Page 145 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Fierce

The ship had found something and was going to tell Thorin.

With my muscles twitching from anxiety, I got up from the table, shoving away my still half-full plate of inedible food.

Snarl was on his feet, following me out of the mess hall, his fur ruffled and skin twitching between his shoulder blades in response to my tension.

“What is happening, Fierce Hunter?” he asked me, his snout pulling into a grin as if he were anticipating a good hunt. Raising my hand over my head in a half-hearted wave, I made sure I was out of the mess hall before I spoke to the Ferai beast. “The ship knows what we did,” I said to it.

That was going to be a problem—I knew it was—but how could I fix this?

The Vagabond was the only home I had, the only place where I wasn’t forced to do things I didn’t want to, like fight in that stupid Arena.

If they found out what I’d done, they would kick Snarl and me off this ship.

You didn’t do things like that out in the free world, I knew that.

And you also didn’t keep secrets from your brothers, your pack.

But I was… and it was making me feel sick to my stomach.

“We will take care of it,” Snarl assured me.

The Ferai beast was smart, but larger pictures did tend to elude him.

I couldn’t take care of this. I didn’t know how.

Unlike everyone else aboard this ship, I couldn’t read or write, and I understood nothing of technology.

I didn’t even know how to work the com strapped to my wrist, which I charged and wore faithfully just so they wouldn’t start asking questions.

Then a thought popped into my head: What if…

? Ducking into the brig, I threw myself down on my favorite bunk and carefully popped open the small vent in the wall.

Pet immediately wiggled out of it, dropping down on my chest and purring loudly as she wriggled her entire body excitedly.

The small Riho was only a juvenile, and she’d first visited me when I was still in my cell as an enslaved gladiator.

“Good girl. Did you miss me?” I rumbled at her in a low tone that blended with the sound of her purrs.

They intensified, bright eyes blinking at me, long, furred tail swishing behind her.

Snarl dropped his massive head down on my shoulder next to her small body, and she instantly went into another ecstatic wiggle, purring against his snout and rubbing her small head against his ear.

“Good Wigglely Thing,” he thought at her, not that she could hear him. At least, I didn’t think she could, though she wriggled so hard, she almost fell off my chest. Smothering a laugh, I tried to focus on the problem at hand.

“Akri, could you do something for me?” I asked the ship. When I hadn’t known how to treat Thorin with the medkit, the AI had talked me through it. Maybe I didn’t need to be able to write to do something on the computers…

The AI responded immediately. “How can I help you, Fierce?” It was startling to have a voice speak to me out of nowhere, but I also felt a surge of pride at having managed to get this far.

Maybe I could do this. Maybe I wouldn’t have to leave this home because they wouldn’t find out what had happened.

“Please erase all footage of Miean, Akri. We don’t need that anymore,” I asked the ship, my heart pounding in my throat. Was it going to do it? Was it going to listen? Or would it deny my request and show Thorin the footage again anyway?

“Why would I do that?” the ship asked, and I scrambled to think of a good reason the ship would understand.

“I found the Riho,” I said, petting the soft, furry body of the creature.

She had curled up on my chest, already fast asleep.

“I see,” the ship responded. “Deleting data right now. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Refraining from showing my relief, I shook my head. “No, that was all. Thanks, Akri.”

*

Camila

We had been underway for a good week now, but a recent stop on a small planet along our route meant I finally had what I needed.

We’d only stopped for a few hours, unloading more of the recently cataloged items from our cargo hold and buying some supplies.

The biggest purchase, apparently, had been a whole slew of things for a hydroponics system.

Jakar and Da’vi were eager to set up small food-growing bays in an entire row of unneeded crew quarters.

It sounded like a great addition if we were living long-term on this ship.

Thorin was in the gym right now, sparring with the others.

Over the last few days, I had often joined them, but today I had gone to engineering with my purchase and nabbed some of Da’vi’s tools to work with.

I wasn’t the best at drawing, but I’d been thinking and doodling about this a lot over the past few days.

Every time I had a moment to myself, I worked on it, and I’d discussed it with Ziame a few times; he and Kitan had helped me settle on one of the two designs.

With the hard part done, I clutched my gift in my slightly sweaty palms and headed for the mess hall. Everyone always gathered there for a meal after they’d trained and washed up. From the sound of things, they were already there, laughing and talking over lunch.

“Hey, babe,” Thorin said with a smirk, waving in my direction from his lazy sprawl.

The empty seat at his side made it clear he’d saved me a spot.

Smiling, I waved back at everyone and then gave a nod in Ziame’s direction.

The huge Lacerten male got to his feet and raised his palms, his tail coming up behind him to point at Thorin.

“We’ve got some business to take care of, brothers. ”

I saw how Thorin’s expression shuttered, his first response still being to want to go on the attack. But when I smiled at him, he relaxed a fraction, his blue-green eyes darting with suspicion between Ziame and me.

“We’ve all noticed that your Caratan chain is bare, Thorin,” Ziame said, tail waving again at his face. The other gladiators were all silent as they watched the scene unfold. Kitan with a fox-like grin on his face, since he knew what was happening, but the others with curiosity and confusion.

Thorin shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not like you guys are gonna report me to the Elrohirian government for not wearing the pariah sigil, are you?

” His eyes went from Ziame back to me, and I could tell he was getting nervous and confused about why I hadn’t come to sit at his side.

I stepped up to stand next to Ziame instead and offered the male one of the two small items I was holding.

“Come here, Thorin. You’re getting a new clan sigil, right now,” he said with a smirk, the tip of his tail twitching in a come-hither motion.

My heart was in my throat, wondering what his reaction was going to be.

Right now, he just looked confused and a little concerned as he got to his feet and smoothly made his way over.

Ziame held up the round silver disk into which I’d painstakingly carved a new sigil: a fist over a heart, the universal greeting of respect each gladiator knew and performed for their brothers at the start of each fight—or when something meaningful happened.

Among them, it was considered their highest form of respect, almost a symbol of the brotherhood they shared.

To Kitan and Ziame, it made perfect sense to make that Thorin’s new clan sigil.

When Thorin’s eyes landed on it, I saw how they went a little shiny with tears.

His fingers trembled as he accepted the small disk, hooking it to his Caratan chain so that it hung in the customary spot where a clan sigil goes.

“Thank you,” he said, his eyes finding me, because he knew I’d set this in motion.

Then I held out the last one I was holding.

“I researched which ones you are supposed to have: two for your names, one for family, one for clan, and one for your profession,” I explained, listing what I’d found in Akri’s database.

That made for five disks on a chain, but many Elrohirans added another disk, and that’s the one I was giving him now.

I hoped he wanted it. I thought so, but now that the moment was here, I was suddenly beset with nerves. What if he didn’t like it?

Thorin’s eyes dropped to what I was holding out to him: the small disk with a stylized version of my long braid engraved on it, shimmering in the light.

His eyes widened, his mouth opening for a moment, then closing as he swallowed roughly.

“And one for your mate,” he said in a husky drawl, picking the disk from my palm and hooking it in its place of pride, right in the center of his chain.

Then a wolfish smile appeared on his face.

“That means you’re mine now, Camila.” Then he yanked me into his arms and kissed the living daylights out of me under the roaring cheers and catcalls of his brothers.

Naturally, his hand slid up my back and curled around my braid tightly, holding me still so he could kiss me.

“I love you, Thorin. You’ve got a family that will never abandon you now,” I whispered against his lips.

“And I love you, Camila. I promise I’ll make you happy.

And maybe someday, we can visit your family.

I’m sure Kitan and Chloe can fly us to the Alpha Quadrant.

” I’m sure they could, and my family would understand my choice.

I would miss them, but if the Information Broker could get a message to them, I was sure more would follow.

They weren’t lost to me, just really far away.

With Thorin at my side, I would miss them, but I would love being here with him far more.

THE END