Chapter 38

Xivthar was being led down the corridor in disgrace. There was a squadron of guards surrounding him, and his own brother was leading the group, having used the mating frenzy as an excuse to put himself into power.

This doesn’t make sense. If he'd only waited a few more days, or even hours, he could have had the title of Acting Regent without going to the council and building a case against me. If he'd waited until I was dead, there wouldn't have been a problem.

But Drake hadn't waited. He'd informed the council of Xivthar's mating frenzy, brought on by the Earthling female, and used it as leverage to get himself declared regent. Now he was taking Xivthar to a cell somewhere to rot, until he died of the frenzy or the Hareema seized the planet.

The only bright spot in all of it was the female by his side. She'd been bound like him, and was being marched to captivity as he was. The fact that she wasn’t immediately taken away gave him a bit of peace in the midst of the storm he faced.

He glanced down at her, with her golden hair, intense green eyes, and soft lips. Xivthar cursed the interruption of earlier. He'd been ready to bury himself inside her, to relieve the burning lust he couldn't seem to get rid of. To mate with his chosen female.

Instead, his brother had burst in and ruined everything.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked.

His brother Drake, former Minister of Defense and current Acting Supreme Regent, looked back over his light green shoulder.

At least he's no longer maroon. Or maybe he should be. What comfort is there in knowing that he’s completely neutral over the thought of imprisoning me? I’m his only family. Some blue would be nice.

“You've been charged with treason. You're going to be executed.”

Xivthar was stunned. “Without a trial? I don't get to face my accusers and the charges against me in front of the council?”

There was a strict adherence to the law on Zanthar, but those who'd been accused of a crime were always given a fair trial.

“No trial is necessary.” His brother's smile was snide. “Do you realize, brother, that we're at war here?”

“But that doesn't mean you can suspend all forms of justice--”

“The council doesn't agree with you.” Drake's smile widened even further. “I convinced them to pass an initiative that would help us deal more aggressively with the Hareema threat. Any Hareema agent found on Zanthar is to be immediately disposed of. Any Zantharian collaborator proved to be working with the Hareema is to be considered a traitor and to be executed posthaste.”

Drake had always been very serious in his defense of the planet, but these actions didn't sound like him. “No trial? Immediate executions? Isn't that going too far?”

“To defend the planet? I don't think so.” Drake's response was met by the squad's affirmations and head nods. Apparently others agreed with his hard-line tactics.

“You said once someone's been proven to be an enemy collaborator. What's the evidence against me that merits immediate execution?” Xivthar couldn't wait to hear his brother's response.

“There were several charges brought against you,” Drake said. “The most damning evidence was your own skin. You've gone dark, given in to the mating frenzy, all for a female who we know works for the enemy.”

“She does not,” Xivthar growled, wondering why Sylvie hadn't spoken up in her own defense. Come to think of it, she'd been very quiet. Usually she was asking questions and butting in every few seconds. Now she was walking down the hall at his side, head down, silent.

Odd.

“Her ship brought down our shields.”

“You have no proof of that,” Xivthar countered.

Sylvie remained silent.

Xivthar looked at the Earthling female again and quickly realized that his gut wasn't acting in the same way it had been. It should have been chewing him to pieces for not plunging inside her when he had the chance. It should be driving him to irrationality, attempting to rescue her from the danger and protect her. Instead it was still, quiet. Why?

Drake scowled. “We brought new evidence to light. Her ship was equipped with an embedded computer command to release a feedback pulse along the ship's shielding at the precise moment the craft entered the atmosphere.”

Xivthar shook his head. “A feedback pulse from a craft that size wouldn't be able to knock out our shields.”

“The scientists disagree,” his brother shot back. “And since we now know that she's working for the Hareema… that means she's the enemy. Seeing that you’re in bed with her, that makes you a collaborator.”

“This is all shark shit,” Xivthar barked as rage pierced the center of him. “You have no real evidence.”

“What I have is enough to destroy you, which is all I need.”