The Space Empress He Craved

Chapter 56

POV: Lyra

"Weaver, watch your left foot. And remember to keep your core in." I reminded him as Toby and I watched Weaver spar with Yarrington on the training platform.

Toby was as serious as I was when he said, "Yarrington, don't overdo those punches. Get to his nose, there have been two openings already. Don't miss a third."

After another few minutes of hitting and dodging, Weaver came out as the winner. He helped his partner up.

That was when General Langford of the Lyrokan military forces came to where we were, bringing along one of his own warriors. He bowed without a smile, his pathways cold white with disdain, and I returned the bow with an equally straight face. "How can I help you, General?"

He looked offended, his pathways shifting to irritated amber as he said, "As much as we acknowledge that you are one of the best of your kind, Your Eminence. I must tell you that you have no jurisdiction to train the Lyrokans. We would appreciate it if you do not overstep the authority that you've been given. If you want to train the Kaelari, then do so. But we can very well take care of our kind."

Lord Yarrington scowled at the General, his pathways flaring defensive purple. "How dare you speak to our Empress in that manner! Weaver and I were the ones who asked her to train us."

Langford seemed even more offended, his pathways darkening. "And why would you both do that, my lord?"

Weaver responded on behalf of his partner, "We wanted to advance our skills. This is what the collaboration is for anyway! What is your problem, Langford?"

Langford looked at me from head to toe, his gaze lingering on my small Kaelari frame, and chuckled as he asked the ministers, "You think that a Kaelari's skills are superior to those of a Lyrokan?"

"You certainly don't think so." My stern voice suddenly rang between everyone's ears. Some of those around us had already slowed down or pretended to be taking a short break, glancing in my direction to see what was about to go down. My skin shifted to challenging silver.

Langford said with zero sincerity, "I mean no disrespect, Your Eminence." It was conspicuously clear that the General had every intention to offend me. He just didn't do it directly.

Toby then countered, "Then why are you questioning us being here? We're just helping!"

Langford glared down at Toby but Toby stood his ground and matched his glare. I came between them and pushed Toby away from Langford's view, taking his place in front of the General.

I smirked darkly, my skin shifting to predatory silver-blue, and said, "Tell you what, General. You, me and your right-hand man over here spar. If I win, you keep your mouth shut about who I train. If you win, I'll keep my mouth shut, and when you ask me to leave, I'll leave."

Weaver panicked, his pathways flashing alarm. "What?! My Empress, you can't just leave us."

Yarrington squeezed his shoulder as he uttered, "Have a little faith in her, dear."

"Well?" I asked Langford. The General smirked as he sent a mind-touch to his warrior behind him, and the warrior too smirked in response. They took their positions on the combat mat Weaver and Yarrington were using. I was at one end, and the General and his warrior were at the other end. Many around us, mostly Lyrokans, had started taking their so-called breaks to watch.

I studied their build—typical Lyrokan superiority complex making them underestimate a five-foot-one Kaelari—and waited for them to start. The warrior charged at me first. Throwing a punch with his entire arm. I dodged sideways and grabbed his arm before twisting it emotionlessly. I kicked his kneecaps to make him kneel. When his second punch came, I flipped my body over his neck and the punch went into the air. My weight on his neck was too much, and the warrior fell on the ground with a loud thud. That was when Langford came from behind, as I expected. He attempted to pounce on me but I rolled away right before he did. So he ended up putting his weight on the warrior. Since Langford was heavier, the warrior howled in agony when the General's weight fell on him.

I didn't even give the General a chance to recover from his shock before I threw a punch at his throat and broke his nose with no remorse. Lyrokans heal quickly with their advanced metabolism so that damage wasn't worrying.

One of my hands reached for the back of his head and the other reached for his shoulder before I turned his head forcefully to the left. If I turned his neck a few inches more, his spinal connection would have snapped, and the General would have been dead.

I cocked my head to one side to meet Langford's shocked and somewhat fearful eyes. His pathways had gone pale with terror. I then pushed his body harshly to the back and turned the warrior's body over so that the latter could breathe.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Orion appeared on the sidelines, where Toby and many of the Lyrokans had gathered to watch. He was looking at me with so much love and pride, his pathways glowing that soft purple-pink. By his side, Christian was already chuckling mercilessly at the men I'd defeated seconds ago.

Toby smirked as he fist-bumped me. "That was awesome, Lyra."

"Thanks, Toby."

Orion walked over to me when Langford and his warrior were getting up. I asked the latter, "What's your name, warrior?"

"Ph-Phelton, my Empress." He bowed, his pathways flickering with embarrassment.

Orion reached my side when I bowed in return and offered a genuine smile as I thrust out my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Phelton. Hope to see you beat me next time."

He looked at me in confusion. But I continued to smile as I said, "I mean it, Phelton. You have the build and the strength. You only need to work on your speed and agility. Those skills can be taught. You'll improve in no time."

His pathways began glowing with emotion. He took my hand and shook it once before pressing a formal kiss on it and falling on one knee as he said, "Forgive me, my Empress. I have offended you."

I said firmly, "Stand, Phelton." He stood, guilty as ever. I smiled graciously and said sincerely, "I hold no grudge against you. But I do hope that you will forgive yourself. This was just a mistake. Don't repeat it and you'll be fine."

"Yes, my Empress. Thank you for your graciousness. I won't let you down." He pledged. I nodded with a gentle smile.

Then, I moved around him to come face-to-face with General Langford. He stood still but his pathways emitted pure embarrassment—dim and fluctuating. A General, a supposed best Lyrokan warrior after the Emperor himself was beaten by a five-foot-one Kaelari in such a short time. And it happened in front of so many people. That really did not look good.

Orion was right behind me as I called out, "General Langford."

He looked up at my gaze hesitantly. But his mouth was sealed shut. I waited but nothing came out. I then said, "General, do you really have nothing to say?"

He opened his mouth and his teeth gritted as he said his next words in utmost difficulty, "I will not interfere with who you train, Your Eminence."

"Thank you." I said simply and was about to leave but Orion stopped my tracks by holding my waist in place. The Emperor glared at Langford before he asked, "Isn't there something else you would like to tell the Empress, General?"

I knew that Orion was forcing the old Lyrokan to ask for my forgiveness but I couldn't care less about whether Langford apologized so I turned myself around to face my match and said, "Darling, I don't need an apology. I got what I wanted. Let's just get back to training now, okay?"

He looked me in the eye and firmly said, "No. No one can disrespect you and expect to get away with it." He turned my body back to face Langford in one swift movement but the old Lyrokan remained reluctant to speak.

I groaned, "Orion, I don't want a fake apology. Just let me go. We have to train! We're wasting time!" I tried to wriggle my way out but Orion's grip on my waist was too strong. Stupid Lyrokan strength, I thought to myself.

Orion's tone was condescending when he spoke to Langford. "Stop wasting our Empress's time, Langford. You should be grateful that she and her comrade wanted to train the Lyrokans. After what she just did to you, you would be a fool to not beg her to train our military. It's a good thing none of the stations applied for our warriors. Their chances of survival would've been too low. The Kaelari themselves may even have to carry our weight."

Toby was pressing back a smile at Orion's compliment. Through our friendship bond, I could feel his excitement—he couldn't wait to run back to tell all the Kaelari he knew about what the Emperor just said.

Christian then patted Toby on his shoulder and uttered, "It's okay, Specialist Tobias. You can laugh. I do it all the time."

Toby was surprised by the Duke's carefree demeanor in such a tense situation but managed to say, "I don't think I've reached that level of comfort to do that yet, Your Grace." Christian chuckled at his well-articulated, formal response.

"Well?!" Orion yelled. The old Lyrokan's will was definitely strong.

I'd had it with having to stand where I was. My skin shifted to irritated orange as I addressed Orion in a serious tone. "Dearest, if you don't let me go in the next ten seconds, I'm going to beat you up to break free."

Christian, without hesitation, declared excitedly, "Cuz, you're going to die!" Toby was finding it more and more difficult to hold in the laughter. They both knew I could beat him. Everyone else knew I did it once, but they weren't sure whether that was because Orion let me win.

Weaver and Yarrington glanced at each other with worry, their pathways flickering nervously, wondering if the Empress would really beat up the Emperor just to break free.

When the ten seconds were up, I sighed as I muttered, "I am so sorry for this, darling."