Page 71 of Infala: Her Alien Protector
“Of course, fool.”
“Then you also know as well as I do that the reason I cannot remotely summon the ship is because this terrain is not only hell to fly over, but the ground is also peppered with tall trees that obstruct access, and the rocks jutting around us only compound that obstacle. The ship simply cannot land here.”
Galla looked at the trees and rocky slopes around them. He was right, obviously, but she was a Vinchi, damn it, and she would bend the situation to her will.
“We have explosives, so blast a hole in the trees andmakea landing site.”
Maddix actually laughed aloud at that, and utterly organically. He wasn’t messing with her. It was just the most suicidally idiotic idea she’d had yet, and that was saying something.
“Oh, I most definitely willnotbe doing that. And before you get bent out of shape over it, I would direct your attention to the terrain. Do you recall what I was describing to you both as we made our way here?”
“You were blathering on about geology and rocks,” Flagro grumbled. “You are truly a bore, Maddix.”
“A bore, perhaps. But one who knows that detonations of that magnitude would make the rocks at our feet unstable. There are caverns and tunnels under these hills. Entire realms spoken of in the old days. And if you set off charges up here, we could cause a weakening of the ground that would surely swallow the ship whole if it set down upon it. And, as we are currently standing on said ground, such an incident might cause a sinkhole so large it might suck us down even without the ship’s weight, and I do not think either of you would wish for that to happen.”
Flagro and Galla were both fuming, but their self-preservation instincts were stronger than their anger.
“Fine,” Flagro growled. “We hike out. Now get over here and help me. My leg is killing me.”
Maddix gave Maria the slightest of winks then headed to his boss. “Of course. It would be my honor.”
They continued on, moving a bit slower, though Flagro did eventually get over his injury and simply start walking normally again, his tantrum subsided in the interest of making better time. The delay was substantial, and Maria was less worried about too much hostile attention being paid to her during the trek. That part was good. But they’d not slowed so much that they wouldn’t still reach the ship the following day, and that meant her respite would be short-lived.
Once they were back in the chancellor’s realm? All bets would be off, and her fate hanging in the balance.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Flagro lay in his bunk aboard Maddix’s ship, grumpy, but clean, and pumped full of pain blockers while the machinery worked on his injuries. It was mostly soft tissue, and it seemed his ego was bruised more than his body. Regardless, he locked himself in his quarters as soon as they reached the ship and left very clear instructions that he was not to be disturbed until they landed back home.
Galla, on the other hand, was perfectly happy to sit in the small galley, enjoying the first quality food she’d had in days, thanks to the tracker’s ridiculous plan. She, unlike her brother, did not complain though. The plan, unpleasant as it had been, had also yielded success, and they would be returning home to their father victorious. It took a lot longer than any would have anticipated, but in the end, it was the chancellor’s offspring who had completed the task, not any of the other elite families.
The chancellor would be pleased.
As for Maddix, he would be given some pittance of an acknowledgment of his efforts then sent back to whatever corner of the world his indenture required of him.
“At least I’ll be free of these two idiots,” he grumbled as helifted off and set their course home. “That’s worth more than any currency at this point.”
It had been a long walk. That in and of itself was to be expected. Annoying, but expected. The incessant bitching and sniping from the injured man in his care, however, was not, and it had worn on Maddix’s last nerve to the point that he started entertaining the notion of killing the pair of them and hiding their bodies in the woods for the wildlife to devour with greater seriousness, consequences be damned.
Of course, he could do no such thing. Even if it had been caused by natural causes, the disappearance, or worse yet, the demise of the chancellor’s heirs would bring an even larger world of shit down upon his head. And so he sucked it up and kept on as before, doing his duty despite his own desires.
One of them had to do with their prisoner. As she regained the power of not only her legs, but of speech as well, Maria had given them an earful, at least, when she felt confident her mouthing off wouldn’t result in a blast from the stun weapon.
“If I have to carry her again, it will only take us that much longer to reach the ship,” Maddix had to remind the siblings.
“Fine,” Flagro groused. “But I will make sure she pays for her insolence when we get back.”
He was in a miserable mood, and so it would remain all the way home. Maria, on the other hand, was improving in spirits, her body rebounding from the stun in ways she hadn’t anticipated. No one realized that her runes had been completed, nor could they have imagined that she was bonded to a native. But as she sat quietly aboard the ship, pondering what her fate might be upon her return to the chancellor’s clutches, she couldn’t help but almost feel happy. At ease. Complete. Her Infala was settled now, firm in its ultimate form, its power radiating through her body, calling out for its other half.
And she knew Zepharos was out there feeling the samething. No matter how far apart they might have been, somehow, she was certain he felt it too.
She kept that to herself, of course. The siblings were ignoring her at last, and she wasn’t about to rock that boat. As for the tracker-slash-pilot, he seemed to actually be a decent guy, and he set her up with some food and drink, making sure she was as comfortable as she could be without drawing the scrutiny of his other guests.
“Just sit tight and we’ll be there soon.”
“What are they going to do to me?”
He shrugged. “You ran, but they’ve spread the story that you were abducted. If I were you, I’d lean into that for your own good. Play the victim to enough witnesses and odds are the chancellor will have to be merciful, no matter how angry he may be. He has quite a temper, but he is also very concerned with saving face. He has an image to protect. Use that to your advantage.”
