by T. J. Quinn
“No, I didn’t. I just had one of those hero crushes all girls have until he started acting like the rest of the people in the tribes,” she finally answered.
“It must have been very disappointing.”
“It was, I hadn’t expected that from him, not after all the years we had played together,” she admitted.
Drannor chose that moment to come back in. “I need more details,” he asked Ethan seriously.
Ethan nodded. “I can give you all the details you need.”
Neela jumped to her feet. “If you don’t mind, I’ll wait outside.”
The men barely noticed when she left, and she headed towards the exit.
“Neela, is that you?” a woman’s voice sounded behind her.
She turned around and found one of Drannor’s cousins, Mariona. “Mariona, it’s been a while,” she greeted the other woman.
“I heard you were caught by the Dreshanians,” the woman said, closing the distance between them.
“I was, they sold me a few days ago to the man I’m here with,” she explained frostily.
“I didn’t know they could do that,” she said, sounding outraged.
“They can do whatever they want, Mariona,” she replied sarcastically.
“Of course, they’re a plague we’ll never get rid of.”
Neela could have answered that, but it was too soon. “How have you been, Mariona?” she asked instead.
“I’m fine, got bonded last year, right after my twenty-fifth birthday,” she said, smiling.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“Why don’t you join me for a hot drink? I was about to have one with my sisters,” she invited her.
Neela looked at her a bit surprised. Mariona had been part of the group that had ostracized her. “Thank you, but I better wait here for my master,” she replied, with a fake smile.
“We can tell the guard where he can find you. I really would love to have the chance to talk to you,” the woman insisted.
Neela looked at the room she had gotten out of trying to decide. Did she really want to have a drink with Marion and her sisters?
“Please,” the woman insisted.
Neela muffled a sigh and finally nodded. Whatever she wanted from her, she was sure she could deal with it. “Alright, then.”
They told the guard where they would be, and Neela followed Mariona to one of the gathering chambers in the caves. Mariona’s sisters were already there, but they didn’t look surprised when they saw who was with their sister.
“Neela, it’s so good to see you,” one of the other sisters said.
Neela didn’t recall her name, but she greeted her anyway. “Thank you, it’s been a while. How have you all been?”
“We’re alright, a bit worried though,” the woman replied. “Rumor has it there’s going to be another hunting game.”
With a single look at the women, Neela immediately understood their amiability - they wanted information. At least, two of them were of age. “That’s what I heard, last time I was with Vlyse. They traded all of the king’s slaves for something he wanted, so now he wants new slaves,” she explained with scorn.
“He can’t do this, the deal was once every sun rotation, not twice,” Mariona protested.
Neela let out a bitter laugh. “And who’s going to tell the king that? You?” she asked sarcastically. “He can and will do whatever he wants.”
One of the women sobbed. “This is so unfair. I’ll be twenty-five in a couple of moon rotations,” she cried out.
“You still don’t know if you’ll be selected, Anaya,” Mariona tried to comfort the woman.
“Our ancestors should never have accepted the deal. I’m sure if it included men, they wouldn’t have,” Neela ranted.
“There has to be something we can do,” Mariona protested. She had escaped, but her sisters hadn’t.
Neela kept silent. It wasn’t her job to tell them of the colonizers’ plans. If Drannor accepted to participate, he would be the one telling them. “All I can tell you is: they play dirty. If you get chosen, you have to decide if you rather die than become a slave,” she explained. “If you want to live, then don’t even try to escape them. Wandering in the woods will kill you.”
“All you have to do is find a hideout during the duration of the games,” Mariona retorted.
“That’s not how it works. I waited until the time was up to come out of my hideout and they still caught me. They don’t respect the rules. You either die or get caught by them,” she warned them, once more.
“But they can’t,” one of the youngest protested.
“They will do whatever they want because there’s no one to stop them,” Neela warned them.
A thick silence fell between them, and one of the servants brought them the hot beverage Mariona had offered her.
“Is it as terrible as they say to be a slave?” Mariona asked.
“Yes, it is. But you’ll be alive, and while there’s life there’s hope,” Neela concluded. “I managed to escape and so have two other women that were with me, but there are women at the palace that have lived there for years.”
“How can you say you’ve escaped if you’re still a man’s slave?” Mariona asked.
“He treats me like a person, not like a toy, a soulless thing. So, yes, I can say I’ve escaped,” she replied.
“This is so unfair, I was about to be bonded,” Anaya cried out.
Neela took a sip of her drink before she said anything. “Pray to all gods you know you’re not selected,” she said, in a low tone.
Chapter Twenty
At that moment, Ethan entered the chamber accompanied by Drannor. She jumped to her feet, relieved to see him. The conversation was starting to become too somber for her taste.
“Drannor has invited us to spend the night here,” he informed her after the introductions, pulling her to his side.
“Oh, that sounds nice,” she said, though she wished he hadn’t accepted. Being there had brought back way too many painful memories.
“Yes, I thought you might enjoy it,” he said with a faint smile.
The truth was Ethan hadn’t wanted to accept the invitation but after they had discussed business, Drannor had invited them to stay the night, and he hadn’t been able to refuse it.
Though he wished he had when Drannor asked him about Neela’s future. He hadn’t had an answer. He wanted to keep her at his side for the rest of their lives, but the last thing he wanted was to force her to do anything.
“You said you’re not a slaver, right?” Drannor asked him.
“Yes, I did, and I’m not,” Ethan replied, not liking where he was going with his words.
“Then, why haven’t you set Neela free?” he asked coldly, facing Ethan with a threatening posture.
“Because there’s no place in this planet where she can be truly free,” he replied, in a calm tone, though his heart was drumming in a frantic rhythm, at the mere thought of losing Neela.
“She can stay here, with us,” Drannor suggested.
“What for? For you to tamper the next selection, like her tribe did, and send her back to the hunting games?” he asked grimly, his brain working at high speed to fight back every one of the other man’s suggestions.
“You have no right to even suggest that,” he protested, taking a step closer to Ethan with his hands clenched into fists.
“Perhaps, but even if you didn’t tamper with the selection, she would still be included in it, and I’m not letting her go through that hell once more,” he pointed out, without even moving a muscle. Drannor was no threat to him.
“Not necessarily,” he insisted.
“Really? And how do you plan to protect her from it? Is there a rule for it?” Ethan asked, sarcastically. “I really don’t see the tribe families agreeing to it. They all want their daughters safe.”
“I’m the leader.”
“Yes, but I truly doubt you would risk that position over Neela’s wellbeing.”
“I could bond with her. Only single women are called up to the selection,” Drannor suggested.
Ethan’s body stiffened at the idea of seeing Neela in Drannor’s arms. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Then, why don’t all women get bonded before they become of age?” Ethan pointed out.
“It’s not allowed, not until you’ve become twenty-five or have already participated in the hunting games.”
“Has that ever happened?” he asked, trying desperately to find a way to end the other man’s pretentions.
“No, since no woman has ever escaped the Dreshanians. Neela’s case is different.”
“Yes, well, I believe this is something we have to let her decide. I’ll talk to her, and I’ll agree with whatever she decides,” he finally said, with a stern expression on his face.
Drannor agreed, and they went looking for her.
“Mariona, why don’t you show our guests to their chambers?” Drannor asked, with a faint smile.
The woman nodded and jumped to her feet to follow her cousin’s order.
“Right this way,” she pointed the way.
“Neela, if you have a minute, I would like to have a word with you in private,” Drannor said, right before they exited the chamber.
Neela frowned and looked at Ethan, not sure of how to answer that request.
Ethan’s expression didn’t reveal much, but he nodded his approval, and she agreed.
“Of course.”
“Come with me.”
Ethan watched them leave the chamber and head away from where he was standing, struggling to keep his self-control. The man had fooled him. He had pretended to accept letting Ethan talk to Neela just to jump ahead and talk to her first. He could have said no, but for some reason, he knew Neela would have resented that.
Neela followed Drannor out of the caves and up the mountain, to a small cliff where they used to hang out when they were kids.
“Do you remember this place, Neela?” he asked her.
She let out a sigh, taking a seat on her favorite rock, trying to guess what he was after. “Yes, I do, though it’s been a while since I was here.”
“You stopped coming,” he pointed out, taking a seat next to her.
“No, you pushed me away. All of a sudden, I was no longer the girl you had played with your entire life, but a stranger that looked different,” she corrected him frostily.
“I was a kid.”
“No, you weren’t. But there’s no sense in analyzing our past mistakes. Why have you brought me here?”
He let out a sigh, and for a moment, Neela thought he was going to insist on the matter.
“Can we trust this man? Is he really trying to help us?”
“Of course he is. Why else would he have come here?” she asked, arching her eyebrow. “The colonizers trusted him immediately. They were able to tell he wanted to help.”
“I’ve agreed to be a part of this too. With luck, we’ll be able to get rid of the Dreshanians in no time.”
“I truly hope so.”
“I told Ethan you were welcome to stay here,” he said, abruptly, changing the topic.
She turned to face him. “What? Why would I do that?”
“This planet is your home. Do you really want to leave?”
“This place hasn’t been home ever since my father died. I have nothing tying me here and to be honest, I can’t wait to get out of here,” she rejected the idea, firmly.
“Ethan seemed relieved when I suggested that. After all, he only bought you to save you from the Kallasians,” Drannor said in a kind tone.
His words fell like rocks on Neela. She knew her time with Ethan was bound to end and that the end was close, but she hadn’t been ready for it. In fact, she was starting to think she would never be ready to leave him because it would mean leaving her heart behind.
She cleared her throat and pushed the tears back. “I’ll have to discuss that with him,” she said trying to keep her emotions in check.
“Stay here, Neela. We could bond and live together for the rest of our lives,” he suggested, taking her hand in his.
Gently, she pulled her hand away and got up. “That’s very kind of you, Drannor, but we’re not meant to be together. You’ll thank me for this later.”
“How can you say that? We’ve known each other ever since we were kids, no one knows me better than you,” he protested, jumping to his feet and standing in front of her.
“I doubt that’s true. Too many things have happened to us since the last time we met, and even if that was true, we don’t love each other, not the way a couple is supposed to love each other,” she explained.
“Our people don’t bond for love, and you know it, love is just a myth,” he grumbled.
“Not for me and I refuse to even consider the idea of bonding with someone I’m not in love with.”
“What do you know about love?” he ranted.
“Enough to know I don’t love you, Drannor. I really appreciate your offer, but I’m not cut out to live in this tribe anymore. I’d rather live alone in the woods,” she assured him, walking past him, trying to go back to the caves.
Fortunately, Drannor didn’t follow her, and she was able to reach the entrance and ask one of the guards where she could find Ethan.
She found him pacing the chamber he had been assigned.
“Hi, what did he want?” he asked when she entered the chamber.
She took a deep breath. “To offer me a home here at the tribe,” she answered, keeping some of the details to herself.
“Did you accept?”
She tried to read the expression on his face, but it was impossible. “No, I didn’t.” She rubbed her forehead and looked away, unwilling to see his reaction to her words. “I understand that would have made things a lot easier for you, but I really don’t want to stay here. I would be grateful if you let me travel with you and your crew until we get to a planet where I can stay. I promise I won’t cause much trouble,” she said, barely stopping to breathe between words.
“Hold on. I promised I would take you out of here and I will if that’s what you want,” he assured her.
“Yes, that’s what I want.”
There was so much pain in her eyes that he felt confused. She wasn’t happy, then why was she leaving?
“But are you sure this is what you want? Drannor told me he wanted to ask you to bond with him,” he asked, trying to understand what was going on.
She let out a curt sob. “Yes, he did, but I rejected his offer,” she replied, doing her best to control herself. “The Atheans idea of a perfect bond is far from mine. I would never be happy with Drannor,” she explained.
“And yet, you don’t look happy with the idea of leaving,” he stated, closing the distance between them and taking her chin with his hand, making her face him.
She sobbed and pulled away from him, unable to look at him. “You’re misinterpreting me. I’ll be more than happy to leave this place behind,” she assured him, locking her eyes on her restless hands.
“Then, why am I sensing your unhappiness and your pain so loud and clear?” he insisted, stepping closer to her.
“Your sensors must be malfunctioning, Ethan,” she lied.
He ran a finger down her cheek and cradled her face. “No, they are not. Tell me what it is, and if it’s in my power, I’ll make the pain go away,” he murmured.
“Oh, please,” she cried out. “You’ve done more than enough for my friends and me,” she assured him. “The last thing I want is to bother you even more. If things were different, I would accept Drannor’s offer and stay here, but I just can’t.”
“You could never bother me, Neela,” he assured her.
She sobbed and threw herself into his arms, burying her face on his chest, suddenly too overwhelmed to stay away from the comfort of his arms.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly and waited until she calmed down.
“I’m sorry. I don’t usually beh
ave like a little baby,” she apologized after a few minutes, trying to step away from him.
But he didn’t let her. During those short minutes, he tried to imagine how his life would be without her in it and he just couldn’t. She had captured his heart and life would never be the same without her.
He was sure she didn’t share his feelings for her, but perhaps she would accept to share her future with him, at least for a while. He had to try.
He made her face him. “Since you don’t want to stay here, I have a proposal for you,” he said in a serious tone.
“A proposal?” she asked, surprised and a bit afraid.
“Yes. I have never felt so happy in my life as in the time we’ve been together, and since you don’t have plans for your future, I was wondering if you would like to stay with me at least until you know what you want to do. After this mission, I’ll start looking for a place to settle down, and you’ll always have a place with me.”
His words made her heart stop for a moment, just to start beating in a deafening rhythm. “Why would you want that?” she asked, resting her hand on her heart, trying to calm it.
“Because I love you, Neela, and you’ve become the most important part of my life,” he finally confessed. “I don’t expect you to feel the same way, but I promise you I would do everything I can to make you happy.”
She sobbed, as waves of happiness and relief washed over her. “You love me?” she managed to utter.
“Yes, I love you, more than I thought possible to love someone else, more than I have ever loved anyone else and surely more than I will ever love anyone else,” he assured her. “The only reason I’m telling you this is for you to know how important you and your happiness are to me.”
She threw herself into his arms crying and laughing at the same time. “You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever known Ethan, did you know that? Knowing you and not loving you is impossible and I fell for you that first night when you did all you could to protect me, treating me like a queen and not like the slave I was,” she confessed.
“You love me?” he asked, still not sure he had heard her right.
“Yes, I love you, and the thought of ever leaving you was the only thing hurting me. Without you I wouldn’t live, I would just survive,” she assured him, cradling his face and pulling him closer to steal a kiss from his lips.
