Luminos was nothing like she'd imagined.

To be completely fair, Selena had spent most of her life trying to actively avoid it. The only people who had any business with the home world of Nayanors were the kidnapped women and she had never wanted to be one of them.

Now that she was, Selena didn't know how to feel about that.

As the harbinger led her out of the Nomadin, Selena's mind was working fast. The first day would be vital for her life on the planet, she was sure. There were first impressions to be made, first acquaintances and so on.

She needed to come with a battle plan in mind.

Who am I going to be here? I could play the dutiful little wife to the other women or I could be a revolutionary leader.

It would have helped if Selena hadn't faced such impossible odds. She and Ragnar weren't going to have any relationship, she was certain of that. On the other hand, she couldn't avoid the harbinger either. It was tempting to keep pushing her boundaries with him, but Selena had never been the type.

The task was simply too much. Fighting Ragnar was like pushing a huge balloon up a mountain on a very windy day, against the wind.

For the time being, Selena had resolved herself to let go of the balloon and see where it took her.

Ragnar stayed close as they walked away from the landing platform. Behind her, Selena could hear some screaming and when she turned around, she saw the other women from the raid being herded out of the flagship.

"Ignore them," Ragnar said without turning his head.

Selena couldn't. Every single hopeless cry and plea shot right through her. It had been easy to put the fate of the others from her mind when she hadn't seen them, but now – they sounded so much like her. Only they hadn't found their fated yet and had no idea what was in store for them. For all of Ragnar's many faults, Selena didn't think she'd gotten the worst Nayanor there was.

She certainly had more freedom than the rest, not being forced out of the ship like cattle.

Selena had never realized how much dignity there was in walking on her own two feet and not having someone drag her along.

"Can't you –" she started to ask.

"Don't," Ragnar warned her with a sharp look. "You know who I am. I brought them here."

"Yes," Selena argued, trying to think of some argument to sway the harbinger. "But it doesn't have to be like that!"

She pointed to the mass of women. Some had stoic expressions on their faces, others were outright hysterical. Selena had no idea who she felt more compassion for. The ones who expressed their misery freely or those whose spirit had already broken a little.

"It can be humane," she went on, trying to grab Ragnar's hand. "They're human beings, not some cargo to be dumped –"

The harbinger had stopped so suddenly Selena nearly ran into him, trying to keep up with the warlord's big strides. When he turned his head, the look in her fated's eyes was wilder than she'd ever seen and the next second brought the reason why.

"RAGNAR!" someone roared from the path before them.

"Let go of my hand, Selena," the harbinger said quietly. "Right now."

The urgency in his voice made her obey, pulling her hand back like she was stung. Confused, Selena searched the harbinger's face. There was no anger there, not directed at her, at least. Only a warning, a miniscule shake of his head.

"What is the meaning of this?" the voice asked, much closer this time. "Did I just see a female try to stop you, Ragnar?"

Selena turned her head to see a large warrior marching their way, accompanied by a squad of men who looked as vicious and unruly as their leader did. The man in front was a true giant, almost as tall as Ragnar but twice as wide. It was like someone had made a bear stand on two legs and gave him shiny dark gray armor.

She disliked him at once. The warrior had short dark silver hair like most Nayanors and irises so dark they made his eyes look obsidian all the way through. The rough lines of the warrior's face said he hadn't been avoiding battles and so did the scars that Selena could see.

More than anything else, she was bothered by the look in the warrior's eyes. It was cruel and so cold she thought there wasn't a single spark of warmth inside the man.

Ragnar had moved, just a little to stand in front of her. That couldn't bode well for her.

"Mjorn," he said roughly, his deep voice changing so fast Selena couldn't believe it was the same man she'd met.

Ragnar's voice had had the authoritative edge when he'd talked to her as well, but it had been a mere shadow of what he sounded like now. Selena could imagine men running into battle without fear, hearing only the command of that powerful voice.

The cruel warrior seemed to hear it too, because instead of answering, he just glared – at her. Selena didn't like the look one bit. She got the immediate impression the warrior didn't like her.

"I didn't take you for a man with a death wish," Ragnar said, the silent and menacing tone carrying easily over the bustle of the landing site. "I see no other reason why you would dare to stop me and my female."

There was a change in Mjorn's gaze. A flash of recognition shot by and he regarded her with interest now, even if the look was still clearly disapproving.

"Apologies, Harbinger," Mjorn said with a crooked smile. "I didn't know this was your fated. From afar, it looked like she was grabbing your hand."

He didn't look sorry. And Selena hadn't known touching someone was a crime on Luminos.

"Who else would I walk with but my female?" Ragnar asked roughly. "As for the rest, don't concern yourself with my business, or hers."

Now Mjorn returned his hard gaze to Ragnar and it was an odd sight for Selena. Everyone else she'd met, every other Nayanor seemed to be afraid of the harbinger, but Mjorn was not. It meant he was either insane or very confident in his abilities, more than likely both.

"But it is my business, Harbinger," Mjorn said venomously, gesturing to the chaos all around them as the women were being made to board smaller ships for transport. "You know that. I guard the females and their actions. No one is excused, not even the fated of a harbinger. If this one doesn't learn to behave and show proper respect, she'll –"

"I thought I told you already," Ragnar cut in and this time, there was no mistaking the deadliness of his voice. "She is mine."

"I'm not disputing that," Mjorn replied, taking a step closer. "But she's still a female and they're all the same to me. If I catch a whiff of her being a bitch like the others are, I won't show her any mercy just because you like how her tight cunt feels."

Ragnar moved so fast Selena's eyes couldn't keep up. One moment, the harbinger was standing next to her, shaking with rage. Then the tip of his big sword rested on Mjorn's throat, inches from cutting blood. The warrior's hand was frozen midair, trying to pull his own blade.

Mjorn's warriors were coming closer, but the harbinger didn't seem to care.

"I will only repeat this once to you, Mjorn," Ragnar said with horrible calm that didn't promise good for anyone. "My female is off-limits to you. I have shown you favor, but I can take it away just as easily. Remember that your self-imposed duties depend on my good will and it's running out fast right now.

"Conduct your investigations, but if you ever come to me about Selena without solid proof she's wrapped up in plans to escape, I will behead you where you stand. Understood?"

Mjorn's eyes were full of fury, but the crooked grin was back on his face.

"Yes, sir," he growled. "This is all I wanted to hear. I was afraid the female had already cut off your balls, but I see that's not the case. I just needed to make sure you won't end up like your brother. I won't stand in your way anymore."

Ragnar sheathed his sword as quickly as he'd drawn it and Mjorn's squad parted to clear a path to them.

"Come, Selena," the harbinger said and they left the warriors behind.

She walked along the path, speechless from what she'd just witnessed. Mjorn had even wiped the fate of the other women from her mind.

On either side of the path, gigantic trees were growing. She assumed distantly they were the reason why the Nomadin hadn't landed closer to the fortress.

Selena hadn't missed the fact that they were glowing. Whenever a soft breeze swept through the violet rooftops, the stems of the leaves glimmered in the dark forest as they walked. It gave off an aura of an ethereal, magical place that looked so old she could hardly believe someone had taken the path before them.

On any other day, the forest would have been a sight to see and wonder at.

"Who was that?" Selena asked when they'd left the others behind.

Ships flew past them and she didn't dare to ask why they had to walk. It had crossed her mind that Ragnar wanted to show her the beauty of his world, but Mjorn also appeared to weigh heavily on her fated's mind.

"He is an upstart," Ragnar snarled so viciously Selena jumped.

Seeing that, the harbinger frowned.

"You don't need to worry about him," Ragnar said. "He won't dare lay a finger on you, but be careful. Mjorn has a special hatred for females."

"Why?" Selena asked. "He said something about escaping. How can anyone be blamed for that? Is it a crime to try and get free from the people who kidnapped you?"

"It is now," Ragnar said grimly, making Selena choke on her next words. "A while ago females moved freely on Luminos. They were trusted with secrets and even some secondary duties. They didn't prove worthy of that trust. Several escaped during the long night, exposing the fortresses and killing hundreds. Others have turned against their fateds. There are females who turn the rest against us.

"Mjorn deals with them. He is a brute, but he is efficient. As for you, the way he talked about you is unforgivable. I will make sure he understands he can never go near you again."

"When you say he deals with them –?" Selena asked, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"He reports their crimes to their fateds," Ragnar said. "The first time. When he catches them again, they're killed if the offense is serious enough."

Selena couldn't believe her ears.

Death. Death is the punishment for an escape attempt?

She kept walking in a daze, trying to figure out what exactly had she done wrong to deserve such a fate. The gods really hated her.

Ragnar stopped her. Selena let out a small yelp when the harbinger pulled her into his arms and looked at her seriously.

Her first reaction was to struggle, to flee, but at that moment everything else on Luminos looked so barbaric to her that Selena didn't want to leave Ragnar's side.

"The females Mjorn hunts are dangerous," Ragnar said slowly, making sure she was listening and that she understood. "The ones who have the skills and the chance to do real damage. You have never seen a long night. The fortresses need to shut down completely. If one person escapes, they might think they're only looking out for themselves, but they endanger every soul in the fortress.

"Male, female and the children more than others. The storm is so cold it could freeze the breath in your lungs. Those who are naturally fragile suffer the most."

Selena listened, trying to wrap her head around that twisted world and the twisted people who lived on it.

"Listen," Ragnar said, lifting her chin up and forcing Selena to look him in the eyes. "Every Nayanor on Luminos knows how the females get here. We know they will try to run, at least once. Mjorn knows that too. He is in place to scare those who might try something reckless. The ones he deals with are a danger to everyone on this planet."

Selena nodded quietly. There was nothing else for her to do, but some of what Ragnar said made sense. The problem she had with his logic was that Mjorn hadn't given her the impression of being a fair and reasonable man.

She didn't think it was the time to start arguing. Someone might have seen.

Her mental note about Mjorn said "Avoid at all costs" and there was nothing Ragnar could do about that.

It seemed the harbinger was pleased with her silence, so they moved on.

Soon Selena realized that the thing she'd seen in front of her hadn't been some field on the horizon. They were approaching a vast cliff, going up so high she had to crane her neck to see the top, even from a distance.

There was a large gate in the rock, open to greet the harbinger and the raiding party.

Home, Selena thought. Home sweet home.