by C. F. Harris
In the back of my mind I felt amusement coming through the mental link from Jorav. He was in another part of the tower meeting with somebody for some reason. He’d been vague on the details and I was so busy with wedding planning that I hadn’t dug too deeply. It seemed he could feel my irritation, though, and that irritation amused him.
Which only added fuel to the fire. He thought it was funny that I was completely miserable doing all this planning while he went off and did whatever he wanted? Men. There was another constant that never changed no matter where you were in the galaxy.
“I might be a human slave on this world, but I’m not an idiot. Give me a real price or get out and I’ll find a planner who isn’t a price gouging leech.”
They didn’t have leeches on the Livisk homeworld, but it was the only word I could think of. I had to switch from speaking in Livisk to Terran for that word, and the combination of switching languages and my tone of voice seemed to get the point across even if this sparkling blue lady probably had no idea about earth parasites.
“You insult me!” she said. “I invoke the right of contract by combat!”
I rolled my eyes. Here we went again. This was the seventh one who tried this out of ten, which is part of the reason why I was running on such a short fuse and so exhausted. Still, exhausted or not, I wasn’t going to let this lady get the better of me because she thought I was a weak human who could be bullied into submission.
I leapt across the table and this time I did wrap my hands around her neck, but only for a moment to provide a distraction. Her eyes went wide as we fell to the ground and her head slammed against the floor, but Livisk skulls were so thick that it didn’t seem to bother her at all.
In a flash she was on top of me and she moved to punch me. Reacting with reflexes that were just a tad faster than what I was used to and strength that was just a bit more powerful than it should’ve been I reached out and grabbed her fist. Gave a twist. I didn’t hear the satisfying crunch that I would’ve if I pulled that with a human, but she cried out in pain and jumped off of me.
I scrambled to my feet waiting for her next move. She circle the room staring at me warily. Obviously she hadn’t expected me to put up this much of a fight. I was still a little surprised at some of the benefits I seemed to get as part of the bond with Jorav, but I wasn’t going to knock it.
He couldn’t explain how that mental link also lent me more strength and agility than I ever had before. A human had never been bonded before, and we were truly in new territory here where no one had gone before.
Which meant it was a nice surprise when someone tried to take on the weak human and discovered I was anything but.
The planner threw her head down and charged at me. I paused for a moment, just a moment, to stare. Was she serious? This was the best she could come up with? Charging across the room? Obviously this one had never been in the military. I stepped to the side as she passed me and a moment later she slammed into a wall with all her momentum. She came up and wobbled back and forth, obviously having a bit of trouble staying on her feet.
Good. This was the opportunity I needed. I rushed in and swept her off her feet. In a flash I was on top of her and raised my fist.
“If you think you’re going to win this contract by combat you have another thing coming sister,” I growled. “So are you going to play nice, or do I really have to hurt you?”
“Very well,” she growled. “I submit.”
I stood and dusted off my hands. Good to know that this crazy lady knew when she was defeated. The third one I’d gone into single combat with didn’t know when to quit. I had to hurt her, though in the end she’d come through with a much lower price. I wondered if they did business like this with everyone, or if I was getting the brunt of the craziness because I was a human and they thought they could push me around.
Probably the latter. I didn’t see how they’d ever get any business done if they spent all their time trying to beat the crap out of each other to get a discount. It would’ve made coupon day at any store a free for all hellscape.
The planner dusted herself off as well. I couldn’t even remember her name. Like I said, they were all starting to run together.
“You were a worthy opponent,” she said. “Far more than I would have imagined. I will be happy to provide my services at half of my asking price.”
I tapped a finger against my chin and thought about that. Inside I was jumping for joy, this lady had the best service at the best price, but it wouldn’t do to let her know how excited I was. That might lead her to do something silly like raise the price and then we’d be back at square one fighting it out.
Literally.
“That sounds like a decent rate,” I said. The woman’s eyes narrowed and it looked like we might be on the verge of a fight again so I held a hand up to stop that before it started. “You’re the front runner so far, but I still have to meet with several other people.”
“Understood,” she said. She nodded as she gathered her things and paused for a moment before leaving. “If they try to take advantage of you as I did then I seriously pity them.”
“You should. I’ve already had to fight seven out of ten planners today. Amazing how everything turns into a fight with you blue sparklies.”
“Yes, well,” she said. “I think you’ll find that once word starts to spread that you aren’t to be trifled with you’ll get these discounts without the need to fight everyone. It’s only natural that you’d be tested.”
I nodded to her as she left. That was more insight into Livisk practices than anyone but Jorav had given me since I landed on this crazy world. I’d take anything I could get. It was also nice to know that this was a test, and I wouldn’t have to keep doing this once my reputation started preceding me.
As soon as she stepped out the door I collapsed into a nice fluffy chair. I turned and looked out the window and out over the Livisk capital. It was a monument to their supreme lack of imagination that they’d never thought of actually naming the place.
Though Jorav had explained to me that the place had been reduced to rubble and renamed after being rebuilt so many times that they eventually gave up. It seemed odd that anyone would live here given this areas propensity for being reduced to dust, but I suppose wherever there was power there would be people that gravitated towards it and people who were in the business of serving the sort of people who gravitated towards power.
I looked down at the various packets that had information about the bonding ceremony. All of it was written in Livisk which meant I was going to have a hell of a time going through it, but it’s not like any of them would stoop to writing out their services in Terran just because a human happened to be the person buying their services.
It was just one more challenge for me on this world. I would not ask Jorav for help reading. That just meant I’d have to study their written language even more. That meant memorizing. I hated memorizing. It put me in a foul mood and I was already having trouble being a shining ray of sunshine thanks to all the pressure of planning this damned ceremony.
“It’s a wonder anyone ever gets married if this is what you have to go through to plan the damn thing,” I growled as I looked over the pamphlets. I could read maybe every third or fourth word.
Marriage. It still astonished me that I was getting married. I never thought I’d do that because I was in the Fleet. I was married to my job and it’s not like the captain could get up close and personal with her crew. Especially a female captain. For some reason that was even more frowned upon if the one in charge was a lady.
Stupid Combined Interstellar Fleet and their stupid boys’ club double standards. You’d think humanity would be past gendered bullshit like that by now, but I didn’t make the system. I just worked in it.
Only now I was so far out of that system that it wasn’t funny. Trapped on the homeworld of my sworn enemy, mentally bonded to their most decorated warrior general, hated by the emperor, and about to get married.
The whole galaxy had gone crazy. I shook my head and pulled out a tablet. It was time to get back to work on my written Livisk. After that it was time to meet another planner, but I needed a breather to get myself psyched up for more one on one combat before I let her in.
2: Summons
Jorav:
“I think that you’re being a little paranoid about these arrangements, Jorav,” Telak said.
I chuckled and shook my head. “You always think I’m being paranoid old man. You also always seem to forget how my paranoia is part of the reason why you’re still here at your age.”
Telak bristled at that. His white bushy mustache seemed to have a life of its own. Like a furry creature that wiggled under its own power. He didn’t let his irritation creep into his voice though.
“I just think that this idea that the emperor is personally after your mate is odd. Why would he want to kill her?”
“Simple. She was the one responsible for killing my wife and niece,” I said.
“Oh,” Telak replied. “Yeah. That is a damned good reason for wanting to kill her. I didn’t realize she was the captain of that ship, but it explains a lot.”
I looked at him sharply. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“That you weren’t the same since we lost that station. That you seemed surprisingly indifferent to losing your wife, or at the very least you got over it quickly.”
“That was always a marriage of convenience more than a marriage of equals and you know it,” I replied.
“That may be, but I could tell there was something there. Either way, if the emperor has that much of a reason to kill her then I’ll make sure to do a sweep of all of our men. I don’t doubt any of their loyalty, but you never know what might happen when the crown gets involved.”
“Thank you, old friend,” I said. “I’ll sleep better knowing that you are working on this. I’ve been trying my best to keep her in line, but that hasn’t been working so well.”
A thought drifted through my head. Irritation followed by an alertness that also had me feeling more alert. My eyes darted around the room looking for a threat even though I knew there was none here.
I smiled. It seemed that negotiations were going well as Talia prepared for the bonding ceremony. This would be the ninth time that someone had tested her resolve. Though I expected those tests to taper off as more and more people realized that Talia was no easy meat.
“What is it? Something wrong?”
Tekal took his cues from me and his eyes darted around the room. I smiled. Good man. He knew that if I was looking for a danger there was a good chance there was something out there that could land us in a world of pain. Not that there was any danger right now.
“It’s something from Talia,” I said. “She’s trying to find an appropriate planner for the bonding ceremony and she’s been busy all morning.”
“Ah, say no more,” Tekal said. “I still remember when I was bonded. It seemed like the price went up tenfold if we told them it was for a bonding ceremony.”
“Yes, well I think Talia is doing quite well with negotiations,” I said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be on top of this,” Tekal said. He stood and saluted, crossing his arms over his chest and his tattoos, and turned to leave the room.
I leaned back in my chair and sighed. I felt better knowing that Tekal was working with security, but it didn’t completely remove the constant nervous feeling that there was a strike about to land. So far the emperor hadn’t done anything close to the attacks he’d launched when Talia was still new to this world, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that every passing moment brought us closer to the moment of inevitability when the emperor would strike again.
I worried that if he struck in the full fury his power allowed rather than relying on sneaking around so he could deny his involvement that it would be the end of me and Talia. Luckily I could rely on his cowardice somewhat in this case.
He wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty directly. Which meant the next attack would likely come from the shadows. That would make it more difficult to fend off, but it also meant there was a chance that we could fight it off.
There was nothing left for me here. I was in a small conference room about halfway down the tower that housed soldiers and men loyal to me. It was time to return to my quarters at the top of the tower.
I stepped off the elevator and wondered when a repair team was going to get out here to repair the hole Talia blasted in the thing the last time she tried to escape. I didn’t have to worry about any more escape attempts and she could come and go as she pleased, but it was annoying having that reminder of a dark time in our relationship.
As I walked through the main living area I took in the damage. Tables had been overturned. Several vases with exotic flowers from around the galaxy had been thrown to the ground and shattered as though they didn’t contain botanical wonders that had cost a small fortune to transport here. At least one screen along the curved side of the room had been destroyed, the glass front covered in a spiderweb of cracks from where some hard Livisk-sized object had slammed against it at high speed.
Most importantly, though, there was only Livisk blood in evidence. None of the bright red human stuff.
I grinned. It seemed that negotiations with the various planners were going well. We were going to get a very good deal indeed. Not that it mattered all that much. The spoils of war had been very good to me and I was a very rich man. More wealthy than even the wealthiest noble house on this world.
Still, if it made Talia feel better to haggle and get a deal then I would let her haggle and get her deal. Besides, it would be useful to get the word out that it wasn’t a good idea to mess with my human mate. I had a feeling that these incidents with the bonding ceremony planners weren’t going to be the last test she faced because she was human.
I also had a feeling that she would pass all future tests admirably. Assuming we weren’t killed by the emperor.
“You’re going to change this world if you live long enough,” I muttered to myself.
Approval washed through the bond from wherever Talia was hiding. Of course she could hear everything I said even though she wasn’t in the room. There were still times I had to adjust to having someone in my head. It had been so long. Not that it was a bad thing.
The smile froze on my face as the doors to my office swished open with a quiet hiss. I was greeted with the same familiar sights of my desk and the view of the imperial palace beyond that had gone from being a luxury to a curse in such a short period of time.
Another example of the sort of curse that had befallen me since bringing Talia to this world sat smiling in my chair as though he belonged there.
“Dovar,” I growled, barely keeping my fury in check. Worry pulsed through the bond and I tried to send soothing thoughts back to Talia. The last thing I needed was to have her coming in here with guns blazing.
The fat noble smiled, his equally massive mustache twitching in much the same way as Telak’s. The smile didn’t put me at ease. Far from it. I’d seen that smile all too often when he was about to pounce on some unsuspecting minor noble.
“Jorav,” he said. “So good to see you again. It’s been far too long. Since…”
“Since before I was dishonored and fell out of the emperor’s favor. Not that your actions surprised me. You always did try to walk the line between licking the emperor’s boots and doing a terrible job of pretending you weren’t trying to take his spot.”
The smile fell from his face for a moment. Only a moment. I had no doubt that the look I saw in that moment was how he truly felt, though. He wouldn’t be happy about being here. I was still dishonored, after all, even if the emperor had technically lifted that.
His actions after would’ve left no doubt in the minds of anyone smart enough to read between the lines. I was still very much in disfavor at court.
“Yes, well, bad business that,” he said. “But that doesn’t matter now,
does it?”
I sighed. “Why are you here, and what are you doing in my seat? I don’t see how that’s going to help you in your never ending quest for power.”
“Yes, well, the emperor is our sovereign and may he live forever,” Dovar intoned. It was a familiar catechism that everyone on our world learned. Most from their youth, though there had been a time when Dovar’s ancestors were forced to learn those words on pain of death.
Dovar hadn’t forgotten. His tone made it clear what he thought of those words.
“My chair, Dovar?”
“Yes, quite,” he said, standing. The chair creaked under his weight. I was solid muscle and had an impressive weight myself, but that was nothing compared to the corpulent noble standing before me. I frowned. From the way it creaked and popped I was going to have to replace it.
A pity. I really like that chair.
“You aren’t going to have a seat after all that?” Dovar asked. He shook his head without waiting for an answer. I wasn’t going to tell the head of the most powerful noble family in the city that he’d likely just ruined my favorite chair with his fat ass.
Some of the human turns of phrase I’d learned by being near Talia really were quite fun.
I crossed my arms. “What do you want Dovar? I’m not going to do your dirty work for you. Even I haven’t fallen that far.”
Dovar waved a dismissive hand and leaned against my desk. The man seemed to have trouble standing for more than a few moments without some sort of support. I grimaced and prayed to any higher power that might be listening that Dovar wouldn’t break my desk as well. It creaked dangerously on the side he leaned against.
“Nothing like that, Jorav,” he said. “You might not be in favor with our glorious sovereign…”
Dovar grimaced again. Again his tone clearly communicated that he didn’t think the emperor was glorious and he barely considered him sovereign. Understandable, considering Dovar’s grandfather had been the one running this world before the imperial restoration. Considering Dovar would very much like to go back to those good old days when the noble families were in charge and the emperor was a convenient figurehead.
