by Regine Abel
Her eyes snapped to my father, her lips parting in shock. He bent his head in shame. She hadn’t been aware of this latest development, and for a second, I dared to hope. My mother’s expression slowly morphed into a speculative one. She licked her lips, seeing the potential this offered.
At that moment, any feelings I had left for my mother died.
“It is our right to consider options that will ensure Lelah the most comfortable future possible,” my mother said, as if she had been onboard all along.
“I’m done with this conversation. You have until the end of the day tomorrow to sign. If you fail to do so, I will drag both your asses to court,” I said, looking at each of them in turn. “You, Ruthy, will be shamed throughout Xelix Prime once I expose what a neglectful mother and unfaithful mate you are. Let’s see how many of your rich ‘friends’ continue spending on you then.”
She gasped, her hand flying to her chest as if to contain her lurching heart. “You can’t. I need those credits, Zhul.”
“I hate you.”
Startled, we all turned to see Lelah standing in the doorway. Her voice had been a whisper filled with a world of pain.
“Credits… that’s all I am to you.”
“Lelah, sweetheart…” my mother said, pasting a sympathetic expression on her face.
“Don’t,” Lelah snapped. “I’m done with you. You will sign or I will file for emancipation. With Zhul as my caretaker, it will pass.”
Panic filled my mother’s eyes while her mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
“Lelah…” my mother said.
Ignoring her, Lelah turned to my father, her eyes brimming with tears. “How could you consider selling me? And for her. Her!” she shouted, pointing an angry finger at our mother. “She doesn’t even love you. She doesn’t love anyone but herself. I’m your daughter, not another antique to sell for her greed. At least, I thought you loved me.”
My father’s face crumpled with shame, his eyes filling with tears. “I do, Lelah.”
But she wasn’t listening anymore. She ran out with a heart-wrenching sob. My father made to go after her but I stopped him.
I pointed a threatening finger at each of them in turn. “You have until tomorrow night. See that it’s signed.”
I stormed out of the house after my little sister.
She ran toward my house, although I caught up with her halfway there. At fifteen, soon to be sixteen, my little sister was a smart, strong young female and my greatest pride. Lelah needed my support, not a speech or empty words of encouragement. I put my arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me, still sobbing and sniffling.
People would frown at this display of affection. Since the Taint, physical contact among Xelixians became nearly non-existent, except between mates during intimacy. In the early days, it had been out of fear the disease might be transmissible. After it had been proven not to be the case, it was disgust over the dark capillaries covering the Tainted’s bodies. Now, it was simply proper etiquette – etiquette that Lhor and Amalia didn’t seem to give a damn about. Every time I saw them together at the Council Hall, they would display some form of affection for each other, be it holding hands, a kiss, a hug, a caress… It was highly inappropriate and yet, I envied the genuine love between them.
Lelah wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand, her sobs having died down.
“Feeling better?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.
She nodded, still sniffling. “I’m sorry I made such a spectacle of myself.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “You have every reason to be upset.”
“Do you think he would have sold me?” she asked in a small voice.
I hesitated, giving it an honest thought. “For all his faults, Father really does love you. He may have entertained offers, but in the end, I don’t believe he would have been able to go through with it.”
She raised hopeful eyes, the same forest-green as our father’s. Lelah had our mother’s heart-shaped face and dainty nose, but thankfully we both got our father’s fuller lips and cleft chin. I wiped the remaining wetness from her cheeks with my thumb and kissed her forehead. She smiled and gave me a hug which I gladly returned.
“We need to get your new room set up,” I said as we resumed walking towards the house. “I want you to move in this weekend, as soon as they’ve signed.”
“Yes!” she squealed, clapping her hands.
I gave her an indulgent smile. “We also need to figure out something for that little menace of yours. Speaking of which, where is the little fiend?”
That stopped her dead in her tracks. “Pouki,” she whispered, looking back at the main house. “I actually came down looking for him when I overheard you talking. I haven’t seen him in forever even though I’ve looked everywhere. His bowl of food is still full – has been for three days.”
I frowned. When it came to food, Lelah’s neption was a bottomless pit, as those creatures were wont to be. Something must have happened to keep it away this long. While wildlife on Xelix Prime could be vicious, there were no predators in range of the estate.
“Where did you look for him?”
“All over the main house, and yours,” she said with a sheepish expression.
I smiled, not minding her coming and going in my house as she pleased.
“I’ve also checked the courtyard, the front yard, even went to the orchard. No sign.”
Ok, that was odd. Pouki never strayed too far from the house. Something must have spooked him or lured him away, unless he got himself trapped somewhere trying to get to some source of food.
“How about we go for a ride and look for him?” I asked.
“You wouldn’t mind?” Her eyes gleamed with hopeful anticipation.
“I wouldn’t offer otherwise,” I said, tapping the tip of her nose with a finger. “Let’s go.”
There weren’t many things I enjoyed doing as a hobby. However, riding, be it a cavas or a hoverbike, always made me happy. I had a thing for speed and my cavases were formidable mounts. Zhenax, the stallion, and Tharin, the mare, both used to compete in races and had won their fair share of them.
I rode Zhenax while Lelah followed on Tharin. It was a couple of hours before noon so we were able to cover quite a bit of distance before having to return home for lunch. After reaching the small pond in the abandoned western corner of the property, we paused to let the cavases drink. We remounted and started heading back towards the house when a sudden movement at the edge of my vision caught my attention. At first, I saw nothing but high grass. Moments later, it parted, and Pouki poked his head out.
“There,” I said, pointing at the creature.
“Pouki!” A big grin etched itself on her face.
The neption yipped but instead of running to Lelah as he normally did, he turned around and ran away.
“Hey!” Lelah spurred her cavas to chase after Pouki.
As lazy as those damn creatures were, when they decided to run, they sure could. We chased after him at a relaxed trot. Pouki would flee, pause, wait for us to get close, then run again. The third time he repeated this pattern it finally dawned on me that he was leading us somewhere. That was extremely odd and an unusually smart behavior for a neption, especially that one. Frowning, I checked our surroundings with renewed vigilance.
The chase lasted about ten minutes. By then, Lelah also realized something was off. We reached the top of the small hill overlooking the abandoned orchard and the old supervisor’s house. Pouki yipped again then dashed for the house. Shaking my head, I was going to follow after it when I noticed the house’s solar panels were exposed. They had been covered when we’d shut down the house, to protect them from dust, pollen, and grime.
“Hold on,” I told Lelah, feeling suspicious.
We watched Pouki reach the house and scratch at the door. My stomach dropped when moments later, a male opened it to let the neption in.
Who the fuck is t
hat and what is he doing on my lands?
“Who is that?” Lelah asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I said, trying to keep my tone light despite the fear blossoming in the pit of my stomach. “Go home. Don’t dally. After I’ve sorted this out, I’ll bring Pouki back for you.”
“But…”
“Don’t argue, Lelah.” My tone was firm but gentle. “I don’t know who this is and I’m not putting you in danger. It’s probably nothing but better safe than sorry.”
“What about you?” she said, her eyes filling with concern.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head. If things get heated, I’ve got a blaster. Go on,” I said gesturing with my head for her to get going.
She gaped at me when I mentioned the blaster. I cringed internally. That was bound to make her even more worried.
While it wasn’t uncommon for Xelixians to walk around with a sword, a blaster, or both, it was mostly the Tainted who did since a large percentage of them joined the military. A glorious death in battle was preferable to the slow, painful one from the Taint after a lifetime of hard labor. Without a mate to give them oxytocin to stop the progress of the Taint, the only other option left was frequent physical exertion to produce some traces of dopamine which helped slow down the disease. Thus, those who met the fitness requirements joined the military, the others performed manual labor; the more strenuous, the better.
Granted, quite a few civilians were also armed but it was usually those who lived in areas where predators and wild animals prowled often. I’d never felt the need to be armed… until V.
Although she was troubled and wanted to question me further, Lelah nodded and turned her mount around before galloping back home. I watched her until she was a small dot on the horizon before I headed down the hill to the house.
CHAPTER 5
Valena
Less than an hour had gone by since our return to the Wooing House. Sheb sat with me in the living area but this time, flirting was the last thing on his mind. He cycled through the channels of the vidscreen, waiting for news of the raid to break out. So far, nothing.
It wasn’t surprising.
There were sixty-eight females in the Xelhen Blood House, only a handful of guards but quite a few customers. Since the two previous raids occurred in mid to late afternoon, customers came earlier and earlier, hoping to dodge the next one.
How wrong they were.
In both cases, General Praghan only tipped off the media after the females were safely taken away, with both guards and customers in their custody and properly restrained. Still, it wouldn’t be much longer before the media went wild over the news.
Varrek’s threat frazzled Sheb – understandably so. Like his father, Gruuk, Varrek didn’t believe in abusing his slaves. As long as you behaved and obeyed, no harm came to you. The same applied to his staff. But when he did punish you, he made sure it was so memorable that never again would you consider failing him. He didn’t believe in generic punishments, either. Instead, he tailored them specifically to the victim for maximum effect. Whatever you valued the most or feared the most, that’s what he would use.
Sheb was cycling again through the channels when the proximity detector went off. No random wild animal would trigger it – we had a visitor. Sheb cussed before hastening to the door.
“Stay inside,” he ordered before exiting.
My heart pounded in my chest. Either General Praghan had somehow found us or the neption came through for me by luring Zhul to the house. Either option worked fine for me, though I suspected it would be the latter. I crept up to door and slightly opened the shaded window next to it so I could – hopefully – hear what transpired outside.
There was no sound of a shuttle landing.
The crunching sound of multiple feet over the rock-covered front yard made me believe at first there were multiple intruders. Then the growl-like neighing of a cavas reached my ears.
Zhul.
I tried to rein in my excitement, hoping it was indeed the son this time and not the father.
“Dervhen,” Sheb’s muffled voice called out, “you shouldn’t be here.”
“Like fuck I shouldn’t be here. Who are you and what are you doing on my lands?”
Although also muffled, Dervhen’s voice sounded deep, assertive, with a hard edge. It sent shivers down my spine… of the pleasant kind. Even without seeing him, I knew it was Zhul; his father’s voice was higher pitched.
“If you have issues with our presence, you can take that up with V.” Sheb sounded arrogant, no doubt convinced that dropping V’s name would cow anyone into obedience.
“Who is we? And you still haven’t answered my question as to what you’re doing here.”
“I don’t answer to you. Like I said, take it up with V.”
A thump followed by crunching sounds told me Zhul dismounted and was approaching Sheb.
“That’s close enough, Dervhen,” Sheb said in warning.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Zhul said, his voice menacing. “You’re going to tell me who else is here with you and what you’re doing, or I’m going to blow your fucking head off. You are trespassing and as per Property Law, I can shoot to kill.”
“Hey! You want to put that blaster away.” Sheb’s voice strained with worry. “V isn’t—”
“Last chance,” Zhul interrupted.
I didn’t doubt Zhul meant it – he would kill Sheb. While I couldn’t care less what happened to Sheb, I knew there would be serious repercussions for Zhul. When it came to revenge, Varrek was a rabid beast. He didn’t just punish, he crushed. Without giving it any further thought, I opened the door and stepped onto the front porch.
“Valena! Get back inside.” Sheb’s tone was both angry and worried.
“Please don’t hurt him, Sehr Dervhen,” I said in a soft voice, ignoring Sheb. “He’s only following orders.”
“A Veredian,” Zhul whispered. “You’ve brought a Veredian onto my lands?”
For some irrational reason, the anger in Zhul’s voice hurt. It was logical for him to be upset by our presence. However, him not wanting a Veredian on his lands felt like a personal rejection. The unexpected sound of a blaster going off and a bright flash made me gasp.
“Reach for your blaster again,” Zhul’s hard voice said, “and you’ll lose that hand.”
“Listen, Dervhen…” Sheb said.
“Are you hurt, Seha?” Zhul asked, ignoring Sheb as well.
“N-no, Sehr,” I said, my heart still pounding from the scare. “I’m fine. Sheb is my guard.”
“Are there others in there with you?”
“No, Sehr. Just me.”
Before Zhul could ask another question, his com went off.
“Put your hands up and don’t fucking move,” Zhul said. Even blind, I knew he aimed those words at Sheb.
“Yes,” Zhul said. He paused listening to his caller. “What news? I’m not home right now. What happened?” Another pause. “WHAT?”
I knew then that news about the raid was out.
“How many females were rescued?” Another pause. “Any prisoners? Did they catch V?” A longer pause. “All right. I have something to handle here first. I’ll see you at the Council Hall.”
The tension in the air was palpable after Zhul ended the call.
“You got raided, and you brought her here, to my lands?” Zhul asked, his anger barely contained. “Were you followed?”
“No. We’ve been here an hour. We were still airborne and in stealth mode when the raid began.” Sheb said. “If they had det—”
Sheb’s com went off, interrupting him.
“I need to take this. It’s V,” Sheb said.
For a moment, I wished Zhul would say no. Sheb wouldn’t risk Varrek’s wrath by not answering. Tensions would escalate and Zhul might shoot him, freeing me of my captor. But then, he could be the one getting hurt instead if Sheb tried to fire back, and Varrek would retaliate.
&n
bsp; “Put him on speaker,” Zhul said, “and don’t try anything stupid.”
Sheb complied.
“What took you so long?” Varrek’s voice said over the com.
“I’m sorry, V. You’re on speaker,” Sheb said, a slight tremor in his voice. “Zhul Dervhen is here challenging our presence.”
Varrek’s tone softened. “Councilor, an unexpected surprise.”
“An unpleasant one, no doubt. What is your minion doing on my lands? Did I not warn you to deal directly with me, not my father?”
“Relax, Councilor. Your father wasn’t consulted. I required a safe place to keep my pet from Praghan and this location fit our needs perfectly. I used it. End of story.”
I expected Zhul to yell at Varrek, tell him off, something to indicate he wouldn’t be bullied. Instead, dead silence followed. Was he this easily cowed? My heart sank, realizing that maybe he wasn’t as strong a male as I had assumed from his father’s thoughts.
“You knew,” Zhul whispered after a beat. “You brought her here because you were tipped off about the raid.”
Varrek chuckled. “Handsome and smart. I’m impressed, Councilor.”
“I don’t give a shit if you’re impressed,” Zhul snapped. “I want your hired hand off my lands and if I ever see another one, I will shoot to kill.”
I clasped my hands in front of me, fighting the urge to squeal with delight. Zhul did have a backbone. The concern now was whether he would provoke Varrek into something radical, which wouldn’t be a good idea.
“You never struck me as one to indulge in gratuitous violence, Councilor.”
“It isn’t gratuitous to exterminate vermin. You bastards deserve to burn in the deepest pits of Gharah’s Lair for what you’re doing to these females.”
“You’re Prime,” Sheb snarled. “You don’t know what it’s like to be Tainted.”
“Silence, Sheb,” Varrek said. “Dervhen, whatever your feelings about my operations, you’re part of them now and you will play nice with your new colleagues.”