“I’ll not tell you. Ever!” His eyes gleamed with the light of madness. “You’ll be hunted to extinction!”
“You’ve tried and failed so far,” Connie observed with deceiving laziness.
He glared at her. “I know you, bitch. You were sighted many times fighting beside these impure whelps of Karana’s, protecting them, nurturing them until they could murder alone!”
“I never knew I was so famous, did you, Dana?”
“‘Fraid not. Must have missed that part. What part would you like to miss first, Shari?” She pressed the dagger, a drop of blood welling up beneath the pointed tip.
“Kill me, then!” he hissed with burning hatred. “It won’t change things. You’re all outlaws on the run and will remain so. After kidnapping me, you bitches are more wanted than ever, so do your worst, my mission is accomplished!” He glared at Darvk. “And you’ve taken the Daamens down with you.”
Silence filled the room, then Reya said emotionlessly, “Very well, you have chosen. You’ll be taken back with us to the rest of our sister warriors to face them. Your sentence is death.” The words lingered in the air and faded before she added, “By burning alive.”
Darvk blanched, a quick glance around him showing that his friends were just as shocked at the determination in every warrior’s face.
By unspoken consent, Dana and Tenia released Shari with a shove that sent him sprawling onto the floor. They left the room with Reya and Connie following, Dana limping on her bandaged ankle.
“Lock the door and guard it,” Darvk ordered Morgan.
“Aye, Cap’n.” Shaken, he nodded.
He wasn’t the only one. Maverk and Darvk were both just as perturbed by the cold-blooded confrontation between the Reekas and Shari, though they both knew it should have been no surprise.
“Hell,” Maverk breathed, “Now what? We can’t allow them to kill him, much as he may deserve it.
They both looked at Shari, who climbed slowly to his feet, hate on his face, his blood on his hands from the trickle at his throat.
Slowly, an idea started to form in Darvk’s mind.
“We certainly can’t fight the wenches,” Maverk added, worried.
“We may not have to,” Darvk replied. “I know how we can get him to talk without shedding any more blood.”
~ * ~
The trading ship landed on the ground and the ramp lowered.
The witch stood at her door, watching the people emerge.
“So,” Beulah greeted Darvk. “I see you found the one you sought.”
“Aye, and I thank you. We also seek more help.”
“And what do you seek this time?”
“Another truth serum.”
“Ah.” She angled her head, eyes partly closed as though listening to something no one else could hear.
Who knew, maybe she did.
Darvk felt something coil around his wrist, glanced down to see nothing, then shook his head. The witch was spooky, she was starting to spook him, and he’d never been easily spooked.
She smiled as though reading his mind.
Probably can.
“Come in.” She stepped aside and gestured into the hut.
Connie eyed it. “I’ll wait here.”
Beulah gave a surprisingly young laugh. “It’s not that small inside, but as you wish.”
Morgan elected to stay outside with Connie. The rest of the crew loitered near the ramp with the remainder of the Reekas.
Darvk ushered Tenia and Reya ahead of him, Maverk falling in behind. Beulah pointed them to the table and they sat with Tenia and Reya opposite them.
Beulah left the room and they all looked at each other, Tenia arching an eyebrow.
The witch returned as quickly as she’d left, this time with 2 roses which she handed to the sisters. “Hold these and close your eyes.” She placed a sheet of paper between them on the table.
Tenia glanced at Darvk questioningly and he nodded.
“Feel the petals.” Taking the seat at the head of the table, Beulah closed her eyes. “Seek the truth with your hearts and all will be revealed.”
Reya’s fingers slid across the soft petals of the rose, her actions releasing a pleasing scent into the air.
The traders watched curiously, wondering what would happen.
Tenia held the rose gingerly, but the scent of it relaxed her. Warmth filled her, an image of her mother appearing in her mind. Smiling, laughing, crying…screaming soundlessly. She gritted her teeth. What was happening? The pleasing scent was vanishing, a smell of burning replacing it. The warmth was now in her hand and getting hotter, burning her…burning her as the hot flames that devoured the rose in her hand.
“Ouch!” She threw the rose onto the table and stared at the flames which consumed it, turning it to ashes on the paper that remained unharmed.
Darvk caught her wrist and quickly turned her hand over, expecting to see blistering, raw flesh, but her palm showed not one singe mark. The smell of something acrid filled the air and they both looked at Reya.
Alarmed, Tenia stared at her. Her sister’s jaw was clenched, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, pain etched into her face.
Maverk dropped to his knees beside her, but Beulah stopped him touching her with a sharp, “Don’t.”
His hands wavered in the air as though he would not obey, but then he dropped his palms to his thighs, remaining kneeling by Reya’s side.
Reya raised her hand, the rose clenched in her fist. The thorns dug deep into her flesh and blood trickled down her arm to drip onto the ashes of the rose. The smell of blood drifted in the air, thick and heavy. The blood of many. The ashes of the consumed rose hissed and a swirl of smoke spiralled up.
Reya’s eyes snapped open and she dropped the rose. Pushing back the chair, she jumped to her feet.
“Reya!” Tenia reached for her, as did Maverk.
She evaded both of them, breathing heavily. “I’m fine.” Shakily she resumed her seat.
“Lass, are you sure?” Darvk asked in concern.
“Yes. It was just so…unexpected. I’m fine.”
Beulah carefully gathered the piece of paper and retreated through the door at the rear of the room.
“Here.” Maverk pulled out the bandanna holding his hair back from his face. “Hold out your hand.”
“It’s a scratch, nothing more.” Taking the bandanna, she wiped away the blood. “Now what?”
“We wait for the serum,” Maverk answered
Unsure what they’d all witnessed but knowing they had been in the presence of something beyond their understanding, the small group waited in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
When Beulah entered the room, she carried a small vial filled with a murky grey liquid. “Darvk, this must be injected into the person you seek the truth from. You know.”
“I remember.” He took it from her. “We thank you so much. This is our only hope.”
They walked from the room.
As Reya made to step past Beulah, she suddenly turned her head, their gazes locking for long seconds. Something seemed to pass between them, puzzling Darvk. When Tenia shot him a baffled glance, he could do nothing but shrug.
Seemingly with effort, Reya tore her gaze from Beulah and strode outside, Maverk on her heels.
Beulah nodded at Darvk. “God speed, my friends.”
Weighing the vial in his hand as they returned to the trade ship, Darvk gave Tenia an encouraging smile.
It had to work. Would work. They hadn’t come so far to see it all fall to pieces now.
~ * ~
Sarrah’s face was dubious as she studied her son on the viscomm screen. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Darvk.”
“Mother, this is the only way. Can you spread the word?”
“All right. I’ll send messages to the planet leaders for a meeting to take place on the Intergalactic Peace Ship.”
“With an amnesty for the Reekas while they are aboard.”
“You a
sk a lot, son.”
“They need to speak freely, which they won’t do if they’re seized.” If they were seized, it would be bloody, but Darvk prudently kept that little thought to himself. He didn’t want to even contemplate where that particular pathway would lead for any of them.
“I’ll try.”
“Please do it, Mother.”
His mother’s expression softened. “You care for these Reekas.”
He nodded.
Shrewdly, she studied him. “One in particular.”
“Aye.”
“Mmm.” She nodded. “I will do my best, son.”
The day passed as he waited for the reply. Though he joined Tenia in the dining cabin, playing cards and generally trying to appear confident, he was relieved when Maverk entered that evening to inform him that his mother had been successful. The leaders of fifty of the one hundred and sixty planets that made up the Intergalactic Peace Council would be aboard the Intergalactic Peace Ship to hear the Reekas’ plea of innocence in the murders of their men folk and the settlement near Oslow.
And Shari, the Inka Empire leader, would tell of his part in it. Thinking of the vial holding the truth serum, Darvk knew he was playing with fire, but he’d go to the ends of the universe to get the truth known and his beloved lass - and her sister warriors - pardoned.
~*~
Four Days Later
“This had better work.” Through the space shield, Dana watched the massive Intergalactic Peace Ship loom closer.
“It will,” Garret assured her.
“So sure, are you?”
“Aye. These leaders are from all parts of the galaxy. As Darvk said, who better to hear the truth than the leaders? These are the people who will grant you a pardon.”
“Will they? More like it’s a trap.”
“You’ve been granted amnesty while aboard, you know that.”
Moodily, she traced a finger tip over the sheathed dagger at her waist. “Amnesties are given and taken away in the blink of an eye. I fear for our very lives while we’re surrounded by these law-abiding races.”
He laid his hand on her shoulder. “No harm will come to any of you while we’re there.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him.
“And no harm shall come to you while I live,” he promised softly.
Impatiently, she turned back to the porthole. “You speak rot, Garret.”
But she didn’t shrug off his touch and he smiled to himself.
Chapter 16
Aboard The Intergalactic Peace Ship
Space
The Lawful Sector
“I hope he knows what he’s doing.” Sarrah fretted. “Oh, Byron, I hope he knows what he’s doing!”
“Darvk will have something in mind.” Byron, the Saalm medical officer and friend of Darvk’s visiting the Intergalactic Peace Ship, attempted to soothe her. “He doesn’t act rashly.”
“He looks so worried.”
Patting her hand, Byron sent a silent, sidelong glance at Keema and Coran, his fellow Saalm medics. They were all worried about their friend. The outcome of this assembly would decide once and for all the fate of the women he championed. His evidence of their innocence had better be good.
Perfect, in fact.
A tall man robed in black entered the room and took his seat in the middle of the long, curving table with eighteen chairs behind it. Behind this table and raised higher was another long, curved table and eighteen chairs. Above this was a third; three tiers of leaders from different planets.
It was to this immense panel that the Reekas would produce their evidence.
The panel would have been larger if every leader could attend, but only fifty leaders were available at such short notice. For this hearing, it was enough.
The remainder of the advisors seated themselves at the long tables and rows of chairs at the side of the huge room.
A camviewer in the side wall would transmit the proceedings to every planet leader unable to attend. This day the Reeka warriors were on every viscomm screen in the galaxy. This day their fate would be sealed.
He very much feared that if it all went wrong, the fate of Darvk and his crew might also be sealed.
Byron took a deep breath as the panel leaders entered and filed into their seats. Amongst them were a Daamen and a Saalm leader. When the last one was settled, the black-robed man pressed a button before him. Every eye turned to the door that slid open on the other side of the room.
The first to step out were Darvk and Maverk followed by Morgan and Garret. Darvk walked into the middle of the room while his friends stood beside the door.
Sarrah wrung her hands together anxiously.
“Darvk of Daamen.” The black-robed man looked sternly at the giant trader. “Where are the Reekas?”
“Meekta.” Darvk inclined his head respectfully. “They request your assurance of amnesty while aboard this ship.”
“This has been granted already. Is our word not good enough?”
“These are warriors who have no real faith in words. Circumstances have made this so.”
Meekta compressed his lips, then nodded. “Very well. I will say again that the Reeka warrior women have amnesty during these proceedings. This is given on the honour of the Intergalactic Peace Council.”
Darvk turned and looked at the door, and for the first time in some years a group of Reeka warriors stepped voluntarily into the midst of planet leaders, peacemakers, and lawmakers. This, Byron knew, was a moment to be remembered.
As a small group of four they approached the panel, stepping out until they formed a straight line and came to a standstill. A line of tall, strong warriors dressed in laced-up bodices, leather skirts, rawhide boots, and untamed beauty. Just as everyone else in the room, they wore no weapons.
But they were deadly nonetheless. Only a fool would think otherwise.
Leaning forward, Meekta pierced the two middle warriors with his gaze. “Are you Tenia and Reya, daughters of Karana?”
“Yes,” they both answered.
“And these two,” the golden-haired warrior gestured, “are Dana and Connie.”
Tenia, the woman Darvk had fallen in love with. Oh, he might not realise that anyone knew, but Byron had contacts and they shared friends. Plus it was evident in the way Darvk watched her, the tension in his stance which told everyone present that he was ready to leap to the defence of the Reekas at a moment’s notice.
“Of the Reeka race, now outlawed?” Meekta continued.
“Yes,” Tenia replied. “And our father is Vulya, son of Shari, leader of the Inka Empire.”
A shocked murmur swept the room, a clear indication that this was news to all present.
It was no surprise to Byron, Keema and Coran, thanks to Sarrah informing them earlier.
“I see.” Meekta gestured to them. “You are here to plead your case.”
“To plead, no.” The warrior with the wild red-gold curls - Reya - corrected him. “We plead for nothing. We’re here to state the truth.”
Meekta’s gaze raked her forbiddingly.
One of the other planet leaders frowned. “Do you mean disrespect by not pleading?”
“No,” she answered steadily, but didn’t follow that up with anything else.
Meekta nodded curtly. “Very well. We know what history says.” He slid his hand across the console on the table in front of him. “Let us hear it again.”
A metallic voice filled the room and the history of the deaths of the male members of the Reeka race was told, followed by the leaving of the warriors, their mercenary work, and being found guilty of slaughtering an entire settlement, subsequently leading to being outlawed by the Inka Empire.
The voice stopped abruptly and Meekta looked at the warriors in turn. “It’s damning.”
“Some of it is true but much of it is lies,” Tenia answered.
“What areas are lies?”
“Our men weren’t murdered by the women as is hinted at. We don’t kn
ow what killed them, but my mother nursed my father and cried when he died. They all did.”
“You were young. How do you know that what you were told by your older females was true?”
Connie looked directly at him. “Because I lost my husband and newborn son to the mysterious illness.”
“Why didn’t you seek help?”
“We did, as apparently isn’t mentioned in the historical accounts, but by the time the healer arrived there was no sign of sickness, just dead bodies. Not long after the rumours started, and we were forced to leave our homes to protect our young and old.”
“The men still died,” Meekta pointed out. “Yet none of the females were affected.”
“True. The men died on the journey to find a new place to settle. Once the babes were weaned, they too died. We don’t know why. Nobody did.”
“Hmmm.” He sat back.
One of the Saalm Consult Members, Yolan, sat forward. “You became mercenaries.”
“We had to survive.” Reya’s icy gaze fastened on him. “We wandered, unwelcome anywhere. Winter was cold with not much to eat or warm clothes. No one would hire us until we were offered work as mercenaries. We had female children and babes to keep alive as well as elderly warriors. We took what we were offered to survive.”
Unspoken was the clear message - no one offered help.
“Until the settlement was attacked,” Yolan pointed out. “Survivors named the Reekas.”
“It wasn’t us,” Tenia denied. “We had no idea what had happened, but from then on we were game for the bounty hunters and soldiers. Many of us died. Many were raped. Of these, many were children.”
“You killed,” Meekta said sharply. “Do you deny it?”
“I don’t. It was kill or be killed. But does it say anywhere in history that we attacked first? No, we fought only when we were attacked.”
“Those of you captured and sold killed your masters while escaping,” a Morica leader pointed out.
Reya looked at her. “Would you like to be chained with your legs apart and raped, leader? Have you ever seen it? I have and it isn’t pretty. Or worked into the ground, maybe? Whipped and beaten, chained to a pole?”
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