ELEVEN
A COM LINE signal woke Devix the following morning. It was a familiar sound, but one he hadn’t heard in a long time. But his body knew what it meant and he rolled out of bed before his mind caught up, careful not to wake his luxiva.
Nude, he walked from the sleeping quarters to the central hub. The silver screen of the Com that was set into the wall of the dwelling was lit up with an incoming connection and Devix swiped his palm over it.
Rixavox’s face appeared. Immediately, he said, “Vaxa’an has summoned us to the command center. We need to leave right now. Tell Cara to join Sessela at our dwelling when she has awakened. I do not know how long we will be.”
A grim acceptance pooled in Devix’s stomach because he heard what went unspoken. He wondered if Pidixa already knew that he’d returned to Luxiria.
“I will,” Devix replied before cutting off the Com line. He ran a hand over his horn and then retraced his steps quickly.
He saw Cara sleeping soundly. The furs were partially off her body as the dwelling was warming from the twin suns that had already begun to rise. Even then, he could begin to detect a swelling in her belly. Their growing offspring.
His chest tightened and he went to her, resting his forehead on her own. She woke then, making a sleepy sound and blinking up at him.
“What is it?” she asked, her voice husky and quiet. She read him so well. She always knew.
“Vaxa’an wants Rixavox and I at the command center,” he told her. “I have to leave and I would like you to go over to Sessela’s dwelling while we are gone. She is expecting you once you are ready.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked, already pushing up from the sleeping platform, alarm in her voice.
“Tev,” he said, knowing what she feared. “Vaxa’an will not imprison me, I promise.”
Cara let out a small breath and then nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“I have to leave,” he said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. “I will return to you soon.”
Cara nodded, gave him one last kiss, and then allowed him to leave their sleeping platform. He didn’t look back because he might be tempted to never leave her again.
Rixavox was waiting for him at his hovercraft, which he’d landed in front of his dwelling on the terrace the night before. They clasped shoulders when they saw each other, but said nothing as they climbed in and Rixavox steered them back towards the command center, careful to keep high above the city until they were out of view.
Vaxa’an met them at the doors, his expression unreadable.
“What happened?” Rixavox asked, when the two brothers jumped down from the hovercraft onto the black sand that covered the majority of their planet.
Vaxa’an’s gaze met Devix’s. “Word has already spread. Come.”
The Prime Leader turned and they followed. Vaxa’an brought them to the war quarters, where the council often met with Vaxa’an and his Ambassadors. With one last look at Devix, Vaxa’an pushed open the doors.
Instead of a full council session that Devix half-expected, there was only one male in the quarters.
A male that he had not seen since the tribunal, eight rotations ago, but a male that Devix would recognize anywhere.
Pidixa.
Arvalla’s brother. The dishonorable male who’d torn Devix’s life apart with one, single, cutting betrayal.
Pidixa played his part well. And he continued to do so when he turned to look at Devix, fury written plainly across his features.
It was all for show, for the Prime Leader’s sake, Devix knew. As Rixavox had known would happen the span before, when he’d said Pidixa would challenge him so as not to lose his reputation among warriors.
“You dare return to Luxiria,” Pidixa started, addressing Devix with a leveled, cold look. “Do our laws mean nothing to you? The moment you returned, you disgraced your Prime Leader and your race.”
“As an exiled male, I do not believe you would consider me of ‘your race’ any longer, Pidixa,” Devix said, his lip curling. “I am flattered you still think of me as your equal.”
“Exiled filth,” Pidixa spat. “You will never be my equal.”
Rixavox stepped forward, a growl low in his throat, but Devix blocked him. This was only ever between the two of them. No one else.
“You are right,” Devix said quietly. “I will never be as low as you, as dishonorable as you who dares to wear warrior coverings as if you deserve to.”
Pidixa’s muscles bunched at his shoulders, his eyes sparking in the low light. Perhaps there would be a challenge right there and then, with only Rixavox and Vaxa’an as their witnesses.
“Unlike you,” Pidixa rasped, “I do not need to shorn my hair.”
“Enough,” Vaxa’an cut in, stepping between them. He cut a firm look to Pidixa, which made the warrior crane his head in a slight bow, though his muscles still twitched under his tunic and his claws bit into his palms as they curled. “State your reason for coming here, warrior.”
“Prime Leader,” Pidixa asked, “I request immediate execution for an exile who has broken our laws, who raped my blood sister eight rotations ago, and who I fought against to defend her honor. I demand that you and the council meet to deliver punishment for his return.”
Vaxa’an stepped forward, towards Pidixa. “The council knows he is here, warrior. I approved his request to return to Luxiria myself.”
“Why is he here?” Pidixa questioned, staring up at the Prime Leader with a cold expression on his face. Devix wondered at his brazenness, how insolent he was appearing to the leader of their people. “Why have you betrayed the laws of our people?”
“Be mindful of your words, Pidixa,” Vaxa’an said quietly. “You are speaking to the Prime Leader of Luxiria and I do not have to answer to you or explain myself to a male of warrior rank.”
The expression on Pidixa’s face was thunderous but he kept his mouth shut, recognizing that even he was out of line, that Vaxa’an wielded more power than any Luxirian on the planet and could choose to punish him instead.
“My blood sister’s honor and dignity means nothing as long as he resides on Luxiria,” Pidixa said. “She is one of our last remaining females. Would you punish her this way?”
A growl rose in Devix’s chest and he was unable to stop it. His breathing went shallow. The nerve of the male, standing in front of their Prime Leader, knowing very well that everything he spouted was a falsehood.
And if Vaxa’an truly meant what he said the previous span, that he didn’t believe Devix had raped Arvalla, then the Prime Leader knew that as well.
Vaxa’an turned to look at Devix, before returning his gaze to Pidixa. “Who told you he was here?”
“Warriors are talking,” Pidixa immediately replied. “There are those that saw him with a unknown human female when they landed at the docking bay last span.”
There had been five warriors, Devix remembered. Five warriors that had been with Vaxa’an and Rixavox when they had landed. They must’ve been unable to hold their tongues for very long.
“Pidixa, do you know an Azatian male by the name of Sarkon?” Vaxa’an asked next.
Devix jolted and he stared at the profile of his Prime Leader, illuminated in the low light of the war quarters. His brow furrowed, wondering why he was bringing up Sarkon right then.
Pidixa, however, never faltered, “No, Prime Leader. I do not.”
“It has come to my attention that Sarkon has, in his possession, a confession,” Vaxa’an continued, as if Devix hadn’t told the Prime Leader himself that he’d killed Sarkon, as if that Azatian filth was still alive.
What is Vaxa’an hoping to accomplish? Devix wondered, listening to the encounter with raptness. Even Rixavox was as still as the dead next to him.
Pidixa shifted on his feet, transferring his weight. “What confession?”
“Your confession,” Vaxa’an said quietly. “Sarkon claims that three of his scouts found you off planet and that you confessed about what happened eight rotations ago.”
“Why would I confess to others when I had nothing to confess?” Pidixa asked, his voice edging on a growl, which was not a tone to take with Vaxa’an.
He’s nervous, Devix knew. Rattled, by the whole situation of Devix’s return.
“Sarkon has contacted me. He has offered to give me this confession in return for a single Luxirian crystal,” Vaxa’an said further, poking at Pidixa like a war general would to a fresh, untrained warrior youth.
“What would he need a Luxirian crystal for?” Pidixa asked, his tone quiet and controlled. With distaste in his tone, he added, “To find more pleasure slaves for his harem?”
“I thought you said you did not know him,” Vaxa’an said.
“I do not, Prime Leader,” Pidixa said, his jaw ticking. “I...I heard rumors when we fought against Azatia two rotations ago with the Jilnevu.”
“For a moment, I thought you might have been lying to me, Pidixa,” Vaxa’an continued softly.
“Forgive me, Prime Leader,” Pidixa said, bowing his head. “I never would.”
Devix made a sound in the back of his throat and it took everything in him not to dash across the room and slam that Quadrant scum into the floor, skull first.
But then he thought of Cara, of their child. If he was the cause of any violence while he was there, he would be imprisoned, most likely executed. Even Vaxa’an wouldn’t be able to prevent it and then what would happen to his mate?
A strange calmness descended over him at that realization. Just like Rixavox had told him the night before…Devix also had a family to protect now. The old Devix, the one who’d lived on Petrika, would’ve made Pidixa confess, right there and then, in front of Vaxa’an, without caring about the consequences.
But he wasn’t that male anymore.
He was Cara’s male. Soon, he would be a father.
His shoulders relaxed. Because he knew, at that very moment, that no matter what choices Pidixa made regarding a challenge, Devix would be the one who was victorious.
Because he had more to lose if he was defeated. He had a female he needed to return to, a life to build with her and their offspring and the many more that he would sire with her after.
“I am certain this Sarkon is just trying to con a crystal from us, Prime Leader,” Pidixa continued. “Do not give into him or else every mercenary in the Four Quadrants will be trying to get one as well.”
“That is for me to decide, warrior,” Vaxa’an said, voice firm. Pidixa’s gaze returned to the floor. “Devix will not be executed for his return since I gave permission for him to land on our soil. If this is what you were hoping to accomplish in journeying here, then I fear you will be disappointed.”
“Our laws strictly say that—”
“That is enough,” Vaxa’an growled.
Pidixa straightened and Devix knew the words were coming before Pidixa ever said them.
“Then I challenge the exile to a warrior trial. To the death, to preserve my family units’ honor,” Pidixa stated, his eyes flashing to Devix’s. “With respect, Prime Leader, even you cannot stop a warrior trial, no matter what protection he has while he is here from you or the council.”
Vaxa’an went silent. No one spoke a single word, but Rixavox looked over at Devix. Devix nodded slightly and Rixavox’s expression turned grim.
How many times had Devix wished he’d challenged Pidixa to a warrior trial before the tribunal? And one thing had held him back: Arvalla. Because even then, even after she betrayed him, he knew he couldn’t hurt her by killing her brother. Because he knew the bond that siblings had.
But he’d always wondered why Pidixa had never challenged him. Instead of the public tribunal, where his sister’s shame was laid out for all to see, they could have dealt with it in a more private manner. The warriors’ way.
It had taken him a long time to realize Pidixa never would have challenged him. Not only because Pidixa knew Devix was a better warrior then, but because Pidixa believed Devix would be executed regardless, not exiled.
Pidixa only challenged him now because he believed he was stronger than Devix. Whereas Devix had been an exile, living on Petrika and then Rozun, Pidixa had been a warrior fighting for Luxiria, utilizing their training every single span, growing stronger. Perhaps he believed he’d finally surpassed Devix in strength.
“You have always been a coward,” Devix said quietly, “for as long as I have known you.”
Pidixa looked on the verge of saying something but then stopped, probably in fear that Vaxa’an would lash out.
“I would like the trial to take place when the suns rise tomorrow,” Pidixa said.
“No,” Vaxa’an said. “It will take place in a quarter lunar cycle.”
One week, Devix thought automatically, knowing that was what Cara called a quarter lunar cycle. Already, he longed for her, but knew that his span would be longer now.
“Prime Leader—”
Vaxa’an swiped his arm through the air as if cutting off Pidixa’s words physically. “I have no choice but to accept your challenge against Devix. However, I still retain the right to set when the trial happens. A quarter lunar cycle, warrior. I will say nothing more about it.”
“You want to help him,” Pidixa said quietly, his lips tightening. “This gives him time to train.”
“You would rather meet him when he is weaker?” Vaxa’an asked quietly. “No honorable Luxirian warrior would welcome this.”
Pidixa’s color shifted in the low light and he took a step back before remembering himself. “He is a criminal. I am just trying to find justice for my sister.”
“He is no criminal. He was simply betrayed by two Luxirians and then punished by unbreakable, ancient laws,” Vaxa’an said, his tone like steel.
Devix looked at his Prime Leader, his heart thumping in his chest. Across the war quarters, Pidixa was so shocked that he seemed incapable of any further words.
“Get out of my command center, warrior,” Vaxa’an said. “You have your trial.”
Pidixa didn’t need to be asked twice. When Devix had entered the war quarters, Pidixa had been like a wild trixava, wanting bloodshed. Now, he was a meek, wounded privixi and he passed Devix without a second glance.
When it was just the three of them, Devix turned to Vaxa’an and inclined his head. “Thank you, Prime Leader.”
“Do not thank me. I delivered your sentencing, after all,” Vaxa’an murmured, turning to them both. “Your ravraxia ceremony will take place tomorrow, Devix, but I suggest you begin training now. I will have to make the announcement of the trial soon.”
“I will take him to the training quarters,” Rixavox said, turning to look at his brother. “We will spare like we used to.”
Devix jerked his head in a nod. “Do you think you can defeat me now? You never could when we were younger.”
Rixavox chortled, but then he stopped, a grim expression coming over his face.
“I honestly hope I will not defeat you, brother,” he replied, “for your sake.”