Burning for Love by Evangeline Anderson
52
Where can I go? What can I do?
Rissa wandered the halls of the palace like a ghost—which she soon would be if she couldn’t get her Heat slaked, she admitted to herself. But there was no chance of that now that the Duke had destroyed the only key that would open the awful Chastity Device she wore!
Should I tell someone? Should I ask the Steward’s guards to wake him and tell him about the Duke pretending to be Lord Shammington?
She was about to do just that…but then Duke Grabbington’s words came back to her. He had said that the Steward would rather have a man ruling the country and that was why he had waited too late to find a suitor for her dear Mama. Could that really be true?
Yes, it’s true.
Her internal voice spoke with cold certainty. It was a fact she had been hiding from all her life but she could hide from it no longer. The Steward hadn’t wanted her mother on the throne and he didn’t want her there, either.
He had deliberately given her three bad choices as suitors so that she would use up her three Rights of Refusal and then picked a man whom he believed had enough Royal blood to be King so that the planet would not be ruled by a Queen—by a female. If he found out that Lord Shammington was actually Duke Grabbington, he probably wouldn’t even care. As long as a man ruled, he would be satisfied.
No, she must not trust her fate to the Steward, that much was certain. For years she had thought of him as a kindly old uncle, but that time was past. Nor could she trust the likes of Lady Mildew, who would probably be quite happy to see her burn. Though actually, she herself was going to hang if the Duke had his way.
Rissa thought about telling her that—trying to get the older woman on her side. But no—Lady Mildew would never believe her. She would think Rissa was “making stories” as she called it and probably march her right back to the Duke’s bed chamber.
What am I to do? Rissa asked herself desperately. How could she get help when the people who were supposed to care for her and support her were against her? When everyone in power on the planet would be happy to see her burn, just so a man could rule Regalia Five instead of a woman?
Our society is so unequal—so unbalanced, she thought unhappily. If only we were more like the Kindred. James always told me that they believe men and women are equals. I am sure if we Regalians believed the same, I would not be in this desperate position right now.
The thought gave her an idea. If she couldn’t trust anyone on her home planet, then she would have to find someone outside of Regalia Five to trust. Naturally, she didn’t want to involve James—he had made it clear that he had no feelings for her and would be perfectly happy never to see her again. But she was certain that someone aboard the Kindred Mother Ship would sympathize with her plight.
Creeping down the corridor, she made her way to the Communications room. It was quite late and, as she had hoped, there was only one young officer on duty when she peeked in. He was a Private, judging by the stripes on his uniform sleeves. He was sitting in front of a large viewscreen and watching, with sleepy eyes, several monitors that were mounted to the right and left of him.
Taking a deep breath, Rissa straightened her shoulders and stepped into the large room, filled with interstellar communications equipment.
“Private!” she said sternly.
The young man, who had been almost dozing, jerked to attention. When he saw who was addressing him, his eyes went wide and he jumped up and saluted.
“Princess! Er, Your Majesty.” His eyes ran over her body in the revealing white peignoir and his face went beet red as he quickly looked back at her face. “T-to what do I owe this honor?” he stammered.
“I need you to make an interstellar call for me at once,” Rissa said sternly. She kept her chin high and didn’t attempt to cover herself. She was in Royal mode now and she made certain he knew it.
“Y-yes, Your Majesty—at once! Of course!” He sat back at the console and looked up at her expectantly. “Whom shall I call for Your Majesty?”
“The Kindred Mother Ship,” Rissa said. “And make certain you use a private channel. This call is highly confidential.”
