by Vi Voxley
It had taken Kat to make him realize he'd hardly ever followed his own demands. He had always remained the same, until now. It was like he'd had an epiphany, as if Kat had spoken a word at some point that had opened up his entire being.
Soros took one last look at the ice. He didn't feel like the man who had found Kat in the woods. The days he'd spent with her had been exhausting, dangerous and life threatening in more ways than one. Yet, the experience didn't make him feel weak, not even a little.
He'd never been better, stronger and more confident in himself.
The commander looked at her small form, walking by his side. He’d had to slow his pace, but she’d kept up with him. Kat had survived everything he'd dragged her through. It had felt like they’d been in another world, an ancient one. It was time that they returned to the present one, where hunger and heat were problems long forgotten.
"Where are we going to find transport?" she asked after a while, looking like she'd just awoken from a long sleep. "Do you have any money?"
"I don't need it," he replied.
"We are not going to steal," Kat protested, glaring when he laughed heartily.
"No," he agreed. "I'm sorry if I offended you. We will not take anything that isn't ours. You'll see. The people here think they are in my debt."
"Are they?" she asked. "Have you been here before? I quite like it."
Soros looked around. He had never really thought of that before, to appreciate the places where he was. It wasn't how a warrior saw the world. They weren't incapable of appreciating beauty, but their vision was always shrouded by their purpose.
Kat saw daylight, trees, stone pathways turning into roads and little houses growing into grander structures. He saw cover, options for ambush, equipment, possible increase in enemy activity and cameras.
"We are in Selauria," he said. "I was born here."
Kat smiled at once, looking around in wonder as though the fact somehow changed their surroundings. He had heard that other species were oddly sentimental about their birthplace, but he didn't consider Selauria special like that. All of Hetton was his home, and Turian was thinking he could treat his planet like a battleground.
"So, tell me," Kat urged happily. "You can't just drop things like that and not explain. Why do they love you so much?"
Soros thought that was a rather strong word, but he shrugged.
"I come here a lot," he said. "Usually through the ice or over the mountains. The people here work in the mines in the north. There are even a few in Grouvelle. It's dangerous, even without the creatures that dwell there. I clean the paths whenever I can. Warn them about landslides and other things like that.
“I bring the priests things, plants that only grow so high up in Grouvelle that they are practically unreachable, minerals from the ice that can't be found anywhere else. In return, they provide me with whatever I might lose on the way."
Kat was listening with care. Soros didn't know why he was telling her all that, but the way her eyes shone at him was reward enough. Like Selauria itself, Soros didn't think the things he did for it were anything noteworthy, but she clearly disagreed.
For him, it was a natural exchange between him and Hetton. The planet was his, even if it belonged to no lord, and he made sure he wasn't ungrateful.
"You're a regular Robin Hood, aren't you," Kat whispered.
When he looked at her in puzzlement, she smirked, shaking her head.
"Sorry, Terran references. He was an ancient folk hero. Took from the rich and gave to the needy, something like that."
"I don't steal," Soros pointed out.
"I know," Kat said, thoughtful. "But I guess Hetton is the rich in this case. It has so much that it doesn't need but those who do can't get to it. So you help."
That was true, he supposed. Soros was well aware that he had been in many places on Hetton where no other living being had ever been. If he was feeling adventurous, he explored new paths that he hadn't taken before. Sometimes, they turned out to be dead ends, while others rewarded him with treasure or shortcuts. He had no problem sharing all of it.
Unlike to everyone else, Hetton wasn’t a deadly foe for Soros. It was his home. He treated it with respect and in turn, the planet seemed to do the same for him.
Selauria wasn't a big city, but it was well equipped. Living right on the edge of the ice meant that weather was the master of their lives, no matter how well they protected themselves against it. There were times when the city was cut off from the others, so they had provisions and stock to spare.
Soros was recognized on the streets as he headed for the center almost immediately. Kat too drew looks. News of the Union had naturally reached the city, but he wasn't sure any of them had ever seen a Terran before. Kat pretended not to notice.
Roum greeted him without any ceremony when they stopped in the distribution factory. The old clerk gave Kat a long, hard look but said nothing. Soros explained what he wanted and saw Kat's mouth drop open.
"That's some shopping list," she said.
"You can have it," Roum commented, not even looking their way. "Ask the boys downstairs, they will find a transport ship for you."
"Good," Soros replied before Kat could say anything. "Until next time, Roum. Also, I killed a Torlock a few days back. Near the southern plateau."
That was the only time the clerk looked him in the eye, judging Soros from head to toe.
"I would call anyone else a liar," Roum finally said. "I thought they were extinct. No one has seen them in a long while."
"They might be now," Soros called back, already walking away.
Roum’s hollow laughter echoed after them.
Kat ran after him, clearly amused by the whole affair.
"I have to admit, this is pretty cool," she said. "We just walk in, ask for a ship and get it. I could have used lunch too."
"We will eat," Soros promised. "And I will get a priest to look at your hand."
Kat nodded. "I don't think I'll ever get used to Corgans calling their healers priests. It sounds so wrong to me."
"They are not only healers. The priests work with everything that lives. If that's not holy work, what is?"
"Fine, fine. Just don't let them cut me open. I’m fine with just one heart, thank you very much."
“How would you know what you’re missing if you haven’t even tried the alternative?” he asked with a quirk of his brow, stifling the urge to smile.
Let her wonder a little. Maybe there was a tiny bit of Corgan in his little Terran after all.
* * *
They did everything he'd promised her. After Soros had told the mechanics what he needed, he and Kat walked to a laboratory with the same ease, asking no permission. By the time they sat down to eat, Kat seemed to have gotten used to them going where they pleased.
"Food," Soros told the woman who cooked for the priests. "We came from the ice."
She nodded and slipped away while Kat couldn't stop poking at the stitches in her palm.
"It looks good," she said, unable to tear her eyes away. "Too good. It's like there never was a cut. I didn't know you could do that."
Soros observed her in silence as she kept taking it all in with endless interest. Ever since they'd climbed into the daylight, he had been waiting for the escape attempt, but it didn't come.
He wasn't entirely sure what he would do if Kat did run. The thought of keeping her against her will was becoming more unbearable with every second, but on the other hand... Soros didn't think he could let her go, let the beautiful being he'd met leave without a trace.
In his mind, she was his already.
As he'd expected, the woman knew exactly what to bring to people who had been cold for several days. Kat's eyes were practically rolling in her head, trying to take it all in. Everything was warm, delicious-looking and easy to digest. She scooped up some bread and pulled a bowl of steaming stew in front of her.
"I know every person says that after they've been starving, but this is the be
st food I've ever tasted," she said after a long while of eating, grinning ear to ear. "Aren't you hungry?"
He was. Soros had simply been too mesmerized by her happiness. She didn't seem to need much to have life course through her veins again. Her cheeks were red, her lips full and pink. It was a welcome sight after having seen her turn almost white in the ice ocean.
Soros wasn't going to admit that to her, not then and not ever, but he hadn't been sure she would make it. As she'd fallen asleep in his arms after their fucking, he'd stayed up, watching over her, not daring to close his eyes for a second. He had done everything he could think of, given her all the warmth there was, but it wasn't a guarantee.
Soros had dearly wished he could have taken all the gifts genetics and the Corgan priests had given him and bestowed them upon Kat for just that night.
By morning, he'd been colder than he'd ever been. But it was all worth it the second Kat moved against him, opening her beautiful blue eyes and looking at him, the fire still burning in them. Sometimes, he thought her eyes shone brighter than any he’d seen on Corgans.
He picked food for himself too, already planning their next move. Selauria wasn't going to betray him, but it wouldn't be long until Turian found them. He had to be ready before the clan lord came for his revenge.
It brought a smile to his lips to think of the surprise shot Kat had fired at the troublesome clan lord. She had done well, but in turn, had brought Turian's wrath upon herself. Now the man had two reasons to hunt her and Soros down.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked when Kat finally pushed her plate away, sated.
She beamed, nodding.
"It's a big improvement since morning, yes," Kat said. "I feel ready to take on the world."
"Good," Soros said, grinning again. "Because that is exactly what we will do now."
Her eyes became serious and a little worried.
"There is no chance Turian is going to let us go, is there?" she asked.
"No. The only option we have is to be prepared to fight him when he finds us."
"There are only two of us," Kat said, doubtful. "We already tried that in the mountains."
"We will have to even the numbers, yes," he agreed.
"I have my crew," Kat offered. "They will be very confused, of course. I told them I would be fine, and now they haven't heard from me in days. Evan must think I'm dead."
Soros shook his head. For a moment, he stopped to wonder what this Evan meant to Kat.
Plenty of time for that later.
"Leave your crew out of this," he said. "The farther from us they are, the safer they'll be. I had something else in mind. Turian thinks he can shield himself from me with an army. I will take it from him and force him to face me alone whether he wants to or not."
Something in his words had apparently amused Kat.
"You speak like you have an army, but you're not a clan lord. That is the only reason my crew let me come. I convinced them that in the end, you were just one man."
Soros laughed.
"I am," he agreed. "But not alone if I don't choose to be."
"So," Kat asked, the most beautiful, trusting smile on her lips. "Where are you hiding your army?"
"Where do you think?" Soros asked, taking her hand and leading her back to the shipyard. "We fly to Dolon Hall."
Chapter Seventeen
Kat
Her adventure kept unfolding in unexpected ways.
Silly me, Kat thought, climbing into the small ship Roum had provided them with. I thought hiking through deadly mountains and making our way under tons of ice was all. I believed for a moment that was it, the end of the adventure. But no, this is where things actually get dangerous.
Not that she was afraid. Fear as an emotion had left Kat completely. Being near Soros was an experience she could only describe as transcendent. He seemed to make the rest of the world fall away and become nothing, until it came poking at her with very sharp weapons, that was.
But he had assured her, in no uncertain terms, that she would be in no danger.
Not that I can’t take care of myself, she thought with a little huff.
She’d learned not to say it out loud, though.
Well, not too often, anyway.
"If I understand even half of what you're saying," Kat argued. "No one in Dolon Hall will be safe."
She could see the warrior gritting his teeth in frustration, immediately regretting bringing that topic up. It seemed Soros didn't like others dying for him nearly as much as the clan lords did.
"That is true," he admitted, clearly against his will. "But he is perfectly capable of destroying the Hall if he thinks it will hurt me."
"Yeah," Kat agreed. "I heard him. Charming man. And that's the reason he wants me too, right? To get back at you."
Soros glanced at her from the pilot's seat, nodding, but he couldn't hide the smirk on his lips.
"That," he agreed. "And the fact that you shot him."
"I'm quite proud of that," Kat smiled. "He was really getting on my nerves. How do you even suppose he’ll fight you? That was a pretty nasty wound."
"We heal fast," Soros said with a shrug. "Turian would have priests at his command. They will have fixed him up already. It's better this way. I wouldn't want to fight him if he was wounded. I want everyone to see him lose fairly."
"You're certain he will come to Dolon Hall?"
"Absolutely. I'm actually fairly certain he's already there, but it won't make a difference to me."
"I thought you needed time to gather your army," Kat asked.
"It's hardly an army," Soros replied. "I don't need many. Only those who come when I call. We are Corgans and our best warriors are at the Hall. They don't need much preparation time. Not to choose, and not to join me."
"Once we get there, I think I need a new gun," Kat went on, musing. "Something that could actually pierce armor. Mine is pretty useless against that armor of yours. I'm sure you have one that I could use somewhere in the armory."
Soros was looking at her like she was suddenly speaking in tongues. Kat knew what he was going to say.
"Don't even think of sticking me somewhere out of the way," she said firmly. "I'm not completely helpless, I’ve already proven that to you. I can help."
"You don't know what you're facing," Soros growled. "Dolon Hall is filled with elite warriors, even those who will side with us are ruthless. I don't want you anywhere near them."
"I have no idea?" Kat said, trying to joke, although she knew Soros would find nothing humorous in her response. "You've told me from the moment we met that you are better than all of them. I've seen what you can do. I think I have a fairly good idea of what I'm dealing with."
Soros' hand moved so quickly she only saw a blur, and then one of his thin swords was inches from her neck. The warrior was hardly even looking in her direction. His expression was stony.
"Turian is a great fighter," he stated simply. "The men in his personal guard are quick on their feet. Not one of them would have stayed this blow, Kat. Not one. The only reason Turian might let you live is to present your tortured body to me before he slits your throat before my eyes. I will never again aim my blade at you, but I need you to understand.
“I am a warrior. They are killers."
Kat listened and thought about it as Soros sheathed his sword again. Was she really so eager to put her life in peril again?
No. That was not it. Kat had seen and dealt with her fair share of galactic scum. She didn't seek danger out for fun.
"I will not hide in a corner while you are out there," she said with every ounce of conviction she could manage. "If our roles were reversed, you'd understand."
The look Soros gave her was endlessly gentle, loving even.
"I would," he said. "But that doesn't change anything. We are who we are. I know you can handle yourself, but you can't honestly expect to deal with Turian's men."
"I'm not saying I will charge into the melee, screaming," Kat laughed. "I sa
id I wanted to help. I have my cloak. I can move around, unseen and undetected. Relay information to you. Find Turian and lead you to him. We can end it quickly before people get hurt."
Even Soros didn't have an immediate argument to that.
* * *
Apparently, Turian was not at Dolon Hall. Yet.
As soon as they docked in the Hall's landing bay, messages started pouring in. The Hall was in an uproar. Soros' return was like the first pebble in a landslide. Everyone knew what was coming and the choice was fairly simple for most civilians – flee or stand their ground.
The warriors had another decision to make – who to fight for. They hadn't even spent five minutes in the bay with Soros' more loyal students reporting to their commander, when the announcement came.
Turian was on his way and he was bringing his clan with him.
After giving a few last orders Kat didn't even pretend to understand, Soros led her away. Kat walked half a step behind him, afraid that he'd literally shove her into a room and lock the door behind her. Everything she knew about him told her it was entirely likely. Corgans didn't care for just anyone, but if they did, it was unconditional.
She hadn't heard the words from him yet, but Kat knew.
As the Hall came alive around them, she couldn't take her eyes off Soros. The man she'd met in the woods had been a lone ranger, a crusader on his own path. Here, he truly was a commander. Men stood up straighter when they spoke to him, beaming when he approved of their plans. Kat could barely believe the amount of Corgan warriors the Hall housed – they were everywhere.
The information had been correct. They were all warriors already, accomplished fighters who had come for something more than usual training. She could tell by their stance, the way they obeyed without question, moving in sync with their unit.
Soros conducted that flowing mass of people like he had been born to do it. He knew the men under his command better than any clan lord could of.
Kat saw others, those whose eyes burned with barely restrained loathing. They turned around when Soros approached, gone the moment he rounded the corner. The commander said nothing, but the truth was obvious enough.