Chilling. Effective.
Urazi looked at her. “We can turn back.”
“How?” She jerked her head toward Perce’s conveyance.
“We probably will stop for one final respite. We could leave the convoy then. Perce is so close to Qalin’s headquarters, he will not chase us. Ylos could drive this transport, and the two of them could proceed. They might not consider us significant enough to expend the guard force to hunt for us.”
“We would have to go on foot. Either deeper into Qalin’s territory or past all these bodies.”
“Those are our options.” He nodded.
Anika feared if they moved deeper into the Alpha’s territory, surrounded by his guards, sympathizers, and loyal citizens, they would never escape. Not that it would matter—because Parseon seemed destined to fall to Qalin. But could she trudge step-by-step past his victims’ bodies without screaming? They must have ridden three or four kilometers, and bodies still walled in the road. No wonder Qalin needed breeders—he had to replenish the population. How would society progress if a dearth of alphas existed to defend it, if not enough betas were around to keep it running?
“Do you prefer to abandon the…plan?” Anika asked. They had no
plan
. Just an agreement of what needed to be done—kill Qalin. The bodies had demonstrated what an ill-fated objective they pursued. How could a lone female and a beta achieve what the combined elite forces of three Alphas could not?
Inscrutable, Urazi betrayed no sign of his feelings. “I asked you,” he said.
Anika recalled her sense of power as she sneaked from Marlix’s abode. With a dagger strapped to her thigh, she’d felt like a warrior. She’d been like a child armed with a stick attacking pretend invaders. Perhaps Marlix had been right to pledge her to Ilian. Even Urazi had urged acceptance. But she’d rejected her duty—and a noble one to serve an Alpha—out of some vague discontent, some naive notion of freedom.
Betas, even alphas, did not have the liberty to do as they pleased. Why should she, a female, be granted the privilege of freedom?
Anika stared at her hands, clasped so tight the skin over the joints had blanched. Females produced offspring. Served as vessels for betas to achieve sexual release. Performed the work males refused to do. A life without status, to be sure, but insulated to large degree from the harsher realities. Would serving Ilian have been so bad?
She had not expected the cachinna, so much destruction, the violence. She had killed a male without any compunction, had struck a member of her own gender—a breeder in more dire straits than she.
Anika stared at the wall of bones. Were the remains of Commander Dak, and little Berik part of it? Anika expelled a shuddering breath, and then sought Urazi’s eyes. “I will not give up,” she said. “I wish to proceed.”
Holding the reins on the right, Urazi grasped Anika’s hand with his left, his fingers threading between hers in an intimate manner. She imagined the breeders gawking. He squeezed. “I wish to proceed also.” His throat moved as he swallowed. “You should know I would die for you.”
“Do not talk like that.” To speak of such challenged fate to make it so. “Neither of us is going to die,” she said vehemently.
“We must accept—”
“No! I will not allow you to die. You
will
live. Do you understand?”
Urazi blinked, and then roared with laughter. He raised her hand to his mouth, pressed his lips to her knuckles, then laughed some more.
She gaped.
He has gone over the edge. Lost his mind.
Either that or he was making jest of her. She wanted to save him, and he found it funny? She yanked her hand free of his grasp.
He sobered and wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. “Do not be angry.”
“You enjoyed humor at my expense.” She fumed.
“Not at you. At the situation.”
“What did you find that was so funny?”
“You
commanded
me to live. I am not used to taking orders from a female, but you have boxed me into a corner. I cannot say I will not do what you have dictated, now can I?”
Anika’s lips twitched. “I guess not.”
Chapter Fifteen
Their conveyance swayed past the last of the bodies, and Anika expelled a sigh of relief. While her purpose and resolution did not flag, she carried the gruesome evidence of Qalin’s atrocities like hefty stones in a pack. As Urazi had speculated, the grisly display would deter many from insurrection.
In the distance, a wavy, glinting ephemeron shimmered. Mirage? She squinted. “A hologram,” she deduced.
“I think so,” Urazi said.
As the conveyance approached, perspective shifted and, before her eyes, the image grew larger, taking shape and form into a male, his face more disfigured than Icor’s. Even in a society which placed no favor on beauty, his terrifying ugliness stood out. The bones of his skull fused into a ridged forehead over patchy brows framing two sunken, baleful eyes, the left smaller and drooping lower than the right. A cruel smile twisted thin lips. She knew without being told, without ever having seen him, it was Qalin.
About every kilometer, another larger-than-life hologram would arise out of the desolation, ensuring Qalin could not be put out of mind.
How had such a male ascended to Alpha? Why had the High Council members voted him in? His psychopathy appeared as stark and clear as if Nature had generated bone, muscle, and tissue from barbarity itself. The present outcome had been set into play the moment Qalin had taken a seat at the High Council table.
“Were there no other contenders?” she murmured. New Alphas were approved by a vote of the High Council, but candidates first entered Alpha academy to prove and hone their worthiness.
“Qalin’s sire and his before him were Alpha. One does not inherit the status, but it carries tremendous influence, so much so that it is unheard of for a challenger to defeat a Commander’s son.
“That is why sons are so important,” Urazi added. “An Alpha needs one for his legacy to continue. In my beta training, my history of Parseon instructor informed us no credible rivals emerged to challenge Qalin. And with his sire and his grand sire having ruled over the province….”
“Were there
really
no worthy adversaries, or did Qalin or his sire eliminate them?” Anika asked.
“No one dared to speculate,” Urazi said in a hushed tone.
As they approached another hologram, Perce gestured from his vehicle to a widened area in front of the image. Anika was loath to tarry beneath a giant Qalin, even if it was a pattern of light waves. But they needed to stretch their legs, and the females would need to relieve their bladders.
Anika signaled she would follow.
After pulling off the road, Anika and Urazi led the females from both conveyances to a copse of scrubby trees. Several times she caught Zala watching her and Urazi, but she ignored her. If she engaged the other female, Anika would be forced to take an unconscionable action.
While Ylos watered the beasts, Perce perched on a rock and dug at the ground with his dagger.
After they reboarded the females, they joined Perce. He stood at their approach, and inclined his head toward to the hologram.
“Have you ever met my sire?”
Rarely did anyone encounter an Alpha of Parseon. The rulers of their planet did not deign to walk among the hamlets where commoners lived. Dak had stood as the lone exception, frequenting the Market and the Terran Bazaar he’d established in his province. “I have not had the honor,” she said.
“Nor I,” Urazi added.
“I shall introduce you both and tell him how helpful you have been.”
She and Urazi needed that kind of access to identify Qalin’s vulnerabilities, but Anika could not think of anything she desired less than meeting the Alpha face to face. His holographic image was frightening enough, and she worried he would see through her disguise. Nepotism might have facilitated his ascendancy, but that did not mean he lacked intelligence.
Though Parseon valued valor and might, Alphas possessed a keen perspicacity enabling them to hold onto their positions. Or she had thought they did. She questioned the foresight of the High Council members who had voted in Qalin.
“He is our Alpha. We did what any citizen would do,” Urazi said.
“Well, I appreciate your support.” Perce’s attention flicked to hologram, and his shoulders drooped.
He’s afraid! He fears his own sire.
Anika studied Perce. He was much younger than she had originally had surmised, not even her age. His forehead lacked the ridged prominence of Qalin’s, and his eyes were symmetrically spaced and of close-enough size that the slight discrepancy would go unnoticed unless one examined his features very closely—as she was doing now. While he bore a faint likeness to his sire, the resemblance had been ameliorated by the genetics of his breeder.
Unfortunately
for Perce. No doubt Qalin would desire a son more similar to him.
“It will not be long before we arrive at my sire’s abode,” Perce deadpanned, his lack of enthusiasm revealing scrolls of information.
“We are looking forward to it,” Anika lied.
“I am to enter Alpha training next year.” Perce confirmed her hunch about his youth. “My sire has deployed me on missions in his service to prepare me.”
“He is wise. I have heard Alpha training is so rigorous that most who enter do not survive,” Urazi said.
Perce paled.
“You are the first-born son then?” Anika inquired.
“I am the only son. My sire has spawned dozens of offspring but they are female.” Perce rubbed his palms against the sides of his uniform pants. “After this assignment, I am to enlist in his guard force and join the crusade against those Alphas who seek to destroy Parseon.” He blinked rapidly, appearing very young and terrified.
He is not alpha material, though he wears the cloth of one.
She should hate him, since he would be joining forces against Marlix and Ilian and all she used to hold dear, but found herself empathizing with his plight. Perce served at the whims of his Alpha—who happened to be his sire. His position held great status, but also jeopardy, and his path in life had been chosen by his birth.
“Without having a body as proof, I fea—I am
concerned
my sire may question my assertion that the female known as Anika is dead. He may be displeased that an entire conveyance of breeders was lost as well.”
Qalin probably wouldn’t kill his only son, but Perce still had good reason to worry. Anika touched his sleeve. “He will understand that you could not retrieve a body teeming with cachinna
.”
“What are you talking—oh!” Perce’s eyes widened.
“She died when the conveyance was beset upon by a swarm of carrion beetles,” Anika coached.
Perce’s head bobbed. “Yes. I remember.” Color dotted his cheeks. Anika hoped his flush was not a betrayer of falsehood, or he was doomed. “You will vouch for me?” He glanced between Anika and Urazi.
“We will stand by your side when you deliver the news, if you like,” Urazi said.
“I would be most grateful.” A relieved smile broke out on the young alpha’s face, before it clouded over again. “But what shall I tell him about the loss of the other females?”
“Did he give you a quota?” Anika asked.
Perce shook his head. “Just to acquire as many as I could. I hired the conveyances as I needed them.”
“Have you communicated with him since the start of the mission?”
“No.”
“Then don’t report the number of breeders lost. Tell him Anika rode alone in the conveyance.”
“But he will question why I did not fill it up with more breeders.”
“
Anika
was a bothersome female and needed to be isolated,” Urazi cut in, devilment glinting in his eyes. “You feared she would instigate an insurrection among the others.”
“Oh, that is good.” Perce nodded vigorously. “I do not normally lie to my sire—to my Alpha.” His cheeks bloomed in contradiction.
Anika stifled a groan. Perce was a terrible liar. For his sake—for all their sakes—they would have to gamble arrogance would lead Qalin to mistake guilt for fear.
She glanced at Ylos tending one of the beasts on Perce’s conveyance. He was a witness to the truth. Could they trust him to lie? Or would fear force the facts from his lips? “And what of your beta?”
Perce’s turned and regarded Ylos. “He has been loyal and has served me well. But I’ll kill him to ensure his cooperation.”
“No!” One moment Perce appeared young and callow, the next he displayed a disturbing penchant for homicide. Which was the real Perce, she wondered?
The alpha stared at her.
“What Anjot means,” Urazi jumped in, “is that another death might appear suspicious, and for what purpose would a beta appear before an esteemed Alpha Commander?”
“They do not normally,” Perce agreed. “Other than my sire’s scribes and, of course, his anointed ones.”
That could not be right. Anika shook her head. “Did I hear correctly? He has more than one anointed beta?”
“Yes. He has a
marakem
.”
“How many betas are in his marakem?”
“Five at present. My sire’s passions run high, and betas do not last very long. When he tires of them or they annoy him, they are executed,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
No wonder Perce had been so quick to consider killing Zala and Ylos. In his world, people were an expendable commodity. What would happen if they fell astray of his good will?
* * * *
Once underway, Anika leaned close to Urazi. “I should have listened to Zala. Freed not only her, but all the females.”
“That would not have worked.” Urazi’s tone was hushed. “You would have drawn Perce’s wrath.”
“But if Qalin can dispose of his betas, a female’s life is worth nothing.”
“It is worth far more than you think. Qalin uses betas, but he does not
need
them. He has an exigent requirement for females to populate Parseon. I cannot begin to estimate how many people have died.”