Page 45 of Taken to Voraxia
Bo’Raku is leaning forward even further now, ridges flashingbeamingas his subconscious wars and wins the fight to control the color. But he has no control. Just as he has no honor.
“Hexa. They can be bred by any manner of creature. Even those as large and as brutal as the Niahhorru. Just think of the Niahhorru’s fertility crisis and the spoils we could win from them in exchange for even justonehuman female. The females can be bred many times over their rotations to produce many younglings. The riches the Niahhorru would trade for that power would be incalculable.”
“Maybe even three percent of their profits each rotation,” I offer.
“Three?Nox, my Raku.” He bellows out a pleasure sound that causes Xa’Raku’s plates to lift up from her flat chest. I need her calm, and am grateful that Bo’Raku’s focus remains on me.
“The Niahhorru king would tradeeighteenpercent of their trading profits for the coordinates to the human settlement and with the condition that they visit once a rotation, take three women to breed and return them once the younglings have been born.
“They would also take one human or hybrid every other rotation to sell at auction. Their barbarian leader believes that they could earn up to thirty million credits for one human female.”
Thoughts of my Rakukanna are all that keep me in my seat. I long to launch myself across the war room and rip Bo’Raku’s tongue out through his teeth, but I can give my advisors no reason to believe that I am volatile or incapable of being anything but their Raku. Their strength. I must be strong for my people. All of my people. My Rakukanna’s included.
I quiet, and glance around, wishing that Va’Raku were here for this moment that I take Bo’Raku down. Bo’Raku’s pleasure expression begins to fade and as he sits back in his seat, I lean forward in my own.
“Bo’Raku, I hereby move to strip you of your title.”
His ridges flutter white in surprise and confusion and Ihatehim for such a confusion. That he could think I wouldevercondone, let alone enjoy, the suffering of another —of a female, of my. Xiveri. mate.
I allow one burst of color to surface on my brow, knowing it immediately for the color that it is not just by my own inner turmoil, but my Bo’Raku’s now visible agitationand his fear.
Black as the abyss of space. Thirsty for blood. His. Bo’Raku’s own ridges dull until they are colorless. His body tenses and his colors flash with violence. He now understands my ploy. But it does not matter. It is too late.
“You deceived me!” Bo’Raku shoots from his seat and his boot thrusts forward as if he means to attack, though at the last moment, he refrains. Xok, how I wish he had. If he had come at me, I’d have had every reason to defend my own honor. No shame would be found in my slow removal of his head from his body. There would be only him, on the floor, dead. No tribunal needed.
I slam my fist on the arm of my werro throne. “You engage in intergalactic treaties without consorting with your Raku and dare accusemeof deception? There is only one way to know how much Rhorkanterannu would be willing to pay for a human female.
“You have engaged Kor’s king, usurping my authority and making the whole of Voraxia appear weak to one of our most dangerous enemies. This alone is enough to warrant your title stripped. But that you alsodareoffer up Voraxian-born hybridslike your Rakukannato slavery is enough for me to challenge you for your life.”
The black in my ridges consumes my sight, so that the world is filtered through a sharp, yet grey veil. It has never behaved in such a way before. But perhaps, until now, I have never known true anger. The terrifying desire to pluck his eyes out of his skull and break his bones piece by piece. I want him tohurt. To feel limitless pain. The desire comes on so strong, it feels like a fresh agony.
The haze of the black darkens in a flash and when it lifts, I am on my feet and though Bo’Raku is not dissimilar in size, I am larger now. Taller. Fuller. More imminent. I tower over him and I am left to wonder,is this the Xanaxana’s strength?Another way in which my Xiveri mate honors me, even if she never intended it.
A deep rumbling flows from my chest, the Xanaxana’s protective urge fighting to be unleashed. And desperate now to be nearer to my Rakukanna. To my Miari.Where is she?It has been three solars. Three too many. I had been angry and had wanted to honor her with the ceremony, but now she is being threatened by one of my own xub’Rakus and I need her by my side.Nox. Wait. Honor her. My vow. Tonight.
“Bo’Raku,” I exhale shakily, fighting for an elusive calm. “You dishonor yourself with each word. The pain you and your Bo’Raku before you have brought onto the human colony is horrific and yet, because the females have not been fledged, I cannot call this a crime.
“That you conspire with the Niahhorru in the shadows where your Raku and the other xub’Rakus cannot see, is treason. Combined, your dishonor and this treason are more than enough to call for your title unless there is but one among the xub’Raku who would speak for you. If there is, then they should do so now.”
The room is utterly silent. Beside me, I can hear Xa’Raku’s heavy breathing. Her ridges swirl red and black, emotions mirroring mine and cropping up across the brows of all of the other xub’Raku in the room.
I look them each in the eyes while Bo’Raku sits perched on the edge of his stool, trembling with what can only be interpreted as the basest anger, but the chamber is silent and in that silence, I have my verdict.
“I hereby strip you of your title and responsibilities. When you leave this chamber, you are no longer Bo’Raku. You are once again Pe’ixal. All will know your slave name in Voraxia. You will not be honored at the ceremony of the Rakukanna. And you will not interact with any of the eleven dignitaries of the Quadrant Four constellations.
“If it is so much as suggested that you speak with Rhorkanterannu while he shows himself to honor the Rakukanna, then it will cost you more than your planet. Much more.”
Bo’Raku opens his mouth as if to dare challenge me here, now. I roar, “What has been spoken this span is final. You are dismissed,Pe’ixal. Leave me with the xub’Raku now to determine your fate.”If you shall live.
Pe’ixal shudders and his ridges flash a sallow green before flaring a murderous red. His plates lift from his chest and I clench my hands to fists at my side, begging that he should advance.
Come to me, Pe’ixal. Dishonor yourself further so that I might tear you apart with teeth and talons.But he doesn’t. Reason wins out and in the final moment, Pe’ixal pivots on his heel and heads to the narrow entrance to the war room.
His presence triggers the sensor, as it will this final time. Already, I see Xhen’Raku activating her life drive and tapping away on the holo screens, issuing my edict so that all of Voraxia may know the former Bo’Raku’s crimes.
I resume my seat and exhale. My chest is heavy. Each breath thickens the air in my lungs. “My honored xub’Raku. The appearance of these humans and hybrids in our constellation can only be seen as a blessing. Your Rakukanna is testament to that. I encourage you all to join us this evening in celebration of the humans’ strength and their offering to Voraxia.
“This offering is far greater than their capacity for breeding. To assume as much is to assume the same primitive, backwards thinking of the Dra’Kesh ancestors, whose vanity and pride led to their near ruin. Had they not been absorbed by the Voraxian nations of old, they would certainly have perished.
