N’kal
When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying inside the cockpit of a Xalanite ship, bound and chained. I tried to break my bonds, but the metal proved too tough; likely a Xalanite alloy, as most human metals would have snapped the instant I flexed my muscles. My chest ached with every breath, and my head throbbed. I swallowed and discovered damage to my throat. I tried to remember what happened.
Then it all came rushing back, and a fiery rage ignited within me.
Two fine Xalanite warriors were dead, and for what? Some perceived slight? A few pieces ofkrin? It made no sense. I had not even been involved in the uprising that unseated the elders and saw my father crowned king. I had been in the breeding caste during the elders’ reign, and by the time I was of age for conscripted military service during my father’s tenure, it was all over and done. Why target me, of all Xalanites?
I had to be missing something, some vital piece of information. But what was it? Timber had shared all she knew of the Xalanite suspects, and none stood out as particularly dangerous given what we had. There certainly wasn’t any record of a scarred Xalanite man; we even checked military and hospital records from Xalan. Nothing. The man was like a ghost, a phantom.
“The mighty prince awakens.”
The sudden sound startled me. I rolled over to face the Xalanite behind the grating voice. His scarred face twisted in a hideous smirk, the scales stretched and distorted by the tight skin. The gaping hole where his left eye had once been seemed to stare straight into my soul.
Refusing to allow myself to become intimidated, I glared back at him.“I am no more a prince than you are. My father’s actions do not define me.”
He knelt beside me and leaned close. I noticed that his mouth did not fully close due to the puckered skin around it, and with every exhale his rancid breath hit me. I fought my gag reflex; it would not do to insult him, especially not with the serratedshrizblade he clutched in his hand.
“Your father’s actions defined our people. They definedmemore than you can know. His actions will spread down his line for generations, starting with you as his heir.”He reached out and drew the blade across my cheek. Sharp pain shot through my face as he sliced the scales and underlying skin. Hot blood dripped from the cut. It didn’t feel deep, but I knew thatshrizcuts tended to scar more often than not. Was this some form of payback for what happened to him, perhaps?
If that was the case, I hoped he hadn’t heard of the Earth phrase “an eye for an eye.”
Since I couldn’t physically fight him with my arms and legs bound, I opted to try a different approach.
“What is your name?”
His expression darkened.“What do you care?”
“I wish to know the name of the man who bested me.”It was a lie; I simply wished to distract him, to delay the next cut of his knife as long as possible.
To delay my inevitable death.
He stared at me for several minutes before answering.“I am Voor.”
Voor. I finally had a name for the face. I ran through my memories of the files Timber had in the cabin, but there had been no Voor among the Xalanite residents of the intake center. Whoever he was, he was an undocumented Xalanite on this planet.
But wait—Were we still on Earth? I craned my neck to try to see through the glass pane behind Voor, but I couldn’t see anything but black outside the ship. Either we were indoors, underground, or it was night. I didn’t like the notion that I could have been anywhere. What if Voor took me somewhere that Timber could not follow? If we’d left Earth, my odds of rescue were slim. It would take time for the AARO to contact Xalan and inform them of my kidnapping, time to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and send ships to find me, time to locate me, and it was all time that I didn’t have to spare.
Unless by some miracle we remained on Earth, I was on my own.
“How long have you been on Earth, Voor?”
Voor’s default scowl returned, and he stood.“You are stalling.”
Damn. That tactic didn’t work for long. I tried a slightly different approach.“Fine. Believe what you will. I thought that perhaps since it was just you and me, we could get to know each other while you waited for your superior to arrive.”
“My superior?”Voor straightened and puffed out his chest.“You dare insult me?”
“Were you not hired to kill me?”I tried to keep my tone even, neutral, conversational. I didn’t want Voor to realize I was pumping for information.
He snorted and huffed.“I do not need krin to kill you. I will do it for free.”
So he was not paid? Interesting. His apparent vendetta against my father must be his main motivation. I wondered if his scars came from fighting in the conflict that my father led. That kind of pain and trauma could certainly have lasting emotional effects, enough to make Voor murderous. Still, something made him stay his hand. He could have killed me in the lake or since my capture, yet he had not. Why, then, if not because someone else had instructed him not to?
I shrugged as much as the chains allowed.“If you say so. I just find it interesting that I’m still alive. Most murderers would not be so sloppy.”
Voor growled and brandished the knife.“Watch your tongue, or your death will not be pleasant.”
“Don’t let him goad you, Voor.”
