Queen's Ransom: The Golden Bulls of Minos

by Isabel Wroth

  Dhega looked to her for her input, and Jalia briefly and as best she could, explained how simulators worked, and why not everyone was suited to space flight.

  "Every province will be expected to send their warriors for testing." Dhega decreed, and more nods of agreement were seen around the table.

  "As we slowly venture out into the universe, ambassadors will be needed. This will not be a position voted upon by the majority.

  “I will be the final decision, but as she has the most experience among us, Jalia will choose who she believes to be best suited to represent our people to the outside worlds."

  This was news to her, and when everyone looked to her for confirmation or with interest, Jalia hoped her expression showed only calm, unruffled confidence.

  So maybe it wasn't a bad thing she was a gambler by trade. Jalia most definitely needed her game face when dealing with such scrutiny. Not to mention the pressure.

  If she chose an ambassador and he or she behaved poorly or decided to accept bribes, became corrupt, it was all on her. Oh yay!

  "The seat of Myonaea will remain empty at this time until I can ascertain whether or not any other females took part in Antehe's plot to murder my queen.

  “Ignoring her treachery, Antehe did provide a needed service to her Ice Maidens, and I am not eager to evict so many who have found peace within its walls."

  No one objected, likely because none of the men present wanted to be a prince of a frigid palace full of abused, angry women who'd cut their cocks off rather than be forced to endure their presence.

  Kalphius unrolled a long piece of paper with the names of the princes who did not have a seat of their own yet, a waiting list as it were, and the task of choosing who went where began.

  It didn't take long, and finally, all that was left was to decide the manner in which Daegana would be executed.

  When it became apparent there was a tie between beheading or hanging, Jalia was asked for her input. The swing vote, no pun intended. She put her hands up and very firmly stated she wanted no part in the execution itself.

  "I've seen enough death to last me a lifetime, and I don't care how it's done, so long as it's not done tomorrow. I will not have my wedding day sullied with blood."

  To that, Dhega simply said, "Hanging. Today. Sunset." And it was done.

  He asked if there was any other immediate business needing attending to, and when none was brought up, he adjourned the meeting.

  All that was left for them to do was get married.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Jalia used her toe to push herself back and forth on the large couch swing, exhausted in the best way possible, enjoying a strong cup of mod-coff Angel Eyes had brought from the LUX and the quiet of the morning. Her wedding to the king of Minos had been five glorious days ago, and the festival was just now winding down.

  She had to hand it to the people. They knew how to party.

  "I know it's not exactly Rysor 12, but it's not bad, huh?" she teased, getting a ready laugh out of her friend.

  Angel Eyes drew deeply on the fresh ocean air, giving a hum of appreciation as she leaned forward on the warm stone of the wide balcony rail. "Not bad at all. While you were up here getting your brains scrambled by the most eligible former bachelor of Minos, I found an uninhabited island way out in the middle of the ocean, and I'm happy to claim it as Angel territory. My piece of the pie, as it were."

  Jalia crossed her heart with her finger and promised she would see to it that island belonged solely to her. "Are you alright with taking Croft back on your own?"

  Angel made a rude sound, giving a wave of her metal hand. "Please, that big beautiful LUX can fly herself to the Blue Giant. If Croft gives me any trouble, I'll lock him in the sim room and drop him into a holographic vat of gay tentacle men. I'm going a little stir-crazy with all this fresh air and clean living. And the way everyone keeps calling me 'Lady Angel Eyes?' It's weird."

  Jalia hummed, closing her eyes for a minute to bask in the warm sunlight, glad Angel wasn't as happy here as she thought. Not because Jalia wanted to get rid of her, but because she had precious little access to people she could trust, who knew the ways of the world beyond the nebula.

  "It does take some getting used to. Would you like a job?"

  "What, here in the palace?" Angel guffawed, her tone already answer enough.

  "No, I need a pilot. The ambassador I've picked will need someone to trust out there to help keep him out of trouble. Though, he hasn't done so bad for himself thus far. The pay will be excellent," she cracked an eyelid and found her friend looking at her with the strangest expression. "What?"

  Angel Eyes shook her head, a smile canting her lips as she turned around and leaned back against the rail, bracing a booted foot up on the wall, the sun glinting off the armored plates of her arm. "You told me once how your family told you, you'd never amount to anything.

  “That you were wasting your talent because you're not the strategical genius your brother is, or a universally renowned bio-chemist like your sister, or an explorer who'll bring new life to a planet like the twins, or a historian like your mom.

  “Yet here you are, using your own talents, healing, using your history to plan a battle strategy to bring new life to Minos."

  Jalia searched her face, looking for any signs that her friend felt taken advantage of, or disappointed in her. "You're not angry that we're not moving on to the next big thing?"

  "Nope, this is about as big as it gets. I'm a wanderer at heart, Jalia. I don't mind ferrying ambassadors and mercenaries, and if the pay is so fabulous, I think I may just buy a LUX of my own." Angel stole her cup, swallowing the last sip of her mod-coff with a mischievous grin, and sighed in satisfaction as they sat and swayed back and forth.

  The silence stretched between them, comfortably so, languishing together in the morning sun.

  "You're the best combination of all your siblings, Jalia. They were all just too stupid to see it. "

  Jalia could feel the familiar sizzle, the electric ripple through her belly that let her know a pair of gorgeous golden eyes was watching her. She looked and found her husband staring at her from the far doorway, a smirk on his lips and an expression to say he was in total agreement.

  Angel Eyes, stretched and slid off the daybed, shooting her a playful wink.

  "I'm going to go take a walk. This fresh air is something else, and in case you haven't gotten the message, you were born for this, your majesty."

  Jalia watched her go, feeling like Angel had just set off a seismic charge that decimated the last little bit of doubt in her heart. Dhega's shadow fell over her, drawing her gaze up to find him giving her a warm, serious look.

  "Your little friend is correct, you know. You belong here."

  How was it possible for those three simple words to fill the ever-present ache inside her? To fill her with pride until she was full to bursting with it?

  "I've never belonged anywhere before."

  She went willingly into his arms when he reached for her, settling against him, her head tucked beneath his chin. It felt as natural as breathing to be nestled close to such a powerful creature, safe,

  "You do now."

  Jalia sighed, relaxing against him as the events of her past that had for so long shaped the way she thought and felt, how she lived her life day to day, faded away to nothing. The feeling that came with acceptance of his confident decree, that sense of belonging, she felt it wrap around her every bit as tightly as his arms, seeping into her pores as a tear of relief fell slowly from the corner of her eye.

  Home wasn't a faded image on an old pamphlet she clung to anymore. It wasn't some dream forever out of reach or an idea born from long, hopeless nights spent curled up on a narrow cot in the shadow of her own personal hell. It was this creature, this monstrous bull who held her like the most precious treasure in his universe. Home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  It had been over two months since the last time Jalia had stepped foo
t on this beach. Not since her swimming lesson in the days before her descent into the Vanishing Labyrinth.

  She had forgotten the feeling of the sun warmed sand beneath her feet and how enjoyable it was to feel the water licking at her toes.

  It was nearly time again for the Golden Bulls of Minos to gather and begin discussing how they would start implementing all the changes to their world, and for the last three nights, Jalia hadn't slept well.

  Anxious because she knew there were only two paths to take for the first few steps, and neither one of them would be without pitfalls or uneven roads to navigate.

  Minos had no superior weapons, their warriors were trained for hand to hand combat with what the universe would consider extremely primitive weapons, and they had nothing in the way of defenses.

  Going out beyond the nebula to shop around for battlecruisers and weaponry was tantamount to announcing to the entire galaxy that Minos was vulnerable and ripe for the picking.

  Not just for other races with habits of conquering planets and people to add to the might of their own empires, but for the Universal Coalition.

  The UC would leap at the opportunity to bring Minos into the fold, and in many ways, that was a good thing. But in so many other ways, it was terrible.

  The UC would offer their assistance, seeking to make an alliance that would also bring Minos under the Universal Planetary Protection Act and make such things as the contract Jalia and the other prospective brides had signed, binding and legal.

  It would also open Minos up to having to abide by UC rules and regulations, but without defenses to back them up, Minos had no way of saying,

  'No, we will not accept these terms, these are our ways, and we will not change' and enforcing it.

  Without protection for their people, the UC could come in, take control, set up outposts all over the place, and there would be no way for Minos to remain a sovereign system.

  To not seem weak and vulnerable while still procuring the battlecruisers, shuttles, medical supplies and so on, the other option would be to approach a company like JC6, aka Justus Corp.

  Jeremy and Joseph's terraforming company.

  There was no other company like it in the universe, a one-stop shop where everything from communications to cruisers, farming equipment to first-class medical stations, and everything in between could be purchased and set up by the company.

  Jalia had been studying her brother's company for weeks, learning the ins and outs of their legal jargon, their product availability, how they had put together terraforming kits for anyone wishing to claim a planet and begin turning it into their own private eden.

  The idea was to give any space-faring people who could afford the entire package a chance to set up defensible perimeters.

  To begin building their cities and governments, determine if they had anything of value to begin trading, or to have sown a crop desperately needed by the surrounding territories—the seeds or start-up for that crop provided by JC6—to then qualify the planet for inclusion into the Universal Coalition.

  It was very clever, providing supply for the ever-growing demand, building an economy and more habitable worlds, all while expanding the empire that was the UC.

  There were several documents with fine print—which Jalia had been diligently reading—which stated certain products were only available for purchase if the buyer made a commitment to utilizing those specific products for the benefit of the UC, and the products were so outrageously expensive, nine out of ten times they had to be financed.

  For instance, buying equipment to create bio-domes to grow produce meant a portion of that produce was to be given to the UC as part of the interest included in the repayment of the loan, which made it possible to grow the produce in the first place.

  A very roundabout logic that reeked of Jared's ingenious guidance and would no doubt be fully backed by their father.

  The good news was that what Minos lacked in defenses, they more than made up for in monetary wealth and had all they needed to buy whatever they needed outright.

  Which was, on the other hand, terrible news if word got out that there were literally deserts of precious gems and minerals just lying around going unused.

  That bag of sand Croft had collected from Dymigona turned out to be 83% pure emprhinite.

  The mineral was used in the production of nearly every technological advancement since space travel had been invented.

  Emprhinite was a combination of several raw elements that absorbed heat and energy like solar cells and stored it without any discharge whatsoever.

  Meaning, one handful of dirt with an 83% emphrinite concentration could power a three-tier space station for a year.

  It was clean, non-combustible energy that put out no pollutants, and in fact, positively charged atmosphere to the point that it was almost exclusively used for terraforming previously uninhabitable planets and powering space stations that had no access to planetary orbit or suns to power their hyper-cell engines.

  There was no doubt in Jalia's mind her brothers would do anything to get their hands on every grain of emphrinite in Dymigona. Which was also the problem.

  They were between a rock and a hard place, and all roads led to a reunion with her family. One Jalia couldn't see going very well.

  "You wanted to speak to me, my lady?" Nivir's probing voice drew her out of her restless thoughts, reminding her why she was down here on the beach in the first place.

  Dhega's guard walked at her side, five more trailed along behind them. Her honor guard whenever she went exploring around Letau. They didn't bother her or speak to her, but they smiled at her and respectfully kept their distance.

  Tom had been taking his new duties very seriously, so she had no doubt he was around somewhere, lurking in the shadows in that way of his that defied explanation.

  "Sorry, just lost in thought. May I ask you a personal question?"

  Nivir made a face and shrugged his broad shoulders, "Of course."

  "Well, a few personal questions. First, how are you and Zavir? I know you, and your mother hadn't exactly been on the best of terms for a long time, but she was still your mother." Jalia tried to ask as gently as she knew how, but Nivir's jaw still clenched and spots of color brightened his cheeks.

  Per Dhega's implementation of criminals no longer being afforded the opportunity to run the Red and be absolved of their crimes, Antehe had been sentenced to public execution.

  A squad of warriors had been sent to collect her, only to find she and every Ice Maiden loyal to her had ingested poison in a last defiant act.

  According to the warrior in charge, it had been a most gruesome sight.

  Nivir was silent for a while gathering his thoughts, his golden gaze roaming ahead in an aimless pattern.

  "I suppose part of me wonders if perhaps I had not been so quick to turn my back on her, the anger and grief over my father's death wouldn't have caused her to turn to madness.

  “She raised my brother and me to honor our laws and traditions, yet when it came time for her to do the same, she chose not to.

  "Zavir struggles to see the good in everyone, and his heart is heavy knowing our mother had very little good left in her at the end.

  “Her death saddens me, but in truth, I am glad I did not have to witness it. For all her faults, for all the times I was embarrassed to claim our relation, she was my mother."

  "Do you ever regret choosing to side with Dhega?" Jalia asked gently, hoping she hadn't made it sound as though she was questioning his loyalty.

  Thankfully, Nivir responded immediately and with understanding.

  "No. He had every right to challenge my father, and if I were able to go back and do it again, I would make the same choice.

  “He makes it difficult to remember sometimes, our king, but in the years he has held the throne, Minos has never been so prosperous or been so long at peace.

  "Dhega has done things no other before him had even dreamed of, and no matter what those foolis
h princes have to say about it, he has brought us into a new age, ensuring the survival of our people through sheer stubbornness.

  “Now he has you to help him, which I will be forever thankful for. Although, it could be argued it was my doing that brought you are here,"

  Nivir said it with a playful wink, chortling to himself, "I believe I will remind our good king about the hand I had in delivering his beloved, the next time he has cause to level that glare of his my way."

  It felt good to laugh, having spent more than a few days on the receiving end of that glare as she'd argued and explained the manipulative ways of the UC and how it would affect them, should Dhega choose to become part of the coalition. They argued a lot in the last week, but they had also made up in some delightfully creative ways.

  "Speaking of, it's been on my mind, wondering how you were able to so easily go out into the world and bring back all those prospective brides.

  “As I understand it, you single-handedly arranged the medical checks, the invitations to specific kingdoms and species, all the little details in planning to get the women from out there to here, and you'd never before been outside the Minoan solar system. Is that right?"

  Nivir was humble in his response, but there was no mistaking the way his shoulders went back or the proud lift of his chin.

  "I admit, the outside world has been a fascination of mine since childhood. I bargained with my father to let me do my warrior training in Atiphates, so I could spend time on our starship before running the Nine as he wished me to do.

  "I learned to use the technology on board to study the planets and stars closest to us, learned to fly the smaller of the three shuttlecrafts.

  “I even snuck off to a place called the Seven Sisters, once. It is a vessel that roams space, collecting passengers for all manner of uh...pleasures—"

  Jalia laughed at Nivir's careful hesitation, assuring him she knew exactly what sort of pleasures the Seven Sisters offered.

  "I spent a week on board that very same vessel not long after I escaped the reform school my father sent me to. It's how I met Angel Eyes.