt half a universe away.

"We call them hirini," stated Ba'dqeel. "They are a creature of legend on our planet that lure warriors to their deaths. However, the Kallutan King had called her something different."

"Describe her," grunted Da'kea, his head shifting just out of view for a second before focusing back on Ba'dqeel.

"Not if there is someone else in there with you," stated the Nycteromys. He had the feeling that Da'kea knew more than what he was saying, but each male was guarding their words like they were state secrets.

"It's my mate," admitted the other male. "What does your hirini look like?"

Willing to take a leap of faith, Ba'dqeel took in a deep breath. "Beautiful… like nothing I had ever seen outside of drawings. Her red hair is the color of the lava coming from the heartbeat of our planet. She has stunning blue eyes like she can see right into your soul. Her skin is pale, almost a light blue shade."

"How many arms?" grunted Da'kea, rolling his eyes.

"Two."

"Legs?"

"Two."

"Horns?"

"None."

Once again, Da'kea looked off screen, and Ba'dqeel could have sworn that he shook his head slightly before letting out a long sigh.

"Did she look like me?" asked a female voice, and Ba'dqeel froze. Her words held the same lyrical sound that he had heard coming from his mate, but the computer seemed to be able to translate her language just fine.

However, all he could see was the top of her head going up to Da'kea's chest.

Letting out a sigh, Da'kea adjusted the lens down so that his mate could be seen by the other male.

"Yes," hissed Ba'dqeel, his eyes widening as he looked at the female. "Like you but not quite. Your skin is a different color, as is your hair and eyes."

"The females of my species come in many different colors and sizes," grunted the female. Ba'dqeel watched, fascinated, as Da'kea, one of the coldest, most level-headed males he knew, pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arm around her front. "You need to return her to me."

----

Ba'dqeel paced back and forth as pure rage filled his body. As soon as the female had demanded his mate back, he had hung up on her.

Not his finest moment, he'd admit. But the very idea of his mate leaving him, even to be amongst her own species, had him literally seeing silver.

The comm in his room had rung a few times, but the male couldn't calm down to answer it.

It wasn't until someone started pounding on the door of his personal chamber that he stormed over to the entrance and slammed the button to open it.

"What?" he hissed, his horns elongating and his muscles becoming bigger, preparing to fight whoever was on the other side.

The fact that the male was dumb enough to strike first was enough to light a match to his temper.

Catching the fist that was close in color to his own, Ba'dqeel snarled at his nephew. "This is not a good time," he growled low, looking down at the young Princeling.

"I don't care," hissed back Vi'dta. "You left me planet side after killing their King," he continued. "You broke all protocol and took the runner back here, carrying an alien that we know is a threat. Have you lost your Sky Lord damned mind?!?"

The other male was lost in his rage as he continued to shout and scream, not caring about all the crew members around watching the spectacle.

"And yet, here you are… completely fine," sneered Ba'dqeel. He had only taken Vi'dta to the crowning ceremony because his brother had insisted on it. If, at the age of 500, he still wasn't able to look after himself, then maybe it was time to find a new Heir.

"I can have you arrested for that," snapped back Vi'dta, yanking his fist out of Ba'dqeel's hand.

"You are more than welcome to try."