Page 39 of Benet

“Cargo?” Kyden asked.

“We’ve been inundated with cargo for the last few hours,” Talinn told him. “No idea what’s in any of the crates but we scanned it and there’s nothing explosive. No shipping manifests and all the guys delivering the stuff will say is it’s by the order of the Empress. The captain says we can make room for it all but he was pretty upset about the horses?—”

“Horses?” Marushka lifted her head from Benet’s shoulder and showed interest in her surroundings for the first time since leaving the cell behind.

“Six of them, real beauties. I guess we’ve cleared part of the hold to house them for the trip. There was plenty of bedding and food sent with them. Two dogs too.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” Kyden said, “But we’re getting out of here while the going is good, before the empress rethinks her generosity.”

“I need to see to the proper care of the animals,” Marushka said. “So yes, we need to hurry.”

Relieved she was showing an interest in events again, hopefully coming out of her shock a little, Benet took her by the elbow as the others moved toward the shuttle. “I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to your father or anyone else but I’m grateful she took pity on us.”

Marushka shivered. “We’re so lucky. I think maybe losing her granddaughter to the man she loved might have touched Ekatereen’s frozen heart a tiny bit. To our benefit, for which I thank Alessandra.” She bit her lip. “I won’t lie, it’s hard to leave my homeland with no notice but I’m going with you, the man I love, so I have no fears and I’m absurdly happy for an exiled nonperson with no estate to bring to marriage.”

“You’re not a nonperson to me,” he said, pulling her in for a kiss. “You’re my mate, soon to be my wife. You’re my whole world. We’ll make a new life in the Five Systems. You can be a vet and I’ll keep my day job working for Kyden and we’ll be happy.”

“Ever after,” she said with a smile.

Not to interrupt this tender moment but hurry the hell up, Kyden said in his head. The Empress could change her mind any time according to Dmitri.

Benet took Marushka’s hand and they ran to the shuttle’s ramp. The other cargo shuttle lifted into the sky as the couple stepped into their flyer and a few minutes later they too were airborne, on their way to freedom and a future together neither had thought would ever be possible.

The lights on the ground grew more and more distant as the shuttle ascended to the huge Vasclavian ship waiting in orbit. Benet thanked the Great Mother for all her help, from Kyden finding a way to rescue him to meeting his mate and bringing her home.

It might not have been pretty but everything worked out and they were leaving Outlier alive with no regrets. The future held infinite possibilities now and he and Marushka would make the most of them together.

Epilogue

Two months later, in the Five Systems…

Benet stood in the access tunnel of the arena, listening to the crowd. He was ready for action, in his standard uniform, red cloak thrown over one shoulder, breastplate gleaming, sword and shield ready. There was another event first, however, and he edged forward to watch. Marushka was in the House’s box in the stands, with Elara and the other mates and he wished he and his mate could share this moment in person. He settled for sending her a pulse of affection through the mate bond.

The gate across from him opened and trumpets blew a welcoming blast as Dmitri swept into the space. He was driving a modified chariot, drawn by a troika of three horses—a bay, a black and a pure white—and he wore the standard uniform as well. His silver hair streamed in the wind and he looked like a demigod at the very least, as if he could shoot lightning from his fingertips. Handling the reins with one massive hand, he waved at the cheering crowd as the chariot embarked on its first circuit of the arena. At the end of the circle he climbed onto the rim of the chariot, which had been specially modified in a way invisible to the crowd and as they screamed their appreciation, he stepped onto the backs of the two outside horses, one foot on each. The harness to the chariot severed, with arena stagehands rushing out to move the vehicle out of the way but the audience’s attention was on Dmitri, making his second pass around the sands standing on the backs of the galloping horses. He dismounted with a complex tumbling move and ran to face off with ten of Kyden’s best intermediate gladiators for a mock battle in Outlier style.

Benet had choreographed the entire thing, which was one of his skills Kyden prized highly. He had an ability to train the men to do elaborate stunt routines which appeared dangerous to the paying customers but which were really safe as long as everyone hit their marks and knew their cues. Dmitri had been adamant he didn’t wish to engage in real combat ever again and Kyden had honored the request. Dmitri’s ability with the horses was an extra plus—this trio had been among the six highly trained steeds the Empress had sent into exile with Dmitri and Marushka, along with her two dogs.

That wasn’t all she sent. Kyden had rented a massive storage space for all the crates which had been loaded onto the Vasclavian ship and Marushka had spent days sorting through the contents, with help from Benet and the other Badari mates. The cargo was an insane mixture of household furnishings, dishes, priceless works of art, fabulous jewels dumped in willynilly, delicate statues wrapped hastily in Marushka’s billowing court dresses for which she now had no use, books, several carpets…it looked to Benet like someone had ransacked the estate house and her apartment and scooped up whatever they could. Marushka pounced on her veterinary instruments with glee. Elara was helping her deal with the stodgy Five Systems bureaucracy to become licensed as a veterinarian. Kyden had already hired her to care for the six horses the empress had sent.

Benet found Marushka weeping in the storage space one day and when he sat to comfort her she showed him a scribbled note. “It’s from Vlada, the housekeeper,” she said between sobs. “She wishes us well but she’ll miss me. She was like a mother to me—I wish I’d been able to say goodbye to her at least.”

“So she packed all this?” he asked, waving at the piles of items and the as yet unopened crates still to be sorted.

“I’m assuming so, yes, with the help of the staff. Ekatereen must have given orders to send as many of my things with me into exile as they could in the hours we sat in the dreary cell. And they sent a lot of family heirlooms as well. I suppose Vlada included those because the empress was declaring the estate forfeit to the crown. I hope Ekatereen left my poor father a pittance at least but he wasn’t in good favor with her. And he’ll gamble it away if she did. I suppose I sound like a terrible daughter but Dmitri is the father of my heart—my own parent used me for collateral and sold me to Vasili.”

Out of all the incredible bounty so far Marushka had only moved a few things into their quarters at the House of Badari. She’d taken a small painting of her mother and a few knickknacks. Benet planned to build them a house soon but even then there’d never be enough room for all the items the loyal servants had pillaged on Marushka’s behalf. Kyden had been buying up land around the House with plans for his gladiators to build their own homes when the time came and Benet’s was to be the first. Kyden was adamant the pack and his extended ‘family’ at the House of Badari would remain in close proximity. Benet had no issues with the decree.

The crates marked for Dmitri were packed more neatly and encompassed the entire contents of his apartment at the imperial palace. All his furniture, books, paintings, clothing and other possessions had been sent. Benet privately assumed the empress had planned all along to send him to the Five Systems with Kyden. There were also several of the messily packed crates from the estate for him. Dmitri had been thrilled to find the entire contents of his kitchen, from spices to utensils to specialized cooking vessels. He and Arinna, the Admin who ran the physical plant of the House of Badari were at odds over the kitchen right now in fact because Dmitri wanted to set himself up there and cook, while Arinna argued he couldn’t be allowed to upset or displace the actual cook they paid an exorbitant salary to feed the Master, his mate-wife, the gladiators and the staff.

Between the two of them Marushka and Dmitri had so much stuff, they’d decided to open a museum to display the best of the items. Jaine, Rennyr’s mate-wife had been on her way to research Outlier at the time she was kidnapped by pirates and taken to an arena on a far-off planet where Rennyr had rescued her. She was a highly trained historian with several degrees and published scholarly papers in the Sectors and she’d agreed to curate the museum and the exhibits. Not much was known about Outlier and the assumption was, when the duo pitched this idea to Kyden, that people would flock to see the art, the dresses, the jewels and other items and learn more about the highly reclusive empire. Jaine was possibly even more excited about the idea than Dmitri and Marushka.

Another surprise had happened just this past week when a dapper gentleman from the Bank of New Switzerland showed up at the House and requested a meeting with Marushka and Dmitri. Elara had allowed him to borrow her office and about an hour later when the man departed as mysteriously as he’d arrived, Marushka and Dmitri informed the others in the inner Badari circle an anonymous person had set up an account for each of them at the bank and deposited ten million credits apiece. The bank rep had assured them there was no way to ascertain the person behind the generous gift but he winked and doodled an imperial crown on a sheet of paper while he was talking.

For now Marushka was allowing the funds to sit and draw interest. Benet wanted her to use them for herself and their children, if they were fortunate enough to have a family. She was considering donating some to charity and Elara was identifying options for her. Whatever his mate decided was fine with Benet. He was wealthy in his own right as a gladiator who won top prizes routinely and then there was also his salary from Kyden for the work he did as the second in command.

Elara was also planning a wedding for Benet and Marushka, to take place at her family’s vast estate in two months. Being Claimed mates was the ultimate bond for a Badari but Benet had always wanted the human ceremony to tie Marushka to him as well and she was enthusiastic about having a wedding among her new friends and family. He’d enlisted Elara and Jaine to find out from Marushka what kind of engagement ring she wanted, thankfully not a stone as big and flashy as Vasili had given her, and had proposed to her in the garden at the House not long ago.

Heart full of gratitude for all the good things which had come his way since he last stood in the arena, Benet thought about last night, when he’d gone to the grove of the Great Mother which Kyden had created on the grounds of the House. The area was off-limits to anyone but the Badari and their mates but Benet had been given access as soon as he returned to his home.

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