The Price of Power Read online

  If he trusted her, he might remove the extra WOR-guard patrol that kept her prisoner. Until they were gone she had no hope of returning back to Jeena and the flight deck where her hopes for escape rested.

  Elise stepped away, defeated.

  Gregor’s strong hand encased her wrist in a grip of steel, and it trembled.

  “High Tender vlor’Vardhal…”

  “My lord,” the High Tender said.

  Gregor’s breath came in a throaty whisper. “Leave…now.” The command in his voice was unmistakable and unarguable.

  High Tender Marcus stood and, without a word, strode from the room. He shut the door with a thud on his way out, leaving his silent disapproval to hang heavily in the air.

  Elise closed her eyes in victory.

  With a yank on her arm, Gregor spun her around. She let him enfold her in his arms.

  His hand lifted her chin. “I desire you more than you can know. Tender Training is difficult, but in your case vital. Are you ready, Elise? Are you ready to be mine?”

  He used my name!

  Malice cackled.

  “Yes, Gregor. I’ll be the best s’vlor you can imagine.”

  “You do not hold the Tender Training against me then, opés?”

  She pulled him close. “I understand why it was necessary. It was wrong of me to hide anything from you.”

  Gregor leaned down and kissed her. It started slow but deepened quickly, stealing both their breaths.

  Malice snickered.

  Elise allowed her tongue to tangle with his, showing the depth of her enthusiasm. It wasn’t hard. Gregor was an amazing kisser.

  Gregor’s throaty laugh was music in her ears. He pulled her tight. “Hm, this is nice, opés. I have missed our kisses.”

  She pressed her body against his. “I thought with Tender Training you no longer wanted me.”

  “No, that is not true.” He stole kisses. “I was angry, but my interest has not changed, only intensified. Tender Training has a way of teaching certain things that are not easily forgotten. I have been impatient for this cycle to end and see what changes Tender Training have made.”

  “Let me show you what I’ve learned.” She ran her hands down his chest and tugged at his shirt, pulling it free so she could touch his bare skin.

  Emperor Gregor vlor’Malita reacted to her touch, gasping as she raked her nails against his flesh.

  She reveled in her victory and sent the reluctant Malice back into the dark to wait with Shriek and Whimper. Later girls, I’ll let you come out to play later. But this—this—is all mine.

  She threw everything she could at him. His granite exterior softened to her touch until he became putty in her hands.

  He kept her in the classroom the entire morning and cancelled the last Tender Training session.

  Shriek and Whimper did not need to come back out and play. Elise tucked them away with a prayer of thanks. They were an integral part of her now, a permanent effect of Tender Training. Each had done her part and it was time to let them rest. When they were needed again, they would be ready.

  Elise found enthusiasm to return Gregor’s affections. She tested his oath with every trick she knew and left him gasping for breath more times than she could count. It was time for the hairs on his arms to stand on end. Her excitement left Gregor speechless as she planted kisses down his bare flesh. He barely kept his oath not to take her to bed.

  Chapter Two

  Five hours later, Elise waited in line for dinner. Sweat soaked into the welts on her back, making her skin sting. It seemed days ago that the WOR-guards had used the whipstick, when it had only been early that morning.

  Her eyes closed of their own accord. She wobbled and would have fallen if not for a firm hand gripping her elbow. She blinked and regained her balance. Alice and Aomi gave supportive smiles, but concern pinched in their eyes.

  Over? Aomi tapped.

  Elise nodded.

  Aomi sighed with relief. Worried 4 U.

  Alice squeezed Elise’s and tapped. How R U? Tender Training?

  Bad.

  I’m sorry.

  Elise moved forward with the line. She tapped a private message to Alice in their super-secret personal code. I need a favor.

  Anything.

  Draw the WOR-guards off me tonight.

  Alice filled her plate with salad and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

  Trust me. Elise pursed her lips.

  Alice did not reply. They finished piling their plates with food and sat down at a table. Aomi and Chandra join them. It had been a concession of Gregor’s to allow her to mingle with the other women again.

  The women chatted using the code, otherwise keeping silent to avoid punishment by the WOR-guards. They avoided questions about Elise and the braklav. Talk revolved around WOR-skill training and their accomplishments. Over the course of the meal, they filled Elise in on the major happenings over the past ten days.

  The most important news: their vlor’ lords had been chosen. Alice had been matched with Lord Edgard vlor’Calcask as predicted. Aomi had been paired with High Councilor, Lord Talen vlor’Adreti. Elise recognized the name. He’d been one of the men who’d attended the welcome banquet at the GC Social Headquarter’s building. Lord Valerius vlor’Damius would claim Chandra.

  Are these okay? Elise asked the girls.

  Edgard has been helpful. Hell, I’ve slept with worse. He’s not the best looking man, but his body is hard enough.

  Valerius is okay. Demanding though, Chandra said.

  Aomi? Elise asked. The Asian beauty was silent.

  She wiggled in her seat, and looked sheepishly at them. Men scare me.

  Silence descended for a time. Alice glanced around. Don’t worry. I’ll teach you some tricks. Keep him satisfied. Give him reason to please you.

  Aomi coughed away her nervousness and the meal passed while they traded WOR-skill training stories. Elise had nothing to add. She rolled the peas around on her plate with her fork and thought of the second skill. Her continued failure to learn the basics of WOR-skill frustrated not only Gregor and the High Tender, but her as well. How was it she struggled while everyone else seemed to make steady progress?

  If I just nudge here and pull just so…The little peas did exactly as her thoughts commanded, surprising her. Intrigued, she tweaked the command and added rotation.

  Chandra stomped on her foot. “You’re not allowed to practice outside the classroom. When did you start working the fifth skill? I thought you were behind in your training?” Chandra shut her mouth, realizing she spoke out loud. She glanced up and down the rows, looking to see if she’d attracted the attention of any of the WOR-guards. None approached.

  Elise looked at her rotating tower of peas. Six formed a perfect column and hovered a centimeter above her plate. She bent them into a loop and set them spinning.

  The girls gasped.

  How did you do that? Alice tapped out furiously.

  It’s easier this way, but they won’t let me try it my way.

  Show us.

  They didn’t get it at first, and kept brushing against the you-can’t-do-it-that-way argument the Vendel had pounded into their heads. Elise showed them again, and again, until by the end of the meal, Alice got two peas to rotate.

  She glanced Elise and tapped in their private code. Favor granted.

  Later that night, when everyone was asleep, Elise counted out the steps of her WOR-guard. Her protective WOR-guard shadow had been decreased from three to just one of the broad muscled Vendel males. He made a circuit around the five empty beds to either side of Elise’s semi-circular room and returned. She timed the circuit while waiting for Alice to provide some sort of distraction.

  An ungodly commotion sprang up from down the long rows of beds. Elise paused to listen as Alice’s screams called the WOR-guards to her bed.

  Elise formed her blankets into the shape of a sleeping body and prayed.

  Please let me get out of here without being seen.
<
br />   Slipping out of her sleeping quarters, she sprinted until the showers came into view.

  Almost there.

  She slipped inside without being seen. At the service door for the cleaning robots, she activated her sub-routine, Bobo, and waited for the door to open, then she crawled inside, breathing heavily.

  Made it.

  As the access port closed, Alice’s screams filled the air, growing louder. “They’re crawling all over me. Get them off! Get them off!”

  “Come on, get her in the shower before she wakes the entire deck.” A WOR-guard’s deep baritone rumbled from the other side of the hatch.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Who knows.”

  “She bit me!”

  “I don’t think she’s awake.”

  “Well, I know how to fix that.”

  Alice continued a string of unintelligible words while one of the WOR-guards turned on the showers.

  Elise left Alice to her WOR-guards and raced down the passageway. She made it to Sector F. A quick search through the linens produced a dirty blue jumpsuit. Dove’s comments echoed in her mind.

  Another quick search revealed an even dirtier jumpsuit. This she didn’t put on, but smudged some of the dirt and grease onto her cheeks and chin. Her hair went into a messy bun and she secured it with a strip ripped off one of the towels. A quick look in the mirror, a few strategically teased strands of hair, and she appeared appropriately messy. The jumpsuit hung on her frame, and the saggy bottom added to her rumpled appearance.

  Dove and Jeena had expected to see her a day or two after she’d left them. It had been over a cycle. Ten days!

  Will they still be willing to help? Have they given up on me?

  She raced to the hangar and pulled up short. A sharp metallic tang peppered her tongue and filled her nostrils with an acrid burn. She looked up, up, and up to the ceiling stretching far into the distance. It crawled with thousands of the black cleaning bio-pods. In the center of the vast space, a ship hung suspended in the grip of a crane, which itself was suspended, held by no force she could see. The ship moved along a silver guide wire and disappeared into a black opening.

  Elise hurried to Berth 28F39.1.

  Champion’s Riot, longer and narrower than Dove’s Spider Devil, sat in its berth. Elise’s gut clenched, worried about her reception.

  Jeena’s bottom half dangled out of a hole in the underbelly of Champion’s Riot. She wore red coveralls, clean, pressed and perfectly fit. One red boot perched precariously on a stepladder teetering on two of its three legs. The other kicked wildly. Elise hurried over to stabilize the stool, ducking to dodge the flailing leg.

  “What…who?” Jeena’s thrashing stopped and she popped out of the hole. “Well, I’ll be. It’s you! I thought you’d evaporated into thin air. How’s it going kid?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come back.” Elise felt her expression darken as memories of the braklav flooded her mind. “I couldn’t get away.”

  Jeena’s mouth opened in an “O” of understanding. “He caught you, didn’t he? Bastard. How bad was it?”

  Elise frowned. “Bad. But it’s over now.” She stood back from the stool while Jeena climbed down. “Does your offer still stand? Will you help me?”

  With a stony look and a grimace, Jeena frowned. “We need to talk about that.”

  Chapter Three

  A wave of relief washed over Elise at Jeena announced that she would help.

  Jeena held Elise by the shoulders and gave a cautious appraisal. “How much did you find out about me before you tracked me down?”

  “You’re an unsponsored female with the full support of the Pilot Conclave. That’s unheard of, and you have all the rights to earn and keep your money. You have no need for a sponsor, which is why I looked you up.”

  “Right, I have some of the privileges of caste and status given to males, without the obligations of citizenship or the restrictions of a sponsor. And I don’t technically keep my money. It goes to the Conclave Master and he doles out an allowance. It’s a formality. I report it to him and he lets me do with it what I want, but I don’t technically own it.” She scratched her neck and eyed Elise carefully. “But what have you heard about how I came to my unique situation?”

  “A little.” She’d researched the hell out of this very unique woman.

  “It was a dark time for me, involving an accident, death, and rape. Is that why you came to me?” Jeena cocked her head and parted her lips.

  “Yes,” Elise ventured cautiously. “I’m sorry about what happened to you, and like you, I have no hopes for a sponsor.”

  “Let me explain a little, because I want you to know why I’m willing to help. Helping you puts me at risk, but I think things need to change. My story is long though.”

  Elise glanced around. “We have time.”

  “We don’t have that much time. Let me tell you the short version. My family was en route to Sergra to meet me. My entire family: father, brothers, cousins, and uncles. My mother died a year prior, but had arranged for the matrimonial union. I was her only daughter and she matched me well. My family escorted my fiancé, his mother, and his female relatives to our wedding. Lord Saren lor’Sidlek was to be my husband and I would be the first in our family to move out of the commoner caste. My sons would be born lor’ lords.” Jeena’s eyes grew wistful and she paused.

  After a while she continued. “My mother asked his mother, and after intense negotiations, his mother consented to the union. He was quite surprised at the offer and delighted when his mother accepted. He arranged a lavish wedding in the highest lor’ fashion, insisting on a full year to plan. After the marriage oath, I would’ve given him my nuptial gift.” Jeena chuckled. “We had the worst fights that year. I hated that he insisted on the full ceremonial year of waiting. I was okay to get the permits and have my father sign over his sponsor papers. But Lord lor’Sidlek wanted everything proper for his new lady wife.”

  Jeena’s expression clouded over. “I stood in the transfer station, just outside the docking bay doors. My presence there had been the gift of the Sergra Pilot Conclave Master. He allowed me past the security checkpoints.”

  “You weren’t supposed to be there? Because you’re female?”

  “Yes and no. Only pilots were allowed there. I’d finished cadet pilot training, top of my class, star pupil. The Sergra Pilot Conclave was upset to be losing me to Lord lor’Sidlek and the Eroptan Pilot Conclave. I was giddy.”

  Jeena sat on the stool and motioned for Elise to sit on the floor. “I never noticed the men. Never dawned on me that they shouldn’t have been there. They hovered at the edges, dressed in mechanic’s blue. Lord lor’Sidlek was the first to step through the docking bay door. The rest of my family filed out behind him and Lord lor’Sidlek’s women behind my family. The men opened blaster fire and mowed Saren down. My poor fiancé didn’t even see my face before he died. I screamed and then the blast doors shut, sealing me in with the assassins.”

  Tears pooled in the corners of Jeena’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks. “The shuttle pilot came out waving his blaster and joined the dead. The leader cursed and killed the one who shot the pilot, saying something about taking out their only escape route. That’s when they noticed my pilot’s red. They forced me into the shuttle. Fortunately, I’d completed my checkout runs on that model and could fly it. Otherwise, they would have probably have killed me as well.”

  “Oh, Jeena, I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.” Except she could. Elise’s entire family, her friends, and nearly all of Earth’s population had been exterminated by the Vendel.

  “You asked if I would help. Kid, those three men had me alone in that shuttle for four weeks. They forced me to pilot for them, but their WOR-space ship never materialized at the rendezvous point. I tried everything to keep them off me. It worked the first week, but four weeks with three desperate men never goes well for the woman. Especially a woman without her snarking pad. By the time orbita
l patrol caught up to us, my life was ruined. I was damaged goods. Not fit for any man’s matrimonial bed.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “I don’t advertise. Most women in my situation have family to fall back on. Their fathers or brothers, even uncles take over sponsorship obligations. My entire male lineage lay dead in that docking bay. No sponsor left and no hopes for a husband. Not after the rape. The Sergra Master spoke with the Eroptan Master and they presented me with an option. They took it all the way to the vlor’ lord of our sector for approval.”

  She waved her hands over her body, “And so, here I am today. A woman without status, without sponsorship, and yet I own my own ship, manage my own business, and I made a killing in the jump-jet circuit.”

  She hopped up and motioned for Elise to follow. Jeena continued speaking as she walked away. “I have three things to give you. And one to show you.”

  Jeena took her inside Champion’s Riot.

  They wandered down the long central hallway of the ship. Tiny rooms protruded off the side of the passageway. Jeena brought her to a slightly larger crew’s rest quarters than the one in Spider Devil’s. On the table sat a gel-flimsy, a red jumpsuit, and a snarking pad.

  Elise approached the table and the three items. “What’s this?”

  Jeena spoke over her shoulder. “The first is a gel-flimsy on basic piloting skills, training simulations, and everything you need to know about the jump-jet. The second are your new clothes, pilot red. You’re ditching mechanic blue. I’m making you a pilot! It’s what’s going to get you off this ship, and hopefully, away from your sponsor. And the last, is self-explanatory.”

  Elise picked up the snarking pad and fingered the twin trailing wires. “Jeena,” she said sheepishly, “I have no idea how to use this.”

  The low throaty laugh caught her attention. “Kid, that is the root of a woman’s power. With it, you will garner favors, cement friendships, and make men lavish you with everything your sponsor should otherwise provide. They’ll bend over backwards, hoping against hope you’ll enter into negotiations with their mothers. You aren’t obligated to tell them about your lost nuptial gift. That’s for their mothers to know and you aren’t going down that road.”