But, also, my recklessness had gotten the attention of the brass, and I had quickly scaled the ranks, and was now, only ten years later at 25 cycles of the sun, an Alpha Warlord. So, that same excitement I had shared, might be a thing that earned Vania respect. It might earn Vania a chance to shine. She certainly looked eager, shifting from side to side, unable to stand still, hands clenching in and out to fists, continually brushing that beautiful chestnut hair behind her ear, licking her full lips, eyes sparkling as she looked at me with those enigmatic eyes—
The spy gurgled a word through blood and spit slimed lips, and my attention was brought back to the task before me. I brought my hand down heavily on his shoulder, and he jumped a little, burying his face as low as he could in his chest, but the leather strap around his neck holding him pinned back to the wall prevented too much hiding.
“What was that?” Cassala demanded. She waved her leather-gloved fingers in front of his face and balled her hand into a fist, the glove lined with brass knuckles molded into the letters that spelled the word “JASE." The knuckles on Cassala's other glove spelled "LORD." It had been my former enforcer's idea. It seemed a little foolish to me, but, again, when I took the throne of Emerona in the beginning, when it had been nearly one quarter the size it was now, I had been young and brash… I thought it would strike fear into any man or woman being punched with those brass knuckles and that I would revel in seeing any of the letters of my name tattooed on their face: sometimes, it did.
Enforcer Brutus had lived up to his name, but when he had been killed in the war six months ago, Cassala had begged me to take his place as the lead interrogator. Begged isn’t quite fair, I argued with myself. Cassala had never begged for anything in her life. I didn’t think there was anything she cared enough about to protect that much. Except for maybe my life, I argued back. She was a dedicated soldier. She might beg to be killed instead of me if we were both captured. I think all three of my Trio would do that. I looked at the three striking women beside me. They were my best friends, my confidantes, my strongest soldiers. Wicked and beautiful and wise in every way. I would kill, and die, for any of them.
And not for much else.
Except for my throne…
And this spy… this measly spy was what most stood in my way of that at this moment…
He had been a soldier in Commander Doven’s ranks for nearly a year. It was only through counter-intelligence done by our own spies in the Bordash military that we had learned that this man wasn’t one of us. He was a full-blood Curan from the Southlands. He had been turned by a Bordash agent and was dedicated to their cause, but not dedicated enough to not have already given us the exact location of their main group camp that my Crew would be heading to inside the hour. He gave us numbers, he told us of Tarsine’s fighting style, and he revealed two more spies that he knew of in my army. I was considering how to use that information.
“… fake your death? Do you have a preference for how you die? You’re going into one of our prisons for a long time. There will be no salvation for you.”
I grinned at Cassala’s threats. That was the most likely way. Fake his death from innocuous means, so Tarsine would be unaware that the spy had been caught, then use the other two spies to send disinformation and confuse the enemy. See how long I could do that while keeping tabs on them during the warfare. Neither one of the spies had made it high enough in my ranks, of course, to be part of the Crew that was coming with me in advance to spy on Tarsine’s camp, but they would deploy with the armies en masse later today… Commander Xane was a good Second for my military when I was off with my Crew and Trios. He would know how to keep tabs on the other two spies.
“Anything else of use?” I asked, looking to the Reader, but he shook his head.
“He’s too far into the quarifin… Just strange thoughts about ducks and yellow flowers.”
“Ok. Thank you.” I turned to a couple of fully armored soldiers. One of them was also a medic. “Take him to one of the prisons. Prepare him for transport to the Rumor Caves later today. Make sure the quarifin doping stays strong and consistent.”
“Yes, Alpha. Thank you.”
I turned to the five Commanders that had attended the interrogation with me. The other six would be waiting by this time at the airfield.
“We have our destination. Let’s get to the transport and prepare for battle.”
As I turned to walk away, I stepped into the same space as the Earthling, and our bodies brushed against each other. I was disappointed there wasn't an immediate wave of shocking electricity coursing through her, the way Kajo described his interactions with Daphne, but, then, Vania wasn't my Destin.
“Sorry,” she mumbled and stepped out of the way. “I’m just over-eager, I guess.”
I smiled at her. “I can remember the first time I went to war, too. There’s