Chapter Sixteen

                                    

                                          
  
                          
Chapter Sixteen
                          

                          
“Your father wishes to speak to you.”
                          
The message was not one Akkadi wanted to hear. He left the battle deck for the conference room where he’d made love to Mandy earlier. His gaze settled on the table, and he knew he’d never look at it the same way again.
                          
He crossed to the communications station in the corner and clicked it on the sat. When the image of his father materialized, he straightened, uncertain which of the many issues his father was calling to address. His father’s blue eyes were so dark, they appeared to be brown. His hair was blond, like Akkadi’s and half his children’s. In place of Helen’s warmth and smile, Akkadi’s father was severe, cold, like a statue.
                          
“Prince Akkadi, last of my heirs,” his father, Akkolon, gave the official greeting.
                          
“My king,” Akkadi replied and bowed his head.
                          
“Your battles have gone well,” Akkalon said.
                          
“I am pleased you approve.”
                          
“Your latest victories over the Ishta have not gone unnoticed throughout the empire. You are learning to trust your instincts.”
                          
Akkadi said nothing. He bowed his head, not sure why the words disturbed him. It was true. He never lost a battle, but since he met Mandy, he began to feel the battles rather than regard them with the cold logic that turned them into four dimensional puzzles.
                          
“Queen Helen has notified me of your betrothal to Naki princess Hichele.”
                          
“Yes, my king,” he replied. “The ceremony is slated for three months. I understand you will be here tomorrow for the official betrothal announcement. I do not think you will find a reason to disapprove of Hichele.”
                          
“She will fulfill her duty, and her planet’s energy stores are immense. I know her father well,” Akkalon agreed. “I understood from Akkasha that a purebred female was found. Was she defective?”
                          
Defective. Of all the things Mandy was, defective was not among them. Akkadi sought an explanation his father would understand, especially if his mother had already discussed her disappointment with him.
                          
“She was not compatible with me,” he said.
                          
His father was quiet in the only sign of his surprise. “You are normally more dutiful in your decisions.”
                          
“Forgive me, my king,” Akkadi said. “I had hoped to be dutiful by choosing from the family of a strong ally with energy cells we desperately need. One of my cousins may yet find her compatible.”
                          
“What is more dutiful than ensuring the purity of our bloodline?”
                          
Akkadi had no answer. Hichele was the simple choice, the easiest way to obtain the energy cells they needed. She needed no training. She did not tempt him. She did not touch the human side of him, the side he wanted nothing to do with. He had not thought that Mandy scared him, until he saw how starkly illogical his choice was.
                          
Akkadi never saw it any other way, until his father pointed out the first priority of their people: maintaining the bloodline. Akkadi didn’t need the blunt reminder; he felt it was a mistake not to be with Mandy, but he also felt he had to put the fate of her people first.
                          
“The agreement is made,” his father continued. “Pending the Qiadi’s testing of the cells. It is your only display of poor judgment in my memory, and she will be mated off to one of your cousins immediately. The damage is minimal, for which we are fortunate. Your mother is handling the arrangements to wipe the systems of any record of a purebred being on board.”