The Blood Empress (12 page)

Veasa and Testor dismounted the vehicle and set out to secure the area. Nykostra and Verrad used the time to talk freely.

"We have to see if they can get us back to the Kastra," Verrad whispered.

"I don't think they like the Kastra much. Why else would you take to this hostile desert to live?"

Verrad looked at her with suspicion. "Are you suggesting that we stay with these animals?"

Nykostra scrunched her eyes up in pain. "I've been thinking about Lord Vac and the deception. The Kwerza-Ni wore a helmet that covered his ugly gray head. I thought it was part of their deception before, but now I understand why he wore the helmet."

Verrad's interest was piqued.

"All Soothsayers are seers but a few have empathic abilities to reach into the minds of the weak and influence them. After I became the Kamsa-riecht, I gained such powers."

She opened her eyes and they were aglow like the coals of a fire. Verrad understood immediately.

"There is something about the Benzotii that causes interference in the form of intense headaches. My mind numbs whenever Testor is near, even now I have to fight to think above the pain."

Verrad sat up suddenly, "All the better to leave, my Empress."

Nykostra put her hand on his arm to reassure him. Her eyes had dimmed back to their normal shinning black color.

"We can't survive out here without them. When we reach their village we'll try and make contact with the Kastra or see about getting transport of our own."

"I don't like this. The Vedians are traitors. They befriend our enemies and live like desert rats," Verrad sneered.

Nykostra allowed herself a grim smile. Aside from the pain in her head she was starting to relate to Veasa and the alien.

A new figure entered the rocky shallow where they were parked. It was a Votainion male, dressed in flowing robes and armed with a rifle and a short blade strapped to his utility belt. Verrad immediately put himself between Nykostra and the stranger.

The man stopped a few meters from them and removed the brown scarf from his face. He was ruggedly handsome with a squared jaw and piercing green eyes. Nykostra let out a sigh despite herself. She could feel his magnetism even before he spoke.

"I'm Tarse Vac. Welcome, my Empress."

The man thrust his right arm across his chest and bowed on one knee before them. Nykostra and Verrad exchanged confused looks. Slowly she got off the transport and walked over to the desert man. Verrad followed, his weapon drawn.

"Rise, Tarse Vac," she commanded.

Tarse rose and looked Nykostra directly in her eyes. She was not accustomed to having her subjects be so forward.

"Are you of Lord Vac's line?" she asked.

Tarse nodded. "I'm his son, my Empress."

She looked back at Verrad who raised his brow and shook his head in confusion.

"Have you been banished to these parts?"

Tarse's mouth spread in a bitter grin. "I'm sure my father believes that, but no, I'm here on my own accord. I'm the leader of the Benzotti Resistance."

Nykostra was about to ask what resistance when she felt a sudden twinge and the pain returned with a vengeance. She looked up through squinting eyes and saw that they were surrounded by sienna colored Benzotii. There were a few ragged Votainion men mixed in but most of them were the two headed aliens.

"Please, make them go away," she uttered before collapsing to her knees from the pain.

Tarse waved his arms and the Benzotii backed away out of sight. He stepped forward and helped Nykostra to her feet. She held his forearms as her head slowly cleared. Looking into his green eyes she quickly fell under a new spell. One that she did not anticipate ever having fallen into again.

"Are you okay, my Empress?" Tarse asked.

"It seems that I'm allergic to the Benzotii. I suffer tremendous headaches when they are near."

Tarse looked at her suspiciously. "Only the Soothsayers have such a violent reaction to them. I don't understand how you," he stopped and looked at Verrad and then back at her. "You
are
the Kamsa-riecht!"

She winced when he said it. But he went to his knee before her again.

"I wasn't sure who you really were. I suspected that you were another trap sent by my father."

"Rise," Nykostra said.

Tarse slowly stood up, his eyes still down. She didn't like him in such a subservient role. She much preferred his direct attention.

"I am the Kamsa-riecht but I command that you always look at me directly."

He glanced up at her and they locked eyes for a moment. She immediately regretted her command. If she could not break away from his alluring stare, she might not be able to keep herself away from him.

Verrad stepped up and addressed Tarse. His close proximity intimidated the younger man enough to cause him to look to him instead of her.

"What is this Resistance you lead?"

Tarse stood back and raised his arms. "This world is not just some hinterland that the Empire has seized. It's the home world of the Benzotii. My Kastra annexed it early in the war and turned it into their home. It is the Votainion Way. When we find a valuable world, we take it. It doesn't matter if that world is already occupied. We just subjugate the natives and rename the world in honor of our Kastra and in the name of our Empress."

Verrad raised his rifle and pointed it at Tarse. "Watch your mouth."

Nykostra pushed the rifle barrel down. "Let him continue, Captain."

"In most cases when the Empire takes a world, the natives can't really fight back. But the Benzotii are smarter and more resilient than most races. They scattered to the nearby stars and never gave up the dream of returning to their homeland.

"My father, Lord Kevern Vac would rather fight a war of attrition with the Benzotii than just return this world to them. There are three other planets of equal size and value in this region. There is no need to occupy this one world and perpetuate the hatred of us by the Benzotii."

Tarse stepped closer to them and Nykostra could sense the anger in him for his father and for the Empire. She reached into his mind ever so slightly and was repelled by the hatred in his heart for his own father.

He seemed to back down visibly from his anger. "Here I am complaining about the Empire to the one person in this galaxy who probably doesn't give a damn. My apologies, Empress Nykostra."

"Can you get us back to the capital?" she asked, using her best persuasive voice.

Tarse studied her and Verrad for a moment. His mind churning over possibilities that Nykostra knew might not be in her best interest.

"We don't have air transport, too easy for the Imperial forces to track us. We live a nomadic and reclusive life here in the desert."

Verrad looked concerned as he said, "Then give us a communicator so we can call for help."

Tarse shook his head. "We're not so foolish as to carry such devices here, Captain." He looked back at Nykostra. This time she knew he was losing his patience. His green eyes narrowed behind his pronounced Votainion brow.

He took out a Benzotii pistol and pointed it at them both while motioning quickly with his other hand and whistling. The Benzotii warriors reappeared around them, cutting off any chance of escape.

"How could I have been so foolish. I've been given a gift by the gods. The crown jewel of the Empire. Hand over your weapons now."

Verrad didn't budge. Nykostra pleaded him with her eyes but he held his rifle firmly. No honorable soldier of the Empire would allow the Empress to be taken hostage. Not without a fight.

She took off her blade and handed it over to Tarse. He held it up and pointed his pistol at Verrad's belly. She put her hands to her head as the pain increased to the point of making her sick.

"Come now Captain, is your honor worth your life?"

Verrad saw how crippled Nykostra had become and decided in that instant that his life was worth the effort to save her. But before he had the chance to fire his rifle he was hit from behind by a Benzotii and knocked unconscious.

Nykostra fell to the ground by his side, her own condition deteriorated to the point of being incapacitated.

Tarse issued commands in Benzotii and the two Imperials were hoisted up and stuffed into the transport.

***

The Kwizarra Lonn's corvette entered orbit of Vac One. They were immediately contacted by the Capital. Two frigates plotted an intercept course. A third frigate sat nearby making no contact with them.

"That is Verrad's warship. They appear to be conducting search sweeps on the deserts below," N'arvon said.

"The Empress is missing," Kwizarra Lonn replied.

N'arvon pointed to the approaching Kastra warships. "What do we tell them, Kasim?"

"Tell them we are here to replace their Soothsayer and to aid negotiations with the Empress."

N'arvon complied. Within seconds the surly face of a warship Captain appeared on their screen.

"State your business at Vac One," he said.

"We are here to offer a new Kwerza-Ni direct from Voton. And to aide in your negotiations with Empress Nykostra."

The Captain seemed unaware of any negotiations.

"The Empress left here after killing our Soothsayer. Stand down and prepare to be boarded."

N'arvon looked back at his master. The Kwizarra Lonn nodded slowly. The connection dropped.

"She is still planet side, but they don't know this," said the Kwizarra Lonn.

"Kasim, if she is down there. She could be in the hands of the enemy."

The Kwizarra Lonn nodded. "I cannot see clearly on this world. The presence of the Benzotii interfere with our abilities. We must call for the Chief Architect."

N'arvon's dark eyes widened.

"But Kasim, she could be dead by the time he arrives."

"We shall inform Vac One of the travesty on their doorstep. They will be compelled to help find her or face the wrath of all nine Kastra. I did not foresee this wrinkle. We must be cautious of a new element."

"New element, Kasim?"

The old Soothsayer closed his eyes. "With our senses blocked, we must now rely on fate."

N'arvon shook as if the temperature had suddenly dropped. Not being able to see the future was frighteningly akin to being blind for the Soothsayers.

***

Nykostra awoke sometime during the night. She was in a tent with narrow sides and a round bottom. It was cold and she was wrapped in animal furs and heavy blankets that all smelled of Benzotii. Her clothes had been changed, she was now wearing a thin brown abaya that covered her entire frame. She had nothing on her bare feet.

She got up and pushed through the entrance flap and stood outside. The night air was cool and crisp. The entire sky was filled with shinning stars. There were six similar shaped tents scattered around the campsite. She didn't see anyone standing watch. Her head was numb from the constant pain. Breathing in the cool air she stretched her arms out to get her blood flowing. The dry wind cut through her clothes and caused her to shiver. Deserts became far colder at night than she had ever imagined. She had never been off the steppes of Voton before.

She went back inside and snuggled down under her blankets to warm up. It was probably pointless to have guards in the middle of an unforgiving desert. She had to find her falchion and Captain Verrad, if they had not killed him. Just the thought of that alarmed her.

Feeling around in the tent for her clothes and her weapon she found neither. There was a heavier cloak and she pulled it on over her abaya. She felt around in the dark and eventually found a pair of leather boots which she slipped into. Someone had bothered to find her desert clothes that fit her. She figured it was Veasa, the only other female she had encountered.

Slipping out of her tent a second time, she crept over to the nearest tent and slid aside the door flap. There were two bodies sleeping under heavy blankets. She couldn't tell who they were. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness but not well enough to see who it was. She moved onto the next tent.

This time she ducked inside to get out of the cold wind. A figure sat upright in his blanket bed looking at her in the darkness.

"You should be asleep, Empress," Tarse said quietly.

"I find that difficult in a strange land."

He motioned for her to come inside further. She sat crossed legged in front of him. In the dim light she could just make out his handsome features. He was wearing a light colored thawb. His hands were resting in his lap as if he had been meditating.

"Why do you care about the Benzotii so much?" she asked.

"This is their land. We are foreign aggressors, just as we are on every other world in the Empire. I try to imagine what it would have been like if aliens had come to Voton and forced us to scatter to the stars. Would we miss the cold, wind swept steppes or the high desert mountains? Would we do anything in our power to get that land back?"

She looked away. This was the first time she had been away from Voton and she found herself missing it terribly. Especially during the heat of the day. This world was too dry and too damn hot for her taste.

"I've never been off world before now and I miss Voton with all my heart."

He leaned forward, squinting to see her in the dark.

"Then you know how they must feel. You and the Benzotii are not so alien to each other after all. Despite how they must make you feel. I've sent them away from this camp. We are only Votainions here."

She sat quietly for a moment.

"How are you going to bargain with your father when you refuse to use communication devices?"

Tarse let out a sigh. "He knows how to find me. I have an extensive network of relays all around this world. There is little that he does that I'm not aware of."

He moved closer to her, not arm's length away and sat down again.

"A Soothsayer warship has entered orbit. They are looking for you and your Captain."

Tarse noticed her shocked expression in the darkness. The Kwizarra Lonn had come after her. She was probably safer in this tent than anywhere else on Vac One. Safer from death, at least, but not from losing her honor.