Page 83 of Bonded Queen: to the Alien Warlord Triad

Before the ship can move too quickly and alert them, I slam the ring over my middle finger of my left hand. For a second, it’s ice cold, so cold it hurts, and I gasp out in pain when it warms.

The three men blink out of my mind instantly. It’s so fast I don’t have to feel their shock or horror, like I walked up behind them and put bullets in their brain before they could even feel me coming.

It’s the strangest thing. My mind is clear and empty. I didn’t realize how exhausting it was having three different beings hovering around in my mind. I bite my lip as the ship flies through the open bay doors. My mind is clear, yes, but I feel so much more alone than I did when I was screaming in the pleasure room. This was my greatest fear. To have them disappear from my mind, forever.

I don’t have to hide my stress anymore, but I’ve gotten so good at it, it’s a natural reaction as my ship travels away from the palace, joining in with others that are taking off from the city.

If I felt them blink out from my mind, so too will they feel me gone in an instant. The first thought will be that I was killed. One of Queen Jasmine’s operatives they were so paranoid about. They’re out in the fields, and it will take a minute to get the palace locked down. The only thing I need to worry about now is that they’ll block ships from the atmosphere, but there’s no reason for them to think I’m on a ship, yet, and plus, there’s a steady stream of ships leaving and going at all times.

They’ll hate themselves for not protecting me.

They’ll hate themselves for letting me go for my daily walk. They’ll wish they kept me chained up in the bunker for eternity.

And if they find me, out in the depths of space?

That’s what I have to look forward to. If they recapture me, they’ll chain me up and keep me as their prisoner.

My ship powers up through the atmosphere, the shields easily protecting me as I punch out of the planet next to another transport ship. An automated query flashes on the screen. The AI gives security credentials back instantly. I don’t even have time to be anxious before a green light flashes.

Kat did her job. Deep down, I knew she would.

There’s no turning back now. If I go back to them, or they find me, they’ll chain me up and keep me in a bunker for a thousand years, never once letting me out of sight. If they do take me out, it’ll be on a leash, at their side, chained to them for eternity.

I thought I’d have this feeling of determination and certainty when I left the planet.

I feel nothing. Just empty.

It will take time to adjust.

I pull my hands down. I was unconsciously rubbing my temples, as if trying to find the three auras of the men.

I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to move. I explore the ship. The long hallway that connects to the bridge branches off to the entry bay, but I take a different door, entering a tiny kitchen.

It’s not fancy. It’s got a replicator and a water recycler. I grimace, thinking of my sweat being collected and spat back out to me.Delicious.The replicator looks ancient, and there’s four buttons on it. It looks like meatloaf, soup that the title that has long since been worn off—maybe it’s the most popular choice?And finally, there’s a chicken curry that looks like the button has never been pressed. I resign myself to soup and meatloaf for the next seven months, hoping that the replicator won’t spit out chunks of unprocessed matter in the middle of the recipes.

I check through the cupboards. Thankfully, one is stuffed full of protein bars. Most of them are plain, but there’s a couple of chocolate and nut flavored ones that can be a special treat.

I run my hand over the ring on my finger. It’s the furthest thing from a wedding ring. So small, yet so powerful. I take the crown off my head, putting it next to the coffee machine. I’ll have to throw it out of the airlock. Anyone who seesthatwill know instantly who I am.

I chew the inside of my cheek. I’ll have to change my appearance on the flight. Cut my hair. Find a way to dye it. Losing weight should be easy when the food choices are so suspect. I’m thankful to Nash. I’ve been broadcasted to the universe, but only after she worked her magic, and after a couple days without a shower and no make-up, no one would believe I was once the queen.

I walk to the back of the ship, passing by the bunks with their hard mattresses and rooms filled with controls and systems I’ll have to trust the AI to deal with. I get to the very end, into the small cargo bay where there is a tiny square window.

The planet is getting smaller and smaller.

I get a flash of nostalgia to when I was still a teenager, peering out through the front viewports of the transport ship, watching Trebulous getting bigger and bigger as I approached it. I had signed my contract and imagined working the ten years for the same family. They had a sixteen-year-old daughter. I imagined her getting married, helping to raise her little boy or girl, before my decade contract was up and I could make my own way. Funny—I never imagined my own family or future. It was like the ten years were putting my life on pause, because it was the only way I’d be allowed to enter and live on a “safe” planet like Trebulous, a station rat like me.

I toy with the ring. I’m anxious to pull it off. To let them know I’m safe and alive, but that I can’t be with them. That I have to find my own way in this universe, whatever that means. That their destiny is war and blood, and mine… I don’t know what mine is yet, only that if things had been a little different, it could have been in their arms.

I care for them. Ra’al. Orr. Kriz. They’re hard men to love. Rulers. Generals. Ruthless in battle. That is their purpose.

I’ll wait until I’m far away, until I can be sure they can’t come after me. They’ll find no trace of the body. They’ve probably locked down the palace by now, interrogating people, finding out who was near my walking route. Then they’ll find the missing ship. They’ll know I had to leave.

I gulp as I look out of the viewport, realizing the ugly truth.

If I take this ring off to reassure them, they’d Orb-Shift instantly. Obsidian uses all his powers to move the Fanatic fleet, and even if he could spare efforts to help my triad, they wouldn’t wait. They’d plunge through the rift in an instant to find me. They could be ripped apart. I’d feel them for a brief moment, before they would wink out of my mind, maybe never to return. And if they did, they would be on me in a second, grabbing me and taking me back with them.

For their sake, I can never take the ring off.

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