The Spider Queen (The Space Merchants Book 5) Read online

  The Spider Queen

  A Space Merchants Novel

  By Wendie Nordgren

  Copyright © 2017 by Wendie Nordgren

  www.wendienordgren.com

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, and events are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Winter Bayne www.winterbayne.com

  With Cover models, Vikkas Bhardwaj and Anna Serena, from www.vikkaszone.com

  Also by Wendie Nordgren

  The Space Merchants Book One

  The Space Merchants of Arachne Book Two

  The Parvac Emperor’s Daughter Book Three

  Omnes Videntes Book Four

  Clue and The Shrine of the Widowed Bride Book One

  Clue and the Sea Dragon Book Two

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter One

  Sweat rolled from my forehead to my eyelashes and then hit the mat. Ignoring the distraction, I drove my right fist forward with my weight behind it. Making contact and feeling its reverberation up to my elbow was far more stunning to me than it was to my opponent. Yukihyo didn’t give me a chance to enjoy my victory as he swept my legs out from under me and then straddled me. I took the opportunity to rest and catch my breath.

  “Congratulations, lady wife,” Yukihyo said as he grinned down at me. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on my handsome Laconian husband, and his eyes were a calm solid white.

  I closed my eyes and groaned. “Yes, and it only took me two months to do it. Did you even feel it?” Opening my eyes, I looked quizzically at him. He pushed against the flooring with his knees and extended his hand to help me up. “Yukihyo?” I scowled at him. He didn’t want to answer me, and I could feel it through our empathic bond.

  “I did feel it.”

  “But?”

  “But, your punch was like being struck in the cheek by Niklos’ rattle.” Yukihyo spread his hands out before him apologetically. “Teagan, do not be discouraged. You were able to hit me. That in and of itself is remarkable. Many men have tried and failed to do so.”

  Yukihyo flexed his pectoral muscles at me making me laugh at him. Then, he handed me a towel and jumped over the side and to the ground. Shadows from the ropes around the fighting ring made lines across his chest. I sat down and scooted out from under the bottom rope to join him. Only two lights were on, the one above the ring and the one at the exit. I followed Yukihyo to the door and wiped my face on the towel. He held the door open for me, and I waited while he closed it and then locked it with his palm print to the scan pad.

  Graciously, the owner had given us permission to use the gym during the dead of night while it was closed. A cool breeze helped me dry off for a moment before I got into our transport. Our trips to the gym seemed like clandestine assignations, but I knew a small guard detail kept us under their scrutiny. However, my guards knew that staying out of sight made me more comfortable. They knew everything. I removed my sparring gloves and tossed them into my bag. Then, I watched the trees and the night sky through the window as Yukihyo drove us home.

  Currently, we were residing on Ephors and had been here for almost two weeks. Nico and Fitz had dropped us off. They had taken the Empress and would return for us in a few weeks. Fitz Jiri, my fourth husband, had returned to Thalassa to oversee work on his pineapple plantation, and General Nico Cassian, my second husband, had only just returned to Apellan to inspect his military base.

  Most of Yukihyo’s attention had been centered on Ponidi Propulsions. Our scientists, Carl Inger and Rex Barbary, had immersed themselves in the study and careful deconstruction of the alien technology that Vice Admiral Kane Valen, my cousin, had salvaged while in the Talpa Sector, where he had led a mission in conjunction with the Galaxic Militia to save the alien race from extinction. Other than checking with Carl and Rex each day to make sure that they had everything they needed, there was nothing for us to do but wait.

  Yukihyo parked in front of the beautiful mansion my Papa, Emperor Tavere Probus, had given me and came around to open my door. The transport being parked behind us was driven by Zared Ponidi, my fifth husband, a warrior who as a Laconian hybrid had both empathic and telepathic abilities. With him were his brothers, Jazon and Xavier.

  Now that Niklos was six months old, my post-pregnancy Parvac hormones had stabilized allowing me to function like a normal person and not as a sex-crazed lunatic. Since I had leveled out, my Omnes Videntes no longer had to struggle with their own volatile tendencies along with my all-consuming need to mate. The result was a highly effective and focused Imperial Guard and a great reduction in the number of soldiers required to protect my household.

  I yawned as I walked to the entrance of my house. Guards held open the doors. Walking past their security stations in the foyer, I turned to the left and entered the lift with Yukihyo and Zared. Exiting the lift, we walked across the open hall and into our room. Even though it wasn’t cold, a small fire burned in the fireplace across from our bed. I smiled as I walked past it and into the bathroom where I took a quick shower. When I came out wearing a cute pink pajama set, I crawled over Yukihyo and got into bed. Zared got into bed to my left.

  The room to the right of ours had been converted into a nursery for Neema and Niklos. Of course, Thunderdrop had made himself a web in it as well. My bonded Arachnean Silk spider didn’t let my children out of his sight.

  Sighing in contentment, I rested my head on Yukihyo’s shoulder and fell asleep to the beat of his heart and the crackling of the fire.

  I awoke to Yukihyo’s laughter.

  “Daddy!” Neema said as she crawled into bed and squirmed in between us.

  After getting a little knee shoved into my gut and being whacked in the head with Captain Ice Bear, a stuffed ice bear dressed in a Galaxic Militia captain’s uniform that my cousin Captain Eric Alaric had given me, I scooched over to Zared, who wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair. Along with her new walking skills, Neema had become an expert at escaping her crib. However, Pierce, her nurse, didn’t feel that she was ready for a toddler bed just yet. After a few minutes of cuddling, it was time to get up.

  Neema liked our routine, and when we deviated from it, she would scowl and be in a temper. I picked my daughter up and carried her with me into the bathroom. There, we took turns on the waste unit. Every now and then, Neema used it rather than her diaper. Then, we washed our hands and faces, brushed our teeth and hair, and dressed in our exercise clothes.

  “Come on, Mommy,” Neema said.

  We went into the nursery and got her baby brother. Neema picked out the toy she wanted to bring while I nursed Niklos. He had been sleeping through the night. I had a feeling that the extra sleep was doing us all some good.

  “Well, good morning, sleepyhead. How is
mommy’s boy this morning?”

  Niklos looked more like me every day. He had my green and gold eyes, but his daddy’s blonde hair. He was healthy, happy, and very smart for a baby. I assumed he got that from Nico.

  “Are you all done? Are we ready for our walk?”

  Niklos laughed at me.

  “Mommy, I ride. Okay?” Neema asked.

  “Okay.”

  She climbed into the stroller and held onto a small stuffed ice bear while Lorca fastened her in. I carried Niklos on my hip. He smiled at me and then hid his face against my shoulder. When he looked at me again, I kissed his forehead.

  “I love you! Yes, I do!”

  Niklos giggled at me. He had cut his first tooth, but hadn’t given me any problems while nursing for which I was grateful.

  We took the lift down and went to the kitchen. I had a cup of juice, and Neema had a sippy cup of milk. Then, we went through the laundry and storage rooms out to the walkway. Lorca helped me secure Niklos into his seat beside Neema in the stroller.

  “I love you, Nik,” Neema said as she kissed his cheek and gave him a rattle to play with.

  “Aww!” My heart was a big gushy mess for my babies.

  Rozz, Izaac, Zam, Traviz, and Jezzie, a few of my adopted Laconian hybrid brothers, had spent hours making a paved walking trail for me around my property. They had hired landscape designers who were planting decorative trees, shrubs, and flowers so that we would have pretty scenery to look at on our walks.

  “Hi!” Neema said.

  “Good morning, Princess Neema,” a gardener responded.

  Neema always said hello to everyone.

  Within a few steps, it was just the sound of my exercise shoes and the roll of the stroller wheels on the cement. Then, I closed my eyes for a moment, breathed in the clean air, and listened to the birds in the trees. Lady Avitus and the other members of the Materfamilias Caste on Parvac had made hefty donations to the relocation and breeding programs designed to replenish Ephors’ small mammalian population. In six months’ time, a great deal had been accomplished toward healing the planet’s ecology.

  “Oh, Mommy! Look! Bunny!” Neema said as she pointed excitedly.

  On Chione, when I had gone hunting with Yukihyo, he and Zared had been all too aware of the large white rabbit that I had spotted as well as my thoughts of how adorable it had been. Together, they had decided that our property on Ephors and its surrounding forest could use some rabbits to keep the vegetation under control. It didn’t hurt that Neema and I were overjoyed each time we spotted a little brown bunny with a little white tail while we were on our walks. Thunderdrop also loved the bunnies, but we tried not to think about it.

  The path wound around for a mile. We had just made it back to the house when I spotted Phillip. He chose to stay in the apartment above his fancy infirmary in the building off to the back of my mansion. At the moment, Phillip had his fingers spread out through a woman’s silky black hair. With his other hand, he pressed against her lower back as he held her close and kissed her as only a lover would do. I sped up not wanting to intrude. Silvie had no compunctions about having an extra marital affair with Phillip. I wondered what would happen if he were ever to settle down. As we neared completion of our second mile, Niklos made a loud noise in his diaper region which had Neema and me laughing.

  “Run, Mommy!”

  “Okay, I’m running.” I picked up my feet and jogged us back to the house.

  “Lorca! Lorca!” Neema yelled.

  I laughed.

  He walked out to us. “You called, Princess Neema?” Lorca asked.

  “Brother made a stinky,” she whispered.

  As he picked up Niklos, Lorca whispered, “I’ll fix him up.”

  I unfastened Neema and helped her out of the stroller as Pierce came forward to put it away. Neema and I held hands and walked slowly together into the kitchen. Then, she let go of me and ran for the dining area at the front of the house forcing me to jog after her. Neema patted her highchair and grinned at me.

  Yukihyo beat me to her and kissed her tummy as he lifted her up into her seat. “Did my girls enjoy their walk?” Yukihyo asked.

  “Bunny, Daddy!” Neema told him.

  “You saw a bunny?” Yukihyo asked.

  Neema grinned at him. I sat and enjoyed half of a cup of coffee. Then, Lorca returned with Niklos, who was all cleaned up and smiling. We held out our arms to each other at the same time and laughed.

  “Mommy’s boy smells good, now. Give me kisses.” Niklos held my face still with his little hands and kissed my cheek. I gave him kisses on his cheeks, forehead, and nose. “Did you say thank you to Lorca? Thank you, Lorca,” I sang.

  “Thank you,” Neema said with me.

  I held Niklos on my lap while I ate breakfast. I seldom put him down now that I had him all to myself and didn’t have to share him with Nico. Most of the time, Niklos was on my hip. Neema and Niklos were undeniably my favorite little people in the universes. Gently, I squeezed one of Niklos’ fat little legs while I ate.

  “Rex and Carl want us to see what they have been working on. Apparently, the engineers at the base have become fascinated with their work and now assist them. Would you care to join me for a visit?” Yukihyo asked.

  “We would love to go.”

  Pierce and Lorca took the children, and I went up to shower and dress. I wore a pale-yellow dress that had a tiny pattern of light-blue flowers and left my hair down so Niklos could clutch it. I caught Yukihyo watching me from the doorway.

  “Is my beautiful wife ready?” he asked as he came to me and wrapped his arms around me.

  “I’m always ready for my handsome husband,” I said with a mischievous grin.

  Yukihyo chuckled and kissed me. Then, he stared into my eyes and moved my hair back from my shoulders. “Might you be ready to give me a son?” he asked quietly.

  “What if I were to give you another daughter?”

  “Then, my happiness would be limitless. Our love grows with our family,” he said as he stared into my eyes and then touched his forehead to mine.

  I felt the tugging sensation under my ribs that was the symbiotic empathic bond between us, and I strengthened it. “You’re right. Our love and happiness has grown with our family. Alright.”

  Yukihyo stood straight and held my upper arms as he looked at me. “You mean it?” he asked hopefully. I nodded. I sensed elation from Yukihyo. He grinned at me. “I will speak with Phillip today.” My husbands had become responsible for pregnancy prevention while I took the time I need to recover from my artificial heart transplant and Niklos’ birth. Apparently, birth control and my hormones didn’t mix well. Yukihyo linked our fingers together and walked with me to the children’s room.

  I laughed. Lorca had dressed Niklos like a plump little Parvac admiral with bare feet. “Come to me, sweet prince.”

  “Mommy, look!” Neema said as she tried to spin in a circle. “I pick out!”

  “You look beautiful, Princess Neema!” I complimented.

  She was wearing a shimmery black dress embroidered with stars and tiny warships. I had a feeling that my daughter would captain her own ship one day.

  Eli waited for us in the living room with Zared and Jazon. Zared and Jazon appeared to be engaged in a serious telepathic conversation. “I am curious to learn what progress your scientists have made in conjunction with the platoon of engineers at the base,” Eli said.

  “As am I. It is an unexpected development,” Yukihyo responded.

  “Giving an engineer an idea is like giving a child a new toy,” Eli said as he pulled a gift bag from behind his back and handed it to Neema, kneeling before her.

  She clapped and smiled up at him. Reaching inside, she pulled out a stuffed fighter ship. The bag floated to the floor and made a soft tap of sound upon landing. “Oh!” Neema said as she turned it all around examining the brightly embroidered viewports. When she squeezed it, it made blaster noises. “Thank you!” Neema said as she hugged Eli’s nec
k.

  Eli proceeded to give Niklos a new teething toy. I clipped the strap that was attached to it to his jacket so he wouldn’t lose it. When I looked back up, Zared bowed to me. Jazon stormed past us and into the foyer. He held the door open for us before the guards could get to it.

  “What’s got steam coming out of your ears this morning?” I asked him as I walked outside.

  Jazon didn’t answer, but with Yukihyo, Eli, the children, Lorca, and Thunderdrop chittering at me from where he clung to the side of the house that he wanted to stay home, I had enough with which to deal. After I had Niklos safe and secure in his transport seat, I sighed in relief and relaxed for the ride to the base. Both Jazon and Zared had effectively shuttered me off from their thoughts and emotions. Even so, it felt as though a fierce storm were gathering strength between them.

  Telepathically, I whispered, “Xavier, why are Zared and Jazon fighting?”

  Xavier was in the kitchen making himself an ice bear sandwich, and I observed its construction through his eyes from my seat in the transport. “I’m staying out of it,” he answered.

  “Fine. Stay out of it. Just tell me what they are fighting about, and I’ll stay out of it, too,” I thought back at him.

  “It’s not my place,” Xavier answered as he took a bite of his sandwich and pushed me from his mind.

  “Asshole,” I thought at him.

  The chatter in the transport had ceased, and Zared and Yukihyo were staring at each other. Yukihyo had angry orange and grey capillaries marring his beautiful white eyes. Zared had a look of righteous indignation and determination.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” I asked.

  “Yeah, what?” Neema asked with a scowl as she squeezed her stuffed fighter ship.

  Zared turned his solid black eyes from Yukihyo and inclined his head to me. This morning, Zared had secured his long, dove-grey hair into a ponytail at the base of his neck. Like Eli and Jazon, he wore the black uniform of my Omnes Videntes. “I have as much right as Lord Yukihyo to attempt to get you with child,” Zared whispered.