“I’m not what you think, Angel. Nothing is as it seems. Especially not you. When it’s all said and done, if we survive this mess, I doubt you’ll be pledging yourself to me.” He pulled his hands out of my grasp and led me to the door of his room. “Go tend your Prince. He needs you more than I do and I can’t … I can’t deal with this, with you. I need to breathe and think.”
He pushed me out the door of his room and out of his life. My chest burned as though Cesar had gouged my heart out with his bare hands. I had nowhere to go in the palace, in the galaxy. The center of my existence was gone. I roamed the corridors, blinded by tears, lost and broken beyond repair.
* * * *
Chapter 13
I wandered into Rollick’s room to find him still asleep in recovery. His guards watched me like I was a diseased, crazy bitch they’d never turn their backs on again. I had no idea what protocols I violated when I stepped into the middle of Rollick’s duel, but something had changed. The Emperor was nowhere to be seen, and Lenka had disappeared too. Rollick’s doctors begrudgingly tolerated my presence in the room.
I felt like a stain on the floor, something unclean everyone stepped around to avoid. My heart and soul shredded, I considered thoughts of suicide. I did not belong anywhere, with anyone, so I went to the only creature who accepted me for what I was, Chilla. She lived at the plaza, the red light district of the Gran, the concubines’ quarters.
It was a strip club of sorts, with seating and tables, and naked females dancing atop a raised platform. A few males sat at low couches, attended by brightly striped females wearing absolutely nothing. All the concubines had brilliant colors dyed in their stripes, and hairless scars on their hips from where they’d been marked by males high on amixa.
Two males eyed me, and whispered to each other. One of them spoke into his wristcom in low growls I couldn’t make out. These Traders watched me with wary looks. Killing Captain Cronin and two of his Warriors had made me distinctly unpopular among the Traders Guild.
A yellow-striped female recognized me from the last time I’d visited and led me through the back room corridors to Chilla. My friend lounged in a mineral bath, purring with contentment.
I’d never seen an actual pool before. In space, water was a highly prized commodity. No one had baths or pools, not like in holovids of Earthside. I had no idea the Cats actually bathed in water tubs.
Her eyes squinted in pleasure, Chilla purred. “Join me, Angel. The water is wonderful, you’ll love it.”
Moving in a daze, incapable of finding any coherent thought apart from the pain of losing Cesar, I stripped and slid into the steaming hot bath. I gasped at the bubbles shooting across my ass and thighs. Little jets sprayed hot water and air all over my body – a marvelous sensation, a relaxing, erotic massage.
“I’m moving in with you. I want this every day.” I melted into the heat and soothing bubbles. The peaceful relaxation of the pool was exactly what I needed in that moment.
Chilla giggled and dunked her head, then came up from the water. She looked different with her fur wet and matted down – thinner, more sleek. She had changed her color striping to an eye-stopping blue. I almost didn’t recognize her.
A commotion in the hallway drew my attention. Three massive Warriors busted open the door and barged into our room. One Cat I knew from Cronin’s gang of Warriors. “That is her.” He pointed his claws at me as if there was another naked human in the room I might be mistaken for.
The other Cat lit up his gauntlet and leveled it at me. “Angel, ward of the esteemed Captain Cronin, you have been accused of murdering your Warden and his Guild Warriors. These Warriors will escort you to the tribunal.”
Two of the hulking Cats snatched me by my arms and yanked me out of the bath. In seconds I was dragged down the halls and out into the street. Wet, naked, cussing up a storm, they didn’t give a shit about my clothing or my nudity, and they were not stopping to let me get dressed. It was all I could do to jog fast enough to keep up with their rapid strides carrying me through the paths and hallways of the palace station.
Cats stood gawking from their doorways, and in the halls. They watched me with hate and suspicion as I was dragged to what I assumed was an execution. I had never felt so shamed, so humiliated. After what seemed like hours of marching me through corridor after corridor, my feet scraped and bloodied from being jerked across rough stones and tiles, we reached the inner sanctum of the Traders Guild. The Traders controlled a section of the palace station that housed the officers and Warriors of the Guild. This was where they held their meetings and tribunals.
I was brought into a large room ringed by several rows of seating around a raised central platform. The Warriors shoved me up onto the platform and a light humming noise kicked on. The room became shimmery, as if I was looking through a strange lens. I reached out and yelped as my fingers were singed by an energy field. If I’d been less careful, I could have lost digits. I pulled my hand back shy a layer of skin off the tips of my left fingers.
I spun to find the same shimmery energy all around me. I was naked in a prison with deadly walls.
A few of the Cats chuckled at me, while looking my flesh up and down like I was their next meal, or perhaps they had something else in mind. Perverts with their fucking monstrous cocks.
Several Cats marched into the center of the room and stood in front of my platform. I recognized the Emperor’s guards, those who’d been present for Rollick’s duel. Witnesses to testify against me.
But this was not an Earthside trial with defendant’s rights, constitutional rights and defense attorneys. This was a bunch of Cats who’d watched me slaughter three Warriors, and probably hated me to begin with. I was fucked from the moment I picked up the Emperor’s gauntlet. Didn’t matter I was defending the Prince, or that I fought three to one and still bested them.
I was going to die naked, alone, and hated by all.
They pulled Cesar and his men into the room under the guard of several massive Warriors and my humiliation was complete. Chancy looked at me as if I was finally getting what I deserved. Azad couldn’t stand to look at me at all.
Cesar balked. “Angel, what the fuck is going on? What are they doing?”
I shook my head at Cesar as two Warriors snapped in his direction, barking at him to be silent.
I caught his eyes and saw into his soul. He was afraid, for me. He still cared. Though I might be an abomination of science created in a lab, and I’d lied to him for months, he still cared. My heart warmed to see the concern and fear on his face.
“I’m in trouble, Cesar. Don’t move, don’t do anything aggressive. You have done enough for me already. Don’t risk yourself and your men any further.”
Chancy’s expression narrowed in suspicion, Azad nodded at me in acceptance, but Cesar’s eyes held such intensity of emotion. I wished he loved me as before. I wished I could face my death and know my life had meaning because Cesar loved me, the real me, with all my shameful secrets laid bare.
A fatcat, probably one of the Traders Guild Elders, started speaking to the crowd, pointing at me, pointing at the witnesses, making accusations that were more or less true. After a few minutes of his growl-click-hissing list of my crimes, one of which included being born on Nugene, a genetically altered monster, the palace guard Warriors were called upon to make their individual testimonies.
Each guard confirmed that yes, I did steal the Emperor’s weapon, one of the finest gauntlets ever crafted, handed down for centuries from Emperor to Emperor. I defiled the sacred weapon by taking the lives of three fine, upstanding Warriors. And I committed the unspeakable act of attacking Captain Cronin’s precious family jewels – a crime so vile they couldn’t find the words to describe my evil.
Never mind the fact Cronin had slapped his monster cock all over my body countless times and rubbed me raw with the damn thing. Never mind the fact he’d sprayed come all over me repeatedly, like one of those freaky Japanese Bukkake holovids.
What bothered them was that I’d cut Cronin’s dick off and sliced open his ballsack like a ripe peach. The males were traumatized by my crime and needed Cat counseling sessions to get rid of the horrible nightmares. One of them grabbed his crotch with a pained look on his face. He’d been suffering impotence since witnessing what I did to Cronin.
This dragged on for a time, and I couldn’t force myself to listen anymore. I watched Cesar. His frustration was evident. He listened to Chancy whispering and frowned, probably a joke at my expense.
Cesar looked up, caught my eye and held my gaze for what seemed an eternity. Though I had ruined our love with lies, I felt a touch of the old Cesar, the man who whispered promises, the man who had crossed a galaxy to save me. I prayed to the universe. I prayed for his happiness, that he might find someone who meant as much to him as he meant to me.
I reached out to him with my eyes, my heart and soul. I tried to let him know how much I loved him, how much I wished we could be together, how much I cherished the short time we enjoyed. Nothing else mattered anymore.
I was already dead. These formalities justified my pending execution.
Then the Emperor, his wife, and Lenka walked into the room with Chilla at their side and added new dimension to my humiliation. Now I could die knowing most everyone I cared about would watch my execution. I wished they’d given me a knife so I could end it myself, one last act of free will and defiance. I considered leaping into the deadly energy field surrounding me.
With my luck I’d probably survive a foolish attempt at suicide and get executed anyway.
* * * *
Chapter 14
The tone in the room altered with the presence of the royal family. My fatcat accuser deferred to the Emperor. His Highness strode to my platform and eyed the witnesses, then turned to me. He was so tall, from his lower position he almost lined up with me face to face. I detected a strange gleam of emotion in his vertical slit Cat eyes. He hadn’t spoken a word to me since the duel, and I had no idea where I stood with him.
His gaze held me with such ferocity I suddenly needed to empty my bladder. Before I wet myself in front of all Catdom, he growled loud enough for everyone to hear. “Angel was a guest in my home. I believed she was amenable to my family and my son, Prince Rollick. When she nearly died saving the Prince’s life, I believed I could trust her in the presence of my children. When she was severely injured by the Prince in his moment of weakness and made no complaint or claim against him, I believed she was a true friend. When Prince Rollick challenged Captain Cronin on behalf of Angel, to secure her freedom from the Captain, I thought this friendship had gone too far.”
I swallowed and fought against the need to defer to the Emperor’s piercing eyes. If I was to die, I had no intention of playing submissive. Never again. Nervous under his unerring scrutiny, I tried not to fidget and cover my nudity.
After a pregnant pause, the Emperor continued his speech. “When my son fell beneath the blade of Captain Cronin and faced death, I was bound by law, helpless to prevent the loss of the Prince’s life. I faced the end of my line, the end of the reign of Grandrock, a family that has ruled the Allied Federation of the Gran for three hundred cycles. Then this creature, Angel, whom I called friend, picked up my weapon and faced three veteran Warriors in defense of my son, your Prince, the future ruler of our Colonies.”
Trying hard to keep a smile off my face, I watched this crafty Cat turn to the crowd, working them with his emotionally evocative words. “What crime has she committed, she who knew nothing of our laws, who has no education in our traditions and customs? She utilized the nearest weapon to defend her friend from death. She selflessly risked her life for the Prince. In light of these facts, how can she be judged a criminal?”
The accuser sucked in his fat gut and faced my defender, the Emperor. “Your words are ever wise counsel, honorable Emperor. Yet, our laws have been the subject of debate since the earliest days of society. These laws protect us, guide us, keep us on the path to greatness. Without laws, the Gran would be lost to our baser instincts. The Prince invoked law to his favor when he challenged the Captain for his ward, Angel. Cronin was the rightful warden of this creature, had acquired Angel lawfully via our treaty with the humans. The law gave Cronin his right to Angel, and the law gave Prince Rollick right to challenge Cronin. To die under the law was also the Prince’s right. We shall never know the lawful outcome of their duel, because this unnatural creature violated our laws and made a mockery of our honorable Warriors who defended Cronin from the horrid desecration she visited upon his body.”
Damn. Cats were especially touchy about the ole cock and balls.
“Her vile actions bring shame upon the Warriors she defiled, and leave our Prince the unwitting beneficiary of a dishonorable victory. A sad day for all. As our Emperor stated, this unnatural creature does not know or understand our laws. Her crimes prove she does not act with honor among the Gran. For this reason, she should be judged and killed, before she commits further disgrace to the royal family, or a new warden burdened with the responsibility of her care.”
A movement at the door caught my attention. A lone figure strode through the entry and stood tall and proud. Glaring at my fatcat accuser with his intense yellow eyes, Rollick moved forward slow and deliberate. Although I could see pain hindered him, he used his gradual procession as an attention-grabbing entrance. The Prince and future Emperor knew how to play to a crowd, a skill he must have learned from his father.
Rollick stopped a few feet from my platform and nodded to his father, then faced my accuser eye to eye. He held a small device in his hand, some kind of communications thing. “I have been listening to this mockery of justice as I struggled to make my way here before it was too late. This tribunal involves me, my family, and those I care about.” Rollick’s eyes flicked up to me, then back to the fatcat. “Though Angel’s actions are questioned, her motives were true. Twice she has saved my life. Three times she has taken serious injury on my behalf. There is no one in the Allied Federation who has shown more loyalty and respect to me than Angel.”
He flicked off the switch to my force field and the energy surrounding me dissipated. He reached out and stroked my bare leg, almost an absent-minded fondle. It felt so good to see him here, to feel his comforting touch. A hard lump developed in my throat at the power of the Royal family’s defense of my actions. Though I did not always understand them, they were my best supporters, the closest I had to a family.
Rollick looked to the crowd encircling us, and his gaze rested upon Cesar. “Here before you stands a female stolen from her home on the other side of the galaxy – stolen by Captain Cronin, under the guise of law. The Captain took Angel illegally, at threat of force, then coerced her to perform deviant acts as his concubine. She did not choose to be with Cronin, she did not agree to serve him and was never compensated. Not only did Cronin violate all our laws of fair treatment of females, he also took Angel from her mate, Cesar. This human male has crossed the entire galaxy to barter for Angel’s life. Because of Cronin’s crimes against Angel, her mate, Cesar, has mistakenly assumed the Gran buy and sell females like property.”
Several males stood up from their seats in protest. The fatcat shushed the crowd and addressed Rollick. “She is not of the Gran. Our laws regarding females do not apply to her. She was created in the laboratories of Nugene, and thus a product, a saleable commodity, no different from the workers supplied by Nugene. Her gender is irrelevant. Our laws do not apply to her benefit.”
The Emperor growled low. “You accuse her under our laws and yet deny her the protections of the same laws. Does the law apply or not? Both arguments cannot stand. If the law applies and she is punishable, then Cronin’s crimes against her are also punishable by law. By his crimes, her actions are essentially justified. Cronin wronged Angel, and she repaid his crimes.”
The crowd hushed to silence.
The Emperor continued with a chuckle. “If she is not covered under our laws, then
she cannot be punished when she breaks law that has no hold over her. In either case, this debate is meaningless. I move this council free Angel of her ward under the Gran.” The Emperor glanced at his son, then looked at me. “Let her go with her people, with her mate who awaits her.” The Emperor nodded towards Cesar who nodded in return, obviously clueless to the full implications of the moment. Even if by some miracle I could escape this situation, Cesar would never mate me.
I couldn’t keep the tears from my eyes. These wonderful Cats were doing everything in their power to set me free. I truly loved the Emperor and his family. They had shown me more kindness, respect, and understanding than anyone else in my life.
The fatcat heaved in a great breath. He wasn’t finished. “With respect, Emperor, there is no evidence to Prince Rollick’s claim that Cronin acted wrongly as warden to Angel. The only facts to consider are Angel’s crimes, the Warriors she defiled, and her vile acts. Need I remind you no respectable Gran female would take up weapons against a male? It is unheard of. This female, demonstrated by her nature, is abhorrent to Gran society – a violent, psychotic creature with no respect for the brave Warriors who give loving care to their females.”
I could have puked in his face. There was no loving care in the way Cronin treated concubines. The fatcat proved something I hadn’t fully understood until that moment – Gran society was built on patriarchal, misogynistic principles. Herein lay the problem the Emperor faced. He was a progressive male who believed in the value of females, in their rights, in their capacity for greatness. He treated his wife with the utmost respect and held her opinions in high regard. But the majority of the Gran were not like him.
He fought a war of ideology against centuries of entrenched beliefs. My pending execution now became a pitched battle in the Emperor’s war.
Angel 6.0: Pursuit Page 7