Page 73 of Scars & Starlight
“Fuck!” I growl. Tyren’s rock and soil are suffused withvarious metals. Nanite communication has always been spotty. “Hail that bastard on comms,” I sneer, standing up to pace The Sovereign’s command deck.
Korvann’s projection appears, the male smirking and fixing his collar with efficient movements, like this is a friendly chat between old friends.
“Ah,Prince,” he greets, a mocking emphasis on my title. “I didn’t expect you so soon.”
“Let’s dispense with the games, Korvann.” I push the next words out through my teeth, one by one: “Where. Is. My. Match?”
The male’s smile only grows wider. “I believe she is resting. That’s what my daughter said, at least. She was, ah, keeping her company last.” I don’t like any part of what he just said, but I let him continue digging his grave. The general’s eyes narrow when I don’t give him the reaction he was looking for. “If you or any of The Sovereign’s crew sets foot on this planet, I will kill her and your unborn brat,” he threatens.
My hands clench into fists, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms until I feel slickness dampen them.
“You won’t risk the only thing you have to barter with,” I hiss, more emotion than I’d like leaking past the mask I’m trying to keep up.
Korvann shrugs nonchalantly. “It might just be worth it to see the anguish on your face. You and that Nekkar bitch took a part of my future away from me,” he says, his voice turning venomous. “It’s only just that I take away yours. A child for a child. I very nearly did that already.”
Shivers erupt all over my skin, like I’ve been ejected into space, my body immediately flash freezing.
“What are you talking about?” I demand, my voice unsteady.
The general shrugs again, a muscle at the side of his jaw twitching. “She was running her mouth. I guess the non-lethal setting of my pistol was too much for a human-Avaren hybrid embryo.”
I lean forward, my nose an inch from the projection. “What did you just say?” I whisper, my voice carrying the hollowness of death.
“Relax,” Korvann drawls with a wave of his hand. “It survived. Though my nanites said it was a close call.”
My face goes slack as determination takes over. “I will kill you,” I promise. “Then I will gift your daughter to the Ghorvek.”
The older male clicks his tongue. “That’s the last threat you will make if you don’t want to receive your so-called princess back in little pieces.” He tilts his head. “Here’s what you will do. You will hail your weakling of a mother and tell her to abdicate publicly, naming me as her successor, commanding the people of Avaris and all our colonies to follow me. Do that, and I might let you and the rest of your family live out your pathetic lives on a moon far away from Sha’Rekai.”
I clench my teeth at the insolence. He truly expects our people to follow him? We struggled to keep his relatives safe, making their innermost thoughts public knowledge to absolve them of any guilt. The people of Avaris are out for blood, ready to take up arms in the defense of their queen and their newfound and already beloved princess.
“Show me that my match is unharmed and I will do as you say,” I command him, playing along for now, until she and my child are safely by my side.
Korvann’s eyes light up with a maniacal grin, too deep in his own delusion to doubt my intentions. He waves a hand, and a new projection appears beside his. It’s a prison with two rudimentary cells, each containing only a cot and a portable waste disposal.
“Where is she?” I growl, my eyes flickering over each small section of the prison. Outside the cells, at the door, I spot two Avaren males, lying on the ground, seemingly asleep. Or more likely unconscious or dead, their positions not natural. But there’s no sign of Tara.
The general turns his head, the smug expression melting off with a furious realization taking its place.
“Where is she?” he yells to someone out of view.
I wait, holding my breath until I hear the reply: “S–she isn’t in the building anymore, General.”
“What?” Korvann roars, his face turning purple.
Cutting off the communication with a wave of my hand, I share a grin with Caden. “That’s my wily match,” I say with relish. I turn to Zorath. “Disable their technology with an EMT pulse.”
“With pleasure,” he purrs.
Next, I turn to the pilot, Draven. “Land. Aim for the base, find a spot. I don’t care if we have to crush The Pride.”
As soon as the male nods, I address Avenis. “I don’t have to tell you to take out any fighters that approach us?”
“No, Commander,” she agrees, already aiming and locking the turrets.
I hail Kael in engineering.
“Yes, Commander?” the male answers eagerly.
