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Jack looked over at the Queen and her smile was brilliant. He looked at Aaros and she was looking at the Prince’s plate with more than a little unease. He turned to the Prince.
“I would be honored to share the meat with you!” Jack replied.
The Prince’s smile was huge! FennHark made one more attempt to interfere and FennLann snarled at him. FennHark shut up but he looked gloomy.
The plate contained a slab of red meat cooked so the center was bloody. Not Jack’s favorite but for the sake of ceremony he’d give it a go.
The Prince cut a large piece off and picked it up in his fingers. He tore a piece off with his teeth, chewed it and swallowed it quickly. He handed the chunk to Jack who tore a piece off and chewed it. When he swallowed it the Prince howled so Jack joined in. When they finished they smiled at each other and the Prince turned to Queen Elissa and bowed deeply. It was the most profound display of respect the Phem Kalos had ever made to the Altarians. Jack was picking up the scent of the Queen’s regard for him again and he began to ache with need.
He looked away from the Queen and his eyes were trapped by gold ones. They seemed to be looking into his soul. She saw the meat in his fingers and he reached forward to offer it to her. She leaned forward and ate the meat directly from his fingers. As her lips kissed his fingertips his need rocketed and he felt a rumbling in his chest as he growled. He pulled his hand back and saw the Princess had a faint smile on her lips as she chewed the meat. FennLann was grinning as he watched his cousin and Jack. Another chime rang and Aaros led Jack back to his seat. Gold eyes followed him the entire way.
“Jack! Use the herbs!” Aaros hissed to him.
He blinked and reached to his pocket. He held it to his nose and breathed in deeply. He repeated this two more times and tucked it back into his pocket as he held his breath. He felt his heartrate slow and his mind was clearing. The ache eased but didn’t go away. There had been just too much stimulation. He needed time and fresh air with no female musk.
Jack looked down and saw his plate had been cleared. The second course was in front of him and it was a vegetable he wasn’t able to digest so he had to pass. All he’d had to eat was the small bite of rare meat. He felt his stomach question what it had just received. It hadn’t seen meat in a very long time.
The rest of the dinner flowed by and Aaros spoke with the waiter to bring Jack something substantial as he seemed a little wobbly. The kitchen staff snuck a sandwich out of the kitchen loaded with a variety of veggies and a thick layer of a protein rich spread Jack liked. He smiled gratefully at Aaros and practically inhaled the sandwich. He felt so much better afterwards.
The desserts came out signalling the end of the meal and Jack was about to eat his when he was flagged down once more by the Prince. He went up to the head table, once more bowing to the Queen then walked over to the Prince.
“This dessert is a rare treat from our planet. Please try one.” FennLann offered a plate with a number of small pastries with a meaty center. Jack popped one in his mouth and bit down. The center was a little squishy but it had a delicious nutty flavor. He caught on pretty quickly that the squishy part was some form of insect larvae but he’d eaten more outrageous things when he was learning wilderness survival techniques during his stint as a forest ranger back on Earth. He also knew that the insect larvae wouldn’t have been allowed through the Gate onto Altaria if it hadn’t been biologically safe for the environment.
“Delicious! Is the larvae only available for limited time?” Jack asked.
Aaros looked a little ill and gaped at Jack.
FennLann laughed at Aaros’ look of dismay and pointed at Jack. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to shock you!”
Jack smiled and looked into gold eyes once more. The Princess was holding out a light little puff pastry, one of the Altarian desserts. She had that little smile on her lips again. Jack leaned forward and she slipped the morsel into his mouth. She left her fingers between his lips so he gently kissed her finger pads as he pulled back. Her eyes glowed and she licked her lips as she pulled her hand back.
He headed back to his table with Aaros and pulled the packet of herbs out again. He inhaled deeply but it wasn’t helping.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
“Aaros, the herbs… they’re becoming less effective. There’s too much-”
The final chime sounded and people got up from their table and began to mingle.
Aaros looked at him with concern. Surrounding Jack with admiring Altarian females was going to be problematic. It was too early in the event for him to make a graceful exit too. Maybe she could get him out to the balcony where he could get some fresh air.
Jack’s eyes spotted the Prince’s Councillors make a beeline to the bar. He hadn’t pictured them as the type to drink.
The Prince and his cousin approached his table as he and Aaros stood up. SennLann was no longer clinging to her cousin and now he could really see the languid fluidity of her walk. Mesmerizing!
Queen Elissa walked over with them and gave Jack a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before she moved on to another group requiring her attention. Jack felt flushed so he fished the little bag of herbs out of his pocket and took some deep sniffs. He felt a small hand on his and opened his eyes to see wide gold eyes staring at the little white bag. Her nose was twitching madly and she was licking her lips in little darting motions. She tugged at the bag but Jack didn’t let go as his head was still swimming from the Queen’s musk. SennLann’s sharp nail cut a small hole in the pouch causing some leaves to spill out and fall. She scrambled and caught them.
Jack watched in surprise as she rubbed them on her face under her nose and she quickly nibbled at a few. She snorted cutely and her eyes began to shine again. She grinned at Jack.
Jack was going to ask her what the herbs did for her but FennHark arrived with a tray of wine glasses with white wine. He handed one to FennLann and one to SennLann. Then he held the tray while FennDurr and Jack took a glass. Aaros abstained as she was on duty. The Councillor took one and set the tray with the remaining glass on a nearby table.
FennHark then offered a toast but Jack’s eyes were drawn back to the Princess as he noticed she had some leaves stuck to her upper lip. Automatically he reached over to brush them off. One landed in her wine which immediately turned black. Jack went still.
In the background FennHark was struggling to get their attention back to his toast but Jack’s buzzing mind drowned him out. He still had the packet in his hand so he dropped a leaf into his own wine but nothing happened. He sniffed his wine and it smelled normal. He took a sip and it tasted fine.
FennHark blustered to the end of his toast and Jack saw the Princess lifting her glass. Without thinking he reached out and plucked the glass from her fingers. She froze with wide eyes as he handed her his glass. Her eyes flared and she smiled that sexy little smile at him. She accepted the glass and took a sip. Jack looked at the Councillor who stared back expressionless but the muscles in his jaw were jumping.
FennLann was watching Jack with a serious expression. He hadn’t taken a sip from his glass yet. Jack set the suspect glass down on the tray. Then he reached over and dropped a leaf in the Prince’s glass. Nothing happened. Jack felt his shoulder muscles relax. Curious. When he looked back the Councillors were walking away and the glass with the black wine was gone as well.
“Jack? What’s going on?” Aaros asked.
“I don’t know. The Princess’ wine reacted strangely to the herbs. Hers was the only one which did.” He looked at the Prince questioningly but the young Phem Kalos was watching the backs of his retreating councillors with wide eyes. He looked back at Jack.
FennLann’s face then split into a wide grin. “The Fun Thing!” he gushed. “It’s time!”
Jack grinned in return though he still felt a little uneasy.
“Perhaps we could get some fresh air first,” Aaros stressed knowing Jack was struggling.
He looked at her with a smile. “That’s an excellent idea! Let’s head out to the balcony!”
The Prince frowned but Jack leaned in to whisper. “That’s where the fun thing is.” The young warrior immediately brightened up and practically dragged their group outside. SennLann slid up next to Jack and took his arm. She looked up at him with a smile and once more he was lost in her intense gaze. Then they were outside and the fresh cool air washed the haze from Jack’s brain. A few other couples were there and a small group of officials discussing something dull. In a corner was his surprise covered by a sheet.
The Prince made for it and was about to pull the cover off when Jack laid a hand on his arm.
“First things first,” Jack said. The Prince looked at the covered object with frustration but nodded.
“The combat technique I am about to demonstrate to you is ancient on my planet. Two opponents meet in a very controlled environment to eliminate outside variables and pit their will and strength against each other. As I mentioned, it is a bloodless battle but there are dangers. Done incorrectly, pitted against unbalanced forces, it is not unknown for bones to break. Technique is extremely important and skill must be built up over time to perfect your battles. Jack pulled back the cover on the table and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the Embassy Couriers got his order right.
It was a tall table with four bright red foam pads bolted to the top and the two red hand grip dowels bolted at opposite edges.
FennLann, SennLann and Aaros all went still with confusion looking at the odd placement of the objects on the table surface. The Prince was especially confused. “This… seems rather anticlimactic.”