Halt Read Free

the disturbance. “Please, return to the table, Sollas.”
    Sollas resumed his seat and kept his hands to his self for the rest of the meal.
    When the tower of sculpted sugar arrived, they all applauded.
    Tazzy was relieved. She wasn’t sure which of the Decolian’s were better at glaring, Silver or Sollas.
    Dessert was in the form of a heady wine that Tazzy had trouble finishing. When the king and queen dismissed the diners, Tazzy wasn’t sure that her knees would hold her.
    She thanked her hosts, and they smiled at her, their gazes curious.
    Tazzy rose to her feet and inclined her head toward Sollas. “Thank you for a fascinating evening.”
    He got to his feet and towered over her, swaying slightly. “I wish that we could repeat this experience when there were not obnoxious guests around.”
    She didn’t know how to react to that, so she extended her hand again, and he pressed a kiss to it. When he turned her hand over and placed a kiss in her palm, she heard a hiss of warning a moment before Silver launched himself over the table and into the prince of Decolian 12.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Tazzy stood back while the two men fought. Royal guards stumbled into the room, but a short bark from the king and they retreated again.
    Tazzy watched them pound on each other fist to flesh for a few minutes, and then, she had had enough. Moving quickly, she touched each man on the jaw and then stood back. “Halt.”
    They froze with their fists raised in midair.
    “Calm down.”
    They lowered their fists.
    “Stand up and apologize for being idiots.” She crossed her arms over her breasts and tapped her foot.
    Rusalla was laughing, and the Guardians were looking at her with surprised admiration.
    The king and queen were just blinking in amazement.
    The men bowed and apologized to their hosts.
    Tazzy inclined her head. “As I seem to be the cause of the disruption, I thank you for your hospitality and look forward to returning to duty tomorrow morning. This has been an eventful day off.”
    The king and queen dismissed her, and Tazzy didn’t waste time. She bolted as decorously as possible.
    She retreated to her room in the garrison and got into her comfy clothing. She grabbed her book and crawled back into her window seat.
    Tazzy tried to read to keep calm, but she couldn’t concentrate. Arkenor was here, he was a Guardian, and he still sent her pulse spinning. Add that to the fact that she had just outed her talent and she had really had one helluva day.
    Life had taken a weird turn, and it looked like her quiet little posting was about to hit the fan.
     
    Yuula laughed as Tazzy worked her way through breakfast. The events of the evening before were spreading throughout the imperial garrison. She finished her meal, returned her tray to the stack and walked to her office. She had to run bodyguard duty for some nobles who wanted to negotiate with the king and queen.
    It was time to get back to the tasks she actually enjoyed. She took her skiff and met them at the spaceport, driving them across the city and into the main entryway.
    The nobles from Decolian 9 wished to engage in a marriage contract for their son. If Rusalla was amenable, she was the first choice; Sollas was the second.
    Their son was a hulk of a man with a surprisingly light step as he walked through the halls. In a mean moment, Tazzy had to think that Sollas might do better with a partner who could simply put him where he wanted him.
    It might be character building.
    After the polite rejection by the king and queen, stating that their children would follow family tradition and select their own mates, her guests nodded their acquiescence. Under that stricture, there would be no treatise selling their children for political advantage.
    They were not invited to stay, and so, Tazzy took them back to the spaceport and kept them under watch until their ship lifted off.
    The moment she was free, she hit a street-vendor stall for some charred meat on a stick and