by C. R Corbin
"What the hell is this Kreux? You bring your whore to great me?" he spat out and Kreux snarls but allows me to speak.
"You don't remember me, do you? I'm from Durol, from the city of Klosa, and I have come to get my vengeance. All of those people you killed, kidnapped, and god knows what else, they're watching us right now...Begin the trial." I growled as the men around us began to read off the convictions.
I sat there and listened in to every detail of his crimes while Kreux sat alongside me. Being his mate, I had a litany of powers that I could wield and that included a say in all of this. We would describe how this man would die and I was here to ensure that it would be in the most painful way possible. As soon as all of the crimes are read out it was time to reach a verdict.
"Death." that was what almost everyone said.
I stared at the man in front of me, lanky and bound with his back against the floor. His red eyes bulge as he shouts at us, screaming that he deserves more for what he has done. I can only chuckle as Kreux stands and the kicks him once in the rib while I think back to my neighbors, my family, all of them had their lives ruined.
And then I turned to Kreux.
A man that has turned my life around completely and saved me from the darkness. A man that has shown me how to live again, it was a debt that I could never payback. I was eternally grateful to have met him, in his presence all Scoran seems like is an ant, a minute presence whose past actions against me hold no weight on my wellbeing.
Because Kreux was here I could move on and not simply be stuck with my anger for the rest of my life.
I sighed as I glanced over at Kreux who nodded at me before bringing his hand down onto Scoran's neck. He lost to his advisors and they all nodded as we dragged the rat bastard out to the steps. He had already been beaten and tortured for god knows how long, it was time to make sure that he would never hurt anyone again.
I stand there and watch as they behead him in the public sphere. I had already grown accustomed to the violence so seeing him die was no issue for me. I heard the crowd that was gathered begin to murmur as I saw his lifeless corpse get wheeled away, i didn't feel joy, sadness, nothing. I didn't even really move until Kreux held me and pressed my head against his chest.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Now I am. Thanks to you." I stated and smiled as I leaned in and pressed my mouth against his. He sighs and relaxes as his grip around me intensifies and he holds me close. I Hold his hand as he guided me back to the hovercraft before we finally made our way back to the ship, back home.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kreux
"Here we are." I said as I lead her towards the central VR station. She raised an eyebrow at me when I told her that I had a surprise for her on the way back to Monowa but didn't question it any more than that. I take her in there and flipped on all the switches as the machine turned on around me. The dome around us lights up and spins as I shut my eyes and direct her to shut her's as well.
"Where are we?" she asked when it finally ends. The whirring of the machine ceases and we are left in the majesty of her home, it was structured to resemble Klosa before the war, before everything had happened.
I stand there with her as we sat in the meadows. Trees surrounded us with their red and green shades, it was springtime after all. I smiled at her as I watched the lake in front of us shimmer, the flowers sway as their scent scattered across the land.
"Lovely isn't it?"
I asked her and her mouth opens wide as she looked around. She could see her home village in the distance although I doubted that she would find any people there.
"It's Klosa." I muttered and she nodded.
"I know it's...wow. This is exactly as it was..." she mutters as she walked amongst the meadows, running her fingers along the flower petals as I sit on a log next to the lake and wait for her to retire there along with me. She sits on the log and watches the lake as the waters begin to calmly wash over the rocks.
"How is it?" I asked her.
"It's...this was one of my favorite spots before the war. After Scoran took over this entire place was converted to barracks...how did you know?" she asked me in surprise.
"I asked your sister. She said that you used to take her here ...Lovely isn't it? I wanted to keep it a surprise."
"I never brought it up...I showed you my home and the parks that I used to go to but never this...it was just too painful to think about this beautiful patch of land being converted into something for his use." she gingerly states while gazing at the ground. I grasped her shoulder and bring her close for a hug as we rest our feet on the cool waters.
We stay there for a little while longer and she even picked some flowers for herself. I asked her if she had wanted anything else to be examined and she proclaimed that she had wanted to see the town. I hesitated for a moment as I knew that the town didn't actually have anyone in there but she accepted regardless.
"It's alright." she said with a shy smile. "I want to see it. You might have gotten some things wrong.." she mutters and I laughed. The entire structure of this VR simulation was based on some sketches and testimony that I received from those that she knew, it wasn't as if I could replicate it completely but I tried.
And she was impressed.
As we walked down the dirt path to her home and were greeted by concrete and asphalt streets she was rather impressed. She told me that this was exactly how her home had looked all of those years ago. The streets were clean and free of debris, the cracks that I had seen were gone and her towering stucco cabin stood in front of us in a row of homes that each looks drastically different from one another.
"Lovely, isn't it?' he asked as we stand on our front lawn. I gazed up at it as she reached out and stroked the stucco walls. I expected tears begin to fall but they never came, instead, she simply turned to me with a smile.
"Thank you." she said as honestly as she could and I nodded as I continued to the front door.
"Do you want to go inside?"
#
Rebecca
It was as fresh in my mind as I could remember it being. The buildings, the smell of these towns and the flowers in the lawns. I shuddered as we walked through the front door, a wave of nostalgia was hitting me at every turn. He even got the distance right.
I had known that VR systems were often used amongst the rich to serve as pastimes when on long hauls across the galaxy but I was never quite sure to what magnitude they could have been used. Now I was aware that they could actually bring back fragments of my past life to show me and I was eternally grateful to him for showing it to me.
I stand there with my hands in my pocket as I glanced at the marble flooring, I sit down on the cold floor and sighed as I looked around at the wooden pillars in my home, the off-color tan paint, he had a vague idea of what it looked like and it wasn't exactly it but it was enough for me.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"Looks just like I remember it as being." I muttered, which was a half-truth, admittedly.
I get to my feet and head directly for my old room, up a flight of wooden stairs and through a set of wooden doors before I popped my head in. A small bed in the corner, a desk, a holographic projector, that as all that was there, just as I had left it. I stare at the picture frame on the desk, it was of my parents and I, when I was young, seeing it nearly brought me to tears...
"You saw that too huh? Feels so real..." I muttered while I stroked the golden frame, smoothing over the metal with my fingertips while he stood a ways away and smiled at me. " we took this photo a long time ago and...well I think it got buried or something. How did you know about this? Was it in some old photo book of mine? In a security camera?" I asked him and he shakes his head.
"None of that." he states as he takes a seat on my bed, I sit alongside him and hold the photograph in my hands while stroking it lovingly.
"It's so...it's so long ago. I hope they're happy wherever they ended up. There's
nothing that tells me they're still around but...I hope that we did right by them." I muttered while burrowing my hands in the sheets. I didn't even notice the tears fall onto the glass before he grabbed me. He tucks my head under his chin against his chest as I stared at the photograph that falls onto the floor. All I can think about was the chance that I had been granted and how grateful I was for having received it.
"There's something else though." he remarked and got to his feet, snapping his fingers to let the world around him fade before he lifts something up towards me. I glanced at it and bite my lip as it comes into view.
The picture frame.
"This is to replace what we've lost. I know it's not much but I hope that it'll help you find peace." he said as he lifted the photograph. It was a picture of my family before everything had happened. A photo of Emily, my parents, and I. I tossed myself into his arms and sobbed as my body shook, my tears dripped onto the shoulder of his suit and he nodded while stroking my back.
"It's alright. It's alright." he tells me.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rebecca
It was a lovely day on Monowa and I was currently at work on a small painting that I had wanted to get done. It was a hobby that I had wanted to pursue for a long while but never got the time to exactly. Kreux ordered some pastels and paints directly from the colonies near Earth and they worked beautifully. I sit there with a brush in hand and my brows furrowed as I stared at the painting in front of me. I had seen the structure plenty of times in the VR system but I never did really get the hang of it.
In front of me was an unfinished blur of a stucco home amongst red and green trees with sunshine raining down on it. The scene looked to be about mid-day and there was a single woman standing in the front lawn. It looked more like vague streaks of paint more than anything else but I was somewhat proud of it, it wasn't the final draft though.
I sighed and exhaled before getting to my feet and walking into the main hall. The doors were open and the warm air was rushing through, blocks of sunlight meander across the marble floors as I stepped downstairs, carefully minding the baby gate as I made my way down the flight of stairs
Now, what were those two up to?
I let a familiar smile appear on my face as I stepped forward, I turned on my heel and walked towards the kitchen to see if my husband and child were there but they weren't. Kreux had told me that he would be taking our son, Treol, out for a bit of a walk around town but they should be back by now. I paid it no mind and continued to wander around our home, saying hello the Urem and the other servants that tended to their duties as I did.
I paused in front of a table with a collection of photographs sitting on it and hanging from the wall behind it. I smiled as I watched the faces stare back at me, our family, my side of the family including a photo of Emily meeting Treol, in every photograph we looked happier than the last. And of course in the center of it all was the official coronation photograph. I wore my best white dress that day and Kreux donned his favorite robes, flaps of purple fabric dangle down from his waist to his legs as he stands there, a collection of golden buttons forming a line up the center of his chest while his hair was slicked back and shined. His deep blue skin shone a bit brighter that day and his golden eyes seemed to have a sense of mysticism about them, my mate, the man who has shown me what it was like to live again.
I smiled wistfully before walking outside onto the beach. I finally find the two most important men in my life sitting down near the shoreline, watching the water wash up while they played in the sand. Treol was busy skipping on the waters when I walked up, he runs to me and gives me a quick "Hi mommy!" before running back towards the ocean.
"Stay young longer." my mate mumbled under his breath with a sad smile and I laughed. We both didn't want to see the boy grow up and live the life we knew he had to lead. As a leader, as a warrior, at least we knew that he would be courting a girl properly instead of simply claiming her by force thanks to the new reforms. He would be in charge of Monowa when this was all over, it was his birthright, the other child currently resting in my belly would be presiding over Dephai which has come a long way since the warring years. Durol wouldn't belong to either, it was now independent which was something I especially cherished.
"Come here." my mate says to me, with the sunlight shining on the side of his face it almost makes his skin look like the waters themselves, his eyes like two glowing pearls under the surface. I leaned in and wrapped my lips around his as he captures me in his embrace, our kiss deepening until we hear the protests of Treol which merely cause us to laugh.
<<<<>>>>
If you enjoyed this read then you might also enjoy other books from
C.R Corbin including:
Tariel: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Morelen Princes Book 2)
Mortok: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Morelen Princes Book 1)
Fherin: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Kanosian Warriors Book 3)
Maloq: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Kanosian Warriors Book 2)
Anthriel: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Kanosian Warriors Book 1)
Janar: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Jorathian Warriors Book 1)
Dezdrin: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Jorathian Warriors Book 2)
Yagrax: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Jorathian Warriors Book 3)
Zaven’s Passion: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Kelian: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
The Captive Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
If you want to receive a bonus chapter for this book as well as bonus chapters for the books listed above and a free book with more giveaways in the future, or if you simply want to receive updates about any new releases from C.R Corbin then sign up for her mailing list!