Page 26 of Champion (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #6)
“No offense, my Lady,” Ixaka said, wings fluttering as much as possible within their bindings. “But why would the Zarpazian want to emulate a fragile human? Why not a gladiator of greater skill?” Ixaka’s gaze danced between the strongest of us.
“The gladiator fight is simply a show. It’s a means to an end,” Willa explained.
“What is Nansar’s goal?” Rickon’s demeanor didn’t seem as combative this time, but his eyes still narrowed in disbelief.
“To kill his father, Duke Ako.”
Murmurs of disbelief followed my mate’s announcement.
“Duke Ako is a good ruler. Why would Nansar want to kill him?” Pavo struggled with the concept. Romvesians and Aljani had always closely allied.
“It’s about my kind and my home planet,” Willa admitted, her shoulders slumping.
I tightened the arm I held around my mate’s waist, drawing her back against me. “From what we know, Duke Ako has been working with the Alliance Council, pushing for Earth to become a protectorate of the Alliance, which means it would become illegal to enslave or injure its citizens.”
“I have heard this,” Gatto admitted. Not surprising since the Trogvyk were mostly slavers.
“Nansar and Ambassador Yaard of the Kerzak want to enslave the people of Earth and steal the planet’s resources,” I continued. “Nansar believes if a human kills the Duke, it will change the Alliance’s position, making the planet and its people subject to his pillaging.”
“Nansar knew Willa would never kill Duke Ako, so he planned to have the Zarpazian replace her,” Adtovar added.
“Bribing you to let me win is part of his plan,” Willa explained. “After I win the competition, they will present me to the Duke as Champion, which would give me—or rather, Vreses—the perfect opportunity to kill him.”
“Despicable,” Pavo muttered, looking ill.
Everyone seemed repulsed, even Rickon.
“This is why they sent me here,” Beiste said grimly, his black eyes dulling. “I overheard Ambassador Yaard and Nansar plotting.” He stiffened, pulling himself up to full height, which was still several inches shorter than me.
“Won’t the Duke’s guards be with him?” Cristox stroked long fingers through the fur on his chin.
“They will,” Willa agreed. “But there’s a ship of Kerzak arriving shortly to help Nansar take the throne.”
At the mention of arriving Kerzak, most of the males shifted uncomfortably. I couldn’t blame them.
“Don’t worry,” my mate soothed the unease. “I have a plan.”
Another plan. Not that I wasn’t proud of my mate’s brain and skill, but knowing she’d most likely put herself in the middle of the danger didn’t sit well with me. Nor would it ever.
“We are yours to command, Lady Willa,” Pavo gave the gesture of respect for his people, drumming his fingertips across his chest. “What would you have us do?”
“I want you to do exactly what you promised Nansar you’d do.
Make sure I win the competition.” Willa’s voice bubbled with anticipation.
“Nansar will think everything is going to his plan, but when I get close to Duke Ako, I’m going to play him the recording.
” She held up the comm unit, the silver tube reflecting the low-burning candle flames.
“That way, Duke Ako can hear about his son’s treachery firsthand. ”
“When Nansar finds out he’s been betrayed, he won’t go down easily. I expect the guards loyal to him to attack,” Adtovar warned.
“Then we will fight as well.” Cristox thumped his chest with a fist. “We will fight for our freedom.”
“What about the Kerzak?” Zahavi rasped, then cleared his throat of the fear. “Few of us can stand against a Kerzak.”
The Irvikuva was right about that. While several of the gladiators were of a size, unless one was trained in the ways of combat with a Kerzak, to face one could prove deadly. Yet I had another idea to deal with Ambassador Yaard and his minions.
“My warship, the Bardaga , will be in orbit by now. If I can get a message to them, they will deal with the Kerzak.”
“Nansar said we are all being moved to the citadel tomorrow.” Willa met my eyes, her blue orbs full of worry.
“Of course,” Adtovar snorted, then spat on the dusty floor as though the words in his mouth held too much bitterness to contain.
“Nansar is all about spectacle. He’ll hold the games in the colosseum adjacent to the citadel.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he had a video stream, too.
In his mind, the more people who see Willa kill Duke Ako, the better. ”
“Thanks to Willa, Nansar thinks I’m dead,” I announced, watching surprise play across their faces. “I’ll hide until everyone leaves for the citadel, then travel to my skiff and get a message to my ship about the Kerzak.”
“That won’t work.” Willa turned in my grasp, her hands landing on my chest. “Nansar is going to have your skiff destroyed tonight after everyone is asleep. He wants to make it look like you died trying to escape.”
Fuck!
“That still gives us time,” Adtovar mused, his eyes assessing the window, the pink moon just visible amid a myriad of stars.
“Time for what?” Xabat pressed, moving to stand beside Adtovar and copying his stare into the night.
“To hijack that skiff,” Adtovar announced with a grin, clapping Xabat on his shoulder.
“My skiff is not far away.” It was the only good thing in this scenario. “But how do you propose we get out of the pit?” Guards always patrolled the gated exit. The very reason we had not already escaped.
Adtovar glared at Zahavi and cleared his throat.
In answer, Zahavi assumed the demeanor of a youngling caught in mischief.
Yet he pulled a tan pouch from his pocket and poured a small amount of the contents into the palm of his hand.
The healer glanced at Adtovar, grinned broadly, walked up to Rickon, and blew a puff of black power directly into his face.
Rickon flinched, his face contorting with anger, but for only a second before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the floor like a rock.
“Holy shit!” Willa jerked. “What did you do, Zahavi?”
“He’s fine, just asleep,” Zahavi grinned, bending over and laying a hand on the Gudari’s chest to check his heartbeat. It appeared the healer might have enjoyed putting Rickon on his ass. Not that I blamed him.
“You have had this magic all along, and let us linger in the pit?” Cristox demanded, flexing his broad shoulders, paw-like hands fashioning into fists.
“Not all along,” Zahavi assured him. “I heard a rumor long ago that Zarpazian scales could be turned into a form of sleeping powder. I didn’t know if it would work, but since we had a dead Zarpazian lying around, I thought I’d test the theory.”
Xabat poked Rickon with the toe of his scuffed boot and chuckled. “He’s out cold.”
“We don’t have enough powder to knock out the entire Aljani guard, but there’s usually only three on gate duty during the night.” Adtovar schemed, patting Zahavi on the shoulder.
“We need to knock them all out at once.” I let my mind play over the scenario, ferreting out holes in the plan. “We can’t leave a single guard conscious long enough to raise an alarm.”
“Like a smoke bomb,” Willa suggested.
“A bomb made of smoke?” Adtovar frowned at the concept. “What good would that do?”
Willa rolled her eyes, and a faint giggle trilled from her lips. “A smoke bomb is a way of delivering the knock-out powder to all the guards at once. Of course….” She tapped her lips with a finger, pondering. “I don’t have the first clue how to make a bomb like that.”
“Bomb, did you say?” The low, gruff tone drew all attention to the massive green alien leaning against the wall in a darkened corner of the room. I think these were the most words I’d ever heard him say.
“Yeah, a bomb?” Willa regarded him curiously and smiled.
Kariosak stood, the top of his head nearly brushing the ceiling. Dark eyes narrowed on me, then flickered to my mate, softening in expression. “I may have dabbled in explosives a time or two.”
Willa smiled, and the orc-ish alien’s cheeks turned a darker green. My mate had every male in this room wrapped around her little finger. It should make me jealous, yet all I felt was a sense of pride that I could call her mine.
My mate clapped her hands together, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Looks like we got a plan.”
I was really beginning to hate when she said that.