The Alliance Assigned Me an Alien Mate—When She Removed Her Veil, the Entire Court Bowed скачать в хорошем качестве

The Alliance Assigned Me an Alien Mate—When She Removed Her Veil, the Entire Court Bowed

The Alliance called it a strategic union. A political pairing. A gesture of trust between species. A necessary bond to stabilize fragile peace. I didn't get a choice. When they assigned me an alien mate, I expected formality. Distance. Perhaps even resentment. She stood beside me during the ceremony, face hidden beneath a ceremonial veil, silent and unreadable. The court watched closely. Then she lifted the veil. And every noble in the chamber bowed. Not politely. Not symbolically. Deeply. Because the woman I had just been bound to wasn't simply another delegate. She was someone whose identity reshaped the meaning of the alliance itself. Now the whispers aren't about diplomacy. They're about me. Lieutenant David Chen receives assignment three weeks ago: he'll be bonded to Thessari female designated as "cultural liaison officer." No name. No background beyond generic role description. He tries to get more information but receives vague responses about diplomatic sensitivity. The evasiveness should have signaled something unusual. Now David stands in the Alliance Diplomatic Hall during formal bonding ceremony. His assigned mate stands beside him wearing ceremonial veil that completely obscures her face. She's been completely silent throughout proceedings. The court watches with unusual intensity. The formal declarations conclude. David and his mate are officially bonded. The final ceremonial element: veil removal. His mate lifts the veil. David sees her face—young, mid-twenties, beautiful. Before he can process, the entire court responds. Every noble in the chamber bows. Deeply. Formal full bows that Thessari culture reserves for sovereign authority. She speaks for the first time: "I am Princess Seraphina, heir to the Thessari throne. The alliance assigned you to me not as routine diplomatic pairing, but as strategic bond between human military and Thessari sovereignty. The veil obscured my identity until formal bonding was complete because revealing it earlier would have allowed you to refuse assignment that you might not have accepted if you understood its full implications." David is frozen. He wasn't assigned random liaison officer. He was assigned heir to the Thessari throne. Bound to her through ceremony that's now legally binding. "Your Highness—I wasn't informed about your identity," David says. "That's deception. Not disclosing that I was being bonded to heir to the throne—that's deliberate deception." "It was strategic information management," Lord Vethros responds. "Your informed consent was less important than ensuring strategic interests were served." David's anger is controlled but genuine. "My consent was less important than political objectives. That's remarkably honest admission that my agency didn't matter." They move to private discussion. David demands explanation. Vethros explains: "You were identified as optimal candidate—junior officer with strong service record, cultural adaptability, personal characteristics suggesting compatibility. But you might have refused if you understood you were being bonded to heir to throne. The political weight might have seemed overwhelming. Revealing the information risked refusal that would have prevented strategic bonding." "So you concealed the information to manipulate my consent," David summarizes. Seraphina admits directly: "I argued against concealing my identity. I believed you deserved to know. But I was overruled. I'm complicit. I could have refused to participate. I chose not to because I believed strategic bonding served important alliance interests even while the approach was ethically problematic. I prioritized political objectives over your right to informed consent. That was my choice and I accept responsibility for it." David asks what happens now. Seraphina offers: "I would consider dissolution if you believe the deception makes genuine partnership impossible. But I'd ask you to give the bonding opportunity to develop before deciding. We've been bound for less than an hour." Vethros tries to use political pressure: "Dissolution would create significant political complications." Seraphina firmly rejects this: "We cannot use political consequences as pressure against dissolution. Lieutenant Chen's agency was compromised during assignment. We cannot compound that by making dissolution politically costly. He has right to dissolution if he determines the deception makes partnership untenable." David decides: "I want time before deciding about dissolution. Your honesty about the deception and your willingness to consent to dissolution despite costs—that demonstrates respect for my agency. I'm willing to explore whether we can build partnership that acknowledges the problematic beginning." Three months later, David reflects: "I regret that informed choice wasn't available initially. But I don't regret choosing to explore the partnership. What we've built over three months—the working relationship and growing