Page 37 of Scars & Starlight (Of Blood and Conquest #1)

KAIREN

I t takes two more rotations to get to Tyren, the grim memories at the sight of it pushed aside at the urgency of the current situation.

I will not allow another moonfall to pass before I hold Tara in my arms again.

I grit my teeth at the readouts on my screen, ignoring the glare of the system’s star behind the planet.

“There is a planet-wide communications blanket,” Caden says grimly, relaying what I’ve just read to the rest of the room.

“Give me but a moment,” our chief communications officer, Rhaevik, says. If anyone can dismantle the dampening array, it’s him.

“A few fighter ships are patrolling the orbit,” Avenis murmurs from her station. “Surely they’ve detected us by now.”

“Perhaps they’ll feign ignorance,” I offer, barely containing the rage inside me behind civil words.

A beep of the communications consoles precedes Rhaevik’s whoop. “We’re through!”

Tara? I try immediately.

LOCAL SIGNAL INTERFERENCE.

“Fuck!” I growl. Tyren’s rock and soil are suffused with various metals. Nanite communication has always been spotty. “Hail that bastard on comms,” I sneer, standing up to pace The Sovereign’s command deck.

Korvann’s projection appears, the male smirking and fixing his collar with efficient movements, like this is a friendly chat between old friends.

“Ah, Prince ,” he greets, a mocking emphasis on my title. “I didn’t expect you so soon.”

“Let’s dispense with the games, Korvann.” I push the next words out through my teeth, one by one: “ Where. Is. My. Match? ”

The male’s smile only grows wider. “I believe she is resting. That’s what my daughter said, at least. She was, ah, keeping her company last.” I don’t like any part of what he just said, but I let him continue digging his grave.

The general’s eyes narrow when I don’t give him the reaction he was looking for.

“If you or any of The Sovereign’s crew sets foot on this planet, I will kill her and your unborn brat,” he threatens.

My hands clench into fists, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms until I feel slickness dampen them.

“You won’t risk the only thing you have to barter with,” I hiss, more emotion than I’d like leaking past the mask I’m trying to keep up.

Korvann shrugs nonchalantly. “It might just be worth it to see the anguish on your face. You and that Nekkar bitch took a part of my future away from me,” he says, his voice turning venomous. “It’s only just that I take away yours. A child for a child. I very nearly did that already.”

Shivers erupt all over my skin, like I’ve been ejected into space, my body immediately flash freezing.

“What are you talking about?” I demand, my voice unsteady.

The general shrugs again, a muscle at the side of his jaw twitching. “She was running her mouth. I guess the non-lethal setting of my pistol was too much for a human-Avaren hybrid embryo. ”

I lean forward, my nose an inch from the projection. “What did you just say?” I whisper, my voice carrying the hollowness of death.

“Relax,” Korvann drawls with a wave of his hand. “It survived. Though my nanites said it was a close call.”

My face goes slack as determination takes over. “I will kill you,” I promise. “Then I will gift your daughter to the Ghorvek.”

The older male clicks his tongue. “That’s the last threat you will make if you don’t want to receive your so-called princess back in little pieces.

” He tilts his head. “Here’s what you will do.

You will hail your weakling of a mother and tell her to abdicate publicly, naming me as her successor, commanding the people of Avaris and all our colonies to follow me.

Do that, and I might let you and the rest of your family live out your pathetic lives on a moon far away from Sha’Rekai. ”

I clench my teeth at the insolence. He truly expects our people to follow him?

We struggled to keep his relatives safe, making their innermost thoughts public knowledge to absolve them of any guilt.

The people of Avaris are out for blood, ready to take up arms in the defense of their queen and their newfound and already beloved princess.

“Show me that my match is unharmed and I will do as you say,” I command him, playing along for now, until she and my child are safely by my side.

Korvann’s eyes light up with a maniacal grin, too deep in his own delusion to doubt my intentions. He waves a hand, and a new projection appears beside his. It’s a prison with two rudimentary cells, each containing only a cot and a portable waste disposal.

“Where is she?” I growl, my eyes flickering over each small section of the prison. Outside the cells, at the door, I spot two Avaren males, lying on the ground, seemingly asleep. Or more likely unconscious or dead, their positions not natural. But there’s no sign of Tara.

The general turns his head, the smug expression melting off with a furious realization taking its place .

“Where is she?” he yells to someone out of view.

I wait, holding my breath until I hear the reply: “S–she isn’t in the building anymore, General.”

“What?” Korvann roars, his face turning purple.

Cutting off the communication with a wave of my hand, I share a grin with Caden. “That’s my wily match,” I say with relish. I turn to Zorath. “Disable their technology with an EMT pulse.”

“With pleasure,” he purrs.

Next, I turn to the pilot, Draven. “Land. Aim for the base, find a spot. I don’t care if we have to crush The Pride.”

As soon as the male nods, I address Avenis. “I don’t have to tell you to take out any fighters that approach us?”

“No, Commander,” she agrees, already aiming and locking the turrets.

I hail Kael in engineering.

“Yes, Commander?” the male answers eagerly.

“Find a way to locate Tara. She’s on the planet, somewhere in the wild around the base. She couldn’t have gotten far. Try searching for heat signatures.”

“I’m on it,” Kael replies, nodding with determination.

“Let’s get my match back,” I whisper to myself, wishing I could traverse the distance between us in a blink of an eye.

It takes us only half a rotation to detain all of Korvann’s crew and soldiers.

Many surrender eagerly, claiming they feared for their lives and waited for an opportunity to defect, an opportunity our arrival now offers.

Surprisingly, not many lie, and weeding out the good from the bad doesn’t present a challenge.

I watch as my soldiers lead the more zealous of the general’s followers to The Sovereign’s brig. For the seventh time since we descended, I reach out to Kael.

“Any luck? ”

The engineer shakes his head. “The heat signatures we investigated so far turned out to be Tyreni primates.”

I clench my eyes shut. “I’m going to investigate myself. Keep me updated.”

“Of course, Commander.”

I return to the prison, having been here earlier to grab the two pieces of refuse my match took care of.

This time, I step inside the cell that shows signs of use, one of my hearts in my throat.

Picturing my match confined here makes me want to scream.

I had to stay far away from Korvann, knowing my mother would want a public execution and not have me handle it in this obscure part of the universe. Which I gladly would have.

Pushing aside my rage, I steady my breathing and focus my thoughts. Pulling down my visor, I ask for an analysis of the area. The cell’s keypad is highlighted first.

POWER OVERLOAD DETECTED. PROBABILITY OF COINCIDENCE: 11%.

So that’s how she got out of the cell. Sharing the military nanites with her was the best decision I’ve made in a while.

I step out of the cell and stop at the door where the two Avaren males were slumped not long ago.

Readings indicated they were sedated using the maximum non-lethal setting of a nano exoskeleton suit.

I’m amazed at my princess for taking down two soldiers on her own.

Timing pointed at her escape being right after the lastlight meal, when personnel would be slower and less alert. Genius.

Where would she go from here? I ask my nanites once I’m outside of the holding area.

A map of the section appears before me, lines expanding into every direction, to every exit.

Percentages for likelihood are displayed next to each path.

The one with the highest probability has a medium length indoors, but the shortest length to the edge of the property.

I agree with my nanites that it would be the most appealing choice for my match.

I follow it to the exit, where my match’s fingerprints are highlighted on the door. This is it.

Once outside, I take in the fresh air, picturing her in this position almost a rotation ago. Would she have stopped to taste the freedom, or would she have made a mad dash for safety? Probably the latter.

I look at the ground, searching for imprints from smaller feet.

Not many have trampled here since we arrived, seeing as it’s the far corner, so chances are I’ll find something.

It doesn’t take long for my visor to highlight Tara’s footprints.

They lead into a passage through the canyon, one of dozens that erosion has carved out over countless cycles.

Insects skitter over the ground, their colonies overgrown since higher intelligent life has been all but eradicated from the planet.

Reptiles chase after them, their heat signatures negligible enough that I can’t mistake them for a human like my love.

A beep and scrolling text warn me of a communication from Kael.

“Commander. There’s a cave not far from your current location, with a flickering heat signature possibly large enough to be a human.”

“Understood,” I reply, not wasting more words or time. I set off for the new pinpoint on my visor’s map, moving toward it at the limit of my speed.

The smell of woodsmoke alerts me to her location before I see her, poking at a small campfire with a stick, a look of desolate disgust on her beautiful face.

Her plain clothes are rumpled and stained, the locations of the stains making me want to flay Korvann with a very small knife. She must have been so afraid.

I push away my anger and take a step forward, just as she jabs the burning wood so hard sparks fly.

“What did the fire do to you?” I ask her hoarsely.

Tara jumps to her feet, her eyes filling up with tears at the sight of me. Her lower lip shakes before she inhales to speak.

“Oh my god, you’re my hero. I thought I was going to have to kill and cook a bunch of geckos. They’re too cute.”

Before I can process her words, she flies into my arms, dissolving into sobs as my legs refuse to keep me up, shaky from relief, bringing us to the dusty ground. The way her small body fits against mine highlights just how incomplete I felt without her.

“You’re both alright?” I croak into her hair, holding her a bit too tightly, unable to let go.

Tara nods into my chest, still hiding her face. “We are now,” she whispers her reply, breaking my hearts.

“I’m never leaving your side again,” I threaten, mostly serious. “We’ll have to use the cleaning facilities in tandem.”

Her laugh turns into a darling hiccup, and she pulls back, her warm brown eyes connecting with mine. I see my entire future in them.

“Sounds good to me, to be frank,” she agrees.

“Good,” I say before I kiss the tip of her nose. “But who is this Frank, and why do you want to be them?”