Exit Strategy (Tales Of The Citadel #58)(12)

Kimettel stared in shock, but her turn was up. She whirled and stomped down the aisle. When the coordinator nodded, Yna glided out, winked at Nialloa as she emerged from her own changing room, and she cruised majestically down the aisle to gasps and murmurs from the crowd. The women were wearing enough jewels to ransom whole planets, and the men looked as if they owned those worlds.

She settled in next to Kimettel and turned to watch Nialloa coming down the aisle. Her gown was the same black lace as their bodices, but it wrapped into a tight gown that loosened enough for her to walk and not much more.

The ceremony took three hours of contracts read out and stipulated to. Yna held the cascade of vines that had been provided to Nialloa by Huknos’s family. It was a symbol of their wealth and of the summer season.

When the couple had signed the final document and Yna had put her name down as witness, Huknos grabbed his bride and kissed her, bending her back so far, Yna could hear the fabric creak in protest.

The Peacekeepers, who represented the groom’s side along with his brothers, broke out into hoots and howls of approval.

Nialloa smiled when she was set upright, and Yna handed her the vines as she and her husband walked through the crowd and out of the ceremony hall. Yna followed with Ahlgos falling into step beside her.

The family reception occurred before the public one, and Yna wrapped her arm around Ahlgos’s and went to greet the bride and groom.

Nialloa grinned and hugged Yna. “Thank you for coming, sister.”

“Thank you for having me. It was an honour to serve.”

“I hope that the other ladies didn’t give you too much trouble.”

“Only one, and I managed to work around it.”

“Well, the gown looks better on you than it does on the others.”

Yna blushed, “It must just be the skin tone.”

Ahlgos laughed. “That must have been it.”





Chapter Six


Once the happy couple had been congratulated, Yna headed over to Li. She was pretty much alone in the room aside from her family occasionally stopping by.

“Okay, tell me why you are being shunned.”

Li looked around and sighed. “This isn’t the place.”

Yna grinned and giggled, hunching her shoulders. “If you do it right, this is exactly the place.”

“Groven is a highly desired mate by a few ladies who are higher ranking than myself. He insisted on me, and now, there is a whole faction of nobles who would like to see me dead.” Li smiled brightly.

“Ah. I did wonder. Some of the ladies are looking daggers at you.” She chuckled and nudged Li with her arm.

“Yes, three of the would-be suitors were with us in the procession.”

“Gotcha. Well, if you need help or just want a buddy to go to the lav with, let me know.”

Li sighed. “Since you mentioned it...”

Yna looked to her fiancée and made a quick hand gesture. He nodded, and she turned back to Li. “Let’s go.”

“What was that?”

“It was a hand signal for relieving oneself. It is easier to do that than announce it on alien worlds. Some folks have taboos about it.”

She linked arms with her soon-to-be sister-in-law and paused. “You have to lead. I have no idea where I am going.”

Li laughed and led the way.



They were returning to the party when hands grabbed them and pulled them into a hallway. Yna fought free for a moment, but a cloth that smelled funny covered her mouth. She held her breath as long as she could, but eventually, she inhaled, and everything went dark.



“What the hell are we supposed to do with an alien? They will be looking for her.” The masculine voice was agitated.

Yna didn’t open her eyes. She kept listening.

“She wasn’t going to leave the target alone. We had to take her. She might have seen us.”

“Why were you worried about that? She is an alien. Who would believe her?”

“The princess. Folks have said that she speaks highly of her after knowing her for only one day. If the princess got involved, we would be screwed.”

“What do you think is going to happen now, genius? We need to dump her before she wakes up.”

Yna opened her eyes a fraction and took in the bound and gagged Li across from her. She looked around carefully and tested her bonds. Standard rope, nothing on her ankles, they were in a skimmer with a canopy on it and cruising over some kind of crop. The sweet scent of summer growth was unmistakable. They must have the screens open.

The men continued to argue about what to do with her, but she was sure about what they were going to do to Li. They were taking her to a lab and getting her pregnant. The pregnancy would nullify the engagement and Groven would be fair game once again.

Yna waited until the skimmer was down before she took action. Her gown shifted into a bodysuit with a blade down the spine. She sawed the ropes through in two slices.

The moment that the cargo area opened, she kicked the first man in the face before using the locking rod from the interior of the skimmer on the other. She spilled out of the skimmer and went on the attack with her suit sporting blades on all extremities. They had nowhere to grab.

Blood flowed, and their green skin yielded blood in a deep, dark shade. She kept at them until they were both lying prone on the ground. She dismissed the blades, climbed back in the skimmer and untied Li.