by Vi Voxley
Away from Zar, Ashley realized how tired she was. It had been night when they left Terra and it had to be at least six hours later, because that was the estimated time of jumping into the wormhole.
The fact that she was in a place where space existed only in theory didn't make her feel any better. Tiredness, however, was suddenly catching up to her.
Ashley barely managed the strength to strip out of the "dress" and slip between the covers in only her underwear, hoping she wasn't sleeping under the hide of some beast.
Sleep took her, with the last thought being that she needed to start learning the complicated theory of wormholes if she was ever going to escape.
Ashley awoke with a small scream.
The Foront was breaking apart around her. It had to be, because that god-awful screeching couldn't have been anything else than the ship disentangling itself around her. It sounded like the thick metal walls were folding in on themselves. At any second, Ashley expected the ceiling to drop down and wrap itself around her.
She had never been easily scared, but the ungodly noise and the rough shaking of the ship were quickly dismantling the last of her courage.
The wormhole. There's something wrong with the wormhole.
Ashley got up, unable to stay in her bed for one more second. When she put her foot on the ground, the floor moved. In her sleepy confusion, Ashley could have sworn it tried to grab her leg.
She wasn't entirely awake yet, but she was almost positive floors weren't supposed to do that.
She'd wanted to grab the dress, but after that nasty surprise, Ashley simply sprinted out of her room, rounding the corner when her door lunged her way.
Zar caught her in his firm, strong grip and Ashley pressed herself against him, uncaring.
"Calm down," the harbinger said surprisingly gentle, holding her in his embrace. "There's nothing to worry about."
"What about this racket tells you that!?" Ashley whispered against his naked chest, feeling his warmth against hers at last.
"It's the wormhole," Zar said. "We're almost out."
"And?" Ashley demanded. "Is the ship going to break?"
"Probably not," Zar said with an amused grin that told her he was enjoying it way too much.
He continued with a more comforting tone.
"Creating the wormhole is simple enough if you know what you're doing. Entering, as you saw, is nothing. Exiting, however, is a bit trickier. Finding real space again is hard and needs an experienced pilot. Even then, it's a messy affair. The Foront is brushing against the unspace right now, but I've had worse rides."
"Worse how?" Ashley asked, starting to calm down when it seemed that Zar wasn't afraid.
Of course that implied that a man like Zar even could be afraid.
"I was nearly killed by a wall that turned the room I was in into a space barely large enough to house me," Zar said, laughing as if it was funny. "I once met a warrior who swore that when he came out of the wormhole, his room had jumped two floors up from where it had begun."
"That's not possible," Ashley said, pulling away from him a little, but not out of his arms.
Zar shrugged, looking at her with those deep, dark eyes of his.
"Very few things are impossible in the wormhole," he said.
The rocking continued and one particularly nasty screech made Ashley cry out again. She could have sworn the floor shifted underneath their feet as if they were going to drop through the ship.
Zar cradled her gently against his wide chest, holding her there without smothering her. And despite the unreal forces tearing at the ship, Ashley felt... safe.
"I won't let anything happen to you," the harbinger said, his voice completely different from before.
"I hoped you would come to me when the ship began to shake, thinking it would drive you to me. Now, seeing you afraid, it's not worth it. You can go back to your room if you want to. I will wait out the exit with you if it will make you feel better."
The floor jumped again but Ashley barely noticed. She was staring somewhere in the darkness of the hallway, her hands pressed against Zar's hot body, not wanting to take one step away from him.
This is a trick, her mind warned her. He's doing this on purpose. He just admitted he wanted to scare you to go to him and now he's emotionally manipulating you.
Only Ashley didn't believe her mind. Her heart was telling her something different.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked. "I might want to get back to my room tomorrow, but just for now?"
For a long moment, Zar said nothing. Then he turned without another word and led her through the rocking hallway back to his room. Ashley tried to ignore the way the walls seemed to want to close in on them. She could have sworn the quarters were twice as big when she'd come there the first time.
Luckily Zar's bed was still in the right place and in the right size.
"It should be over soon," the harbinger said as Ashley climbed under the sheets, joining her and letting her rest her head on his chest again. "The pilot is very good."
After another moment, he added:
"And if he isn't, I'll have his head. In this reality or the afterlife."
Ashley laughed softly. She couldn't believe herself but she suspected that she didn't hate Zar nearly as much as she should have. In fact, Ashley didn't think the emotion she felt toward the harbinger was hatred at all.
What the hell am I doing? This all going wrong.
It was harder to convince herself of that, though. Not when she hadn't felt as safe in a long time, maybe ever. Zar's arm was wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her there, making Ashley feel like she was where she belonged. She fit so perfectly into his embrace that the fated bond Zar was talking about truly had to be real.
It was up to her to decide how much she wanted to do with it, but Ashley could no longer deny that it existed. And that it had taken a strong hold of her.
Finally, the rocking stopped and Zar's comm link beeped somewhere beside the bed. The harbinger reached for it, leaving Ashley to slip out of his embrace.
Answering the call, Zar kept his eyes on her as Ashley had one foot out of the bed.
"Report," he ordered. "Any damage?"
"No, Harbinger. We are safely out of the wormhole. Luminos awaits us home."
Zar shut the link and put the transmitter away. He said nothing, simply looked at Ashley whose heart was thundering in her chest again.
If she stayed, if she let that be a precedent... who knew what ideas Zar would get?
She found that she didn't really care as much as would have been natural. The sheets were nice and cool under her while the covers were warm. And in the dim light of the room, Zar's eyes were burning with a calling that Ashley simply wasn't able to resist.
Fearing that she was making a mistake but throwing herself headlong into it anyway, Ashley got back under the sheets and rested her head on Zar's arm.
As the Foront sped toward her new home world, Ashley thought about fate. How cruel were the invisible hands that ruled her life, to doom her to slavery on Luminos?
And how cruel was it to make her want it, just a little?
12
Zar
The harbinger awoke with his fated mate in his arms.
Having someone in his rooms was at that hour was new to him. The females he'd invited to his bed before finding Ashley had all been sent away after fucking. Zar hadn't preferred to keep them around, mostly because he knew there could be nothing more to their relationship. Couples who weren't bonded also couldn't reproduce – a gift of the gods, the Nayanor Senate often bitterly remarked.
It was the reason why their population kept dwindling even with the raids long in progress.
"Are we there?" Ashley asked sleepily from his embrace, not moving away from him as he'd dreaded.
"Not yet," Zar said, resisting the urge to pet her soft hair, fearing to break the moment. "Luminos is hidden in the cluster and shadow of gigantic stars. Opening a wormhole anywhere near
it is too dangerous, so we have to go through the old-fashioned way – and very carefully. When we get closer to one of them, I'll show you. The sight is amazing.
"Almost as beautiful as you are."
Now his fated moved, rising up to meet his eyes and Zar instantly regretted saying that. He'd enjoyed holding Ashley against him, hearing the quiet beating of her heart. Her smooth, soft skin pressed against his chest was the best thing he'd ever felt. It excited him, of course, but there was something more. The bond between them was showing its true colors and Zar was honestly taunted by how quickly he was growing attached to his mate.
It was as right as it was proper, but he'd always expected it to be tame, somehow. A feeling of devotion more akin to duty than a compulsion.
Now he realized the lie of that. The fated bond was becoming his everything so fast it left the life and truths he'd held dear behind in the dust.
"I shouldn't have done that," Ashley said quietly, although the look in her eyes was everything but regretful.
Zar thought he could feel her tremble a bit when he leaned closer to her, pulling her back in his arms.
"It was a mistake," she said more firmly then. "Nothing I said yesterday has changed. I will not be your mate."
He'd expected that, but not how quickly Ashley was able to diminish the warm feeling of being with her. It seemed her stubbornness was as strong as ever. The female truly was intent to fight him.
That was fine. Fights didn't scare Zar.
He released her, getting out of the bed, aware of Ashley's eyes following him as he dressed.
"You can't deny facts," he stated. "You are my mate and no amount of refusing to accept that is going to change it. I bet the rational part of you knows you're only making it harder on yourself."
"Even so," Ashley said and Zar couldn't help looking at her with begrudging respect.
There she was, only a female, utterly helpless before him. Wrapped in the sheets of his bed, Ashley looked so small and fragile, her soft brown hair messed up, but the stormy eyes more alive than ever before. The defiance she portrayed wasn't something Zar was used to seeing in those who couldn't back their claims up with anything more than their spirit.
"Even with your attraction obvious?" Zar asked with a grin.
Ashley pouted in the sexiest way, her pretty pink lips pressed together into a thin line.
"What my body feels is quite out of my hands," she said. "I can't do anything about that, I have no control over it. What I say is what I decide and that is what should matter to any... any civilized being."
Zar stepped closer again and Ashley tried backing away, pulling the sheets up to cover herself as if the measly cloth somehow shielded her.
"Do you know why I'm the harbinger of this ship?" Zar asked sharply. "It's not because the previous commander of the Foront was a bad warrior. He gave me quite a fight. In the end, I broke his sword to pieces. He left one of the shards in my thigh, that's how hard he wanted to live, but it didn't save him. I was better.
"It's because I can feel the course of the battle. I can see fear in a man's eyes and there are times when I imagine I can hear my enemy's pulse quicken like the Brions can. Nayanors aren't gifted with such keen senses. We have to rely on our ability to read the opponent and I assure you, many enemies have fallen to me without any tricks.
"You'd be surprised how often your body tells you the truth long before your mind catches up."
When Ashley didn't reply, Zar turned away. The glint of doubt he'd seen in her eyes was good enough for him. It was only their second day together. Ashley would come to learn the ways of the Nayanor. She had no other choice.
All the females did, eventually. The ones who lived, at least.
"Bridge," Zar spoke into the transmitter. "Call all officers to the Goria Hall. I want to address a few things before we get home."
"Yes, Harbinger."
"You as well. Be prepared to look me in the eye when you challenge me."
A silence settled on the bridge, followed quickly by a panicked bustling.
"Sir..." the officer of the watch began. "If I have given offense –”
"That's for me to decide," Zar replied. "Don't think just because you say the proper title, I don't hear disdain in your voice. You are a Nayanor. Be ready to speak your mind like a man. Ten minutes. Goria Hall."
He cut the link, seeing the shocked look on Ashley's face.
"What's going on?" she asked carefully. "That man, did he do something?"
"We'll see," Zar said, gesturing to her. "Get up. I am going to make sure my ship is in order before we make port at Luminos. I can't have a mutiny brewing when I step foot on the ground."
"Is this because of what I did?" Ashley asked, getting out of the bed.
Zar's gaze wandered over her gorgeous body, regretting he didn't have time to claim her before arriving on Luminos.
"Yes," he said. "I had another dress brought to you yesterday when you'd gone to sleep. Wear it."
Ashley looked conflicted. He could see she was worried about any part she might have played in the events of the day before. On the other hand, the word "dress" seemed to upset her now.
"Is it another garment that's barely covering anything?" she asked. "I'm not going to be paraded around like some war trophy."
"You are my mate," Zar said. "You wear my colors. And I told you, no man is allowed to look upon your flesh. It covers you plenty. Now prepare yourself and don't make me repeat my orders."
Ashley went, giving him another glare. Zar left her to her business and armored himself. The sword needed brandishing later, but for the time being, he was willing to take it to his officers, still bearing the blood of the Terrans.
Someone was going to die, that was certain. It might be him, but Zar didn't concern himself with those kinds of notions. Death was just another path for a warrior, one every man took alone. That would have been his only regret, that it might separate him from Ashley forever.
Nayanors believed in the afterlife. The holy men said it was much like the long night, an endless, fierce battlefield where a man had to forge his own destiny through the strength of his arms. It didn't sound too bad to Zar, never had.
The diadon in his chest gave him a long life, but Nayanors weren't made to live in peace and comfort. Every day brought forth the possibility that he'd draw his last breath. If that should happen, he swore that he'd find Ashley in the dark, frozen storms of the afterlife.
She was his. Nothing could separate them, not even death.
Ashley walked into the armory, wearing the dress Zar had ordered for her. His breath caught as he stared at her shamelessly. The form-fitting dark green cloth covered her so tightly every divine curve of her body was visible for him to admire. The emeralds etched onto the dress shone in the dark, casting his mate in a glow that made her sparkle like she was a jewel herself.
"You are beautiful," he said, and resumed donning his armor. "Fit for a harbinger."
Ashley's eyes said she didn't quite agree.
"Once again you manage to astonish me," she said, twisting on the spot like she was performing some odd dance. "I don't think I can move in this. Your idea of "covering me" is really not the same as mine."
"No one will see your body," Zar said. "That's what matters."
"Yes, but it doesn't leave much to the imagination either," Ashley protested. "I'm not going to go out dressed in this."
"You are," Zar stated firmly, stepping forward.
Ashley, naturally, couldn't exactly run from him in her outfit, so she opted to stand and glare.
"So I am a trophy of some kind to you? Other men can't see, but they can definitely guess what you won for yourself?"
"It is the way it is," Zar agreed. "My mate's place is by my side, wherever I go. That applies to everything but a battle, in which case I'll obviously leave you somewhere safe."
Ashley was quiet for a moment. Her face showed she was thinking very quickly, telling Zar he had another problem coming.
"I'll wear it," Ashley said slowly. "I'll come along and pose and whatever else you had in mind. One condition. After that, will you let me go see the women you kidnapped?"
"You don't get to give me conditions," Zar said, walking past her and opening the door of his quarters.
Ashley stayed where she was, steeling her courage.
"I ask then," she said, the tone of her voice making it obvious how much of her pride she had to set aside to speak.
"Why?" Zar asked. "We are so far from your home there is no escape anymore."
"I know," Ashley said with terrible finality in her voice, staunchly standing her ground. "As you said, I have to start making the best of what I have now. I can still help them and I want to. Compared to every other woman aboard, I'm very well off right now. Other than the luxury they have to still be wearing their own damn clothes, I am lucky.
"Last night, when the ship began shaking, I was scared out of my mind even knowing it was the wormhole. They don't even know we were in one. I bet none of your warriors went there to explain what was going on. I want you to let me go to them and at least give them the comfort of knowing what's happening."
Zar considered.
The idea wasn't the worst, he had to admit. It wasn't the Foront's first raid and in the past, as Ashley had correctly guessed, the females hadn't taken the travel through the wormhole well. His warriors usually had to hound hysterical, terrified females off their ship to Luminos.
If Ashley could calm them, make them accept their fate, it might be a foundation to accepting their new bonds more easily. That was in the interest of the Nayanors.
"You can go," he said, seeing the look of surprise in Ashley's eyes.
"That was easier than I expected," she admitted. "What's the catch? I told you yesterday, I won't prostitute myself for any favors from you."
"I happen to agree," Zar said sternly, holding the door open for her. "If you can convince the females this is their life now, it's better for my warriors. A friendly face could work in our favor.
"But Ashley... if any of them tries to escape, I will hold you responsible and revoke any further communications. The punishment will be decided by their mate."
