Ren couldn't remember ever feeling as empowered as she did that morning after the raid.

That night, everything had changed. She'd opened herself up, let herself trust someone. She'd given everything to Rhavos, and he'd given all of himself to her. She'd never believed in fate or soulmates. How could she, when she spent so much of her life just trying to make it to tomorrow? But when she woke in the morning, still safe in his arms, she felt like she had a partner for the first time in her life. Someone to help her shoulder the overwhelming burdens she'd carried since she was a girl.

That sense of security, that knowledge of everything she'd gained, lit a fire under her. And even though some part of her wanted to wake Rhavos and coax him into a repeat of last night, there was a bigger part of her that wanted to start working on a way to use the knowledge they'd gained.

She tried not to wake him, but she could almost sense the moment he roused, as if she could feel his conscious state as easily as she could feel her own. He touched her and kissed her, his lips leaving a heated trail over the bare skin of her neck, shoulders, and back.

"A taste of what is to come," he said, his voice a deep rumble that made her shiver. "First, I must meet with the Pathfinder about what we found."

And that, she supposed, was why they were well-matched. Even when they were obviously both eager to shirk their responsibilities and get lost in each other for the rest of the day, honor and the ability to contribute mattered more.

She explained with a silly smile that she'd been sneaking off to see if she could hack into some of the Freedom Fighter terminals remotely, to dig up information about the Nikhiza.

If the sudden, possessive kiss he gave her told her anything, Rhavos was proud of her initiative, and they dressed and ate before working through the rest of the morning and afternoon.

Some of Rhavos' men glowered at her wordlessly when they passed her in the halls, and she honestly didn't blame them. She'd put their Conqueror in mortal danger, and that wasn't even getting into the other things the Freedom Fighters had forced her to do. Finding this information, offering it to the Pathfinder as a show of good faith, was only a little altruistic on her part. It would also help to clear her name, and give the Karuvar and humans the information they needed to bury Dallas' terrorist group once and for all.

In the end, after hours spent locked in a battle of wills with Addison's terminal, Ren managed to recover correspondence between Dallas and what she and Rhavos both believed to be a Nikhiza ship. The messages were coded and would take some time to decipher, but Rhavos had pegged one of the participants as Varzhan, a notorious slave trader. That combined with a few other items gave them enough evidence to bring to Drol'gan.

In the early evening, Ren and Rhavos were given clearance to board the Zavellan. A lift took them up from a docking station, and Ren fidgeted nervously as they ascended, Everton and Waystation Helios growing smaller and smaller by the second.

"So. He still sees me as a traitor, right? This should be fun."

A week ago, she would hardly have cared if a Karuvar—even the leader of the Karuvar—thought ill of her. But lately, the Karuvar had treated her as more of an equal than her fellow humans. She still didn't like how dependent the implants made humans, but there were more immediate problems to worry about.

"Drol'gan is nothing if not fair-minded," Rhavos said. "He will hear what we have to say, and he will do what is best for our people, regardless of what he feels."

There was an edge to Rhavos' voice that said he'd experienced this firsthand, but Ren decided now was definitely not the time to push. Instead, she tried her luck with something else. Something that had been nagging at her since her conversation with Addison.

"If this goes well, I'd like to speak with him afterward. Alone."

Rhavos' scaled brow ridge rose in question, but he didn't outright deny her. Who would have thought the bull-headed Karuvar she'd met could actually listen to someone else's reasoning before passing judgment?

"I want to apologize and try to make amends," she said, though she didn't go into detail about just how she wanted to do that.

"You were controlled by the other humans. The Pathfinder will understand that," Rhavos said.

"But I'm still the one responsible. I wrote the code. I pushed it out to all the new implants."

The lift climbed ever higher, the atmosphere thinning as they reached past the clouds. Rhavos regarded her with one part concern and one part stubborn insistence, but Ren held firm. After a time, he nodded.

"I understand. You wish to defend your own honor, and I would not deny you that."

Ren smiled at him, reaching up to trace one of the straps of his harness. He watched her intently, and she was suddenly aware of him in a way she hadn't been before. She could feel him; could feel his reaction to her as his body came alive, all without truly touching him. A rush of heat suffused her skin, but before she could do anything about this discovery, the lift came to a stop and they were ushered aboard the Zavellan.

Drol'gan awaited them in a large, circular chamber. At its center was a beautiful and intricate starmap that took Ren's breath away. As a girl, she'd often looked up at the stars, viewing them as an escape. To know there was such a vast universe out there, charted and just waiting to be explored, it reawakened those childhood dreams she'd long ago dismissed as fanciful.

Unfortunately, the starmap wasn't the only unexpected feature of the room. She felt Rhavos tense not long after they entered, and she soon understood why. It wasn't just Drol'gan and another Karuvar—Drann, his son—meeting with them. The Pathfinder had five guards present, each of them armed to the teeth.

It made her feel uneasy, that balance of power shifting so far in the Karuvar's favor that she very seriously considered fleeing the room altogether. Only Rhavos' presence kept her there.

"Pathfinder," Rhavos said, touching a closed fist to his heart.

Drol'gan mimicked the gesture. "Conqueror. Please, have a seat, both of you. I understand you have discovered information that will be useful to us moving forward."

To Ren's surprise, the Pathfinder actually smiled at her. He gestured to a round table, one that put her on equal footing with Drol'gan and her mate. Rhavos began to explain what they discovered at the raid, leaving room for her to speak, as well, and the Pathfinder gave her his full attention every time, even asking questions that allowed her to stay engaged.

It was such a huge contrast from the amount of security in the room that it left Ren's head spinning, but the more they spoke, the more at ease she became, eventually presenting the correspondence she'd found.

"The information Conqueror Rhavos provided makes it seem like this is a slave ship," she pointed out, "and that worries me. I don't think it's a stretch to believe the 'Freedom Fighters' are dealing directly with Varzhan, possibly even selling humans to them in exchange for weapons and technology."

She spoke the words in a calm, composed manner, but only because she had to. If she thought about them too much—if she thought about the fact that they might have done the same to her, were she not useful to them—she would be sick again. She'd seen too many people enslaved in her lifetime, even if the militia refused to call it that. If she could find a way to stop this before it began, she would put her all into it.

"That is very worrisome, and entirely too plausible," Drol'gan said with a frown. "Drann?"

The Pathfinder handed the reins to his son, who shared his knowledge with a somber expression. "In creating the Matchmaker program, we've found that the Nikhiza are also suffering from a lack of fertility amongst their females. The more cooperative, peace-seeking clan leaders have tried to convince others that they should parlay with the Karuvar, but so far, none have actually been willing to meet. I guess we know why."

Rhavos' expression grew unreadable, even with that sudden awareness she'd gained of him. "They are taking females."

"If that's true, we have to act, and quickly," Ren said.

Drol'gan nodded. "I agree, but we must have enough information beforehand. Otherwise we are striking blindly, and I believe we will do more harm than good."

Ren couldn't argue with that.

"I will send this correspondence to my experts to be decoded. Until then, Conqueror, I give you leave to expand your forces. Do what you must to bring a successful raid through the vault, but be prepared. The Nikhiza may already be here, among the humans."

"Yes, Pathfinder," Rhavos said.

The rest of the meeting mostly involved Rhavos further debriefing the Pathfinder, and Ren eagerly absorbed the information he shared. Once they were through, Rhavos looked to her, and she nodded.

"I will make the arrangements," he said. "I believe my mate wished a word with you," he said before heading to the door.

Drann's brows rose, a smile on his lips at this news. Ren couldn't help the blush that rose in her cheeks, or the rush of pride she felt at being called that so openly. She'd never wanted to belong to anyone, but being Rhavos' mate didn't amount to being his property. She was his partner, his equal, and other Karuvar seemed to respect that.

When she looked at the Pathfinder, though, something about his expression made her breath come up short. He was smiling, much like his son. But there was no joy in his eyes. They were hard, and focused intently on her. So much so that she lost her voice for a few moments.

"I just… wanted to speak to you without Rhavos' influence," she began, trying to find her courage. "What's happened at my hands… I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for those actions. I know you may not trust me, but I—"

"You are correct. I do not trust you," Drol'gan said simply.

The words were so sudden, so precise, that they knocked Ren's entire speech off-balance. Even Drann seemed surprised, his eyes wide as he regarded his father.

"I… I'd like to make amends. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I believe I can create a firewall that will protect Karuvar and humans from any future attacks on their implants. It will take time to implement, and it'll need to be tested, but—"

"I thank you for the offer, and for everything you have done thus far, but I am not interested."

Ren sat, open-mouthed, completely at a loss for anything to say. When words finally returned to her, she stumbled over how to arrange them in compelling sentences. "I know it might sound risky at first, but it'll be a huge boost in security. If I can have time to create a working model, to show you what the code would do in practice—"

"As I said, I am not interested. I am sure Rhavos will need your help with the security systems, and I have many things to attend to, so if you will excuse me," Drol'gan said.

He began to rise, and Drann stood alongside him, his expression one of disbelief. "Father, I think we should hear her out."

"I appreciate your input, but this is not your decision to make," he said.

Ren watched as the Pathfinder turned his back to her and everything she could provide. Two guards advanced on her, likely intending to escort her out, but she didn't cower. She stood calmly, though her voice wasn’t quite as sedate.

"You don't trust me," she said again to Drol'gan's retreating back. "I get that. Believe me, I do. But I was forced to do those things. Do you understand? I was held against my will and used to achieve another man's goals."

Drol'gan turned back to her, and for a moment, she saw a flicker of sympathy in his eyes. "I do understand that, Ren. And if you are truly acting against your will, I hope that Rhavos' mission will sever those bonds."

"If…?" she asked, barely believing what she'd heard. "I've been brainwashed, mind controlled, forced to act without my consent for five years, and you're still leaving room for an 'if' here?"

Anger rose swiftly in her, and she could recall her mother's words as she'd tried desperately to get her to behave; to placate the militia as best she could.

Just give them what they want, mija. Don't act out, or bad things will happen.

With those words, she'd placed the blame solely on Ren. Not on the men who held all the power; who controlled her every waking moment. And Drol'gan was doing the same thing. Shifting blame to her, all in hopes of easing a potential conflict.

"This is not personal," Drol'gan said, his gaze almost pitying. "I must think of my people first. Once this is over, if it is as you say, then I would be glad to discuss future security precautions with you."

Ren just stood in that room, watching in stunned silence as Drol'gan left the room. Drann gave her an apologetic glance but followed his father.

She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. And when one of the guards moved to escort her, Ren couldn't even pretend to play nice.

"Don't touch me," she said, her voice shaking.

She could feel those old fears creeping back in, heaps of doubt piled on top of them. Maybe this was her fault. Maybe she was being difficult. Maybe if she just complied…

No.

She wouldn't share the blame. She was as much a victim as the Karuvar, and if Drol'gan would not believe her, she would take a stand for herself.

And this time, she wouldn't be alone.