Taken (Calliston Series - Book 1) (14 page)

"S'ana," he breathed. They had snatched the child he had befriended that morning.

A bandaged Lyrissian sauntered onto the stage as if to help quell the situation. He made a big show of talking with the Orka before taking the place of the young male at the front of the stage.

"The Orka wish me to inform you all that they are unhappy with the outcome," he said.

"Karo," S'rea hissed from her position behind Viktor.

"They wish to work this out amicably, but in order to do this, they need you to leave," he said. "Everyone is to leave except for Tarn and the U-man representative."

The auditorium erupted into chaos.

"I will attempt to placate them," Karo continued, although it was unlikely many heard him.

* * *

Tarn, Viktor and S'rea remained after everyone else had evacuated the building. Viktor had been unable to dissuade S'rea from staying and Tarn had not even tried. She was too stubborn to leave.

"What is she doing here?" Karo snarled.

"What are you doing here?" S'rea asked.

"I am saving this planet and our people from the likes of the U-man there," he said.

S'rea looked less than impressed. "You mean my mate?" she asked. This elicited a growl from the injured Lyrissian.

"Your mate," he spat, "will destroy our way of life. The Orka have promised to maintain it."

"Is this before or after they exterminate us?" she asked.

Both Tarn and Viktor stepped in front of S'rea when Karo lunged for her. Karo stopped himself before he made contact with either of them and returned to the Orka.

"What do they want?" Tarn asked.

"For the king to reverse the decision," Karo said without even consulting the Orka representatives.

"The king cannot do that," said the young man.

"Why not?" Karo demanded. He crowded the younger Lyrissian, who tried hard to hold his ground.

"I don't think bullying him will help," said Viktor.

"Stay out of this, U-man," Karo said.

"You're the one who wanted me here," Viktor said.

"I wanted you here for the sake of propriety, not to talk."

Viktor smiled. "So this is all your idea?"
 

Karo's growl might as well have been a yes.

"You are letting the Orka use you to get what they want," Viktor mused out loud. When the Lyrissian snorted, he amended that to: "You are using the Orka to get what you want."

"Is this true?" Tarn demanded. "Is it?"

Karo sneered. "I will not incriminate myself," he said, "especially not to such ludicrous accusations from a filthy U-man."

Viktor noticed S'rea in his peripheral vision, slowly edging closer to the Orka female that held S'ana. He stepped forward to draw attention to himself and hopefully away from her. "What do you want, Karo? What do you really want?" he asked in a conciliatory tone.

"Right now I really want you dead," said Karo. He produced a blaster that had previously been hidden in his robes and fired.

Viktor was propelled backward. The back of his head bounced off the floor of the stage and he heard someone scream.

* * *

S'rea screamed. She had been too far away to stop Karo, or to save her father, who had shoved the U-man aside and taken the full force of the blast.

Karo didn't seem to care that he had hit the wrong person. "He would have been next," he said, and reloaded.

Several of the king's entourage rushed the Orka holding the girl. The skirmish was brief and she was soon freed. They surrounded the girl, protecting her from further harm.

S'rea, meanwhile, had gone to her father's side. "Father!" she cried.

"S'rea," he gurgled.

Yellow blood oozed from his stomach as S'rea tried to apply pressure to the gaping wound. The fact she could see straight through to the floor had already told her that he would soon be gone.

"Be happy," he whispered.

"Father," she sobbed as he died in her arms.

* * *

The knock to Viktor's head had caused him to briefly lose consciousness. By the time he came around, he found the tableau in front of him to be very different from the one he had seen when last standing.

S'ana had been freed and was safely ensconced among her people. One Orka was on the floor, while the other two looked rather lost. S'rea was rocking on her ankles, holding Tarn's unmoving body.

Viktor started to get to his feet to find out what had happened, and to comfort her, when a movement caught his attention. Karo had changed victims. He held the blaster to the young Lyrissian male.

"I want you to change the decision," he demanded of the youth.

"I told you," he said, "I cannot do that."

"You will!" Karo screamed.

"Only the king can do that," the youth said.

"You are not the king?" Karo asked, confused.

The male shook his head.

"Then who is?" Karo asked.

"I cannot tell you."

"Then you are of no use to me," he said, and pulled the trigger.

Karo turned to the assembled group as the lifeless body of the young male hit the stage floor. "Is there anyone else who cannot tell me?" he asked them, another load already in the blaster's chamber.

No one seemed willing to answer the question, so Karo aimed his blaster at the Lyrissian closest to him. "I have enough time and ammunition to kill you one by one until I get what I want."

"That is not necessary," a voice said from amongst the group.

"Why is that?" Karo asked.

"Because I am the king."

"Show yourself," Karo demanded.

Viktor watched as S'ana pushed her way through the group and stared defiantly at Karo. "I am the king," she said.

Karo's blaster arm wavered but he quickly recovered. "You?" he asked quietly. "Why would a female be
king
?"

That was the same question Viktor wanted answered. As he thought about it, he realized Tarn had never specified the king's gender. He had always referred to the king as the king. It was Viktor and also Karo who had assumed, for different reasons, that the king was male.

"The identity of the king is kept secret for a reason," she said. "In the past we ruled freely. Now we do it this way for everyone's safety. What do you want?"

"I want several things," he said, having accepted the situation. "I want S'rea."

"Lyrissians mate for life," the king reminded Karo.

"That is why the U-man must die."
 

"That makes sense," she replied. "What else?"

"I will be king," he said.

"You are not female," the king told him.

"Then S'rea will be king."
 

"I will kill you," S'rea told him. She had left her father's body.

Karo barked. "You will not," he said, and revealed the device he had used to subdue her two nights before. He tossed it onto the floor at her feet. "Put it on."

"No," she said.

"Then I will kill your mate."
 

"You have already said that you will anyway," said S'rea. She kicked the device away.

"I have not ruled out killing you," Karo said, and swung the blaster to face her. "Especially after what you did to me."

"I should have killed you," she spat.

"You should have," he said, ready to eliminate the female he had intended to mate with.

"Now!" Viktor yelled.

His cue set off a chain reaction of events. S'ana kicked Karo in the shin. S'rea rushed forward and pushed his blaster arm away as it fired. Viktor snapped the Orka device around Karo's neck and jumped back before the Lyrissian could lash out at him.

The king's entourage overpowered the female Orka. The male representatives had slipped away while attention had been focused on Karo.

Viktor gestured to Karo, who knelt, defiant, on the stage. "What happens to him?"
 

"By law he should be put to death," one of the entourage answered.

"I am sick of death," said the king. Her gaze traveled to the bodies of Tarn and the young Lyrissian. "He will be exiled."

Viktor nodded. Although Karo certainly deserved a death sentence, he would not argue with the ruler of the planet he had just helped to make peace with.

The king approached Viktor. "Thank you, peacetalker," she said. "I will see you again at the signing—until then we should see to our mates."

Viktor thanked her and watched as she sat down next to the young Lyrissian. He would offer his condolences to the girl later. Right now he needed to help S'rea.

* * *

S'rea arranged her father's arms so they crossed over his body. She checked the folds of his robes for any possessions, but found nothing, as she knew she would. Her father had never carried concealed weapons about his person in places it was forbidden by law, like here.

She was aware of the U-man behind her, silently watching as she checked her father. Once done, she watched as the U-man removed his jacket and gently placed it over her father.

"It's a U-man thing," he said. "My condolences," he added.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"What can I do to help?"
 

S'rea let him help her to her feet, grateful for his presence and support. "Someone will come and prepare his body. Then he will be taken home for the last time. We will have to prepare for visitors. I will need you for that."

"Of course," said Viktor. He put his arm around her and steered her off the stage and through the throng of Lyrissians outside.

* * *

Tarn's body was delivered two hours later. Viktor watched quietly as S'rea's older sisters set up the room. He had been warned that there would be a lot of visitors that would want to pay their respects to the deceased and share their grief with Tarn's family.

A constant stream of Lyrissians traveled through the house. The only benefit to there being so many visitors was that they were forced to move on quickly to make room for others. Viktor had given up counting them after the first five hundred.

"You should rest," one of S'rea's sisters told him.

"I'm fine," Viktor said.

"S'rea should rest," she said, and glanced at her younger sister. "She will not be able to keep this pace up over the next week."

"Week?" Viktor repeated.

"At least," she said. "Our father lived a long and active life. He knew many in the city and the surrounding districts. He was also well traveled. It will take those on the other side of the planet a few days to arrive."

Viktor ran a hand through his hair. Tarn had been well loved, it seemed, and Viktor could see why. The Lyrissian had been good natured and easy to get along with. Viktor's experiences with him had apparently been universal.

"I'll see what I can do," Viktor told her.

She nodded and made way for her eldest sister, who bustled past them. Ae'a rattled off orders to the male making notes in her wake.

"What's that about?" he asked.

"The eldest inherits the home," S'rea's sister explained. Her expression told Viktor she disagreed with that.

"What will happen to S'rea?" he asked.

"She goes with you," she said. "Now that she is mated she has no claim on the family home. None of us do."

Viktor stared after Ae'a, who was already making plans to change the house. "I'll talk to S'rea," he said, and excused himself.

The crowd around S'rea dispersed as he approached her. He took her by the elbow and led her outside, onto the balcony. "When were you going to tell me you have nowhere to live?"
 

S'rea looked out over the city and said, "That is none of your concern."

"Apparently it is," he said. "Your sisters expect you to be with me. I'll be going home soon. How are you going to explain it to them that you aren't going as well?"

"I will think of something," she said.

"Look, I know you and Tarn had this all planned."

"What do you mean?" she asked quietly.

"Tarn got his peace with the Alliance and you got Karo and every other male off your back by mating with me," he said. "The two of you used me. Despite that, though, I can't just leave you here."

"I did not use you," she said. "I saved your life. If it were not for me, you would be dead."

"If it were not for you I wouldn't have been in that position in the first place," he said.

S'rea hissed at him, but he held his ground. "If it were not for you, U-man, Karo would have died two nights ago and none of this would have happened," she growled.

"Viktor!" he yelled at her. "My name is Viktor. I am not just another faceless U-man that Lyrissians kill."

S'rea was stunned into silence at his outburst.

"This was a mistake," Viktor said, and walked away. "I'll return to the Callisto until I'm needed for the signing." He paused at the door and waited for her to say something, anything. When she didn't, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, shutting her out.

* * *

"S'rea?" Ne'a asked from the bedroom door.

S'rea looked up from her packing and welcomed her niece into her room. Not that it would be hers much longer. The visitors had reduced to a trickle and soon they would stop altogether. A'ea would then move in and S'rea would be expected to leave.

Ne'a flopped down onto the edge of the bed and stared at her hands.

"What is wrong?" S'rea asked.

"I made a mistake," Ne'a wailed. "Sern, he is not a suitable male."

S'rea sighed. She had wondered when this would happen. S'rea had hoped to not be here when it did. "You should talk to your mother about this."

"She says it is too late now." Ne'a sniffed. "That I made my decision and now have to live with it. That I have to live with him."

S'rea sat down next to her niece. "Sern is not like his brother," she said gently. "He is a good male. He will treat you well and you know it. You are just worried about what others think."

Ne'a pulled a face, but S'rea knew she had gotten to the actual problem. Lyrissians were talking. They were by nature a very open society. So when one turned on their own, like Karo had done, everyone knew about it.

"You just need to give him the chance to show you he is not like Karo," S'rea continued. "Can you do that?"