AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"That was never our intention and you can't prove it," Croughpushed out triumphantly.
He was right on that one, we did not have any proof because I stopped the unthinkable before it happened. And I wasn't about to regret having interfered when I did, nor was I going to admit in the presence of nearly the entire court that there had been no DNA to extract.
"I pray you are telling the truth, King Crough," Madeema leaned into him—"because if I find out otherwise, you might find a highly poisonous bug in your bed."
Crough flinched back and rightly so, Madeema was known for her deadly ways.
"You cannot allow a king to be threatened thus," Sir Priough demanded, outraged.
All eyes moved to the throne, where Daryus still leaned, watching us with growing impatience. "What is it you want from me?"
"I demand retribution for the damage done to my palace by your lord protector," Crough reiterated.
"Lord Protector?" Daryus turned to me.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I stand by my original statement that I only sought to retrieve what was given to me. King Crough's sycophants dared to lay hand on my property and paid the price."
"As I said, we only retrieved the female to get her cleaned," Priough reiterated.
"Without informing me and against her will," I snarled.
"That was an oversight from an overeager servant and they will be punished for their error in judgment," Sir Priough said slyly.
"Well, there you have it." Daryus rose from his throne. "A misunderstanding."
"About our damages," King Crough fished.
"Consider them as part of a lesson learned as to what happens when one doesn't train their servants well enough," Daryus declared walking down the stairs. "Now I very much would like to seemygift. After all, you gave them to my lord protector to bring to me?"
I felt Silla stiffening next to me, and reassuringly squeezed her arm.
Daryus walked by Lady Madeema and hissed in her ear, "For the sake of the gods, find me proof."
She didn't let on that he spoke to her and there was no way Crough or Priough could have heard it or even seen Daryus speak, but she gave an imperceptible nod, with her lips pressed tightly together.
I suppressed a smile. Once Madeema sunk her teeth into something she didn't let go until the something stopped breathing.
"Those creatures over there, Emperor," King Crough chirped excitedly as Daryus walked forward to inspect the humans we brought with us. They weren'tthe same Crough had originally intended as gifts for Daryus, but a bunch of humans my warriors had grabbed on our way out. I doubted Crough would raise an issue with that, having already been denied his other requests of wergild and retribution.
Again, Silla stiffened at Crough calling her brethren "creatures," and again I gently squeezed her arm in reassurance. Thankfully she was smart enough to know when to simmer in silence and I prayed the other humans were as smart as her.
"We aren'tcreatures," Eric snarled and I sighed. I should have left him and his group back at the ship, nobody would have been the wiser.
"I'm tempted to agree with him, since he can not only obviously speak but reason," Daryus remarked.
"Semantics," Crough waved his hand, reminding us that we were all conquerors. In this universe a species only survived the attack of another if they prepared accordingly, something the humans seemed to have failed to do. Or maybe they simply hadn't been advanced enough. Either way, they were now at the Cryons' mercy. The universe was and had always been survival of the fittest.
"What are your intentions for this new planet you discovered?" Daryus asked Crough.
Crough shrugged. "What we always do, harvest and repopulate."
"How many planets do you have in your kingdom now?" Daryus stepped away from the human group.
"Sir Priough?" Crough turned to his advisor, as if he couldn't be bothered with something as mundane as keeping track of the size of his kingdom.
"Fifteen, Your Highnesses," Priough replied immediately.
"Fifteen," Daryus repeated, giving the Cryons a sideways glance that was easy to interpret. Even though our empire spanned many times that number, it was an easy conclusion that soon the Cryons could become a species to be guarded against.
