AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I leaned forward to the screen. “Does that mean you want to? Still?”
Braxl licked his lips and took a deep breath as figures ran around behind him. He rubbed his face.
“Yes, Jasmine. You are mine. I will do my best.” He looked at me one moment more, then closed the feed.
I slumped back in the chair. The thundering outside had stopped. Had Braxl told them to leave me where I was? Was he really going to try to keep me safe? Would that even be possible?
What would happen when that door opened? Would it be Braxl there to save me? Or would it be his father there to slay me?
As I watched the spiraling wreckage of exploded shuttles through the camera outside, I couldn’t determine which fate I warranted most.
20
Braxl
The klaxons blared and lights flashed as I sprinted through the corridors toward the spot where Tulla had discovered Jasmine’s hiding place. It was the engineering alcove where she intended to trigger the explosives she’d planted to bring down my empire. The very spot where she’d executed the command that claimed the lives of at least a hundred of my kin.
Was it my Prexis warlord training that tinged my awe with a slight hint of admiration?
She’d outsmarted me; there was no denying it. On a larger scale, I’d been deceived by all humans. I never imagined their resistance efforts would breach our defenses.
Jasmine had even managed to breach the walls guarding my heart.
Tulla stood grimly outside a side room, her gaze fixed on me as I hurried into the bay.
“Your father’s shuttle just docked. He is heading to the command deck. The bridge. I am sure he expects you there. Commander… it would be wise to calculate your next move carefully.”
I nodded, inhaling deeply in an attempt to steady my racing heart. It stubbornly refused to slow. It wasn’t just the sprinting that had it pounding.
A significant portion of the tension was owed to the calculations racing through my mind. Which duty held greater priority? Was it to my bride? Or was it to my father? Had Jasmine unwittingly presented me with an unexpected chance to challenge Kressel’s oppressive rule? Did I possess the courage to seize this opportunity?
In the end, did I have any other choice?
“Stay with me, please, Tulla. I know most of Kressel’s men on his shuttle were drunk, but… I want to get Jasmine to the bridge safely.” Tulla nodded, ever the loyal warrior.
I knocked on the door. “Jasmine. It’s me. Can you open the lock and come out?”
There was no sound from inside. I understood her trepidation. She had no real reason to think I would show mercy. She most certainly had to know that my father would not.
So much time had seemed to pass since Tulla had noticed a log-in to the engineering terminal as an oddity, but I knew it was mere minutes since the first shuttle exploded. No one was supposed to be on the engineering decks. We were basically on auto-pilot for the duration of the wedding night. Then, I heard a confused message from my father’s shuttle as the engineer reached out to determine if we had done any refitting to their shuttle. He was sloshed, or he would have recognized the firing cap immediately.
I did, of course, as soon as he sent me an image. I had instructed my father and the other shuttles to turn back. I asked Tulla to open a video feed to the live terminal in the engineering bay, afraid of what I would find.
It was, indeed, my new bride, preparing for my destruction.
I knocked again and heard the manual shifting of the latch on the other side of the door scrape metal-on-metal. The door opened, and Jasmine stood before me, chin lifted, eyes misted with tears, Vishin’s blaster held steadier than I would have expected in her hand. Just the slightest of nervous waver.
The flashing of the emergency lights in the bay lit up her gorgeous, determined face. The sorrow in her eyes was undeniable, but the flaring of red and orange lights reminded me of the flames of the shuttles still burning in the space outside.
I held out my hand for the blaster. Jasmine took a slight step backward, pulling the blaster in tighter to her.
I stomped my foot in irritation.
I’m trying to keep you safe, woman!“Do you plan to use that?”
“Do you plan to make me?” Jasmine’s voice broke as she spoke, but the tenacity in her eyes made me rethink trying to take it.
I dropped my hand. “Fine. I will let you keep it. But if you make any move against any of the crew of theGloryDaze…” The threat was clear. She might be my new bride, and she might have taken out some of my foes, but there was no one on theGloryDazethat I wouldn’t defend with my life. She had to choose them over herself if anything.
