Page 32 of The Alien's Stolen Rebel

Which did nothing to stop me reaching around the altar, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out of hiding. She squawked and tried to pull free, but I ignored her.

“I won’t hurt you,” I hissed. “You set this place up so you can help me stop this fight.”

“I don’t know?—”

“Let me rephrase. Youwillhelp me stop this. Hook me into the speakers. And cheer up. We’re going to put on a hell of a show.”

I don’t think I convinced her, but my manic energy frightened her into obeying. Good enough for me. She fumbled for the tablet at her waist, typing instructions while I scooped up a bloody knife that had ended up on the floor near the altar.Not a sword, but it’ll have to do.

Ellara gave me a quick nod, and I strode over to Frax’s body with all the swagger I could manage. It wasn’t much, but every little bit helped.

“This is over,” I shouted, putting one foot on the corpse for emphasis. My voice boomed like thunder from the amplifiers, much louder than I’d expected, but it had the desired effect. All eyes turned to me.

Oh crap, it worked.It was only then that I realized this plan needed a part B. A half-dozen warlords and their retainers looked at me, and I froze under their icy stares.

I need to get this done and get Kreel the medical help heneeds. That fucker has no right to die before I can shout at him for getting killed!

Holding on to that, I waved the bloody knife. “Lord Frax isdead,and his plans died with him. If you assholes want to settle your old scores, fine by me, but do it somewhere else.”

A few cheered. Kreel’s mercenaries, I thought, glad that I had some backing. The rest of the room looked dubious, but no one seemed eager to keep fighting.

Warily, weapons still raised, they glanced at each other, then at me. I glared back, doing my best to project the calm and power Kreel had showed me. For a moment, it seemed to work.

“Frax’s fleet is on its way here,” someone pointed out. “His plan can still work. Whoever weds the human can claim a planetary kingdom with their backup.”

Fucking great.“Will you give it up, idiots? You can see how well it worked out for Frax.”

I kicked his corpse for emphasis, but my words glanced off the assembled petty warlords. No one who made it this far in such a risky career would back down to mere threats. The fragile peace teetered on a knife's edge, ready to shatter.

“This fleet is not yours to command.” Lady Astara Frax’s shout from the hologram gallery filled the hall, all fury and hate. “It is mine, as heir of Lord Frax, and you will obey me. You swore oaths of allegiance to him and his heirs—that is, to me.”

Everyone looked around at the hologram audience.Lady Frax, her gray-green skin flushed and eyes wide, glared out at us. Other holograms backed her up—no surprise, anyone who hadn’t made it to Talbrek yet would find themselves cut out of any deal the gang bosses here made amongst themselves. Their best hope was to back Astara and hope for a reward for their loyalty.

“The situation has changed, my lady,” the Guildfather said after a beat. “And yet, Mars has no law against same-sex marriages. If you wish to take his place in the plan?—”

“Absolutely not!” Astara cut him off at the same moment as I voiced my objection.

“Fuck no, I’m not marryingher.”

It was probably the only thing in the galaxy we agreed on, and it shocked us both into a moment of silence. Astara recovered first. “I will not marry the woman who made me a widow. I willkillher, trample her underfoot until her bones crunch, I will lap up her spilled brains, I will avenge?—”

The holograms dissolved, cutting her off mid-tirade. Someone had cut the connection, leaving the warlords to exchange looks with each other. Some glanced in my direction, and I wondered if our best move might be to leave right now, before they’d made up their minds how to react.

But moving would force a reaction, and they all had weapons in hand. With Kreel injured, we wouldn’t be fast enough. I couldn’t risk it.

So I stared back, projecting what confidence I coulddrag up from the depths of my soul. And each one dropped his gaze before I did.

“Are we really going to followher?”One of them didn’t like Astara any more than I did, it seemed. I didn’t recognize him, not even his species, but I bumped him to the top of my ‘favorite gang lords’ list. “Frax had a plan, a vision. Something to offer. While we can still use that, killing the human is a waste.”

“So, I supposeyoushould marry her, Captain Luhara?” the Guildfather asked archly, bumping himself down to the bottom of the list. “No, no. Better she dies than we fight over her, where only one can win and must then face Lady Astara’s fleet alone.”

A knife sprouted from the pillar beside him, and one of Kreel’s mercenaries held up a second, ready to throw.

“Try to kill her, see where that gets you,” she hissed, and the discussion turned into incomprehensible babble as all the warlords spoke at once, each putting forward their own plan.

I groaned, wondering if this would devolve into a fight immediately, but for the moment they seemed content to shout at each other, trying to decide my future with no concern for my input or wishes.

“You make an excellent pirate queen.” Kreel’s rough voice distracted me from the debate, and I looked around to see him leaning against the altar, trying valiantly to hide his pain behind a cheerful and lecherous smile. “It’s a good look on you. The confidence, the swagger, the torn dress…”

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