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“Where were you? Where have you been?” she said, her voice croaking with emotion

“That is a long story, Mother, and I will tell it to you, but I have to tell you that the reason I’estured to Sloan Xan’s mother turned to her, eyes ith surprise, as if she was only now noticing that Sloan had been standing there the whole time

“Mother, Queen Regent, Venu Xevian D’Arian, I present to you Sloan of Earth, Captain of the Arrow, one of the fastest ships in this sector,” Xan said proudly as he placed his hand on Sloan’s back and presented her to his mother Venu didn’t seem to kno to take this and stood in front of Sloan with a curious look on her face Sloan extended her hand, and Venu hesitated

“Mother, Sloan is the reason I’ht for me and is an important person inher hand

“Well, then, I guess it is an honor to have you here, Captain Sloan I, and the people of D’Arian, thank you for returninghold of Sloan’s hand and giving Sloan a slight head bow “It was kind of you to ensure that my son made his way back to D’Arian without any further issues I hope that acco him hasn’t caused you any undue schedule setbacks We would be more than happy to provide you with a reward for all your hard work in returning Xan to his family and his people”

“Mother, Sloan isn’t only the person who freed me She is the woman I love, and she will be my future queen,” Xan said proudly He knew his ot to know her Although the way the polite smile slid off her face, Xan wasn’t sure if he should have saved that bit of knowledge for another time

“Oh, really?” she said

Chapter 23

The days blurred together in a flurry of activity Childhood memories of ti since forgotten—hours upon hours that he had sat at his h irievances, and requirements were all in the life of a ruler His stamina for manual labor had increased over the years, but for these tedious et in shape

It was less than four months until his coronation, and Xan felt as if he were slowly drowning in a sea of paperwork The bright spots in his days aking up with Sloan in his arms,match with Cain in the afternoons Hisher midday meals with the rest of them

Histhe day to help brief Xan on anything and everything that needed to be done before his coronation She reviewed his correspondence drafts and helped ensure that he had all the background information he needed to succeed in the new position It seeon had not been keen to take over the day-to-day ruling and had left it up to their mother While there were still three years until he would have been crowned in Xan’s place, Xan was surprised Ragon hadn’t arrived yet Xan was sure someone had contacted him to let him know Xan had been found

The i used to for Sloan On the ship, they had been able to move freely without escorts, but here in the palace, there were at least two guards posted to Xan or outside the room he was in at all ti the intrusion especially hard and often tried to lose her detail After a few chastise her safe allowed Xan not to worry about her and concentrate on his work, Sloan finally relented and allowed the guards to protect her

He rolled over and took in Sloan’s sleeping face; she still took his breath away She had been through so much in her life—taken from her planet without parents or any other fa his fingers over it as the light

filtered through her honey-brown curls Xan didn’t have anyone else in the entire universe He had thought he was in the saether Now that he knew he had family and a place in the universe, he wanted to share that with her He wanted her to know she had a place in the sector, and it was by his side

Sloan grumbled in her sleep and pulled the blankets over her head “Too sunny,” she said before snuggling up to Xan He chuckled and told her to stop co it down, Xan kissed her on the lips as she cracked open her eyes and glared at him