Enslaved - Book 3: Trek Mi Q'an

by Jaid Black

  Oh he was handsome for a certainty, Dari thought on a naïve sigh. Hair as black as the night, eyes that glowed a sensuous gold, and a gigantic muscular stature that made the warriors around him seem rather puny in comparison. Even the skull on his forehead was intriguing to Dari, for it gave him a sinister appeal that a sheltered young princess such as herself found wicked and untamed.

  When Dari’s young nipples plumped up further just looking at him, she knew he would be the one. Taking one last deep breath, she located her reserve of courage and began to walk towards him in slow strides.

  Kara and Jana were so busy watching Dar that neither of them had taken notice of the warlord Dari was about to engage in conversation. If they had, both of them would have given her a fierce nay, for although Dari hadn’t seen Lord Death in years—since the days when he’d worn his hair shaved bald—both of them had seen him recently. And both of them would have known that by flirting with the very warlord who was training Dari’s betrothed in the warring arts, her brazen escapades would reach Gio’s ears for a certainty.

  Chapter 18

  “’Tis almost out, Mighty One.”

  From within the single bedchamber located aboard the King of Morak’s high-speed conveyance, Ora sat behind Marty and propped up her limp, unconscious body. “I can scarce believe it,” she whispered in awe-filled tones, “but ‘tis working for a certainty.”

  Kil was unable to respond, for every cell of his being was fixated on his Sacred Mate’s belly. He hadn’t known it was possible either, but then again he hadn’t known any warrior in all of his days who had found it necessary to mesmerize his own hatchling from its mother’s womb.

  It was painful—very painful. His entire body was damp with sweat, his face wet with tears. But he was determined. His hatchling would survive, and Jek would navigate the conveyance to Sand City and Ari before death befell his beloved nee’ka.

  Kil could feel his tiny creation’s terror, as if the unborn hatchling knew things were not as they were supposed to be. The wee one was not only afraid to leave the only home it had ever known, but its genetic imprint told it that its mother was not pushing, and therefore it was not time to enter this realm. But a stronger force kept pulling at it…

  Kil gritted his teeth as he continued to coax the hatchling from its nest. Mesmerizing whilst telekinetically summoning was no easy feat and it was quickly zapping all of his strength. But he was almost there, just a wee bit more…

  “’Tis coming!” Ora exclaimed.

  Please Aparna, Kil silently prayed. Please…

  “Just a bit more!”

  Kil’s jaw clenched. He could do this. Aye, he could do this.

  “Almost,” Ora said excitedly, which oddly gave Kil more strength. “Another few Nuba-seconds.”

  Kil’s gaze brightened and simultaneously narrowed as he concentrated so intently he felt as though his head might split in two from the effort. Come, wee one, he coaxed. Come to papa…

  “’Tis here!”

  Exhausted, Kil still found enough strength to both laugh and cry as the pani sac slid into his hands. He could feel it pulsing, knew that the sac was alive and unharmed. His gaze shot up to Ora who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “You did it!” she beamed, her hands clapping together. “Mari will be fierce proud of you when she wakes up and knows what you have done.”

  Kil’s smile faltered as he glanced at his Sacred Mate—his very still and far too pale Sacred Mate. “How is she?” he rasped out.

  “She is holding on,” Ora declared with a crisp incline to her head. “She is very strong and she is holding on.”

  Kil nodded slowly, grateful to Ora for the physical and moral support she was providing. She had turned out to be a great help these past hours and for that reason alone he would see to it that she never wanted for anything. “You have my thanks,” he said quietly, his energy greatly depleted.

  Ora waved that away. “Mari is my dearest friend. I could do no less.”

  She cocked her head and smiled as she glanced down at the pani sac he was clutching. “What will you name the hatchling?”

  He grinned, using one hand to wipe sweat from his brow. “I do not know yet.”

  But an hour later when the incubation period had ended and a tiny, feisty little warrior girl emerged, Kil knew exactly what he would name her. “Zy’an,” he murmured, as he stroked the tuft of black hair atop her head. “I name you Zy’an.”

  Ora blinked back her tears. She knew as well as Kil did what the words Zy’an meant in the ancient tongue. And as she looked down into the newly hatched girl-child’s visage, she had the oddest premonition that she had just witnessed the birth of a female who would grow up to be a woman very important to their people.

  Zy’an.

  The bringer of hope.

  Chapter 19

  Meanwhile, on the green moon of Ti Q’won…

  “Please papa—no more!”

  Dari cried out in pain and humiliation as her sire’s hand came crashing down once again upon her naked buttocks. He was spanking her in the great hall for her entire family to witness, even her wee sister Hera. Bent over his knee, she could do naught but wait for her punishment to be finished.

  Jana and Kara glanced toward each other warily, both of them feeling guilty.

  “Dak please,” Geris said worriedly as she strode closer, “I think she’s learned her lesson.”

  Oh, Dari thought, she had learned her lesson for a certainty. She had learned to trust her sire as little as she trusted her betrothed. They were one in the same, cut from the same cloth. Both of them were uncaring for her feelings, both of them wanting naught but her obedience and the political alliance the future union would forge.

  “She has shamed herself and my name!” Dak bellowed, his hand crashing down on Dari’s buttocks again. “What think you Gio will say when he learns of this episode? And do not think for a moment, wife, that Death will not feel honor bound to inform him!”

  Geris flinched when Dari cried out again. “Death was flattered by it,” she stuttered out, wringing her hands together. “Dak please stop. I’ve never seen you like this!” She released a shaky breath. “You’re scarin’ me.”

  Dak’s jaw clenched. “You mayhap have never seen me like this because I have never felt like this,” he gritted out. He swatted her backside again, drawing more tears and pleading from Dari.

  Kara’s eyes narrowed at Dar since he was the bedamned warrior who had felt honor bound to confess Dari’s actions to her sire. High Lord Death had been bemused by the princess’ attention, flattered even, so she really didn’t see what the big deal was about. No harm had been done.

  To Dar’s credit, he avoided Kara’s gaze, looking a little uneasy himself. Clearly even he had not expected his sire to become this angry.

  “Dak please!” Geris screeched, doing a little crying of her own. “You are really frightening me!”

  Apparently having realized that his wife was serious, Dak immediately ceased his daughter’s public spanking. He pulled the bottom of Dari’s kazi down from her waist that it again covered her buttocks and let her up off of his knee.

  The moment she was freed, Dari fled from the great hall in tears, sprinting toward her rooms as fast as her feet would carry her.

  Kara and Jana exchanged another guilty glance. Dar shifted uneasily on his feet. Geris bit down onto her lip.

  It was wee Hera who gave voice to what everyone was thinking. Popping her thumb out of her mouth, she said to her sire before walking away, “By the sands, papa, you are nigh unto a gulch beast this day.”

  * * * * *

  “How do you feel?” Kara asked gently. She sat down next to Dari on her bed and began smoothing micro-braids back behind her ear. “Are you alright?”

  Jana stood next to the raised bed nibbling on her bottom lip. She felt wickedly guilty. “’Tis sorry I am, sister. As the elder I never should have let you—”

  “Nay,” Dari said in a monotone voice, staring u
nblinking into space. “’Twas my decision and I harbor no regrets.”

  Kara’s eyes widened. “Do you not?”

  “Nay.” Dari lay there unspeaking for a protracted silence, causing Jana and Kara to exchange worried glances. Finally, after long moments, Dari spoke, her voice devoid of all emotion. “I hate him,” she whispered.

  “Papa?” Jana asked anxiously.

  “I hate him too,” Dari said, wishing she did.

  Kara took a deep breath. She knew Dari’s anger toward her sire would pass, so she let that go. “’Tis Gio of whom you speak?”

  “Aye.” Dari propped herself up on her elbows and rested her chin in her palms. “’Twould not have been necessary to shame papa, nor to plot to run from mine own home, did he not persist in his desire to claim me against my will.”

  Kara sighed as she stroked her back, knowing precisely how her cousin felt.

  Jana’s gaze flicked back and forth between her sister and cousin. “I pray that the deuce of you realize the consequences of our escape, if ‘tis indeed successful.”

  Kara and Dari both turned their heads to look at her.

  Jana smiled sadly. “We will never see our families again,” she said softly. She thought of her mani and papa, of her siblings—even bedamned Dar, and suppressed the need to cry. “We can never come back…not ever.”

  All three girls were quiet for a moment as they each thought about the families that they would be leaving behind. But in the end all three agreed that ‘twas better to leave and miss them than to stay only that their sires might give them away to warlords not of their choosing. Either way they would be removed from their birth homes the soonest.

  “’Tis settled then,” Jana announced, if a bit sadly. “The three of us shall flee together that we might choose our own destinies.”

  Kara and Dari nodded. “’Tis a vow,” they whispered simultaneously.

  Silence fell once again within the bedchamber until Dari broke the silence. “Was today’s quest successful?” she asked. “Or was my punishment in vain?”

  “Nay,” Kara assured her. “’Twas successful for a certainty.”

  Dari looked at her as if wanting details. It was Jana, however, who provided them.

  “We were successful beyond our wildest expectations,” she said with rounded eyes. Jana tossed a long golden tress over her shoulder. “Neither Kara nor I had any idea royal qi’kas would fetch such large sums.”

  Kara took a deep breath. “One hundred thousand credits a piece,” she murmured. “I can still scarce believe it.”

  Dari’s jaw dropped open. “Surely you jest.”

  “Nay.” Jana shook her head. “We’ve the money to go.”

  Dari nodded. “So all we have left to do is figure out how to escape.”

  Kara squeezed her hand. “Aye,” she murmured.

  Chapter 20

  The Palace of the Dunes, Sand City on Planet Tryston

  With his unconscious nee’ka cradled in his arms, Kil sprinted at top speed from the conveyance launching pad. Upon reaching the great hall, he realized that Ari must have been expecting them for as soon as the Chief Priestess laid eyes upon them, Mari’s still form dissolved from his arms with Ari disappearing a blink of an eye behind her.

  “Where did she take her?” Kil bellowed to Zor, who was rushing up to his side. It was apparent that he too knew what was happening. Ari, in all if her inexplicable wisdom, must have somehow foreseen his coming.

  “To the apartments you keep here,” Zor informed him, his eyes searching Kil’s face worriedly. “Ari asks that you leave her be to work on your nee’ka. She will inform you when ‘tis safe to disturb her.”

  Kil sighed, raking punishing hands through his hair. Ignoring his brother, he turned about in a semi-circle to see if Ora was behind him. When he saw her and the baby safely in her arms, he motioned her over, needing to hold his wee daughter.

  Zy’an cooed the moment he plucked her from Ora’s arms, her motor skills already evolving at a rapid rate these past few hours. He kissed her atop her fluffy head, running his nose through the silky stuff, loving her baby scent.

  Kil turned back to Zor who was busy grinning down at his wee niece. “’Tis worried I am,” Kil said hoarsely. “I managed to birth her, yet has she not eaten. She refused the taka juice, spitting it up all over me.”

  Zor thought that over for a moment. He held out his arms for the babe that he might hold her. “Mayhap she will drink of the mali juice.”

  “Nay.” Kil shook his head, his worry apparent. “I tried that as well. She isn’t able to keep down any of it.”

  Just then Kyra came into the great hall with her youngest son Jun holding her hand. She walked quickly towards the brothers, wanting to find out what was going on.

  Zor and Kil looked at Kyra’s engorged breasts and then at each other. They both blew out a breath at the same time, having simultaneously realized that ‘twas possible Zy’an might take to another mani’s sweet juice.

  “Oh my god,” Kyra panted as she finally reached them. “Zora and Zara just told me what happened.” She glanced worriedly down at the baby. “How is she?”

  “She could be better,” Kil rasped out, running a finger gently down his daughter’s cheek.

  “Can I do anything to help?” Kyra asked, her eyes rounded.

  Zor quickly brought her up to speed. Kyra immediately took Zy’an from her husband’s arms and settled down with her at the raised table in the dining hall.

  Twenty Nuba-minutes later, Kil blew out a breath of relief. Zy’an had accepted her Auntie’s offering. She had even smiled after she’d belched.

  * * * * *

  Much later that moon-rising, Kil was at last escorted into the bedchamber where Mari lay. Her eyes were still closed, she was still unconscious, and from what Ari had told him, she was yet to wake up. The only solace Kil had was that her color had restored somewhat.

  “Do not give up hope,” Ari murmured. “Her will is strong. Just keep telling her how much you and Zy’an need her, how important it is for her to keep from crossing through the Rah.”

  Kil nodded, understanding that the Rah was the unnatural barrier lying between this realm and the mystical world of the goddess. He held Zy’an securely as he settled down next to Mari on the raised bed.

  His eyes flicked over his nee’ka’s form, noting at once that she was naked and that her sweet juice had already come in. He blew out a breath, telling himself that surely ‘twas a good sign.

  When Ari’s form shimmered and dissolved, Kil turned to his wife and took her still hand in his.

  “Please,” he said hoarsely, his words thick with emotion, “come back to us, Mari.” A single tear tracked down his cheek. “I love you, nee’ka. I love you with all of my hearts.”

  No response.

  Kil sighed wearily, but refused to give up hope. So long as she breathed, there was always hope. “Come back to me, little one.”

  Chapter 21

  “I love you nee’ka. I love you with all of my hearts.”

  Pain. So much pain. Marty tried to return to the voice, but it hurt so much. She loved the voice, needed the voice, but the pain of reaching it made her cry out.

  “Come back to me, little one.”

  She wanted to come back. She ached to come back. She tried once more but—the pain. The pain was unbearable.

  Marty floated away from the voice. It occurred to her that the further away she went from the voice, the less pain she felt.

  So peaceful. So painless and peaceful.

  Marty floated further and further away until at last the pain was gone. When she got far enough away she was able to see again. Shimmering gold. Lots of gold. An entrance.

  Q’i Liko Aki Jiq—She Who Is Borne of the Goddess.

  Marty surpassed the entrance and floated inside.

  Naked priestesses. Chanting. They meant to keep her out, keep her from peace, keep her from the Rah.

  No.

  Marty continued floating up
to them. She had only to breach their energy wall and the beautiful peace would be hers. So close. Just a bit further...

  But they sensed her, damn them. She had tried to keep quiet, but they sensed her presence any way.

  The priestesses grew frightened and called out to her, to the strongest amongst their kind. And then she was there. The most powerful mortal in existence. Naked and chanting. Trying to keep Marty from bypassing her energy to breach the Rah.

  The powerful one was sweating. She was in pain. She closed her eyes and Marty knew that she had her. She was strong, yes, but Marty’s need to feel no pain was stronger.

  Marty floated up to the powerful one’s energy and began to attack it. The Chief Priestess cried out, but held strong. She would not be easy, but Marty knew her will was stronger.

  Marty backed up then attacked the mystical field full force. The powerful one cried out in pain, stumbled a bit. In that moment Marty knew that the Chief Priestess’ energy was depleting.

  She gathered together all of her strength, all of her mite, and prepared to breach the powerful one’s energy once and for all with one last tactical maneuver. But…

  “Please nee’ka. I love you. Zy’an loves you. We need you.”

  The voice. The voice was in pain. The voice was looking upon her former body and knew that she was going to the Rah.

  She wanted the voice to stop her. Yes! Yes! She needed the voice. She needed the voice more than anything. She began to float back towards it—

  Sharp pain. Splintering pain—Agony.

  Marty turned away from the voice, away from the pain, and determined to breach the Rah. She faced off with the powerful one again, determined to knock past her barricades.