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            She was giving Adrian twenty more minutes, then they were out of here. She knew how important it was to find the next New Ruler, but tonight she had a hot date. There were legs to shave and a dress to find.

            "Dame, you think there's any dress shops in this town?"

            He wasn't being very talkative, but she wasn't letting it ruin her day. If she had her way, she was so getting lucky tonight.

            She needed everything. Perfume. Makeup. She'd even wrestle her way into some spanks. Not that she needed them anymore, but she was going all out. Flowers. Wine. Dinner.

            "Think there's a jewelry shop? I'll be honest, I've never done any of this before. Usually, all the courting a boy needs is a smile and a wink."

            Seeing that she was waiting for an answer this time, Dame shook his head. "I am not an expert, my Queen."

            "That's clear enough." Sighing, she looked for a place to sit. Seeing an old truck, she went to it and let the tailgate down. "Sit."

            "They should have been back by now, my Queen. We should have never split up."

            "So, you've told me. Numerous times and they aren't that late. They said they had one more place to check. It makes sense to split up, and wrong subject. Tell me how things are going with you and Julian."

            He frowned.

            "That's how I figured it was going. Have the both of you tried my approach?"

            "Mostly, we do not know what to say to each other, my Queen. We have spent two days trying to not talk when we are around each other."

            "That's not going to get you anywhere."

            "Where should I be trying to get, my Queen? It is supposed to be easy. You wait for your mate. You meet your mate. The end."

            Her chuckle died off at his unhappy look. "Dame, is it a problem for you that he isn't what you were expecting?"

            "My Queen, we do not expect anything. It is as simple as I said. Wait. Meet. End."

            "Here we have an idea of what we are looking for. Sometimes we're right, sometimes we're about as far from right as we can be. I think Julian is worried that deep down you won't accept him. Here we understand that love comes in all colors, shapes, and sizes. In your world you had to be expecting a blond, blue eye, woman."

            "My Queen, I was seven when I was told that I had no matches. I was twelve when I was told that there would be no chance for a mate because no more children were being conceived. I was only one of many, so I knew if a child was ever conceived the chances of them being my mate was slim."

            "And you never wanted to just date someone for the hell of it?"

            His look was answer enough.

            "You had to be lonely. Why did dating never cross your mind if you had given up hope on finding your mate?"

            "I never gave up hope."

            "What about not being able to have children? That has to bother you."

            "I was infected. Even if my mate was immune and we had high numbers, my odds of having children would be low. My Queen, we need children, but they do not have to be my children. Already, your planet has more children than we ever thought to see. Nearly half of our people have found their mates. That is more than we could have ever hoped for."

            "Some of your people are happy with spending very little time with their mates. Is that the kind of relationship you hope for?"

            "My Queen, I hope for whatever he will give me. I wish to ease his mind more than anything. He is troubled and my job is to keep him safe and to comfort him. I am failing."

            "No, you're not, Dame. I promise you aren't." She turned to him so she could watch him as she asked her next question. "Here we don't just have sex because we want children. In fact, at our age, that's the last thing we want from having sex. Big no no, everyone use birth control please. We have sex because we need to be close to someone. Because that's the way we show the other person our feelings. Sure, there's plenty who are doing it for all the wrong reasons but that's a whole different conversation. If your people only couple to have offspring, that would mean that you and Julian would never need to touch. If you're not touching, then you're not having much of a relationship. Is that what you want? Teach him how to be a warrior for a few hours every day and call him your mate? Because that could never be enough for him."

            He looked away for several moments, then he faced her. "It is my job to keep him safe and offer him comfort. Tell me how to do that, my Queen."

            "I'm glad you asked. The other night when I was singing, did you feel anything?"

            "I felt... I felt many things, my Queen. Many things I'd never felt before."

            "Dez, play back this conversation to Julian. Then I want you to set up the same type of dinner you're setting up for me in Damous' room. I want Will waiting for us when we get back. Tell Laney's fathers I have a favor to ask of them and see if they can make time this evening."

            "Yes, my Queen."

           She gave her bodyguard a soft smile. "I don't know much about relationships myself. I'm learning as I go, but you're in luck.  I know people who can help____."

            All her air was sucked away. She felt like she was sealed in a tight area with no air, no room, and no light. Gasping, she tried to breathe.

            "My Queen?"

            "Can't breathe. No air." Except she was breathing. She took a deep breath to make sure. "That was crazy. Something.... isn't right."

            Her heart caught, and she knew it was him. "It's m! Something is wrong."

            Damous stood. "Take me to him."

            The air was sucked away again, this time by the fear overtaking her. "He's gone. He's completely gone."

            "Dezrick, locate my King."

            "He's not answering but his vitals are stable."

            "I can't feel him!"

            Dame's arm went around her to steady her. "Dezrick, where was his last known location?"

            "He just finished his training regimen and is located in his bathing chamber. He is scheduled to be at the rehabilitation sector four in the next five minutes."

            "Dez, has he answered?"

            "No, my Queen. I have notified his guards."

            "Dezrick, notify the others that we will return for them as soon as possible. My Queen, take us to his chamber."

       "Unnecessary. My King is on time and has just arrived in sector four. He is well."

            "Tell him I need him."

            "Yes, my Queen."

            Jess turned to Damous. "Something is wrong. I never have to ask for him, he's just here."

            He stood in front of her. He wasn't wearing his robes, but he was in his usual royal candora.

            Kellum smiled at her. "You needed to see me, Jessalynn?"

            When she couldn't answer, he looked to Damous.

            "She was worried about you, my King. You did not answer when Dezrick called to you."

            "I'm sorry to worry everyone. I have a lot on my mind. Do you forgive me, Jessalynn?"

            A shiver ran up her arms when he took her hands.

            "It won't happen again." He promised.

            Smiling, she nodded. "I guess I panicked. Love does crazy things to people."

            "So, it does. If you have no more need of me, then I'll return to my duties."

            "Of course."

            He kissed her cheek and was gone.

            "New Ruler Adrian says they have had no luck locating the missing New Ruler, and he says they are near to the location they are supposed to meet you."

            "Tell him I've decided to go shopping."

            Instead of waiting for them to arrive, she took her and Dame to the school and grabbed Julian. "Shopping spree."

            He took one look at Damous and was about to decline, but she didn't give him time. Once they were deposited where she needed them, she went back for Annie and Frick. 

            "Yay! Shopping! I need a new dress and new shoes." After jumping up and down several times, Annie headed to the nearby village.

            When Frick went to join his mate, Jess asked him to stay, and she sent Herns and Dra to watch over her.

            "Dez, we're going offline. We're okay, and I don't want my King notified." She sent their wrist bands away from them.

            Julian already knew something was wrong. "What happened?"

            Tears filled her eyes. "They did something to him again. He's not Kellum anymore." Adrian gave her his hand, but nothing was going to calm her down.

            "Are you sure?" He asked.

            "Yes. I can't feel him."

            "Then why are we here and not there beating the shit out of them?" Julian asked in a rage. "They will not get away with this."

            Dame shook his head. "My Queen is right. We must handle this with care. He is King now. He has all say and there is no telling what they have changed about him. No telling what agenda they have in store for him."

              "The machine was destroyed so something like this could not happen again." Frick said.

            Damous nodded. "That is true. I witnessed it."

            "We can ask Dezrick if__"

            Jess shook her head at Adrian. "What if I do and it gets back to the advisors that we're on to them? There's no telling what they'll do."

            "There is nothing that can be done without Dezrick knowing it. He has probably already noticed something is amiss." Damous pointed out.

            Frick agreed.

            Adrian's hand tightened around hers. "There has to be a way to protect us from this kind of thing."

            "Our King has all say." Frick reminded them.

            "Not all say." Jess told him. "Damous answers to me first. I also have say as long as I don't contradict any of Kell's rules. Dez doesn't even ask him for permission on most things anymore. I just have to figure out how to use that to my advantage."

            Frick nodded. "We need to make it where Kellum cannot make any rules until we figure out what is going on."

            Julian frowned. "How do you figure we do that?"

            Frick winced. "I hate to suggest it, but the only way I can come up with is keeping him from speaking."

            Damous was already disagreeing. "To even think that is treason."

            Frick pointed to her. "To everyone but her and you, if you're following her orders. I know Kellum. He would want us to do whatever we have to do to make sure they do not get away with this. He is just now getting his life back. Trust me, he would want us to fix this no matter what we have to do."

            Jess took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "Frick's right. Once he can't stop us, we can get some answers from the advisors."

            "She means beat the answers out of them." Julian pointed out.

            Jess nodded. "I mean beat the shit out of them. They can reverse whatever they did to him and then they are going to pay for this. I swear to God they will."

            How much more of him would she lose? That question stayed in the back of her mind, but if she allowed herself to think about it, she'd go insane and wouldn't be any help to anyone.

            As it was, she was already feeling the miles between them.