by Ashley West
Abby had never been attracted to women before, but she couldn't deny that this was the sort of woman who would do it for her.
If it weren't for that whole keeping her captive thing, of course.
She was also the kind of woman who made other women feel frumpy and unglamorous beside her. She was barely in the room good, and Abby already was more conscious of her torn and dirty clothes and the state of her hair.
The woman wore no crown or circlet, but it was clear from the way she carried herself and from the way the guard was acting like she was the second coming of Jesus that she was royalty. Perhaps she was the leader of these people, and Abby was about to get her answers regarding why they were all here in the first place.
No one spoke, and the guard didn't move as the woman walked sedately to the throne. When she stepped up onto the dais, one white foot was visible, all delicate bones and creamy pale skin. She made herself comfortable without a word and then turned those lovely eyes onto Abby.
"You are fortunate, human," she said, and god, even her voice was beautiful. It was lower than she would have expected, but throaty and melodious. A wonderful alto sound. "Not many get the opportunity to gaze upon my visage." She lifted a hand that was heavy with rings and gestured to the guard. "Even my own people do not look upon my face."
Abby realized she was expected to say something in return, but she was drawing a blank, so she just stood there with her mouth closed, unsure.
When several seconds went by without her saying anything, the woman sniffed disdainfully. "I should have known you would be a simpleton. I do not think you're up to this task, mind you, but I have been advised that you meet certain...qualities that would be helpful."
"Helpful with what?" Abby blurted out.
The guard winced from his position on the floor, but didn't move from where he had prostrated himself.
"It's alright, guard," the woman said, waving an elegant hand. "You can inform her of her ignorance."
The guard lifted his face, but only to look at her, not at his leader. "You are addressing Caran Theolette," he hissed, as if it should be obvious.
Abby gave her a blank look in response to that. She gathered that it meant something special, that this woman was worthy of respect, but she didn't understand, and honestly, she didn't care. Caran Theolette, whoever she was, had imprisoned her, and the last thing she was going to do was bend a knee to her. "I don't know what that means," she said boldly.
The guard winced again.
"It's alright," Theolette said, waving her hand once more. "We cannot expect cattle to understand when they are in the presence of their betters."
She bristled at the 'cattle' comment, but kept her mouth shut. This woman was clearly powerful, and Abby didn't want to be killed right here.
The woman leaned forward on the throne and continued. "A Caran, human, is a position of power. It is, in fact, the highest position one can reach in our society. It means that I am in charge by virtue of my power and standing. It also means that I command respect from everyone below me." She again gestured to the guard whose face was back in the carpet.
"I see," Abby said. "Uh...Your Majesty?" she added, trying for respect just enough that she wouldn't get on this woman's bad side.
"Hm," Theolette sniffed. "It will do. Now, as I was saying, you have been selected to help us. You see, we don't really want your people dead. That would be a waste of your particular talents, and if there's one thing my people detest, it's waste. If a species or race proves themselves to be too much trouble, then we eliminate them, but until then, we keep them. Use them. Give them purpose. Do you understand?"
She understood that this woman was probably talking about turning humans into servants or slaves or something, and she wasn't into it. "Yes," she said. "But I don't understand what you want from me."
"Well, of course you don't. Humans aren't really 'bigger picture' sort of people, are they?" Theolette said loftily. "There will undoubtedly be people coming after us. Others from different planets who will seek to save this miserable planet from our clutches. You see, there are some who think we're the root of all evil and will stop at nothing to defeat us. Usually to their detriment, but we allow them to make that choice. When they get here, they will want to speak with humans. They'll want your help to rescue your people. As such, I will be placing humans who are loyal to me with these outsiders. You will report everything that happens back to me, and do what it takes to keep them from succeeding."
Abby furrowed her brow. She wasn't sure if she was missing something here or if Theolette was really just that stupid.
"What makes you think we'd report to you?" she asked. "Wouldn't we want the others to save us?"
That didn't throw Theolette for a second. Instead, she smiled, revealing pearly white teeth that, for just a moment, seemed sharper than they should have been. But it must have just been a trick of the light. "Because, my dear," she said. "There is no way they will win. No one has ever defeated us, and many, many have tried. Even if they all came together with all their power and attacked, we would win. And if I found out that you humans weren't holding up your end of the bargain, the bargain being that you do as I say and I don't destroy you and everything you hold dear, then this planet and everyone and everything on it will be reduced to nothing more than dust floating through the galaxy. Have I made myself clear?"
Abby swallowed hard. Theolette's voice hadn't changed tone at all from the pleasant, lofty one she'd started with, but the threat was still apparent. This woman meant what she said, and could probably do what she said, too. And she'd chosen Abby for this.
That was just great.
Abby agreed to the proposal. Of course she did. Saying no was really very obviously not an option, and she didn't want to see what they would do to her if she was to tell them that actually, being some kind of secret double agent for the people who were hurting her and her kind didn't sound awesome, it just sounded like a good way to get killed.
But Caran Theolette was clearly one who expected to get her way all the time, and Abby didn't want to burst her bubble.
"Tell no one," was the last thing the woman had said to her, before she was clapping her hands and getting the guard to take her away. She didn't follow that up with a threat, but Abby was pretty sure she didn't have to at this point.
Tell no one. Got it.
When she was lead back to her cell and pushed in unceremoniously, everyone was staring at her. It was the same thing that had happened when Nathan had gotten called in the day before, only Nathan hadn't come back.
With growing horror, Abby realized that they must have made the same offer to him, only he'd clearly turned it down. And they'd killed him for it. Probably. That was the only thing that really made sense, and she didn't know where else he could be. Unless he'd agreed to do what they wanted and they'd already sent him out to do Theolette's bidding.
Her heart was still racing from the chilling look that had been in Theolette's eyes when she'd been dismissed, how it had really driven home every threat she'd made in the empty throne room. Now, Abby understood. Most throne rooms she'd seen on television or read about in books were overloaded with fine things. Tapestries and jewels and other symbols of power. But Caran Theolette didn't need any of that. She didn't have to use any props or trappings to display her power. She just was powerful in every way, and it was terrifying.
"What happened?" whispered Tiffany, one of the women in the cell with her. "What did they want?"
"Did you see Nathan?" asked one of the men. "He didn't come back last night."
People on the other side of the room were leaning forward, craning to see her and hear what she had to say. The guards didn't move from their spots, but Abby knew they were all listening, and that they would report back to their leader if she spilled anything they didn't want her to. The pressure was incredible, and she swallowed hard.
"I didn't see Nathan," she answered, because at least that was the truth and she didn't have to make a
nything up, which would at least buy her some time to come up with whatever she was going to say to their first question. "I don't know what happened to him."
"Probably mouthed off to the wrong guard," Tiffany said. "That's so like him." In the five months they'd been in the same cell together, they'd had time to get to know Nathan pretty well. His mannerisms and attitude, at least.
"You think?" the man asked. "And what would they do to him?"
"What do you think they did to him?" Tiffany fired back. "What are they going to do to all of us?"
Maybe the conversation would turn from her, and she wouldn't be called on to say anything else. Maybe they'd run with their theories and ideas for a while and leave her alone.
"Maybe she knows," the man was saying, pointing at her. "Abby, right? What happened in there?"
Or not.
"I..." God. What was she supposed to tell them? "I met their leader."
A hush fell over the group, and Abby saw the guards leaning in closer. They had no visible weapons, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"And what happened?" Tiffany prompted, obviously impatient.
"They...it was...you know. Intimidation stuff. Threats. Stuff like that." Still not a lie.
"But why?" someone wanted to know. "What are they threatening us for?"
"I don't know. It seemed like...like she just wanted me to know that they could kill us. All of us and everyone we've ever loved on top of that. Just so we'd stay in line or something. I don't know. We didn't do a lot of chatting. Just me standing there and her making threats."
That seemed to satisfy the group, and they broke off into pairs and trios to whisper amongst themselves. One of the guards caught her eye and arched an eyebrow before inclining his head. Clearly, she'd done alright.
What happened next, she didn’t know. These creatures had some kind of a plan in mind, something that would destroy whoever came against them, but the real question was what that meant for the humans and the planet Earth.
Chapter Five: Escape
This was all wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
Nothing like this was supposed to happen to him, and the fact that it had just made him angry. Well. Angrier than he already was.
Once again, he was in the presence of these creatures. The Camadors with their otherworldly beauty, masking the true horrors that they really were. It had been four years since he'd last laid eyes on one, but the sight of them still turned his stomach.
He didn't know if any of the ones who were standing before him were involved in the attack on Gollen Par, but he was willing to bet that they were. He was willing to bet that they'd taken pleasure in slaughtering his friends and comrades and then watching the city burn. That was how they operated.
Everything had been going according to plan at first. He'd left his apartment with the ship, his sights set on Earth. The ship had held up for the entire journey, though the landing had left something to be desired, and he followed the trail of chaos to the floating city.
The people of Earth all seemed confused as to what was happening to them.
Most of them knew that there was some sort of attack happening, but they didn't know who was attacking them or why. The city that the Camadors were hovering over was still in one piece, which wasn't what Sorrin had been expecting at all. He'd thought he'd be arriving to find another Gollen Par of four years ago, flames and death everywhere.
Instead there were just people going about their day to day lives with a floating city above their heads. It was easy to tell who was missing someone, because there were posters up everywhere he walked, begging for help in finding missing spouses and children and friends. Apparently the Camadors hadn't been entirely idle, then.
He spoke to a few of the humans, the ones he could convince that he wasn't there to hurt them, at least. Apparently they were all concerned about the appearance of someone like him, and he supposed he couldn't blame them. Not with what they'd been through.
They pointed him to the base of the floating city.
A ladder extended down from the massive structure, and really, that seemed too easy. Anyone could just climb up there and hopefully catch them by surprise, though he wondered if they had guard rotations posted.
But that was just like Camadors. They would dangle the chance for revenge in front of people and then make them regret taking the chance. Luckily, Sorrin wasn't afraid of them.
Unluckily, he wasn't thinking very clearly at all. How could he be, when this was so personal?
Instead of taking the time to think about what he should do or to make any sort of plan at all, he climbed the ladder.
Sorrin was as well armed as he could be, with a blaster at his hip and a sword at his back. He'd practiced with them both as much as he could, but there was little substitute for practicing against a person who was going to be fighting back. The Camadors would definitely be fighting back. But now Sorrin knew how to beat them. Before, he'd been younger, cockier, sure of himself and his team. And it had gotten most of them killed.
Now he knew what he needed to do to get the upper hand, and he intended to do it.
Of course, nothing was ever as easy as it appeared, and Sorrin got to the top of the ladder and then found himself surrounded on all sides.
It was all wrong.
The Camadors were just as he remembered them.
They stared down at him with their cold golden eyes, and the one in the middle smirked slowly. "Take him to the cages. You know what to do."
The last thing he saw was them closing in.
When he woke, he was lying on something soft, his arms bound behind him. The side of his head ached, and he knew he'd been hit with something. Warrior training kicked in as his head cleared, and he waited before he sat up, listening to see if he could hear anything.
There was breathing, the sound of someone else close by. If it was an enemy, it stood to reason that he'd be dead already, so he inhaled slowly and then cracked his eyes open.
All he could see were bars at first, and when he shifted his muscles so he could sit up, it became apparent that he was in some kind of cell.
Also in the cell, with her back to the marbleized wall was a human woman.
She was interesting looking for a human. Pale skin, fiery hair that was shaggy and falling into her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around her drawn up knees, and she had her face pressed against them. Her clothes were dirty and ripped in places, and it was clear that she was a prisoner. Just as he seemed to be.
Sorrin cleared his throat, and her head snapped up. Interestingly, her eyes filled with something like anguish when she saw him, but she glanced away before Sorrin could get a good look.
"Where are we?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking out like a whip. This was the second time he'd underestimated the Camadors and let his emotions get the better of him. If there was a third time, then he'd probably end up dead.
The woman flinched a bit. "In their prison," she said softly. And then, "You're not human."
"No," Sorrin replied.
"Then...have you come to help us?"
He opened his mouth and then closed it again, unsure of how to answer. Saving the people of Earth was a secondary goal if he was being honest. First and foremost he wanted to take down the Camadors, and if that helped the people here, then so much the better. His goal and his vengeance was what had brought him here.
But he needed to get out of this cell, and he might need her help to do it, so he nodded. "Yes."
To his surprise, she didn't seem overly enthused at the prospect.
"How?" she asked. "If you're trapped in here?"
"I'm going to get out," Sorrin replied as if it were obvious, which in his mind it was. "And then I'm going to come up with a plan."
"Oh." She didn't move or say anything else, and Sorrin shook his head and got to his feet, superior balance making it easy enough even though his hands were still bound.
There were no guards posted, which was
either very stupid or purposeful. Maybe they didn't think he could get out, but that would be their downfall. Underestimating him was going to get them all killed.
"How often do the guards come in here?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Just to bring meals," the woman replied. "Every few hours. I'm not sure of the exact timing."
Every few hours. Sorrin could work with that.
"How long have I been in here with you?"
"About an hour, I'd say? Maybe a little more? I don't have a clock."
She sounded annoyed, but Sorrin ignored that. If he escaped from here, he'd leave the door open and she could follow once he was gone if she wanted. It was in her best interest to help him.
"Are you breaking out?" she asked, and Sorrin turned to look at her.
"I said I was. I don't have a choice. I can't kill them from in here."
"Will you..." She averted her gaze, seemingly unsure of what she was about to ask. "Will you take me with you?"
"No." That was an easy question to answer, and Sorrin continued his examination of the door.
“What do you mean, no?” she demanded.
“Just what I said. It’s not my responsibility to get you out of here. I’m opening the door for myself because I have a score to settle.”
The woman snorted, managing to sound disdainful even with the desperation in her eyes. “Right,” she said. “You’re going to take on these things all by yourself? That sounds like it’ll go well.”
“Excuse me?” Sorrin stopped his investigation and turned to look at her. She was a slip of a thing, shorter than him by at least a foot and a half, with no muscle tone whatsoever. Some of that could have been due to her being held captive here for however long, but he was willing to bet that she’d never fought anything in her life. And she was questioning him?
“You heard me,” she said, leveling a glare at him. “You got caught. You’re in here with me, and in case you haven’t noticed, your hands are tied behind your back.”
