As we’re led through the crowd, I spot one of the activities these courtrooms are here for. My keen, Bond-enhanced eyes catch a pickpocket snagging a prize and disappearing into the crowd.
He escaped. We’re not so lucky.
As we’re led through the spaceport, I ponder what will happen next. We’ll be tried by Lieutenant Taggar himself.
In the best case scenario, Natali has worked a miracle. We’ll have the charges dropped. We’ll fly out of this spaceport with our Fated Mate at our side, victorious in our Reaver.
The thought sours in my mind as reality hits me.
More likely, we’ll be flying out of this spaceport with nothing but our clothes to protect us from the vastness of space.
An Aurelian can survive around twenty seconds in the vacuum of space. I know that because I’ve seen it happen myself. I was forced to watch a mutineer suffer such a fate during my hundred years of service – when he was tried, found guilty, and cast out into space from an airlock.
We watched as he died – condemned to float as a frozen warning through the endless galaxy, until he’s finally sucked up by some black hole, or crushed by a meteor.
Those hundred years leave their mark.
The three members of the Enforcement agency who’d captured us start walking, and we follow. They aren’t worried we’ll try to escape. Our hands are firmly secured – and, besides, we were the ones who’d turned ourselves in.
The officers lead us down busy hallways, then through several sets of doors and corridors, until we’re finally the only ones walking down the well-lit hallway we’d been led to.
Now, we’re delving into the deepest recesses of this space-station – to places where no one goes without good reason.
A huge set of double doors await us at the end of the hallway. The three Law Enforcement agents stop with a suddenness that lets me know this is our final destination.
The leader of the triad that captured us turns to look at me. He sizes me up – his haunted eyes never blinking, and his thin lips are drawn tight.
“I would have done the same as you.”
He would have broken the law to claim his Fated Mate. Even as he chased me down, this young Aurelian approves of the things I’ve done – both to secure Orb-Mines for the Empire, and to bear sons to help our species continue.
I look him up and down.
“I remember my hundred years. The strongest metal is forged through fire.”
The young Aurelian looks away for a quick second – and then meets my eyes once again, his gaze strong and proud.
“May the Gods have mercy on you, Brennan.”
He presses a button, and the last set of doors open. The three Aurelians step aside for us to enter the courtroom that lies beyond. It’s full – standing room only – and it looks like it was lacking only us.
I search the room desperately for her – for Natali…
…but she’s not there.
My spirit is instantly crushed. She should be in the crowd, or the witness box, or somewhere…
…unless she has betrayed us.
But no. I felt her aura. I felt her spirit! She’s too sweet to be able to put the knife in us like that – not while seeing us in pain.
Lazar’s guilt wracks him. I feel it through our Bond. Only Otho feels calm. The big man used to be the wild one among us. I’m used to him pacing up and down, filled with nervous energy – not being the most calm and stable of the three of us.
Lieutenant Taggar dominates the room. He’s a tall, proud man, and he looks as though he was born into the light blue armor of Aurelian Law Enforcement – armor that denotes his rank. He stands front and center, behind a podium. He will clearly lead the proceedings. It’s his role to ascertain the facts and pass final judgement.
In the front row, at the farthest end of the courtroom, is Mr. Carani and his guard, Gerard.
Both stare at us with blank hostility. Mr. Carani’s expression of loathing is even more pronounced than that of the guard we’d accosted.
“She should be here!”
“Focus Lazar!” I telepath back, giving him a mental slap. He knows it’s his fault we’re likely to spend the rest of our lives behind bars – but guilt and fear are useless emotions right now.
We did what we did. Now, we face the consequences of our actions.
Lieutenant Taggar motions for us to sit before him, in three tall seats. I tense, feeling the handcuffs around my wrists.
I feel like I could rip them off – but, if I could, how quickly could I cross the room and take Mr. Carani hostage? With my Bond-enhanced legs, I might just make it before the rows of Aurelian Law Enforcement cut me down with their Orb-Blades.
Lazar feels me considering this act of violence. He tenses. Part of him wants to join me – a way to assuage his guilt and drown it in bloodshed.
But I take control of myself, and I cock my head – indicating the chairs. The three of us sit. That moment has passed, and it was probably for the best that we didn’t take opportunity of it.
I still can’t feel the Bond. Natali’s aura is like an empty hole in me. I glance up, and see that the roof is lined with mirrors. My mind instantly jumps to a conclusion.
I feel that these must be one-way mirrors, allowing someone to watch us with anonymity.
I imagine she is on the other side of them, looking down on us. I hope Natali is. I can’t believe she’d let us be sentenced without getting at least one last look at her Bonded triad; before we’re taken away and thrown into jail for Gods-know-how-long.
Unless she wants to cut us from her mind completely…
Lieutenant Taggar stands and addresses us.
“Brennan. Lazar. Otho. You three have been working for the Aurelian Empire your entire lives. You served your
