by Corin Cain
War.
If the Toad King doesn’t hand over Lord Qavar and pin the smuggling operation on those two Toad Lords – as an individual, unsanctioned act – it won’t just be the Separatists facing off against the Aurelian Empire.
The entire universe will be plunged into war.
The Planet-Killers will come out of storage.
Trillions will die.
I’m witnessing history in the making – but all I want is for the universe to forget.
Not forget the treachery, or the bloodshed. Just to forget the four of us.
All I want is to find my safety and build my own life.
Down below, Lord Oblog turns, falling to his knees and beating at the sand. He’d appeared so strong when he’d bought and sold helpless human women. He’d seemed so strong when he’d ordered us to be sold to the Bullfrogs.
Queen Jasmine motions to me. The Elite grunts behind me. The stone walkway between us is certain under my feet. I walk to her, grateful, but her eyes are expressionless.
“I am not a fool.”
Those are the words she greets me with. Her voice is normal now, not amplified to greet the crowds. She’s speaking to me, and me alone.
“I know what your triad did.” She shakes her head. “Fools! Fools that I should make an example of.”
Her voice is like ice. She’s a formidable creature, and I was foolish to ever think she was a pawn of the Aurelians. If anything, it’s the other way around.
“You’re lucky that the Bond is too precious to be wasted,” Jasmine says coldly. “Those men of yours were naïve. I hope you have more sense than they do.”
I nod fervently.
“I’m entrusting you to raise Aurelian sons less foolish than their fathers.”
Raise them?
She’ll let us be together.
As if reading my mind, Jasmine nods.
“But your triad will not be honored here. You are henceforth banished from Colossus, and the Aurelian Empire. You will go to that hidden place your triad thinks is so far from war, and there you will raise your triad’s sons.”
She sighs then, deep and earnest. I see the weight she carries on her shoulders. She may have the face of a woman in her mid-twenties, but she has been through horrors I can only imagine.
She’s had the entire Aurelian Empire on her shoulders for hundreds of years – navigating the rivalry between Separatists, while negotiating with the other species for centuries.
“You will bear sons that will repopulate the Aurelian nation,” Jasmine continues. “To fill the places when our men are cut down – and they will be.”
I shudder.
“We will win this war,” Jasmine intones, “but only if there are enough of us left…”
Then, she looks away from the pitiful Toad grovelling on the ground below us.
I watch, transfixed, as Marcel walks up to him. Quint and Lucius stay in the middle of the Arena, watching their leader approach Oblog like a wolf stalking an injured calf.
“I take no joy in this. It is only justice.”
I turn away from Queen Jasmine, focusing on the spectacle down below. She may not take joy – but I will have deep satisfaction in seeing the sadistic fucker executed for his crimes. Lord Oblog has been responsible for enslaving and killing thousands of women.
As I watch Marcel approach him, it’s as if I can feel Ling standing beside me, looking down at him with cold justice in her eyes.
Marcel grabs Oblog’s arm, dragging him into the center to the Arena.
My three men look down at him. He screams, pleading, hitting his wet hands against the dry sand.
My triad looks up at me.
I nod.
Their Orb-Blades activate as one. Oblog’s scream reaches a crescendo.
Then, all three blades slide into his cursed heart.
The screams turn into a hissing gurgle as the Toad Lord falls to the ground.
His crown rolls across the sand.
The crowd cheers in triumph.
As thousands of Aurelians cheer in bloodlust, Jasmine stands and turns. I watch her walk away from the spectacle down below – the weight of the universe on her shoulders.
17
Paradise.
The artificial atmosphere of Atlantis is a bubble protecting us from the endless void of space.
Clouds move lazily in the artificial sky, created by the bio-forming machines that created cycles of weather just like those on Old Earth.
This artificial planet is three times the size of Old Earth’s moon. It is empty now – except for the four other triads that banded together to build it. They made a partnership in the 100 years of service, and each triad has done whatever it took to earn and build the hidden home.
Those four triads of Aurelian men look at us with jealousy. All of them ache to find their Fated Mate, like my triad has done, and bring her here. Instead, they’re in self-exile, earning money to bolster the defenses of this haven.
I feel safe here. With the resources we’ve used to build protection for Atlantis, we’d be a tough nut to crack – and there’s not enough meat here to justify it.
A huge planet – empty.
Empty until I have my triad’s son, that is.
My breasts are sensitive, already growing larger and larger. From what I’ve seen of Jasmine’s pregnancies, they’ll swell up hugely - filled with nutrient-thick milk for the hungry Aurelian babe growing in my belly.
I offered to let Tessa come here, but she chose to stay on X12. She wanted to be with the last of her family, not believing me when I told her that even a planet deep in the Human Alliance won’t be safe when the storm comes.
And the storm is coming. What I witnessed on Colossus showed me that.
But I’m no longer on Colossus. I’m here, and it’s paradise.
All around me, birds chirp and critters scurry around. The planet teems with the animals brought here to populate this world.
Paradise – exactly what I wanted.
I wanted a place to hide away from everything and disappear.
“You’re troubled.”
Quint cocks his head questioningly as he joined me in the sunshine. Of the three of them, he knows me the best.
He and I are alone right now. Marcel and Lucius are scoping out a nearby asteroid, searching for minerals.
I sigh. I run my hand across my stomach. I should be at peace here. We moved the bio-dome to a new location, so no one would ever know where we are. This planet has the resources to shift orbits, and we change locations often. Since our self-imposed exile began, we haven’t run into a single human, Toad, or Aurelian ship.
Space is vast and empty – so it should be easy to get lost in. The only interesting thing we’ve encountered was a week ago – our second week here on Atlantis.
A Scorp Org-Ship floated into range – one of the Egg Sacs that infests planets with the vile, hybrid species.
Our drone defenses above Atlantis cut it down before my triad could even intercept the Scorp ship in their brand-new Reaver – we’re ruthlessly well defended.
We’re no threat, and we’ve got no treasure. There’s no reason to attack us. Even the Scorp would have little reason to come here, in their search for hosts for their Queen’s eggs.
The universe is hanging in balance, but we’re not even weight on the scales.
But the atmosphere is uneasy, even here. No one has news. The Aurelians who follow the old ways – the Separatists, and Priesthood – have seemingly disappeared. Everyone who remains is bracing for an attack – but so far, nothing has happened.
The Toad King capitulated to Jasmine’s demands, and Lord Qavar was delivered to the Arena of the Gods to face justice. Here on Atlantis, my triad and I watched on holo-vid as his head was taken off by Emperor Raegan himself.
That did nothing to calm me, though.
I’ve got everything I could possibly want – more than I even knew I desired – and yet I feel anxious all the same.
“
I don’t feel right,” I tell Quint. “What universe am I bringing my son into?”
Quint nods. He runs his hand through the lush grass as we sit on a big towel, beneath the artificial light of the bio-dome. It’s designed to replicate the sun, and it warms me just as gently.
“It’s a hard universe, Jamie,” Quint warns, “but our sons will be strong.”
I look away.
“Oblog was strong, in his own horrible way. He had power. It’s not enough to be strong. We’re safe here – but it’s so empty.”
I look around. The bio-dome is a huge, fertile paradise, but there’s no life here, except for the harmless creatures we brought here ourselves.
“It’s not empty, my love,” Quint promises. “It’s our home. You’re here. We’re here.”
I close my eyes. I can feel the auras of the three Aurelians in my mind. I know I’ll never be alone again.
But I shake my head.
“It’s not enough. It’s…”
I trail off, thinking back to Ling.
My best friend. She would be so happy if she could see me now – safe and secure.
But what would she have done with this place? Not cowered here, in hiding.
My heart beats quicker. The idea blossoms in my mind – as if it came from her.
“The Old Ways, Quint,” I murmur. “They are coming, whether we like it or not. That means women will flee from the Aurelians who seek to make slaves of them. Women will run, and they’ll have no place to go, or hide.”
He says nothing, just looking at me, waiting for me to continue.
“We need to give them a place to stay.”
Quint blinks.
“But this is our safe haven, Jamie. If a woman runs from a Rogue Aurelian, he’ll chase her – even to here. We’ll be putting a target on our back.”
“Well, who will defend her if we don’t?”
Quint bristles. His species is naturally protective – even of women they’re not Bonded to.
I spread my arms out wide.
“Look at all this Quint. This isn’t just a home for us. This can be a place. A safe place for women who are being hunted. A safe place for women who’ve lost their families, their homes, and who have only one thing left – themselves. Rogue Aurelians are going to hunt them down. We can save them.”
He doesn’t ask permission from his triad – because he doesn’t need to. We’re as one.
Instead, Quint smiles – looking at me protectively. Finally, he leans forward giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek. Then, he kisses my neck – and finally pulls up my shirt to place a gentle, soft kiss on my swelling belly.
I giggle at the ticklish touch, and smile as he looks up with those blue eyes – eyes that are no longer cold and icy.
“Your wish is my command, my Mate.”
I lay back in the sun, and he mounts me. I laugh as the new joy builds in me.
This won’t be an empty place.
This will be the only safe place in the universe – and we’re going to fill it with those who need safety the most.
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Haven’t read my debut novel, Sold to the Alien Gladiators? It tells the story of Queen Jasmine’s beginnings as a dirt poor scavenger to Queen of the Aurelian Empire. It’s the darkest, steamiest book in the Aurelian Empire.
We will claim her.
She looks at my triad with disgust and hatred.
We stare at her with pure hunger.
Captured and forced to battle in the blood-soaked arenas of Bugra, my triad will live and die under the scorching sun.
The only thing that moves our weary muscles and overcomes the pain of our wounds is the obsession of claiming our fated mate.
She is brought to us humiliated and disheveled, and yet still her eyes burn with defiance.
We are born to battle. We are born to blood and violence. Aurelians have no master, and when we break our shackles there will be a reckoning.
She will be ours, even if I have to level empires and plunge the universe into war.
I would kill for her, die for her, even as her hatred burns me to the core.
She will be ours.
Read Sold to the Alien Gladiators today!