by Jessica Snow
“I know. Trust me, that was something that I've known for a long time. But.... enough on that, my Audra. Come on, let's get back before they start wondering about us again.”
Audra sniffles, and finishes tying her bootlace, getting up. We hold hands until we're close enough to the base that we might be observed, stopping just before we go in. “Wait, Audra.”
“Yes?” she asks, turning back to me.
“I was wondering something.... do you still have that Neyla crystal you took from me?”
She nods, reaching into her pocket and pulling it out. “I carry it with me every day now.”
I smile, and fold her fingers over it. “Good. I just wanted to check. Come on, let's see if things are better now than when we left to go on 'patrol.' Jensen's got to be in a better mood.”
We get back into the base, ignoring the now normal ugly glares from the blacksuits. Since the spies have been included, and Jensen's been taking a more personal role in the training and reception of the new recruits to the base, their power's been diminished even more than they were before. Also, Jensen has increased the size of the base, we're nearly four hundred people now and almost none of the new members have gone over to Mathias. But they still are a cancer on the base, and we have to stay on our toes. If only the Noble Council would be as easy to control.
“How goes the news from the capital?” I ask Jensen when we get back to the base headquarters, where we find him sitting at one of the main desks. Rebbie is next to him, and when she looks up, her face is pale, her lips tight. “That bad, huh?”
“The Noble Council sent us a reply to our demands,” Jensen says, his voice barely audible. Audra and I sit down, and I can tell Jensen's trying to keep things under wraps. “They... refuse.”
“They refuse?” I ask, keeping my voice at a whisper. “Huh. I thought I was more valuable than that.”
Jensen nods, then rubs his temples. “You are. They've decided that, for every day from now that you remain with the Resistance, that they're going to execute a slave. If we delay, they're going to start putting the executions on the news feeds.”
“You can't go back!” Rebbie whispers harshly, looking around. “If you do that, and they don't release the slaves...”
“And the longer I stay, the more damage I do,” I counter gently. “Rebbie, let me ask you, if it were your son, or your husband in the capital, and the Noble Council made the same demands, what would you say?”
Rebbie shakes her head, upset. “That's not fair, Tauren.”
“No, but neither is what the Noble Council doing fair,” I tell her. “Let me think for a bit, Jensen. This calls for deviousness, and that's something that I have lost the taste for, if not the skill.”
“I'm trying to keep this under wraps for a while,” Jensen whispers. “If the blacksuits find out about this, a large chunk of the base will go over to Mathias, and I'm going to have a civil war on my hands.”
I nod, standing up. “I understand, it's a smart move. Give me a few hours.”
I spend the next hour wandering the halls of the base, watching as the members of the Resistance, the humans that I've come to admire, to befriend and more, go about their daily duties. I watch the kitchen crew preparing tonight's soup, not much but almost nobody complains. I've noticed that there are almost no 'fat' Resistance members, and I know that Jensen's sending teams out to hunt and fish at least twice a week, especially as the camp has grown. Still, the ration packs disappear quickly, and I'm glad that Jensen has kept children from this camp, or at least young children, who are sent to other camps that aren't as active.
Leaving the kitchen, I pass a couple in the hallway. It seems that love is in the air, because since Audra and I started our clandestine affair, I've noticed more and more couples forming among the humans. Everyone's getting their work done, but spare times are often spent on dates, couples going to private little spaces around the base and engaging in whatever they want to pass the time.
I finally end up in the parking garage, where I sit and watch as a group of Resistance fighters train together. They're exercising, and while it's perhaps not as intense as what I do on my own, they're dedicated, and I can see the resolution in their eyes. There's no way that I can abandon these people.
“Hey,” Audra says softly behind me, and I turn, seeing her strapped up, a powerlance on each leg, dressed for battle, but at the same time her face is soft, and I can see the fear in her eyes. “Would you like some company?”
“I would love some company,” I reply. I look over and see a transport shuttle that currently has an unused roof, so I climb up on top, holding out a hand to Audra. “Join me?”
Audra takes my hand and I help her up, the two of us sitting side by side on the top of the transport. She doesn't say anything, just lets her knee touch mine, letting me take things in my own time. “I've been walking around, just watching everyone,” I tell her. “And I've come to realize something.”
“What's that?”
“I don't want to be King anymore,” I reply with a chuckle. When Audra looks over, shocked, I hold up my hand. “Let me explain. I was born the Crown Prince. I was born to the title of King of Tamaria. My father was born to the same title, and my grandfather, all the way back to the second member of my dynasty. Only the first King of my dynasty, Barbarossa out of Riel by Ismael, earned his position as King. So what makes me more capable than any other person on this planet to be King?”
“You've impressed me enough to earn my trust,” Audra replies. “I'm not sure what else you could want.”
“I know what I want,” I tell her, looking over. “Two things. First, to earn my crown. So when I said I don't want to be King, maybe it would be better to say I don't want to be gifted a kingship, like some people inherit a family business or Neyla crystals from their parents. When that crown is placed on my head, I want it to be because I took it by the power of my own will.”
Audra's breath quickens, her pupils flaring as she sees the power of my conviction, and I reach over, taking her hand. “The second thing I want, after I take my crown, is to have you as my Queen.”
“Me?” Audra whispers, shocked. “Tauren, I'm human.”
“And I love you.”
The words hang in the air, Audra blinking before she smiles, and squeezes my hand back. “I love you too, Tauren. I don't think it's safe to say that in public yet, but I do.”
“Then it stays between us,” I reassure her. “I will need your public support for the next idea that came to my head.”
“What's that?” Audra asks, and I grin.
“How I want to take my fucking throne.”
“You're sure about this?” Jensen asks, and I nod. We're in the gym of the base, my body framed only by off white wall, it's one of the few places on the base that I think can be secure enough both from interruption and without any identifiable marks in the background. Jensen's wearing a communications rig, the headset camera over his one eye, just the two of us. Audra is in the outer office, making sure we aren't interrupted.
“Yes. They want to put pressure on us, we'll provide pressure back,” I say. “It's an old idea that the Noble Council understands well, we've been taught to recognize and refuse it at the exact same time. The fact that the only reason the nobles have any power at all is because the people permit them to. We threaten that support; we threaten their entire system.”
Jensen shakes his head, finding it hard to believe. “And I thought I was living a double life.”
“It's why you'd make a great noble,” I reassure him, grinning. “Maybe we can talk about that later. First, let's make a recording.”
Jensen takes a deep breath, then taps the side of his recording rig, and gives me a thumbs up. I look him in the face, one of the advantages of not using a regular camera, and I cross my arms over my chest. “Hello, Father. Long time no see. I just got word of what your response to the Resistance's demands were, and I thought it was time you and I had a little bit of communication. So you
sent what you had to say, but now for the first time in your life you're going to sit there, shut the fuck up and listen to what I have to say.”
Jensen grins, but keeps his silence, and I take a deep breath. “Your actions and the actions of the Noble Council are totally unacceptable. First, the execution of ten slaves for the escape at the Blood Moon Games. Ten innocent humans killed because others wanted their freedom. Then, the arrest of Mogar, who I know has always served you in the best interests of Tamaria. Now, this most recent threat to start executing slaves every day that I am not returned.
“Let me make this very clear, Joren. I will not be returning to your palace any time soon. I have joined the Resistance. In that vein, I have a few demands of my own. You will free Mogar, along with every human in the capital, and let them go where they wish. You will abolish the slave trade, and will immediately enter into discussions with the Resistance as to the emancipation and full restoration of civil rights for all residents of Tamaria, both human and Tamarian. You will also make the use of Neyton's hypnotic drugs illegal. If you fail to do so, I will be forced to take action. I will go to the news feeds, and if you have corrupted them I will take over the broadcast feeds. Remember Joren, you insisted that I learn about how our planetary communications work. Already, I can send you this message without you knowing where I'm sending it from. When I take over the broadcast feeds, I will reveal to the general Tamarian public not only the ways that the Noble Council has been taking advantage of the general population, but I will also reveal the level of perverse sexual abuse that noble houses have been engaging in with human slaves. Specifically, I will reveal through personal testimony of freed slaves as well as my own testimony what is done to sex slaves in Neyton's house both by him and Neyilla, as well as what goes on in the royal palace, specifically what Queen Tauria has done with her own sex slaves.
“Finally, if that isn't enough, I will lead a general revolt against the current crown. I will make it very clear to both human and Tamarian alike that I rebel only against the maltreatment of the people, and that the corruption of your court has grown too much for the people to bear any longer. With humans outnumbering Tamarians in the capital from all the slaves, it will not take long for the Resistance to have an army even larger than the royal forces.”
I take a deep breath, and look into the Jensen's face again, and the camera. “You have forty-eight hours to reply. Father, if you free the slaves and Mogar, we can talk. If you will not free them.... our next communication will come at the point of a powerlance. I'd prefer to not have that. This is Tauren, out of Tauria by Joren, and this is my word.”
Jensen cuts off the recording, taking a deep shuddering breath as he removes the recording rig from his eye. “That was pretty powerful, Tauren. Think he'll go for it?”
I nod, then shrug. “Father's still a good man at his heart I think, Jensen. At least I hope so. He's been corrupted though, let his nobles steer him too much. More of that's been in the past few years, since Neyton's influence has grown along with his use of sex slaves. You can guess, neither of my parents exactly sleeps with the other that often.”
Jensen nods, taking a deep breath. “Okay. I'll edit this myself, then I'll turn it over for you to upload. Are you sure you can do it without it being traced?”
“Mogar taught me all about the planetary communications net, there's no need to worry about that. I can send it to my father and mother, their eyes only, and they'll never know where it came from. Just hurry with the editing, I don't want to give Neyton any chance to get someone fucking killed before I can do something about it.”
“And your threat of open rebellion?” Jensen asks.
“Not a threat. If we do have to go that far.... I'm going to need good generals. Know where I can find any?”
Chapter Seventeen
Audra
The word of both the Noble Council's decision and Tauren's reply galvanizes the camp. Jensen makes the decision after discussing it with Tauren, and he lets Tauren's message be played inside the base. I've seen it before, but watching it again at dinner still stops my breath, especially after what Tauren said to me in the parking garage. It's not long, only a few minutes, but when it finishes I see that I'm not the only one in the dining area that is moved. For a lot of members of the Resistance, there's a sense of resolution, of having a point to their struggle beyond just trying to maintain their freedom.
When Jensen and Tauren come in from the command center of the base, someone in the back stands up, applauding before the cheers ripple outward, until everyone except for the one or two blacksuits who are getting the food to take over to their section of the base is cheering, standing up. Someone, I think it's Rebbie, starts chanting. “Speech! Speech!”
Tauren looks at Jensen, who chuckles and points to a nearby chair. Tauren stands up, and holds his hands up until the group calms down, and he looks around. I can see it, he's in his element, he's a born leader and from the minute he could walk and talk, he's been groomed for this. And I love him.
“Thanks, every one of you,” Tauren says to the silence. “I... I'd like to say I can take credit for this, but that'd be a total lie. The fact is, you shouldn't be applauding me, you should be applauding yourselves. I've just come along in the past few weeks and sort of stumbled into this situation. You're the ones who have built this Resistance. You're the ones who have borne the struggle for the past few years, and you're the ones who have more courage than I ever will.”
“You're the one risking the crown!” someone calls, followed by cheers. Tauren holds his hand up again, and the cheers quiet down.
“If I thought, or if I find, someone who would be a better leader than I am, I will happily pass along that crown,” Tauren says, his honesty winning over the group. “What I want is something that I'd been working with Mogar for a long time, a kingdom where humans and Tamarians can live together in peace. But that can only be peace if we can live together as equals. A planet where we can live side by side, as brothers and sisters.”
“What about us sex slaves?” someone called, and Tauren nodded.
“My people have taken advantage of you, for sure. That will never happen again. Your body, your choice. No more hypnotics, no more conditioning. You want to take a libido enhancer.... well, that's a choice between you and your partner. Now guys, while I didn't plan on this being a celebration feast, I still think it smells great, and I'd like to have dinner. If anyone wants to talk, I'll be around until I head to bed, just come up and talk.”
There's more applause as Tauren gets down, and he and Jensen get their food, coming over to sit with me. Tauren takes the opportunity to sit next to me, and I feel a warm thrill through my body when his thigh presses against mine, his eyes twinkling in the light. “What did you think?”
“I think between you and Jensen, the Resistance has enough leadership to take care of any problems the nobles can think of,” I reply making Tauren smile. “And you make a good speech.”
“I'll need help if I have to make many more,” Tauren jokes. “I'm not one for speeches, I prefer action. But we will have to keep people on their toes. Jensen?”
“I've already arranged for double guard shifts, and all Resistance camps will be ready to fight. You're right, if the Noble Council knows where any of our cells are, they're going to want to strike back first, not sit around.”
Tauren takes a sip of his soup, nodding. “Good idea. Has anyone talked to the blacksuits?”
“I asked Rebbie to approach Mathias later,” Jensen says. “She's still at least polite with him. As soon as I get word as to his reaction, I'll tell you.”
After dinner, Tauren and I have to go our separate ways, with person after person wanting to talk with him individually and in small groups. Even people who looked at him with distrust only a few days ago are approaching him, while Jensen and I arrange for the guards to keep an eye on things. In a new move, we send a trio of people out on hoverbikes to provide long distance observation of the approaches to
the base on four hour shifts. Even Mathias is willing to help out with that, and agrees to send three of his people out, one on each shift until the sun rises.
It's nearly midnight when I go back to my room and change into my sleep clothes, but I'm still buzzing from the excitement that's filled the base. I check my hair, deciding that if I have a chance I'll get a trim, bring it back to shoulder length again, and go to lie down when there's a soft knock on my door. Grinning, I open up to let Tauren in, his face filled with exhaustion but happiness as he closes the door and pulls me close. “My Audra.”
“My love,” I reply, putting my arms around his neck and kissing him. Tauren's hand runs down my back to cup my ass, and I moan into his mouth, wanting him again, even though we made love earlier today. “Mmmm, I guess talking didn't tire you out that much.”
“I have plenty of energy for my love,” Tauren murmurs. “But yes, I've been talking for hours now. My jaw and tongue can use a break.”
“Awww....” I tease, pulling him towards my bed. “I wanted to put your jaw and tongue to good use.”
Tauren chuckles, but then yawns, and I stroke his face, kissing him tenderly. “Sorry.”
“No, my love. A good Queen knows when her King is exhausted. Let me lock the door, and tonight, no sex, just hold me. We squish together, we can sleep in this bed no problem.”
Tauren smiles at the invitation, and yawns again. “I think it might be good. But if I happen to wake you up in the middle of the night....”
“Then I'll happily serve my Tauren.”
We actually wake up to the dim light of my alarm, which buzzes as the room lights start to flicker on one by one. Tauren's arms are still around my body, and while he's naturally cupped my left breast, I can hear him snoring softly behind me as we lay in bed. I blink, and snuggle down deeper into Tauren's embrace. I've never woken up like this before, and it's something that I could wake up to for the rest of my life, I think.
