Page 30 of Taking Jenny (Planet Orhon #4)

He leaned back, eyes sharp as glass. “Do you think an Orne would survive the trial?”

Panic churned in my stomach. I mentally sorted through the few remaining Orne women and there weren’t many. I did not like where this conversation was headed.

“It’s…possible,” I replied.

“Your people are known for their ferocity, are they not?”

“We are.”

“Do you share your clan’s ferocity?”

Where was he going with this? “I try to keep my ferocity in the bedroom, where it belongs,” I said, attempting to give him something else to think about other than my clan.

Mal gaped at me. Justice burst out laughing, slapping the table with delight. The council joined in.

“Pleon,” Justice called out. “Pour us a round of whickler in honor of our guest.”

One of the councilors—a balding man—hurried to a cabinet behind me and returned with glasses filled with the whickler.

Justice lifted his glass. “You may be unclassed trash, Orne, but that answer entertained me. And my councilors have been woefully boring lately. To you.”

They all drank. I followed suit. The whickler burned hot down my throat—brutal on an empty stomach. I coughed softly.

“Ever had any better?” Justice asked.

Lie, or tell the truth? “Best whickler ever, Ruler,” I said smoothly.

He smirked. “Mal, double his punishment for that bold lie.”

Shit. “Alright, you caught me,” I said with a laugh. “When I was a boy, an elder woman in my clan made her own. It was smoother, cleaner. Just the right hint of smoke and wood. Perfect.”

Justice leaned in. “Sounds like I need a barrel.”

“Not possible.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me I can’t have something I want?”

“Yes.”

His tone darkened. “And why not?”

“Because you killed her.”

Every sound in the room stopped. No more chatter among the councilors. No more laughter. Nothing.

Even Justice seemed to need a moment to collect his thoughts. “How?”

“When you ordered the clan purges during the war. She was one of the first to die. Your soldiers slit the throats of every elder in my clan, per your order.”

He stared at me, and I could not tell if he was angry, regretful, or none of it. Then, slowly, he lifted his glass. “To the Orne elders, whose deaths have gone unremarked—until now. May they find rest on Halla.”

The others drank. I did not, which didn’t go unnoticed by Justice or Mal, the latter of whom looked concerned by my act of rebellion.

“You don’t drink to their rest?” Justice asked coldly.

“How can I?” I said, looking him in the eyes. “They were not permitted to be burned on Halla, and I don’t want to lie to you again.”

Justice’s gaze was razor-sharp now. “Then let’s test your honesty. Why were you asking about me and my family in that bar?”

“The Bateens are the most important family on Orhon, Ruler,” I said, giving him the same answer I had that first day he’d questioned me. “Again, I ask, why wouldn’t I inquire about you?”

“I thought you’d say that.” He tipped his head upward and hollered, “Guard!”

Panic surged. I braced for chains, another cell—true torture this time. The door opened, and several guards marched in. One of them held a small ornate box, which he set in front of me.

I knew that box. I knew that guard—but I couldn’t place his name.

Justice grinned. “Open it.”

I glanced at Mal, his gaze as confused as I felt. I lifted the lid—and froze.

A severed tail. Half-skinned.

My breath caught. “Who?”

“Your friend Summer wouldn’t tell me what you two discussed in the bar,” Justice said calmly. “So, I took his tail. Thought it might jog his memory.”

A gasp startled me in the quiet room. I turned, stunned, and met the eyes of the guard. Thyme. Summer’s ex. Tears streaked down his face. He hadn’t known what was in the box.

My fists clenched against my thighs and my blood steamed. “Will I be getting more boxes with more Summer in them?”

“That would be a waste of an old man,” Justice replied. “I sent him to the fields of Grenevar. Manual labor does wonders for memory.”

“You’re a monster,” I muttered.

Justice ignored me. “See that weepy guard? Summer shared a bed with Thyme. Thought no one would ever find out he told secrets. But someone’s always watching.”

Justice stood and circled behind Thyme, resting his hands on the man’s trembling shoulders, who wasn’t much younger than Mal. “Pretty, isn’t he?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Justice leaned in close to Thyme’s ear. “You thought sharing my bed made you special. Made you exempt. But you lied.”

Thyme begged, “I never told Summer anything private, sire!”

Justice made a tsking sound. “Lies from such a pretty mouth.” Then, he dropped his hands and straightened. “Take him to the royal prison. Sew his lips shut. After three days, give him water—but don’t remove the stitches. I want to see what happens.”

“No! Please, sire!” Thyme pleaded.

The guards dragged him out. His screams echoed, fading as the doors slammed shut behind them. I felt sick to my stomach.

Justice turned back to me. “Sure you don’t want to tell me the real reason you were asking about my family?”

I stood, beyond livid and not caring what happened next.

“If you’ve already decided I’m lying, then nothing I say will matter.

So go ahead. Lop off my tail. Toss me in the fields.

Sew my damn mouth shut. But I’m done listening to you and your classed shits congratulate yourselves for your cruelty. So just bloody get on with it.”

Justice blinked. Then he laughed so hard he had to steady himself on the table. “Gods, Orne,” he wheezed, “you do not keep your ferocity in the bedroom. Now that we’ve settled that, you and Mal may take your leave. I’m sure you have other things to do than entertain us.”

Mal crossed the room fast and grabbed my arm, playing the part of my jailer. He hauled me toward the exit with just the right amount of force to look believable.

“One more thing,” Justice called out after us.

We stopped and Mal turned. “Yes?”

“Use your dullest blades on that one.”

“With pleasure,” Mal sneered.

He shoved me through the door and kept up the ruse until we were inside his onworlder with the doors locked tight behind us.

“I am so sorry,” he said quietly once we were on our way back to his palace. “For all of it.”

I shook my head. “I think I’m going to be sick. Summer’s tail—”

“I have a plan for him,” Mal said, voice grim. “Thyme…I’m not sure I can save.”

I stared at him. His eyes were on the road and his grip was white knuckled on the controls. “How could you possibly help Summer?”

“I’ve got a guy,” was all he said, before he glanced sideways at me. “How come you haven’t come up with a better lie yet?”

“Huh?”

“Justice knows you’re hiding something. So why haven’t you told a better lie about why you were asking about him and his family?”

I tried to keep my stomach from revolting.

“When I was younger, my cousin Kapok punched his way into trouble faster than anyone I’ve ever known.

I talked fast to keep up. What I learned is this—if you lie, you never change the story.

Not even when your back’s against the wall.

Don’t crack. Don’t hesitate. If I’d shifted even one detail, Justice would’ve known I was hiding something.

Right now, all he has is a gut feeling. That’s not enough to kill me—not yet. ”

Mal stared ahead, quiet for a long beat.

Then, very quietly, said, “So, the story you and Jenny told everyone…that’s a lie, isn’t it?”

I almost smiled, but I turned and looked out the window instead.