sure.”
He did. He looked at the portrait of the two of them and sighed inwardly. They looked perfect together. Her fairness, and his black hair and light gold skin, seemed to complement each other.
“May I see?” she asked, and leaned on Mekashe’s arm to look over it. He was far too tall for her to look over his shoulder. “It’s perfect! Can you share it with me, on the Nexus?” she asked.
He wouldn’t dare. No holos of him or any member of the Imperial Guard or the Holconcom were permitted.
“I can do much better. I’ll bring you one of these with the capture in it tomorrow. Will that suffice?” he teased.
“That would be wonderful!” She looked up at him delightedly. “And you’ll teach me to use it, yes?”
He nodded. “Yes, I will.”
“We’re going to have a picnic in the forest in a holoroom,” she told her father. “So I’m afraid you’ll have luncheon alone,” she teased.
Mekashe frowned. “A picnic involves food?”
She looked at him. “Well, usually.” She flushed. “Sorry, I forgot. I’ll have lunch with Daddy, and we’ll have a foodless picnic,” she added with a grin.
He chuckled. “Very well. I’ll see you for chess in the morning, then, Ambassador,” he told her father.
“I’ll look forward to it. Good evening.”
“Good night,” Jasmine added.
He gave her a lingering smile. “Sleep well.”
He walked away. Jasmine stared after him for a minute before she went inside with her father and closed the door.
Ambassador Dupont looked at her worriedly. “You know,” he began, “their culture isn’t the same as ours. It’s very different, from what I’ve heard.”
She smiled. “Then I’ll learn as I go along. He’s...incredible. Tender and funny and smart. Smarter than me.”
“Smarter than me, too, I’m afraid.” He hesitated. He’d just had a virtual briefing with the head of the diplomatic department on Terravega. It included top secret information about the true form of the Cehn-Tahr and cultural differences that were unknown to most humans. Jasmine had never seen a true alien. The Altairian she’d discovered on the ship was quite human looking, except for his blue skin. The Vegans, though more alien, were mostly humanoid. But the Cehn-Tahr were very different. Not only that, they were far stronger than humans.
Jasmine was hungry for Mekashe and the reverse seemed equally true. It was more dangerous than she realized, but he’d never seen her so animated, so very happy. Was it fair to destroy her illusions? After all, it might be just an infatuation, the lure of the unfamiliar. If that were true, it would seep out on its own accord and he wouldn’t have to hurt her by imparting unpalatable facts. Like the fact that Cehn-Tahr ate their food whole and raw. He understood now why Mekashe wouldn’t dine with them.
Their cultures were radically different. He knew that two members of the Royal Clan had human consorts, but there were deep secrets about the bondings. He didn’t know what Mekashe’s Clan affiliation was. There were rumors from HQ that some clans had accepted genetic enhancements that made them extremely dangerous to humans.
Well, he could certainly discount that after tonight, he told himself, amused. His daughter looked slightly disheveled, but there was no bruising and certainly no broken bones. So perhaps Mekashe’s Clan didn’t have those enhancements. Perhaps the cultural differences wouldn’t matter.
Still, he worried. Jasmine was so unsophisticated, and so very young. He watched her go back to her room, her mind far away on the handsome stranger from Memcache. And he hoped against hope that he wouldn’t regret his silence.
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