Battle Queen: Red Ruler Series (Book 1)

by Kahaula

  Welo may be deadly, but I was cunning and patient. Our plans were coming together far faster than we ever could have thought. I may no longer be creeping along the forest tops or clinging motionless for days along the craggy mountain passes but I was still hunting down prey. This new life was thrilling and every day I thanked the Gods of the Hunt. Everything could all come crashing down but until then, I would hunt.

  I would help in my own way to build the life both my mates deserved. I would make Hs’tar and Welo see their love again. I would be the clever eyes and ears of my deadly mate. And perhaps one day, I would even have little ones of my own to raise and love. Warmth filled my chest as the asshole next to me blathered on about something. I said the appropriate sounds or words to encourage him to continue spewing information from his face hole, while wanting nothing more than to punch said face hole repeatedly. The things I do for the ones I love.

  L’Ryx

  I prowled through the casino and shops of the Pleasure Palace’s first floor. Where was this ‘Pit’ that I was supposed to find the Battle Queen? I had asked more than one staff member here and at the Blood Arena but all they did was smile politely and say that it was where all the naughty things go.

  Growling under my breath I checked the provided maps and guides. Nowhere did it say a pit of any kind existed in this damn city. Once again the Battle Queen was everywhere and nowhere... taunting me. I snarled. A wide circle opened up around me. Looking around I saw fearful glances carefully thrown my way as other patrons bumped into each other in an effort to give me ample space. I guess I was louder than I thought.

  She was driving me to behave like a youngling lusting for his first coupling. My clear head of earlier was fading as my aggravation grew. I knew she meant full dark to mean when both suns had set, which only gave me another hour. I’m running out of time before I have even begun my search, I scoffed.

  I scratched at the fabric of my regular uniform top. Thinking about the Battle Queen always made her claw marks tingle. I clenched my fists, pulling them away from my body. Even her markings were a mystery. The med-suite time I had purchased should have healed them completely and yet they still adorned my chest. They weren’t the deep down to the bone gouges she had given me, but the raised lines were still there. Four slashes that kept tethering me to thoughts of her.

  Taking in a calming breath I wiped all expression from my face and turned on my heel. I needed to regroup. It wasn’t my captain’s office on my ship but at least my room here was a quiet space to think.

  Entering my personal quarters here the first thing I noticed was that my holoscreen was sitting on my chair with a gold cuff on it. I stiffened and stopped in my tracks. Welo. I could smell her. I staggered forward and brought the cuff up to my nose, brushing them lightly across my lips. She hadn’t been in my room but her pheromones were all over the cuff.

  I shook and brushed it across my lips again. I imagined her pheromones licking along them. Whatever it took, I was going to find her. Tonight, she was all mine. A rumbling growl of satisfaction and confidence radiated from my chest. I picked up my holoscreen and it automatically lit up with directions and a description of The Pit.

  You bitch, you knew I’d be wandering around for hours trying to find The Pit, I laughed and shook my head from side to side. She had probably watched on her surveillance as I went from place to place trying to ask employees for help.

  The cuff was thick and solid gold, masculine yet set with intricate designs. Looking closer I saw they weren’t nonsensical patterns and lines but star maps containing the coordinates for Earth and Ula Nui.

  If I wore this, it would mark me as hers.

  The thought made my breathing speed up. Pounding desire flashed through me again. My heart raced in excitement instead of incredulity. She gave me the option to wear it or not, but in my mind, there was no other option I wanted.

  The Pit was some sort of club. The description was vague about what kind of club but given the Battle Queen’s penchant for excess it was no doubt impressive. I could change into central world finery or even my best uniform. Looking at the cuff I knew this was another test of hers. Would I come to her honestly or with another facade and most likely disappoint her?

  This was another challenge. We may not be facing off in the Blood Arena, but I knew from our first meeting that she prized strength and honesty. The Battle Queen never lied but was never entirely honest either. She offered you a chance to give her honesty and if you were worthy she’d return it. Her loyalty went both ways.

  I stripped down and put on the same battle tight pants and boots I had worn in the arena. I slipped the cuff on my right arm where it resized to perfectly fit my bicep. My men were in an adjoining room with the precious cargo I had them bring. I sent them a quick message along with R’Tok saying I was heading to find the Battle Queen for my negotiation tonight. In an encrypted secondary message I told R’Tok to not be alarmed if I disappeared again, and only to send an extraction team if after two standard days I still hadn’t appeared.

  Bare chested and thrumming with excitement I left all thoughts of anything but the Battle Queen behind. Following the directions I went back down to the first floor and found the panel that now opened up for me as I approached it. A staircase leading down into the dark stretched out before me.

  Four steps down and the stair flattened and turned into a slide. I couldn’t stop or brace myself as I slipped down into the darkness. Suddenly, the stairs seemed to push back and reform under my back, lifting me gently upright. Red sand crunched under my feet.

  Swiftly I looked from left to right and saw no enemies or ambush. Milling about were other people, some adjusting and fixing their clothing or jewels after the slide down. It seemed we were all deposited in this room. Above us more dark holes opened up and others were gracefully dumped into this waiting chamber.

  It was high ceilinged with murals that glimmered with jewels and colourful paint. Horrific scenes from various holy books describing afterlife torment were everywhere. The murals covered every surface and were only broken up by equally spaced fire torches. An uncomfortable silence descended on all of us.

  We were all coming to the same conclusion. There was no visible exit. The various paths we had taken to get to this room were one way. Not only that, they had stopped opening up and no one had arrived for the last five minutes.

  The faces of those around me started to morph from excited to anxious. Some told bad jokes to hide the stink of their fear. Four masked figures walked straight out of the walls. A couple next to me gasped and clung to each other.

  The four figures were covered in various colours of body paint, some of which glowed. Their masks were gruesome but beautiful. I recognised one mask as being from a boyhood tale from my own homeworld. A beast that came to take naughty misbehaving children to the Darkness for punishment.

  “Welcome to The Pit!” As one they bowed. They stepped back to the wall as one as well. Their perfect synchronicity was unnerving. I moved to stand in front of the familiarly masked evil one, taking it as my hint. In that perfected united voice again they spoke, “Come join us,” their hands swept to the wall and bowed low half in the wall and half out. “Join us, if you dare.”

  They disappeared backwards through the seemingly solid wall. I laughed so hard I had to put my hands on my hips to brace myself. The others in the room looked at me nervously as if I had all the answers. The answer was clear as a sun’s rise: there was no wall only archways marked by the torches.

  Ignoring all the waffling of the others talking themselves into doing something, I stepped forward and right through the wall to the other side. Immediately I was overwhelmed. The music was pounding so hard that the floor seemed to vibrate under my feet. Everything was both dark and light at the same time. Neon writing was all over every wall and floor. The names of all the hells and bad places for evil doers from thousands of cultures were scribbled everywhere.

  Clouds of drug smoke floated here and there like pu
ffy clouds of false atmosphere. The music was definitely human but the dancers on floating platforms where from a variety of races. Every single worker, from the waiters to the sex worker I could see getting pounded from two patrons at once, wore only body paints and masks.

  The Pit was a giant nightclub. From the reception landing I stood on, I couldn’t truly see where it ended or began. Masked waiters with chains and whips tied around their hips delivered special trays of glowing pills and inhalers. Drugs I had never seen before flowed as freely as the alcohol and sex.

  Another throbbing beat kicked off and I saw more of those I had left behind wander in next to me. I could see they were just as overwhelmed as I was. This place must extend at the very least the entirety of the Pleasure Palace. If that was true then as large as this dance and drinking space seemed, it was just a fraction of what was really down here.

  Making my way down the steps I pushed through the throngs of sweating bodies as they gyrated and fucked to the human music. My own cocks were pushing against its protective barrier, wanting to join in on the pure unadulterated freedom pulsing through the air.

  How the fuck am I supposed to find her in here? I looked for the masked one that I had followed through the hall but knew that must have been a one time thing. A new song started up. It held a throbbing deep beat full of teasing moans, talking about not giving anymore help for someone who’s clever but such trouble. I laughed openly and knew this had to be another hint, especially with the line about whether the listener would find the singer.

  The lights pulsed all around me matching the sensual clapping beat and I walked toward the final echos of the song. Before I knew what was happening I had walked through into another chamber. I stopped up short and just stared. A masked female in high footwear was smashing said footwear’s heel into the genitals of a gagged male. Pleasure filled screams filled the space accompanied by the sounds of whips.

  A bare chested and hoofed masked male walked up to me wearing thick chains across his torso and hips. He carried a light whip in one massive hand. He face was covered but I could see he had horns. He grabbed my chin roughly. I slapped his hand away and growled deep in my chest. He laughed darkly and stepped back. “Where is the Battle Queen?”

  “Where is our Queen!” Yelled the male.

  “Everywhere!” Shouted all the masked workers in unison.

  “But not here, General,” the male laughed again and turned his back on me. I felt my excitement inexplicably grow. I turned and walked back out into the dance area. She wasn’t going to make this easy but she wouldn’t make it impossible either.

  Thirty minutes later and I had seen things I could not unsee. A tentacled male fucking eight women at once, but two of his cocks came before the other six and shot inky black cum over all the females. Floating and blissed out patrons who weightlessly drifted amongst giant bubbles and bounced off the walls as the lighting softly changed to different warm colours. One room was a giant aquarium, that surprise surprise, had underwater patrons fucking against the glass. Some even seemed to be gasping for air as their partner or partners ripped their rebreathers out to fuck their mouths. One room was just full of brightly coloured balls. Why? So patrons could jump in and out of it from off the walls and high swings like children. Giggling, drunk, high as fuck, children.

  Those I could understand. What threw me off was wandering into a giant playroom filled with actual children. The group of adults watching over them kindly told me to get the fuck out as this was the employee daycare and they didn’t understand how I even had the access code.

  If I had hair I would have ripped it out of my skull. I wandered back out to the main dance floor. The song changed up and a taunting feminine voice sang about how she was a little wicked. I snorted. “Now you’re just outright mocking me, Welo!” I yelled to no one in particular. I chuckled but listened closely to the lyrics hoping for a clue.

  With no clue to be found I continued choosing doors at random until I finally realised there was a pattern. This entire space mirrored the above Pleasure Palace in that it was ovoid. But these walls leading to the various inner chambers were all smack in the middle of the space. My steps were slowly making a circuit proving the the chambers were a circle.

  I saw a patch of wall between the entrances to two chambers and reached out to test my theory. Sure enough the ‘wall’ gave way and my fingers passed through. I stepped forward into a rectangular space similar to the lifts on my warship. I felt the cuff pulse. I tensed as I felt myself being lifted up.

  I turned around and saw that I had gone only one floor up. Everything below could easily be seen from what had to be one way chameleon shielding.

  “Took you long enough.”

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy me wandering around like an idiot for the past hour,” I turned to the owner of that dark and sleek voice, “Or the hours before that when I tried running around to find out more information about The Pit.”

  The Battle Queen laughed and pursed her lips in amusement. I schooled my features with every fibre of strength in my body. After the pounding beat, overwhelming smells, and pulsing lust of the club below the quiet of this room only made her stand out more.

  Gone were the battle wraps. In its place were perfectly placed strips of blood red fabric that billowed as she breathed. They were draped and clipped above her left shoulder but swirled and clung to her body like wet petals caught in a silent wind on her flesh. She was both covered but not. It was a breathtaking contradiction.

  “Maybe I did take some pleasure in it,” she smiled slyly. She gestured to the pillows that surrounded a warm and great feast. I sat at her right hand and took in all the dishes before us. How a slave managed this level of technology and opulence, in such a short time was making my head spin. High Command was right to have their suspicions.

  “Such an offering,” I held my hand out to the food before me. It was extravagant but still intimate, “Is this to placate me for my hard labours on my quest to find you?”

  “Ah, yes, walking around was such a hard labour,” she rolled her eyes then chuckled, “No, this is because my people value hospitality. And humans generally have the same saying in various Earth cultures.”

  “What?” I asked curiously.

  “A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” her eyes were sharp and her smile bloodthirsty. I stifled a groan and breathed sharply to get my cocks under control.

  “Why do I think you mean that literally?” I teased.

  “Because it’s worked for me before,” she laughed darkly, “Most males are soft in the belly and their major organs can easily be ripped out if I go through their stomachs first.”

  “Darkness, Battle Queen you are indeed,” I smiled.

  “Welo,” she said quietly. Her brow creased slightly like she had caught herself doing something she shouldn’t have.

  “What?”

  “You may call me Welo,” she cleared her throat and looked away. She’s opening up to me, a warm pride filled me before I stomped it back down. I was here on a mission and needed to keep a clear head.

  “Then please,” I smiled warmly, “call me L’Ryx.”

  Welo

  L’Ryx’s nebula eyes swept away from my own and down to the food. I hadn’t planned for this whole chase charade. Something had just compelled me to throw obstacles in his way. It was like I wanted to see if he would give up. I was testing him and the reasons were becoming less about my political machinations and more about my own personal ones.

  Fuck.

  I needed to get a better handle on whatever the hell was going on with me. Good food and a good fuck with L’Ryx would clear him out of my system. My only problem was I was uncomfortable that I wasn’t uncomfortable with that idea. Except for Bibi, I hadn’t had sex with anyone else besides Hs’tar and Merooth. We knew what it meant to live every breath to its fullest, especially when those few breaths were dictated by another’s whim. They expected loyalty but not fidelity.

 
Even still, with all the options here, I never wanted anyone to touch me but those that I knew and trusted. My body had been my commodity. It was my tool, my blade. When I was a slave I had learned to accept that reality and hammer myself into the weapon I had to become. And now, just like my broken sword in the Blood Arena I wasn’t quite what I thought I was.

  “Have you thought more about my request?”

  “What?” I slapped myself mentally, L’Ryx had been speaking and I wasn’t even paying attention.

  “The Breeding Contract,” he popped a small red fruit into his mouth.

  “Is this your request,” I narrowed my eyes. I was pissed at myself for my wandering thoughts but equally perturbed by his question, “Or is this contract really your mission from High Command?”

  “What do you mean?” He asked coyly. His non-answer came out with a bit of a croak as he coughed to dislodge the berry that had gotten stuck when I had asked the question. I sighed and shook my own head. A deep sense of disappointment overwhelmed me.

  “Enjoy the feast, General L’Ryx,” I got up from the table but felt a thick hand wrap around my ankle before I could go anywhere.

  “I’m sorry,” L’Ryx looked up at me, his eyes matched his voice’s sincerity. “Please...,” he swallowed slowly and his thumb caressed up and down my inner ankle. I looked down at him and blinked for a few seconds longer.

  I wasn’t trying to be a tease. I wasn’t trying to intrigue him. This moment wasn’t about him at all. I needed to ask myself what I was really doing right now. More importantly, was it worth risking every plan I was spinning out into the galaxy. Was it worth endangering my people?

  He seemed to sense my internal debate. Instead of begging, cajoling, or trying to manipulate me in any way, he simply waited. He removed the hand banding my ankle. His face looked pained at the gesture. He wasn’t looking at me when he did it, which allowed me the freedom to really see him.