She was a prisoner. What did she expect? How was he going to punish her? She shivered. All she wanted was to fall into bed and oblivion. Instead, she stayed in the shower longer than she intended, letting the hot water ease the remaining aches and pains. The nanobots had been busy today. When she emerged from the bathroom, a tray loaded with bowls of hot steaming food sat on the table. The mantra parroted through her head. I would request you find some way to come to terms with the situation you find yourself in and cease this harmful behavior. Life would be easier if she could. She’d been determined to resist him for however long it took, but after today, she couldn’t tell if something in her had broken. She had tried and failed. Would she ever have another chance?
After eating she was too exhausted to do more than flop on the bed and sleep, not even bothering to erect the fail-safe pillow barrier. She woke as Rial’s arm pulled her to him. She tried to arch away from him, but his arm tightened and he trapped her leg under his to prevent her kicking.
“No, Kia. Get over the traumas you experienced. I have been too lenient with you. Go to sleep. Tomorrow we leave Emankora.”
The weight of Rial’s arm grew heavier as he fell asleep, but it was a long time before the tight knot in her gut eased. It was even longer before the slow tears ceased and the blessed forgetfulness of sleep claimed her.
Chapter Eleven: Encounter
The following morning, everyone treated Kia with a little extra consideration in light of her presumed ordeal. Cheydii raised an eyebrow, but the second-in-command’s loyalty and devotion to Rial meant she wouldn’t dispute the public version of events. What satisfied Rial satisfied her, and she wouldn’t ask any awkward questions. Overall the mission was deemed a success, and their departure from Emankora was accompanied by an effusive ceremony led and orchestrated by General Huijata.
The Kaudagan had taken ten days to reach the wormhole they were currently transiting, which was closer than the one they’d taken to Emankora.
Kia took a small sip from the plasbulb of water in her hand. “How much longer?” Kia glanced up at the pulsing rainbow-colored bands of the wormhole walls on the viewscreen and looked away, disoriented.
Rial studied the flight control deck, checking data as they sat in the command center where he was showing her the weapons array and teaching her how to pilot the Kadaugan through the anomaly. Nagavi and the team lay strapped in and sedated in their cabins.
“Another fifteen hours. How’s the nausea?” He’d given her a second syringe of his blood.
“Gone. Why didn’t you tell the others I’d tried to escape?”
Once they’d killed most of the traitors and subdued the remaining fighters, Rial had taken Nagavi and set off tracking her, telling the Chenjerai he’d seen her abducted. He left Cheydii, Annen, and the team to escort the few prisoners who remained alive out of the caves and hand them over to the General's men.
“Believe it or not, I understand something of what you’re going through. I ran away numerous times as soon as I was old enough. I craved freedom from the bonds my father placed on me. Once, when I was fifteen, he had me brought back chained in a cage. The chains were barbed. He was furious that time and determined to break me to his will. Eventually, I submitted. It was Nagavi and, later on, your father who showed me how a proper father behaves.”
Kia studied his profile as she imagined a young wild-eyed, rebellious Rial bound in chains and imprisoned in a cage. What was it Nagavi had told her? He wasn’t brought up with kindness. A sliver of sympathy entered her heart. She couldn’t imagine ever treating a child of hers that way.
He shrugged. “When I finally understood I couldn’t escape my father, I made a show of surrendering to him, giving him the obedience he demanded, and worked within the system to disrupt and overthrow him ever since. He knows it, too, and it’s a game we’ve been playing for some time—and as he has the upper hand, it’s a game he enjoys. I won’t deny that when I realized what you’d done in the caves, I was furious. When your helmet signal died, I… I was… upset. It was Nagavi who told me I wouldn’t be rid of you that easy. But this is between you and me. I’m conscious of your respect and admiration for the men and women of the Chenjerai, and I have no wish to influence or jeopardize your friendships with them.”
Since they’d returned from the caves, Nagavi ignored her and treated her with cold disdain, his way of telling her she’d disappointed him. She tried not to show it, but his behavior hurt. When she knocked on his cabin door to administer the seds, he’d looked at her and said in a voice like broken ice, “He was almost out of his mind when he found you were gone. If you ever do that to him again, I swear I’ll make it my business to hunt you down and drown you for good.”
She shifted in her seat. He was chaining her with kindness. “Is the emperor aware of who I am?”
“No, the false identity your father arranged has held up. According to all the records, he, his wife, and their four children died in the annexation. Losing your father and the network in Emankora was a political and a personal blow.”
Since the failed attempt to escape, she’d waited for Rial to punish her but he’d been surprisingly gentle and considerate, continuing to sleep in the medunit.
“Nagavi says I’m in love with you.”
Kia choked on the water she was sipping, and the vibrating bands of color pressed closer. He was clearly suffering the effects of the wormhole to make such a demented statement.
He gave a short laugh. “He says I’ve never been in love, and accordingly I’ve fallen harder. What? Nothing to say?”
Kia’s cheeks were on fire. Even Keyon hadn’t said those words.
Rial continued, “He says it’s partly guilt because I couldn’t save your family, partly gratefulness because you saved my life and a fair amount of hormonal lust. I’m of an age to procreate as are you.”
“Let’s not forget the nanobots. Are they running the hormone show?” She should make a plan in case this psychotic episode made him violent. She suppressed a giggle as the image of a lust-driven Rial, chasing her up and down the empty corridors, sprang into her mind.
He tapped a button on the panel. “They mediate the hormones, but not thoughts or emotions. They’re not what cause my yearning to have nanobot babies with you.” He smirked at her.
“What made you decide to share these thoughts with me?” She didn’t say insane impulse, thinking it safer to appease his craziness under the circumstances.
“Something Nagavi said.”
“Which was?”
“This isn’t easy or natural for me, but he pointed out that if I didn’t open up to you, nothing would change between us.”
The commander would give his life for Rial and probably thought a little relationship advice might be appreciated. Thanks, Nagavi.
“The miracle isn’t that I’m in love with you, Kia, it’s that I have any love at all in my heart to give. Compared to my father, I’m dealing gently with you. If you found something rare and precious, wouldn't you aspire to take care of it?”
“I’m not a thing, and I’m sure you haven’t experienced rejection from women. From what I saw at Emankora, they throw themselves at your feet in droves. There must be trails of your devastated rejects all over the empire.”
“Okay, I admit I enjoy the chase. It’s how males are built. Your refusals fuel my desire, and the more you reject me, the more determined I become.” He leaned back in his chair and looked her up and down with a lazy satisfied grin. “But that isn’t what this is about. Can’t you admit it’s the tiniest bit flattering to be wooed?”
“Wooed? Is that what you call hunting me through an underground cave system? In Sestris a man offers gifts. That way a woman has time to consider and find out what he's truly like.”
“I can tell you that now. I'm demanding and expect obedience, but you’ve had plenty of experience with that side of my character. How many gifts shall I give you?”
“A thousand. Ten thousand.” That should keep him b
usy for a while. There weren’t many shops in space. What was she saying? She hadn’t agreed to take part in this stupid game, had she?
“I happen to be aware that one hundred is the maximum in Sestris. As I wish to make you my bride, will you accept that number of presents from me, after which you must give me your decision?”
“About what?” Who had he been talking with about Sestrian partnership traditions? Bride? Did he say, bride?
“Sharing your life with me. What do you think?”
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m already sharing my life with you, which isn’t my choice. I’m also thinking I don’t intend to talk about this, and you’re crazier than I thought. Where are we going now?”
“Changing the subject because it’s too uncomfortable, are you? Okay, if that’s what makes my beloved consort happy.” He ducked as she chucked the water bulb at him, shot out a hand and caught it. “If you wish to workout, I'm agreeable. I would enjoy some serious skin on skin action with you.”
“Answer the question.”
He uttered a loud theatrical sigh.
Kia, Jared, and Keyon had always joked and teased each other growing up, but Rial’s familiarity was different. Fighting him was preferable to this intimate teasing.
“I have an important meeting with a close friend, and afterward, we leave for the lab planet.”
“What’s the lab planet?” At last, a subject that might change the direction of the current embarrassing conversation.
Rial stood and stretched.
Kia kept her eyes fixed on the control panel. He was changing the rules, and as yet, she wasn’t sure how to play this new game. An angry Rial was harder to deal with and could, if he chose to, cause her a lot more unpleasantness, though, to be fair, this far he hadn’t. Her intent wasn’t to hurt him per se, but she needed her freedom, and her chances of gaining it were disappearing as fast as the anomaly in their slipstream. She’d have to figure out a way to counter this new tactic to bind her to him.
He stood behind her chair, put his hands on her shoulders and spoke in her ear, his voice velvet-covered steel. “You have a choice. You can spend your entire life hoping that I’ll decide you’re not worth the wait and will, either purposefully or by chance, find someone to replace you as consort. Or you can acknowledge that we will spend our lives together. I will not change my mind, and I am a very patient man, Kia.”
“Is this Rial the lover talking? In my country, when a man desires a woman, he doesn’t threaten her. If you love someone, you want to please them and make them happy.”
“A valid point but a simplification of the situation, as you’ve forgotten a vital part of the equation.”
“Oh, and I’m sure you’ll tell me what that is.”
“I always get what I want.”
He kissed the top of her head, running his hands over the soft stubble growing in. “No more shaving. It doesn’t put me off in the slightest.”
“Maybe.”
“You aren’t a slave anymore, Kia, but neither are you free. You’re a Chenjerai and my consort, apart from which I find myself unable to let you go.”
She stilled. What about the words he’d said before? You are property gained through annexation, and mine to do with as I wish, and nobody could gainsay me. Was that a lie? Had he manipulated the truth to keep her in check? You’re a slave. You’re free. Actually, you’re neither. She chewed her lip. Could she believe anything that came out of his mouth?
“I’m going to check on everyone. Call me on the tannoy if anything comes up.” He flicked the side of her head and was gone before she found anything else to throw at him.
Considered impartially, she was a fool not to consent. The Heir to the Nadil-Kuradi Empire had declared his feelings for her and already named her as his consort. He wasn’t bad looking, she snorted to herself. Who was she fooling? He was an almost perfect specimen of manhood with unbelievable wealth and power at his fingertips. Moaning and banging her head on the wall and asking why me seemed stupid and childish. She was being offered an opportunity to influence one of the highest-ranking men in the galaxy, and their aims and ambitions, at least as far as the empire was concerned, were in alignment. What was her problem?
Kia decided her tactic would be to tell him the truth. She needed time. Anything else would be a lie he’d see through. If he agreed, how long would he give her? Was it possible to be his friend but not his lover? Even as the latter crossed her mind, she wasn’t confident this was the truth either. Whether he was the Heir or not, he stood by those he considered his friends and the Chenjerai were the closest he had to real family. If she could accept the position she was in… and it wasn’t easy to admit it, but, yes, she would like to have his friendship. The rest was a step too far.
When he returned from his check on the Chenjerai, he made no reference to their previous conversation but continued with the piloting lessons, and made her practice battle simulations as a gunner in a small goka and in the Kadaugan until her response times satisfied him.
“Can you administer the stims?” Rial asked, indicating the increased oscillations that meant they were approaching normal space. The stims had to be administered in order that the team woke at the right moment: too early and they had every chance of experiencing the mental or physical disruptions the transit caused; too late and they’d be useless if there was an emergency after exit.
Kia waited to see Shaba, the last guard to receive a stim, wake up and was on her way back to the command center when the alarm blared. She flew down the last few stairs and sprinted along the corridor.
“Ready weapons. Now!” he barked as she dashed in.
She began punching buttons and brought up the munitions control panel, never expecting to put the lessons he’d taught her into practice this quickly.
“The arrival beacon isn’t visible.” He spoke over the tannoy. “Defense positions.”
Exits possessed arrival beacons to warn exiting spacecraft to reduce speed. Wormholes exerted quixotic effects on velocity which could fluctuate wildly during exit, and pilots had a few seconds to adjust before and after transit; otherwise any number of things could happen. In the early days, spacecraft exiting at wormhole velocity had resulted in numerous casualties as well as flinging vessels days, weeks and, on occasion, months out of their flight paths. The case of the Damwain, a ship that reduced its speed too rapidly and got stuck halfway out, was well known. None of the crew survived. Most ships used automatic velocity controls, but these were unreliable, and since Rial was unaffected by the transit, he manually regulated the Kadaugan’s speed.
“Hold tight. Velocity changing in three, two, one. Prepare for evasive maneuvers. This could be an ambush.” The Kadaugan juddered, bucking slightly, and shot out of the wormhole.
“Move over, lass,” Nagavi ordered, and Kia shifted into secondary position as the commander took over weapons control.
“Gokas armed and ready to go.” Annen’s voice sounded reedy through the comunit.
“We have three vessels in a holding pattern,” Nagavi stated. “All armed and primed to fire.”
“Defense shields in place,” Rial added as the real-time screen blurred and returned to normal. “Plotting—”
The Kadaugan shivered as a pulse laser beam bounced off its shields, and Kia gripped the edge of her seat as Rial increased their speed.
“Kia. Fire a series of rapid stream KKRs at the nearside vessel. Nagavi, handle the offside. Keep them occupied while I put the fear of death into the third.”
For the next few minutes, Kia punched in coordinates and stabbed buttons, watching as the kinetic kill rods burst through her target’s defenses, tore holes in its shielding, and ended their assault. She would bet they were panicking, closing off sectors and scrambling to get the hell out of there. She was right. “One enemy ship is withdrawing.”
“Well done, Kia.”
Was that pride in Rial’s voice? She tried not to preen as she watched the ship abandon its position and depar
t. Hopefully, it would do more than retreat out of range. She checked the real-time screen, riveted by the sight of a medium sized fighter, smaller than their flagship, growing rapidly larger as Rial flew straight at it. Seconds later, she squeaked as the vessel made a last minute shift out of their path.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” Nagavi growled as Rial shot her an impish grin.
“It worked, didn’t it?” He pointed to the screen where the spacecraft was rapidly dwindling. “Saves using firepower, the enemy doesn’t attack in case they hit one of their own ships, we gain speed and a healthy start if they decide to follow.”
Kia blew out a breath. “Wow, that was over quick.”
“Guerrilla warfare in space is short and nasty. Someone gets close, disrupts your defense shields and you’re space dust.” Nagavi snorted then looked at Rial. “Strike quick and get out, right, boy?”
“Yes, sir!”
The atmosphere in the room deflated like air out of an opened airlock as adrenaline levels dropped and the danger receded.
“Okay to stand down, boss?” Annen’s query came over the tannoy.
“Look.” Kia pointed at the screen showing the vast expanse of space behind them where the irregularity was a small barely discernible flicker. “Those two dots. Are those the ships that attacked us?”
Chapter Twelve: Attack
The two spaceships remained on their tail, but no matter what evasive action or speed the Kadaugan took, sooner or later the other vessels appeared on the viewscreen.
Rial called a meeting in the communal room, leaving Tamaiko in charge of the command deck. The team sat around the long table. Some slouched, others stared at the ceiling or examined their fingernails, but Kia didn’t doubt they were giving Rial their full attention.
“Kia disabled the third ship, but the other two are persistent, and one is substantially larger than the Kadaugan,” he informed them. “Thus far we’ve done little to throw off our pursuers, and we need to deal with them before we set out for Ylväs Suq.”
Awakening Defiance: (The Saoirse Saga Book 2) Page 10
