After Erick and Zander left with the courtier, Mira sat listlessly, picking at her food. Queen Kalara Rashak on her right ignored her as if she wasn't there. Princess Shuressa Zaravan, likewise, was just as frigid. They softly spoke amongst themselves, but made a point to ignore her presence.
She could not blame them. She was just some stranger that Zander (and to some extent, Erick) picked up while they were wander-lusting around the Universe. She was very far from their royal world, and it showed--with every gesture, every movement, every word.
But it wasn't so much that she was not a royal member. The problem was deeper than that.
In their minds, she was a hybrid, a mix of the two Ashryan and Entryon races, which meant she was only half a person. Since in their mind, she was not a pure-blood and could not bear offspring, it was not surprising that she was not worth the trouble of even small talk.
That was fine. She did not want to talk to them anyway.
After another fifteen minutes of pretending to eat some mushy broccoli-looking vegetable, she could no longer stand to be in the same room with these boorish nobles.
Excusing herself, she asked a courtier to lead her to the ladies' toilet.
The courtier led her out through the same side door the men had gone through. Perhaps Zander and Erick were not too far from here.
Mira waited until the hallway was cleared of court staff, and began exploring the area.
She didn't have far to go. She could hear their muffled voices coming from somewhere above her.
Mira headed towards the sound.
The voices led her through the red carpeted hallway, and up a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a large ballroom. What kind of duel could the men do in a ballroom? Were they trying to out-dance each other?
"This is a joke, Zander. I am not going to duel with you. You'll just let me win and then I'm stuck with that...that exchangeling Princess. How about we get to the real deal here."
"What 'real deal' are you referring to?"
"Well, you abandon me on a strange world, and you take with you, the only woman I have ever expressed real interest in. Then, you disappear without a word."
"You had Daran."
"Thank heavens I had Daran! He was able to figure out how to get us back to Ashrya. As it was, we nearly died in that bog. Did you know we ran into ten of those nasty bogwargs"
"You're the best warrior wizard in Ashrya, and Daran is a very good swordsman."
"Yes, but there were two of us, and ten of those bogwargs. I didn't have a weapon and had to fight with my bare hands. I nearly died! And how do you think I feel, dragging my half-dead body back into the palace to see you and my woman, hand in hand, acting like a married couple?"
"If Daran could get you back to Ashrya, then I taught Daran well. Be grateful. However, that has nothing to do with Mira. She is my wife."
"I thought you swore off women for two years while you worked on the next level of your Elemental Cultivation. Are you going to abandon that half way through?"
"I am abandoning nothing. My life work is my life work. My wife is my wife."
Mira had reached the top of the stairs and could now see the two of them, standing in the middle of the ballroom, mouth-dueling. Neither had a visible weapon, but she knew how lethal Zander's blue energy bolts were, and as Erick had said, he could kill ten bogwargs with his bare hands.
"And how are you going to satisfy your wife, my dear cousin?" Erick's eyes glinted with disdain. "You may not be half a man, but for yet another year, you are no better than half a man." He laughed. "And when your bride finds out you are unable to satisfy her desires, she will leave you for a real man--me!"
Mira felt her blood boil, as she watched Zander, standing there with clenched jaws and steely silver-blue eyes, unable to respond to Erick's derision.
For a moment, Mira's heart clenched--and then she grabbed her skirts with both hands and ran towards them.
"Erick!"
At the sound of her voice, Erick Rashak swiveled his head. His eyes flared and he smiled. "And there she is." With his eyes fixed on the prize, he strode towards her with his arms open wide.
As Mira ran towards Erick, she raised up her hand.
SLAAAP!!!
Erick's head whipped to one side from the force of her whack.
She grimaced and rubbed her hand.
Ouch.
She hadn't meant to slap him that hard, not because she cared about his face, but because she didn't expect her hand to sting so badly.
Erick Rashak slowly turned back towards her with a startled look, his hand rising to rub at his jaw. A bright red mark was already starting to show on his handsome face.
"Mira…" he breathed, unable to believe that he had just been slapped by a mere wisp of a woman.
Without stopping to think, she reached up to her collar and, with one vicious yank, had ripped the high collar of her dress down to the top of her bustier, exposing her creamy decolletage.
In bright red vivid proof, was the evidence of exactly what Zander was capable of doing for his woman. The kiss marks and bite marks were dramatic confirmations of their intimate night together.
She tapped at the bite mark on her neck, which had bruised a dark purple, clearly showing his teeth imprints on her pale ivory skin. "You see that?" She threw her head back proudly. "That one hurt SO good!"
Mira stood there with her eyes blazing, throwing out an unspoken challenge to Erick. See that, you clueless dolt. Try to beat that!!!
Zander stood there, unable to move for a moment. Then, in one smooth motion, he pulled off his royal overcoat and draped it around her shoulders, hiding her barren decolletage.
His eyes were furious. He picked her up and quickly made his way out of the palace without saying any of the requisite perfunctory goodbyes.
The blizzard was still blowing hard, but the distance between the Emperor's palace and the Tamein estate was short.
Zander kept Mira on his knee the entire ride, and when they reached the front doors, he carried her off the carriage and brought her into the house.
The servants within kept their eyes downcast. Not a word was exchanged. Not one expression was anything but bland and cordial.
"You can put me down now, Zander. I can walk you know." Mira mumbled, a bit apprehensive of his anger. He was probably upset about the slap she had given Erick. That was a huge mistake, she knew.
He did not respond, merely carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom. He then threw her on the bed and, with brusque fingers, tore off his shirt, casting the torn shreds on the floor. He pulled the overcoat off her shoulders, and began inspecting her body, most especially the teeth marks left on her neck.
Tears sprang from his eyes.
Mira reached out to touch his bare shoulder. "What--what's wrong, Zander?"
He shook his head.
Reaching out, he traced the bruised bite mark on her neck. "Does it hurt? I can heal it."
"No!" She pulled back from his touch. "If you heal it, it won't leave a mark." She snarled. "I want my mark, damn it!"
Zander leaned in closer, his breath warm on her neck. "You can take your revenge on me, wife. Leave your mark."
"What?"
"Bite me."
"I'm not going to bite you!" She pushed at his chest, but Zander was too strong. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You won't hurt me. Bite," he tapped on his neck.
"No!"
"But wife…" he gazed into her eyes. "I want a love bite mark too."