by Sara Page
Shaking my head, I reach down to rub my hand on Lexi’s stomach. I don’t know how big she will become but from the descriptions I have had from her it sounds exciting to think of our unborn child growing inside of her.
I rub my hand in gentle circles and say, “My bonded, it is unfortunately time for us to get moving. I believe the Committee has reached the end of their patience waiting to meet you.”
“I don’t want to go, Maul. What if they try to separate us again?”
“Not after what has happened to us, they wouldn’t dare.”
Should that happen I won’t be responsible for what I do to any who stand in my way. The human Jack is alive, but he was lucky his jaw wasn’t shattered.
My unwillingness to be separated from my bondmate though has left me out of the loop on what’s been going on.
The knock on the door startles us both. Marketh shoots out of his docking station to hover near the door.
“It’s a Committee representative. I believe, Maul, we should be a little politer than you were to that doctor,” Marketh says with a snicker.
“Only if they keep us together,” I say as I roll to the side of the bed then stand.
“They better!” Lexi growls. “I don’t care about pomp or circumstance. I’ll scratch out the eyes of anyone who comes near me.”
Looking to my little fighter, I nod my head, “I have no doubt of that.”
I walk over to the door and open it. Standing before me on the other side is my father with two of his retainers behind him.
A flood of emotion rushes through my mind as I try to guess why he is here. We have still yet to speak since Lexi and I got back to the planet. He never responded to Marketh, at least he hasn’t to my knowledge. For all I know, he has written us off completely. It wasn’t an easy separation last time. I know my words angered him, but… What did he know of what was going on? Perhaps I should have listened more to his warnings, but then I may have never found my bonded…
“Father?” I ask, confused that he is here and ashamed I didn’t even bother to contact him myself.
“Maul, if you’d excuse me please.”
Pushing past my confusion, I watch as he walks straight into the room, leaving his retainers behind in the hall. Motioning for me to shut the door, he doesn’t bother to look back at me.
Instead he is walking towards my bondmate.
“Um,” she says quietly. “Sir?”
He stands before her with a fierce look upon his face. It reminds me of how he would stand before his men in the Red Masks before he was promoted past the Fourth Stripe.
“Father,” I say as I come to stand between the two. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Looking to me, he shakes his head. “No. I wanted to see my son’s bonded mate. I had to see for myself that he has done the impossible. He’s found a bondmate outside of our race.”
His tone is firm and without judgment. I look into his eyes to discern his emotions but his face is calm.
“Yes, we have, and yes it no longer seems impossible.”
I feel Lexi’s hand slip into my own as she moves to stand beside me.
“Good!” he suddenly says as he beams down at my Lexi. “You have removed a large portion of harassment your mother gives me on daily basis about finding someone who will care for you as much as you do for them.”
He looks to Lexi and bows his head deeply. “It is a pleasure to meet my new daughter. I humbly submit my services to you if you should ever need them.”
Lexi looks to first me then to my father again. She stutters slightly as she says, “Thank you, sir. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Father. Sir is no longer required,” he says, straightening with a kind smile.
Truly, I am as shocked as she is. I highly doubt though that she understands what it is my father has just done. He has brought her into the family as if she is his own child. I’m informed that in other race’s societies things like this happen, but it’s rare that it comes with the same meaning. To a Rathturian it means he has made her one of the family, and it gives her all the rights and privileges. No matter where she goes, she will be treated with the same respect and service that he or my mother would be treated with.
Here, a human will be considered above all lower castes. If someone should disrespect her, it would be a grave mistake.
“Thank you, Father,” I say as he turns to look at me.
“Son, when I said to be careful I didn’t believe even you would have been able to cause such chaos.”
Shaking his head, he walks forward and extends his hand to me.
As soon as I put mine out, he grabs it tightly and pulls us into an almost painful hug. “I’m proud of you, son, no matter the outcome.”
I nod my head and say, “Are you escorting us to the hearing?”
“Yes, and speaking of which, we need to go now.”
He turns to Lexi and extends his arm. “Shall we be going?”
She looks from me to him in rapid succession and then slowly shakes her head. “I will need to be with, Maul. We have to be close, we can’t be separated.”
My father looks to us both and questions, “Is it truly as the Vice Admiral said?”
I nod my head. “Yes. If not for Marketh’s thinking, we three would not have survived.”
“Then please do not risk yourselves.”
I grab Lexi’s hand and we exit the medical bay room only to see four Third-Striped Red Masks standing in our way.
“They will be our guards to the meeting,” Father says.
“Do we need them?” I ask in confusion.
Motioning for us to continue, he positions himself on the other side of Lexi, keeping her protectively wedged between us. As we walk, he reaches under his thick red cloak and pulls out a hand blaster and its holster.
Holding the blaster out to me, he says, “It’s set to kill, Maul.”
I take the set from his hand and wrap the belt around my waist, latching it tight. “So guards and guns are needed?”
He looks to Lexi. “My dearest daughter, can you use a blaster?”
Frowning at him, I ask before she can answer, “What is going on, Father?”
“Yes, Father,” Lexi answers on the tail of my words.
He motions to one of his guards and takes the belt and blaster that is offered to him.
We stop for a moment so he can help strap it around Lexi’s waist and finally answers, “The Fourth-Striped My’Clar has run from the Citadel. It seems he was following a different set of orders than the ones that were sent to him.”
I growl loudly and ask, “How the hell did that happen?”
We’re walking down the halls at a quick pace and guarded by some of the best, but that’s not enough for me.
I want absolute safety for my bondmate and mother of my child.
“He was working for someone besides us. I’m not able to get my hands on all the information because of how compartmentalized this has become, but from the information we have now, it looks like he was working for another race.”
Shaking my head, I simply don’t want to believe that one of my brothers of the Mask was able to be corrupted. Fucking stars!
“To the oblivion. Is there any trace of who?”
“Whispers at this moment. That’s all I can say.”
“Who?”
“The Crima are the number one prospect, but I don’t know if I believe it.”
“Why not?”
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they have their disgusting antennae stuck where they don’t belong. But… What if this is just like the investigation into the prohibited slaves? Maybe the tendrils of information are being left for me to find so I can run off into the deep black with no real results to be had.
“For the same reason I wanted you to be careful. When I heard of the brawls on two separate orbitals and then the mention of a Rathturian matching you, I figured something was off. You’re not one for doing things like that on whim.
”
“More like a crazed berserker,” Lexi says with a smirk. “Your son was quite the warrior protecting me and the blue girls.”
“Ah, the Paxzies… They have caused quite the stir since they’ve arrived. It seems they are trying to latch onto any male they find in their vicinity. Speaking of which, do you know who they are?”
“No, not that I’m aware of.”
“They are the favored nieces from one of the kingdoms on their planet. Your rescue apparently has set off a very happy exchange of thanks. I do believe they want you to visit their homeworld for some type of reward.”
Lexi quickly speaks for me when she feels the dread of that trip. “Um, it would probably be best if he didn’t. I had a hard enough time keeping them from trying to betroth themselves to Maul. They’re extremely… grateful that he saved them.”
“Really?” he asks with a small laugh. “I’ve never seen my son as the romantic hero type…”
“Marketh,” I say to stop their talking. “Please be sure to send the Committee all video files and notes we have about the situation of the first orbital. Also contact the Vicarions and apologize for any delays we have had.”
“Vicarions?!?” my father stutters a moment as he stops walking to stare at me.
“Yes, during my absence it seems I’ve become an envoy for them. They seem to believe that the humans are quite able to bear their children. They also saved your daughter’s life.”
I’ve never seen my father’s eyes go as wide as they do now. “Are you making a joke of me, son?”
He looks between Lexi and I, but it doesn’t look like he can discern the truth to my words.
“No, Father. Maul makes no joke.” Turning to the side, Lexi lifts her hair to show him the small metal transmitter at the base of her skull. “They kept me and our unborn child alive.”
We stand there for a long couple of minutes as he just gapes from one of us to the other. I swear this man is not the man I knew of my youth. He looks dumbfounded at her words.
Lexi smiles at me and releases my hand so she can take his.
Pulling him forward, she says, “You’re to be a grandfather of a baby boy. But you must not tell Maul’s mother. Maul wishes to break the news.”
I would tell her it’s a girl, but she would only laugh at me.
“One thing I must say before we go in…” my father says, shaking himself from the most recent revelation. “The Supreme Leader himself wishes to preside the meeting. He has overruled all objections from both the Committee and Tribunal Council.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lexi
Stepping into the formal assembly chamber of the Tribunal, I feel like I’ve just stepped onto a stage and all eyes are on us.
The room is beyond vast and open. There is no roof, no walls, just floating podiums and a dark sky above us.
Nearly a mile of glossy black floor seems to stretch between us and the lowest podiums of those gathered. The other podiums stretch up towards the open sky, staggered in a way that reminds me of the baseball stadium my dad used to take me to as a child.
Only one figure is seated, floating in front, positioned in a place of power over the rest.
With each step forward, the weight of the gathered races grows heavier and heavier. With the way all those are aliens are stacked above me I feel so small, so vulnerable.
I mean I know the Twenty-Three Tribunal is composed of twenty-three different alien races, but actually seeing them is almost unreal. It really puts into perspective just how small and how isolated the human race is. For so long, we believed we were the only living beings in the known universe, but the proof that we’re not is right here. Twenty-three races. Twenty-three potentially hostile alien races… and there are even more out there among the stars.
I try to keep my cool, especially since I can feel Maul’s wild emotions as he walks protectively beside me, but it’s so damn hard when all I want to do is tuck my tail between my legs and run for the hills.
I’m surrounded by protection, by Maul, his father, the four Red Masks, and Marketh, but my instincts are screaming at me that danger is near. Something bad is about to happen and I don’t know if I have the power to stop it.
If I had my choice, we would have jumped back on our ship and flew far away from here, but I understand that Maul just cannot run from this. This is where he belongs, with his father and among his people, honoring his position.
I’d never ask him to give everything up for me because I know he’d do it for me, without hesitation.
I scan the faces of those standing on the lower levels, my apprehension ratcheting up with each forward step.
As my eyes dance across those gathered, I count them up in my head. There are twenty different species represented here in total. Some of them stand by themselves but most of them are in groups of ten.
I recognize the blue of the Paxzies, the frog-like features of the Prigs, and of course the lone crimson colored Rathturian sitting above the rest. But the other species are so strange, so foreign they seem to grow even stranger the closer we approach.
“Commander Talon, Fourth-Striped Maul,” the crimson Rathturian booms out and the soft chatter around us quiets.
Maul’s hand on mine tightens as our group comes to a stop before the assembly.
“Supreme Leader,” Maul and his father say and bow their heads in respect.
Glancing nervously at them, I wonder if I too should bow my head but then the crimson Rathturian turns his eyes on me. “Alexus Miller of Earth.”
My heart skips a beat as I stare into the Supreme Leader’s glowing gold eyes, feeling the force of them sucking me in.
Weeks ago, I would have done anything, given anything to be in this position. To reveal the illegal human trafficking the Bureau uncovered with Yarrel’s help and plea for Earth’s protection.
But that was before we stepped off our ship and the Red Masks separated us.
The pain of being separated from Maul was so strong, I can still feel it in my bones and taste it on my lips.
I’ll do anything to remain close to him.
Through our bond, Maul sends me a soothing burst of reassurance and I realize everyone is watching me, waiting for me to respond.
Spurned into action, my bow is so quick it turns out to be more of a nod instead.
I hear a few chuckles, and perhaps it’s only in my imagination, but the Supreme Leader’s eyes seem to soften.
“Supreme Leader,” Maul’s father speaks up as he steps forward, coming to stand protectively in front of me. “Let it be known that the one you call Alexus Miller of Earth is now known as Alexus Miller of House Lathuria.”
Sounds of shock, disbelief, and outrage seem to float around us. Following the source of the voices, I look into the crowd and see a mix of angry and hopeful faces looking back at me.
The Supreme Leader frowns, looking annoyed, and the gold-cloaked Rathturian standing below him calls out, “Order! Order! You will all have the opportunity to voice your opinions after the inquiry.”
The whispers and murmurs die down to a quiet hum but don’t disappear completely.
“So it is true, Fourth-Striped Maul?” the Supreme Leader asks, looking from Maul then to me, his expression inscrutable. “You have bonded to a human?”
I feel all the eyes of those gathered return to me, scrutinizing me as if I was a bug under their microscope.
“It is true, Supreme Leader,” Maul says and his arm wraps around mine as he pulls me closer to him. “We have bonded, and she carries in her body our first child.”
The sudden roar of the assembly is so loud I fear my eardrums are about to explode from the force of the noise.
There are shouts of, “Impossible!”
“Liar!”
“They’ve bred?!”
“He lies. Interspecies breeding has never been accomplished.”
The shock and outrage seems to go on and on, and even the Gold Cloak shouting for order doesn’t bring it to
a halt.
The Supreme Leader’s eyes burn bright and Maul’s own anger and irritation leaks through our connection, an itch squirming beneath my flesh.
The outrage and disbelief seems to go on and on despite the calls for order. Maul and his father glance at each other as if they’re not surprised by this, but the insults and accusations the assembly continues to fling at him causes me to start seeing red.
“He does not lie!” I scream into the roar, partly to unleash some of the anger I feel towards this situation we did not ask to be in and partly because I feel the need to defend my man.
Finally, the noise and chatter fades away but their accusations and insults still ring in my ears.
I take a deep breath, lift my chin into the air, and narrow my eyes at those gathered, daring anyone to call me a liar. “Believe it or not, I don’t care. We are bonded and we will die without each other.”
“But how?!” A tawny cat-like leans forward to demand.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” I snap back. I look to the Supreme Leader and sneer, “I’m just a mere, unimportant human.”
“Order! There will be order or this inquiry will become private!” the Gold Cloak bellows, his face so flushed it’s now a very deep tomato red.
Arm still wrapped around me, Maul pulls me closer, until my back is flat against his chest. “Be calm, my heart,” he murmurs into my ear. “Their disbelief is understandable. Give them time to accept it.”
“But they were calling you a liar,” I whisper hiss, still boiling with anger. Ever since that last dose of serenity, my emotions have been more volatile. I don’t know why but I feel everything just a little bit more than I should.
“Only because what we say seems too good to be true to them…”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” I ask while arching my neck back to look at up him.
Just when Maul opens his mouth to answer me, the Supreme Leader speaks again. “My apologies, Alexus Miller of House Lathuria, if I have somehow made you feel like humans are unimportant.”
