Quell (3 page)

The burning pain of healing was familiar and welcome, but it didn’t make it pleasant.

She could hear herself shouting, her voice hoarse and throat raw. Injections were fired into her from all angles, and her nerves felt less like they were on fire.

She was getting better, but it was going to take a while before she heard a buzzing noise without flinching again.

A comfortable pillow, comfortable room and dark sheets were what she woke up to. There was a pitcher of water beside the bed with a glass waiting for her. She sat up slowly, feeling as if she was back training with Yimtoa.

The water was cool, and it soothed her throat.

Her sitting up must have triggered an alarm. A man came in, and he bowed low. “Lady Caxton, our queen desires you to join her for a meal when you rise.”

She croaked, “Thank you. Is there anything for me to wear?”

He nodded again and walked to the wardrobe, pulling out a long, toga-type garment. “Do you require help dressing?”

“No thanks. I have felt worse and still managed a full day of work.”

He nodded and cleared his throat. “I will just be out the door.”

“Thank you.”

He glanced at her, his golden eyes surprised. “You are welcome.”

The moment he was out the door, she levered herself out of bed and slowly wobbled to her feet. She pulled the dress on, fastened it and figured that shoes were too difficult to manage right then. Unless she had help.

She opened the door a crack. “Excuse me, please?”

“Yes, Lady Caxton?”

“I... are there shoes in here?”

He nodded, “Of course. I will help you.”

He eased past her and opened the wardrobe again, taking out some flat slippers. He knelt at her feet and slid her right foot into one of them while she braced herself on his shoulders.

Her left foot was soon snug, and he smiled up at her. “Comfortable?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good.” He got to his feet and offered her his arm. “Please take my arm for stability.”

She nodded. “Right. Of course. So, this is Kreatha’s breakout?”

“We needed to extract her when she was accessible.”

“And this is a common attack pattern of your people.”

“It is.”

“So she knew. No wonder she flipped out when she found out I was scheduled to escort her. She would have to take out the Null next to her, and that was me.”

“She was... upset when she found out what had been done to you. Her brother assumed that you were one of her captors.”

“Nope. I was just there to do a job and make sure that no one got hurt.” She stepped a little too quickly, and her inner thigh muscles pulled.

“So she has informed us. Her family owes you a blood debt.”

“Why?”

“Because you were a friend, and they nearly tortured you to death. We take that very seriously.”

“Did you call Kreatha your queen?”

“Certainly.” He smiled down at her softly. “And here we are.”

He steered her around a corner where an observational bubble contained a table and some comfortable chairs. Kreatha was sitting and staring out at the stars. She jerked her head around the moment she heard them. “Caxton. Oh, thank the goddess you are all right.”

Amylia let go of her escort and made her way slowly to the arms of her friend. “All right is an overestimate. I am up and running. Everything else will take time.”

Kreatha’s huge gold eyes welled with tears. “I am so sorry that they did that to you.”

“They thought I was one of your oppressors, and they had spent six months feeling helpless. They lashed out. I won’t say I liked it, but I understand the motivation.”

Kreatha helped her to sit. “You are very good at understanding motivation.”

“It is a hobby of mine. No matter the society or species, the motivations of survival, reproduction or territory are common. You fell across all three of those motives.”

Kreatha sat across from her and poured the tea before loading a plate. “I am their queen. They worried.”

“And yet, you didn’t mention that to the court.”

Kreatha shrugged. “I didn’t feel it needed stating.”

“It would have made your actions inviolate. The ambassador assaulted the ruler of Rohul. Even the Imperium would have killed him for that.”

“They would have?”

Amylia chuckled weakly and sipped at her tea. “See? Societal prejudices can rear up and mess with you.”

“Well, Caxton—”

“Amylia.”

“What?”

“My name is Amylia. Caxton is my family name. Null Caxton is my title. I am here in neither capacity. I am here as your friend... Amylia.”

Kreatha smiled. “Amylia. I am not familiar with societies beyond my own. The Imperium was after us for some of our trees. We have some of the richest oxygen-producing trees in the sector.”

“And you control them all.”

“Just the ones with vines.” Kreatha winked. “Now, eat. You have been out for days.”

Amylia picked up some of the greens on the small plate, and she nibbled until she confirmed that she wasn’t going to lose the little she had eaten.

Kreatha remained quiet and asked, “Why were you really in court?”

“Because I didn’t want you facing it alone. I had no idea that this was going to happen.” Amylia looked at her wryly. “You did.”

“I did. There hasn’t been a lost queen among the Rohul in the last seven centuries. I knew my Artruo wasn’t going to start now.”

“Your husband?”

“Yes. We were bonded for three months when the Imperium came calling. They caught us by surprise then, but it will not happen again. My people do not take kindly to the high-handed behaviour that was exhibited. We will defend ourselves.”

“Why wasn’t I left for dead?” She nibbled at her meal, watching the amount she had been able to consume and continuing slowly.

Kreatha smiled slightly. “According to Artruo, when you were stunned, I grabbed you and wouldn’t let go. They had to take you with me.”

“And yet you hit me.”

“I had to keep you from knocking us all out. I knew that you wouldn’t expect it from me, so I apologise for the assault.”

“Considering the events which followed, I will have to think about accepting that apology.”

“My brother will be made to pay. Right now, he is in the hold, scouring the waste ducts with a small brush.”

Amylia cocked her head. “May I recommend an alternative punishment?”

“Certainly. Anything I can do.” Kreatha leaned forward with an earnest expression.

“Fine. Give him five percent of the time that I spent in the SRT. Full intensity. If he does the time without begging to leave, we are even. If he asks to get out, we will have to think of something else.”

Kreatha leaned back. “That is devious.”

“Thank you. It is his choice. Your punishment for as long as you choose, or mine and done.” She smiled tightly.

“You have a devious mind, Cax—Amylia.”

Amylia smiled and sipped at her tea. “It comes and goes.”

Kreatha grinned. “Do you want to be there when he goes into the machine?”

“Yes. I would like him to be played the audio track from when I was put in. He was very chatty, and while I can’t be as cruel, I don’t find any issue with him being treated to the same words that he whispered into my ear.”

Kreatha’s lips tightened. “I am beginning to think that my youngest sibling is a vindictive little shit.”

“I am thinking that he is going to be taught a lesson.” Amylia raised her teacup in a toast.

Thrameon lasted less than an hour in the machine. He was begging and whimpering as the machine aroused him for the third time, with his own hateful words being whispered into his ear via the headset.

Amylia sat in the corner. There were no bets, no giggling, no jeers. Kreatha’s mate was taking her place in the observation duties. Seeing her brother jerked off by a computer wasn’t her idea of a useful afternoon.

Artruo spoke softly. “You really looked after Kreatha?”

“Yes and no. She is a strong woman. I just gave all of the prisoners under my care the same respect that I would to anyone else I worked with. They were not there under their own will and some were violent. I kept them calm and helped them talk out their defenses.”

“And you nulled their powers.”

“Of course. Several of the ladies there were homicidal and not discriminating about it. Stopping them from using their powers was in my job description.”

Thrameon whimpered as the machine whirred into life again. “Please! Stop! I beg of you. I am sorry!”

He had been expressing his regret since he had begun, but the tears running down his face indicated his sincerity.

Artruo got to his feet. “Do you wish it to stop?”

Amylia nodded. “It can stop. He is begging. It can stop.”

Artruo shut the machine down and opened it, letting Thrameon free.

Thrameon crawled out of the machine and rolled to the floor. He crept forward until he was kneeling in front of her. “For what I have done, I should be castrated. I do not deserve your mercy.”

She touched his head, lifting his chin with her fingers until he met her gaze. “This isn’t mercy; it is compassion. I would not wish to give another what I felt. Take it as a lesson and try to keep to the same philosophy. Pain does not need to bring more pain; it can bring understanding.” She paused and gave him a cold look. “Or you can just be a dick. It is your choice.”

Artruo laughed. “You have been given a reprieve, now get up and get dressed.”

He was still fixated on Amylia’s face. “I may go?”

“You may go. Put some ice on your groin. It will help.”

Thrameon blinked and gave her a small smile. “I am at your service whenever you require it.”

“Fine. Go. Do whatever it is your sister orders you to. I am not quite myself yet.” With a wince, she got to her feet and left the research bay.

Artruo came with her, and she smiled at his protective attitude. Once he saw Kreatha and her laughing together, his loyalties had aligned with her in seconds.

“What will you do on Rohul? Do you have plans?”

She smiled slightly. “I have no idea. My skills are not really commercial, so I will have to find a way to make my living.”

“Have you considered ruling one of the provinces?”

She stopped and he paused, turning back with a smile on his broad face.

“I can’t step into a position of authority on a world I don’t understand. That is arrogant, not to mention stupid. All your female rulers have to have certain genetic traits, do they not?” She took a few steps toward him.

He waited and shrugged. “There is some leeway in the requirements. You need to be a fertile female, you must have the ability to rule, and of course, you must have a psychic power. I believe that you meet all three of those criteria. Think about it. There is always room for another competent queen.”

Amylia didn’t ask why her. There were few women who met those criteria on Rohul. It was what made Kreatha so precious.

The Preskiat had settled on Rohul after centuries of war on their own world. With their original home in ruins, they set out to start again, and this new world had everything they needed. The one problem was that their birthrate had dropped tremendously. Fighting wars for available breeding partners had caused more problems than it solved, so the women got together and elected a queen. The criteria were as Artruo had stated. They had to have power, be fertile and able to lead. If there wasn’t a qualified female, the area simply became a province and a male of a nearby queen’s line was selected to rule. He could be supplanted by one dainty foot in his province.

“I will consider it.”

Artruo smiled. “Excellent. If you do decide to take a throne, my brother, Gyrion, is an excellent choice as consort.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Uh, I will take that under advisement.”

“Do. I am sure that I can find a few ladies who can vouch for his skills as a lover.”

Her voice was strangled. “Not necessary.”

They joined Kreatha for lunch. She looked at them, checked the chronometer and shook her head. “He didn’t even last an hour.”

Amylia sat next to her friend and poured tea for all three of them. “He doesn’t have the constitution for it.”

Artruo glanced at her. “And yet you lasted for days.”

She shrugged. “I knew it wasn’t going to end until I died, so I tried to put that off as long as possible by letting the machine run in full cycles. The longer I could draw out my orgasm, the longer it would leave me alone.”

Kreatha stared at her. “You had a strategy for your climaxes?”

“Sure. I didn’t have anything else to concentrate on. I gave in to the machine, and I made it do all the work.”

She offered Kreatha the first selection on the tray, and when she declined, Amylia dove in.

Artruo cleared his throat. “I have offered Gyrion to Amylia if she will have him.”

Kreatha was about to take a sip of tea, and she paused. “That is an excellent idea. It is a neighbouring province, and he is an exceptionally handsome male. It would be a good match. Contact him, and let him know you have sacrificed him on our family honour.”

Artruo drank his cup of tea, inclined his head and departed.

“Where is he going?” It was becoming normal to have a meal with two faces covered in tiger stripes on either side of her.

Kreatha smiled and started to fill her plate. “He is going to tell Gyrion that he is engaged to an alien. I am sure he will be honoured when Artruo explains you. My husband is one of your admirers.”

She paled but said weakly, “One of? You make it sound like I have a group of men following me around.”

“Not following you, but they have come to me to ask if you would like a servant until you were completely recovered.”

Amylia frowned in the middle of a mouthful of noodles. “How many?”

“Five, seven? I lost count.” Kreatha shrugged casually.

Amylia covered her face.

“Why do you do that? I mean, I can still see you.” The rich chuckle was full of friendly mockery.

“I am composing myself to pretend that I am not embarrassed. I don’t pretend that well.”

“There is nothing to be embarrassed about. You have everything in you to be a queen. Perhaps, one day, even
the
queen.”