Page 12 of Possessed by the Dragon Alien (Zarux Dragon Brides #6)

EIGHT

Madrian stood at his viewport, watching the garden lights dim for night cycle, when his door chimed. He turned, his wings spreading slightly in surprise. No one disturbed him this late.

“Enter,” he said.

The door slid open to reveal Prime Watcher Rien. Not her usual hologram, but her actual physical form. She stepped inside. Her gray uniform blended with the shadows.

“Chancellor.” She bowed her head. “We need to speak privately.”

“You’re supposed to be in the outer sectors.”

“This couldn’t be a transmission.” She glanced at the ceiling sensors. “I don’t trust our communications network right now.”

Madrian crossed to his desk and pressed a control. Sound dampeners hummed to life. “What’s happened?”

“The rebellion at Penal Colony 5-11B isn’t an isolated incident.” Rien’s pale eyes fixed on him. “There are four major facilities in crisis, with important details being kept from your attention.”

“Explain.”

“The Erovik brothel on Hevatica Station has locked out Axis authorities. The director there, a Zaruxian male named Cyprian, has disappeared. The Slarik Arena is in chaos. The fighters have overwhelmed the guards and are escaping. Two Zaruxians were prisoner-fighters there.” She paused.

“And the DeLink mining operation has gone dark. The overseer—”

“Let me guess. Also Zaruxian?”

Rien nodded. “But that’s not all. In each case, there was a Terian female close to the Zaruxian male before the rebellion started. We believe they became mated pairs.”

Madrian’s wings drew tight against his back. “Like the settlement overseer and the Terian he refused to hand over to the raiders.”

“Yes. And now we have you showing interest in a Terian prisoner.”

His pulse jumped. “You’re watching me.”

“I saw you speaking with her in the gardens,” Rien said. “I questioned her afterward.”

“You what? ” His voice came out harsh.

“She was evasive about your conversations. Protective, even. Which only confirms my concerns.” Rien stepped closer, lowering her voice. “The council is already nervous about these rebellions. If they learn of your interest in this female—”

“I spoke to a prisoner about her work. Nothing more.”

“We both know that’s not true.” Rien’s expression softened. “I saw how you looked at her. How she affected you.”

Madrian turned back to the viewport. Below, the gardens were dark, except for the soft glow of path lights. Somewhere down there, 93-A slept in her cell. He pushed away the urge to check the surveillance feeds, to see her.

“You know what needs to happen,” Rien said. “Have her transferred to another facility. Or eliminated. I can arrange it quietly.”

Dragon fire surged up Madrian’s throat. His wings snapped out, casting shadows across the room. “No.”

Rien took a step back. “Chancellor—”

“She will not be harmed.” The words came out in a growl. “Or sent away.”

“High Chancellor, I mean no disrespect, but this is exactly what I’m talking about.” Rien gestured to his defensive posture. “You’re already protective of her. The council will see it as proof you’re compromised.”

Madrian forced his wings to fold, but he couldn’t bank the fire in his chest. The mere thought of 93-A being hurt or taken from him made him want to burn something to ash. “She stays.”

“Then you’re proving their suspicions correct.” Rien’s voice was deferential, but her words were firm. “Four other former Axis Zaruxian males have already rebelled because of Terian females. The council won’t risk you being the fifth.”

Madrian knew Rien was right. The logical move would be to eliminate the risk now. To have 93-A quietly removed before anyone else noticed his interest in her. But the words stuck in his throat like coals.

“The council is occupied with other crises,” he said. “They won’t notice one worker in the gardens.”

“They notice everything.” Rien crossed her arms. “ I am not the only prime watcher deployed among Axis locations.”

That reminded him of something. He pulled the warning note from his pocket and held it out. “What do you make of this? Someone slipped it to me after the council meeting.”

Rien unfolded the paper, read it twice. “This confirms my fears. Someone sees you as a target, likely because of these other rebellions.” She crushed the note in her fist. “The timing of that Terian’s arrival wasn’t random. Someone brought her here to test you.”

“Test me for what?”

“Your loyalty. Or…” She hesitated. “Maybe something else. Something about Zaruxians and Terians that we don’t yet understand.”

Madrian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Speaking of what we don’t understand, were you able to learn why 93-A was pulled from the penal colony?”

“Yes. I have a completed contract record. It says that five Terians were taken from the planet surface by Rashark raiders, to whom the Axis owed a large number of credits,” Rien replied.

“They were mercenaries we hire to keep order in a remote system. They weren’t paid what they were promised, but High Chancellor Valkos didn’t want to lose their services.

He offered them a single admittance to the penal colony.

They could take no more than eight prisoners and could not be seen by anyone there.

They were successful in taking five females, but one was kept by the overseer there, who claimed that he had placed his personal protection on her and her family. ”

“Interesting.”

“The raiders brought the females to the Falmic-5 auction,” Rien went on.

“There, four were successfully sold to highest bidders. 93-A was the last Terian to be put up, but she was pulled before bidding. The auction was quietly paid, and the prisoner was put on a transport here, along with a small group of other workers.”

“I assume we don’t yet know who ordered her pulled?” he asked.

“I’m working on that.”

“Yes, and some twenty cycles later, the Axis is losing its grip on that location.” Madrian kept his expression neutral even as his mind raced.

Another Zaruxian male breaking ranks. Another facility lost. The timing was too perfect to be coincidence.

“Dig into the archives, the restricted files. I want to know who brought her here and why this is happening. Somewhere, buried in records I clearly don’t have access to, exists some information that could explain this mutiny. ”

“And the Terian?”

His wings shifted. “Leave her where she is. For now.”

“Chancellor—”

“That’s an order.” He turned back to the viewport. “Report what you find directly to me. No transmissions, no records.”

Rien’s reflection in the glass showed her expressionless face as she bowed. “As you command.”

The door closed behind her, leaving Madrian alone with his thoughts and the growing concern that he was caught in a trap designed eons ago.

Was this why someone had warned him? Because they knew the pattern would point to him next? He couldn’t deny it. Every interaction with 93-A had shifted something in him, made him question things he’d never questioned before.

Was he already part of something larger? Something set in motion long before the Terian arrived in his gardens?

He stared into the darkness, where the gardens lay silent under the dome. Where 93-A slept, unaware she was at the center of something that could shake the empire.

Or destroy them both.