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All Kaul males born to nobility are larger in stature and build. Two long white braids sweep the shape of his head to hang down a broad chest. He wears a respirator like mine fastened to his septum. Despite his regal lineage, he wears simple black pants and a pair of knee-high leather boots. No frills, only the basics.
"Well met, Behtu." I slap my fist to my chest in greeting.
"Well met, Navik." My fellow Maverick returns the greeting before lifting the clear box he carries up for my inspection. "Warden Hyt's head only not on a spike. It wouldn't fit inside the stasis cube, but I can arrange something if you wish."
"I'll take it as is." I sneer at the remains of the male who had once held my Cora captive and pull free the sack with fifty tellic I stuffed inside my pocket before we left Zeva.
Behtu takes the sack I offer and nods his approval then hands me the stasis cube. "Nice doing business with you, Navik."
"Same," I reply with a firm nod.
I accept it with a grimace of disgust. Lifeless eyes stare out from a face frozen in death. The mouth is twisted in a silent scream, contorted into an expression of anguish. The head is severed at the neck, a clean cut, most likely by the very blade slung across Behtu's back.
“Decapitation by a sharp blade. No doubt Klaxis forged steel,” I say, hating that my sword remains on Onis where I dropped it.
“A Star Maverick should never be without his primary weapon.” Behtu nails me a cocky smirk and tilt of his head. “Wouldn’t you agree, Navik?”
I return Behtu’s stare, wondering where he meant this line of questioning to lead. No one knew about my holster snapping and my blade falling to the floor as I morphed into my sivot for the first time. “You got a point you want to make, Behtu?”
Just as my ire rises over Behtu’s silent smirk, he reaches back and unsheathes what I thought I had lost. “Found this on a guard at the prison. Figured you’d want it back.”
Behtu hands me the blade, hilt first. I accept what he offers, disbelieving my luck. “Thank you, my brother.”
"Rumor has it a human female awakened your sivot." Behtu narrows shrewd eyes on me. "Any truth to the story that a human was able to do what no other Kaul female has done since they became warriors?"
"Qhix's big mouth, no less." I stand taller as my sivot surges with aggression. "It's no secret, and you heard correctly."
"Interesting." Is all Behtu has to say for once. No sharp-tongued come back, only mild curiosity before his rapid departure. "Until again, Navik."
"Until again, Behtu."
I watch as Behtu strides back to his ship, the dust clouding around him like a halo of colorful smoke. He climbs aboard his craft, engaging thrusters and lifting off Xea's surface. I close the ramp and secure my hold before delivering the warden's head to where Cora waits for me in the cockpit.
"Oh, that's so gross!" she gags when I present her with her prize.
"A fitting end for the male that kept you as a pet," I growl. "Wish I could have been the one to have run my blade across his throat."
Cora holds her nose and I lift the cube for a quick sniff. "Can you scent his blood through the stasis cube?"
"No." She shakes her head but keeps her nose plugged. "Just looks like it would stink. Please tell me we aren't taking it back with us to Zeva."
"You don't wish to keep it as a trophy?"
"Yuck! No," Cora gags again. "Just knowing he's dead and can never hurt me again is enough. Unless you're wanting to keep it knowing the bounty on your head is gone."
"No. It angers me to look upon it, knowing he tormented you for years." I think a minute. "Perhaps we should launch it into space."
"Let's do it."
I set the head aside and we take our seats. Powering up the engines, my hands fly over the controls as I set a course for Zeva. The ship soundlessly ascends, rising from the ground in a swirling fog. We break free from Xea's atmosphere and travel into outer space.
Once clear of the Neur Galaxy where Xea lies, I slow to a stop. Here, in the pitch-blackness between galaxies, is the perfect spot for a male so vile. Forever in a state of limbo, the head will take hundreds of years to rot.
With Cora at my side, I open the exhaust port and place the stasis cube containing the warden's head inside the opening.
"You want to do the honors?" I gesture to the button that will shoot Warden Hyt's remains into space.
"I do." A wide, relieved grin spreads across Cora's face.
