When I woke up, I heard quiet voices. With my wakeful state, the reality of all that had happened settled over me. I wiped my mouth and rolled from the bunk. My breasts were full and achingly painful. Farowyn sat on the couch with a lidded cup and tools in his hands. A couple of the boys watched him. He made a cone out of a plasti-gel bandage and bonded it to the top of the lid. Then, he placed constricting electrodes on the gel bandage and fed a tube from the cone into the cup.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Farowyn said, “You haven’t nursed Peter. I remember well how your breasts drip when they are full.” My face burned while he made his huffs of laughter at me. “Here, female.” He passed the cup to me.
“Oh!” It crudely resembled one of the breast pumps I had used on Talpa. I returned to the semi-privacy of the bunk and almost wept with relief that it worked.
When I returned, Ross was staring hard at my chest. “You’re right. They are smaller, now,” he said to Farowyn who trilled and whistled.
“Ross, if your nose wasn’t already broken, I’d punch you in it.”
Ross paled.
“Don’t worry. Ensign Probus doesn’t hit hard,” Clark said.
“She took you down,” Binder reminded him.
“Any news?” I asked hopefully.
“We track Felix to Carmanor. I repaired my vid-screen. Captain Ricimer was able to send us an encrypted message. It was an order to remain silent.” He passed the device to me so that I could read the message.
It read, “We hunt by other means and will find you. Remain hidden that others may not.”
“My Omnes Videntes know where we are, but our enemies hunt us as we hunt Felix. Flavian and Maxim must have gotten away or could be working with others. What about my children? What about Drex, Eli, Kaoti, and Cormac?” I sat and rubbed at my eyes. Quietly, I said, “I won’t forgive myself if I let Felix get away. Luca’s eyes will haunt me until the day I die. I want Felix to pay.”
Farowyn helped us with our weapons and gave each of us piloting instruction on a scheduled rotation. He also gave us a hard and fast course on evasive tactics. We knew where the Empress was, but an anomaly on our sensor readings was our only warning that we were being followed by Flavian and Maxim.
Cedrenus said, “They will want to silence us before we can report their treason to the Empire.”
Clark’s eyes were full of pain with the knowledge that his own father wanted him dead.
We tracked Felix to Carmanor where he put down in a remote and uninhabited location. It was far from the land port, and his ship was disguised as well as our own cramped stealth ship which had not been designed to comfortably accommodate nine people. We trailed after Felix and landed in a dense jungle of unfamiliar trees and plants.
“What are all of these lifeform readings?” Ross asked.
I made a face and cringed. “Monkeys.”
Farowyn pulled up a scan of a few of the animals who hadn’t been frightened away by our landing. He said, “These creatures are harmless.”
“No, they have sharp teeth and claws and can ambush us.”
Farowyn huffed at me. Then, he showed me his claws and teeth. I snorted at him.
“You fear these little creatures but not the spiders of Arachne,” Stayton said.
“I love my spiders. They are like playful children. They are sentient and can communicate.”
Binder said, “Monkeys are intelligent and can be tamed.”
“Not by me,” I said. I checked my gear to make sure I was prepared for our trek through the jungle. A grating metal sound startled me. It was completely out of place. “What was that?”
Farowyn returned to the bridge to power our sensors. “I’ll see what it is. Perhaps, it is a large monkey.”
The noise was louder above us. Clark pushed me back and raised his blaster just as a hole began to form in the hull above the couch. Yellow robotic eyes in a white plasti-head glowed down on us before the AI dropped inside and started firing at us.
“Aim for its eyes!” I yelled as I remembered Sparrow’s stories. Ross and Levi destroyed the robot. “Take its arms. We can use the extra weapons.”
Then, another AI dropped down. Blaster fire scorched the tan carpet of the habitation area making it smoke and filling the cabin with an acrid stench. Farowyn grabbed me and carried me into the lift. AIs were filling the already cramped ship, and we didn’t have time to send energy through the hull. Crowding inside of the lift, we made it to the cargo hold.
Cedrenus yelled, “Secure the lift!”
“How fast will this thing go?” Farowyn asked of the stolen roller.
“Not fast enough through thick jungle,” Tyler answered.
From within the lift, dents became visible on the doors as AIs pounded against them to get out. Farowyn said, “There are too many of them. Stay in teams of two or three. Split up. Destroy the robots and scavenge their parts, but not the heads.” To me, he said, “Hold onto my neck.”
I held onto Farowyn as he lowered the ramp and jumped from the stealth ship. Just then, another ship flew over us while laying down fire. White plasti robot pieces rained down on the jungle. “That’s my father’s ship!” Clark yelled.
“Scatter,” Farowyn ordered. He took off with me clinging to his neck.
Soon, we had vanished into the jungle. The sounds of AIs, blaster fire, and ships was distant. Now, jungle sounds filled my ears, and only the birds and monkeys were discernible to me. Farowyn climbed high into the trees and used his claws to slash through vines. He quickly weaved them together making a rope. Fastening it around the trunk, he then tied it around my waist.
“Keep your weapon in your hand and stay here. I’ll go find the others.”
He was gone before I could blink. Soon, Farowyn returned with Ross and Stayton, leaving them to guard me at the base of the tree. Clark, Cedrenus, Binder, Levi, and Tyler soon joined us. They had dismantled a few of the AIs and were divvying up the chest casings.
“Shove this in your shirt,” Cedrenus ordered.
Scowling at him, I instead put it in the back of Farowyn’s jumper. “I don’t think I’m a target. Flavian and Felix both want to use me as leverage. I’m no longer concerned with capturing Felix. He could get away. I’m ordering you as Princess Probus to kill him on sight. Understood?”
“Yes, Princess,” they answered.
“Farowyn, as the representative of the Eloneave, you are not to put your life in danger.”
He made a derisive sound. “Female, I will do what I think best to protect you. Whether or not you like it matters very little. My nephew will not have another mother taken from him.” The anger that I had begun to feel vanished as my mind filled with thoughts of Peter. “You are beautiful and intelligent, but you have much to learn. These enemies you face are beyond your skill, not mine. You have voiced your objective. Now, you will close your pretty little mouth, and I will carry out your orders. Male younglings, you will obey me.”
“Yes, sir,” Cedrenus said. I scowled at him. “Teagan, you said it yourself. He’s an admiral, and he’s older.”
“Cedrenus is right. My father is a high-ranking officer and feared. We need Farowyn’s help to survive. We’re out here alone with traitors and no help in sight.”
“Alright, but I’m helping.”
Farowyn huffed. “You will stay here with Levi. Both of you are bleeding which makes jungle travel dangerous. Set this up. We will scout and report back.” He handed Levi a defensive shield.
“I’m not bleeding.”
Farowyn trilled in obvious humor and pointed between my legs with a claw.
My face burned. “Farowyn, you’re an asshole.”
With soft huffs of laughter, he and the boys left. Levi sat beside me in the tree and activated the defensive shielding. However, it did nothing to save us from the bugs. Hours passed. I almost fell out of the tree when Farowyn finally returned and motioned for Levi to deactivate the shield. In a quiet voice, he said, “We’re moving.”
I put my arms around his neck, and he carried me down. Levi followed us, careful of his injured side. As quietly as possible, we made it through the thick jungle. It was full of writhing and crawly things. Clark disappeared into a rocky crevice hidden by overgrowth. The rest of us followed. The rocky sides were wet and alive with clinging plants that grew from its surface. It was beginning to remind me of Daphoene and my flight from Pax Cyprian before it finally opened up onto a pond and stretch of dirt beneath some thick trees with wide leaves. Ross placed and activated the shield.
“We will camp here. Make shelters,” Farowyn ordered.
I helped collect vines and leafy branches. Thunder rumbled spurring us to work faster. We built lean-tos as we had been taught to do in our survival course. Farowyn showed us how to make fast improvements. I heard something growling menacingly from within the jungle.
“Cat,” Binder said. “Farowyn is right. The two of you seem injured to predators. It’s better if you stay put.”
“We plan and strike,” Farowyn said.
They spoke of their plan to get at Felix. He had a bunker and had gone to ground, but Flavian and Maxim had discovered it and were making their own plans to get in. Farowyn suggested waiting until the Inquisitors had gotten in and then stealing their prize.
To the boys, Farowyn said, “They will come hunting for us. Rest while you can. Teagan, come. You will not sleep on the ground.” He held his hand down to help me up. Then, with me in his arms, he quickly made his way up a tree.
“Are we still shielded up here?”
“Yes.” He sat on a firm mat of tree limbs that he had fastened together with vines like a raft. “Come here.” Farowyn opened his arms, and I crawled over to him. He surrounded me with his patagium. I chuckled. “What amuses you?”
“We’re out here alone in the jungle with Felix, Inquisitors, and wild felines trying to kill us, but I feel safe for the first time in I don’t know how long.”
Farowyn rubbed his face against my hair. “It is right for you to feel safe with me. Have you thought of the words I spoke to you on Thalassa?”
“I have. Did you speak to my Papa?”
“Yes. The choice is yours.” His arms shifted, and careful of his claws he caught my chin with his fingers. “I would love you once, if I might meet my end come first light.”
I couldn’t find myself being afraid of Farowyn. Having brushed my palm against his maleness on Talpa, I wasn’t intimidated by his size. He took my current stillness for agreement and invaded my mouth with his tongue. His clawed hand found its way up my shirt, which before I knew it was gone. Farowyn’s mouth replaced his hand, and he sucked at my breast swallowing down my milk. I felt cool jungle air on my hips along with embarrassment over my current hormonal situation and lady protection. Then, I worried that Farowyn might be inclined to touch my lady parts with those clawed fingers of his. He shifted his body, but my attention had gone back to the way he used his tongue to circle and suck while drawing my breast into his mouth. He wrapped his tongue around my nipple, squeezed and slid, captivating me with sensations.
Farowyn was above me and had me enclosed within the safety of his arms and the warm flesh of his patagium. In the dark, I could just make out the rich brown of his eyes. It felt as though he pushed a finger within me, but I could feel his hands in my braids. The finger went deeper and grew in width and length until it was snug. I began to pant, but Farowyn remained perfectly still, staring into my eyes. The desire to move filled me, but Farowyn trilled softly to me. What I had thought was a finger obviously wasn’t. Farowyn had intimately bound us in such an alien manner that I hadn’t been able to fear him.
I waited for the thrust of his hips and tried to move my own, but he held still. I became needy and wet around him. Farowyn lowered his face and pressed his tongue to the frantic pulse in my throat. He didn’t move, holding me tightly. However, his manly appendage did. It began to vibrate, slowly at first.
“Farowyn!” I whispered.
The vibrations became faster. I wrapped my legs around his hips and bucked against him, gasping for air as pleasure rippled through me. Farowyn grunted twice and pushed, tickling me deep inside as he came. I trembled in his arms with aftershocks until I succumbed to sleep. When I woke much later, it was to Farowyn tracing the outlines of my face with the knuckles of his hand.
“We prepare to leave. When you hear my whistle, activate the shield.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you are not.” We sat up, and he began to dress. “Wait,” he said as he stilled my hands on my clothing. He climbed down from the tree only to return a moment later. Motioning for me to hand him my clothes, he took them, put his arms around me, and carried me down.
Frantically, I whispered, “They’ll see me.”
“Trust me as you did during the night.” A blush heated my cheeks. Only Levi was nearby with his back turned as he faced the rocky crevice. “The water is safe for bathing. Look there.” He pointed to a hole behind a bush. “Relieve yourself there and bury that,” he said of the lady protection with which I was making do. Then, he touched the tip of his tongue to mine and left.
I used the hole, rinsed myself off in the pool, and quickly dressed, glad that I had shoved extra bandages into the pocket of my borrowed jacket. Once I was dressed, I said, “I’m done.”
Levi turned with concern clear on his face. I blushed, but he grinned at me. “Taking Farowyn was a wise choice. That is not what troubles me. I know it is noble to be left here to guard you….”
“But, like me, you think we should be helping them get Felix.” Levi nodded. I heard a whistle and activated the defensive shielding. “How is your side?”
“It stings a little. How is your situation?” He blushed.
“Almost at an end. Thanks.”
Abruptly, the rain started once more, forcing us to huddle under one of our shelters. “When Felix contacted me through the salon menu while Terre and I were getting our hair done, he also left me a data chip containing a list of Inquisitors who have been marked for assassination. They must be warned.”
“Where is the list?”
“Arachne. We have to warn them. I need to get the information to Papa. I don’t know who I can trust.”
With conviction, Levi stated, “I am loyal to Emperor Probus and the Imperial family. I belong to you.”
“I believe you, but what if what Flavian said is true? What if one of my advisors or even Drex has betrayed me?”
Levi turned eyes that contained chilling depths for one so young to me. “Flavian made you doubt Licinius and Beck. Have either of them ever given you reason for concern?”
I thought back to Luca and Amphictyon. Could either Drex or Eli have been working with Felix? “I don’t know anymore. If Drex or Eli were disloyal, wouldn’t Zared know?”
“Teagan, come out, come out, wherever you are,” a male voiced called out just as the defensive shielding stuttered and fell.
Levi and I surged to our feet and ran. A charged blaster cannon’s hum halted our progress. Levi and I looked up into the cold, dead eyes of Inquisitor Maxim. “Running in the opposite direction is so predictable,” he said.
I heard the strike and watched as Levi fell forward. My arms were seized from behind, and I shuddered as Inquisitor Flavian brought his lips down to my ear. “Felix won’t come out to play, so I’m going to use you as bait. Cooperate, or Cadet Levi and the others die.”
“How did you find us?”
“Very easily.”
Levi began to stir. Maxim quickly bound his wrists behind him and pulled him to his feet.
“Let’s go,” Flavian said. He held me to his chest with one arm and operated a propulsion pack with his other hand, lifting us up from the ground but keeping us below the jungle canopy.
Leading us to Felix were bits of white AI parts that functioned almost like the trail of breadcrumbs in one of the stories I had read to my children. Flavian called out, “Don’t shoot.” He lifted one of my braids and smelled it. “Oh, she’s so sweet and tender.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Clark yelled in a voice filled with feral rage.
“Shut up, boy! This doesn’t concern you.” Flavian turned his attention to a small, mangled scan pad located to the side of a metal door set into a cement bunker. I couldn’t see where Felix had hidden his ship. “Come on, Jiri. Don’t you still want her?”
“I thought you had decided to keep her and get her with child,” Felix responded.
“It was unwise to let my cock do my thinking. Maxim convinced me to see reason. I’m willing to agree to our former deal.”
“Then, send her to the door, alone.”
“What about our third-party interference?” Flavian asked.
In answer, drones dropped down in various locations around us shooting at unseen targets with red lasers. Blaster fire erupted as my team members fought back. “Problem solved,” Felix responded.
Flavian pushed me forward. When I was standing in front of the door, it slowly began to lower into the ground. Suddenly, Flavian sprang forward, shoved me to the ground, and dove inside. Maxim was running straight for me. I cringed, but he too dove into the bunker. I crawled to Levi who mirrored my confusion. The ground shook.
“Run!” Binder screamed.
Levi and I scrambled to our knees, got our feet under us, and ran to Binder as he motioned to us to hurry. Our feet left the ground. For a moment, I thought Farowyn had grabbed us, but no one touched us. Dirt, rocks, and torn green leaves sped past my face. Then, I heard loud booms of sound as I was hurled forward. The top of my right shoulder struck a tree trunk stopping my flight. Levi kept going. Pain made my eyes water, and a high-pitched whining filled my ears. It was all I could hear. I couldn’t even hear the sound of my own breathing.
I felt someone take a hold of my waistband and haul me up. He wrapped me across his shoulders like a scarf and ran, making my head move up and down. I dry heaved, thankful that I had had nothing to eat. Then, he put me down. Binder’s frightened face was above me. His lips were moving, but all I heard was the high-pitched whine. Dirty boots and clawed feet converged on our location. Levi was laid down beside me. There was blood on his ear. Cedrenus freed Levi’s hands. I saw Cedrenus’ lips moving and blinked trying to clear my head. He freed my hands.
Blonde hair swam past my vision along with blaster fire. I tried to recall why it seemed so familiar. Then, solid black eyes were gazing down at me. “Zared?” I said but couldn’t hear his name on my own lips. Telepathically, I asked, “Are you rescuing us?”
“Yes, female,” Zared answered in my mind. He scanned my thoughts for the knowledge he sought.
Still, I sent my thoughts to him. “Felix Jiri is here in that bunker. The Inquisitors Flavian and Maxim are traitors. The boys and Farowyn are mine.”
“Understood,” Zared said before dashing off.
I could see, smell, and feel. Although, at the moment I would have preferred not to feel. “I think my shoulder is really broken,” I said, unsure if any sound had come out. I struggled to stay conscious against the dizziness and succeeded. “Please, don’t let them get away. Please, don’t let them get away.”
A severed robot arm struck the ground a few feet away from us. Farowyn darted away into the fray with his blades drawn. Robots and men poured from a smoking hole in the ground. I assumed it was the result of the explosion. Farowyn’s blades were a blur as he fought among my soldiers against countless AIs whose glowing yellow eyes showed no remorse for the injuries they inflicted.
Then, I saw him, Felix. He had taken a jacket from a fallen soldier and was inching his way toward the jungle and presumably his hidden ship. I slid a blade from Levi’s belt, holding it in my left hand. Crawling forward, I was gone before they could stop me.
Felix blasted a soldier who was in his way. I got to my feet and ran. Felix paused when he saw Nico and had changed direction to move toward him. Hate burned in his eyes. He raised his blaster, aiming it at Nico’s back. My guts turned to ice, and I threw myself forward like a broken shard of it, hitting Felix in the side and taking him down. Surprise covered his features for a frantic heartbeat when he saw my face from where I crouched above him with one knee pressed into the ground and the other digging into his thigh. I drove the blade I held into his guts, feeling the fabric as it gave way to flesh and sinking it into its hilt. Horror replaced his surprise. Pulling the blade free, I screamed with all of my pain, anguish for Luca, devastation for my Momma and Papa, and desperation not to lose Nico to this bastard who had already taken so much. I drove the blade into him again and again. Felix’s hot blood bubbled up, rushed over my hand, and soaked into my clothing as though I were a sponge for his misery.
Nico’s arms were around me, hot and strong. He pulled me back against his chest and caged me in his arms. Felix wasn’t dead. Although filled with pain, he looked up at me with something akin to respect. I could feel the rumble of Nico speaking. Felix pulled something from a pocket and weakly tossed it. Zared grabbed it and entered some commands. The AIs all just stopped. Felix knew his robots couldn’t save him. Without medical attention, he would die from the wounds I had given him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flavian and Maxim. The scream that bellowed forth from my frozen guts was soundless to my ears. So were my words that followed. “On your knees!” Freeing myself of Nico, I ripped my bloody knife from Felix. Blood poured from the holes I had made in him. The Inquisitors dropped their weapons and went down on both knees on the rubble-strewn jungle floor. “I should cut your throats myself so that you don’t again escape.”
I saw Flavian’s mouth moving. Nico pried my fingers free of the blade. A medic was keeping Felix from bleeding to death. With my bloodied left hand, I cradled my right arm. Farowyn looked at me with pride and bowed low to me. I acknowledged him with a dip of my own head, and he fell in at my right side. I wasn’t taking my eyes off of Felix. Nico had brought stealth and fighter ships to our location. All of my focus remained on Felix. I wanted him dead, but I also wanted to bring him home to Parvac bound and lay him at my Momma’s feet.
After some medical attention aboard the Empress, my hearing returned. At Carmanor’s land port, the Galaxic Militia ships had joined my own, along with a few others. Learning of the unfolding drama at the land port on Arachne, all ships in the vicinity had changed their courses to assist in our pursuit. Zared had had no trouble tracking me and had flown with a squadron to find me and my team. My children were onboard and safe. Izaac had escaped injury as well.
I remained in the infirmary. I couldn’t take my eyes from Felix. I had never hated anyone before, not like this, not even Nathan Green. Felix was unconscious from blood loss. In my memory, I saw his face before he had killed Luca and how he had looked as he had aimed the blaster at Nico’s back. He hadn’t taken from me this time. I had protected my husband and my son’s father. I lifted my chin. I wanted Felix eradicated from existence. My thoughts turned to Felix’s surviving clone, Andy.
To my guards, I said, “If the prisoners so much as think of escaping, cut their throats.”
Xavier and Kaoti bowed to me and left the infirmary.
“Thank you for protecting my wife,” Nico said as he bowed to Farowyn.
“It is my honor to serve my Queen.”
“Farowyn is mine. You should know I have accepted him.”
Zared said, “I know. I knew all that had happened the moment I touched you, what you suffered, the fear you felt of losing us. You never will lose us.”
“They planted an explosive device on Tora,” I warned.
Zared concentrated, finding Jazon’s mind.
“It is motion activated. If they touch it….” I felt Zared examining my memory of the bomb. My palms started to sweat in fear.
Eli and Drex moved away from us and spoke in hushed tones with Captain Ricimer. I felt as though I waited helplessly between life and death.
Zared said, “There is no explosive device on Tora. It was an Inquisitor’s trick.”
“What? Are you sure?” I locked my eyes on Zared’s solid black ones.
“Yes, they have conducted a full sweep. Sensors would have immediately discovered any such device.”
I began to calm realizing the logic of his words. “Dr. Savelli, I want him in a containment cell. I don’t care if I bring him to Momma alive or dead.”
“Understood.” He stabilized Felix. I followed and watched as my prisoner was secured. “Now, may I treat your injuries, Princess?”
I nodded and walked with Dr. Savelli back to the infirmary. Commander Genso and Lieutenant Commander Glous stood at attention ready to fulfill my orders and had not left my presence. “Once everyone is aboard, take us to Parvac at maximum speed. Destroy any unidentified vessel or craft that approaches us.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Kaoti, I want four of my Omnes Videntes guarding Felix at all times.”
He gave a nod of his head in response.
“Did you find the chip?”
“Yes,” Kaoti answered.
“I will shower here in the infirmary. I don’t want the children to see me like this. Please, have someone bring me a change of clothes.”
My men bowed to me and carried out my orders. Felix’s dried blood itched on my hand but gave me satisfaction. Luca would be avenged.