Page 25 of Guardian’s Destiny (Space Guardian’s Mate #3)

VRAAX

The food was good and the vepo delicious. I declined the spirits, needing to keep a clear head. I didn't think these Ohrurs, or whatever they were, would cause us any harm, but I wasn't about to risk Sloane's life on underserved trust.

During our meal, Hyugh asked questions about us, and I filled him in on as much as possible without giving too much away about Tharaax and the others.

When we finished, I asked, "So you know we are Darlams," referring to myself and the other Space Guardians.

"Yes."

"But how can that be possible?" Sloane patted her lips with a piece of cloth that had been wrapped around the trionak. "Our understanding is that the Ohrurs annihilated the Darlams."

"We don't know," Hyugh admitted. "We think that the Ohrurs used the Darlams' Archegene to create a new species. But you do look just like your ancestors," Hyugh nodded at me.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The simple fact that I was a test tube baby, after all, didn't sit well with me.

"We live our lives here in peace," Hyugh continued. "We've been avoiding detection for millennia, and we would like to keep it that way. Our ultimate goal is to take Ohrur back one day, but that day isn't here yet. Our army is not yet strong enough to fight you Space Guardians."

"You might not have to," I filled him in.

Interested, Hyugh perked up, "What do you mean?"

"This." I pulled up my sleeve to allow him a glimpse of my mating marks, while Sloane, as astute as always, did the same. "Has woken several of us up, and I think we might get even more on our side once we know more."

"Mating marks?" Craygh mumbled loudly. He had been so quiet that I had almost forgotten his presence.

"How is that possible?" Craygh turned to Hyugh.

Hyugh looked as astounded as Craygh. "Zoyab," he yelled at a man wearing a dark uniform. From the weapons around his hips and legs, I gathered he must be one of the soldiers Hyugh had mentioned, instructing him, "Get Chronarch Byalbor." To us, he said, "Chronarch Byalbor is our history record keeper; he would know more about these things than I do. My knowledge of Darlam, I'm afraid, is rather limited."

Moddekdum grunted something at Paddekah, who hurried out of her seat to clean his plate.

"No!" Sloane shook her head. "You don't have to do this, Paddekah. He can do it himself."

"Please sit; our servants will take care of this." To my surprise, it was Craygh again who spoke. The way he looked pitying at Paddekah told me that these Ohrurs didn't treat their females like the ones above ground.

"You don't agree with the way the Ohrurs treat their females?" I voiced my question.

Again, it was Craygh who answered, "It was one of the reasons for the civil war. The Krythar Order was the faction that clung to the old ways, believing females should remain suppressed and that the males were superior to all other species. They fought against the Luminal Union, which sought equality for all and wanted to leave Darlam to govern itself."

So Moddekdum belonged to the Krythar Order, the one that won, while Craygh and Hyugh belonged to the Luminal Union, they were the ones who had fought for us. I couldn't help but feel a certain connection to them. It sounded like they had been as much victims of the Krythar Oder as Darlams.

"We treat our females as equals here," Craygh filled us in while he seemed to be speaking only to Paddekah. "You are welcome to stay with us. You would never have to serve again."

"Never serve again?" Paddekah blinked as if her mind couldn't comprehend what Craygh was telling her.

"Don't bother. She's too stupid to understand what you're saying. She wouldn't even know what to do with herself if she wasn't trying to make me happy." Moddekdum snarled.

As if to prove his point, Paddekah bowed her head toward Moddekdum, "Master."

"This will take some time and work," Sloane said, obviously more in tune with the female than I was. "I've seen this before. I bet you never went to school. Can you read?"

Moddekdum barked out a hard laugh, "School is not for females; it corrupts their minds."

"You mean as in teaches them to have opinions? Ideas? Dreams?" Sloane snarked.

Moddekdum waved his hand, "Call it what you will, the fact of the matter is that Paddekah is mine and always will be, isn't that right, nuvala?"

"Master," Paddekah repeated, making me groan.

"Don't worry, she isn't the first female we took under our care," Hyugh said.

"She isn't?" Sloane sounded surprised.

"No, our society has not been blessed with many females, so we are forced to take some from the surface every now and then." Hyugh filled us in.

"That was you?" Moddekdum barked. "We thought the stupid things got lost in the ruins, where they weren't supposed to be to begin with."

"An assumption we let you make intentionally." Hyugh barely looked at Moddekdum before he turned to me. "If you would leave her with us, I promise she will have a much better life."

"She is my nuvala," Moddekdum fumed.

Ignoring him, I said, "I would like that, but we need her to go to Darlam with us first."

"Why is that?" Hyugh asked. I contemplated telling him a lie but then decided against it. What good would it do? If he was going to try to stop us, it would end in a bloodbath, and we both knew it. So far, he and Craygh had been nothing but forthcoming and honest with us. Hospitable and generous. Which was why I decided to stick to the truth.

"The Ohrurs put a forcefield around Darlam that will only allow ships through that have at least three Ohrurs present and are of Ohrur design."

Craygh ripped his eyes from Moddekdum. It seemed like he had been admiring the other's brooch. I had to admit it was a fine piece of art, and I wondered how many missions my fellow Guardians and I had been on for him to afford this piece of jewelry. "I'll go with you. The female can stay." Craygh offered spontaneously. As if realizing he might have overstepped, he turned to Hyugh, "If you can spare me, that is."

"You don't even know what you're getting yourself into," I warned.

Hyugh listened intently to our exchange.

"Then fill me in," Craygh demanded.

"We need to get to Darlam to get answers, to find out what happened twenty thousand years ago." Sloane placed a hand on my arm when I realized that Craygh's and my exchange had gotten a little heated. "We want to know who the Space Guardians really are, and we want to make the Ohrurs pay. The Krythar Order," she clarified.

The door opened, and an ancient-looking Ohrur entered, supported by the soldier Craygh had sent to fetch him.

"Chronarch Byalbor." Craygh rose from his chair, and we followed his example. The old male looked as if a strong breeze would blow him over. He was so skeletal that it was painful to look at him. His skin, like the other Ohrurs, was a lighter gray tone, probably from lack of sun. "You honor us with your presence."

"A presence you requested," the male retorted in a scratchy voice filled with a hint of anger. From having been called away?

"I apologize. This is Space Guardian Vraax, a human named Sloane and two Ohrurs of the Krythar Order—one is Moddekdum, the other is a female, Paddekah." Only during the elaborate introduction did I realize the old male was blind. Did they not have healing wands here? I made a mental note to mention it at a later point.

"A Space Guardian? Well, well, well, you might have done good this time calling me away." Byalbor cackled.

The soldier, Zoyab, led Byalbor to a chair, which Craygh pulled out for him. Carefully, they deposited him into it. "Can we offer you some food?"

"Food?" Byalbor repeated as if it was a strange notion. "I suppose I can take the time to eat," he sighed deeply, explaining why he was so painfully thin. I hadn't met many scholars, but the few I did were either obese or too thin. Either overeating while reading or eating nothing at all. It seemed like Byalbor fit into the latter category. He probably had students who read to him until their voices were hoarse.

"The Space Guardian and the human female both have mating marks." Hyugh filled him in.

"Do they now?" Feeble fingers picked at the food from the plate Zoyab had pushed over to him. "That is interesting indeed."

"What do you know about the Darlams?" I couldn't stop myself from waiting to ask any longer.

"Darlams? Are you a Darlam?" Byalbor didn't look up.

"We don't know. At the very least, he has the archegene," Sloane said.

"He looks exactly like a Darlam," Hyugh explained.

"The Archegene was strong in the Darlams," Byalbor nodded. "Very strong. They were the closest to the Arkhevari there is."

Sloane stiffened next to me. The name meant nothing to me, but it was familiar to her.

"They were the sons and daughters of the gods. It's a damn shame what your people did to them," Byalbor's head rose, and he stared straight at Moddekdum as if he knew exactly where the Ohrur sat.

"My ancestors," Moddekdum corrected. "I had nothing to do with this."

"Nothing but keeping up your support for them," Byalbor censured in a stinging tone dripping with disapproval.

Moddekdum folded his arms over his small chest and leaned back in his chair, obviously done with the conversation.

"What are the Arkhevari?" I interrupted the dispute.