Page 17 of Breeding with His Enemy

That sent a streak of panic through me… Had I done something wrong? Was there something obvious about my methods here…? I would need to double-check my work. My cover. I couldn’t let anyone suspect me. On any basis. The flawless profile of a human newly leaving Earth, in awe to be betrothed to a warlord.

That was what I had to be.

What I really was… Was something entirely different.

I spoke with Cheecha a little bit longer as I finished my meal. The rest of the crew in the galley watched with dubious amusement as she taught me to walk more efficiently in my mag boots. I laughed with her, but it was a bit more natural before long.

As I returned to my chambers, happy about the exchange and potentially having gained a friend on board. I practiced walking as I went, smiling.

I veered off toward one of the bathrooms just before I got to my room. I looked both ways before I entered, then slipped inside. I clicked the lock of the head behind me. I slid to the floor and then clicked aside a wall panel beneath one of the sinks. There, waiting patiently where I had left them, was a cloth toolsack with the mechanic’s tools I had lifted off the tech on his way to his shift.

It hadn’t taken much to space his body out of a maintenance deck airlock. I had shot him up with a neurotoxin I had brought from Earth disguised in one of my perfume bottles, so there had been no blood. It had taken more from me emotionally than it had physically.

I just had to keep reminding myself: he was the first in a line of many that might fall on this mission. I was acting out a plan for the Human Resistance against the Nova Dominion.

By the end of my wedding night, more blood would be on my hands.

8

Braxl

White clouds swirled across golden land masses and merged with green lagoons as the beauty of Prexis Prime swept into full view of the bridge’s main screens.

I tapped my fingers against the console before me as a spike of disappointment warred with nostalgia. No matter how close I was, I wouldn’t be setting foot on my home planet this time, but it was good to see her just outside the ship. I didn’t really understand why it was so important to my father that this stupid ceremony took place outside the orbit of our home, especially when there were so many lovely places on the surface. Still, at least I was able to witness her glory before me.

The citizens could also look up and see the flares of spaceship cores lighting up the sky above them. There was a fierce application process to become a soldier within the Prexis Prime warrior elite. I hand-picked those who won the privilege of flying with me onGloryDaze. The infantry who tumbled in battle (like the weak human cannon fodder we used to take over planets in the first onslaughts) didn’t know how lucky they were before they fell.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, listening to my well-trained unit’s customary lull of commands as they brought us to a floating orbit. I contemplated giving the instruction to burst down into atmo just so the citizens of my great planet could see our heat shields flare.

I grinned and resisted the urge.GloryDazewas the most recognizable of our ships in the sky. My father would view it as immature bravado.

He wouldn’t be wrong.

But Prexis needed more of that. And many of the Commanders agreed with me.

That was one good thing this blasted wedding afforded me: the opportunity to meet with some of the Counsel who were drifting away from the philosophy of my father’s Iron Fist ruling and might come over to my side. The side that wanted to return Prexis to a power in the sky that inspired loyalty and passion, not fear and hostility.

There were undercurrents of division, and I could exploit them.

“Commander, we are stable in orbit. Shuttles from awaiting ships are requesting admission with docking procedures. The Highest Supreme Entity approaches.”

I nodded to the command and stood.Let the festivities begin.

* * *

My feet felt sluggish as I walked through the halls toward the docking bay. I didn’t need to be there to meet all the people who were arriving, but I knew I had to be there to meet my father.

The halls of theGloryDazeweren’t straight. They curved upward and wound around the central structure of the main core in a way almost protective of its crew. I adored it. The ship’s system mimicked how I felt about all the men and women who served under me. Even those who served on the accompanying vessels in my fleet at any time we were on a mission.

That included every man and woman, except for maybe Vishin.

So when he bobbed around the corner, beady eyes boring into my soul, red and black hair slicked to his shiny forehead, I almost returned the way I had come. But the quickest route to the docking bay and my father was this direction and,damnit, I wouldn’t be derailed on my own ship just because I didn’t want to have a conversation with this spindly drunk.

“Commander Braxl!” Vishin raised his hand to flag me down, even though he was stepping straight toward me and me toward him. I huffed a sigh and tried to stride past him, but he stepped beside me and turned to follow, skipping to keep up. I was two heads taller than him and nearly twice as wide. It had always rankled that Vishin had gotten the command of his own ship. It was due to the nepotism of his father, a warlord loyal to my own father. Vishin had never served in the infantry forces or even stepped foot into the battle. He watched from afar and at least had the good sense to let wiser, more strategic heads make the decisions for him from his command room.

Still, he wielded the power.

I tried to keep from rolling my eyes or diving into a side door as Vishin smirked at me. Looking for any outlet away from the man wasn’t a solution. Part of being a Commander meant treating the others who were supposedly my peers with some semblance of respect.

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