by Roxie Ray
“Now Nos is pointing out that if he were to suddenly start allowing patrons to buy slaves from him on non-auction nights, it would throw his entire business into chaos,” the glowing alien said wistfully. “I can sympathize. Running such an establishment cannot be an easy venture. One must establish a clear set of rules in all matters of great importance, and one must adhere to them strictly, or else one invites anarchy, with all of its unruly byproducts, don't you think?”
This time, I didn't bother answering. While I appreciated the translation, this guy's weird philosophical musings were starting to get on my nerves, especially since it looked like my life and future were on the line.
The one called Akzun slammed his fist on the bar, hissing a string of scary-sounding words at Nos.
“Oh my,” the alien next to me said, shaking his head sadly. “Akzun says he will not be denied, and has threatened to tear off Nos's fingers and forcibly deposit them in a most uncomfortable orifice if he doesn't agree to sell you. Such violence is wholly gratuitous in a wondrous galaxy that's capacious enough for all races to coexist in harmony, wouldn't you say?”
“Sure, yeah, definitely. But what's Nos saying?”
The alien tilted his shimmering head, listening closely. His eyes widened. “By the stars! You will be pleased to know that Nos has placed your monetary value at a quarter of a million rula… a sizable sum indeed! No doubt he believes that Akzun will be put off by the exorbitant amount, and will let the matter rest.”
My pulse was thrumming in my temples as I stared at the two Valkred, hoping the alien was right, praying that Akzun would simply walk away. With a couple of days left until the auction, maybe I could still find a way out of all this. Maybe there was some possibility of escape, something that Miranda hadn't thought of…
Akzun reached into a hidden pocket of his outfit and withdrew a thick stack of paper bills, tossing them down on the bar.
My stomach sank through the floor.
“I suppose congratulations are in order,” the glowing alien said mildly. “After all, it is not every day that one enters the service of the Blood Ruler of Valkred. To many, it would be considered quite an honor… though I suppose there are few in your position who would see it that way. Still, in a vast and intriguing cosmos filled with such a variety of beings, I suppose many things some see as absolute truths might be viewed by others simply as a matter of perspective, would you concur?”
Akzun was moving toward me swiftly, purposefully, his dark eyes gleaming in the red light of the bar. Behind him, Nos was greedily thumbing through the stack of bills, licking his fangs eagerly.
“Incidentally,” the alien added, “if you're inclined to attempt some sort of escape, I suppose this might be the best time to do so. There aren't many places on Cexiea where one such as you would be able to successfully hide, let alone find a way off this station. On the other hand, in a universe of such infinite and exquisite possibilities, anything that can be thought can be accomplished, is that not so?”
I turned and ran toward the exit, my mind racing.
I had no idea what the rest of the station looked like – but based on the generally seedy nature of the bar's clientele, I had to believe there were plenty of dark corners and hidden spaces to take shelter in, if only I could find them in time. Maybe I could scrape and scrounge in the shadows like a rat until I could find a way to stow away on a ship, one that might bring me close to Earth, close enough to find a way home…
As I dashed ten feet outside the bar's entrance, I could see that the corridors of the space station were indeed narrow and dark, with sections of the bulkhead left open to reveal ducts, shafts, tubes, and wires. There were plenty of places for me to hide, places to burrow in and bide my time until I could find a path to freedom.
Then Akzun's pale fingers locked onto my upper arm like an iron vise, and he began dragging me in the opposite direction.
“Stop it!” I screamed. “Let me go!”
But he remained silent, staring straight ahead as he pulled me along. And why not? We didn't speak the same language, and even if we had, he'd bought me. As far as he was concerned, I was his property now, and that was the end of it.
I thought about his fangs sinking into my flesh again, and felt like I might faint.
3
Akzun
“Let go of me, goddamn it! Stop! I refuse to be manhandled like this, you fucking alien asshole!”
As I dragged the human woman toward the airlock where my ship was docked, she continued to shriek and squeal like a Korbeq Spider-Rat in a trap. I disregarded it – just as I ignored the curious looks from the Valkredians and other races on the station, who gaped at us as we passed by. No doubt they were surprised (and envious) that I had been allowed to purchase a blood slave before the date of the auction.
Fine. Let them go pay Nos a quarter of a million rula to shop early. A few more customers like me, and the gnarled old bastard of a barkeep can retire early and buy his own private moon.
The more she screamed and resisted, the more tempted I was to speak to her in her own language – to tell her to keep quiet and stop struggling. But why bother? At this stage, I knew it would only be a waste of time. She'd bicker and threaten and cajole, and it would only delay my bringing her to the ship.
Later, I would reveal that I was able to speak and understand Earth English. Then she'd understand fully that there would be no escape for her, and we could move on to more meaningful topics, like where she'd come from and how long she'd been on Cexiea.
As we approached the airlock, I stopped for just a few precious moments, holding the woman in place firmly as I gazed out the observation window at my ship: the Angel's Wrath.
No matter how many times I saw it, the majesty of it – the knowledge that it was mine to command – still took my breath away.
Large and smooth, ivory-colored and cone-shaped, like a giant tooth extracted from the mouth of some ancient and terrible predator. It had been the proud flagship of almost a dozen Blood Rulers before me, and it was still every bit as fast and formidable as it had been the day of its christening. The outer armor resembled carved enamel, but was in fact ultra-dense reflective marble carefully shaped and chiseled to make lower-spectrum laser blasts bounce off like harmless beams of light.
And the higher-spectrum blasts? Well, that was what the Wrath's overlapping energy shields were for – just as its pulse-mortar tubes and mounted plasma disruptors were for punishing any who dared fire upon such a magnificent vessel.
I heard the woman's breath catch in her throat, and turned to see that she was staring at the ship, as well, her eyes wide, her mouth open. Good. At least she had an appropriate eye for beauty.
Commander Koro met me at the airlock, trying to hide his curiosity at my companion. “My apologies, sir,” he said in Valkredian. “I was unaware that we would be taking on a passenger. Shall I have quarters prepared for her?”
“No,” I replied in our native tongue. It seemed unthinkable to let the woman out of my sight. “She'll be on the command deck, where I can keep an eye on her.”
Koro nodded without hesitation. “Very good, sir. Would you like me to fetch a pair of manacles to secure her, so she won't attempt to tamper with any of our systems?”
“That won't be necessary. I'll make sure she doesn't cause any trouble.”
It was a far greater sign of strength to show my crew that I could maintain control of her without resorting to such restraints. Perhaps it would even keep her more placid, making her easier to deal with overall.
And besides, there was a part of me that just didn’t want her to be shackled.
I could have come back for a blood slave on the night of the actual auction, if I'd wanted. For that matter, now that hostilities with the Mana had ceased, I could have gone to a different auction to purchase one – on Valkred, or one of the other outposts in our empire. What's more, it would have cost a tiny fraction of what I'd paid for this woman.
But I hadn't wante
d any of that. I'd wanted her. And now I had her. As was proper – a Blood Ruler takes what he wants when he wants it, and doesn't allow anything to stay his hand, be it in diplomatic relations or… more personal pleasures.
“Are Zark and Torqa already aboard?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then set a course for Valkred Prime at once, maximum speed.” I marched the woman past him and through the dark, dimly lit corridor.
When we reached the low-ceilinged flight deck with its illuminated crimson control panels, I took my seat in the command chair and gestured for her to sit next to me. She hesitated, then slowly sat down, inching as far away from me as possible – as though that would protect her from me, when the time came.
It wouldn't. When the moment came for me to claim her utterly, I resolved that nothing would stand in my way.
The engines rumbled beneath us, and the Angel's Wrath pulled away from Cexiea, pivoting toward my home world. The helmsman keyed in a sequence of coordinates, and the stars around us blurred into a blinding tunnel of white light as we were propelled through space at several times the speed of light.
“Blood Ruler,” Koro said, sitting on my other side, “Supreme Advisor Torqa is requesting to speak with you immediately.”
“Tell her I'll grant her an audience once we reach the home world. Until then, I'm not to be disturbed.” I was in no mood for her disapproving comments. I’d won us a great victory today, and deserved a few hours of peace and celebration.
He nodded again. “Yes, sir.”
I turned to look at the woman – and I was surprised to find that instead of staring at me with fear in her eyes, she was peering around the room at the control consoles. It looked as though she was trying to figure out how they worked. I couldn't help but admire that. She was able to shake off her initial panic far more quickly than most humans in her situation would have, and now she was showing genuine curiosity about the new technology that surrounded her. I may have been wrong, but it looked like she might even have comprehended some of what she was seeing.
How intelligent was she? How much could she figure out on her own about our ship's systems? I looked forward to finding out. Anyone could have a human blood slave, but one that was smart, that actively hungered for knowledge? That was a rare prize indeed.
Blood slave. Yet… no, that didn't seem quite right, somehow.
We Valkredians believed that every one of us had a predestined mate somewhere in the universe, and that when we found that person, it was our duty to grab hold of them and never let go. There was supposedly no logic to such things – just a sudden, undeniable, all-encompassing connection, pointless to rationalize or resist. In the past, I’d doubted this, quietly and to myself, but now… This woman had to be mine, and mine alone. I simply could not bear the thought of anyone else drinking from her or possessing her. Could it be that she was my mate?
“Where are you taking me?” the woman asked. “I deserve to know that, at least, don't I?”
I bared my fangs menacingly, responding in her own language. “Wherever I please. You belong to me, now. Sit quietly for the remainder of the journey, and no harm will come to you. Do otherwise, and I cannot make any promises.”
Her eyes widened. “Holy crap! You speak English?”
I stared her down instead of answering, and in a few moments, she went back to taking in her surroundings.
Good. She learned quickly.
The trip from Cexiea to Valkred Prime took just under three hours – but this time, it felt like years. I wanted so badly to claim the woman that my blood was singing with it, and no one would have blinked an eye had I done so there on the command deck, but I’d always preferred to feed in private. It was such an… intimate thing.
Besides, if this woman was my mate, it would perhaps behoove me to tread more lightly than I’d done so far…
Finally, the Angel's Wrath passed all remote security clearances, entered the innermost points of the Valkred System, and settled into orbit around Valkred Prime. The human woman stared at the view screen, seeing my beautiful home world for the first time: a dark orb, swathed in a thick layer of swirling purple cloud cover.
By the stars, it was good to be back. More than that, it was good to know that my planet wouldn't be attacked by a fleet of Mana ships – that I had managed to save us from such a fate, when Torqa and my other advisors had repeatedly told me that it was impossible, that even hoping for peace was myopia and naiveté on my part.
I took the woman by the wrist, leading her to the docking bay where my private shuttle was housed. This time, she allowed me to pull her along without much resistance. Clearly, I was right – now that we'd made the journey, she was beginning to understand the futility of attempting to escape. At least for now.
I led her onto the shuttle, and my pilot steered us out of the docking bay, bringing us down through the clouds to the continent on the western hemisphere – to the palace that had been inhabited by Valkred's Blood Rulers for millennia.
I heard the woman gasp beside me as the sharp spires of the Ruby Stronghold came into view. They extended into the sky like the bloody claws of a demon reaching toward the heavens. The towers and parapets were carved with the crouched forms and snarling visages of the Scarlet Succubi, fiendish monsters from our most ancient legends that stole the cowardly, wicked, and unworthy from their beds and flew off with them.
The shuttle touched down in the courtyard, and my servants stepped forward to welcome me. If they were confused by the woman's presence, they were too obedient and well-trained to give any indication. I nodded to each one in turn, leading her past them to the entranceway that led to the upper chambers of the Stronghold.
She wasn't fighting me now. If anything, she seemed dazed, as though she couldn't believe her eyes.
I couldn't blame her. The first time I'd seen the Stronghold – as a small child, when my parents brought me to see it as part of a tour of the capital city – I'd reacted in much the same way.
There were two ways up to the bedchambers on the topmost level of the castle. One was to climb the stairs – but given the fact that I was practically carrying her, that seemed unnecessarily arduous. Besides, this felt like an appropriate time to surprise her, just to keep her off-guard.
I took a deep breath… and unfurled my black, feathered wings, allowing them to push through the slits concealed in the back of my tunic and spread wide. She let out a sharp yelp, her eyes practically bulging out of her head at the sight.
I smiled and nodded, glad I'd achieved the desired effect. Then I swept her up in my arms swiftly, flapping my wings and flying us to a spacious shaft with smooth walls of red marble that led directly up to the higher levels of the palace.
She clung to my neck, perhaps without even realizing it, staring down at the ground far below us in terror. I couldn't help myself – I laughed, holding her more tightly. Advanced technology was one thing, but aliens who could take flight at will were clearly outside the realm of her experience or understanding.
When we reached the ledge at the top, I nimbly touched down, still carrying her as I made my way to the spare bedchamber. Then I let her stand on her own feet again, unlocking the room and beckoning her inside.
“Welcome to my home,” I said. “I hope you will find it pleasing.”
“Oh, are we going to talk for real now?” she answered. “You're done dragging me around like some kind of fucking Neanderthal?”
“I don't know what that word means,” I replied, “but considering the context you've placed it in, I can only assume you're insulting me – which is quite unwise, I might add.”
“And what do you mean, you hope I'll find it pleasing here?'” she continued, as though I hadn't said anything. “You bought me! To be your slave! How goddamn pleasing do you think I'm going to find something like that, huh? How would you like it if someone did that to you? Would you be ‘pleased,’ or would you be pissed as hell?”
“I hardly think that's very rel
evant, since we are nothing alike. There are those in the galaxy who have wished to enslave me and my people, I assure you.” I thought about the Mana, and felt renewed relief at the treaty we'd agreed to.
“And each time they've attempted it,” I went on, “I've made sure that they've bitterly regretted it. This is a cosmos composed of predators and prey. I am a predator. Given your current status, I should think it would be fairly obvious which category you fall into.”
“Oh, so ‘might makes right,’ is that it?” she hissed nastily. “Wow. For such a technologically advanced species, you've got the philosophies of a fucking caveman.”
“I've warned you about insulting me. I won't warn you again.”
“Is that right? Well, what are you going to do about it, huh? I already know you need me alive and healthy so you can drink my blood.”
So, she already knew why I'd brought her here. Most impressive…
“Alive, yes,” I conceded. “Healthy, certainly. But that doesn't mean I can't make your accommodations far more unpleasant. For example, right now I’m prepared to keep you with me in the guest chambers of the Blood Ruler’s quarters, but I could quite easily put you in the dungeons of the Stronghold, where the other blood slaves are kept in chains. It is cold, and dark, and damp. They have no beds, no blankets, no windows to look out of. No companionship, save their wretched cellmates and the vermin that crawl and nest down there. No food, other than the vitamin paste that provides just enough nourishment and hydration to prevent them from dying. They are kept on hand to sustain my guards and servants, as you would be. Would such circumstances be more preferable to you?”
She considered this for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Sorry, but I don't buy that. You paid two hundred and fifty thousand rula for me… I'm not sure what a rula is exactly, but I'm damn positive that a quarter of a million of them is a lot. You didn't do that – and fly me all this way – just to toss me in the basement. You're bluffing.”