The door to the library opened and I set the glass of wine down on the table beside the chair and got to my feet. Minister Borask strode in, the door sliding shut behind him and locking with a soft beep. He was a large man, standing just a shade taller than me. He had broad shoulders, a thick chest, and a fairly pronounced midsection – clearly, the wealthy lifestyle agreed with him. Perhaps a little too much.
Still, the man had a presence about him. Without even saying a word, he was compelling. Forceful. Imposing. But I could tell that he was also a man who was not hardened. Tested. He relied on his physical size to overpower people and make them cower – something I had no trouble believing they did. Unduthian society folks were notoriously soft.
So, while he might appear to be intimidating and not somebody you'd want to tangle with, I did not fear him.
“General Gravus,” he said, holding his hand out in greeting.
“Minister Borask,” I replied, pressing my palm against his – the standard Unduthian greeting ritual.
It sometimes paid to be able to speak their “language.” And I had been around long enough to know that politeness, courtesy, and social etiquette was the lifeblood of this species. Because I relied on their fat pocketbooks to live my own comfortable lifestyle, this was a part of the game I had to play. As distasteful as it was.
“Thank you for taking this meeting,” Borask said as he dropped into the chair across from me.
I nodded as I took my seat. “Of course,” I replied. “I am honored. It's not often I am summoned by a man in your elevated position.”
He picked up the glass of wine that had been left for him and took a sip before answering. “Well, I know that's not true,” he said. “Your list of exploits and successful campaigns is near legendary. You come highly recommended to me.”
I gave him a small smile. “I am flattered, Minister,” I replied. “And humbled.”
He laughed, a dry, rattling sound. “Humble is not a word I've ever heard associated with you, General,” he said. “But the sentiment is noted and appreciated.”
I cleared my throat, already anxious for this meeting to be at an end. “So, what is it I can do for you, Minister.”
His face grew dark, his expression grim. “As I'm sure you've heard, my – willful – daughter, Hatare, has run away from home,” he said. “On the eve of her birth year celebration.”
I nodded. “Yes, I've heard of the situation,” I replied, doing my best to feign sympathy. “A very disagreeable situation.”
“Indeed,” he said. “Unheard of in civilized society.”
I nodded and took a sip of my wine, not really sure what to say to that. Not that I thought his comments required a response, since I got the impression he was simply venting, and not really asking for my input anyway.
“She's always been a headstrong girl,” he went on. “Determined to do things her own way. She never had any regard for the rules and norms of Unduthian society. In fact, she pretty much had an open disdain for them.”
“That must have been difficult,” I said.
He snorted. “You have no idea,” he said. “We always thought it was something she'd grow out of. A youthful rebellious streak. We never believed she'd do something like this.”
“Of course not,” I said, growing weary of playing my role in this little performance. “And how could you?”
He sighed and drained the last of his wine, looking at the empty glass with regret. “I would like to engage your services. I need you to retrieve my daughter and return her to me. It is time this child is brought to heel.”
“I believe I can help you, Minister.”
He nodded. “Good. Hatare has caused considerable damage to my house's reputation. A reputation I've worked long and hard to build. I will not have it all ruined because of one defiant child. When she is returned to me, she will be punished and she will be sent to the Academy. I am going to make her a useful part of Unduthian society.”
And by useful part of Unduthian society, the Minister meant that he would sell her off to the highest bidder – the one who would give his house the most prestige in return. Of course, given her behavior – and the blemish on his house's reputation – the Minister might not get the return on investment he was hoping for.
But that was for them to sort through. It was not my place to comment on such matters. The only thing that I needed from this meeting was his willingness to sign a contract – and more importantly, pay my fees.
“I am sorry for the – regrettable – position your daughter has placed your house in,” I said. “It is most unfortunate.”
He nodded. “Thank you, General.”
“And please forgive me for being so crass, but I will need you to sign a contract engaging my services,” I said. “And I must be upfront enough with you to inform you that a search and recovery mission is likely to be – costly.”
He waved me away. “Cost is meaningless,” he replied sharply. “Money is not the object. The longer she is out there, the more damage she does to my reputation. I will pay whatever your fee is so long as you bring her back to me.”
I nodded. “You have my word,” I said. “I will oversee this mission personally.”
“Excellent,” he said as he got to his feet, indicating that this meeting was at an end. “Please have your contracts drawn up and sent over as soon as possible.”
“Of course,” I said. “And rest assured that your daughter will be returned to you with all possible speed.”
He gave me a grim smile and a curt nod before turning and leaving me standing alone in the middle of the library. A moment later, a servant appeared and escorted me to the front doors.
I walked out into the sunshine of the day with a smile on my face. This was going to be a lucrative assignment. And knowing that there would likely be a substantial payday for the girl's recovery, I'd already dispatched some of my best trackers to get a fix on her location. I expected to hear back from my teams shortly.
As I walked to the transport that was waiting for me, I shook my head. I didn't know her, obviously, but I liked this girl. Resourceful. Stubborn. Courageous, even. To not just buck Unduthian society, but spit in its face the way she had – it was admirable. If she only knew how to fight, I would even consider taking somebody like her into my employ.
But women in Unduthian culture could not fight – which was a shame. A woman with her attributes would do well in my line of work.
She was a rare breed. A curiosity. But I already knew that when I returned her, she would not be that same willful girl for long. They would absolutely beat it out of her, bit by bit. They would break her down and bend her to their will – and cultural norms – until there was nothing left of that wild, willful girl.
It was sad. And it was a waste. But it wasn't my problem. I was going to be paid a large sum of money to return her – and return her, I would.
Chapter Six
Hatare
Wyn landed the ship on the pad, setting it down with a gentle thump. He was a lot of things – many of them bad – but he was an excellent pilot.
“Optorio,” he sneered at Hatare. “You're here. Now get off my ship.”
The rear hatch lowered and I looked out into the port where we'd landed. People milled about, hustling this way and that. I looked over at Byr who gave me a small shrug and a nervous smile.
“You ever gonna get these restraints off me?” Wyk snarled.
He'd woken up before we ever entered Optorio's atmosphere, so Byr had helped me get him into a seat – though we'd left the cuffs on him as a precaution. I stood up and set my pack on the seat, digging inside until I found the small bag where I'd stored the majority of my money. Sorting through it, I pulled out five hundred – the price of passage for both Byr and me.
I walked over to the cockpit where Wyn sat glaring at me. “Here,” I said, thrusting the bills toward him. “Five hundred – the agreed upon price of passage.”
“Keep it,” Wyn said. “I don't want
your money.”
Wyk chuckled from his seat. “We'll be getting our money out of your hide, little girl,” he sneered. “Don't you worry.”
I shook my head. “We had a deal,” I replied. “And an agreed upon fare for passage. I keep – ”
“You keep your promises,” Wyn growled. “Yeah, heard it before.”
“So, take your money, then,” I said.
Wyn looked me in the eye, his face burning with absolute rage. “I said, I don't want your money. What I want, is for you to get off my ship.”
I sighed, still holding the money out for him to take. I was on the verge of simply dropping it at his feet when Byr reached out and took it from me. He shrugged and gave me a lopsided smile.
“If he doesn't want it, we can always use it,” Byr said.
He was right, we could use it. But not honoring my end of a bargain just felt – wrong. On the other hand, he was right, the brothers were refusing to take the payment.
“Last chance,” I said. “Despite your treachery, I'm still willing to honor my end of our bargain.”
Wyn started to rise and then seemed to think better of it. “I said, get off my ship.”
“Now,” Wyk said from his seat.
I sighed and shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Byr handed me back the money. I tucked a little bit into the pocket of my pants and stuffed the rest back into the bag, which I then loaded into my pack before slinging it over my shoulders.
“I apologize,” I said. “I never intended for any of this to go down this way. And I – ”
“What part of get off my ship are you not understanding, little girl?” Wyn snarled.
Byr took hold of my forearm and guided me down the rear ramp and off the ship. Barely a moment after we'd stepped off the ramp, it was raised again, locking into place with a solid thump. Byr looked over at me, an expression of concern upon his face.
“They could still call the authorities,” he said.
I shrugged. “They could,” I replied. “But they won't. No, their plan is to capture the both of us on their own. They're greedy and will want the reward for themselves. That makes them predictable. They might hire a bounty hunter to lead them to us, but they'll come for us on their own.”
He nodded and looked at the ship. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Plus, they don't want the authorities snooping around their ship,” I said. “Not to mention their open hostility for authority of any kind. No, they won't be calling anybody. Mark my words.”
Byr let out a soft chuckle. “You certainly seem pretty savvy for one of the upper class.”
I shrugged. “I've had some very good – tutors,” I said. “They've given me a very – well rounded – education.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Shall we go?”
Byr nodded and we walked out of the spaceport and found ourselves in the middle of a very congested, very busy city of Tochasea – the capital of Optorio. The Optorion people looked very similar to Unduthians. The only real differences were that their skin was pale. Very, very pale. Almost translucent. They also lacked the eye markings we did. Optorions could very likely pass themselves off as humans and get away with it.
We walked down a busy, crowded street. Byr stood close by my side as he led me down a street that seemed incredibly similar to the marketplace back on the fringes in Unduth.
“Almost feels like home,” Byr said.
I sniffed the air around us – something smelled absolutely delicious. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten in quite some time. I looked over at Byr who had his eyes closed and was inhaling the air as well.
“When was the last time you ate anything?” I asked.
He took one last sniff before opening his eyes and giving me a shrug. “I don't really know, actually.”
“Well, it's been way too long for me,” I said. “Let's go get something to eat.”
He smiled. “Sounds good to me.”
We wandered down the packed street and eventually found our way to a booth that served a bowl of hot noodles, vegetables, and some sort of meat I was unfamiliar with. It was all covered in a sauce that was a little bit sweet, but absolutely incredible. Taking our bowls over to a small table, we sat down and dug in.
There was no conversation as we shoveled food into our mouths like two people who hadn't eaten in weeks. At least for me, that's what it felt like. We finished our bowls in record time – honestly, I didn't think I'd ever had anything nearly as delicious back home. Or perhaps, it was just the sweet taste of freedom that made it all taste so incredible. I didn't know and didn't care.
I pushed my bowl away from me and leaned back in my seat. “That was amazing,” I said.
Byr nodded. “Honestly, that might be the best thing I've ever eaten,” he said. “There isn't much you can do to make the government rations taste very good.”
I looked down at my bowl, suddenly feeling bad. It had never really occurred to me that Byr and his family had been forced to subside on government rations and whatever else they could scrounge up. I mean, I'd heard about the plight of the lower classes, those people my family and others called “scraps,” but it had always been an abstract concept.
It was quite different sitting across a table from a man who lived his life in a constant state of deprivation. A man who'd probably never truly had a good, quality meal. It really drove home the point that my existence had been one of incredible privilege. I'd never had to worry about where my next meal was coming from. I'd never had to worry about trying to make bland, sometimes rotten, government rations taste good or make it edible.
I'd grown up taking so much for granted, while people like Byr struggled to survive.
“So, what is your plan now that we're here on Optorio?” Byr asked.
The truth of the matter was that I didn't have some grand plan. I didn't have some master scheme up my sleeve. My only hope was to get an audience with King Jendrish and plead for asylum. If I were really lucky, I could get him to hide us, maybe even get him to put us under the banner of his protection.
In other words, I was winging it and operating on more “maybes” and “what if” scenarios than I was on any sort of concrete facts or plans.
“We need to find a way to get an audience with King Jendrish,” I said. “Come, let's find a way to do that.”
We stood up from our table and walked out into the busy, bustling street as I tried to figure out how we were going to get an audience with the king.
Chapter Seven
Byr
We weaved our way through the busy, congested streets before we found ourselves in an open plaza. A large fountain stood in the center of the plaza, sending plumes of green water shooting high into the air. We walked over and sat down on the bench that surrounded the waterfall, watching the Optorion people bustling by in a companionable silence for a few moments.
“What do you think you'll accomplish if you can get an audience with the king?” I finally asked.
“My hope is that if we plead our case,” Hatare started, “that he will place us under his protection and grant us asylum.”
“What will that do?”
“If King Jendrish agrees to give us asylum, it will prevent my father – or the government soldiers – from taking us back to Unduth,” she said.
“Do you think he'll give us asylum?”
She shrugged. “I do not know.”
I looked at her, feeling a nervous knot forming in my stomach. “What would give you the idea that he would?”
She looked at her hands and then looked up, giving me a rueful grin. “Hope, mainly” she said. “King Jendrish married a human woman – from a place called Earth. He took an alien as his bride. If anybody can understand the importance of choosing your own destiny and not tying yourself down to archaic traditions and customs, it has to be him.”
My heart sank in my chest and that knot in my stomach tightened painfully. Hearing that she was basing this whole quest on nothing
more than hope didn't leave me feeling all that great about our chances. But then, what else was I going to do? I was a wanted man on Unduth, so staying there hadn't been a really good option either.
I looked at her and tried to buy into the idea of hope. Hope that we would be granted asylum. Hope that we would be granted royal protection. Because if not – I didn't want to even think about it. There definitely was a lot more to Hatare than met the eye, and I tried to put my faith in that helping see us through this mess.
We sat watching the people of Optorio coming and going for quite a while. I'd never even seen an Optorion before. I'd never really seen anybody not from the fringes before, if I were being honest. It shocked me that we could be on an entirely different planet, these alien beings looked very similar to Unduthians. Aside from the different skin tones and the eye markings – as well as the fact that it appeared the average Optorion was bigger than an Unduthian. Quite a lot bigger, actually.
“I've never seen a woman who could fight,” I said, casting a sidelong look at her. “I've never seen a woman who could handle a blade so dexterously.”
She flashed me a quick smile. “Like I said, I had good tutors. They taught me a great may things.”
“Like how to beat two armed men in a fight,” I asked.
Her smile was soft, but genuine. “One of my father's guards was a man named Lutl,” she said. “He was a lot like me in that he didn't really approve of Unduthian cultural traditions. Thought they were archaic. Lutl wasn't supposed to – he was risking his life – but he taught me how to fight. He showed me a number of different ways to attack somebody – or defend myself. He also showed me how to use a whole host of weapons as well as fight barehanded – in secret, of course.”
As she spoke, I heard something in her voice – almost a sense of longing. I got the idea that there was a definite affection for this Lutl on her end. But I also got the impression that it was unrequited. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a small stab of something within me – something that felt a little bit like jealousy. But how could that be? I didn't know this girl, nor did I have any sort of claim to her. It was a stray, irrational feeling that made no sense to me.
Fawks (Dragons of Kratak Book 4) Page 81