by Zara Zenia
Once they finished in the parlor, they slipped from the room and down the hall to the salon. Bella reached into her backpack and opened the black box. She took out the syringe hoping she wouldn't have to use it. She kept it in her left hand, hidden by her sleeve.
As they entered the room, Terrex lowered his hood. "Hello, Mother," he said.
"Terrex, how lovely of you to visit, why are you dressed in such a way?" the willowy blonde who couldn't be more than thirty-five or six asked.
Bella was horrified seeing her. She had to have been taken at an extremely young age. Either that or she was aging differently here on Cania. She hoped that was the case.
"Hiding from Father, Mother. He's been a bit upset with me, even tried to kill me last time I saw him." He shrugged.
"What? Surely you're exaggerating, dear." She smiled. "No matter, come sit, tell me who is this with you?"
Terrex smiled and reached for Bella, removing her hood. "Mother, this is Bella. Bella, my mother, Lady Pansy."
"Oh, you're from Earth!" Lady Pansy exclaimed upon seeing her.
Bella smiled. "Yes, I am. How are you, ma'am?"
"Oh, I am well, I suppose. How did you— forgive me, but Terrex how did you acquire Bella?"
"He didn't acquire me, we met after I was rescued by another Earth woman. We're actually here to rescue you too—"
"Rescue me? Don't be ridiculous, child. I am bonded to Behlinn. I cannot leave, he would not be happy with me."
"Mother, don't you see? You were kidnapped and stolen from your home, given all kinds of injections and made to bond with Father—"
"I do recall how I came to be here, Terrex, but it was so many years ago now, it was like a dream. My life is here, satisfying Behlinn. I cannot le—"
Bella, who had sat down next to Lady Pansy, pressed the syringe into her neck and she collapsed, falling over to the side of the loveseat she sat on, her head resting on the arm. "We need to hurry. We only have six hours until it wears off. We have to get her back to the transport and off this planet before she wakes."
Terrex nodded. "Yes, but how? How are we to get her out of the house and past Dellina like this?"
37
Bella looked around. "The tea cart, we'll put her on the bottom, and we'll get it to the kitchen and then when Dellina isn't looking, grab her and get out the door." Bella frowned. "That's doable, right?"
"That's brilliant. We'll make it work." He smiled. "First, we need to grab a few things."
"Right." Bella looked around the room. It was filled with expensive trinkets, small metal decorations and jeweled boxes. She grab several and put them in her backpack while Terrex did the same.
"Stay here, I'll be right back," he said and then slipped out of the salon.
"Terrex, where are—" she started but it was too late, he was already out of the room. Silently she paced the room, praying he'd hurry up. Fifteen minutes later, he returned. "Where did you go?"
"I ran upstairs to Mother's room and raided her jewels. Father will never know they're missing." He looked around the room with a critical eye. They hadn't taken everything; this room held so many decorative items that it was hard to tell anything was missing. "We need to go. I've set off a distraction that will probably start attracting attention soon and we don't want to be here when that happens."
"What did you do?" Bella frowned, her fear spiking.
"Just set my father's bedding on fire. At least, it should be starting to light right about now if I've timed it right, and I've locked his door, so it will take them sometime to get in there and put it out, but in the meantime, we need to go."
"But, what if they trace it back to you?" Bella fretted, biting her lip nervously.
"Don't worry about it, I used something that could never lead back to me or us. I frayed a cord to his bedside lamp and made sure the bedding was caught on one of the frays. It will look as though it was an electrical fire. It will be fine. I promise."
He winked at her and then picked up his mother and slipped her onto the bottom section of the tea cart while Bella held the cloth that covered it up. Once Lady Pansy was tucked inside, she dropped the cloth, and they wheeled the cart to the kitchen. Thankfully, the floor was smooth, and the tea things didn't jostle or rattle as they crossed into the kitchen.
Silently, they pushed it deeper into the kitchen toward the door they'd entered through. Looking around the room, Terrex noticed Dellina, who fortunately was hard of hearing, had her back to them while she was in the pantry, which was a large room off the kitchen on the other side of the room away from the back door. He quickly motioned for Bella to open the door and mimed that he would take his mother outside, while she kept watch.
Bella nodded and did as he tasked her to do, opening the door quietly and watching for Dellina. Terrex pulled his mother out from the cart and quickly took her outside, setting her on the ground behind a bush, out of sight. He returned and they shut the door softly. Then they pushed the cart back to the hallway and pretended they were just then returning to the kitchen. They made a show of being loud as they moved the tea cart to its normal spot.
"I'm so glad you were able to talk to her," Bella said.
"Me too. She looks well."
"Ah such a good boy you are. Thank you for that." Dellina smiled at the returned tea cart as she came out of the pantry with her apron full of what looked like large mushrooms to Bella. Dellina's gaze turned to them. "And how was your visit with Lady Pansy?" Dellina asked, a wide smile on her lips.
"It was an excellent visit, Dellina, thank you for not keeping me from her." He smiled a charming smile at the cook that Bella was sure he'd used on numerous servants and various others to get his way.
"Well, I'm glad you were able to see her. It's not right your father keeping you away." She nodded. "I made you something to take with you, a little home cooking." She handed him a bag. "Now, don't be a stranger, all right? You come and see your mother again soon, I'll make sure you get in to see her."
Terrex felt a moment's regret that he'd probably never step foot in this house again, or see Dellina again, but he nodded and smiled. "I won't, Dellina, thank you. It was good to see you too." He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. "Take care, Dellina."
The older woman blushed. "You too, Lord Terrex."
Bella and Terrex hurried out the door with the bag of food and over to where he'd hidden his mother. Terrex handed the bag to Bella and then picked his mother up, cradling her in his arms, and started toward the path they'd come in on. So far everything was going exactly as planned, but Bella feared that it had all been entirely too easy.
She kept her fears to herself though as they headed down the dirt road back to the city. She looked over her shoulder toward the house and could see black and gray smoke billowing above the tree tops. "Terrex, that's a lot of smoke, do you think it spread farther than your father's room?"
Terrex looked back and smirked. "Maybe, if they didn't notice it in time and didn't get the door open. Might have spread to mother's room."
Bella sighed. Her fear was still heavy on her shoulders. She worried that they'd be caught, either by the Duke or worse, by the ISF. Still they pushed on and Bella stayed quiet. Once they were at the edge of the city, where they'd split from the others, Bella raised her wrist. "Asset acquired. Need assistance."
They stayed out of sight as they waited for Melody, Jodie, and Devron.
38
It took twenty more minutes for the others to reach them. In the center of the city sirens blared. Bella worried that they'd already been compromised. "What's going on?" she asked as Melody, Jodie, and Devron hurried toward them.
"We set off a little diversion in town," Devron replied. "I noticed you did as well?" He grinned at Terrex.
"Yeah, set the house on fire, the servants will be fine, but my father's room may never recover." Terrex chuckled.
"We should move, we don't want to attract attention carrying an unconscious woman," Melody said.
"Right." Devron nodded. "You got her?" he questioned.
"I'll let you know if I need a break. I think we'd better stick to the alleys and side roads again. I don't want to risk running into anyone who'd recognize my mother and report to my father."
They headed down another side street to an alley. They had to wait about ten minutes for it all to clear. It took them much longer to leave the city than it had to enter it, thanks to their captive. Two hours later, they were finally out of the city and Bella started to relax some. By her calculations, they had about three hours left for the sedative to continue working, then Lady Pansy would wake. She hoped they'd reach the transport before that happened, but at least they were putting some distance between them and the Duke.
"Were you able to get what we were after?" Jodie asked as they walked.
Bella glanced at her and then Terrex who nodded. "Yeah, Terrex was able to pulls some Credits from the safe, but we also got some trinkets and jewels that we can sell."
"That's great. We'll be able to get the ship repaired there on Verva. They have a fantastic mechanic shop," Devron replied.
"Well done, you two." Melody smiled at them.
"I feel a little guilty," Bella murmured, frowning.
"Don't." Terrex looked at her with concern. "Don't feel guilty, I don't. My father did not come by his wealth honestly. He makes his money in illegal trades and spirits. So do not feel guilty for relieving him of some of it, especially since he'll never even know it's missing."
"He'll notice your mother is missing though," Bella continued softly.
"Yes, that's true, but he doesn’t deserve her." Terrex's jaw was firmly set, and Bella knew there would be no arguing with him.
"Terrex, how old is your mother?" Bella asked, glancing at the woman in his arms again.
"In human years, she's forty-three, why?"
Bella felt a punch to her stomach. "And how old is your oldest brother?" she asked.
"He just turned thirty…" Terrex frowned at her. "Why?"
Bella's stomach rolled.
"Because, asshole, it means your mother was probably a child when she was taken and enslaved by your father!" Jodie commented.
Terrex stopped moving. He shook his head, hardly believing them, but they were right, going by the math, his mother had to have been barely a teenager when his father had acquired her. Anger toward his father boiled in his guts. If he ever saw the man again, he'd kill him or die trying.
"Save the anger. We may still have a fight with him coming up, you can kill him then." Devron patted his shoulder.
"He's not getting her back," Terrex seethed, "ever." His jaw ticked as he stomped forward, his mother jostling in his arms.
"How about I take her for a bit?" Devron suggested. "We've still got at least another hour and a half before we reach the transport."
Terrex nodded but was hesitant as he allowed Devron to take the weight of his mother. Not that she was heavy, but after nearly four hours of walking, his arms were getting a bit tired and he needed the break.
Bella moved closer to him now, and he took her offered hand. She stroked his arm as they walked, calming him some. "It's not your fault you know. You weren't even born yet, and your father's sins are not yours."
Terrex shook his head. "I'm glad I am nothing like him. Seeing him now, what he is… I just… I can't believe I'm related to him."
"You sound like Dev." Jodie smiled, her eyes on Devron's back as he and Melody trudged ahead of them with Lady Pansy.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Nor was as bad as your father, probably worse. It's not my story to tell, but trust me, Devron hated that man, still does even though he's dead now." She kept her voice soft so the Devron and Melody wouldn't overhear them.
"Dev killed him, right?" Bella questioned.
"Yeah, he had a lot of reasons to put that bastard out of his misery."
As they moved closer to the small town where Rayhan and Naela waited for them, Terrex's anger grew. His father was nothing but scum. It made his skin crawl to think that he'd ever wanted to be like him.
"Hey, Terrex?" Devron paused and looked back at him.
"Yeah?"
"I think your mother is beginning to wake up."
"Great," he commented, jogging to catch up to them. He took his mother from Devron as she yawned. They were moving out of the trees and toward the outskirts of the town.
"Hmmm," Lady Pansy stretched and came fully awake. She looked up at Terrex and frowned. "Terrex? What's going on?" she asked, looking around. "Where are we? What have you done!" She began to struggle in his arms.
"Mother please, we're going to take you back to Earth—"
Lady Pansy gasped and he dropped her down to her feet. "No! Terrex, you don't understand! Oh, no, no, no… this can't be happening!" Her chest was heaving.
"Mother it's fi—"
"Oh shit!" Jodie stopped mid-step and started backing up. "We've got trouble!"
39
“Fucking hell! We need to move, now!" Melody directed, darting back to the treeline as a ship headed toward them.
"Assistance please, Rayhan! Now!" Devron called over over the wrist calm.
The ship landed and Behlinn descended from the plank, wearing a smirk as they jogged for the trees.
"You're not going to get away so easily this time!" Duke Behlinn called after them as he and his small group of Yebraxians advanced toward them.
Terrex dragged his mother with him as he pulled her behind a tree. "Fuck you!" he called back.
"Terrex, stop! You don't understand!" his mother pleaded. "You have to let me go, he'll kill you otherwise, please, let me speak to him."
"What? No! you're not going back to him, Mother."
"How did he even find us?" Bella whispered from next to him.
"Pansy, you had better return to my side immediately or I will destroy you along with that miscreant you call a son!"
"Please, Terrex, please, let me go to him." She shrugged off Terrex's hand and ran to Behlinn.
"There's a good girl." Behlinn said, dragging her to his side. "Open fire!"
"No!" Lady Pansy screamed. "Behlinn, he's your son!"
Bella pulled her blaster and began returning fire at the Yebraxians as lasers blasted the trees they were hiding behind. Terrex and Devron shot at them too, hitting a couple, and Melody and Jodie aimed at a few more. They were practically pinned down in the treeline.
"Where's Rayhan and Naela?" she asked Devron as they shot a couple more Yebraxians.
Behlinn was dragging Pansy by the arm back to his ship, but she struggled to speak to him, to get him to stop. Finally, he stopped and turned her to face the battle taking place. "You will watch your son die."
"Please, Behlinn, please don't do this," she begged.
His eyes blazed with fury and madness. "I've given you everything your heart could have desired, made you a Duchess, even, higher than any of my other Omegas, and this is how you repay me?"
Terrex moved from the tree and started sprinting after his mother, he couldn't let his father take her. He blasted a couple of Yebraxians who fell to the ground and dodged a few other laser blasts. He could see their transport approaching to the right of his father's ship. "Get to the transport, I'm going after my mother!" he called back to Bella and the others.
"I'll give you all some cover, run to the transport," Devron said to Bella, Melody and Jodie.
The transport landed and Naela stepped out, her blaster picking off Yebraxians as Bella, Melody and Jodie ran for it. Once they made it to where Naela stood, they turned and started shooting again, taking out the last of the Yebraxians. Devron headed toward them just as Terrex reached his mother.
"She's not going with you!" Terrex yelled at his father as he yanked his mother from him.
His father smirked again. "Did you ever stop to think how I found you in the first place?"
Terrex looked between him and his mother. "What are you talking about?"
"Ask her."
Terrex looked at her. "Mother? What's he talking about?"
She held up her wrist, her lips quivering. "This."
"It's a bracelet?"
She shook her head. "He tracks my every move. He knew the minute you removed me from the house."
Terrex stared daggers at his father. "Take it off," he demanded.
Behlinn laughed. "It doesn't come off. It's embedded in her skin. I will know where she is no matter where you take her. Not that she's going anywhere." He pulled a weapon and aimed at Terrex.
"No!" Lady Pansy said, jumping in front of Terrex just as Behlinn pulled the trigger. She collapsed to the ground.
"Fuck!" Terrex aimed at his father, hitting him in the shoulder, but before he could fire again, Behlinn was back on his ship. He dropped down to his mother's side, tears in his eyes. "Mother, please… please, don't die…"
She was already gone. Her final act had been to save him from his father.
Bella moved toward him as Behlinn's ship lifted into the air. She laid a hand on Terrex's shoulder. "Is she…?"
Terrex looked up at her, tears streaming down his cheeks. "She's gone…" His voice broke as he lifted his mother up in his arms and turned for the transport.
Bella walked quietly at his side.
"I'm sorry, Terrex." Devron placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "We'll give her a proper burial on Verva."
Terrex nodded, but stayed silent.
Bella fastened herself into her seat and sat quietly next to him. The return trip to Verva seemed to go on forever, but just over two hours later, they landed next to The Freedom. Rayhan had contacted Lezin and filled him in on what had taken place, so they were all ready to help once they arrived.
"I've spoken to Caeldril Vornex, the mayor of this town. He's agreed for a small price, we can hold a funeral for Lady Pansy here and have her buried in their resting place so that she may ascend into the next life," Lezin said, speaking softly to Terrex. "I'm so sorry that she was killed, Terrex."
