Ziggy piped in, much to my surprise. “I believe it was after that great battle when karnilianwas outlawed in many galaxies.” He cocked his head. “But not this one. Why is that?”
Krunk displayed a toothy grin. “Because we decided to lay a trap for those who had deceived us. We knew the Eki had the ability to create impenetrable shields, so we offered to pay them to construct a set of prisons—one here and one onDionaea.”
“I knew it!” Ziggy hissed, getting Pedro all worked up again. “I knew Leeloo was lying when they said the Eki’s shields weren’t for sale.”
“They are not,” Krunk interrupted. “Once we explained the situation, the Eki offered to help us free of charge—to put a stop to the lies enabling highly destructive interplanetary wars.”
Well, now I know where my insatiable need to fix everyone else’s problems comes from…
Ziggy squinted at the enormous lizard. “Why is Uulvin’s prison unfinished? They seem free to come and go fromDionaeaas they please—free to welcome clients more than happy to pay for their false prophecies.”
TheLacertuslooked sheepish. “It was to give Uulvin a false sense of security. We had hoped that by allowing the Hydrassians to move freely, they would not only attempt to liberate Uuktar—giving us reason to retaliate—but reveal themselves as the manipulative masterminds they are…”
“They did…” Ziggy muttered, almost to himself. “Unfortunately, they sentusto do their dirty work for them—not just to free Uuktar here on Lacertus, but to Marox to retrieve the Trol egg in the first place.”
38
ZIGGY
Now that I’d put the pieces together, it was painfully obvious who the “masterminds” were behind this entire situation. It was also slightly embarrassing, considering Stellarians had been outsmarted by a bunch of snakes.
Nearly outsmarted.
Micah gestured for me to elaborate, and I nodded. “Word must have traveled that a Trol egg had somehow ended up on Marox. With how valuable karnilian was to theirbusiness model—how they themselves had most likely driven Trols to near extinction—the Hydrassians would have been willing to do anything to claim that egg for themselves.” I chuckled humorlessly. “Well…almostanything.”
It didn’t take long for my incredibly impressive mate to catch on to my train of thought. “They knew the Stellarians would be one of the only species that could go against the Maroxians…”
“Besides theLacertus,”I added begrudgingly, with a nod at the one before us. “But it sounds as if that wouldn’t have been an option.”
Krunk scoffed. “Absolutely not. When we captured Uuktar, the first thing they attempted to bribe us with were the coordinates for Karn.”
Micah straightened to attention “Did they give you the coordinates?”
TheLacertusobserved him silently for a moment before huffing. “No. Because we had no intention of ever tempting fate in that way again.”
WHAT?!
This went against everything I thought I knew about our greatest enemies.They had a seer at their disposal—one who could lead them to the origin of untold power—yet they had apparently refused the opportunity. They had refused to take advantage of coveted intel that could have finally brought them victory over my kind.
“Not everything is as it seems when it comes to certain species.”
Honnor’s words blended with Leeloo’s in my memory, reminding me so much of my personal history was based on propaganda created by those who did not care what others lost becausetheyhad everything to gain.
And it sounds as if I’m not the only one.
I looked at theLacertusin front of us—reallylookedat them. Not their outward appearance, but at how their history and beliefs were so similar to, so intertwined with, my own.
“Enjoy facing your greatest enemy, Zig-ee.”
Leeloo hadn’t mentioned theLacertuswhen they said this, because that wasn’t who they were talking about. They meant my own assumptions, the demons I hadn’t yet exorcised.
They were talking aboutme.
“I… may have been wrong about the Lacertus, sunshine.”
“It’s okay, Zig. Once you know better, you can do better.”
I cleared my throat, rallying to not only be vulnerable with my mate, but in front of a species who no self-respecting Stellarian would ever show weakness to.
