Chapter 8
The thud of footsteps approaching me tore me from my broken sleep. I opened my eyes to see a Vepar with completely black eyes staring down at me. I widened my stare, my heart suddenly pounding against my ribcage. In a flash, I scrambled backwards in my cot, dragging the blanket with me as I hit the wall with my back.
”W-what do you want?” Had a prisoner broken into my cell?
“You’ve been summoned,” he snarled as if being in my presence disgusted him.
“Summoned?” Was this the day that I was to be taken in for Corran’s procedure? Could the guys not even face me?
“I think you’re mistaken. I’m meant to stay here.”
One of his bushy eyebrows climbed up his forehead, while the tip of his horns seemed to shimmer. “You think you have rights?” He broke into laughter, sounding more like someone screeching for help, and I cringed, reminding myself to never make this guy laugh again.
He reached over and grabbed my arm, then hauled me off the bed and across the room. I stumbled after him, barely catching my balance, the smooth floor cold under my bare feet. “Please can I get my shoes?”
“You don’t need them.” With a wave of his hand, the glass wall dissolved and we were in the corridor.
Other prisoners glared at me, their faces and hands pressed up against the glass, twisted faces judging me.
“Where are we going?”
But the guard didn’t answer, only dragged me by my arm, his fingers like an iron grip around my wrist.
“Does Derrial know about this?” I demanded and as much as my mind screamed with a warning that I shouldn’t have said that, I was on a freaking foreign planet. It was hard to be reasonable.
“He’s waiting for you.”
His words were a blade to my chest. Derrial allowed this guard to man-handle me this way, to collect me in the middle of the night? Or was this part of the plan to make my capture appear authentic?
With the latter in mind, I hurried along beside the guard to show my compliance and not appear like I had been dragged in like a prisoner. It was all about confidence, my mom used to tell me. So I lifted my chin and power walked to keep up with the Vepar. The door at the end of the corridor swung open of its own accord and we entered another hallway, then another, followed by stepping into an elevator where the doors shut and opened within a heartbeat and we were on a different ground. I’d stopped asking questions and accepted it might take me years before I’d comprehend this planet’s technology.
We raced toward two enormous doors, colored like the brightest sky, engraved with swirls. My stomach was locked up tight, but I kept moving. The doors opened on their own and we strolled into a circular room.
Bright lights flooded the tiny arena-like center with a raised platform of circular seatings. At one end stood four Vepars, each inside a circular cylinder, and only when the guard ushered me close did I see their bodies were slightly transparent. They were only projections and not physically present. Each of them were older men, wrinkles, and silvering hair, but their horns had me gaping. They were long and curled, falling over their shoulders.
So they grew longer with age....interesting.
With their deep blue uniforms and the double moon insignia on their jackets, I could only assume these were the Council.
With a shove at my back, I stumbled forward toward the Vepar. I glanced up to the first row and found Thane, Corran, and Derrial sitting there, staring down at me with blank expressions. But their eyes gave them away… the worry slithering behind them.
I swallowed hard and turned to the four who’d summoned me.
“Human,” the tallest began. His white hair was parted down the middle and one of his horns curled over the top of his head like a halo. “In Veon, mating is a life or death situation and is not entered lightly which is why we have rituals to find the perfect life partners. Something I’m sure humans wouldn’t understand. Three of our most respectable Vepar have approached us, asking to be granted a waiver. Do you know what that means, child?”
I shook my head, though my mind was whirling like a spinning top with what my Vepar could have asked the Council. My words refused to come.
The Vepar with bright golden eyes tilted his head high. “Derrial and his team have requested to bypass the mating ritual and for the human, Ella, to be deemed their mate for life.”
Their words sliced through me, but I knew… at least I thought I knew, why Derrial had put that request through. The social rules to finding the one you loved differed on Veon and they intended to bypass it to simply get approval to choose me as their mate. And I couldn’t deny the joy blooming inside me at hearing this. This was their way to save me.
I fought to hold back my smile.
It seemed romantic. But I wasn’t a fool. They did it to save me… except if they had to get approval for who to mate with for life, this wasn’t a light decision to make.
“What is your decision?” Derrial and the men stood from their seats, their fists tapping their chests twice before lowering them.
I wobbled on my bare feet, praying this worked as it would mean freedom from prison and avoiding the need to juggle social protocols.