More than that – we have something none of our more ‘honorable’ Aurelian brothers has.
A future.
We’re still alive – which is more than can be said for any of the company we served with.
We’re still alive – and Evander plans to do something with that life. He plans to make this planet ours.
Why fight for the honor of a dying empire, when we can make one of our own?
I know I’ll follow Evander to the end – to bleak uncertainly, or the maw of death if needs be. It wasn’t dying that terrified us so in that Scorp nest. It was the idea of dying needlessly.
Here, on Reena? Our lives are our own to sacrifice – not the Empire’s.
And, to that end, I will follow Evander loyally – doing whatever I must to make his dreams become reality. Together, we will find some sense in this universe – now that everything we’d foolishly believed in before has been snuffed out.
I feel a chill as anticipation comes through the Bond, flowing from our leader.
I turn to him, and find him already looking back at me. Evander is eager. He gives me a long, calculating look.
“We’ll establish a base near the auction. Then, we’ll prepare.”
The auction. This disgusting auction seems at the center of Evander’s plan.
My loyalty is unquestioning – but that’s not to say I don’t have questions.
Our leader really plans to buy a woman for us?
I may have left all of the tenants of the Aurelian Empire behind, but I still resist the self-degradation that comes from being the sort of villain who buys slaves…
But if Evander tells us we must, I trust him. I must continue. Without my battle-brothers I have nothing, and I wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for Evander.
So, questions or not, I know better than to resist his judgement – especially when I feel such certainty in his aura, flowing hotly through our Bond.
Evander has a plan – and I trust him enough to see it through.
6
Augustus
The lady at the front desk of the hotel blanches as the automatic doors slide open.
She hadn’t been expecting to see three Aurelians standing there – towering over her and every other human in the building. Then again, nobody on Reena had been planning to see any Aurelians. As far as we know, we’re the first to set foot on this world since they declared independence a decade ago.
That’s why we chose Reena. Here, there are no biometric scanners set up at the street corners, reporting the movements of Aurelians to the rulers of the Empire. Here, the Aurelian Law Enforcement has no presence. On any other world, they would have come after us already as deserters – not caring that we’d fled the battlefield for good reason.
No, if we weren’t already dead to the Aurelian Empire – if they hadn’t assumed we’d been buried in that Scorp nest, like the rest of our company – we’d already be on the Kill List.
“W-Welcome,” the lady at the front desk stammers. Her face is a mask. It’s entirely possible she’s never seen an Aurelian before, at least not in the flesh.
I take charge of this situation.
“We need a room with a view of the Amphitheatre,” I snarl, the edge that I’m feeling revealed by the tone of my voice.
I’m ashamed to be so obvious, but it’s impossible to keep from showing my emotions on this alien planet, despite all my training and our culture’s conditioning. You can’t just turn emotions on and off – and I’m much too heated a man to conceal them easily.
I glance over at my battle-brothers.
From Conan, I feel dry acceptance through the bond. He has questions, but is content to follow our leader blindly.
I’m not so compliant. I trust Evander, but if he’s too soft to do what needs to be done, I’ll do it myself. His complex plan brings us into proximity with the parasites who trade in kidnapped flesh – the slave traders.
I can play nice with them, in an act of subterfuge, but only for so long.
Eventually – sooner, or later – the slavers on this planet will all need to die.
Every last one of them.
And I’ll be happy to do it.
My only hesitation on doing so – and the only reason I’m so happy to go along with Evander’s plans – despite my doubts?
The chance that our fated mate is on this planet – and, somehow, these slave traders are the ones who have her.
I feel my fists tighten just at the thought.
Gods help anyone who gets between me and my fated mate – slave trader or not.
And it seems ridiculous – absurd – but somehow… Somehow, I feel she’s nearby.
I know the odds. I know how it works. Each Aurelian triad has one fated mate, out there somewhere in the universe. One, single human female with the genetic compatibility to birth our heirs the natural way; to raise a whole generation of strong, healthy Aurelian sons.
There are thousands of inhabited planets in this sector alone – with billions of humans spread across them, teeming like termites. By math alone, the odds of us ever finding our fated mate are absurd – a statistical blip…
And yet bonded triads have appeared. First Queen Jasmine, and the Emperor’s ruling triad. Then more. It’s almost as if there’s a shift in the universe…
…and that shift is calling me. I truly believe, math and statistics be damned, that the Bond draws us nearer to our fated mate, whether we accept that truth or not.
We’re not on Reena by accident, and it’s not merely because it’s the best place to hide from the empire now we’re Rogue.
Fate had brought us here.
The Bond has brought us here.
Call me crazy – but I believe that she is here, somehow. Somewhere on this Godsforsaken planet, despite the impossible odds, I’m convinced she’s out there, waiting
