Chapter Thirteen – Jada
She hadn't really known what to expect when she met Zon. Actually, she hadn't expected to come face-to-face with him at all. She thought they'd be tried by a panel of stern-faced judges. But when they got to the Sanctuary, Tom told them that the warlord himself would be judging their case. Jada had never seen him up close, and when Tom took Isabel for his mate to look after, she could only think the worst was about to happen.
The room they were brought to wasn't elaborate or unique in any way. Jada wouldn't have known that it was Zon's council room if she hadn't been told. The walls were a gentle gray color, the floors polished black. A glass table was centered in the middle of it, with lightly cushioned chairs pushed around it. Tom and his companions, Ronan and Tag, stood while Jada and Sildon sat.
Zon was at the other end of the table. She knew he was almost twice her age, but looking at him, she would never have guessed that was the case. His body was still firm and strong, and there was just a touch of gray at his temples. But then again, their technology did wonders with the physical body. She herself looked ten years younger than her forty years, and she felt stronger than she had at twenty. A human woman sat beside him. His mate, Lisa. The first human discovered in these times.
"I have been receiving a lot of angry calls from the Planchet Corporation over the theft of the child who is in your care," Zon said.
Beside her, Sildon tensed. She glanced at him and was surprised to see rage burning in his eyes. She squeezed his hand. He pulled away.
Jada swallowed. "I wasn't going to let a baby grow up to be a sex slave."
"And I greatly admire that, Jada Isles. That the two of you were willing to risk your lives for a child speaks well on your behalf. But you still stole money from the Sanctuary. What defense do you have for that?"
"Not to mention I lost the necklace Bethy made for me saving your butts," Tag muttered, narrowing her golden eyes at the two of them.
Lisa prodded Zon in the side. His lips twitched. "Tag, that is not the issue. Refrain from speaking unless you have something relevant to add."
The Aphrosian shrugged, but Jada was glad for the brief tangent. It allowed her to gather her thoughts. It was clear from Sildon's glare and clenched hands that he wasn't going to say anything to defend himself. So it fell to her. Why hadn't she become a lawyer like her parents wanted her to be? She could do with some eloquence right now.
"I know that our actions were not exactly ethical, but we did it because we couldn't see another way. Sildon had been searching for his family for years, and we needed the money to go back to his home planet, where his mother died and hopefully—"
"I learned who my father is." Sildon pulled a crumpled paper from a pouch on his belt and slammed it to the table. "She wrote me a letter. Her name was Matka."
Zon frowned. He gestured at Tom, and his son retrieved the letter from Sildon. Jada glanced at her T'shav. Fury was pouring from his body, his muscles twitching like he was just holding himself back from attacking. She reached for his hand and he turned to glare at her. She glared back, not about to be cowed by his anger. What was making him so angry, anyway?
A soft gasp made her look back at Zon and Lisa. The warlord's face was tense, his mate's eyes wide. She took the letter from his hand and reread it.
"Wait," Jada said, looking from the shocked expression on Zon's face to Sildon's fury. "What does it say? Who is your father?"
"He is," Sildon snarled. "Zon, the warlord. Do you even remember her name?"
The warlord stood slowly. "Do you remember the names of all the women you've been with?"
"It must have happened just before we met." Lisa gripped Zon's wrist. "Calm down. We all know that it's possible. Our next step is to do some testing to see if—"
"If I fathered a child and the wench never bothered to tell me?" Zon interrupted.
Crap. Jada gripped Sildon's wrist as he jumped to his feet, hatred burning in his eyes. Annoyance flashed across Lisa's face. When Tom drew his sword, moving to stand between Zon and Sildon, she got to her feet and shook her head.
"That is enough." Her voice was like a whip. "Tom, put that weapon away. Zon, sit down and control yourself. We don’t know the circumstances, and you have no right to go around calling this young man's mother names like that. We will solve this like civilized people."
"We'll solve this like T'shav," Sildon countered. "By the sword."
Jada gasped. Lisa paled, and Tom shook his head. He had been halfway putting his sword away but froze. All eyes turned to Zon. Jada held her breath, not knowing what to do or say now. Sildon was younger than Zon. That gave him extra strength and vitality, but Zon was a warlord. He had decades more experience, and from what she had heard, he was clever as well. What if he killed Sildon? And what if Sildon killed him? What would happen then?"
The warlord studied Sildon for a moment before turning to Lisa. He held her hand tightly. "If I am his father, it's his right."
"But what if you're not?" Tom's voice was pitched with stress. "Dad, we don't know who this guy is. If you don't remember his mother, then who's to say you ever actually met her? The letter might be fake, it might not even be from his mom."
Zon ignored his son's protests, instead focusing on his mate. Lisa's shoulders slumped, but she nodded. "I don't like it, I can see you need to do this. But this will not be a fight to the death. It will be first blood, and if either of you kills the other, there will be hell to pay. Understood?"
It was odd that a human could command these massive, devil-like T'shav, but even Zon nodded at her words. He kissed her cheek and whispered something into her ear. A brief look of uncertainty crossed Sildon's face, and he turned to Jada.
"I wish I could help you understand," he whispered. "I am sorry."
"You don't have to do this," she hissed back. "Sildon, it's crazy. You meet your father only to fight him? Why?"
"He abandoned my mother. She died because she was on that planet. I can't ignore that."
There was no more time to talk. Tag and Ronan escorted the two of them outside to a wide field. There were strategically placed trees, logs and rocks scattered over the ground, with patches of grass and dirt to provide different tractions. As Zon stretched out his muscles some distance away, Tom brought Sildon's sword to him.
"If you're my brother, I hope we can get to know each other," the warlord's son muttered to him. "But if you try to kill my father, I swear I will remove your head."
Sildon grunted. Jada twisted her hands, wishing she knew what to say or do to stop this. Tom, Ronan and Tag spread out around Sildon and Zon as they faced each other. Lisa came to stand with Jada. The older woman gripped her hand and silently offered comfort.
"First blood," Tom reminded them.
As one, the two T'shav ran at each other. Sildon slashed at Zon's chest, but the warlord spun away just in time. He swung his heavy broadsword, chopping down at Sildon's arm. Sildon danced out of his reach. As the sword bit into the ground, he jumped back in. Zon swatted his sword aside with a bare fist, then punched at Sildon's face. Sildon blocked it, but fell back a step, allowing the warlord to retrieve his sword.
Jada's stomach churned. She wanted to scream at them to stop, but her voice wasn't working. So she watched silently, body tense. The two were so evenly matched that neither had the upper hand. Both attacks became more frenzied. She covered her mouth, willing herself not to vomit. The way things were going, they were going to accidently kill each other!