by Shae Mills
Chelan smiled warmly. "Is there anything I should know about?" she asked as she watched Dar sit.
"Actually, yes," began Korba. "There is something that we haven't touched on that should be discussed with you. It has to do with a little event that will be held here next week."
Chelan searched her memory. "Something you alluded to earlier, called a Koll?"
Korba smiled. "Exactly."
Dar sat back in his chair and wondered just what surprises Korba had up his sleeve regarding the event. He had no doubt in his mind that Korba would not disappoint him.
Korba began to explain. "What it is, Chelan, is a sort of semi-structured celebration held after every fairly large mission such as the Rigilean one."
"Semi-structured?" she queried.
Dar smiled. "At the beginning of the event, the men and women who participated in the mission are brought together and are addressed by their Commander, in this case, Korba. He will give a summation of the mission and then will conduct a brief ceremony in which each person present takes a moment to pay his or her own personal respects to those who perished during the battle."
"And then," began Korba, nodding to Dar, "the people who did not participate directly on the battlefield, as a sign of respect for those who did, serve a victory feast to them, and from that point on the celebration begins."
"What kind of celebration?" Chelan asked with excitement.
"Any kind," smiled Dar. "Whatever each person enjoys most is carried out. There is plenty of food and drink and music, and plenty of entertainment, both supplied and manufactured. Some prefer to leave to be alone with their thoughts, while others prefer to stay the duration, which is one standard day."
Chelan was overwhelmed by the thought. "How many people will be attending?"
Korba looked down. "I took five hundred thousand warriors with me, and of that, approximately four hundred and fifty thousand returned. I would expect about three hundred thousand of those to attend, as many are still injured or too ill to participate. Add from the remaining crews from the two ships, I would say maybe six or seven hundred thousand will attend in total."
Chelan was aghast. "In one place?"
Dar nodded. "You have seen the halls, Chelan."
"Yes, but..." She hesitated, and then her eyes became heavy. "You lost fifty thousand men?"
Korba's arms tightened about her waist. "It could have been a lot worse, Chelan, if it had not been for you," he soothed.
Chelan looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I only babbled about what I saw. It was Dar who translated things into action and warned you."
Dar watched her closely. "You are too modest, my Lady. Up until that final battle we had maybe lost at the most thirty thousand over months of war waged over three planets. But our forces were fatigued and our resources depleted. Mistakes were becoming more and more prevalent, and the loss of life was beginning to rise exponentially."
Korba touched her face gently. "I led the final assault myself, Chelan. If we had hit the decoys first, the entire initial assault contingency would have been wiped out, a total of sixty thousand men and women, and me right along with them. From there, who knows how many more? It would have depended on how quickly Dar regrouped. In fact, we had taken so many warriors from both ships that we may have had to wait for Toran before hitting them again. But there is no sense dwelling on the past. As it was, we only lost another twenty thousand, and now all is secure."
Chelan couldn't believe the numbers Korba was throwing around so casually. Once again she was slapped with yet another grisly reminder of his career, the proportions of which were mind-numbing. She lowered her head and nestled into his chest, huddling into him for security. "It must be so lonely to fight and die on an alien planet," she lamented solemnly.
Dar's eyes watched the porcelain beauty seek his friend's protective embrace, and he felt his jaw set. "Probably no less lonely than fighting and dying anywhere else."
Chelan glanced at Dar, his icy stare impaling her. But before she could react, Korba spoke. "Anyway, I hate to break up a perfectly morbid party, but let's get back to the Koll."
Dar's expression thawed. "So what else is there to explain?"
Before Korba could answer, Chelan lifted her head and looked at him. "What do you do after the meal for celebration?"
Korba chuckled lightly. "I'm afraid that both Dar and I leave for security reasons. I am not entirely sure what Dar usually chooses to do afterward, but I've always returned to the Command Center for a little peace and quiet. On some occasions I have invited in some of my officers and personal guards for a small celebration, but that's about it for me."
Chelan beamed at Dar. "And what do you do, my Lord?"
Dar was caught completely off guard and rendered temporarily speechless by her innocent question. He began slowly. "I am usually a little less reserved than my friend here. Although, I do have to leave the Koll..." Dar hesitated as he looked into Chelan's expectant eyes. "I normally return to my quarters also, but it is not usually for peace and quiet."
Chelan detected the hesitation in Dar's voice and had felt Korba stop breathing. She looked back and forth between the two men. "I think I'm missing something here," she said slowly. "Is there something that goes on here that I don't know about?"
Korba chuckled. "Let it suffice to say that I have heard rumors that Dar usually prefers to engage the pleasures of several lady friends as his way of celebrating."
Dar stood abruptly and turned his back to them, his reaction startling Korba. Dar rubbed his hand through his hair. What had always been commonplace and accepted among his people, he now fought to conceal because of his feelings for Chelan and her values. He knew Korba had meant no malice, but Dar suddenly felt betrayed.
Chelan also felt the sting of the realization, but it was Dar's reaction that set her truly on edge.
He remained with his back to them as he spoke quietly. "I can assure you that this time there will be no repeat performances. This mission sustained too many losses for such a celebration. On this occasion I will follow the ways of my dear friend."
Chelan was beset by a flood of opposing emotions, somehow feeling guilty for his decision on one hand, and yet unfairly relieved on the other.
Korba watched them both closely. He was rendered uneasy by the sacrifice that Dar appeared to be making for Chelan, and he knew that his trouble with the blonde Warlord was mounting in severity. Until this moment, he had not realized the full extent of Chelan's influence on the man, and caution once again surged through his thoughts.
Chelan looked up at Dar's back. "I'm sorry, Dar. I did not mean to pry. I just assumed that..." Her sentence broke off. "I guess I don't know what I assumed," she mumbled apologetically.
Korba realized the emotional quagmire was about to get just that much thicker. "Anyway," he began warily, "there will be one other major change, or shall I say an addition to this mission's celebration."
Korba watched Dar resume his seat. "I would like Chelan to attend," he said, "I want the event to be used in part as her presentation to our people."
Dar was immediately ejected out of his own personal misery. "That would present a security nightmare, my friend."
"Not if you handle it, Dar. I want you to escort Chelan in after the initial ceremonies. No one would dare approach her if she were in your company. Heads will turn, but with a little planning and foresight, hopefully no heads will roll."
Chelan was dumbstruck. She pushed herself off Korba's lap and stood, her body betraying her nervousness. "If you don't mind, I would prefer to be introduced on a much smaller scale."
"Where Warlords are concerned, Chelan, there are no small scales," Dar deadpanned.
Chelan looked from one man to the other and then stared down at the floor. "I don't know if I could handle being on public display like that." She drew a deep breath and shuddered. She looked at Korba, and subconsciously her mind callously compared herself to him and his people. She was instantly devoured by insecurity
. Her eyes pleaded with him. "I'm... I'm not... oh please, I could not endure such an event." She hugged herself. "I would simply die in front of all those people."
Dar leaned forward to speak, but Chelan interrupted. "I am not one of you. They will not accept me," she blurted.
"Chelan," called Korba firmly. He rose from his chair.
But his sheer size looming over her only intimidated her further, and she panicked. "No!" she shouted. "I will lower your status and undermine your credibility."
Dar stood abruptly, causing Korba to bristle.
The heightened tension in the room only made Chelan's composure slip just that much more. "Please, just let me stay here."
"Chelan!" Korba shouted.
She froze at the uncharacteristic harshness of his voice. But she was desperate. "All I want to do is remain in the Command Center until we reach Iceanea. I have no need to go elsewhere."
Dar was riveted to his spot, waiting for Korba's next move and not at all sure of his own.
Korba was becoming frustrated by her lack of ability to comprehend the status and respect that her position demanded. "How do you think they will react to you, Chelan?" he shouted. "What will they say or do to you when you are in Dar's or my company?"
The pit in her stomach was growing. "It is not what they will say to me in front of you, it is what they will say about you behind your back!"
Korba fumed. "Chelan. They respect me and follow my decisions unconditionally. You in no way jeopardize that. The problem is not mine. It is yours. How do you think they will treat the mate of the Empire's Overlord, and just what do you think they will say?"
Korba hesitated, working to restrain himself. Up until Tarn and Manza's direct contravention of military orders, he had always dealt with any insubordination by delivering swift deaths. But dealing was Chelan was on a whole other plane that he had never encountered before. He lowered his voice. "They will say nothing, Chelan, because it is not their place to judge my personal decisions. As long as nothing impacts my military decisiveness, it in no way affects them unless they are in direct service to you."
Chelan strengthened her resolve and squared her shoulders. Dar instantly braced himself for the fallout. She confronted Korba head on. "I don't want anyone in service to me. And I am not going to the Koll! Your people may be forced to tolerate me and your choice, but do you really think that after decades of rigorous breeding and codes of ethics by which your whole society abides that they will not judge? Do you really think that by presenting me you will come out of this unscathed? Don't be so obtuse! Every decision you make from this point on will come under their scrutiny!"
Korba took another deep breath. "That is not how my society and my military work! I have known many of my officers to make questionable choices in their personal lives, and as long as they report and function under my command as efficiently and as effectively as ever, they do not lose their credibility in my eyes!"
"Of course not! If they did, you would have their lives served up to you on a platter! There is no equality in this military or any other. You are at the top, and you have only one place to go, and that's down! Why would I want to be a part of that?"
"That is where you are wrong. In this world, Warlords do not lose status. They are the best of the best until they are killed in battle."
Chelan recoiled. A tremor seized her body. "Battle? You bloody well know as well as I do that any one of your officers could choose to succeed you by assassinating you if he thought you were slipping."
"To what end?" he shouted. "Succession exists within tiny frameworks, but no one takes out an Overlord. And Warlords earn ships, they do not gain them by mutiny. And all the Warlords align with me. All my officers align with me. Do you actually think that Tarn or Fremma, or Lazen, or Dar, would take orders from such a person if that person could stage such a coup?"
"You mean to tell me that a Warlord has never been taken out by one of his own?" she challenged.
Korba stepped up to her. "It has never happened."
Chelan instantly lost her bluster. "Well, I don't care. I am not one of your people. I do not participate in grandstanding. So go ahead and announce that you have taken a mate, but leave me out of the spectacle."
Korba ran his hand through his hair, his level of exasperation nearing an endpoint. "Chelan, as my mate there are expectations that will accompany your station. I cannot announce some mystery woman and then keep you tied to my bed until we both are dead. I have thousands of women on this ship alone that would give anything just to share their bodies with me. But you are my mate, and that sets you on a whole other level."
Chelan shivered. "By being your mate I consent to loving you and being loved by you, no more. I may be bound to the galaxy's second most powerful man, but I am still a mere alien."
Dar winced.
Korba lost it. "Do you know the power you have acquired by being my consort?" he boomed.
Dar's fists clenched, and his eyes narrowed.
Chelan shrank from Korba further. Confusion reigned, and her chest heaved as she attempted to retrieve badly needed oxygen.
Korba closed his eyes. "I'm going to prove something to you, Chelan, and I want you to heed a very important lesson."
Korba watched her for a moment, and suddenly his heart bled both for the harshness he had inflicted upon her already and for what he was about to levy. He lowered his voice. "I know this will not be pleasant, Chelan, but I have to make a point. You must rise into your rightful position. I want you to experience the power you hold and the veneration you deserve. I want you to look at yourself, to love yourself, and to respect yourself as you should and as others already do."
Chelan remained very still, and then dared to look into his eyes. Korba continued. "In a moment, I'm going to order Lazen in here. He is superseded only by Fremma and me. He is one of my most trusted and loyal men, and he is one of the Empire's strongest and most powerful warriors. I want you to go into my chambers and crawl into the bed. When I send him to you, I want you to get up as though you are just rising from a slumber."
Chelan glanced frantically at Dar, a morbid uneasiness possessing her.
"When he has arrived, I want you to order him to strip and to kneel before you. When he does, I want you to order him to give you one of his blades so you may carve your name into the flesh of his chest."
Chelan looked up at Korba in horror. Dar's teeth clenched.
Korba spoke sternly and slowly. "You will do this for me, Chelan, or you will forever leave my side and my bed."
Chelan blanched. Her eyes pleaded with Dar for absolution, but his expression was unreadable, his features as still as stone.
She stood for a long time as her mind reeled from Korba's ultimatum. Suddenly, she wondered if she wanted such a seemingly cruel man, and her thoughts turned to Fremma, her gentle Fremma. Her chest tightened with suppressed sobs, and she clutched at the sides of her gown. Maybe Korba was crazy. Why would Lazen submit to such abuse? Why should he? Chelan swallowed as shivers ran up and down her spine, but she could not move.
"Well?" came Korba's gruff voice.
Chelan flinched. "For being who I am," she uttered, her voice hoarse, "do I deserve such cruelty?"
"What you deserve is all that my world has to offer! What you need is a lesson proving that that is true."
Chelan finally looked up at him, her gaze cutting yet vanquished. She began to take small faltering steps backward, her hands white with tension. "Maybe, after this," she whispered, "I will not wish to be bound to you."
Dar watched Korba carefully, seeing what Chelan could not: the pain that wracked his friend's body and the inner turmoil that he kept so well concealed. But Korba remained resolute.
She whirled from them and hurried into his quarters, missing the abrupt release of searing pain that shot through Korba's chest and heart. Suddenly, he became unsure of himself and his actions.
"You teach harsh lessons, my friend," stated Dar coolly.
"She nee
ds to learn that she in no way compromises me. She is strong, she is brilliant, she is compassionate and loving, and she is beautiful. I would not have offered all for just anyone, and she needs to learn that about herself. So far, simply telling her has not worked. She needs to experience it."
Dar's eyes narrowed. "You administer a brutal test by which to enlighten her. She is all that you say and more, but she is not a hardened warrior."
Korba squared off with Dar. "And just what do you propose I do?"
Dar hesitated. He felt sorry for Chelan and wished that he could spare her such a ruthless lesson, while deep down he hoped that it severed her tie to the man before him. "Simply give her time," he finally offered flatly.
"I don't have time," Korba pointed out. "We approach Iceanea and the Emperor now, not some months down the line." Besides, he had gone too far to turn back now. He reached for the console and pressed the security button.
The doors parted, and in stepped Lazen. "My Lord," the man acknowledged.
Korba straightened and collected himself. "Lazen, Dar and I are in the middle of an important discussion. The Lady Chelan had wished to visit Fremma, but she still sleeps. Will you see to it for me that she arises? She knows I may send you."
Lazen nodded. "Yes, my Lord," and he strode fully armed into his Commander's chambers.
Korba collapsed into his chair and rubbed his brows. "I pray that I do not lose her."
Dar remained very still, not entirely sure what he prayed for.
Chelan lay rigid, hugging a pillow to her exhausted body. Suddenly, she was aware of a presence, and she shut her eyes tight.
"My Lady," came the soft baritone voice. "My Lord has requested that I awaken you."
Chelan turned slowly and looked up at the shrouded figure. "Thank you, Lazen," she whispered. She slipped out from under the sheet and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I will take my leave now," he stated softly.
"No, wait," she called. She hesitated, her mind and her heart in tattered shreds. She stood, wiping her perspiring palms down the front of her gown. She swallowed hard. "I want you to do something for me, Lazen."