Bought By The Zandians

by Renee Rose

  His eyes are not on me, though—they’re glued to my young, examining her. I hold her a little more tightly. My nerves are on high alert. If he tries to take this young from me… Well, I don’t know what I’ll do. But it won’t be pretty.

  “Dr. Daneth said she was born green. Now she’s purple.” He leans in closer. “She has purple eyes, too. By the stars.” He trails off and blinks. “It’s incredible.”

  I swallow and nod. “She is. Yes.” My voice sounds choked.

  “He said she has hardly any Akronain DNA left, and the gene segment for violence is entirely missing.”

  “I could tell.” I’m eager to explain. “I knew it, my lord. She told me that she was good and nice. She asked me to keep her safe.”

  “Yet you didn’t tell any being.”

  “How could I? Who would believe such a thing? I barely understood it myself.” I cuddle her in my arms. “But as time went on, I believed she was going to be kind and gentle. I just needed her to have a chance. I was scared to say the truth, because…”

  He meets my eyes with a shrewd regard. “Because you served an Akronian master. One of the most violent, feared, unstable species in the entire galaxy.”

  “I escaped to save my life and that of my unborn child.”

  “You didn’t tell my warriors you were already with young when they accepted you as a mate.”

  “I did not.”

  He waits, so I continue. “I’m sorry for the deception, but at the time, it seemed like my best chance for survival. And hers.” I nod at my child. “It will always hurt my heart that I deceived them and you, but I will not lie. I’d do it all over again if the situation were the same.”

  I stand. “I understand if you wish to send me away. I request that I be delivered to Jesel or another neutral territory. Please don’t sell me and my young as slaves.” I shudder, a cold trail runs down my spine.

  He frowns. “Your mates have forsaken you?”

  I bow my head. “Yes, my lord. I don’t think they will forgive me.”

  He regards me for a long moment. “They may not,” he agrees, and it seems that there is some compassion in his face. “You will need to ask them.”

  “I cannot.” I look down at my child. “They were not present for her birth. They do not wish to see me. They said as much.”

  The king stands from his great throne and paces away. “They are on a rescue mission, Danica. They didn’t know you were birthing the young.”

  “Oh.” Relief for a second, then my despair returns. “Even if they did know, our last words—they were not kind ones.” A tear comes to my eyes. “So, is it Jesel, then?”

  One time, it was all I wanted. Now, the idea of leaving Zandia tears me in pieces. But it’s my only option.

  “Is that your desire?” He turns to look at me.

  Surprise that he’s asking what I desire spikes. It’s definitely not what I desire, but it’s the only option I see. Why would I stay on Zandia if Benn and Gorde didn’t want me?

  “I’ll arrange a transport ship for you both, then, as soon as you’re cleared by Dr. Daneth for travel.

  “Dr. Daneth said I’m clear,” I lie. Because I can’t stand to stay here one more planet rotation.

  King Zander’s eyes narrow, like he knows I’m lying, but before I can bluster out more story, something flashes in my mind. A sound.

  I put a hand to my head, and grimace.

  “Danica?” The king steps closer, concern on his face. He waves a hand and one of the servants rushes forward to scoot the hoverchair beneath me.

  “No.” I shake my head, adjusting my baby with the other hand. She squirms, and suddenly she’s focusing along with me, the two of us. Listening. With her at my side, the noise is amplified and all at once I know what it is.

  “Gorde and Benn. Their ship? It’s in trouble. I can hear it.” I suck in my breath.

  “Danica, they’re still in the Ramban territory,” he says with a frown. “They won’t be back for hours yet. There’s no way you could hear anything. And,” he adds, “last check in, they were fine.”

  Bayla enters and he gestures her over. “Danica may be having some post-partum issues,” he says in an undertone. “Please, help her get back to the med bay for a check up and have Dr. Daneth notify me when she’s cleared for travel.”

  “You need to listen to me.” I raise my voice. “I sometimes hear things. Things I couldn’t before. I think it’s the effect of her.” I nod at my child. She gurgles as if agreeing with me.

  King Zander lifts his brows. “Precognition? Like my queen?”

  “No,” I snap, impatient.

  “Danica.” Bayla’s voice is calm. “You’re having a hallucination. We can help.”

  “It’s not a dream,” I stand. “I hear it. There’s something approaching them. You need to tell them.” I wince and squeeze my eyes shut as the sound happens again. “It’s a war ship, arming missiles.”

  “How do you even know that sound?” Bayla’s voice is doubtful, but the king watches me thoughtfully.

  I blink. “My old master enjoyed playing gory holos.” My voice is taut. “To terrify me. He’d tell me that if I didn’t get pregnant soon, he’d set me adrift in a dummy pod and tell the nearby ships that I was a free test target. Would play me all the fighter craft sounds and ask me which one I’d like to be the last sound I’d ever hear in this life. Make me recite them back to him by name if I wanted to avoid a beating. Trust me, I know the noise.”

  “Danica…”

  “It’s an S-class battler with long-range destroyX missiles,” I hurry to add. “Older, but quite effective. And cloaked. Favored by undercover Ocretion pirates.”

  King Zander frowns but raises an eyebrow. “That is, indeed, their preferred craft.”

  “Look, just communicate with them,” I beg. “If I’m wrong, no harm done. It will take just a second to check. But if I’m right…” I trail off. They may not be my mates anymore, but I couldn’t stand the thought of them dying. “One call. I’ll go back to the med bay and I won’t bother you again.”

  He hesitates, then turns to the guard beside him. “Make the call.”

  Chapter 15

  Gorde

  “What are you thinking about?” I turn to Benn, pretty sure I already know, from the expression on his face.

  “Danica.” He sighs. We’re silent for a minute, and the only sound is the faint thrum of our engine as we speed towards Zandia on our rescue craft.

  I glance over; the rescued human and her two young are fast asleep in the sleeping platform in the far alcove, a silvery flight blanket draped over them, but I lower my voice anyway. “Specifically?”

  “When I was talking to her”—he gestures to the human female—“Mikala, I realized we were too harsh with Danica. At least, I was too harsh.”

  I don’t reply. He continues, “I told Mikala there are all kinds of families in this galaxy.” A tendon twitches in his neck. “Maybe…we were too hasty to push Danica away. Perhaps the three of us could work, anyway.”

  “You’re saying you could accept another creature’s young?” My voice rises, even though I’ve been thinking the same thing.

  “Maybe.” He tilts his head.

  “You didn’t even want a human, to start,” I scoff. “Now you’re willing to add an Akronian to the mix?” But I think back to the pictures on that comms unit. That small face, the green arms, the smile. Danica’s smile. Something tightens in my chest. “Although I suppose it’s not really completely Akronian at this point. Right? It has her, too.”

  He nods. “It does. I mean, it didn’t look…completely unpleasant.”

  “No,” I’m quick to agree. “It was actually somewhat acceptable. For being green. And scaly.”

  “There was that one picture where it sort of had its mouth open, the way Danica does when she sleeps.” He laughs.

  “The one where its eyes were shut. Yes. That did look like Danica.” I smile, remembering how Danica sometimes snores—very lightl
y—and gets incredibly upset when we tease her about it.

  “And if anyone talked? I’d shut them up.” He raises his fists and growls.

  I nod. “If we accepted her and the young, the others surely would too.”

  “Why would it be a big issue?” He shrugs. “After all, it’s only one being out of many. Isn’t Zandia known for our honor, like we said? What’s more honorable than giving another little being a chance?”

  I smile, then it fades. “But she deceived us. And we have no idea what this creature will be like, in its personality.” My shoulders tense.

  “If it’s at all like her, it will be delightful. And we can shape it as it grows, to honor Zandia and everyone here. And we could have more young.” Benn’s voice is light. “There’s no reason we can’t have a whole swarm of Zandians, if she’s still fertile.”

  “True.” I glance over at Mikala again. Remember how she put herself in harm’s way to save her children without even a second thought. Like it was instinctive. Like breathing. That’s clearly how Danica feels about her young already. “Humans love their young with a strong power. And if Danica loves the next ones as much as she loves the first…”

  He nods. “Exactly. That’s the kind of mother we need for Zandian young.”

  I summon up her image in my mind. “She’ll probably deliver it soon. Her. The female young.” I remember Danica’s fear when we first talked to Dr. Daneth. “Do you think they’ll need to…cut her open? To take her out?” It makes me cold inside—in a way I’ve never felt in battle. Not even back on Hectan-3, fighting the Ocretions. I shudder.

  “I don’t know.” Benn’s voice is uncertain. “Dr. Daneth said that the Akronians use their claws to rip apart their mate to dispose of them. Perhaps she had thoughts about that?”

  “Veck.” I feel sick with guilt. “And we left her alone. We need to get back there to support her. No matter what happens, we must be by her side when she needs us.”

  “If she even still wants us. We left her alone and said awful things to her.” Benn’s voice is rough. “Maybe she’d prefer different mates, ones who are more considerate.”

  “She’s not having other mates!” I shout, then lower my voice when Mikala stirs and moans in her sleep. “There’s no way. We’re getting her back, Benn. I swear it.”

  “If we can.” He turns to the console. “What’s that?”

  “Incoming call from Zandia. Emergency frequency.” I grab the unit. “Gorde, Benn, go ahead.”

  “Check your perimeter.” Master Seke’s voice rings out into the area on speaker. “Ensure your masking is functional. Check for tails.”

  “On it.”

  Benn and I snap into action.

  “Nothing,” Benn reports, tension in his voice. “I did a 360 and there’s nothing within fifty l-segs. We’re clear.”

  “Check again.” Seke’s voice is insistent. “Use the newly installed surveillance technology.”

  When our commander orders, we obey, but I wrinkle my brow as my fingers fly across the console. “What am I looking for?”

  “An S-class battler with long-range destroyX missiles. Possibly cloaked with new tech and laser. As good as ours.”

  Benn pulls up the galaxy map and our ship blinks, a sole dot in a sea of black. “Still nothing.”

  Seke sighs. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

  “What intel did you have?”

  “Your mate claimed she could hear it.”

  “What?” Startled, I frown and raise my voice. “How?”

  “It’s complicated. I’ll debrief when you return.”

  I lean forward to glance at the screen. There’s something there, a ghostlike flash, just for a second. “Benn, what’s that?” I point.

  His voice rises. “Stars, it’s a ship. It’s an Ocretion battler. In attack position.”

  “This is neutral airspace.”

  “When do the Ocretion pirates care about that?” He grabs the control deck. “They’re ready to fire. Going into z-speed to avert. Hang tight.”

  Our ship lurches forward, and the AirPulse locks us into place as the relentless g-forces tug our bodies. Across the ship, Mikala and her young awaken and cry out, screams of fright, but there’s no time to console them. We just need to get away from this enemy ship—it’s ploddingly slow compared to our fightership, and once we’re a safe distance away, there’s no way they can catch up.

  “Veck!” I sink my arms onto my knees, heart pounding, sweat breaking out onto my forehead. “That was close.”

  “What’s happening?” Mikala calls out, one young in each arm. “Are we in danger?”

  “We were. Not anymore.” Benn goes over and sits on the edge of her sleeping platform. “Ocretion pirates tried to sneak up on us, but we saw them and space-jumped. They can’t catch up, or find our location now.”

  “Thank Mother Earth.” Her eyes flutter and she leans back. “I just want to be safe.”

  Danica’s words. For some reason, I feel her presence so strongly that I almost think she’s here. I close my eyes for a second and see her face.

  We’ve lost one Zandian today. We nearly lost a human and two Zandian children.

  I’ve had enough losses.

  We have to win Danica back.

  Chapter 16

  Benn

  “Where is she?” I stride up to Master Seke, the male who trained Gorde and I from a young age to be warriors. Now that Mikala and her young have been taken to medical support, I need to find my mate.

  “Slow down.” He holds up his hand and frowns. “We need to discuss this.”

  “I need to see her. We both do.” I gesture at Gorde, who’s right on my heels.

  Gorde adds, “We want to be there for the birth of the young. We need to see her.”

  Seke shakes his head. “She delivered the young last planet rotation. King Zander has her slated for transport to Jesel.”

  “What?” I shout, panic engulfing me. A spike of cold fear pierces me. Our vulnerable mate—sweet Danica—has been banished? It’s all our fault. Gorde and I, as her Zandian sponsors, abandoned her. Right when she needed us most. Now she’s gone through childbirth alone and is being sent away with a tiny infant and no being to protect her?

  Gorde is a thundercloud beside me. “Why?” he booms.

  Master Seke holds up a palm. “I understand she requested the deportation, herself.”

  Gorde and I go still. Ice cold washes over me.

  Oh Zandian star, how could we let this happen? We hurt her so badly she wants to leave. She’s running from us. Again.

  A punch of illness hits me when I realize how alone Danica must be. How afraid. And it’s no wonder she wants to leave. She just had an Akronian young. I told Danica we kill intruders. She probably promised to leave to prevent any harm from coming to her young.

  “Where is she?” Gorde asks at the same time I say, “We must see King Zander. She cannot be sent away.”

  At that moment, King Zander enters the dock. “Benn, Gorde, a word?” He points to the space in front of him and we rush over to stand at attention before our ruler.

  “You’ve forsaken your mate?”

  “No!” we both shout.

  “Forgive us, my lord. Yes, we did, but it was a mistake. We wish to remain mated. We will sponsor Danica. Please don’t send her or the young away.”

  King Zander considers us. He’s hard to read in the best of moments. In this one, I have no idea what he’s thinking. Finally, he says, “I will allow her and the young to remain on Zandia.” I heave a sigh. I know he has the capacity to do difficult, hard things for the good of Zandia. This could have gone the other way, if he thought it necessary.

  A huge wave of gratitude rolls over me. “Thank you, my lord.” I bow, relief making my voice shake.

  “The young must be observed for any signs of violence. Her asylum here is provisional.”

  We both bow. “Thank you, my lord.”

  “Go get your mate. She is in the med bay.”
/>   And as we stride out the door, I think I hear him mutter, “Every time, with the human mates. Every time it’s something.”

  Chapter 17

  Danica

  My daughter is restless for her fathers. I sense her thinking of them, because I get little flashes she sends to me of their voices. Each time, a sharp pang twists in my heart. How will I ever tell her that she can’t have them, know them…and it’s my fault?

  I soothe her by nursing and soon she falls asleep, a little curl of golden hair falling across her soft, pale purple face. Her long lashes flutter on her cheeks, and with her claws retracted, her tiny fingers are so sweet and perfect, although right now she has them fisted up by her head. She smells like fresh grass. I kiss her head. Mine.

  A rustle at the door has me looking up from my cot, and I gasp, because there they are: my mates. Benn. Gorde. Wearing their mission gear, stinking of sweat and adrenaline, faces lined with worry—and I’ve never found them more handsome.

  I stand, leaving the young covered with a soft blanket and step forward, my whole body intent on them. “You’re safe!” Tears come to my eyes, as relief and joy surge.

  “Of course we are.” Gorde strides forward and takes my hands in his, touches my face. “And you are, too. Thank the stars.” He acts to pull me to him, then hesitates. “You’re—please, sit down. You must need rest.” His jaw stains a deeper purple and his mouth twists. “We weren’t here for you.” His hands linger on me, running over my forearms, stroking. Like he can’t stop touching me. “I’m sorry.”

  Benn comes forward too. “It was you who told King Zander to warn us.” He touches my hair, winds it into his fingers. There’s wonder in his voice. “You heard the pirate ship coming.”

  I nod, look at the baby, back at him “Yes.” I sit down on the edge of the sleepdisk and touch her back, softly, as she sleeps. “Well, both of us.” I look at her soft blonde hair covering her little face.

  “You saved us from an attack.” Gorde’s voice is low and gravelly. “Our ship is strong, and we could have fought and won. But you prevented us from taking damage. Amazing.”