Page 11 of Survivor
Sighing in resignation at thoughts of my bleak future, I pulled a blanket from an overhead compartment, draping the soft fabric over Lucy’s sleeping form.
As the soft fabric settled over her body, she gave an adorable little shimmy, a faint smile teasing her lips, even though she remained deep in slumber. Her presence stirred something within me... a strange, exhilarating sensation that made me feel vibrantly alive, accompanied by another indescribable feeling that caused my heart to stutter wildly, as well as making my cock twitch. With a heavy sigh, I turned away from Lucy’s appealing form. I could not allow myself to ponder the possibilities. While my mother reigned as Queen, to keep the company of a human would be to sentence her to death.
I moved back to the cockpit with slow steps, stretching and feeling my scales shift and backbone pop. The muscles across my chest pulled, causing a twinge of pain where the wound dissected my flesh. Not much, though. Zarpazians healed quickly. My fingers moved over the soft bandage, not yet ready to remove it for the simple fact that Lucy’s hand placed there it. I drew a deep breath, trying to steady myself from the effect she had on me, yet her scent had permeated the air. Sweet, but with a subtle hint of spice that made it enticing, not the cloying scent abhorrent to most of my kind.
Settling in the pilot’s chair, my fingers ran over the control panel, checking our navigational heading and wondering for the hundredth time if I was doing the right thing. I hadn’t seen Vysar in years, not since my mother exiled him. He was a good male, a male of excellent character and morals, but that was years ago when childhood adoration swayed my opinion. He could be different now—if he remained alive. The planet of Vysar’s exile was perfect for my intentions. It was well out of the range of travel routes, mostly jungle, with the few hundred natives that inhabited the planet, barely sentient. The perfect place to keep Lucy sequestered until the Alliance could deal with my mother.
I held no misconceptions. Dealing with my mother would be a bloody business. She would not relinquish the throne easily. The further I could keep Lucy from the fray, the better. Protecting that tiny human female had suddenly become the most important thing in the universe to me.
Reaching into my britches pocket, I pulled out a tiny comm device. It was a flat metallic square, left for me by Diarvet, designed to function beyond the reach of Zarpazian communication signals. Carefully, I placed my thumb on one side and pressed gently. A single pulse emanated from the device, a silent message sent across the vastness of space, letting my cousin know I was ready to talk.
A few minutes later, the comm vibrated in my grip, sending a tingling sensation through my fingertips. I gave it a firm squeeze, and a sharp blast of static erupted from the device, crackling like distant thunder. A faint whisper followed the noise, barely discernible.
“Cousin?”
“I’m here,” I said, recognizing Diarvet’s voice.
“Thank the goddess,” he breathed in relief. “Seibring is claiming that he gave you a fatal blow.”
I snorted, a mix of amusement and disgust. “He cut me with his claws, but I am far from deceased.” I chuckled and added. “Did he tell you what the human female did to him?”
“The human female?” I heard the confusion in my cousin’s voice. “He did not mention her, only to say a guard incapacitated him with a laser blast and foiled his abduction attempt.”
Seibring was such a liar. Like my brother Vreses, he was not a male of integrity or honor. With great relish, I relayed the true, unfiltered version of events.
I had not heard Diarvet laugh this gleefully since he we were younglings.
“You are safe now, with the female?” He said after composing himself, although his voice held the tremor of amusement.
“Yes,” I said although unsure of how long it would last.
“The queen is furious at your betrayal,” my cousin said with a heavy sigh. “She has put a bounty on your head—one million credits to any Zarpazian warrior who brings you in dead or alive.”
“I’m impressed by the amount.” Of course, my mother was paying for the right of vengeance for Vreses, not for any worth she attached to my life.
“Sebring will be relentless. Not only to earn the reward, but to keep his lies from being uncovered. The shame of being bested by a female will not be one he wants to bear.”
“When is he not?” I snorted.
“You should have killed him when you had the chance,” Diarvet told me in a scolding tone.
“Perhaps,” I mulled the decision. “Did you forget he is my kin as well as you?” I opted for the easy excuse. The truth was that I didn’t kill Seibring, not because I was vehemently against the idea of cold-blooded murder. If anybody in the universedeserved to die—it was Seibring. The real reason was that I couldn’t bear the thought of Lucy witnessing me commit such an act. An act that would show me to be no different from my brother.
“Yeah, but I’m from the good side of the family,” Diarvet quipped teasingly. “The less murderous one.” He grew silent, and when he spoke again, his tone was somber. “Be careful, not just for her sake, but for yours as well.”
“I will.” I lifted my hand to my chest and placed my palm against my heart in a vow no one could see. “I have a planet in mind where we should be safe.”
“Don’t tell me your destination,” Diarvet insisted, leaving the rest unsaid. I didn’t need the words to know should my mother discover he had helped me; his torture would be severe.
I spoke solely in support of Diarvet’s safety. “To be safe, Cousin, I think we should suspend all communication until the Alliance has intervened.”
“About that,” Diarvet hemmed, causing a fissure of concern to shoot down my spine.
“What?”
The deep, weary sigh that escaped from my cousin’s lips sent a shiver of apprehension through me as if it carried the weight of a gathering storm.
“I was reporting for duty in the throne room when I heard your mother speaking to someone from the Alliance council. From the tone of their words, I suspect that she may have allies in the Alliance who support her ambitions.”
