Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter

Chapter 27

Kaelin grinned at him. One of the things she appreciated about him was how quickly he seemed to catch on to what she wasn't saying.

"Well, the ceremony itself tends to be fairly simple," she told him. "There are some that are very elaborate and some brides can go way overboard on shopping, spending and planning for that kind of wedding but the real money is in the reception."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled even wider.

"What is a reception in this context?"

"It's a giant party after the ceremony," she said. "Usually with food, music, dancing, entertainment, and all kinds of fun. Oh, and cake. Some couples will do a non-traditional cake but I think the chance to spend a whole lot of money on a very elaborate, over the top, work of art that you can eat would be a lot of fun."

"And it's the brides that do the shopping for this?"

Kaelin nodded. She already had thoughts about how much they could order for the wedding that could be sent directly back to the ship. "A lot of brides will hire a wedding planner for this but they're typically the ones driving it. You'd be amazed at how many women, given the excuse of planning a wedding, will go completely nuts on spending and other things."

"I think, perhaps, I can appreciate the necessity of this wedding. Let's discuss it over breakfast," he said.

They were at the kitchen and she'd only barely noticed. Obviously, her eye sight was only one of the things that had made her blind to her surroundings. She's been so caught up in the plans in her head, she hadn't noticed when they'd made it to the corridor. Once she'd gotten Serogero away from the communications room, it had been so easy to let him take control of their direction, she had let her attention turn internal.

The cook looked up from the stove and waved at Serogero with a slight bow to his head. It made her smile and he smiled back at her. That was her favorite reaction and she hadn't expected to get it here from someone she didn't know. The noise in the kitchen kept them from talking and the cook was obviously busy so Serogero made a series of hand gestures and pointed to a door. The cook acknowledged him with a nod and turned back to the stove in front of him.

Kaelin let Serogero lead her through the door, her eyes focused on the wall on the far side of what was obviously a cafeteria. So focused, in fact, that she missed the nothing that was in front of her and tripped. Serogero's arm tightened around her shoulder and she gripped his waist hard. It took a mere moment to pull herself back up and she waited for the shame and anxiety that came with someone seeing her trip but it never came.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so comfortable around another person. There were still nagging thoughts in the back of her head that she should be doing more, worrying more, about the changes being wrought by the bio-nanos. She'd silenced them the same way she had the ones about her condition getting worse every time she was admitted to the hospital; a reminder that the best thing she could do was keep getting up and working for a future she wanted every day. Some days would be good, some days would be not so good, but if she kept having something to strive for, she'd get through it and out the other side.

Acknowledging that there were days when putting her underwear on by herself was an accomplishment and it was okay if that was all she managed had kept some of the crushing depression away when it seemed as if her entire body had betrayed her. Not all of it, not even most of it, but it did better than the unrelenting positivity that some of the people around her seemed determined to force on her. Finding something that had gone right, looking for something to laugh at or about, while acknowledging that portions of the day just flat out sucked helped.

So, she was looking for the positive now, while letting Mintonar deal with fixing the negative. The most obvious was that she could see, unassisted and better than she'd been able to with glasses, and so had very little excuse for tripping over things like air and lint. And, she reminded herself, Serogero had loved her when she couldn't.

Laughter bubbled out of her and Serogero turned to look at her.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, a smile dancing across his face.

"Myself, mostly," she told him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I was just realizing how few excuses I was going to have for tripping over lint now."

"Ah," he said and grinned. "You can tell people you're just learning how to walk again because I kept you in bed for so long."

Kaelin guffawed, surprised and intrigued by the suggestion. "Might work for your people," she told him. "I'm not sure I want mine thinking about you naked. They might actually try to see it and then I'd have to claw their eyes out."

"Which would be inconvenient," Serogero acknowledged. "Perhaps the suggestion that I am so wildly, madly, passionately in love with you that I carry you everywhere to keep from having to let you go."

"Cheesy and also hard to believe," she told him.

"At least part of it has the benefit of being true, however," he told her. "I am wildly, madly, passionately in love with you."

He turned to look at her, his fingers smoothing up the back of her neck to run through her hair. She would never get used to the way his touch made her feel but the erratic thumping of her heart at his words would go away eventually. She hoped not any time soon.

"Are you?" she asked, her voice breathy.

"I am," he said, and kissed her.

It was a gentle kiss with none of the immediate urgency of the last few days and she enjoyed it. The subtle build of desire that came after the initial jolt washed through her started in the base of her spine and worked its way up until she was almost vibrating with need. She didn't think it would be possible to feel this way and savored every last, aching, throbbing ounce of need.

They were interrupted by a cleared throat from behind the Prince and he pulled away reluctantly. She ducked her head to hide her face with embarrassment and he caught her chin, tilting her face back to see it.

"Yes, Brinker?" Serogero asked, his eyes still locked on her face.

"Your breakfast is ready, your Highness," the man behind him said. "And I suspect the Princess would like to eat before her next fitting."

Kaelin blinked. "Next fitting? When was the first one?" Serogero dropped his hand away and she looked over at Brinker. He looked shorter next to her prince but she knew he still towered over her with a similar build. It took a minute to realize that Brinker looked very average next to Serogero.

"While you were in quarantine," he told her with a smile. "We took the liberty of borrowing your measurements from the readings and applying them to the most forgiving styles. There are others, however, that need to be done with you there."

"Who's 'we'?" Kaelin asked. "Wait, is this Trina you're talking about?"

"Yes, I understand you haven't had the opportunity to meet Miss Trina, yet, but she has been instrumental in making sure you have an appropriate wardrobe. She would like to meet you to get a feel for your personal tastes and preferences."

"Yes, I would love to meet her," Kaelin said. "You said something about breakfast?"

Brinker nodded and Serogero moved to escort her to a table. "I will return with your meal directly."

He walked away and Kaelin turned an assessing gaze on Serogero.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "But I do wonder about something."

"Oh?"

"You're slightly bigger than Brinker, aren't you? I mean taller and wider in the shoulders and more muscular. Not by a lot in some of those areas, granted, but just enough to be noticeable."

"You have a very keen eye," Serogero said with a wink. "And yes, I am. Some of that is by design, a function of the bio-nanos we don't really talk about, and some of that is because of you."

"Me?" she asked, startled. "How?"

"I'll start by telling you about the bio-nanos, I think," he said with a smirk.

Brinker was suddenly at the side of the table, quickly and efficiently setting down plates of food. "If that will be all, sir, I will go and see Miss Trina about Her Highness's wardrobe. If you'll excuse me?"

"Yes, thank you, Brinker," Serogero said.

The valet gave them both a small bow and left.

"Her Highness?" Kaelin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"By the traditions of my people, you are now a princess," Serogero told her. "I understand there are more things to do to make it official on your planet which we will start on with all haste."

"I thought it would be more complicated or, I don't know, something official," she told him.

"Ah," he said and looked down at his plate. "If we were on my home planet, there would be weeks of official celebrations and feasting and a large ceremony presided over by my father wherein he would announce the terms of our agreement and we would both publicly declare our support of them and him."

"Since we're on the ship, that means what?" She studied the way he held himself still and realized he expected her to be angry.

"It means there is no higher authority than me to preside over our union. I have followed the required meals, negotiated with your family in good faith, and you have agreed to stay." He looked up at her and she was surprised by the vulnerability in his eyes.

"I did, didn't I?" she said thoughtfully. "And you want to keep me. Even when I'm difficult."

"You're not difficult," he protested. "You're wonderful and I'm glad to have you as my ajoia. I can think of no other woman I've met who could be a better partner for what we have coming."

"I'm glad you think so," she told him. "I confess to being nervous about the next steps."

"Are you nervous about being with me?"

"No," she said. "Of all the things that give me pause about going forward, being with you is not one of them."

"Everything else can be worked around, can't it?" he asked. "If you're willing?"

"I think so?" she told him. "And I'm willing. I'm scared, I won't lie about that, but I'm willing."

He looked relieved. "Scared I can work with. Unwilling would put a serious hitch in my plans."

She laughed. "I imagine it would. Now, tell me about the bio-nanos while I have my breakfast. I wouldn't want to keep Miss Trina waiting."

Serogero nodded and started on his own breakfast, chewing slowly to gather his thoughts.

"I think the thing to start with is that the Imperial Family has a habit of looking for as many advantages as possible to keep itself in power. Which is normal, from what I've been able to study of other planets and civilizations."

Kaelin nodded. "On Earth, too, as far as that goes."

"One of the things they did was have bio-nanos that are only available to the Imperial family. They make things work just a little bit better than the average," he said. "We think just a little faster, build more muscle and process fuel more efficiently. They're not large differences individually but taken together tend to make us hard to out negotiate, harder to kill and dangerous to betray."

"Okay," she said with a nod. "What does that mean for me?"

"Very little for you directly," he said. "Except feeling a little smug that you are the chosen life mate of one of the best lovers on the ship."

She blushed and looked down at her plate.

"One of the hormones that's released," he continued with a chuckle, "when we meet someone that triggers our Recognition is one that makes our bodies work better. For most of my people, it makes them stand straighter, breathe easier and less prone to getting sick. For someone of the Imperial Family, however, it means that the things we were noted for before get even better."

She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together over her nose. "You have more intense Recognition, too, don't you? And the harder Recognition hits, the more of the hormones are released, right?"

"That's right," he nodded.

"Do the bio-nanos make that work better for you, too?" she asked. "Like, does it make it stronger?"