Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Since Aela arrived in Avarice, half a year had gone by.
For half a cycle, the constellations edged closer to the flaming river in the center of the realm and towed along their inevitable orbit.
For half a cycle, Tarek pacified his House by parading Aela around like some prized possession and promised a new era for House Taurus.
Their Prime Apparent had secured their survival—their victory over The Darkness all but guaranteed.
And for half a cycle, Aela had not yet found a way to free herself from the Bull’s clutches or a way to get home.
Tala was right. If Aela had only heeded the Adjacent’s advice and given into Tarek at the onset of her capture, her life among the Taureons would have been much easier. Tala’s words echoed in her mind as Aela prepared for yet another private dinner with Tarek and members of his court.
“Tarek likes things a certain way, and the sooner you accept his preferences, the better off you’ll be.”
She dressed mechanically, donning a spotless, flowing white dress.
She slid a golden floral adornment onto her right leg where the dress parted, the filigree detail wrapping her from ankle to thigh.
It would be stunning if not for the blatant claim it represented.
Caging her skin with earthen elements. Marking her as Tarek’s.
A Senate delegation left to Celestor yesterday with Elnath. If Aela accepted Tarek’s bond, perhaps that alone would have given her leeway to access the traveling rings, which were heavily monitored. She tasted the lie before the thought fully formed. Tarek would never let her go willingly.
Aela feared that if she gave in any more than she already had, her sense of self and purpose would evaporate entirely. But for the sake of survival and her ultimate plans, she changed, gradually reducing herself to something Tarek needed to see.
Tame.
Submissive.
She shrank down and became what he wanted: a fallen star in need of his protection and inexperienced in the grand ways of the Taureon Line. The transformation had been simple. She was used to pretending to be something she wasn’t and had long survived on her own, bearing the burden of her secrets.
Her selenite shard warmed against her thigh inside her dress pocket, alerting her that Zosma was waiting outside her quarters. Attendants finished helping with her makeup and hair, then departed on silent feet.
By some miracle of the Fates, she had kept her true identity a secret from the ever-curious Taureons, a matter that Tarek had found endearing.
Perhaps it was his way of trying to gain her trust that he allowed her to keep her heritage from him.
Tala ceased her interrogations after Tarek very publicly announced his intention to bond with Aela, which had launched her status in his court even more, if that were possible.
The quartz door parted down the middle, and Aela stepped through, meeting Zosma in the dusty-rose stone hallway.
“How are you?” Zosma asked her as he escorted her to dinner.
“The same,” Aela said. No longer a social pariah on a desert planet or an unknown enemy of House Taurus, she was sought out.
Incessantly. As Tarek’s intended and next in Line for Primary, her time was consumed with mandatory training with Arche, endless appearances in Tarek’s meetings, private dinners and audiences with him and the Asterism, and various other House affairs.
Aela’s once lonely existence was now a luxury she coveted.
“Just a little longer,” said Zosma.
The Leo star was adamant about helping Aela get out of Avarice, feeling indebted to her after she freed him in The Games.
She still hadn’t attempted to remove anyone’s bands except her own in the privacy of her rooms or in her dreams, after which she would put them back on lest anyone see her unbound.
“It’s taking a long time to meet this friend of yours.
Is everything alright?” Aela inquired, the dove fabric of her dress whispering against the floor as they walked.
She didn’t want to place her odds solely on Zosma and this friend he mentioned who might be able to help her, but at this point she’d take any opportunity to get away from Tarek.
“Yes,” Zosma winced.
“But?”
“You’re a very prominent member of the Line, Aela.”
“Well aware.”
“Trust that I’m working on it; it’s the least I can do.”
Zosma’s long, rope-like black hair was tied back from his rich brown face with a strip of leather. Armed with a crystalline spear, the standard black sentinel uniform clung to his warrior frame.
His words and the obvious debt he carried were at odds with her previous actions.
Though she had freed him, he was shackled soon after their battle ended.
The sentinels who placed fresh bands on him assumed their fight had damaged his original pair.
Temporarily providing freedom hardly seemed worth a debt he was risking his life to repay.
“Could you do it again?” Zosma asked softly. They were nearing the dining room in Tarek’s private residence inside the palace.
“No,” Aela murmured.
Zosma touched her elbow, drawing her attention back to him. “You can trust me, Aela.”
She pressed her lips together.
“Very well,” Zosma said with a dip of his chin. “Should another accident happen in the future, know you are not alone. I am on your side.”
Zosma’s gaze burned into her exposed back as she walked away and into the dining room.
There was a round table set for six and plush armchairs set off to the other side of the room where Tarek was currently nursing an amber drink with his guests.
A space had been cleared in the center of the chairs where a low circular platform sat.
Sconces along the dark paneled walls pulsed with crystalline energy, warming the room with their soft glow.
The air pebbled her skin without Zosma at her side as she made her way to Tarek.
“Precious,” Tarek greeted. His hand slid over her hip, gliding over the silk fabric of her dress and around to her other side, tugging her down to sit on his knee. Aela draped an arm around his neck, her face curated into neutrality as she noted the Asters sitting around Tarek. All males.
One of those nights, then.
“What do you say, dinner first then a show?” Tarek asked the others present.
Dinner was served, and while the conversation between the males was polite, there was an ever-present edge, subtle threats and hints at things unsaid.
At some point, the Gemini twins in Tarek’s service, Mun and Teja, replaced the attendants who served the meal, and the atmosphere in the room thickened.
“Aela, why don’t you go over there, and we’ll join you in a moment.”
Aela nodded and excused herself from her unfinished plate, taking the small platform ringed by chairs.
Any hope that she wasn’t the night’s entertainment stole the remaining light from her eyes.
She had done the same party tricks for Tarek numerous times since he had required her presence at these dinners, his control over the crystal bands she wore lessening so she could display harmless whips of lightning.
He didn’t reach for a rod or carry some other crystal that she could see to control the bands like Tala had wielded during their sessions together. It was as if he had an innate control.
While the long-term side effects of being shackled by crystal bands were unknown to her, her mind remained her own. That was more than what she could say for some, though. On a handful of excursions into Avarice with Tarek, she had seen a soulless look on many of the common class celestials.
Aela artfully formed small balls of crackling energy between her palms, and they danced along her arms. As she performed the lightshow, her internal mantra played on repeat.
It’s just a detour. I will get back home to them.
The Taurus Asterism was bound to lose interest in her at some point, and when she wasn’t a flashy new toy for Tarek to show off, she could gain access to the archives. Maybe get to a set of traveling rings.
Aela swayed on the platform, rolling her hips to low music coming from a trio of musicians who had entered when the males began playing a round of cards. Her performance went unseen by them.
The frivolity of it all sparked anger into her lightning, sending the balls of light skimming down to the floor, harmlessly spitting out before they reached the males at the table.
Her power rushed to the surface, yet Tarek only let out a trickle.
The crystal rod he carried to control the crystal bands of his House was never far from him, though she rarely saw him wield it openly.
If it worked similarly to other attuned crystals, she had little hope of breaking the connection if she managed to destroy the rod.
The crystal bands were attuned to him. Aela gritted her teeth against the internal strain of her magic as it pushed under her skin, seeking freedom.
One male folded from the game and made his way to her, getting comfortable on a chair as he watched her form threads of light. Tarek and the other males came shortly after. Tight smiles and forced congratulations were uttered to their Prime Apparent for another game expertly won.
Multiple sets of eyes locked onto her as her body glowed.
Aela swished her hips, her lightning sparking along her curves wreathed in her white dress, and thin streaks of light wove through her ashy-gray hair.
Golden jewelry fashioned as vines and leaves adorned her upper arms and legs, which shone under the dim light.
Low conversations took form between the males, and deals were struck while Mun and Teja moved between them, refilling beverages, stroking shoulders, or going as far as sitting on laps. Aela averted her gaze.
Tarek had a way of handling his Asterism and his House, though she hated to admit it.
Her display at these private dinners toed the boundary he promised he wouldn’t cross, yet he had honored his word in not forcing her to come to his bed.
When she had overheard Tarek liking the idea of loaning her out to favored members of his Asterism, he had later assured her that wouldn’t happen until he got to claim her first. It was a pitiful victory that her inherent choice over her body remained her own for the time being.
The one benefit of being glued to Tarek’s side and being among stars again was the knowledge she gained after a century of ignorance. It was a long game.
“We negotiated a better rate with the Senate for husbandry. We should see the benefit of that soon,” one male noted.
Taurus produced the majority of livestock and crops for the realm, allowing them to set the exchange at astronomical rates for the other Houses.
“Good timing too, with raw crystal supplies dwindling,” said another Aster. “Even with taking the other Houses for their worth in credits.”
The lustful haze thinned from the room.
“How many planets are left again?” a male asked.
“Really, Izar? Aren’t realm scans your jurisdiction?”
Izar gave a smug smile. “Of course they are. As are the female sentinels in my care. It’s not my fault if they distract me from remembering all those trivial details.” He trailed his gray eyes up Aela’s exposed leg.
“Prente is intact from the War Before. We should send an extraction crew for the crystals there,” another chimed in.
Tarek shook his head, licking a drop of amber liquor from his bottom lip. “My aunt deemed Prente barren, and with one sun about to expire, that will provide sufficient energy for the city’s core to jump to another system.”
Aela stilled her movements. Before she could process what he said, Arche strode into the room.
“Arche,” Tarek greeted.
“You summoned me, Prime Apparent?”
Arche, like Zosma, was outfitted in the standard black tactical suit.
His auburn hair was in a permanently disheveled state, and as his warm brown eyes met hers, he gave her a playful wink.
Arche didn’t carry a weapon, but Aela knew from her training sessions with him he was more than adept.
After deeming her capable of self-defense, their time together took on an educational phase—preparing her for her bonding with Tarek.
“Take Aela back to her quarters.”
At Tarek’s dismissal, Aela wasted no time stepping off the low platform and falling in beside Arche.
“Before you go—”
The tone of Tarek’s voice tensed her muscles.
“Why is it that my Third cannot be bothered to tell me that crystal stores are low, and an Aster finds the matter urgent enough to burden me with it during dinner?”
“I was assessing the stores personally, Prime Apparent. I wanted to have an accurate record before I presented it to you,” Arche said.
A closed-lipped smile slid onto Tarek’s face. “Excellent. You see?” The question was directed at the Aster who had brought up the crystals. “It’s being handled.”
Arche dipped his chin and placed his hand on the small of Aela’s back, leading her out of the dining room. When they were in the hall, Zosma took Arche’s place beside her.
“My, my,” Arche crooned, withdrawing his hand from her back. “Aren’t we protective?”
Aela rolled her eyes.
“You better ease up tomorrow, Lion,” Arche quipped.
Zosma’s head snapped toward Arche. “Tomorrow? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. The old crone has been dying to meet Aela.”
“Who are you talking about? Is this your friend?” Aela asked Zosma. He nodded.
“How?” Zosma demanded.
“Leave it to me,” Arche said with a pep in his step.