***
Kelzar Hornex walked with his former captain to the shuttle’s ramp as it lowered. “Are you sure you want me to just leave you here alone? Only small parts of this planet acknowledge the Peace Alliance. I don’t know what kind of reception you will have among the majority of these unenlightened beings.”
Ji shrugged. “I have studied Ethos, Kel. I know all the potential risks, but Seta Trax is here.”
Kel snorted. “Yes—that is my point. I’m still finding it hard to accept you’re putting yourself in danger because of the tracker.”
“No one is more aware of the irony than I am,” Ji agreed. Then he thought of Seta’s complete surprise at finding her first pleasure under his hands and all doubt left his mind. He bowed his head respectfully even though the male who faced him still shook his in denial.
“Ji, the Ethosian is only one female out of so many you have known. You have but to walk near the most alluring of them to get an offer to their sleep space. It seems illogical to risk your life for someone so reluctant to have you,” Kel insisted.
Ji let loose a frustrated breath, but there was no reason to be angry with his former commander. Kel was only pointing out the same truth his mind warned him about repeatedly.
“I understand why you would say that to me, Kel. The only explanation I have is that Seta Trax is the only person in my life who matters now. Since my decision about being here is not based in logic, I can’t explain it well to you. Just know this action is necessary—and it is my choice.”
Kel pondered the statement, then dipped his head in a bow. He was resigned but still determined to do what he could to help his longtime friend.
“For many years, I have owed you my life. I now know I owe you my captaincy as well. The High Council informed me it was your recommendation to offer me the commission as Captain on the Paladin. So I will now use that promotion to repay part of my increasingly long-life debt to you, Ji Warro of Rylen. In eight Earth days, I will come back into range of this desolate planet. Contact me with your location and I’ll send a shuttle to retrieve you and your. . .”
Ji laughed at his friend’s hesitation. “The word is mate, Kel. Seta Trax is my mate. This is the case whether she admits it or not. Sirens take that kind of connection very seriously. We have no choice.”
“But is the resistant female, who never seemed to care for you before, worth giving up your life as well as your captaincy?” Kel demanded.
Ji shrugged. “Only time will answer that question. I’m barely over three hundred Earth years old in a life that may span a couple thousand years if I live as long as my Siren parents. Yet all I can tell you is the female is worth it to me at this time. My energy has chosen to align with hers. It is a life choice more compelling than any contract I could make with any organization—even the Peace Alliance.”
“Very well then,” Kel said, bowing his head. “I won’t try to talk you out of your quest for your chosen one. May the Creators be with you.”
Ji laughed. “Indeed. I may need their help to survive Seta’s wrath for chasing her here, much less the normal hostility of this desert planet. I will gladly accept the offer of friendly transport out of here when we are done with her quest. If we are late, please try to wait a couple Earth days for us.”
Since he knew Kel was not a male who hugged, Ji put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed. Then he jogged down the steps of the ramp to meet the guards waiting for him at the bottom. Behind him, he heard the boarding ramp rising and the shuttle’s engines revving again to leave. He pushed away the momentary panic of being without backup and hoped for the best.
“I’ve come to see Suzerain Trax about a mating union with one of his offspring. He is expecting me,” Ji said.
One of the guards nodded and bowed his head. “Of course. My name is Chief Arghane. I am to see you to Suzerain Trax’s canton gallery. It is rare that a union suitor comes from off-planet. How did you meet one of the Suzerain’s female offspring?”
“We serve on the same Peace Alliance ship,” Ji said.
“So it is true then. Seta of Trax fled Ethos to become a warrior. We did not believe her story,” Chief Arghane said.
“Why would you not believe her?” Ji asked.
Chief Arghane shrugged. “Females lie to suit their purposes. They will manipulate what they can for personal gain.”
“Are you sure we are talking about the same female? Seta is the most guileless female I have ever met,” Ji said.
Arghane laughed. “Don’t you mean beguiled, Siren? We don’t see your kind often, but we know what Sirens do to their females. You can bend her will to yours. An Ethosian male would pay much to have that ability.”
“Well some Sirens take those measures with mates, though it’s not as easy as you make it sound. But I assure you, I have not affected Seta’s will at all. My relationship to her is based on mutual agreement of our suitability. Why are you laughing at me, Chief Arghane?”
“Perhaps you will soon be wishing you had exercised your full Siren skills on that female. Seta of Trax denies the presence of any union suitor in her life. We’ve had the rebellious female in isolation since she arrived back on planet. Suzerain Trax wanted to speak with you before he met with her.”
“I see,” Ji said, working hard to ignore the rage rising inside him. It was illogical to feel he had failed her and yet that was exactly what went through his mind. Arghane’s next words revealed how upset he must have looked.
“Relax, Siren. There is nothing to fear in the female’s denial of your claim. If the Suzerain agrees to your union price for her, we will place the female in restraints for her transport to your destination. It is common practice here. Many of his female offspring are resistant to the union matches the Suzerain makes on their behalf.”
Ji stared at the laughing male as he climbed into their land transport. “I was under the impression that Seta had returned for a quest her father wanted her to make for him. It was why I allowed her to proceed unaccompanied.”
“A quest? Perhaps that is the case as well,” Arghane said, shrugging. “We only do as the suzerain commands. Once you contacted him, he became focused on your satisfaction. His union eligible females are highly prized on our planet. Most of them are fair-haired and quite attractive. They usually bring high prices.”
“Indeed,” Ji said. “I trust Seta has not been harmed during her restraining process.”
“We would never willingly damage a female with a bid on her,” Arghane said quickly, sensing the Siren male’s growing displeasure. If he upset the potential suitor, the suzerain would not be pleased. “Your female of choice is merely in isolation. Seta of Trax has been well cared for in every way she allowed. The most unfortunate circumstance is that we have not been successful in getting her out of the vile clothing she arrived wearing. She said she would rather starve than change her clothes. We accepted that challenge.”
“Are you speaking of her uniform?” Ji asked, trying not to grind his teeth as Arghane nodded. The thought of them not feeding her had him picturing how best to kill the male beside him.
“A uniform. Yes, that is what she keeps calling her clothing. Is it true she was trained as a warrior?” Arghane asked.
Ji nodded tightly. “Yes. Seta was trained during academy. Why do you keep asking that question?”
Arghane shrugged as the land transport passed through the canton’s outer wall. “She was easily subdued. Proof was lacking of her warrior skills.”
“It is illogical to fight when you’re greatly outnumbered,” Ji said. “Her skills are not in fighting anyway. Seta is the best tracker in the Peace Alliance.”
“Is that so?” Arghane said, huffing at the news. “Well perhaps the suzerain does have a task in mind for her as she claims. He keeps his own counsel on most decisions. Often I don’t know his intentions until after the task has been completed.”
“When will I be allowed to see her?” Ji asked.
“As soon as the suzerain ag
rees to your union,” Arghane said.
Sensing further questions would only make the Ethosian male more resistant, Ji leaned back and studied the passing surroundings. Here and there males of all ages walked in the street, but he saw few females, not even in the market.
“Where are all your females?” Ji asked.
He watched Chief Arghane turn to him with eyebrows raised.
“Do you consider us barbaric, Siren? I assure you that is not the case. Our females are safe in their homes where they won’t be abducted. Where else would they be?” Arghane asked in return.
Ji nodded. He had read that the females were kept in isolation until they were needed, but it was still unnerving to see proof of it in their most progressive urban area. The contrast with Rylen made him more appreciative than ever of the beautifully clad and smiling females on his home planet.
Chapter 2
Seta lasted two days without food, but that was all she had been able to manage. The dress she had been forced to put on was nothing more than a series of fabric strips overlapping each other, most of which barely covered physical essentials. The nearly transparent fabric chafed and was obviously not created to enhance a female’s comfort. Great slashes across the mid-section revealed delicate skin that hadn’t seen light in years. To be as modest as possible, she had buttoned her black weapon vest over the skimpy top even though Arghane had confiscated her laser weapon.
Seta knew her father had only forced the clothing change because he perversely liked to incite a certain amount of lust in the males regularly attending to him in his court. Keeping them hungry for anything, whether it was food or females, allowed him to keep a tight rein on his all male staff. Only he—as their suzerain—had the power to grant them the right to indulge in meeting either need.
Her father’s fondness for using bonding lust as incentive was one of the many reasons she hated him. Her first bonding experience had been with Chief Arghane’s predecessor. Arghane would no doubt like to have her father’s permission to indulge with her too. However his predecessor had left massive bruises on her arms, which had angered her father into exiling the older male from both his canton and employment. Her personal devastation over the sordid experience though had not caused her Ethos sire any second thoughts at all. Instead her teary gaze over the physical humiliation and shame had incited a lecture about doing her duty and earning her keep as his offspring.
Two weeks after that horrible incident, she and Rena had been promised to the merchant. A whole Earth year passed before that detestable male had raised sufficient money to pay the steep union price for the pair of them. He had been even worse to deal with than Arghane’s predecessor, frequently trading bonding use of them to clients as it suited his whims. Long before she had acted to end his life, her Ethosian mate’s death had lived in her intentions. Now she also understood that it had been Zorinda who had given her the strength that day to actually take up the knife she had used to stab him to death.
Wiser now from her many years of true freedom among more civilized beings, she saw the main problem on Ethos was men like her father who propagated the bartering system. Pondering her sire’s death seemed a good use of the dark thoughts running through her mind, but finding a way to ensure his ongoing suffering would suit her better. Death would just see him replaced in his canton with another, perhaps even worse suzerain. If that happened, there would be no reprieve for any of her siblings.
No. . .the Ethos tyrant that abused her family needed to understand what it felt like to have another person controlling his fate. Only then could she contemplate sending the male who sired her back to the Creators. Until the time of her true revenge, she would merely dream of his downfall. . .and plan a retribution that served a greater good than just her own.
That decision led to her instantly thinking about Rena, her spiritual dual-sib who had lived most of her short life feeling incredible shame for their abuse. Memory made her determination grow even stronger to spare the rest of the females in their immediate family. Her mother had died after bearing the Suzerain eight offspring, but several of her mother’s female siblings remained, as well as their unbartered offspring.
She thought of the black mist swirling over the glass to cloud it while Arghane had watched her strip and reluctantly dress. Unmetered anger in her movements made her feel physically stronger and better able to deal with her incarceration. She accepted the intense emotion was the demon’s way of showing her that she was willing to help.
Since Arghane had watched her dress and then eat the food he had sent to her, Seta glared at her collector as the door opened. She grabbed her uniform pants and shoes, which were bundled together inside her folded shirt. She had tied the sleeves and now slung the pack over one shoulder. Arghane grinned at her action, but he made no move to remove it from her until she passed by him. His arm shot out, gripping hers.
“I’ll take those disrespectful clothes,” he said.
Seta glared at the hand on her arm. Keeping her anger in check suddenly became an impossibility. She turned slowly to fully face him as her body filled with a fiery heat that went everywhere. She even felt her eyes getting hot.
Shaking at the energy suddenly coursing through her, she dodged Arghane’s next grab. A feral animal sound erupted from her throat that he would dare touch her. She took a menacing step toward the male who stepped back in sudden surprise.
“Touch me again and you will surely die,” Seta warned. Reaching out a hand, she gripped her torturer’s wide wrist, squeezing hard until she heard a crunching sound. She released him only when Arghane called out and backed farther away from her.
“Are you truly as insane as you are acting?” he demanded.
“Yes. I am insane. Why don’t you go tell the suzerain on me? Or do you fear his reaction to hearing a mere female managed to harm you?”
Arghane shook his hand, glaring at the red ring around his wrist. The angry female’s grip had burned like fire and his digits were now numb. He might actually have to be checked for damage.
“What possesses you to fight me?” he demanded.
Seta snorted. “Maybe it’s because I don’t consider you worthy of living. Now let’s get this over with, Arghane. I’m tired of waiting to see my duplicitous sire.”
Frowning at her strangely glowing eyes, Arghane motioned ahead, watching as Seta turned her back to him and began walking. He was suddenly wondering if the crazed female was planning to harm the suzerain. And more importantly, could she do it?
“I absolutely could do it if I chose,” Seta said, reading his thoughts. “But I will not harm the suzerain yet. I have different plans for him.”
Arghane frowned again. “Good. Just know I will kill you to save him.”
“You might try, but I will kill you before you get that chance,” Seta coldly replied back, not turning around. “I speak only truth, Arghane. After your death, I will walk through your spilled life force and do what I want to the suzerain. So leave me be if you wish to live. The creature within me hates you on my behalf. She wishes for your death as much as I do.”
“You talk nonsense. What creature inside you?” he demanded.
When she didn’t answer his question, Arghane reached out and grabbed Seta’s arm to turn her to face him. The next thing he knew he was flying backward and being slammed hard against the wall. His head spun dizzily as Seta of Trax walked calmly toward him. In her glowing eyes he actually did see his death. Since he was not ready to die, playing along with her madness might be the wisest strategy. He now saw that he had taken the Siren’s assertions of her training too lightly.
“My apologies for my disrespect, daughter of Trax,” he blurted out finally, breathing out only when he saw Seta come to a full stop. Without another word, she turned back and started walking forward again.
Reeling, Arghane climbed slowly to his feet despite the pain. Seta’s appealing hips sent the strips swaying in the dress he had chosen, but earning time with her suddenly held no allure at all
for him. Let the Siren suitor buy the suzerain’s errant offspring. What did he care? There were many more fair-haired females among the suzerain’s progeny.
He almost bumped into her as she whirled around to him again. Shock had him calling out when she grabbed his throat and lifted him from the ground.
“What Siren suitor?” Seta demanded. “Who is trying to buy me?”
“His name is Ji Warro. He told us he served with you on a ship. . .uh. . .I can’t talk while you’re choking me,” he protested, stumbling as she dropped him abruptly back down to the floor. He was still in shock that she had been able to lift his considerable weight. “The Siren says you are already his.”
Snorting at the arrogance of the male who had evidently followed her to Ethos, no matter that she had not wished it, she still didn’t bother trying to explain Ji to Arghane. It was none of his business.
“He said I was his? If so, it is only in his dreams,” Seta declared.
Resigned to dealing with the added complication, she trudged to the gallery to face both males who thought they owned her. It was Ji’s own fault he was about to lose a fortune for no good reason. Her father was going to demand an exorbitant union price from him and would still bargain for use of her tracking skills if he could manage it. Of this, she had no doubt.
“Hands off if you value your life,” Seta warned when she felt Arghane’s touch on her arm again. His tentative hold became a whisper of air near her skin instead.
The rest of their walk was made in total silence.
Chapter 3
Lifting her chin, Seta swallowed her repulsion and strolled into the receiving gallery. Inside she headed straight for the platform where her father sat waiting for her. The last time she had been summoned before him, it was to be informed she had a second suitor for a mate. Damaged from the abuse of their first mate, her sire had decided it best to make separate second unions for her and Rena. Citing compassion for their poor first match he had made arrangements with two younger males.
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