Page 1 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Chapter 1

Tarquin

It took all of Tarquin’s vast discipline to remain patient during the intolerably long meeting with Standing General Jafinium. When Jafinium finally suggested they order tea, indicating the meeting was close to finishing, it was time for Tarquin to ask about Lena.

“I heard you have a human pet.” Tarquin made sure to keep his tone mildly interested. “I’m surprised the Committee for Pet Welfare allowed anyone to travel to such a remote outpost with a human.”

Jafinium sounded a rattle of annoyance. “I don’t see why the committee is so particular. They’re pets, not Talins. Humans are meant to live for our entertainment. We don’t serve them.”

“The committee does like to overreach,” Tarquin agreed. It was only because he’d trained hard with Holian that he kept his emotions in check. “But I think they’re concerned about taking lone humans to remote places because there are so few humans. You’re human is female, correct?”

“Yes,” Jafinium answered with another annoyed rattle, although this rattle was a little softer. “Not that you would know it. I thought the females were supposed to be more biddable, but she’s absolutely untrainable.”

Tarquin didn’t like the sound of that. The human in question was a young woman named Lena. She’d been raised by loving human parents and doted on by her former owners. There was no reason she should be acting out unless provoked. This was the motivation behind him being here; assess Lena's living situation and get her out if necessary.

His adoptive father, Commandant Holian, arranged for him to be sent here under the guise of a surprise inspection. His true mission was twofold; check on Lena and find out if Standing General Jafinium was part of several assassinations and one kidnapping committed by Traditionalist Extremists. They knew Standing General Jafinium was one of the extremists, but weren’t sure of the extent of his involvement. That was the question that needed answering.

“Interesting, I’ve never heard of a female human acting badly without cause,” Tarquin said. “Could it be that she needs a male? I’ve read they can become despondent when they get to breeding age and can’t reproduce.”

Jafinium gave a short, sharp rattle in agreement. “I’ve thought about breeding her. Human babies are in high demand, but I’ll have to take her to the male. No one will allow their pet to visit.”

The standing general’s words were alarming. Even if Lena wasn’t being abused, it sounded like Jafinium wanted to exploit her. It was true that many Talins were desperate to buy human babies or children. With the empire's strict laws and taboos about raising one's own children, having a pet human child to raise was the only socially acceptable way to experience parenthood.

Tarquin felt bad for his fellow Talins trapped by tradition, but it wasn’t an excuse for ripping babies away from human mothers, even on the rare occasion the committee allowed it to happen.

“My family has access to a lot of males,” Tarquin commented, seeing an opportunity. “If she’s not acting correctly, I could take her to Kalor and see if that will improve her disposition, and perhaps she’ll even find a male she likes enough to rut.”

Jafinium made a dismissive sound. “The females don’t have to be willing to rut, only the males. I heard from an acquaintance that the females can be restrained and the males can make use of them with efficiency. It’s much faster than waiting for them to rut naturally.”

It was a near thing, but Tarquin kept himself in his seat and didn’t leap across the table and attack the other man. Even if this Talin wasn’t part of the plot to overthrow the Reformist government, he was definitely dishonorable scum.

“Didn’t your acquaintance tell you that reproduction is more likely if the female is willing?” Tarquin asked, amazed at how even he was capable of keeping his voice.

“Oh?” Jafinium answered, apparently unconcerned. “It’s all academic since I have had no access to males until now. Your offer has merit; I’ll consider it.”

“I’d still like to see her,” Tarquin reminded Jafinium.

“Of course,” Jafinium said with an amused rumble. “Everyone always wants to meet her.” He looked at one of his soldiers. “Fetch the pet, but make sure she’s appropriately attired.”

Tarquin didn’t understand that last comment until the soldier came back with Lena walking in front of him. Her wrists were secured behind her back and an uncomfortable gag was in her mouth. He’d only ever seen them in textbooks that warned the restraints were for extreme circumstances.

He ran his eyes over her as she moved into the room. Her mahogany mane looked unkempt and matted. Her skin was pale with an unhealthy sallow tint. All of that was bad enough, but even worse were her eyes. She stared into space, her eyes dead.

“This is my human pet, Lena,” Jafinium said and pointed the soldier to Tarquin. With a rough grab of Lena’s arm, the soldier guided her to Tarquin. Her expression never changed and her eyes wouldn’t meet his.

“Is the muzzle necessary?” Tarquin asked.

Jafinium sounded an affirmative rattle. “She tends to bite when introduced to new individuals. She started doing that last year, so I’m forced to muzzle her when introducing her for the first time.”

Tarquin hated it, but if he objected further he risked irritating Jafinium. Turning in his seat to face Lena, he spoke in a low, gentle tone.

“Hello, Lena. My name is Tarquin. It pleases me to meet you.”

She didn’t even shift her gaze to acknowledge his presence. Jafinium sounded a loud, irritated rattle that made her flinch.

“Respond to my guest,” Jafinium ordered.

She stiffly bowed her head then waited, still and silent with a blank expression firmly in place.

“Would it be acceptable for me to take her for a walk?” Tarquin asked. He needed to get her alone. It was clear she was so traumatized by Jafinium that she wouldn’t interact in his presence.

Jafinium sounded a negative rattle. “Not at the moment, but you can walk her back to her cage.”

Tarquin sounded an affirmative rumble. “Thank you, Standing General Jafinium. I’d like that.”

“She won’t warm to you,” Jafinium warned him. “She doesn't like anyone. I’ve read about feral humans being captured, but I didn’t know a human could regress to a feral state. Unfortunately, she’s probably irredeemable.”

Tarquin wanted to lash out that it was Jafinium who was irredeemable, but he held his tongue. “As I pointed out, my adoptive father has many male humans. It would be easy to introduce her. Of course she’d remain your property, so any offspring she breeds would be yours to do with as you pleased.”

He saw Lena jerk at his words, but he ignored her. He needed to say anything necessary to get her off this planet. When she was safe, they could see about dissolving Jafinium’s ownership.

“That’s true,” Jafinium murmured. “Are you sure Holian wouldn’t try to claim the offspring because one of his males sired it?”

“We can sign a contract,” Tarquin said. “It would guarantee ownership rights independent of the owner of the offspring's sire.”

“I’ll send a message to the commandant,” Jafinium said. “If he agrees, you can take her with you. I have no use for a troublesome human pet like her. But I could trade her offspring for many favors!”

Tarquin almost sagged in relief. Half the battle was won: Jafinium’s permission. The second half would be successfully getting Lena off the planet before Jafinium changed his mind.

“He’ll agree,” Tarquin assured Jafinium. “He’s given me the same power of association as his natural son, Ianino. You can look it up in the Lineage Committee’s records.”

Jafinium sounded a rattle of surprise. “I hadn’t realized he’d given you such an honor.”

While they spoke, Lena remained perfectly still and would not focus her gaze on any of them. Her entire body was tense, as if she wanted to be ready to move away from danger at any moment.

Jafinium tapped the display built into his desk. “While I check on your adoption rights, you’re free to place her on your lap. Many Talins seem to like to do that with human pets.”

“Would you like to sit on my lap, Lena?” Tarquin asked. Lena lifted her gaze to his, obviously surprised by his question. Then she seemed to remember herself and dropped her gaze back down to the floor without indicating any preference.

“Why would you ask her for permission?” Jafinium asked without looking up from his display. “She’s property, not a person.”

Tarquin couldn’t think of a single thing to say that wouldn’t cause a serious altercation so he did as Lena was doing and remained silent. Instead of interacting with Lena, he pretended to check something on his Ident.

Finally Jafinium looked up from his display with a satisfied rumble. “It’s true, you have the same power of association as Ianino. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an adoptive son given that much authority when there was a natural-born adult son already in place. Commandant Holian must trust you immensely.”

It gave Tarquin a massive amount of satisfaction to respond truthfully. “He does.”

Jafinium waved at Lena. “You can collect her when you're done with your inspection. She might become agitated during transport from here to Kalor. I have some medication you can give her to keep her quiet during transit, since I don’t have a travel cage for her.”

Tarquin saw the slightest hunch of Lena’s shoulder while Jafinium spoke. It was difficult, but he was barely able to stifle a soothing purr.

“If I spend some time with her before we leave I’m sure I'll be able to keep her under control,” Tarquin said.

“Whatever you think is best. She can be your responsibility now,” Jafinium said, then waved at the soldier who’d brought Lena in. “Show them to her cage and see about giving him full access.”

“Yes, sir.” The soldier stepped up to grab Lena’s arm, but Tarquin was quick to stand and block the other man.

“If I’m in charge of her, sir,” Tarquin said, injecting a respective note to his voice, “then I’d like to follow my adoptive father’s philosophy regarding the training and treatment of human pets. If that’s agreeable to you.”

Jafinium sounded an impatient rattle. “Fine, do as you wish. All I care about is getting some offspring from her.”

Tarquin performed a little bow. “Thank you for your gift of time and skill, Standing General Jafinium.”

Jafinium responded to the formal goodbye by rote. “I wish you a fruitful rotation.”

Tarquin turned to the soldier. “Please lead me to her cage.”

The soldier sounded a rattle of agreement, turned on his heels, and strode away. He was walking much too fast for little Lena to keep up, so the moment they were in the hall and the door to Jafinium’s office closed behind him, he barked out an order to the soldier.

“Halt and return!”

The soldier stopped and stiffly walked back. He didn’t make any sound of annoyance but Tarquin could tell he was angry by the way he stomped back to stand in front of him and Lena.

“Sir?”

“You will address me as Envoy Inspector Tarquin,” he said, reminding the soldier of his much higher status. “And you will keep pace with me, not the other way around.”

“Yes, Envoy Inspector Tarquin,” the soldier said with a dip of his head. “I apologize for my behavior. I’ll be more aware of my actions going forward.”

“See that you are,” Tarquin said. “Now you may lead us to Lena’s room at a more reasonable pace.”

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he might have seen Lena’s shoulders relax slightly as they followed the soldier. It was also a good sign that she didn’t flinch when he placed a hand at the small of her back to steady her as they walked.

He knew winning her trust was going to require him to be slow and steady with his actions, but perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad as he first feared.