by Seven Steps
He walked back to the bed, took off the sheet, and stuffed that in his bag too.
It’s time to go.
Quietly opening the door, and just as quietly shutting it behind him, he looked left, then right. To his surprise, between him and the front door, the light to the sitting room was on.
Is she still awake? I thought for sure the wine would have knocked her out.
He thought about retreating into his quarters, but dismissed it.
This may be my one chance. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
He placed his packed bag on the floor, and crept forward towards the brightly lit sitting room. The voices of reporters grew louder as he approached.
He peeked in. Although the lights were on, and the news feed blared, Eva was nowhere to be found.
He stood in the doorway.
“Screen off,” he said.
The screen blanked.
Where is she?
He walked closer to the sofa and looked down.
Eva was stretched out and softly snoring. Strands of golden curls had pulled free from her bun. Her jumpsuit was slightly unzipped at the neck, revealing the creamy skin of her throat. Her boots were off, her toes curled into the sofa.
He couldn’t help but smile at the sight she made.
So beautiful.
Her blanket had fallen to the floor next to her. He thought for a moment to recover it.
Don’t. You must leave for Mahala now.
Although his mind prompted him to go, his eyes refused to be ripped away from the vision of Eva sleeping so soundly before him. His heart seemed to grow in his chest, and, of its own will, his hand moved to run a finger down her cheek.
No.
Inwardly swearing, he walked back down the hall, grabbed his bag, and headed to the front door.
His hand had just touched it before he froze, his eyes turning back to the sitting room.
He let out a sharp sigh, cursed again, dropped his bag, and turned around.
I can’t just leave her there.
He moved to the front of the sofa, scooped her up, and carried her to her bedroom.
Her skin was satiny soft to the touch. His body tightened at the feel of her in his arms. He quickened his steps.
She smelled of the roses that bloomed near the library, the same roses that grew around the house now. He wondered if they would have roses in Mahala. The thought that they might not saddened him.
He reached the door, his neck beginning to perspire. She was hot, like his own personal fire. Her head rolled to his chest, and her sleep became quieter.
He used his hip to bump open the door, and stood in front of her bed, staring at the disarray of pillows and sheets. He hugged her to him, soaking in the feel of her.
In her slumber, she placed a hand on his chest, and sighed.
With more reluctance then he cared to admit, he laid her down onto the bed. Quickly, he took down her bun, allowing the gold hair to create a halo around her, before pulling the blanket up to her neck.
She rolled away from him.
His body felt cold with the loss of her heat, and, at that moment, he would have given anything to have it back.
Impossible, he thought. She’s my master.
He turned back to the door, and quickly made his way out.
Don’t get distracted. She’ll never turn Rogue for you. Besides, you have to get to Mahala. You have to be free.
He plodded towards the door, each step away from her feeling heavier and heavier.
The smell of roses seemed to saturate into his skin. He knew that he would never forget that smell, no matter how hard he tried. It smelled like the only woman who had ever stirred him. The only woman he was ever sad to leave.
The thought crushed him.
Picking up his bag, and berating himself with every swear that he’d ever heard, he walked back to his quarters.
Coldness overtook him as he fell into his bed.
He pulled the blanket up to his chin, and curled his body around a pillow. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wished it was Eva.
Chapter 12
Nadira’s day was coming to a close, and she now found herself sitting outside of Czarina Arees’ office, fighting the urge to comm Kiln and tell him the good news about her proposal.
“Empress Nadira.”
Nadira turned to see Empress Baleen approaching her.
“Empress Baleen. May your mother be well.”
“And yours. I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your presentation today.” Dark skinned with close cropped hair, Baleen possessed a powerful body, as if she’d had a life of hard labor instead of a life of ease. Her lips were a deep violet, the color coming alive against her skin.
“Thank you,” Nadira gasped She stood and moved to shake the woman’s hand. “I must say it’s an honor to work besides you.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I want you to know that you have my vote for Leader of High Council.”
Baleen smiled broadly. “Thank you Nadira. That means a lot to me. If I’m elected, be assured that I’ll be keeping my eye on you, and not in a bad way.”
Nadira blushed.
“Well, I’m heading back to Beta. Good night.”
“You’re not staying in the Residential with the rest of the Councilwoman?”
Baleen shook her head. “I find that after a long day of arguing with my fellow constituents, there is nothing better than my own bed, a cup of wine, and clean Beta air.”
“Beta air is not clean,” came a voice. “That’s all in your backwards mind.”
They turned to find Arees walking towards them.
“Arees, we meet again,” Baleen said.
“That we do, Baleen. And thank you for all of the magnificent questions this morning about my new law. They really served to clarify some of the finer points.”
“Happy to hear it, seeing as how that law will be repealed very soon.”
“You talk as if you have some special insights. Care to share?”
“I’m working on things.”
“I’ll bet you are. But for the record, what the Leader of High Council, or their acting designate, has put into place cannot be repealed except by a fifty one percent vote against it. I doubt you have that kind of pull.” Arees smirked. “How is that investigation into the whereabouts of Mahala going?”
“We’re looking into it.”
“I’m sure.”
“And what about the committee that Drell tasked you with? You know, the one investigating corruption and bribes being passed between members of High Council. Got any leads?”
“I’m looking into it.”
“I’m sure you are.”
The women stared at each other for a long time before Baleen blinked.
“Well, I should be going. Nadira, I wish you good night,” she said. “And Arees, I wish you well on your campaign.”
“I should do the same Baleen. You’re going to need it.” Arees quickly shifted her gaze to Nadira. “Empress Nadira, please come in. We have much to discuss.”
Nadira stood, waved apologetically at Baleen, and entered Arees’ office. The door shut quietly behind them.
Arees waved her to a chair in front of her desk. “Please.”
Nadira sat in a white chair covered in some sort of fur as Arees leaned on the corner of the desk.
“Empress Nadira, I first want to congratulate you on your proposal moving into discovery. It was well thought out, carefully written, and nicely presented.”
“Thank you, Czarina.”
“Unfortunately, I am requesting that you pull it.”
“What?”
“The proposal is divisive. We don’t need it right now, not with the new slave law that passed today.”
“But, it’s forward thinking, it’s innovative-”
“May I speak freely?”
“Yes.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t help but think that this is a ploy to free your sl
ave.”
“What? No? We discussed that.”
“You have to admit, that’s how it sounds.”
“I am looking out for the best interest of our planet.”
Arees paused, stood, moved behind her desk.
“I’m sorry. I can’t let this proposal go to vote.”
“But Arees-”
“I’m sorry, Nadira. I just can’t.”
Nadira bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling.
I was so close.
With a heavy heart she stood and walked to the door.
“Well,” Arees said. “Perhaps there is something.”
Hope sprung within Nadira’s chest. She turned back to Arees.
“Nadira, I have been serving the highest Council on the planet for nine long years. I have powerful friends here. Perhaps I can get your proposal to push through discovery and go to vote. If...”
“If what?”
“If I can count on your vote to elect me as Council Leader.”
Nadira paused, shocked. “That’s illegal.”
“Well, aren’t you well read. Especially for someone with four slave infractions already on her record.”
Nadira froze, glared at the woman.
Arees sat in the chair behind her desk. She sighed dramatically. “Well, I suppose our business here is done. It’s a shame really. I was looking forward to working with you.”
“Czarina Arees, with all due respect, I can’t vote for you. My vote is for Empress Baleen. She’s kind and smart and forward thinking.”
“It makes sense. She’s half rogue and so are you.”
“I-”
“Come on Nadira. Use your head for once! Do you really think that Baleen will beat me out in the vote? No one will follow a woman from Habitat Beta. They’re simple minded, backwards people. They live in a forest, for Venus sake.”
“I would follow her.”
“And that’s why you will never go far in this Council. A war is coming, dear. Decide who you would rather have as your captain in this battle. Me, or Baleen.”
A war?
“You’re young,” Arees continued, “You don’t know the ways of High Council yet. It’s simple really. Endorse me for Council Leader, and your silly bill will pass every obstacle. Go against me, and you and your slave lover will stay in hiding forever, that is, if I decide to keep your little secret.”
Nadira squared her shoulders. “Czarina Arees, I will not vote for you.”
Arees swiveled her chair to face the wall. On it was a picture of her mother.
“You are dismissed.”
Nadira grabbed her touch screen and stomped out of the room.
“And Nadira?”
Nadira turned around.
“I’ll give you an hour or two to think it over. Think of your mother. You wouldn’t want to shame the Great Ambassador, would you?”
Nadira’s heart stopped.
Mother.
She turned.
She ran.
Chapter 13
Nadira hurled a boot across her bedroom.
“She threatened my mother! She threatened us!”
“Naddie, just endorse her,” Kiln said, his large frame weighing down the mattress. “You don’t want to cross Arees. If she’s anything like her mother it could be dangerous.”
“That’s what my mother said.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes. I had to drop off a letter to her before I came home. She said the same thing, ‘just vote for Arees’. I will not be bullied!”
“What if Arees drops your bill?”
“Then I’ll write another one.”
“Naddie-”
“I’m doing this for you, for us.”
Kiln’s shook his head. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Kiln, I want you to be free.”
“I understand that, but I’m happy here. I’m happy with you.”
“Don’t you ever wonder what it’s like not to take orders from anyone? To not be afraid? To have something of your own?”
Kiln sighed. “Sometimes.”
“The way to achieve that is through this bill. First, I’ll free you. Then, I’ll make sure you get equal rights.” She grabbed his hands. “Don’t you see? This bill is the key to us being together.”
Kiln shook his head in disbelief. “Do you really think you can do all that?” he asked.
“I will see this bill passed, and then we can be together, and no one will ever take that away.”
She kissed him gently, felt some of the tension leave his body.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay?”
“Yes, okay. Don’t vote for Arees. Stick to what you think is right. I believe in you.”
She let out a breath.“Thank you, Kiln.”
He touched his forehead to hers.
“I got the job volunteering at the school today,” he said.
“That’s great. The boys will really learn a lot from you.”
“I hope so. It’s hard to teach them the skills they’ll need in life, knowing that they may not live to see manhood. What if they get a terrible Empress? What if they die in the streets of the Square?”
“Kiln, you have to be positive for their sakes.”
“It’s hard. It’s so much harder here. I saw a man die today. He was in the Square, and they dragged him out and shot him in the head. The worst part is that no one flinched, no one cared. The Enforcers left him there, like he was garbage. People walked past him, stepped over him, as if he were nothing.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Would you have stopped if you saw him?” Kiln asked.
“Of course,” Nadira said. “I would have done more than stop. I would have tried to do something.”
“Even if the other members of High Council were there? Even if your mother were there to see?”
“Kiln, I stood in front of a room of Councilwomen today and tried to free you. Please, don’t doubt me now.”
Kiln let out a breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just don’t understand why our world is like this. What did men do that was so bad that we have to be treated this way?”
“You mean besides raping Roe, selling yourselves into slavery to Marie Lou, and attempting to assassinate-”
“Besides all that.”
“Kiln, don’t let the Residential get you down. We’re going to change things.”
“For the sake of that man, I hope so.”
They laid down, wrapped in an embrace that had no beginning and no end.
*****
Sleep had just began to call when screams drifted through the walls.
Glass breaking.
Shouting.
Kiln jumped up, went to the window. A mob of men was in flight, running down the street.
“Nadira, go to the slave quarters, now.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Lock yourself in the closet. Don’t open the door unless you hear my voice. Go!”
Nadira fled to the slave quarters, leaving Kiln to check the locks on the windows and doors alone.
She ran past the bed and into the supply closet next to the kitchen. Locking the door from the inside, she sat on the cool, wooden floor, and waited.
As she hugged her knees in the dark, she could just make out the shapes of shelves of medical supplies on her left, and cleaning supplies on her right. Behind her hung brooms and mops. She thought about turning on the light above her. She ruled against it.
Better to stay in the dark, she reasoned.
A strange voice crept through the walls. “Hey, over here.” It was a man. His voice sounded strained, like he hadn’t had a drink of water in quite some time.
Heart seizing, Nadira shuffled deeper into the closet, the mops sticking into her back.
“Is this the house?” Said another voice. This one was lighter, as if spoken by a boy who hadn’t yet matured into manhood.
The first voice spoke again.
“They said seven, didn’t they?”
Her breath froze in her lungs. She snatched the broom off the wall.
If they’re going to attack, I’ll be ready.
She looked over the dark outline of the broom, her confidence in her new weapon fading.
Someone tested the lock on the back door.
Boom! Someone kicked it.
Heavy footsteps passed by the closet.
“Hey!” she heard Kiln shout.
There was a click as the back door opened. The sound of a scuffle, grunts, flesh against flesh.
Someone cried out. A body landed against the back door with a thump. Another grunt.
A pop. A snap.
Feet shuffled through the origgrow, as if someone was running.
The back door opened. It shut again.
Nadira braced herself.
This is it.
She stood, the broom hovering above her shoulder like a batter ready to swing.
A knock.
“Naddie, it’s me.”
Kiln!
She let out a breath, dropped the broom, unlocked the door, and threw herself into his arms.
“Kiln, thank the Mother Goddess you’re safe.”
He carried her back into the closet -careful to step over the dropped broom- and locked the door again. She remained in his arms as they dropped to the floor, the mops rattling behind them.
“What’s going on out there?”
“The slaves are rioting. It looks like they’re heading towards High Council.”
“A slave riot?” Nadira asked. “Do you recognize any of them?”
“No.”
“What about the ones outback?”
“I took care of them.”
“But what do we do now? What if they come back?”
“I doubt those two are coming back.”
“How can you be sure?”
“One’s dead, the other one ran off.”
“Dead?”
She put both hands on Kiln’s face, felt the bruises beginning to swell there.
“You killed him?” she asked.
He stilled. “He would have killed you.”
She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck.
A man was dead, and Kiln was the culprit. The thought of her beloved murdering someone revolted her, even if it was to defend her and their home. And yet, in some strange part of her, she felt a thrill. He protected her against two men. With Kiln by her side, nothing on Venus could ever harm her. He said once that the Mother Goddess herself couldn’t keep him from her. She was starting to think that he was right.