I stood tall in the med bay. As the most diplomatic of the pack it would be my job to see to the Princess. I had no doubt based on what Misha had told me, I had no doubt that Amiri and Kylian had done something or another that would be considered a grave insult to her people. We were lucky to find her before anything untold happened to her. That she was on an Ity'can'son ship was bad enough.
The Intersteller Protection Unit, IPU, was highly invested in humans remaining a free race. They did they're best to ensure every race remained free unless and until they stated they wanted otherwise. A planet like Earth, or so the Human Princess had called it, was resource rich. There were more than a few species who had wanted to get domain over it. As long as the Princess remained safe with IPU diplomats Earth would be under IPU protection.
As per code seven dash two subsection b. As a royal she could be counted as representing her planet. No doubt she had a certain amount of sway with her people but it was unclear what her personality was like aside from curiosity. Kylian had relayed that she was small although she seemed to take great offense over being called a child. Stating clearly that she was of courting age. I don't think any of us understood what that meant. I had to look into the IPU files to see if any of the other documented races did.
To my shock it was rare but not unheard of. Courting referred to the process in which a male proved he could give a female strong and desired offspring. The Sunjoka tribes did this by war dancing. A process that would show off their feather pattern and color. The odd thing was that they did it when a female made it known she wished to have offspring. The most impressive male would be given the right to sire young with the female. Humans apparently choose their mates in advance.
I felt my blood run cold when Kylian walked in holding her. At first I thought she may have been harmed and then felt my eyes widening in fear. They had left her tied up. Welp there was no way she was okay with this. No female or male would be happy about this.
'You left her tied up!' I yelled at him rushing forward.
'She was looking at us like she was going to attack,' he said like that was an excuse.
'She is a Princess! She was taken from her home without explanation and tied up. How would you react?' I pointed out taking her from him. His ears flattened as if just considering these facts.
'Apologies for my brothers Princess.' Her face was stoney at my words. I released her bonds and immediately as Kylian feared she turned on him.
Her stoney face tightened, eyes narrowed, and teeth bared. Kylian didn't even flinch as the hand moved towards his face. He was a male and females lashed out at us often enough. The sound echoed in the room as her little hand made contact. Three thin lines ran down his right cheek. They were jagged marks not clean as one would receive from a Leoc'ain female. Our other three bothers entered the room but seeing her facing Kylian made no move to help. Even if she had been a low rank female we wouldn't interfere. Unless she did something truly threatening there was no point.
They took the que to not interfere from me. If a female attacked unjustly brothers would help one another. She balled her hand for the next hit. The sound of this one was thicker and landed squarely on his left cheek. This one made his head snap to the side. Her left hand followed closely behind to land a blow to his chin as he faced her once more. She had to fully extend her arms to land them but apparently they paid off. Kylian's foot stepped back and he had to shake his head.
Maybe she really wasn't a child. Kylian might not have been the strongest of us but compared to what one would expect from someone her size she hit hard. She spoke then ficking up three claws, or would have been claws if she had been Leoc'ain. I spoke to her in the only way we could understand her.
'We do not know the human language Princess. This is the only way we can understand you,' I told her.
She looked at me then standing straight, ' Ah that explains a lot. Three hits for three offensives. One offense for one hit. You left me tied up which is very uncomfortable. You left your... paw? hand? Skin. You left your skin in direct contact with mine in what is considered a possessive display of which only family and a mate would be allowed. Lastly you had me ride in your lap the whole way here which at my age is only allowed between mates. If any human saw such a display I would be lucky to not be called any number of things none of which are good.'
'We call them paws as well Princess,' I told her trying not to glare down my brother.
She turned to me then. Even with her hair a mess she now held herself as one in a position of power would. She stood tall. She may be looking up to look me in the eyes but she didn't waver. Her body was tight. Her instincts cleary unhappy at being so much smaller than us. Her body had drawn itself up as much as it could. Her face however was much softer now. 'I am Princess Venus Crimson Best. Thank you for untying me.' She turned back to Kylian, 'If you are okay enough I will allow the examination now.'
'I was not expecting you to draw blood with such dull claws but otherwise I am fine,' He said. His tongue reached out and liked at the corner of the marks. I caught sight of a few drops of our orange blood beading up. If her little claws were longer they would have done more damage. I followed behind her as she made her way to the bed and laid down. She laid her arms flat on the bed as she laid back. She was so small. I wondered how she had managed to reach his head even with fully extended arms.
Our brothers stayed near the door way. They were cleary curious by her. The fact that she explained herself making her different from every other royal we knew. That Kylian had put her honor and likewise mating stats in question was cause for her to do far more to him.
All of us could do the basics when it came to the med bay but Kylian had training knowledge of other races. Princess Venus flinched as Kylian input the commands into the scan and the lights began to scan her. Outwardly she seemed completely fine but her smell told me she was afraid and angry. The fact that her eyes flicked over all of us told me we made her uneasy.
'Would you mind telling us about your people?' I asked her. She may not have been a child but she didn't seem to be an adult quite yet either. 'You mentioned you are courting age?'
On the wall her scans began to show up. The activity in her brain scan was shocking. It showed millions of neurons at work even as she sat there and no organ that suggested she was capable of telepathy. Her bone structure was larger than what I had thought considering her size and dense too. Humans looked weak but these scans suggest with the right motivation they could hurt someone if not kill. Her body had almost no fat stores. Her stomach, butt, and upper thighs held the bulk of what fat she did have.
It also gave us a look at things that were hidden by her body. Her nose wasn't bone like ours. Instead it seemed to be made of a material that was bendable or at least a bit flexible. As were her ears. Oddly enough there was no muscles in her ears. Suggesting they were stationary. Her front teeth had suggested she was a flora eater. However, aside from the twelve flat teeth in the front she was a meat eater. The deeper into her mouth, the sharper her teeth were. Even hiding a nasty surprise of a shorter second layer with a barbed tip.
At first look the humans were frail. They were when compared to us and many others but if they hit the right spot, any race would regret underestimating them. Her nails were flat but when zoomed in on revealed a jagged edge of multiple points. Her legs had odd shaped paws as well. They had nails as well that were thicker but missed the jagged edge. Over all she was well made for her environment it seems. It told us a lot about her race and planet. She had food readily available. Whether because of her status or just her people eating habits we couldn't say for sure. It was clear she, at least, could and would eat both plants and animals. No doubt making it easier to find food.
Directly next to her heart was another organ we didn't recognize but the scan did not flag it as a danger according to her body. There were two things it flagged as foreign. A band of metal about mid way up her lower leg which was identified as tech of some kind and was linked to her body through her nervous system. Again not a danger. The other sent of a whole list of dangers. Which were actually two but they seemed to have the same purpose. One was in her left arm implanted into the muscle. The second was in her reproductive tract.
I yanked my attention away as she began to speak, 'As I said I am Princess Venus. You all may call me Venus. I am twenty years old or twenty full... Revolutions around Earth's sun?' She looked at me clearly checking to see if I understood what she was trying to say. She must be a speaker for her people I realized. Maybe she taught children or was in close contact with others of a high standing. Both of which often required making sure you and the person you were speaking to understood eachother. 'I am a bit old to be in courting still but I have not yet found a male to marry.'