Chapter Eleven
Toralyn Sulani peeked around the corner of the building to check for anyone nearby. The daylight was nearly gone, which helped to hide her form, but what she was doing was too important to risk.
After carefully surveying the streets, windows, and even rooftops, she deemed the area safe. Clutching her wrapped parcel in her arms, she casually walked toward a three-story building made of a light green composite material. On the outside, it looked like dozens of other homes on the street, what with its flower bed and handful of shrubbery. There was even a decorative wreath carved out of wood on the front door. Looking at it, no one would guess what happened inside.
And that was the point.
The door opened to reveal an older female with white hair and magenta skin. She stepped aside, allowing Toralyn to walk past and down the corridor to a familiar door.
Turning the knob, she strode into a large recreation room with gray walls. While no program played at the moment, four other females were scattered around the room, going through a set of meditative poses, with an older female overlooking their actions.
The younger females were her Sulani cousins and fellow merchant spies.
After quickly ripping open the parcel she carried and changing into a two-piece, tight-fitting outfit, Toralyn walked over to the four younger females and waited for them to finish. Once they did, the female with golden hair and golden skin overlooking them all, Dolvia, stated, “You’re late.”
Since Dolvia was not only their trainer but Toralyn’s adopted mother, she knew better than to criticize during training sessions. Toralyn simply bowed her head. “Apologies, sir. My employer wouldn’t let me go until I’d stacked the latest shipment to his satisfaction.”
One of the other females, Ulvani, snorted. “Old Sorvel Rippak is a demanding bastard. I’m glad I wasn’t assigned to one of his shops.”
Toralyn looked to the light teal-skinned female with silver hair. “Better than working for a pervert such as the Treslen heir, who keeps touching your rear. I would most likely toss him across the room every time he tried.”
Ulvani shrugged. “Because of me sharing some of the new Treslen design plans, the Sulanis adjusted their next jewelry line, and we’re outselling the pervert two-to-one. I see that as a type of revenge.”
“Enough,” Toralyn’s mother said. “We’ll discuss all of your weekly reports and works situations later.” She looked at Toralyn. “We held off formal meditation until your arrival.” The trainer looked at each of them in turn. “Everyone sit down and begin.”
Following her mother’s order, Toralyn sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes. She imagined a field of stars and zeroed in on one. As she slowly created an alien race with strengths and weakness, she devised maneuvers to defeat them or to at least create a situation where she could draw against them.
She had mentally taken one down when her mother’s voice cut through the vision. “Time’s up. Open your eyes and stand.” Once all of them complied, the trainer continued, “Today will be the most important test of your stints as merchant spies. One of you will be selected for a special assignment. But old Ulrick only wants the best of the best of my warrior-trained females. So your sparring sessions today may well dictate your future.”
Ulrick Sulani was the head of the Sulani merchant family and the original brain behind using females as merchant spies. “But Ulrick’s currently on Jasvar. Does that mean the assignment takes place there?” Toralyn asked.
“Perhaps,” her mother stated. “Triumph in the sparring sessions over the next few weeks and find out.”
As a child, Toralyn had always hated her mother pushing her to be better, faster, and smarter than everyone else. But because of it, Toralyn had caught Ulrick Sulani’s eye and won a place in merchant spy training program at age sixteen.
The only problem was that she was twenty-two and fast approaching the age when she should take a lord and give up work in the merchant shops. Well, unless she married a merchant herself, then she might still be able to work. But never again as a merchant spy.
Which meant giving up her hard-won freedom and training.
However, if Ulrick had an assignment on Jasvar, Toralyn might be able to escape the usual fate of Kelderan females and the restrictions put on their life choices. By all accounts, Jasvar’s human leader was female. Not only that, but most of the female leader’s warriors were also women.
If she won a place to Jasvar, Toralyn might never have to marry, which would suit her just fine.
Dolvia motioned for them to take their places. Toralyn stood opposite Ulvani and took her fighting stance. At Dolvia’s whistle, she circled to the left and Ulvani mirrored her actions. She forgot about everything but her opponent, imagining her to be one of her competitors. Because if any of them ever found out the truth, it might come to sparring and escaping for her life.
Ulvani’s weakness was a lack of patience, and she dashed forward. Toralyn feigned left before ducking and using her body weight to pin Ulvani to the ground. The other female grabbed her hair and tugged. Pain erupted on her scalp, but Toralyn pushed past it, rolling over and taking Ulvani with her.
Her opponent released her grip in the tumble and Toralyn took advantage but flipping Ulvani on her back. At the same time she dug her knee into Ulvani’s lower back, she gripped each of the female’s wrists and tugged her arms back to where she caused pain but didn’t break any bones.
Although if it were a true enemy under her, the position would allow her to do so if need be.
Ulvani struggled, but Toralyn counted to ten, released her cousin, and stood. “I claim victory. Do you acknowledge?”
Rolling over, Ulvani rubbed one of her wrists. “I do, but how about not almost breaking my wrist next time?”
Grinning, Toralyn put out a hand, and Ulvani took it. Once her cousin stood, Toralyn answered, “I’ve done worse in the past. Remember when we were ten and visiting a distant relative at that farm?”
“Don’t remind me. To this day, I swear you were trying to toss me out of that tree.”
“You were the one who said you could climb better than anyone. I was out to win.”
“I didn’t expect you to play dirty,” Ulvani muttered.
“Dirty is in the eye of the beholder,” Toralyn said with a shrug. “Until you embrace that fact, you’ll never win against me, cousin.”
As Ulvani shook her head, Dolvia approached. “Ulvani, as the defeated, take Toralyn’s report and go to my office to begin filing the information.”
Not willing to disrespect their trainer, Ulvani nodded and put out her hand. Toralyn took out a small digital file storage device from a hidden pocket and handed it to her cousin. Once Ulvani was out of earshot, Dolvia said, “I received a message that you’re to go straight home.”
She frowned. “What about the rest of the training? Or, the next set of sparring sessions?”
“I will entrust you to complete the training on your own, and I’ll postpone them until next week. Now, go. The order comes from the top.”
Toralyn had no idea what Ulrick or his son wanted with her, let alone why going home would be best, but she knew better than to question the order. “Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Toralyn raced to her clothes. Since undressing and redressing would take too much time, she tossed her dress over her training uniform and counted on avoiding any trouble on the way home.
Quickly exiting the room, she reached and paused at the front door and glanced at the security camera feed. However, the street was mostly deserted except for an occasional transport shuttle or pedestrian, which was usual for the time of day.
Stepping outside, she did her best to survey her surroundings and continued to do so as she went down one street and then another. As part of her cover, she lived near the main Rippak shop in the capital. But of course she never took the most direct route. She’d made a game of it, seeing how many different ways she could reach home without using the same pathway twice.
Not for the first time, Toralyn wondered what she would’ve done if she’d been born male. She might’ve liked to work as a spy for the royal family. Or, maybe as a warrior.
Too bad she was a female on Keldera, whose entire purpose was to marry and reproduce. She’d just have to find a way off the planet and possibly to Jasvar. She knew the new colony would have difficulties to overcome, the least of which would be missing her family, but the freedoms would more than make up for it.
When she was nearly home, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was watching her.
Doing her best to observe from the corner of her eyes, she continued walking as if nothing were out of the ordinary. However, she made sure to avoid any alleyways or other obstacles someone could jump from.
She turned the final corner to her street and resisted a curse. The wide road was the only way to reach her building, but since it was one of the main shopping thoroughfares, dozens of streets shot off the main one. At least people still filled the sidewalks, and transport shuttles zoomed up and down the way, which should give her sufficient cover.
Taking a deep breath, Toralyn hoped being in a populated area would be enough.
She was about halfway down the street when the door to a vacant shop opened. Before she could do more than blink, a male tugged her inside at the same time something pricked her skin.
Toralyn barely had time to note the muscled, blue chest and the dark hair of a male before she fell into him and the world went dark.