A Prince's Duty Read online

  A Prince's duty

  Needing An Heir

  Author: Lily Anton

  Twitter: @lilyantonbooks

  (Visit Author's Page)

  CHAPTER 1

  The climate on the planet was hot, and humid, something Satina was really hoping she’d avoid this time.

  Instead, sweat beaded her face, trickling down her temples as she dragged her hand across her upper lip.

  She was thirsty, hungry, tired, and extremely fucking done with this planet.

  The heat made her feel weighed down, which was ironic considering Viconis’ gravitational pull was lighter than most, which really should have made things easier for her.

  Every step she took made her wince in annoyance, extremely aware of the fact that her protective underlayer which was designed to regulate her temperature, was losing the battle.

  Part of her thought about just ripping off every layer she had on. As far as she knew, there was no one else on this planet, save for a remote research station which she had already passed two hours ago.

  Her team, which was miserable along with her, looked like they were entertaining similar thoughts.

  None of them really gave a shit about modesty.

  "DON’T YOU DARE," came a garbled, disembodied tone through her comms unit, making her smirk. Even with the subpar audio quality, she got the message loud and clear.

  Although, perhaps, she just knew Kandann too well, and had been on the receiving end of his annoyance and irritation with her too many times to count.

  She kept her planned response to herself and remained silent.

  The ground was wet, mucky, and she grimaced as her boots sank into it, taking slow, careful steps, lest she disturb something potentially lying underfoot.

  It was eerily quiet...but she supposed that could mostly be attributed to the fact that the planet had nearly been wiped out entirely (on more than one occasion), the debris and wreckage of crashed spaceships scattered across the uneven terrain, polluting it and serving as proof.

  "I don't like this, Sat," Kandann’s staticky voice murmured quietly through the comms once more, as the team moved further into the dense underbrush and the gnarly trunks of enormous trees.

  What the planet lacked in sentient life, it made up for in fauna and lush vegetation; everything was almost unbelievably green, the land flourishing as though to say “fuck you” to those that had tried to destroy it.

  It had adapted almost too seamlessly, both the pre-existing, and alien creatures advancing, prospering, and developing unique abilities of their own that had inevitably put unwelcome explorers, scientists, archeologists, in grave danger without a fully suited, armed team to back them up or defend them.

  The planet itself was thriving, the scenery was beautiful, and if she hadn't been so uncomfortable, perhaps she could even have enjoyed it.

  Still, while the atmosphere felt heavy, the air was fresh and rich with oxygen.

  Satina couldn't recall the last time she'd been able to venture out onto a planet, on foot, without wearing a ventilation mask or helmet, or without needing to worry about her air supply running out if she took too long.

  This also meant that her team was subjected to her nonsensical ramblings, complete lack of filter, and general obnoxiousness. When her voice was muffled, they didn't need to hear her incessant chatter or hear her unconsciously carrying out entire conversations with herself.

  "We'll be in and out of here as quickly as we can be," she responded, attempting to placate him.

  She heard Kandann scoff behind her…

  Everyone knew that wasn't true.

  ‘Quickly’ wasn't a possibility when venturing out into unexplored, uncharted territory.

  Not with Satina, anyways.

  "Look, there's nothing coming up on the scanner, right?", she waited for Kandann's confirmation before continuing. "See? We're perfectly safe," she attempted to reassure. "The only thing that's gonna hurt anyone here is how tight these fucking suits are- seriously, why couldn't we have thought to put on something a little lighter?"

  As anticipated, no one dignified her with a response.

  "It's hot, my skin is chafing, and it honestly feels worse than getting fucked by a Valdurian-"

  She heard Tre’Wir, her Valdurian squadmate, squawk indignantly in protest behind her.

  "And my breasts are sweating like crazy, this-"

  "Satina," she heard Stan murmur to her left, cutting her off mid-sentence. It took a lot to shut her up, but she always silenced herself whenever the man had something to say.

  She didn't get to respond before the sound of thunderous footsteps rapidly approaching them reached her ears.

  The next thing anyone heard or said was an eloquent, "Oh fuck”.

  Any thoughts of taking whatever it was out disappeared when it became clear that there were numerous sets of footsteps coming their way.

  "We need to run," ordered Satina, panic thinly concealed in her tone. "Whatever those things are, we can't take them out before they'll take us out. Not head on."

  They didn't even get the chance to do so before three monstrous creatures, almost dinosaur-like in appearance, were bursting through the trees, adrenaline kicking in as their imminent danger became increasingly more apparent.

  Of course, Satina just…stood there, as she stared up at them, frozen in shock, some choice expletives leaving her lips before Kandann was pushing her into motion once more.

  "Run, you idiot!"

  Satina didn't even consider protesting before she bolted- a dozen red flags going off in her head when she

  realized that she and her team had been split up.

  This was definitely not the way to explore an alien planet with plant life alone that could easily kill you (if you happened to piss it off, or run into it, or maybe even both).

  To say that they'd been unprepared was an understatement.

  All she could hope for at this point was that no one would get seriously injured, as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, quite literally running for her life.

  Monstrous hadn't simply been a descriptor.

  In reality, whatever it was that had stampeded through the area -trees creaking, swinging precariously as their large bodies forced their way through- they were monsters in every sense of the word.

  'Are those-" Satina began as she tried to catch her breath.

  "Crelfin," came Kandann’s voice, the static cutting in and out and only getting worse as she continued to run.

  "Why the fu- Oh Shit!-" Satina slipped on the wet earth just as the realization dawned on her that she was heading straight towards the overhang of a cliff, forcing her to scramble for purchase as she skidded to a halt.

  Her heart raced in her chest as she stopped just short of the edge, the tip of it blending in seamlessly with the dimmed surroundings she had just narrowly avoided falling over.

  Before she could sigh in relief…before she could move out of the way, one of the Crelfin was charging towards her at full speed.

  Except, it didn't attempt to stop as she had, barreling towards her even faster with the aid of the ground beneath its feet sloping downwards.

  "Satina!" Kandann's voice crackled through her comms unit, the creature simultaneously making impact with her much smaller body.

  They both went over the edge, bodies gaining more momentum the further they fell.

  Satina hit the ground first.

  The thick vegetation and grasses beneath, in combination with her own meager weight and thick armor, provided cushion for her fall and prevented any serious damage to her body.

  The Crelfin followed suit; likely having been met with a delay in struggling to avoid falling after colliding with the human.

  While she didn't manage to roll out
of the way entirely, she moved just far enough that her head wasn't crushed beneath the Crelfin's clawed feet when it landed.

  The creature quickly regained its balance and loomed directly over her now; thick, viscous saliva dripping down from its growling maw and beady eyes glaring down at her.

  It was at too close of a range for Satina to shoot it with an arrow, and no normal blade -no matter how strongly it was forged- would pierce through the thick plates armoring the beast’s large body.

  Pinned beneath its weight as the creature closed in on her, she clenched her eyes shut and squirmed helplessly underneath it.

  Her comms unit was emitting constant static, signaling that she had lost contact with her ship.

  Suddenly, the discomfort of her bodysuit and the professed sweatiness of her breasts were the last things on her mind.

  Her new concern was the fact that she hadn't managed to finish off her stash of freeze-dried cookie dough ice-cream.

  Kandann would eat it just to spite her- she just knew it- even if everyone else aboard their ship thought it was disgusting. To Satina, a simple human with simple human tastes and cravings, it was a delicacy.

  She'd die, she'd get eaten, and she hadn't even managed to enjoy the dessert she had stowed away for some hypothetical special occasion that she'd never get the opportunity to even experience. She'd gone through great lengths to ‘borrow’ it from a supplier that she probably couldn't show her face to ever again.

  A positively vicious sounding snarl reached her from a distance, snapping her out of her thoughts, eyes shooting open upon coming to the sudden realization that the sound certainly hadn't come from the creature above her.

  Great, she internalized with grim acceptance.

  She'd already been struggling to make peace with her impending doom, and now a second thing had seen fit to join in on the action.

  Admittedly, she found a degree of satisfaction of the fact that she probably tasted like absolute shit- choosing not to acknowledge that the creatures inhabiting the foreign, dangerous planet almost certainly weren't particularly picky eaters.

  Turning her head from side to side was little help in attempting to figure out what the hell it was that had joined them.

  Perhaps it was for the best.

  A second snarl came again, just a few seconds later, followed by the Crelfin’s enormous body being knocked clean off of her and crashing down onto its side with a piercing scream.

  Satina wasted no time in scrambling to push herself upright, clambering to get away from the scene playing out just before her and dragging herself backwards with a sudden wince.

  Apparently the fall had hurt her more than she'd initially thought it had.

  She didn't have the time to worry about it as she blinked rapidly as if it would change the sight in front of her.

  The Crelfin had been barreled over by a Nagarren- a slightly snake-like looking species that was still rather humanoid in appearance. It was large, and muscular, with blue eyes that glowed and dark hair that made him appear more Human than Nagarren...save for the patches of scales across his chest and long tail that lashed around violently behind it.

  It was a species that certainly didn't belong, nor originate on this planet, but this particular Nagarren was definitely bigger than any Nagarren she’d ever had the unfortunate experience of ever meeting before.

  They were not a species known for their hospitality.

  She watched in both silent shock and complete disbelief as the Nagarren proceeded to effortlessly tear into the plated neck of the downed predator, silencing its cries in a matter of just seconds.

  Satina swallowed dryly, praying, silently, to a deity she didn't believe in for the Nagarren to simply move on without paying her any mind.

  Considering the fact that a Nagarren's diet ideally consisted of meat, she deemed the likelihood of her making it out unscathed was pretty much zero. Truthfully, she deemed the likelihood of her making it out at all, impossible.

  She was fucked.

  Satina remained still…scared to breathe, scared to even blink, heart racing when the Nagarren turned to look at her.

  Her heart skipped several beats as she watched it stride towards her, mouth in a hard line and appearing every bit the dangerous apex predator it was.

  Running would be useless; the Nagarren could close the distance between them in a mere fraction of a second.

  She had a better chance at surviving by not moving at all; not adding to the thrill of the hunt by initiating a chase.

  It got closer, and closer, its massive tail trailing behind it, and only pausing when there were mere inches between their faces…audibly inhaling and scenting her.

  Satina's eyebrows furrowed when its jaw clacked shut, feeling like she was going to have a panic attack as it leaned in and starting licking the sweat that had formed on her face and brow.

  She fought back a look of disgust…as well as the urge to laugh because the situation was absolutely insane.

  What were the odds of her meeting a friendly, mutant on a Nagarren on a dangerous, foreign planet, where she'd already just barely avoided being eaten once?

  Provided she made it back to the ship, there wasn't a chance in hell that her team would believe her.

  Its breath smelled surprisingly floral, and his face was oddly handsome; perhaps the only upside of this.

  After a few moments, the Nagarren backed up before leaning down to close its mouth around her neck.

  Satina’s heart sank, knowing she really shouldn't have expected anything less.

  Of course it wasn't just going to let her go.

  Yet, to Satina’s pleasant surprise, it didn't sink its teeth into her flesh…it didn't break the skin, nor tear into the thick fabric of her suit collar.

  The Nagarren bit down just hard enough for it to hurt; its grip just tight enough that when it moved, he almost dragged her along with him.

  Briefly, she considered fighting it: considered kicking, and screaming, but rationalized that it wouldn't do her any good. It would only serve to aggravate the creature.

  With a shaky breath, she followed the Nagarren as it released its teeth from her neck, and hoped to hell that she was going to make it out of here.

  She entertained the possibility of the Nagarren dragging her into its den…perhaps for safekeeping. Or maybe it just wasn't hungry, and it intended on eating her later?

  Yeah…she wasn’t really liking any of those possibilities.

  It stopped just in front of the door of a wreckage that appeared to be a crashed spaceship.

  Due to a series of wars and sporadic battles that had been fought over centuries prior, hundreds upon hundreds of ships had been put out of commission, if they hadn’t been blasted to bits.

  Viconis' gravity eventually had pulled them all out of orbit; the planet's beautiful, green surface quickly morphing into a massive graveyard…with scraps and debris littering the entirety of its surface. The fuel and cracked open cores of the ships slowly infecting the planet and effectively wiping out almost everything and making it uninhabitable for a time.

  But with Viconis having thrived; having bounced back into a stronger, more lethal version of its previous self, the planet was more deadly than ever before, as well as an excellent location for finding the rare resources that the ships had either held, or had been composed of.