The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 81

POV: Lyra

How bad was it? I wondered as I watched Orion's handsome face show visible discomfort, his pathways darkening at the mention of Aunt Charlotte.

Orion took a breath, his pathways pulsing with unease. "Whenever I visited, she would sit me down and ask how many females I'd interfaced with in the past week, or how many females I'd ever taken on dates, how many synthetic stimulants I could handle before my systems destabilized, who and how many had willingly exposed themselves in front of me. Her face showed that it was entertainment for her to ask these things but to be on the receiving end of those questions was just..." Orion shook his head in disapproval, annoyance and dismay, pathways flashing angry black. "I am so glad I don't have to deal with her anymore. That was the one termination ceremony I attended in pure happiness."

"Oh wow. That was bad." I muttered, skin shifting to shocked white, and had to shake my head to bring myself out from what I'd just heard. Something came to mind, and I cocked my head to one side. "Didn't your parents find such questions inappropriate? Didn't Uncle Conrad?"

Orion sighed in disappointment, pathways dimming. "No. They kept insisting that Aunt Charlotte was only being friendly and was only teasing. But really, these are too inappropriate and uncivilized to be considered as jokes! Aunt Reida transmitted fury when I told her. Granpa Brock tried to ask Uncle Conrad to persuade his match to stop but that only made things worse. After that, Aunt Charlotte would just ask why I was being so secretive about the things she was asking."

Orion groaned in frustration and whisper-yelled, "It was not a cosmos-damned secret! It was a very inappropriate line of questions that one shouldn't be asking anyone! Especially not one's own nephew!"

I shook my head in dismay as I absorbed Orion's words, skin cycling through disapproving colors. "What a creature." After a moment, I asked in curiosity, "What are Greg's parents like? Are they still functioning or?"

Orion shook his head. "His mother's systems failed from a hemoglobin disorder. His father terminated about a decade later in a transport collision. Greg was already an independent adult by then so there wasn't an issue of custody and guardianship, thank cosmos. Otherwise, my father would've willingly taken him in and I'd have to live with him and that irritating vocal output of his."

I nodded in response. "That was a very interesting conversation."

Orion scoffed, pathways flickering with amusement. He then fixed his soft gaze on me. "Now, star-heart, it's your turn."

"What?" I looked up from my plate in confusion.

My match was smirking, pathways pulsing playfully. "I told you about my family. It's your turn to tell me about yours."

I put a small cube of synthetic protein into my mouth as I thought about where I should start. "Well, my parents were terminated by hunters when I was six cycles old. So I didn't know them for very long. I've never met my paternal grandparents because they ceased functioning when my father was an adolescent. And my maternal grandparents did spoil me when they were functioning but they lived at another station so I didn't see them very often."

I took a sip from my hydration cylinder before continuing. "From my father's side, there was Uncle Peter. He was a warrior, and was terminated in a Rogue attack. From my mother's side, there's Aunt Greta and Aunt Portia. Aunt Greta never liked me, said I transmitted too much for a female. Aunt Portia always saw something wrong with my physical structure and appearance. She'd tell me to try some dermal products to brighten my facial features, consider surgical reconstruction to alter my form and a whole list of things like that. I haven't communicated with both of them in... eight cycles so I really don't know whether they're functioning or terminated. And I honestly couldn't care less."

Orion swallowed the nutrients he was holding in his mouth from the shock at the mention of surgical reconstruction. "You didn't really go through with surgery to change your appearance or form, did you?"

I scoffed, skin flashing to dismissive silver. "Like I would listen to those malfunctioning units. Besides, Commander Janice wouldn't have allowed it."

Orion sighed with relief through our bond, which made me tease, "For a second there you thought you fell in love with a reconstructed face on a synthetic body, didn't you?" I chuckled, skin shifting to amused gold. "I was never aesthetically optimal like some of the female Kaelari but I never felt that my face was so damaged that I needed surgery. It's a waste of credits too, to be honest. Could very well acquire more data modules with those credits."

Orion reached for my hand and squeezed it gently, neural sparks intensifying. "Lyra, star-heart." Our eyes locked as Orion continued, his pathways blazing with sincerity. "You are beautiful. Please, don't think you're anything less. You are the most beautiful creature I've encountered. I'm not just saying this because I'm your match. You have no idea the amount of attention you get from the males in a chamber with your appearance alone, even before they know you're Empress. If I were to terminate everyone who looked at you with desire, half of the beings in the dining sector would be terminated by now. Please, star-heart. You may not think that you're aesthetically optimal but you have to know that you're the most beautiful creature in any chamber we enter."

Every word pulled at my consciousness core. The desperation in his pathways for me to believe him made my neural pathways warm. But deep inside, I knew that what he said wasn't accurate. I had seen so many more beautiful female Kaelari who normally had males and other females crowd around them. I myself had never garnered that sort of attention. At least, I didn't know that I did.

Logic told me that Orion only saw me the way he did because of the psychic bond. But I didn't want to start a debate on something as trivial as my appearance. So, I glanced at our hands, gave Orion's hand a gentle squeeze before whispering, "Thank you, Orion."

Orion sighed before kissing my hand and letting it go for me to continue consuming. "You might not believe me today. But I'm going to keep telling you that you're beautiful. And I won't stop even after you believe me."

My consumption implements stopped moving in my hands when he said those words. I felt the familiar warmth spreading through my dermal layer before throwing Orion a shy smile, skin shifting to pink. Orion returned my smile, pathways glowing with affection, and got on with our earlier conversation about my family. "So, uh... Uncle Peter, what was he like? You two must have been close with him being a warrior. Was he a Combat Specialist by the way?"

I shook my head. "No. He was one of Blue Crescent's best but not the best. I would say we were quite close. I'd tag along when he went for warrior training, and I'd sit on the sidelines as I watched them train."

I chuckled, skin shifting to nostalgic gold. "The first time I followed, I didn't know what I was walking into. And when the warriors started sparring, I screamed and leaked optical fluid. I actually thought that they were going to terminate each other. It took Uncle Peter and another warrior a whole hour to calm my neural patterns. Uncle Peter never took me along after that time. So I infiltrated there by myself."

Orion's pathways twinkled with mischief as he pictured me doing what I'd just described. "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. They don't lock the access portals when warriors are training so getting in was never the problem. Staying hidden was more challenging. I would hide behind the rolled up sparring surfaces they'd put at the corner. And I'd move a few just a little to make a gap between them, just enough for me to see what they were doing. But I was caught after doing it five times. Should've changed hiding spots periodically."

"They expelled you?" Orion asked in despair.

A smile graced my features. "The Combat Specialist wanted to. But I promised them that I wouldn't cry or make sounds. I'd just watch. Many of them insisted that I left because of what happened the first time. But Juan's father, Commander Ken, said I could stay. Commander Ken and Uncle Peter would even sit with me sometimes if it wasn't their turn to train. They'd explain what the warriors were doing and why they were doing it. After a few months, Commander Ken and I even wagered on who would win a spar. We would select a pair at random, and we'd place our wager and watch them in silence until a winner emerged."

I chuckled again. "Now that was entertaining. If I won, I'd get to interact with Juan for the whole cycle on a rest day when I was normally allowed only half. If he won, I'd have to share my treat supplements with him."

Orion's smile grew wider as I chuckled again at my memory. Beautiful, he thought to himself through our bond. He asked, "Juan never joined you to watch the warriors?"

I shook my head. "No, he was more of a virtual simulation type at that age. I'm okay with simulations but I've always preferred entertaining myself with data modules, holo-vids and well, watching the warriors train. And also wagering with Commander Ken."

Orion chuckled this time, pathways bright with amusement. "You must miss Uncle Peter. You both do have something in common."

I offered a small smile, skin shifting to bittersweet blue. "I do. He watched over me like offspring when my parents weren't there. And he wanted to take me in after my parents terminated but he already had three younglings of his own. So Commander Ken and Commander Janice reasoned with him that it was best if they both took me in instead since they only had Juan. I'd go visit Uncle Peter in the evenings sometimes, like after watching them train. But I wouldn't stay long. His match and my cousin don't like me very much. Aunt Penny would say that my interest in something as barbaric as training would be a negative influence on her offspring, whom she was grooming to be a 'well-mannered, presentable female'."

I rolled all my eye facets.

Orion smiled and shook his head at the absurdity. "Didn't we leave the Renaissance and Victorian eras ages ago?"

I chimed in, "Well, Orion, as Emperor, you must understand that some of your subjects require more time than others to evolve."

Orion burst into laughter, his pathways blazing with joy. Even his inner Lyrokan was chuckling through our bond. When he could finally stop, he took my hand and kissed it, declaring in all carefreeness, "Oh, I love you."

I shook my head gently at his reaction, skin shifting to affectionate pink, before uttering a shy, "I know. Thank you."