88

Raxthezana

humans wish to stay on Ikthe when we deliver our spoils,” I said to Naraxthel. We sat against a cave wall in a cavern ringed with bead lights while the humans sat around a fire rod and drank white bark tea.

The robots flanked the only two entrances to this chamber; we anticipated one last rest before we planned to change the course of Ikshe’s governance.

“I would have it no other way, and yet my heart trembles at the thought,” he said, turning a rock over in his hands.

“My mind scrolls over possibilities,” I said. “Could I hide them in the archives? Tuck them away in our homes until our work is done? But my body rejects the idea of CeCe on the same planet as the Kama so much as to make me ill.”

“Ik, so it is with me,” he said. “What does that say about Elder Sister—that our fragile mates are far safer on a planet boasting landquakes and ferocious beasts than the beautiful and placid Ikshe?”

“It says that we are on the right path,” I said. “What news of BoKama?”

“I will find out now,” he said. “VELMA may patch you in.”

“Naraxthel,” BoKama said. “The Tribunal is set.”

“In truth?” he said.

“I was blind to the extent of the Kama’s harm,” she said. “The Enclave voted to hold the Tribunal without argument. It is set for the morrow when the suns flank the sky’s center. Will you be there?”

“We will,” Naraxthel said. “We have the Holy Waters and the woaiquovelt. But is the Kama’s health improved?”

“I do not know,” she said.

Startled, I frowned and looked at Naraxthel who cocked his helmet but said nothing.

She sighed. “I returned to her room to deliver the official summons and she was gone. I had delivered the antidote to her illness, but she threw it in a fit of pique. When I searched her empty room, the injector with the antidote was still there. I presume she’s still alive but has hidden so as to avoid the consequences of her corruption.”

“What of the deep space scans?” Naraxthel asked.

“Naught was found but a suspicious shadow,” she said. “I told them to watch it and I put our hunters on alert. The Enclave Governesses gather the military in their regions. If the people are troubled, they are not saying. We’ve sent several more hunters to Ikthe to gather meat. One was lost in a landquake near the Escarpment Seas.”

“Kathe,” Naraxthel said.

“The return of the Lottery Five will be a tremendous boon for our people,” she said, her voice quiet but earnest. “I will prepare the market courtyard for your return. Should the Ikma Scabmal Kama try to interfere, it will be broadcast planet wide. I suspect she will attempt to remain hidden.”

“Guard your rearward with vigilance,” Naraxthel said. “Have you anyone to trust within the fortress walls?”

“I think some of the eunuchs and servants would ally themselves with me out of hatred for the Ikma,” she said.

“Surround you with those good people and we will be there soon.”

“And the humans?” she asked.

“They are very well and remain safe,” Naraxthel said, a smile touching his voice.

I followed the gaze of his helmet to the women laughing and jostling each other at the fire rod, and my own heart warmed.

“Hey Brine Flower!” Amity called, and I cringed. “You too, Red! Join us!”

Rising to stand, I saw CeCe’s eyes trace over my armor, and there was a decided gleam in her dark eyes. Taking off my helmet, I returned her intense gaze, and when she didn’t look away, my chest swelled with pride. This huntress would be mine in every way soon.

She stood and walked toward me, slow and deliberate. “Play without us,” she said without breaking eye contact. Taking my hand, she led me away from the center of the cave and to a secluded alcove tucked behind a massive stalagmite.

“I found this earlier,” she whispered.

Our pallets were laid out side by side. A bead light glowed with a soft yellow light, and I raised a brow at her.

“I hacked it,” she said, lifting a shoulder. “Very cool tech.”

Kneeling on the pallet, she patted it. “I’m ready to remove my armor,” she said. “I know it’s going to be hard to see the changes. The scars. But Raxthezana,” she said, grasping my hands in her own. “I can’t be apart from you any longer. I need to feel all of you with me before tomorrow comes.”

“I will help you with all of these things,” I said. “But know this. Your soul drew me to you before I ever saw you. You are magnificent to me.”

“Keep talking like that, and you’ll get more than you bargained for,” she said in a husky voice and reached for me.

Our kiss started out as tender and searching.

It didn’t end that way.