He scoffed. "It was promised by humans. I hoped for nothing. I got what I expected."
"I'm sorry I let you down."
He swept back her blond hair. "Don't say that, Mother. You have not. Not once. Not ever."
Helia offered a tremulous smile. "And here I thought my brave warrior son could never tell a lie."
"Can." He lifted a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Won't."
"I have never believed any ill thing said of my son. By anyone. Not one thing." She held his gaze. "Not once. Not ever."
How he adored this woman! He kissed her cheek. "I love you."
"Pietas!" Armand interrupted, entering the cave. "Forgive--"
"--the intrusion," Philippe finished, behind him.
Dessy burst into view. She hurried over to them.
Pretosia sat up, green-eyed gaze narrowing on Dessy, fangs bared.
His sister halted.
"It's all right, Pretosia." Helia stroked the cat. "She belongs with me." She summoned Dessy closer and reached for her hand. "Pretosia, this is Dessy. She's mine. Just like Pietas."
The panther leaned closer to Dessy, snuffled her, then drew back and placed its chin atop Helia's legs.
"Mother, you look wonderful!" Without pausing to catch a breath, she continued, "Tas, is she better? Will she be okay?"
"Yes, once we perform the Mingle."
"Good. Then come quick!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the mouth of the cave. "It's Father."
"What? Why?" He pulled his hand free. "What did he do, anger another cat?"
"No. Pietas, come with me! He's threatening to set the pods on fire."
Chapter Twenty-four
Mahikos was too far away for Joss's telepathy to hurt him but those around him would see her if she needed to warn them. For her own good, she stayed up here, escaping the violence that always seemed to follow Mahikos. The man was a magnet for hatred.
For now, he seemed willing to wait for an audience. Dessy had run back to camp, no doubt to fetch Pietas. The Council had scattered on that side, high enough to overlook the pods, but still well below her.
Now came the part of soldiering she hated most. The wait.
Dawn scattered pink throughout the sky and chased it with vermillion streamers. Bathed in the sun's early glow, Joss leaned on the canyon wall. At her feet lay a scraggly patch of murdannia nudiflora. The hated dove weed grew in abundance on every world but it claimed little purchase in this stony soil.
The single thing thriving here was that new discovery Helia had named triefanus vincimus, which in the Ultra tongue meant living conquerors. A hardier perennial had yet to be found. Even in the driest ridges of dirt, it took root. The flowering aloe-type plant offered nothing but fat leaves and thorns. They'd tried eating it but the taste, akin to the peel of bitter lemons mixed with overripe asparagus, put everyone off. It grew in abundance all around the landing site. Its thorns would be a problem when the pods opened and people exited. Joss had taken turns pulling up the weed ever since they'd arrived but had yet to make a noticeable difference in its spread. Koliga swore triefan grew behind him as he pulled the weed in front.
Joss drew in a deep breath of morning air and released it. For centuries she'd served aboard steel ships and inside painted metal walls, all the while longing to return to a fresh, clean planet-side atmosphere. To have this crisp air to breathe every day had been the most decadent of vacations. At first. The air on Sempervia wrapped a person in such an oxygen-rich atmosphere she almost didn't have to breathe. She could suck it up through osmosis -- a frog in water.
Dizzying. How sad was it that now, she missed the polluted, canned smell of civilization in all its befouled glory?
A shout echoed from the massive pod area below.
Joss avoided the crumbling rim, but remained close enough to see. Proximity heightened her telepathic powers. Up here, she escaped the raw and bitter emotions broadcast with all the drama of a theatrical display.
Mahikos lit a pitch-soaked torch. Standing atop a pod delivery unit, he toed a bucket beside him. Joss recognized it as the one in which they'd gathered tree sap.
The delivery units had been designed to withstand fire and protect those inside. But if he upended tarry goo over a unit and set it aflame, who knew? No one had tested its resistance to flaming pitch dripping down its sides.
If it worked, Mahikos would be committing the most heinous sin among Ultras: murder by fire. Ultras could return from any death except freeze-shattering, being put through a bone shredder, or fire. By Ultra law, the penalty for murder of another Ultra was death in like manner. In the twenty-four hundred plus years their people had existed, no Ultra had ever murdered another by fire.
Not one. It would not happen now. Not on her watch.
She sensed movement and leaned out for a better view.
Dessy had returned with Pietas in tow. To Joss's surprise and delight, Helia walked beside him. Joss knew her well enough to recognize how ill she was, but she'd improved immeasurably from earlier and stood on her own. She wore the same style slim jacket, blouse and pants as everyone else on the Council, but Helia managed to look as if she wore more feminine attire. Joss had studied her with envy for years. Literally no piece of her uniform was different from Joss's, but on Helia? Classy.
Pietas walked out to the edge as if daring it to give way beneath him. Joss held her breath, willing the ground to stay firm beneath him. If only she had that power!
His sister and mother flanked him a sensible distance back. The black panther that had claimed Helia sat down next to her. Though its tail wrapped around its feet, even from here, Joss could tell the tip was twitching back and forth. Not a happy kitty.
Mahikos and Pietas seemed to be talking. Mahikos shook his fist and bellowed a response, torch held high.
Though she was too far away to make out words, their body language declared intent. Pietas had insisted Mahikos give up. Mahikos had thumbed his nose at him. The two women had sided with Pietas.
Every time these four got together it was a battle royale. Someone was always on the wrong side of the other three. It was a coin toss as to which one, although most of the time it fell to Pietas.
What was it with this family?
Chapter Twenty-five
Hard to believe the tall, powerful person facing Mahikos had come from her own body. She, a worker in the scientist class, had given birth to this incredible warrior-scientist. Every time she saw Pietas in action, Helia marveled anew. Though it had been centuries, it felt like she'd held her newborn son yesterday. Perhaps all mothers felt so about their offspring. It did not lessen her awe.
She stood behind him, well back from the verbal fray, listening as Pietas faced his father. Her son's calm words fell on ears closed to reason.
Mahikos demanded to be allowed into camp and take part in the Mingle. To get his way, he threatened to destroy his own people. Instead of working for a solution in the present, he'd rather set fire to the future.
How like Mahikos.
She'd refused the Mingle because to allow his blood to join with hers would put her even deeper under his thrall. Mahikos had insisted if they stuck together, Pietas would accept the terms of the peace talks and submit peacefully.
Pietas? Accept and submit? How long had the man known his son?
She had gone along with it, no better or wiser. What a disgrace to motherhood. She deserved the lowest scorn from her noble son, yet here he was, defending her.
Mahikos had sworn if Pietas surrendered, they'd be given their own world and everything they needed to survive. All she had to do was agree with Mahikos and keep her mouth shut about the deal he'd made.
A replay of her entire marriage. Shut up and obey me, Helia. Do what I tell you, Helia. I know what's best for you, Helia. Do it or you'll be sorry, Helia.
This time, she'd refused with adamant protests. But he'd nagged and wheedled and made promise after promise. When that hadn't swayed her he'd made a single thre
at. Side with him and make this exile happen, convince Pietas to agree or Mahikos would kill him.
Kill her son.
He'd shown her how he'd do it. Plausible. Possible. Her spouse had hated her son from the moment he saw she loved the boy more than she'd ever loved him. Her son loved her unconditionally. Mahikos gave love to gain what he wanted. He was cruel enough to do as he'd vowed and kill Pietas.
Kill her son!
Helia had given in, but any love she'd ever had for Mahikos died in that moment.
Then, when they arrived on Sempervia, she'd been released from the nightmare of being awakened and refrozen to discover her son was not among them. Thinking him perma-dead, she'd ceased living. How could she survive in a world without her son? Mahikos, Dessy, all the others, everyone claimed it was unchanging destiny. Fate.
No. If fate ruled her life she'd have remained a scientist.
She'd never have become friends with Joss and through her, met a warrior who'd been born in the scientist class and had transformed himself.
Mahikos had freed himself by accident. Once he understood how he'd done it, he freed others and secretly created Ultras without the genetics binding them as slaves. By the time humans realized the danger, it was too late.
Join him, Mahikos had sworn to Helia, and he'd make her what she'd always longed to be: a mother. He knew how to create life and he would make it happen within her. Not be a surrogate for life as some of their kind were, but the mother of her own children.
Her own flesh and blood, Part of her. Hers. How could she refuse?
Instead, he bound her to himself.
His next promise was even more of a lie. Bear me children, and I'll free you.
Once the children were born, his promise changed. It wasn't two children he wanted from her. It was twenty.
Twenty.
While she reeled from the thought of being a breeding machine, she watched how cold he was to the children. How cruel. She protested. Tried to stop him.
He beat her into silent submission.
When he made her pregnant again, she terminated the pregnancy. Every time she discovered she was with child, she destroyed it.
Tore out her own heart with each precious death.
No mother should have to make that kind of decision. Let your child live and be reared like a soldier by an abusive, uncaring monster? Or let him die in peace?
She attempted to free herself, but her very makeup made it impossible. Surely, she could find a way. Perform some research that would uncover the secret that had made Mahikos free. She searched in vain.
Though she could see and understand the process, she had no power to apply the treatment to herself. Freedom tantalized, just beyond her reach. Her bonds existed within her own genetics. That was how humans had kept Ultras captive for so many centuries. How Mahikos enslaved her to his will.
After arriving on Sempervia and discovering Pietas was not among them, she died more each day. She declined to eat, drink, speak. Even for her cherished daughter.
And then a silent howl of empathic rage had swept over the camp two nights ago. No other Ultra had such power. It could be no one but her son.
Pietas was alive.
Hurt. In need. Near.
She couldn't go to him. Instead, she sent the others, refusing to let them tell him how ill she was. Pietas would want to know why, and once he knew the truth, in his anger at her betrayal, he would turn his back. If he discovered her part in his father's charade, he'd never forgive her. Never.
Let Mahikos rage. Let him scream. Let him beg. She would never submit to him again.
No matter how much it hurt her physically to resist and refuse.
If she had to, to keep him from rejoining the camp and taking part, she'd admit her part in Mahikos's conspiracy against Pietas.
Better to face death from her son than his father.
Chapter Twenty-six
A sound to the left put Joss on alert. She hadn't hidden, but she hadn't been standing in the open either. She crept back along the canyon wall, waiting to see who might reveal himself. Had to be one of the men. All the women were in sight. She counted the male members of the Council.
All present. Then who...?
Beside a cluster of brush, Six eased onto the cliff edge. On one knee, he rested a fist against the ground and leaned out to take in the action below. A breeze tousled his dark hair. In profile, he had a strong chin and firm mouth. Lean, muscled body. The smile so quick to show around Pietas was missing up here. Six was all soldier. He might be a beta to Pietas, but on his own, he was alpha.
Interesting.
Then again, wherever and whenever Pietas showed up, he became the alpha almost by default. Everyone deferred to him. He didn't have to take control. People gave it to him.
Except Mahikos. Which always led to fireworks, and now--this.
Joss remained still, keeping Six in sight. Why was he here? Shouldn't he be with Pietas? What was this human up to? And why could she not read him?
Six pulled off his pack. After opening the flap, he reached inside and withdrew something. He'd turned enough for her not to be able to see. He shifted position and raised his hands, revealing a handmade weapon. Six nocked an arrow and drew back the small hunting bow. Excellent form. In a tournament, he'd win points. He might even be deadly against a human, but at this distance and with the size of the bow, he'd do nothing more than annoy an Ultra.
Although, if the point was distraction, that bow might be more than enough. It depended on how many arrows he was prepared to waste.
"Joss." Six didn't take his focus off Mahikos. "You can come out. I won't bite."
She showed herself. "Neither will I."
He never took his gaze off the target. "Good."
He said it as if the single word gave him great pleasure, the way Pietas always did, but she decided not to mention that. "Why are you up here?"
"Waiting for a signal. Pi sent me to cover him." He steadied his hand. "Although I suspect it was more to keep me out of harm's way and make me feel useful. No offense, but he doesn't trust Mahikos."
"No one with any intelligence trusts Mahikos."
"He was Chancellor. How did that happen?"
"Mahikos? Because people are afraid of him. There's an old saying, 'better the demon you know' and Mahikos is the people's favorite untrustworthy demon. Although Pietas is thousands of times better than his father, he's their second favorite. Father and son leapfrog the office. Now and then a token representative gets elected instead."
"Token?"
"Me. Half dozen others. Helia. Although when she's in office, it might as well be Mahikos because she does whatever he tells her to do."
Six gave a slow nod. "Gathered that."
"Did you?"
"Doesn't take eyes to see she and Pi adore each other. Walking across this world with him, I heard so many stories about her I thought I'd known her half my life." Six shifted position, tracking Mahikos. "It's just as obvious that Mahikos abuses her and she loathes him."
"That is not true! They've been married since-- You're wrong."
He snorted. "Some telepath you are."
"Excuse me, but being a telepath doesn't mean I know everyone's business. Helia and Mahikos both have strong shields. And," she added, "I have ethics."
Six lowered the bow and looked straight at her. "If you can't see how badly he treats her, you haven't been paying attention, telepath or not."
"You are dead wrong. Helia and I are best friends. I'd be the first to know if what you say were true." He couldn't be correct. Could he? Instead of firing off another retort, she turned her attention to the ongoing fracas.
Pietas remained implacable, standing in one spot, arms folded, watching. To his left, Dessy mimicked his stance. To his right stood Helia, stroking her cat. Members of the Council spread out and took up defensive positions behind them.
Mahikos screamed an obscenity and waved the torch.
Chapter Twenty-seven
; Exhaustion was catching up to Helia. The temperature had climbed and the heat caused a wave of nausea to roll over her. When her knees wobbled, she lowered herself to the ground beside Pretosia. The cat rubbed its face along her chest and she hugged its thick neck. She would close her eyes long enough to stop their stinging. Block out the bright light.
How quiet it was. She could sleep here. She loosened her grip on the cat. So peaceful. When the darkness beckoned, she let herself drift toward it.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Joss shot to attention.
Helia had collapsed! Why? She'd seemed so alert.
Dessy rushed to her mother's side while Pietas spun around and raced toward them. He scooped up Helia and cradled her to his chest.
Swearing, Six pulled back his bow and tracked Mahikos as the man tried to join them.
Thankfully, the Council came between Mahikos and the family.
Six lowered his weapon.
Pietas conferred with Dessy and then with Erryq, who accompanied him.
Dessy eased through the line formed by the Council and spoke to her father. Mahikos responded at the top of his lungs but Dessy held her ground.
Armand and Philippe closed ranks behind her. The Councilmembers arrayed themselves behind them.
Just another day with the ap Lorectics.
Chapter Twenty-nine
"Mother?" The warmth of arms around her pulled Helia back to awareness. Pietas had picked her up and was walking. Concern marred his fine features.
"I'm okay." She touched his cheek. "Need a minute." Helia bit her tongue. How fast lies came to her lips. How did her son ever manage to tell the truth about everything? She wouldn't admit to being ill even when it had to be obvious to everyone.
"I'm sorry." Pietas drew her closer. "I shouldn't have brought you here. You're not well enough yet."
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