Despite her despair a thought surfaced. What technology enabled this?
“Drake sent me to make sure you were safe.” At least his voice was the same.
“Well then.” She eyed him. Maybe this was a sign? She’d never dare to leave dressed as she was, to walk through the night streets in a see-through dress. With Sassi in tow, she’d not fear anything. She levered herself upright. “Come. I need to go somewhere and think.” Somewhere sad, somewhere dark, to suit her mood. “Wait. Can you go back to the coach and find the envelope inside? Can you write on it? I’m safe and uninjured. Don’t worry. You can be king without me.”
“I can do this. Where do we head for?”
“The spaceport. It’s old and dark and no one else dares to go there for fear of being irradiated.”
There was no radiation hazard. Her father had maintained radiation warning signs, and sometimes corpses of animals had been left at the periphery to foster the belief it was a dangerous area. The effort and machinery to clean up all the blown-up ships was impossible without cranes and bulldozers, and no one had those.
Sassi sped off and returned barely thirty seconds later. “Done. I left the message and signed it Princess Calliope.”
“Good.” She turned and walked away briskly.
When the spaceport fencing was in sight, Sassi spoke. “I won’t interfere with your personal moping and self-pity, Princess. However, there is something I wish to discuss with you.”
“Moping and self-pity?” That was a trivial way to describe the devastation she felt. She eyed him dubiously. “If you wish.”
“I do wish. Can bots have wishes?”
“Why not.”
The sadness was dulling her emotions. She would’ve smacked a human or mauleon if they said she was moping.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They ducked through the fence and crawled, then walked along the paths she knew from her prior explorations. The deserted spaceport at night was both morbid in its graveyard feel—so many dead ships—and uplifting in how beautiful the stars and moon overhead looked framed by broken metal ceilings.
Whatever spaceship this had been, it was a mess now. Cables dangled, wrapped in rotted plastic and cobweb. Dirt had drifted in or been washed in and covered much of what must have been the ship’s decking. The decking had subsided into ditches and holes but what was left seemed solid.
Besides, if she fell, she deserved it.
Calli lowered herself to the floor at the edge of a wall. With her legs stretched to the front, she slumped. Cradling her head on her arms, she brought her knees up, and turned herself into a self-enclosed ball of nothing. She’d blocked out the little she might see if she looked about.
What was she to do?
She’d betrayed him utterly, caused death, misery. Distrusted the one man who had paid her any real attention. She thought she kind of loved him. Yeah, she did. It hurt her heart to think of being away, of leaving him, of making him hurt. That attack could have killed him. That made her sob. Made fresh tears leak.
He didn’t need her.
Sniffing, she tried to think past the thickness in her thoughts.
Maybe Sassi was right, maybe she was moping.
“What else can I do, Sassi? Was I bad?” She peeked out through a gap between her dangling hair and her fingers.
He was still inside that assassin body. He gleamed. Her Sassi did not gleam.
“A simplistic question for a complex situation. I heard your discussion inside the coach. I will try to summarize simply.”
She grunted. “Go ahead.” Old Sassi had not been so judgmental.
Sassi paced back and forth before her as he spoke.
“You lied by omission after making a deal with Drake not to lie. You did it because you thought it was your brother, which is justifiable perhaps, to some. You failed to do the sensible fact checking. The body of your brother was undeniably him. Without knowing that fact, the threat was less obvious. The second letter you gave to Drake almost immediately.”
Sassi halted a short distance away. “So, you were dumb and you did mistrust but there was an extenuating circumstance.”
“Dumb?” She glowered.
“Drake may not be angry at dumbness, but I am not sure about the other.”
“You’re not helping me.” Calli buried her head again.
“Neither is hiding here. Your options are to return and face Drake, to run away somewhere, or I suppose you could stay here and rust.”
“You know people cannot rust.” Deciding it was past the time where hiding her head was an option, she uncurled and leaned into the wall behind her.
“I was making a joke. I rarely joked before.”
The bot sounded wistful. “What was it you wanted to ask of me?”
The following pause was long and unusual. She was certain the bot had little need of time to think.
“I killed fifty-two people tonight. That makes me feel sad, or at least I think I do. I was exuberantly happy at first then angry? I’ve never felt this before.”
She tilted her head. “I allowed you to do it though, didn’t I? And you saved many more.”
“True. Drake’s force suffered only two fatalities, judging from the life forces I detected in the street. Many wounded, few deaths.”
She waited again.
“I do not like what I am. I know my capabilities. I can kill with ease. I do not like killing people with ease or with anything.”
“Shhh.” She’d heard something—sounds from somewhere nearby but beyond their little space, out in the spaceport graveyard. “What was that?”
“Probably Drake. I led him here.”
Confusion rained down. What had Sassi done? Why? Okay, she figured she knew. It was because Sassi thought it the best answer to her running. It was a relief and also terrifying to think Drake was coming.
She could still run...
“I wrote where you were going on the message. I left markers on our trail.” Sassi’s eyes glowed a denser red. “Before he arrives you must promise me you will revert me to what I was. Please.”
He hated killing and she’d made him do it, in a roundabout way.
“I understand. Yes. Of course I will promise that. I’m sorry. So sorry.”
Another error on her conscience. For once the sadness she felt welling up was not for her. Others were hurt. Not just her. She’d been selfish and yeah, maybe stupid.
“Thank you. I need to tell you something. I was in stasis for decades before your grandfather partially woke me. All prototypes like me were destroyed by Overwatch. I think we were the reason for the Quarantine. We were too deadly to be allowed out in the universe. Do not mourn me.”
This was too much to understand, when she was in the middle of falling apart. She nodded at Sassi, as he seemed to expect a response. Mourn him? He wished to become the friendlier, less deadly being he’d been before, and that seemed good and right. Maybe tomorrow she’d see another angle. If there was a tomorrow.
Had he caused the Quarantine? That seemed... inconceivable.
Drake emerged from the darkness of the passageway they’d entered by. His expression was stern yet not the end-of-the-world one she had dreaded.
She edged her back higher on the wall, pressed into it.
The crunch of his boots as he walked over seemed terribly loud. When he stood before her, she drew her knees under her then, even though the floor dug into her knees, she wormed herself around until she kneeled. Then she looked up at him, and found herself hoping, hoping she’d not destroyed everything.
“What do you want to say, Calli.”
Not Princess. Calli. Was it that bad?
So many words were possible. Sassi’s way was best—simple. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m plain sorry for everything tonight.”
“Everything?” His brows rose.
“Not the ceremony, of course.”
His broad face tilted. He inhaled, exhaled slowly. “You smell good. Different, and I know why, Prince
ss.”
What? She’d received a princess though. Puzzled, she waited for him to explain—hope meandered into her heart.
She wanted this made good but was no longer sure how to fix this. She’d let him decide. Trembling, she remained in position.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Drake went to one knee before her, rested his forearm on his thigh. He massaged between his eyes then looked at her, his princess, shaking at the sight of him, her dress filthy and frothing around her legs.
“Do not fear me. Please. Am I angry? Yes. Do I wish to punish you, yes, but I will not part from you. What you have done, if I were a different man it might have broken our relationship, but I will not let you get away from me so easily.” He allowed a smile to escape and reached out to touch her head and brush the hair from her face. “I forgive you.”
“You smell of sweat and blood,” she said quietly. “You’re uninjured, I know, but people died today.”
“That was not your fault.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re safe. You worried me, running off.”
A frown came and went. “I want you to punish me. It would make me feel better.”
Drake snorted. Impudent thing.
He leaned forward and picked her up, scooped her to his chest and stood.
“I would truly exult in caning your ass until it was black and blue and making you beg me to stop. However, first of all, I need to get a doctor to check you over for injuries. Second, I have news for you, and this is why I have to wait before I punish you.”
“Oh?” Calli might be small but at times like this her eyes seemed large, as if a sea had washed into them. The tracks from previous tears had left marks on her face.
“You are likely pregnant.”
Silence, dead silence, then she wriggled, tried to sit up in his arms. He kept walking. “I can’t be. I’m infertile.”
“The union of mauleon and infertile human seems to often yield babies.” He smiled down at her, feeling superior and triumphant. “I know that my own sperm works wonders. I’ve donated to a few women who asked via the hospital.” At her aghast expression he added, “I didn’t fuck them, you brat. I said so.”
“Oh. Good. But... But I have to wait for the doctor to be sure?”
The glow of amazement on her face kept him grinning. He was going to be a father to her child. “The scent of pregnancy is remarkable, so yes, now I’ve had more time to sniff, I’m sure. You are a fecund and fertile bitch and from memory, my litters are usually around three, minimum.”
“Ohmigods. No. Three? Three? Three huleon babies.” She put fingers over her mouth.
“It’s likely. Don’t worry. They are born small.” He heaved her into a better position in his arms and began climbing a mild slope between two shattered spaceships. Another few minutes and they’d reach the palace perimeter.
The men who’d followed him in would be still following at a discreet distance, but with the bot flanking them they’d be safe. Besides, General Vass had been among the dead. The rebellion was broken.
For a while, he ran through the reports he’d been given on the way here.
“General Vass was among the dead at the ambush and the news I have says the other raid was a minor scuffle. If anything, this ambush was our victory. More would have died in the coming days, if this had not occurred. You did not cause people to die. It is not your fault. Okay?” She nodded. “I will see what other data arrives, but the rebellion is likely crushed. The palace guard will be examined, and the guilty will be charged, if necessary, with treason. We will bring peace to this kingdom, finally, real peace.”
“Good. So, you forgive me for lying to you. Not that I want to rehash this, but I need something. I don’t know why but I do.”
“I need something too. If you ever lose faith in me again, I will have to throw you into prison in chains. I will break this off no matter how the people perceive my actions.” Under his breath, he added, “And only visit you to fuck you. This time? We need something symbolic of my displeasure, that won’t risk you losing these babies. Hmmm.”
She nodded and her mouth downturned. “Thank you. It will let me be free of this. I am sorry. I want to say that a million times.”
“And that you are sorry, that you’ve already beaten yourself up severely, that is why I am happy to forgive.”
“It’s ridiculous how bad I feel, still. I’m not sure what to think of that.” Her focus shifted to his shirt buttons and she plucked at one, a little annoyed, he figured. “You morphed me into being this creature who needs your approval and I’m almost peeved.”
He laughed. “Now that really makes me need to see your ass before me, naked and red. This doctor had better have some suggestions about limits. I need to paddle you, spank you. I’d love to chain you up, hands above, and do that... then fuck you until you turn into a puddle. If only.” There was a wistfulness to his words, and he knew it.
“Mmmm. Please?”
He snorted.
The double-gated entrance leading into the palace grounds lay ahead. A guard had seen them and opened the first gate that led beneath the thick wall.
“First, you’ll clean up and dress. We need a speech to broadcast, saying you are well and unharmed. We need the doctor to check you. After that... hmmm.”
He hoped the hmmm gave her palpitations, if small ones.
“I’m going to have to put you down now.” He groaned and set her on her feet. “The babies are growing inside you already, my plump princess.” Then he patted her butt, squeezed it, sank the very tips of his claws into her.
The nearby guard chuckled then shut up.
Her O of consternation was perfect.
“Hey. My cloak went missing,” she whispered, gesturing at her very visible nipples. “Your coat?”
“Let me think on this.” He let his eyes narrow. The guard was about to die of an attack of something from the reddening of his face.
“Drake. Please? Pretty please? Sir?”
“The right words.” He shucked off his coat and wrapped it over her shoulders.
Chapter Twenty-Four
She’d slept in his arms last night and woken late because he’d been quiet when he rose. They’d both needed the sleep to heal. It wasn’t easy to stomach the slaughter left in the street.
His princess’s speech had been broadcast over the city’s public screens and the doctor had given his verdict. She was pregnant, though he figured his sense of smell might be more accurate than some of the doctor’s tests.
After a few more questions out of earshot of Calliope, Drake let the doctor out and returned to the living room. She’d obeyed his prearranged order and was kneeling on a cushion, naked.
“Don’t turn your head. Don’t talk.”
He walked around her to a large covered object in the corner. It reached to head height. His mauleon men had needed to shift aside other furniture to fit this in. He smiled as he stripped away the white cloth. A cage, big enough for her to sleep inside, soft bedding. The room was warm so she wouldn’t need much.
She was the mother to his children. The first of his he could touch and who would call him Father.
A few days in there would be a just yet safe punishment. Deprived of contact with him. Made to arouse herself but not allowed to orgasm.
Yes.
He wouldn’t make her anxious, this was symbolic. If anything, not punishing her would worry her more.
He walked over and stopped behind his female. The thrill from this, seeing her obedient, waiting, with his silver collar on her neck and naked—he shook his head at how this had begun. To think he’d imagined chaining her as a revenge for the deficiencies of a few humans. He’d learned—the cooperation between mauleon and human grew more thorough with each day. Vass had been the only obstacle.
He fetched his cane from where it leaned against a sofa, tapped it on his leg, still rocked by this change. A father. Him.
It carried immense responsibilities, bound t
hem together, and made him feel good.
“I asked the doctor the safe limits for your punishment. He’s discreet, if you’re wondering. I have a cane in my hand,” he added matter-of-factly.
The swish it made was most satisfying.
“This will hurt but I’m sure it won’t be too much for you.” He had a good idea of her tolerances by now.
A few lines of bruises.
A few strikes. Ten? No. Too many. Drake went up on his toes and down again, thinking. He was done with needing physical punishment for what had happened. He’d seen how distraught she’d been over her actions.
This was for her, because she needed it.
“Up on hands and knees. Part your thighs a little more.” He drew his hand back, raised the cane to the side. “Stay relaxed.” The first swipe was across both cheeks and she let out a shrill noise. Another brought a more muted yelp, and he couldn’t help stepping closer and stirring between her legs with the cane tip, dragging it gently down her slit.
The white faded and two red lines darkened on her ass, marking where he’d struck. No bruising as of yet.
He went to one knee and parted her lower lips with his fingers, left his forefinger resting there, almost penetrating. From the shining line of wetness and the lowering of her head, her small noises, two strikes of the cane were trivial.
“I’m noting down that you like the cane. Of course, I can hit much harder. Talk to me. Did you like it?”
“Mmm. A little?” Her ass waggled.
“My problem is this.” He kissed the mound of her butt below the cane lines. “I’m conflicted. You’re going to be the mother to my children.”
“I know. You’re the father.” Coyly, she smiled at him.
His heart threatened to burst. What was he to do with her?
“Thank you for clearing that up.”
“You’re welcome.” Again with that wriggling ass movement.
Ruled: A Dark Sci-Fi Romance Page 12
