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Two other Vraxian males were with him, flanking Kara and Vahn to the left and right. They were both wearing military uniform, though Vahn didn’t recognize them.

“What is this, Baelon?”

he called out from behind the tree. “Treason?”

“Not at all, my Zhaal. This is a negotiation.”

“I do not negotiate with terrorists. And that’s what you are. Or do you deny your repeated attempts on my life?”

“I was not responsible for the attack at the Summer Palace,”

Baelon said sharply. “That was entirely the doing of Lord Yighaz.”

“But you admit to the bomb explosion on the night of my wedding?”

“So it did go off. You were clever to conceal it. I wondered what had happened.”

“But why do it at all? You could have imperiled the first chance of peace in ten cycles of war. Don’t you want the bloodshed to be over?”

“You still do not understand, do you, my Zhaal? Are you so blinded by your unnatural lust for the human that you cannot see the truth?”

Baelon gestured impatiently. “Come out where I can see you. I grow tired of conversing with a tree.”

Vahn cast a glance at Kara. She was safe for the moment, thank Ayanlesh. The thought of her being hurt or killed tore at his insides but he forced himself to focus. He was no good to her if he was paralyzed by fear.

He tucked the laser-blade into his waistband at the small of his back where it would be concealed. Then he stepped out from behind the tree, throwing the blaster aside and holding up his hands.

“What truth?”

“That any peace with the Terrans has to be on our terms. Not a carefully worded agreement, but an uncompromising set of demands. Vraxians are conquerors, not partners.”

“You are wrong, Baelon. There’s no merit in victory if it leaves us crippled and broken. The majority of our people are in favor of the Chennai Accords.”

“Not all,”

hissed Baelon. “Not patriots like Yighaz. And not some of your own troops who believe they’re being ordered to ignore their many sacrifices.”

Vahn’s eyes flickered to the two soldiers.

“You both answer to General Solarun,”

he barked.

“No,”

smirked Baelon. “They answer to me. And they are prepared to kill you, Zhaal Castellian, unless you accept my offer.”

“Which is?”

“Come back to Vraxos with me. Denounce your marriage. Rescind the peace treaty. And rule as a proud Vraxian Emperor instead of a species traitor in thrall to a human feresh.”

Vahn clenched his fists.

“You will not speak of your Zhaalini that way.”

Baelon laughed.

“That gelan’ash hak is not my Zhaalini. And I did not track you down all the way from Vraxos to bow before a human. You have one choice, Talvahnax Castellian, and that is to accept my offer.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Vahn saw dark shadows slinking through the trees behind Baelon and his men. He glanced at Kara and saw she had seen them too. He turned back to Baelon.

“What if I refuse?”

“Then you will die on this drek’aa planet alongside your Terran whore.”

Vahn slowly let his hands fall, as if he was considering it.

“If I return to Vraxos, what happens to Kara?”

Baelon shrugged.

“We can leave her here. She can take her chances with the savage creatures that roam this planet, though it may be kinder to put a blaster to her head.”

“Fuck you, Baelon,”

Kara called out, with more bravado than she was feeling. “You don’t need a blaster. Just keep spouting your nonsense, you can bore me to death.”

Baelon’s face hardened.

“Tell the human feresh if she speaks again I will send one of my soldiers to finish her.”

Kara opened her mouth but closed it again when Vahn gave his head the tiniest of shakes. She understood. Don’t antagonize the guy with the gun. Vahn turned back to Baelon.

“How do you propose to get away with this? Lord Davorrian and General Solarun already suspect you of having a hand in the recent attacks.”

“Then you will reassure them of my innocence.”

Baelon’s thin lips twisted. “And in time we will replace them both with more suitable candidates.”

“We cannot replace Lord Davorrian,”

Vahn reminded him. “He is shintu. He has a right to be in the inner circle.”

“And you are the Emperor. You may change the rules whenever you wish.”

The shadows in the trees had divided into two groups – one behind each of the soldiers. Vahn tensed. If either of the armed Vraxians turned round now, they would realize they were being stalked. He kept talking to keep their attention on him.

“And you, Baelon? No aspirations of your own? Why not kill me here and now and claim the throne for your own?”

“Oh, I would if I could, believe me,”

snarled the older Vraxian. “You have made a mockery of your father’s legacy and I would gladly put the Empire back onto its glorious path. But I am a strategist, Talvahnax. And I know if you went missing there would be a protracted battle between clan Vantrax and clan Davorrian. Accusations would be made, alliances formed, and that would only serve to weaken the Empire. Far better for me to wait and let nature take its course. After all, you have no heir. I can bide my time.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,”

said Vahn evenly. “Your time is running out.”

Baelon grimaced.

“Bold of you to threaten me when I hold all the cards. I do not think you truly understand your predicament.”

“No. You don’t understand yours.”

Vahn shifted his gaze and raised his voice. “Rocky. Now.”

On his command, the huge animal launched himself at one of the soldiers with a blood-curdling howl. Startled, Baelon and the other soldier span round. For the first time they saw the pack of slavering beasts behind them.

The first soldier got off a couple of shots but he was too panicked for accuracy. Rocky took him by the shoulder and two other animals leapt on his back. Their combined weight bore him to the ground.

The last Vahn saw of him was an arm reaching plaintively towards the sky before he was lost beneath a scrum of apex predators.

The remaining soldier was dragged to his knees. He was cooler under pressure than his colleague. He lashed out with his serpetri and struck one of the hounds on the flank, dispensing a full dose of arak. The animal fell dead instantly.

The soldier aimed his blaster at a second hound but it closed its jaws on his arm. Another went for his throat. Vahn winced as a gout of blood painted the forest floor.

And then there was silence, save for the unsettling sound of sharp teeth rending flesh from bone.