Eleanor doubted that Jedriek would be spared, so most likely, they were going to kill him. He was probably considered collateral damage.
With her? She could not imagine. Actually, yes, she could imagine what they would do. None of it was pretty or fun, either. She'd heard plenty of stories of space pilots and mercs who take advantage of a female prisoner for a while before they delivered the bounty. Whomever put a prize on her, that person needed to have his head chopped off.
This was going to get ugly quick, she thought to herself.And I just had to come to do this, didn't I? I just had to be with my sister. Support and help my sister stop this war.
Who were we kidding? How could we, two young women, end a war and bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict?
We were stupid.
Crazy.
Foolish.
She prayed her sister was not facing this kind of adversary. Hopefully, she was already back where she needed to be and sipping wine, wondering what was taking her so long. That she was just fine, back on their main world, and feeling great. Yeah. That's what she was going to hold onto. That was what she was needed to think, that her sister was fine. And these guys were unable to find her. That she was okay.
Because this was her vision, her dream to stop the suffering of the Terran people. Caoimhe needed to live to make that happen.
No matter what happened to Eleanor. Caoimhe had protected her enough in her life. It was time for Eleanor to protect her sister for once.
"And a pretty one too. All dressed in her red finery."
Ugh. Was he still talking?
She shook her head.
She didn't know what he was saying, but she didn't care. It didn't matter.
"Her face is covered up, though, Boss. Maybe she's ugly."
"Doesn't matter, fine clothing like that. She's someone, that's for certain," Boss said. "But the question is, little Terran, who are you? Because if you're important, we might keep you alive. But if you're not, well, we'll just kill you and get it over with."
The boss looked away. Then back. "Well, maybe not kill you right away. The boys may want to have a little fun."
Out of the corner of her eye, through the mesh fabric, she could see her Rhimodian rescuer. Held down by two Charro and a droid, his muscles pulsed from the shocks of whatever the droid was doing to him.
It stabbed at her that they were hurting him. They'd taken off his helmet, and she had been able to see his face for the first time. Like the rest of him, he had strong features--a wide, square jaw, short, cropped hair, and white eyes. She couldn't be sure what he looked at because he didn't have a traditional dark iris, but she knew he was watching her. She just had that feeling. At least she had someone watching over her. She was going to need all the help she could get to get out of this one.
She wasn't best friends with him or anything, but the fact he'd saved her, even when he had no need to, twice, in fact, now angered her that she could not think of a way to return the favor. Surely, she could think of a way to get through this and get them both out of this mess.
It wasn't like when she was younger, and she could cry that she was the Imperial Princess, and it would get her out of most situations. Too many people, no matter what humanoid species, did not want to irritate the Terran Empire.
Hmm...
She had an idea, but it was far out there. They obviously didn't know who she was. Maybe she could work that to her advantage. Keep them off balance?
And now she had to figure out the best way to get out of this situation with these monsters.
Decision time.
Who she was may be her only advantage here.
Rather, whoshe told themshe was.
She ripped the scarf off her face. "I am Imperial Terran Princess Caoimhe London Montgale Bron. If you lay one finger on me, I will bring the weight of the entire Terran military down upon you and your worthless lives. I will make you wish you'd never seen my face."
Jedriek gasped.
Which made her laugh. Or rather, it would have, had the circumstances been different. But she had to maintain her composure. This was a make-or-break moment. She had to convince them of her power and position.
