“They are already under threat of losing their registration. Fines matter not in the face of starvation.”
Plopping back down, I gripped the edge of the divan.
The hand still enfolded in Cobra’s tensed then twisted to grab his fingers.
“Please,” I begged, “don’t tell me my options are give them the coordinates and let them have at Earth, or refuse, and they make war here instead. The Intergalactic Alliance–”
Venomous said, “The Alliance is merely a way to register and air grievances to dissuade mass enmity. The Council will fine, but not put to death. They will remove sanctions on trade, devastating to capitalist societies, but will only intervene in warfare if it becomes clear one or more species runs the risk of extinction as a result of the conflict. Much suffering and death occurs before a situation reaches such critical levels.” He hissed. “This is about revenge.”
“Okay, but having me won’t reinstate their trade privileges,” I pointed out feeling faint. “Nor will enslaving Earth. Only the Intergalactic Council can do that. They took it away because of the death of a Verak royal, not because of me.... Not directly because of me.... I did persuade Beowyn to lodge the complaint about his cousin Obryn.... And Venomous only killed him for me because.... Okay, technically, Obryn ThunderClaw died because of me, and caused all of this, but there were extenuating circumstances and you get the gist.” I flung my arms up, expression overwrought. “They’re being spiteful because we spanked them on Zoi Quay.”
My eyes drifted to the bags.
It struck me.
“Oh, hell, we’re running.” I fought for breath. “The Senate are going to do it, aren’t they? They’re going to give me up.”
Throwing me and my birth planet under the proverbial freaking bus.
“We believe so,” Cobra replied. “When we left Fiercely that was the consensus. It won’t be long before they send warriors to detain you.” He winced at the pain that streaked across my face. “My hearts, we will not let them take you. Fiercely stayed behind to distract them. Once he can do no more, he will slip away and meet us at the spaceport. We are getting you out of here.”
“To someplace safe,” Venomous promised.
My voice came out small. “You said your leaders listened to the people. You said they’d listen to you.”
His expression folded. “My trust was misplaced.”
I’d gone from being unwanted and given away for free, to being sold for enough jewels to buy a small planetoid, and, now, I was the key bartering token for a war that might consume three planets, and claim billions of lives.
“Things keep escalating,” I muttered and hung my head.
The woven rug felt soft on the soles of my bare feet.
I scrunched my toes, stared at nothing, hard, blinking back tears.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” I whispered. “The bully is supposed to back down not get meaner.”
I heard Éorik’s voice, saw storm grey eyes boring into mine.
‘Oh, ‘twill achieve much. ‘Twill anger the ones you stand against. Tell me, what will the Rä do when the L’Odo retaliate? When they come with war machines that make the ground quake. Lodge a complaint as their crystal cities burn? They have no allies. They are a closed world, cut off from those who might help in times of need. Everyone knows it. Including the L’Odo.’
“All this is because of me.” My gaze lifted and locked on Cobra’s tender one. “You’re readying to sneak off, as if we’ve done something to be ashamed of.” I looked at Venomous. My lip trembled. “Warriors running from a fight because of me.”
“Because of the L’Odo,” Venomous spat liquid eyes aflame. “Because those beast-coverers consider you an acquisition, a thing, that I stole when they tossed you into that arena believing they sent you to your death. Yet they vow without you no treaty of peace will stand. They vow to invade to find you. It is Sorkbhal! He is the nameless shadow behind this. He is blood related to the Chieftain. He cannot abide a creature he considers inferior, a female, bested him.”
“Cut it off.”
Cobra jerked. “What?”
“The brand. You skin things right?” I held out my shaking arm. “Cut it off. That removes Earth from the scenario, and it’s best in case they get their hands on me.” I blinked and a tear fell. “Maybe if they know the location is gone, they’ll leave us alone.”
He made an agonised sound. “I could never do such a thing.”
“If this is what it takes, you will do it.”
Cursing, Venomous spun, stalked to me then went to his knees.
He curled my fingers then my arm to press them to my chest.
“Dearest,” he said his voice as gentle as I’d ever heard it. “So brave, you are, but the scarring is too deep.”
“You don’t know that,” I protested. “Don’t dismiss the idea because you know it’ll cause me pain. Nāga is right outside. He’ll be able to heal me after....” When he twitched at the healer’s name, I trailed off. “You foresaw this and already asked, didn’t you.” My head tilted as another tear slid down my cheek. “He told you the scarring was too deep.”
“He has taken many scans of you, and the hatchling. We discussed it once. I wanted it gone to remove the physical reminder of your enslavement.” He paused. “The laser engraved your bone, Lumen. The brand is a scar that was not meant to be, but your skin is so fragile....” He stroked the bend of my arm with a pained look. “We would have to take half the limb, and I will not allow it.” His face darkened. “I will not let my people’s cowardice maim my female, destroy my clan, or enslave a world on the other side of the universe filled with innocents. Even if they are different to me.”
Cobra hissed. “Why you did not kill Sorkbhal on the slave planet, or seek him out for the same on Zoi Quay, I do not know.”
“I wanted justice not vengeance. I wanted my kindred safe from persecution. I did not want them afraid of the out worlds, therefore, unafraid of those who come from them, as our mate does, yet here we are, at risk.” Venomous’ head drooped between his shoulders then eased side to side. His mood permeated the room to fill it with despair. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “You are worth any price of honour I must pay, my Lumen. If it means we run, we run.”
My eyes slipped closed.
The words hit me like silken blows.
“I’m not worth this. Not worth you losing your honour, and, come on, I’m not worth a war.” Fear scraped my insides raw, yet, I stammered, “You s-should give me up t-to–”
Venomous jerked back onto his feet. “Do not dare finish.”
“Even if I agreed to go along with this, and I let you leave, when you glanced back at the devastation we left in our wake, you would look at me and know,” I leaned forward, blinded by my tears, “that I was not worth it.”
Venomous bent to get in my face. “How will you stop me doing as I must?” His head cocked. “Thsst! Why are you fighting me? I love you, my nest mates.” A quiver broke his rumbling bass. “My hatchling.”
“We love you too.” I stood. “But I won’t let you do this.”
“We tried to do what was right. We failed.” The line of his jaw snapped tight. “I place you above all others. The only way to keep you safe is to leave.”
“You think I don’t want to bury my head in the sand and run away?”
It was like the Vudwani all over again.
This time, I would make the choice I could live with.
One that would not leave me with the sting of shame I felt when I thought of how I’d abandoned her to save my own ass when Venomous asked if I’d risk trading myself for her.
Instead of being rescued, she’d been raped in the midst of what was supposed to be her salvation.
No wonder she blew her own fucking brains out.
The bitter truth was she was what I would have been if Venomous hadn’t been there to claim me.
I would not be so weak as to turn a blind eye to the suffering of a solitary be
ing let alone a whole planet.
Meeting his black gaze, I said, “Ours is not the only love on Rök deserving of protection, Venomous One.”
He slammed a fist against the wall above my head.
I eyed the break left behind wondering how many more cracks our lair could take. “Better?”
“Do not push me.”
“Enough.” Cobra placed restraining hands on his chest.
Venomous ignored him, focused on me. “Perhaps ours is not the only love on Rök deserving protection, but it is the one that matters most to me.” He thumped his chest. “I told you, I do not follow my leaders blindly. If they are not loyal to me, I am not to them. They choose to turn their back on me, I turn my back on them. It is their own fault they have angered the one who might have saved them. One person can turn the tide. Each soul that comes into being is worth something, is worth protection, and they will learn this well.”
“Venom–”
“You will heed me, Rä’Na.” His anger faded and he sighed, cupping my cheek. “You are worth it.” His forehead touched mine. “I will watch Rök burn before I give you up.” He left me, snatched a bag up then started flinging things inside.
“You are worth it,” Cobra seconded. “But we would never, ever, have you bear that burden. Never. So we leave. If we do, the Great Senate will speak truth when they state they cannot bargain with your life, because they will not have you.” His voice turned biting. “You mean more to us than a people who will abandon honour and barter flesh to save their own necks rather than protect the innocent, as is their purpose.”
Breaking eye contact, he stood and grabbed a bag to join Venomous in preparing to flee.
Numb, I sat and stared into space.
I’d caused more trouble than I’d fixed.
Sighing, my hand came to rest on my protruding stomach.
What had I been thinking standing up to the L’Odo like that?
There was good reason why they were feared by so many different species.
Why so many cowered, and ran, instead of fighting back.
And what?
I thought I could swan in and change the universe with a snap of my fingers, and a saucily cocked hip?
‘They have no allies. They are a closed world, cut off from those who might help in times of need. Everyone knows it. Including the L’Odo.’
Éorik had seen the gaping whole in my plan from the get go.
I wasn’t a Queen with a cosmic armada to back me up.
I don’t even know anybody who....
Realisation of several facts smacked me upside the head.
I near fell off the divan.
Palms pressed over my thundering heart, I worried if I had a concussion once I’d finished ordering my thoughts.
The Verak complained and got the L’Odo trade privileges suspended.
So why wasn’t the Chieftain hovering above Vayhalun demanding Beowyn in exchange for peace?
“This is my fault. Not all of it, but I’m assuming responsibility for what needs to be done to fix it. Someone has to.” I straightened my spine. “I am not letting those malicious bastards steal another moment from us.” I twirled around, incensed, raring to go. “I need to make a comm call. You can’t be here for it. Don’t ask why, you just can’t. Honey, get the glider started. There’s no time to ride the goodbeasts. Babe, unpack!”
“–A comm call?”
“–For what reason may we not hear this comm call?”
“–To whom?”
“–I do not like it. It is strange, and I do not like it.”
I stared at them. “I refer back to the ‘don’t ask’ segment of my rousing speech.”
Lips pale with tension, holding out an empty case for me to take, Venomous shook his head.
The gold piercing his dark quills clinked. “Lumen–”
“Please? Trust me? If this doesn’t work you can spirit me away to wherever you like. Right now, I have a plan, and it’s better than yours. I need to do the comm call without you because you distract me. I can’t think straight when you’re near. This needs my complete focus.”
Bags in hand, they hesitated.
“Please. I get the impression by the hurried packing and Fiercely’s stalling we don’t have a lot of time.”
Cobra and Venomous glared at me then at each other.
Forked tongues flickered.
They took the other’s measure then looked in opposite directions, cursing.
“As you wish,” Venomous slammed the bags down. “We will wait for you in the transport.”
He stalked out the haze without giving our Zýt a stroke revealing how frazzled he was.
He treasured the beastie as much as I did.
Without censure, Cobra pressed a lingering kiss to my lips then left.
Their loyalty humbled me.
I can’t fail them.
Rushing over to the communications matrix, I made my comm call.
A quarter-span later, impressive considering how quickly I achieved what I had, I skip-walked out of the lair.
I’d changed into a sleeveless, silver softsuit, and a white cloak woven from gossamer cloth with a deep hood to offer shade from the sun.
Both were cinched under my breasts by a gold belt to show off my belly bump.
My custom made, braided, thong sandals peeked out from under the ensemble.
Venomous gripped me with fierce tenderness then lowered me onto my seat.
He stopped to stare in the direction of the rolling, green dunes; the opposite direction of the city centre and towards the spaceport.
His face set with determination as he turned to me.
I clutched his fist with trembling fingers.
“Even if by Right of Might you earned me, it is because I love you that I claim you. I am now Rä’Na. There is no going back. You are mine to nurture. As you stand weak, let me be your strength.” My gaze bored into his. “Our survival is your responsibility, but it is my duty to honour your higher purpose. I revere you, protector of life, as is our way.” I swallowed, the future hanging by a thread. “Do you heed the words of your Rä’Na?”
Venomous’ chest caved, and his body quaked.
Hopping into the glider, he patted the back of the pilot seat. “Go.”
Releasing the breath he held, Cobra spared me an encouraging glance then took off.
“I comm called Fiercely,” Venomous said as we flew over glistening spires and flowering rooftops. “He is cross with you.”
Kissing my teeth, I hooked a finger around a curl of hair blown across my face to tuck it behind my ear.
“When is Fiercely not cross with me?” I leaned over to kiss the strain from his clenched jaw. I echoed words he’d told me time and time again. “All will be well.”
He touched the tips of his claws to my cheek. “It better be.”
We landed outside the Senate Quarter, and my mates helped me off with as much care as usual, but with quite a bit more haste, as a burgeoning crowd milled about near the haze.
The mass of bodies stretched as far back as I could see into the market square.
An enormous hologram of the debate happening inside the conclave projected just before the entrance.
“This Senate,” Dare Viper to Bite said in an imperious voice, “was elected to protect the Rä of Rök. That is what we must do.”
The agitated throng heckled agreement.
“She, Lumen of the Stars carries the blood of this world within her. She is Rä. At the behest of the Northern Senate, she partook in the bonding ceremony to make it so. She deserves protection the same as every other Rä’Na. If our leaders were not prepared to offer this, they should not have demanded the ceremony as proof of her allegiance.” Fiercely stood before the Elders, all alone, scowling and defiant. “You want to take away my Rä’Na? I surrender her only on the basis each male on Rök forfeits their female to the L’Odo tyrants as well.”
It took longer, but the crowd grumbled concurrence.
It wasn’t a well-liked opinion, but the populace recognised the unfairness of what the Great Senate asked, and the validity of what my mate said.
Dare Viper to Bite pushed onto his feet. “You are out of order!”
“I speak truth!”
“The sacrifice of your clan means we shall avoid war. How dare you put the needs of your clan above the want of our people! Many outweigh few. It is that simple.”
Fiercely was quiet, head lowered under the gravity of the statement.
His face lifted, determined. “Less than half of our world’s population is mated.”
“We are aware of this,” Dread the Darkness grumbled. “It is why each mating is celebrated with a festival.”
“We may not say it aloud, but we all know this is because we stopped mating with offworlders, and my mate–”
“Even if that opinion is proven as truth,” Dread the Darkness interrupted in a dangerous tone, “that is not relevant, and will not further your cause in any way.”
“Very well.” Fiercely’s eyes narrowed. “I put it to you, none of the a’Rä miss the touch of their mate. Wake each morning dying to once more feel the joy caused by something so small as a smile from them. This is because the a’Rä feel no urge to mate until they mature. At present, the need of my clan for our mate is greater than their collective, vague want. You cannot want what you have never had, as much as needing what you have lost.”
“Truth,” a Rä’Vek shouted in a pained rasp. “I am He, who is Widowed, Thorn like of Deadly Flowers.” He held up his arm so they could locate him. “He speaks truth. I lost my Rä’Na three solars past. Nothing comes close. Nothing. She eclipsed everything I, as an a’Rä, imagined she would be.”
Fiercely bowed his head in thanks. “There you have it. Confirmation from one who has experienced the loss my clan fears.”
Uncertain, Dare Viper to Bite angled his chin down. “What do you do? I do not understand what you hope to achieve here.”
“I am explaining why I dare place the need of my clan over the need of my people.” Fiercely shifted, awkward, realising his argument stood on shaky ground. “Rä’Veks are the strongest of us. We are strong as a species because we were born to a hostile environment, and even our Rä’Na are mighty warriors and hunters. We can survive for moontides in the wilderness without water if needs be. Lumen comes from a softer place. Her species evolved accordingly. She has no claws to fight with, no fangs to spit poison. Three rotations without water, and she will die. As of this moment, on the whole of Rök there is no physically weaker sentient being. Even the youngest of our offspring are physically stronger. She needs the protection of my clan, and the Great Senate more than any other Rä. Many may not want her to receive it, but that does not change the fact she needs it. It is a responsibility, no, an honour for the strong to protect those who are weaker. We do not sacrifice them like savages.”