Exit Strategy (Tales Of The Citadel #58)(15)

“Two more days? There are still some celebrations, and I don’t often get to visit.”

Yna nodded. “I can deal with that.”

“Good. Now, time to get up. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

She nodded and waited.

“Yna, you aren’t getting up.”

“I only need five minutes. You go first.”

He sighed and rolled to his feet.

She watched the play of light on the muscles that he kept honed for the Guard. She could do worse when it came to men in her bed. He was graceful right up until the moment when he stubbed his toe on the way to the bathroom. He cursed, paused, and limped slightly into the bathroom.

She smirked and waited her turn.

When he came out, a towel around his waist, she went in and used the sonic pulse to take the blood off her skin. She could still smell it.

Clean and with the makeup from the previous day eradicated, she triggered her Masuo into a day dress and sandals and walked into the bedroom.

Ahlgos finished fastening his loose trousers and buckled his belt. “You are dressed alrea—oh, right.”

She twirled and smiled. “So, do I have to wait for you or can I beat you to breakfast?”

He shrugged a loose tunic on and did up half the closures. “I am dressed. Let’s go.”

She grinned, and they headed to the dining room where a huge buffet had been assembled for the newlyweds. All three sets of them.

Miett and Agruen were seated, and they gave a warm welcome to the new arrivals. “Morning! You two look better than you did last night.”

Yna wrinkled her nose and went to get some food.

Ahlgos put his hand on her shoulder. “I will gather your meal. Fruit heavy?”

She gave him a thumbs-up and took a seat at the table.

They were nearly done with their meal when Li and Groven arrived. The lovers sat together and fed each other from their own plates.

Yna looked to Ahlgos, and he looked bewildered at the strange gesture.

“Don’t worry, Ahlgos. We eat in a commissary; defending your own meal is the primary concern. Mind you, the trouble my species has at first is absolutely ridiculous. Nothing digests properly.”

Miett looked interested. “Really?”

“Sure. The first few weeks that one of my kind is out and about on an alien world, we are in hell.”

Agruen frowned in concern. “How are you now?”

“Oh, fine. There were enzyme treatments and blood balancing. A whole bunch of invasive procedures that let me travel with a larger menu available to me. It wasn’t easy, but it is very manageable.”

Miette looked at them and cleared her throat. “Yna, if you are that different, do you think you two can have children?”

Ahlgos shrugged. “If we do, we do, if we don’t, we can have fun trying.”

Yna felt her blush climb into incendiary proportions.

Li chuckled. “Did you learn anything new last night, Yna?”

Yna took in a deep breath and nodded solemnly. “Yes. I did.”

Miett asked, “What was it?”

She looked to her husband and back to her mother-in-law. With all the gravity that the situation called for, she announced, “I snore.”



The games and celebrations were for the populace. The imperial family was celebrating getting one of its bossiest daughters married. The relief went hand in hand with the joy.

In two days, the Lafui family lost all its saleable assets. There was no painting, antique, or coin left in any of their family seats. The startling thing was that all the thefts occurred during daylight with servants on duty. It was definitely a mystery.



Two weeks after her visit to Remuyan, Yna was still debating removing her facial markings. She kind of liked the way she looked.

The family had wanted her to get the marriage markings right away with the other girls, but Yna claimed that her physiology required special inks.

Wearing the mark on her face made their wedding so very... permanent. They hadn’t consummated it, and she didn’t know if they ever would.

Ahlgos had been sent off world the same day that they returned. His marriage markings hadn’t even healed before they had him off and risking his life again.

Because of their connection, she had been given a link to the Balen roster. When he returned, she would be able to see it.

Yna sat in the dining hall and sipped at her tea. Veera slid into the empty chair across from her.

“So, you got married.”

She sipped her tea. “Yup.”

“And he is a Guardsman.”

She sipped again. “Yup.”

“And you don’t know where he is or when he will be back.”

Another sip. “Nope.”

“So, why are you here?”

“This is where I work, Administrator.”

“Funny. I could send you to him.”

“You know where he is?”

“Of course. Mind you, you might not be able to see him. There has been an uprising against aliens where he is. He might be a little busy.”

Yna tensed. “Uprising?”

“Yes, parts of the government were asking for assistance with crops, and other portions of the population decided that the aliens had brought the blight. Since your husband specializes in plants, he was sent in.”