Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks

Chapter Eight

Garath

I marchedinto the Central Court of Caverncall and strode down the main aisle. My father, Narrock, sat on his throne of bones at the far end. He glared down at his clansmen on the floor beneath his raised platform. His expression registered not a flicker of emotion or even recognition for the people who escaped Kavius with him at great cost.

His stony eyes found me long before I got near him. No warmth enlivened those eyes, and the gray dry hair around his cracked horns only made him look more lifeless. He could have been looking at a stick of wood for all the feeling he bestowed on me, his own son.

I excused him, though. He never recovered from the loss of my mother or our homeworld. That would destroy any man. He kept ruling the clan despite his great losses, but he had to close his heart away from ever caring about anyone, even his own children. He had to, so that he could keep this remnant of his people alive against all odds.

I halted in front of his throne, under the eyes of dozens of our clansmen. “Report,” he ordered.

“The Vorlax are moving into this area,” I began. “They’re becoming more aggressive and showing signs of forethought and conceptual planning. I engaged with them and killed five. They all have a seam welded into the back of their heads, here.” I traced my finger across the base of my skull, where I’d seen the cut in the Vorlax’s armor. “I believe they’ve been modified, and the only species we know that modifies others is the Ranxi.”

This produced the effect I expected. Father shot forward in his seat and his hands gripped the arms of his throne. “Modified—by the Ranxi!”

“That’s impossible!” someone shouted from the crowd.

“It must have been them,” I replied. “They modified the Taepra and the Kuvilo to turn against us. They were our closest allies, and the Ranxi manipulated them to attack us. They would never have driven us off Kavius without both the Taepra and the Kuvilo. Then they modified the Troan and the Thiria to take over the Krichi system. Now they’re doing the same thing here. Anyone can see that.”

A murmur went through the crowd, and several people shook their heads. Of course no one wanted to believe the Ranxi knew of our escape to this planet, but denying the possibility wouldn’t do us any good.

Father hurled himself back in his chair and jerked his head away. “I won’t decide based on your testimony alone. I need proof of these claims. Tangible proof.” Father bent forward and pointed a menacing finger at me. “You will go back to where it is that you claim you killed these Vorlax. You will come back with proof, or not come back at all.”

“Father, if you only…” I began.

“Say nothing more to me,” he boomed. “You come in here, stirring up trouble with your wild claims that the Ranxi are moving onto this planet despite our careful measures to not be tracked. I demand proof. You will leave within the hour. That is my final word.”

I struggled to remain silent in the face of his rage. This wasn’t my father. This was some empty vessel left behind by the many tragedies of his life. He didn’t know what he was saying.

One thing stopped me from storming out. Daphne. I left her asleep in my room in our family home. If I left now, I couldn’t know when I would return—if I returned at all. What would happen to her? Nissaya couldn’t keep hiding her forever.

For a second, I considered telling Father about her. She could back up my story, but springing her on him right now would only drive him over the edge.

Father bent forward again, and this time, he pointed toward the door. “Go. Be gone.”

I took a deep breath, holding his gaze. Did he even know I was his son? Did he even realize the danger? Probably not. He’d gone too far over the edge into insanity. So why couldn’t everyone else in this court see that? Was I the only one? Most of these clansmen had known him since before I was born. Surely they noticed the change in him.

My hand flew to my dagger, and I bowed before I left the court, but before I could do it, a flurry of noise and commotion erupted behind me. Father’s eyes snapped upward, and I glanced over my shoulder.

I froze and my blood ran cold as Zixor stormed in, yanking Daphne by the arm. “Get off me, you bastard!” she shrieked. “Leave me alone!”

Nissaya attacked Zixor from the other side. “How dare you? You can’t just break into the clan King’s private dwelling and start tearing the place apart! You’ll pay for this!”

She charged him and tried to rip his hand off Daphne’s elbow, but Zixor straightened his other arm and shoved Nissaya back before barging deeper into the court, dragging Daphne with him.

I gaped at the sight with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t be seeing this, not after taking so many precautions.

Zixor must have smelled Daphne inside the nichi skin after all. He must have snooped around our home and put the pieces together.

He flung Daphne toward my father. She stumbled and caught her balance to stop herself from falling over. She came to a halt right in front of the throne, where Father couldn’t fail to see her.

Dead silence descended over the gathering. Everyone blinked at her in shock. No one moved. No one even breathed.

Nissaya halted a few feet away, and her desperate eyes found mine. Her features pinched in hopeless despair. Whatever happened back at the house, the damage was done. No one could make Father forget he saw Daphne.

He narrowed his eyes at her, and that sinking sensation in my insides got worse. He curled his lips into a snarl. “What is that doing here?”

“Your son,” Zixor sneered, “was hiding this in your house, my King, with help from his beloved sister. They smuggled this alien into our stronghold under cover and sequestered it in your dwelling for nefarious purposes. They clearly sought to subvert your sovereign authority over our clan and put all of us in danger.”

“I wasn’t going to endanger anyone,” Daphne insisted. “I was in danger from the Vorlax, and I—”

“Silence!” Father thundered. “You have no right to trespass in our stronghold.” He turned to Zixor. “Execute the alien.”

Zixor’s face transformed into a mask of cruel triumph. His hand clapped onto the dagger at his belt, and he stepped forward. As he stretched out his hand to seize Daphne again, a thunderclap went off in my head.

I streaked forward and hooked my arm around Daphne. I whirled her away from Zixor and rotated her to the other side. When his fingers closed, he grabbed onto my shirt. “This female will not face execution,” I said, the words coming out of my mouth before I could even consider them. “She is my mate. I brought her here to perform the mating ritual. I concealed her to give her a chance to become accustomed to our village, and to allow her to learn our ways from my sister.”

In the momentary silence after my spiel, I realized what I had said. Though none of it was true—at least, I didn’t think so—somewhere deep down I knew that this would have been the only way to protect her if things escalated.

Once everyone registered what I had said, a horrified gasp echoed throughout the court. I turned my back on Zixor and faced Father. “I claim protection for my mate.”

His expression went blacker—if that was even possible. He sat back in his chair and leveled me with a look somehow more cruel and unfeeling than Zixor’s. When he spoke, he snarled in a vicious undertone I could barely hear. “Very well. Perform the ritual.”

I blinked. “What—now?”

“Yes, now.” He waved his hand at the assembly. “You wish to perform the ritual, so perform it.”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. He couldn’t really mean that. I swallowed the lump in my throat to get my voice working. “I ask for a few days’ grace to allow her to grow accustomed to our ways, as I had originally intended. She is a human. She doesn’t understand.”

A wicked smile spread over Father’s face. That was the first smile I’d seen him make in years, but it made me feel worse than his indifference ever did. “But you understand all too well. You claim protection for this alien. If you expect this court to offer her sanctuary as your mate, prove that she is your mate, and perform the ritual now, in sight of your clan. Otherwise, the alien will be cast into the jungle and executed like the vermin that she is.”