by Cheree Alsop
The Smiren’s head tipped to the side as if he was considering her. She wished she could see his expression. The knives in his hands were covered in the green blood of the Rathian race. She wondered if he had still had a skull beetle to have beaten them so easily. She had heard tales of Smirens and the different strengths their tattoos gave them when fueled by the rare beetles. She knew there were none aboard the SevenWolf, and according to the warden on Roan Seven, he had burned the last of his saving that woman from the prisoner attack. But would a stranger jump into battle without such a defense? Maybe if one could fight the way he had.
“Thank you.” Nova’s voice shook just a bit. She lifted her chin and repeated, “Thank you very much. They had us pinned down. Is the SevenWolf crew alright?”
A moment of silence followed her words. Her heart beat so loud she feared he could hear it.
The Smiren flicked his hands. The knives spun end over end and sunk into the sand at his feet. He wiped his bloody palms on the outside of his spacesuit before raising them to his helmet. With a twist to the side, he released the catch and raised it from his head.
Nova couldn’t help staring.
“Who are you?” Jashu Blu said.
The man’s dark brown eyes moved from her to the Quarian. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Kovak Sunder of the Bacarian Star System.” He gave a wry, self-deprecating smile and corrected himself, “Well, recently of the Roan prison planets and most recently from the SevenWolf. The crew’s fine, by the way.”
“I saw you fight,” Jashu Blu blurted out. At the Smiren’s raised eyebrow, he corrected, “Aboard the SevenWolf, our ship. I saw the recording of your fight with the Drakornians. Man, I wish I had seen you out there with those troops! They were going to shoot us to pieces even after Lady Nova surrendered.”
Kovak nodded. “I saw that and figured it was time to do something about it. I don’t like outnumbered fights. They’re just bullies with guns.”
Jashu Blu laughed.
His raucous, wild laughter made the Smiren smile in return.
The young man worked his way past Nova. He handed back her guns to free up his hands. He used two of them to shake the Smiren’s hand. “That was incredible. You saved our lives!”
“I’m glad I made it in time. They were pretty determined to spill your blood.”
His casual tone set Nova at ease. She kept comparing the clean-shaven man to the vagrant they had bought at Roan Seven. The bruises around the glued gash on his forehead were easily recognizable as well as the small scratches on his cheek from escaping the prison planet. She had no doubt it was the same man, but she hadn’t expected him to be handsome. It shouldn’t have mattered, so why did she want him to look at her instead of Jashu Blu? She was a mess after the fight for sure; she needed a mirror and a lady’s maid.
Nova shook herself. She wasn’t there to make friends. They had more important things to do right then and she had to know one thing before they moved on.
“Why are you down here?”
Kovak glanced at her. A half-smile touched his lips and she realized her tone had been a bit more demanding than it should have been.
She took a calming breath and said, “Thank you for saving us. We’re in your debt. I just can’t imagine what would make someone leap into a battle like that.”
Kovak lifted one shoulder. “I don’t normally leap, I guess you’d say, but when your pilot told me what was going on, I couldn’t leave you to be taken prisoner or killed without a fight.”
Nova bristled at the implication. “We put up a fight.”
The Smiren lifted his hands. “I see that. They just outnumbered you. I didn’t mean it in offense. They were obviously out for blood. It sounds like that’s what they do here anyway.”
“What did Junquit tell you?” Nova asked in a level voice.
She glanced at Kaj. The older man’s face held the same worry she tried to keep from showing.
“Your pilot said something about a wall and a war. She said you landed in the middle of it.”
“Is that all she said?” Relief filled Nova.
Kovak nodded. “That and she kept hitting on me.”
“She hits on all the hot guys.” The words escaped Nova’s mouth before she thought them through.
The Smiren’s eyebrows rose.
“I mean the guys,” she corrected. “Junquit hits on all the guys.”
He didn’t take his eyes off her. “Did you just admit that you think I’m hot?”
Kaj gave a sound of disapproval behind her.
Nova smothered her embarrassment and said, “Vexus scat you’re annoying.”
The side of the Smiren’s mouth lifted and he said, “What is your obsession with Vexus? That’s the second time you’ve used his name as a curse.” He crossed his arms. “Do you believe all the old stories? I guess that actually makes sense.”
She stiffened at his tone. “Why do you say that?”
“Your ship is named the SevenWolf for crying out stardust. It’s pretty obvious.”
Jashu Blu spoke up. “The SevenWolf isn’t a normal ship.”
“No Vexus scat,” Kovak said, turning back to Nova. “Anything you want to tell me?”
She felt the intensity of his stare. He might have been bantering, but there was an underlying accusation to his tone as if he felt they were trying to pull something over on him. She wasn’t prepared for being put on the spot. She hadn’t decided how much to tell him, and now that he had saved their lives, she felt obligated to tell perhaps too much. But it would jeopardize their mission and McKy would never be safe.
“That’s no way to talk to a Lady,” Kaj said in a tone that was angry enough to catch everyone off guard.
Kovak’s gaze shifted to the Verian. “She’s a captain.”
“She’s a Lady,” he replied flatly.
Kovak’s eyes took in Nova again. She fought the urge to scuffle her feet and instead stood up straight.
“What’s it to be? Captain or Lady?” He said the last title with a hint of mocking.
Nova glanced at Kaj. Her gaze swept past Jashu Blu who looked between all three of them with a wide-eyed stare. At least he kept quiet.
Kaj nodded.
Nova felt the strength deflate from her a little bit. It felt as if the story had kept her afloat, as if saying she was a captain had given her the strength to be one. Yet look where had she landed them all.
She lowered her chin and said, “I am Lady Nova Ardis Loreander of the Loreandian system.”
She took no pleasure in the way the Smiren’s eyes widened. He recovered quickly enough to ask, “You are a countess?” He looked past her at Kaj. “And let me guess; you’re a duke of some sort?”
Kaj had the presence of mind to give a pained chuckle. “Not quite, gladiator. I am Lady Nova’s butler.”
This time Kovak’s mouth dropped open. “You have got to be kidding me!” He looked at Jashu Blu. “And what are you? Her tailor?”
Jashu Blu gave his wild laugh. The fact that he could do so in the fact of their dire situation lifted Nova’s heart a bit. Leave it to the young Quarian to lighten the mood.
“Naw,” he said, giving the Tecotian language his usual hometown twang. “I’m a stable boy back home. I just got lucky enough to come long for the ride.”
Kovak’s gaze as he looked around at the blue rocks and the fallen bodies showed his doubt that any of them had any sort of luck, but he didn’t say the words aloud.
Instead, he turned back to Nova. “If you’re the countess of one of the riches planets in the known ‘Verse, why in Sol’s name are you parading around in some relic starship buying gladiators and fighting random battles for which you are sorely unprepared with manpower or weapons? You should go home where you’re safe.”
Nova stared at him. All of it was true. She didn’t know where to start. His words turned everything she had been trying to do into the simplest terms that made all of her actions appear foolish. But he was wrong about one thing. Sh
e wasn’t about to turn tail and run.
She faced him fully. “Don’t pretend to know me. You still have your place even if you did just save our lives.” She swallowed before she lost her nerve and said, “Now let’s get inside that wall before the Raths come looking for their dead.”
Kovak opened his mouth as if he wanted to argue, but then he shut it again. He turned on his heels and stalked past the bodies as if he was used to the forms of the fallen. A shiver went down her spine at the thought that he probably was.
When he glanced back, she refused to let her thoughts show on her face. Instead, she helped Jashu Blu assist Kaj through the rocks and onto the flat ground. Neither man said a word as they followed the Smiren.
To Nova’s relief, a crack appeared in the wall. It always amazed her when she saw it. It widened, but the wall didn’t retract in either direction. Instead, it looked as if the crack was always there as a doorway she just hadn’t noticed.
Two green uniformed guards stepped through the opening.
“Lady Loreander, Lady Winden anxiously awaits your company. She says to give her apologies about the attack; such an incident was unforeseen.”
Nova nodded. “We appreciate Lady Winden’s hospitality.”
“Weapons must be left behind. No weapons are allowed in the sacred city,” the guard on her right intoned.
Kovak looked from one to the other. “But you have spears.”
“These weapons are blessed by the statue,” the guard replied. “Your unholy weapons are tainted by cruelty and evil. They are unfit to be in Our Lady’s presence.”
Nova unsheathed her guns and set them in the black box near the gate. At her nod, Jashu Blu and Kaj did the same. The Smiren was more reluctant. She couldn’t blame him given the attack he had just saved them from. In the end, he dropped the two knives he had fought with and two more he pulled from somewhere on his person into the box. She wondered if that was the glint of a blade she noticed before he slid his sleeve back down.
He caught her gaze. Knowing Lady Winden’s rules, she should mention it. It made perfect sense not to bring weapons in a weaponless holy city. But she had a strange thought that made her pause. As she looked into the Smiren’s dark eyes, she realized that she trusted him far more than Lady Winden. She turned her head away and said, “We are ready.”
“Right this way, My Lady.”
As she followed them down the blue-bricked street, Nova was painfully aware off her appearance. Kaj’s blood stained her spacesuit. Her hair had pulled free from its ponytail and fell in a messy wave down her back, and she smelled gunpowder with every step. She definitely didn’t look like a Lady. If Lady Winden was of a mindset to, she could ruin Nova’s reputation just by telling the truth about how she looked at that moment, not to mention the captain thing.
Nova pushed down her nerves and lifted her head. She couldn’t lose focus.
The guards led them to the palace along the walled path reserved for royalty. Two assisted Kaj while two others walked in front and behind them in escort. Nova could hear the commotion of the crowd beyond and was grateful to avoid the streets. She didn’t feel mentally able to deal with the wall-to-wall Amarians who would be bartering and plying their trades. Guilt filled her when she thought of her own people and wondered how they were faring. She should be there, or in truth, McKy should be there. She could only hope Lord Tempran was able to handle things in her absence. He hadn’t sent any missives stating otherwise; hopefully no news was good news.
The gracefully curved walls of the palace came into view. Nova had always loved the Amarian architecture. They never used straight lines and edges. It was all curves and gentle, sweeping corners. From the topmost flagged pinnacles to the purple-leafed bushes that had also been manicured into perfect circles, everything reflected grace and harmony. Even the statue they worshiped and fought to protect from the Raths was a strange but beautiful compilation of circles and ovals. So it was nerve-wracking when they entered the palace to Lady Winden’s usual greeting.
“Lady Ardis, darling!” The red-haired woman’s words echoed off the windows with her joyful screech. “I am so happy you made it!”
Nova bit back a smile at Kovak’s wince. She wanted to tell him he would get used to it, but she also wasn’t great at lying.
“Thank you for having us, Lady Winden,” she replied with a curtsy as was customary despite her being in a space suit instead of a dress. “Your hospitality is most appreciated.”
Lady Winden gave a wonderful show of being demurely apologetic as she curtsied low in her dark purple evening dress. She waved a silk fan of sea foam green in front of her face. “My dear, hospitality should not mean being met at the gate by armed savages. I apologize for the war which never seems to end.” She put the back of her hand to her forehead and gave a dramatic sigh. “Alas, you are fortunate your people are at peace.”
It was a conversation they had held before; no matter what Nova said, it would always come back to Lady Winden’s hardships. She went with the easiest route. “Lady Winden, I do not know how you survive it. You should come visit Evia as soon as we have returned.”
“I will,” the woman promised. “Thank you for the invitation. I can hardly wait to take you up on it.” Her eyes glittered. “Yet it will be a while before you return to your beloved home, won’t it? Have you been successful?”
“I have,” Nova replied.
Lady Winden’s gaze brightened. “Where is this ferocious gladiator? How have you managed to travel with such a savage beast aboard your ship?”
Embarrassment washed over Nova. She couldn’t meet Kovak’s eyes when she gestured toward him. “Lady Winden, this is—”
“Kovak Sunder?” the woman replied in a mixture of awe and horror. “You’ve brought the monster to my palace?” Her eyes glanced at his hands. “And unrestrained? My stars, Countess, how have you survived?”
Chapter Five
KOVE
The fact that she knew my name sent a thrum of warning through me. I lowered my eyes as propriety dictated in the presence of a Lady, but I watched her movements, nonetheless. The woman walked around me with all the sinewy grace of a viper. Though she acted appalled that Nova had brought me within her walls, the curiosity and open appreciation with which she appraised me set me on edge.
She reached out a hand, but withdrew it before she touched my arm.
“Is he safe?” she asked.
Nova rolled her eyes. “He’s not going to bite you.”
I held back a smile at her comment and kept my focus on the floor. The marble beneath our feet was white with veins of blue. I had never seen such stones before. The entire city we had traveled through had been made of the same blue rocks as outside the walls. It was unsettling but beautiful in a melancholic way. I had never attributed colors to affect moods even if the empaths insisted they had such powers; yet I couldn’t deny the morose edge to my thoughts at being surrounded by so much of the same color. No wonder the people remained at war; any purpose must be better than sitting idly by at the whim of azure musings.
“Clean shaven?” Lady Winden said aloud as if I was some animal instead of a human who could understand her. “Hair’s a bit long, but it does add to his strong appearance. He looks like a space pirate with it tied back like this.”
She reached out her hand without hesitating this time and felt my bicep followed by my chest. She let out a sound of appreciation and heat ran up my neck. I had never been accused of biting anyone, but I was ready to make an exception, especially when her hands continued to travel.
“Lady Winden, I’m not sure this is appropriate,” Nova began.
“Nonsense,” the woman replied. She lowered her hands. “I’m just making sure you got what we paid for.”
Nova’s eyebrows drew together.
“You gave me empty marks,” Nova said. “I sent you the full amount from Evia. Your marks were supposed to be neutral, not fake!”
Lady Winden gave a light laugh. “Did I? I figure
d those creatures in the Roan Star System wouldn’t notice until you were long gone; plus, no harm no foul. I’ll send the marks back.”
“We barely escaped with our lives,” Nova replied.
I appreciated the way she said it straight without whining or complaining. She may have been a Lady in title, but the woman before me was not simpering or faint at the thought of our brush with death. In truth, we had made it by the edge of our teeth; my face still stung from the shrapnel of the bullets.
“You’ve proven to be more resourceful than I would have guessed,” Lady Winden said with an appreciative nod. “You may pull this off yet.”
“I have to,” Nova replied.
There was a hint of desperation to her tone. When I glanced at her, curious about what she referred to, she looked away.
My place wasn’t to ask questions; I just wish I knew what my place was exactly. Why did this woman from the blue planet know my name when Nova had never spoken it? Why did Nova refuse to look at me under Lady Winden’s perusal? I had seen the hands of the SevenWolf’s Captain clench into fists when the Lady felt my arms. I was a gladiator, used to being appraised in such a way; so why did it concern me that it bothered Nova? And when did I start thinking of her as Nova? She was a Lady and a Captain; neither put us on the same footing. I would never be at her rank.
“I think he will do perfectly,” Lady Winden finally announced.
“But the evidence?” Nova asked.
“I’ll see to it,” Lady Winden replied. “Let’s have tea.”
“I need to see to Kaj,” Nova began.
Lady Winden waved a hand dismissively. “My guards will escort him to the healer. Your Quarian can go get a bite with the serving staff, but your gladiator should go to the healers as well. He looks a bit worse for the wear, if you ask me.”
She gave me another look, her eyes roaming my body as her hands had. It made me feel unclean. I turned away and heard the quiet snort of her laughter as they walked in the other direction.
