by S. E. Smith
Grabbing the rest of her knives off the table, River pulled her black duffle bag out from under the bed walking over to where Torak was pinned to the door. She looked him in the eye daring him to say anything. “Did I get it right?” She asked softly before stalking out of the room.
River was so mad she didn’t even see Manota until she ran into him. She had swung open the door to the private living area having no idea where she was going to go but knew she couldn’t, wouldn’t stay with someone who wanted to take away who she was.
“Oh, sorry.” River muttered as she moved around Manota.
“Where is Torak? I need to speak with him.” Manota called out after River. He was never going to understand these female warriors.
“In the bedroom.” River called out never turning around. “Go on it, he could probably use some help.”
Chapter 13
“What happened to you?” Manota asked as he stood staring in disbelief at Torak.
“Just pull some of these damn knives out of my clothes so I can move.” Torak gritted out.
Manota had walked through the living quarters after Torak had responded to his call for entrance. When he had walked through the door of the bedroom he had stopped in concern when he saw Torak standing strangely next to the door. When he noticed his older brother couldn’t move for all the knives surrounding him, he couldn’t keep the bark of laughter from escaping. Pulling several knives out so Torak could move, he watched as Torak finished grabbing and pulling the rest of them out, grimacing as he pulled out the one between his legs.
“I take it River is upset with you.” Manota said dryly.
Torak gave his brother a dirty look, “What makes you think that?”
“Could have been the knives holding you to the door or maybe the one between your legs. You have to admit she is amazing when it comes to throwing them.” Manota grinned.
“I’ll make sure I ask her to give you a demonstration the next time I see her.” Torak retorted.
Manota followed Torak into the next room. He watched as Torak pulled out a glass container filled with a dark amber liquid. Pulling the stopper, Torak poured a large glass of the amber liquid into it and downed the entire contents before refilling it. As he lifted the glass he noticed his hand was trembling slightly. Gods, she had looked so beautiful when she was throwing those knives.
Looking down at the liquid swirling in his glass Torak asked absently, “Do you think all the warriors on her planet are like her, Jo, and Star?”
Manota gave a harsh laugh before replying, “Gods, I hope not. I wouldn’t want to face them in a fight. If they didn’t kill us first, they would wear us down with their beauty, their intelligence, their sense of humor, their loyalty, their…” Manota trailed off as he glanced out the window. Everything he was saying was what attracted him to Jo.
“I could use one of those.” Manota said suddenly nodding towards the amber liquid. He poured himself a large glass taking a healthy swig of it before moving to sit across from Torak.
Torak sat on the couch. “What did you come to see me about?”
Manota took another sip of the liquid before filling Torak in to what the security forces had found out so far about the assassination attempt. “It looks like Tai Tek is more than a little upset at your return. He had told the council of your capture and demise at the hands of the Tearnats. Imagine his disappointment when you reported in. The funny thing was he reported the death of the chancellor and you and your men before you had actually been captured. It seems he was a little too eager to for you to be dead to wait for the event to actually happen.”
Torak sat back deep in thought. “You have proof of this.”
Manota smiled darkly. “Yes, our spies were very thorough. We have the actual vidcom of his announcement to the council.”
Leaning forward, Torak put his hands on his knees. “What do you suggest we do?”
Torak watched as Manota stood up and refilled his drink. Manota was deadly when it came to espionage. He had spies everywhere and could kill as silently and efficiently as any assassin.
“I think a trap is fitting. He wants to take control of the House of Kassis. Twice now I have found plots against father though I couldn’t prove he was directly behind them. Father has been gone to the Eastern region where Tai Tek knows better than to attack him. He will be back at the end of the week from the trade negotiations. I believe Tai Tek will try again.”
“No assassins can get in to the House of Kassis now with the force field in place.” Torak replied.
“No, but Tai Tek can. There will be a dinner celebrating the new trade agreement. As a member of the council, Tai Tek will be invited. Since it is in the South House it will be harder to secure than the other Houses. Tai Tek will have to be personally involved in the attempt. When he strikes, we will get him.”
“I do not like using father as bait.” Torak replied softly.
“Father was the one who suggested the dinner.” Manota grinned.
“I should have known.” Torak replied.
A knock at the door pulled Torak’s attention away. Moving to answer it he was surprised to see two of his elite force members standing at the door.
“What is it?” Torak demanded.
“It’s Lady River, My Lord. We need your assistant, if you please.” One of the men mumbled.
“Is she hurt?” Torak asked his heart dropping to his stomach as he brushed past the two men. “Where is she? Your team was supposed to be watching her at all time.”
“She is well, My Lord. We were trying to watch her but she has not been cooperative.” The other man said.
Torak and Manota followed the two security team members out of the North House and towards the East House. Halfway there the men stopped as they encountered a large number of the elite force standing near one of the garden structures. All the men were standing still, looking up at the sky. Frowning, Torak and Manota looked up to see what had the men’s attention. On a thin cable forty feet in the air was the small figure of his mate, just sitting there.
“How in the hell did she get up there?” Torak whispered turning pale.
“What in the hell is she doing up there?” Manota asked.
As part of the garden decorations a series of eight pillars were placed between the North and East Houses. The pillars were secured to each other by cables to prevent them from moving. There was a fifty foot gap between each pillar. The pillars themselves were covered with a climbing vine that flowered during certain times of the year. River sat on one of the sections between the second and third pillar.
“There’s another one!” one of the men shouted as they watched the small figure of Star move out onto the cable followed by Jo.
“Oh Gods.” Manota groaned watching as Jo tested the cable.
“Hey.” Star said quietly moving over the cable to sit next to River.
“Hey.” River said glumly.
“Hey, guys.” Jo said as she moved to sit next to Star. “What’s up? Besides us.”
River looked over at Jo and smiled. Jo always had a way of making a bad situation seem not so bad. River stared down at the growing number of people. She had watched as Torak had run down the path and knew she was probably in even deeper doo-doo than she was before.
“So…, why are we sitting on a wire above everyone?” Star asked curiously.
River wiped a tear from her cheek. “Torak made me so mad! Then, his security team wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Oh.” Star said staring down watching as Jazin walked around in a circle pulling at his hair and rubbing his face with his hands. She had learned he seemed to do that a lot when she was around.
“So, what did he do that made you so mad you prefer sitting up here to being down there.” Jo asked.
“He tried playing the ‘I’m-the-man-do-as-I-say’ card. He gave a long list of all the things I could and couldn’t do.” There was a moment of silence as the girls thought about what River had just said.
�
��So, what was on the ‘could’ list?” Star asked curiously swinging her feet gently back and forth.
“Oh, I can wear dresses, greet his guests, have his kids, that kind of stuff.” River replied sarcastically.
“Mm, and the ‘couldn’t’ list?” Jo murmured beginning to see the picture.
“I can’t wear pants, work out, and I have to give up all my knives.” River whispered as another tear slid down her cheek. “He even accused me of acting like a tease with his men. Why do guys have to be such jerks?”
All three girls sat on the wire looking down at the growing number of men gathering under them as word spread of the three female warriors sitting high in the sky.
Chapter 14
“What is going on?” A loud voice boomed over all the other voices. Silence fell over the crowd as a small group of men pushed their way towards Torak, Manota, and Jazin.
Ajaska Ja Kel Coradon, Leader of Kassis, strode through the crowd. He was a tall, imposing man like his sons. His long, black hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck and he wore the traditional clothes of the warrior, black leather pants, dark shirt, and leather vest. A faint scar ran across one cheek, a reminder of the battles he had fought in. He was still darkly handsome looking not much older than Torak. Since the end of the war he had been leaving most of the day to day running to Torak while he worked with other planets on developing trade agreements and dealing with the Alliance Council. As leader of the people living in the Kassis system, his duties had changed since the end of the war. Now, instead of leading warships in battle, he battled on the floor of the Council’s Assembly.
Ajaska strode over to stand next to his three sons. He was shocked at their lack of acknowledgement. Never before had they failed to greet him upon his return.
“Torak, have you no greetings for me?” Ajaska asked turning to following his sons’ line of sight. “What in the name of all the Gods is that?”
“Not what. Who.” Torak murmured distractedly. “Welcome home, father. As you can see we are a little busy right now.”
“How are we going to get them down?” Jazin asked never taking his eyes off Star’s small figure. His heart was in his throat as he watched her long legs swing back and forth like she didn’t have a care in the world while on a thin cable forty feet in the air.
“I think we are going to have to wait until they are ready to come down. It will be too dangerous to try to forcibly remove them.” Manota said watching as Jo let go of the cable to stretch her arms high above her head. “Why doesn’t she just cut my heart out with a dull knife? It would be a much less painful death.” He muttered under his breath sighing in relief when she put her hands back down.
“Who are they?” Ajaska asked intrigued.
“Lady’s River, Jo, and Star. They are the female warriors from the Tearnat’s warship, Your Grace. I gave you the report on them as soon as your sons filed it. Lord Torak has claimed Lady River as his mate.” A nasally voice replied. “It is all in the report you read.”
“What are they doing up there?” Ajaska asked nodding as he remembered reading about female warriors. He had discounted it as an exaggeration.
“River is upset with me.” Torak said turning a little red.
Ajaska looked at his oldest son for a moment realizing there was more to the report than he had been given. He looked back up at the three small figures seating on the cable like some of the flying creatures on their world. Turning, he looked at the man with the nasally voice. “Order everyone to leave. I will talk to the females.”
Within minutes everyone was gone except Ajaska. He had even ordered Torak, Manota, and Jazin to return to their houses to wait for their females. They had protested adamantly before agreeing it might get the females down faster if they were not there. Disgruntled, all three brothers left, swearing a long list of expletives under their breath as they did. Once Ajaska was satisfied everyone was gone he walked under the wire to stare up at the three females.
“Come down.” Ajaska ordered in a voice that had shaken even some of the strongest warriors in the galaxy. He was used to giving orders and having them obeyed at once. He felt confident the three females would do his bidding and return to the safety of the ground.
River, Jo, and Star looked down at the man standing under them. Jo stared at him with a wicked gleam in her eye before turning back to look at River and Star. None of them were in the mood to deal with any more arrogant men trying to tell them what to do.
“Ever heard the saying ‘Spit like a man’?” She asked right before she let a big glob of spit drop.
Ajaska jumped back as the glob landed near his foot. Soon he had backed up several feet putting a safe distance between him and the wire above.
River called down grinning, “Would you like to rephrase that request?”
Ajaska looked at the three females and couldn’t help but grin. They had fire!
Biting back a laugh, Ajaska called out, “Will you come down…please? I would like to meet the females who have caused my sons so much grief.”
Torak heard a soft, feminine laugh followed by the deeper laugh of his father. He had been pacing the floor inside the front entrance for the past hour. When the door finally opened, it was to find his mate with her arm around his father’s waist. His father was carrying River’s black bag.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Torak asked frantically looking River over to make sure she was unhurt. He was going to beat her ass for scaring him so badly before he kissed her senseless.
River raised her eyebrow, “If I had wanted to do that you would have been dead a long time ago.” She said coolly. She was still mad at him for being such a jerk earlier.
Turning to Ajaska, River leaned up and gave him a kiss on his cheek, “Thank you for listening. If you don’t mind, I’d like to retire for the evening. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Ajaska ran the back of his hand gently down River’s cheek before giving her a kiss on her forehead. “Good sleep, fierce warrior.”
River just laughed shaking her head at his label of her. If they only knew, she thought, if they only knew.
Ajaska watched as River left the room staring thoughtfully after her before turning to look at his oldest son.
“I could use a drink. I feel like the report I received was not nearly as detailed as it should have been.” Ajaska said walking towards the living quarters he used while in the city.
Torak was torn as he followed his father reluctantly. He wanted to follow River to their living quarters but knew she was still too angry with him to listen to anything he might have to say. With a resigned sigh, he turned following his father.
Ajaska handed Torak a glass filled with the dark amber liquid he had been drinking early and watched as his oldest son sat down on the edge of the chair.
“Tell me about her.” Ajaska demanded softly.
For the next two hours, Torak talked about everything that had happened. He told his father how he had been stunned the first time he had seen River come out of the darkened corridor on the Tearnat’s warship, how she had killed Progit and two other Tearnats before releasing him, Jazin and his other men before sabotaging the warship, how she had killed Trolis when he had attacked Gril and himself in the shuttle bay, and her fight on his claiming of her. He left nothing out. His hands trembled as he recounted how she almost died while saving his life the day they had returned to the planet.
“She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.” Torak whispered softly. “It is impossible to think of her as a warrior when I hold her in my arms. She is so soft, so delicate…so fragile. It takes every ounce of strength I have not to wrap her up and hide her away.”
Ajaska sat quietly for a while before replying, “Torak, you have to let her be who she is. She is not like our women. If you had wanted one of our women you could have had your choice of them. Her spirit is as wild and beautiful as she is. If you try to take that away she will soon come to resent you and the spirit you love so much will
die. Is that what you want?”
Ajaska rose from his seat and walked over to a satchel he had hanging from a chair. Pulling a data screen from it, he handed it to Torak.
“Read this. It is from an old text found in the East regions. I scanned it before I left after hearing about your warrior women.”
Torak looked up at his father than down at the data screen. Touching it, he began reading slowly since it was in an old language of Kassis not known to many but their scientists who studied their ancient history. As a royal member of Kassis, he had learned the language as part of his training when he was younger.
“After the great wars there will be those who oppose its end. Fear them, for they wear a false mask of loyalty. Beyond the edges of our galaxy will come three great warriors who will rise out of the shadows of hatred to free the sons of Kassis. These warriors carry the weapons given to them by the Gods: the blade of peace, the crossbow of honor, and the staff of justice. Only when the warriors and the sons unite as one can peace come to the House of Kassis.”
