He met the gaze of his only ally, Jetr, a man from a distant galaxy who had been an ally of Anshan for three generations. The small man waited next to A'Ran's trusted second-in-command, Ne'Rin, whose sister was one of the three before him. Ne'Rin was a man whose forefathers had been chief advisors to the dhjan dynasty since Anshan's inception and had served A'Ran's family for a millennium. Jetr and Ne'Rin were both patient and hopeful, and A'Ran steeled himself to tell them what he must.
None of the three beauties was she, or he'd know. His own mother had been far from beautiful, and his father had told him the signs he'd found the right woman were unmistakable. The earth would drop from beneath his feet and the sun pierce his soul. He felt nothing like this when he looked at the three women.
Like his sisters and advisors, he was losing faith that his nishani existed. He was thirty-two sun-cycles, beyond the age when his forefathers had found their lifemates. Half the population of his planet had been decimated by famine and war, and for all he knew, his intended was among them. The Planetary Council, his second-in-command, even his sister, had paraded women through his home every time he returned from a battle. His lifemate simply wasn't there.
"None of them," A'Ran said. His second-in-command frowned but escorted the women out.
The dhjan had known nothing but war for over half his life, since exiled with his sisters to the tiny moon across the galaxy from his home of Anshan. It was the smallest moon in the Five Galaxies, the section of space under the influence of the meddling Planetary Council. He'd continue the war until he won back his planet and birthright by force, then find another way to heal his planet.
"I think you prefer war, my friend," Jetr said with his gentle humor.
"You know well the bond between the lifemate and the planet. Without her, the rivers are dry, the women are barren, and the mines produce no ore," A'Ran replied, then added pointedly, "And the Planetary Council interferes with everything you try to do to reclaim what's rightfully yours."
"You've refused women from every Council member's family. It's no wonder they don't favor you."
"It has nothing to do with that, Jetr, as you know," he said. "They want the ore only Anshan can produce but don't understand why there will be none until I claim my lifemate."
"In the meantime, you've driven up a debt to them," Jetr reminded him.