Valor and Luck are both a year younger. But we’re talking an Akeelian year. And as far as maturity goes, it’s more like three and half years for most other humanoid species. Luck’s father runs security and Valor’s father is the commanding general of six warships.
Then there’s Tray, two years younger, and his father governs the AI who runs the station. He’s a weird kid. And ever since he came out of cryogenetics last week, he’s gotten even weirder.
The only other kids I’m allowed to associate with are Serpint and Draden. Both are twelve, which is super immature compared to sixteen. Their second cocks haven’t even dropped yet. I have nothing in common with them at all. All they do is run around the station with toy guns, playing war games.
So… I’m stuck with Jimmy. Who, at this very moment, is going on and on about how he’d like to fuck the new queen-in-waiting.
“Please,” I say, taking a sip of my whiskey. “She’s got more guards than my father. You don’t have a chance in hell.”
“Did you see her hair?” Jimmy asks. “Don’t you just want to run your fingers through it?”
“What?” I say, so annoyed by him. “No. It looks like strings of silver. And by that, I mean the actual fucking mineral. Who wants to fuck a girl with metal hair?”
“It’s not metal,” he says.
“How do you know?”
“I touched it,” he says, smiling into his drink.
“You did not. You can’t get within three meters of that girl.”
He crosses his heart with a finger. “Swear to the sun, I did. She was walking past me and I just reached out and…” He sighs. “It felt nice. I’d like to pull it.”
A laugh bursts out of my mouth, I can’t help it. “Sick freak.”
He shrugs, still smiling as he downs his drink. “You have your kinks, I have mine.”
“Yeah, I know yours. They all involve sex bots on X Level.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it, Crux. Those sex bots know exactly what to do with two cocks.”
“Sick. Freak. How do you even get down there? My father would fucking blow if he caught me with a sex bot.”
“I have my ways.”
“Seriously,” I say. “How?”
He leans in, all secretive like, and whispers, “Tray. He hacked into the AI.”
“He did not.”
“Shhh,” Jimmy says. “He did so. They leveled him up when they took him into cryogenetics. And I’ve got a good thing going with that little weirdo, so don’t ruin it for me by blabbing your mouth off to your father.”
“Like I even talk to my father.” I huff, pouring myself another drink from the decanter the bartender left for us. “And what the fuck does that mean, anyway? Leveled him up?”
Jimmy opens his mouth to answer but before he can get any words out, the double doors leading into the dining room burst open and three Cygnian guards come through, looking around, subvocalizing security details.
“What the fuck?” Jimmy says. “Does the king need a midnight snack?”
But it’s not the king who enters, it’s Princess Corla. Silver hair shining in the overhead lights, wearing a pink dressing gown that looks too pretty to sleep in. Eyes darting straight to mine.
I squint at her.
“What’s she doing here?” Jimmy asks.
“No clue,” I say. “But I think this is our cue to leave.”
“Leave me,” the princess commands. Her guards make protests, but she holds up a hand. “I’m just getting tea.” More whispered arguments from her security. “That one is the governor’s son and the other one is the ambassador’s son. What do you think they’re going to do to me if I have a five-minute cup of tea alone?”
Jimmy snickers. Clearly he’s got an idea.
“Enough,” Corla snaps, when the guards continue. “You work for me and I just gave you an order. Either you follow it or I’ll wake the king and get his opinion on the matter.”
Everyone in the room, including Jimmy and me, just stares at the bossy girl with a mixture of shock and admiration.
They leave, closing the doors loudly as they go.
Princess Corla folds her hands in front of her, then smiles at us.
No. She smiles at me.
“Good evening, Crux,” she says. “May I have a word with you?”
I glance at Jimmy, who lets out a laugh.
“Alone,” she adds sharply.
“Hey,” Jimmy says, holding up his hands. “I’m going.” He sets his glass down, shoots me a wink, then whispers, “Go get her,” as he straightens his high-necked collar and walks towards the door.
His fingertips brush through Corla’s hair as he passes her, but before she can turn and shoot him a glare, he’s got the doors open and he’s stepping through into the waiting group of Cygnian security.
I raise my eyebrows at Corla as the doors slam closed again. “So… what can I do for you, princess?”
She looks over her shoulder, like she’s nervous, then starts walking quickly towards me. “Touch me,” she says.