Chapter Four
Lena
Lena had never been inside a fortress. That she entered one by the will of her enemy and captor made it even worse. The explosion made the surreal events of the last few hours solidify into reality. Not only was she a captive, but she was a captive in a besieged fortress.
Then Vor had put his arm around her, and their gazes had met as if they were lovers.
It was utterly insane. As was the way he treated her.
The last thing she had expected when he put her in his erial was kindness.
It was twisting her stomach. Baffling her.
This had to be a game or perhaps a mind-controlling technique.
Mental warfare. Vor was trying to break her like a horse.
Well, she'd be damned if she let that happen.
Lena may not be as brave or as strong as her sister, but she would not give up without a fight. So she had jerked away from him.
And he still reacted with patience. The bastard.
As Lena followed Vor into the room full of Nethren soldiers—their bodies partially formed of metal, each in different ways—she pushed down the trembling that threatened to take over. Holding her head up, she met the curious and then astounded stares of Vor's soldiers.
Cacher screens dominated one wall, each one showing a different scene outside the fortress.
Desks stood below the screens, Nethren seated at them with their hands on the control panels.
A huge, metal table stood in the center of the room, papers spread across it, featuring the specifications of the fortress.
Every soldier was armed, and only one was female. She narrowed her dark eyes at Lena.
“Commander!” A dark-haired man with a metal tube running up the side of his neck stood up and approached them, his gaze going back and forth between Vor and Lena. “Sir, we're relieved you've returned. Uh, who is this? Shall I have her transported to the stockade?”
Lena stepped back. She knew what a stockade was. Military prison. And she was a prisoner. It made sense, but after Vor's speech, she hadn't expected to be tossed in a cell.
“No,” Vor said so sharply that the man retreated a few steps. “This is Lena. She's mine. Notify everyone in the fortress. She is not to be touched or harmed.”
“Commander?” The man frowned.
“The Source led me to her. She's vital to our mission.”
At the mention of the Source of Technology, every Nethren in the room went still.
Then they dropped their stares from Lena.
She gaped at them. They really believed that the Source of Tech had led Vor to her?
And what was all this about her being vital to their mission?
Lena wouldn't help the Nethren. She couldn't even conceive of how she might.
“Understood, Commander.” The man inclined his head.
“Good. Call a cease-fire.” Vor strode to the central desk and lifted a hinged lid to reveal a lever.
“A cease-fire, Commander?” The LC looked from Vor to the lever. “Uh, what's that?”
“Tech gave me a vision. I believe this activates a ward.”
“A ward?” The LC blinked and then rushed to another panel. He pushed a button and spoke into a microphone. “All troops, cease fire! Stand down and prepare for warding.”
The dull thud of projectile weapons slowed to a silence, and Vor pushed the lever. The hair on Lena's forearms lifted, and she heard a low humming. Then there was a great cheering coming from outside. It was soon echoed by the Nethren in the room with her.
Lena looked around at the Nethren and then at one of the cacher screens. A shimmer hung just beyond the fortress walls. The ward. It would keep everyone and everything out of the fortress. It would also keep everyone in. Lena wrapped her arms around herself. She had just been doubly caged.
“Praise Source!” The lieutenant commander said. “You are truly its chosen one, Commander.”
“It leads us all,” Vor said. “Now, I want a return fire randomized throughout the day and night. Lower the shield using this lever, fire, and raise the shield. I want Paradefense constantly on guard, waiting for our attacks, never knowing when one will come.”
“Yes, Commander!” The LC grinned. “Brilliant tactic. Anything else, sir?”
“Has the general's quarters been cleaned for me?”
“Yes, Commander. Corporal Shensar can escort you there.” He motioned at the female Nethren.
The woman stood up and inclined her head to Vor. “Commander.”
“Good. Begin the attacks within the hour,” Vor said to the LC.
“Yes, Commander.”
Vor motioned the woman out of the room and then looked at Lena. “After you.”
Lena stepped around Vor and out into the hallway where the corporal waited. The woman glared at Lena again, but Lena didn't care. Glares were the least of her concerns. Vor, however, didn't approve.
“Corporal!” Vor snapped. “Do not look at my guest like that.”
The woman flinched and gaped at the commander. “She's the enemy, Commander.”
“No, she isn't. Lena is the key to our returning to the surface, and you will give her the respect that her role demands. Understood?”
The corporal straightened and bowed. “Yes, Commander. This way, sir.”
Corporal Shensar spun, her long brown braid swinging behind her. As she walked, something drew Lena's attention to her leg. The fabric of the corporal's pants leg stretched over odd bulges. She didn't have any exposed metal, so Lena assumed that was her Nethren limb.
Lena shivered, imagining being born with a metal leg. Or worse, giving birth to a child who was partially metal. Dear convergence, that would magnify the pain of childbirth.
Oh, fuck! Can Nethren and Medeans procreate?
“Are you cold?” Vor asked.
Lena jerked her attention to the Nethren commander. “No.”
Vor nodded and went silent. The corporal was the only one to disturb the quiet, naming rooms they passed to orient the commander.
Finally, they came to a door with a piece of vaguely rectangular damage to it at about head height.
Grimacing, Lena imagined some half-metal man ripping the general's nameplate from the door. How petty.
“This is it, Commander.” The corporal inclined her head to Vor and then, shockingly, to Lena. “Is there anything you require?”
“A meal for Lena and me.” Vor opened the door and entered without looking at the corporal.
Her gaze followed him. “Yes, sir.” She glanced at Lena, her eyes twitching, and then left.
Lena watched her go. The woman was attracted to Vor. That was the problem. It had nothing to do with Lena being a Medean. She peered into the room at Vor and rolled her eyes. Men could be so oblivious.
Vor turned to her. “Please come in.”
Lena snorted as she stepped inside. “As if this is your quarters.”
“They are for the time being.” He shut the door behind her and looked around the simple entry room.
A meeting table stood to one side, near the only window, and several seats gathered near a fireplace on the opposite wall.
Going across the room, Vor went to a door in the wall opposite Lena.
He opened it and glanced back at her. “The bedroom and bathroom are through here. Would you like to bathe?”
“No, I'm fine.” Lena edged toward the seats and took a chair. Arms wrapped around herself, she watched Vor.
He went to a strange stand near the bedroom door and behind the dark blue couch.
It was a wooden post with a crossbeam and a rounded platform on top.
With a thump, Vor set his horned helmet on the top platform.
Another quick movement, and the straps over his shoulders fell.
They hung from his waist as he bent over and unbuckled the straps around his legs that held on the metal plates.
With those loose, he unbuckled his belt and removed his lower body armor to hang on the crossbeam by the shoulder straps.
There were two more straps across his chest. The first one held on a long arm piece that went on the crossbeam.
The second one held only a top piece that protected the upper portion of his metal arm.
It had gears embedded in it to make it blend with his arm.
Vor set the curved piece of metal on the right tip of the crossbeam.
Devoid of armor, he hesitated, looking from the main door to the bedroom. “I need to bathe. I have the stink of battle on me.”
“Go ahead.”
“I can't leave you in here alone.” Vor sighed. “Will you please come into the bathroom with me?”
Lena's eyes went wide. She wasn't a virgin, but she'd never bathed with a man, or even stood in a bathroom while a man showered. That seemed intimate. Very intimate. “No, thank you.”
Vor grimaced. “I was trying to be polite, but it wasn't a request. You can stand facing the wall if you prefer, but I need you to come into the room with me.” He paused, his expression hardening. “Now, Lena.”
She shivered, but a part of her steadied under this sudden show of aggression. Lena needed to know if Vor's vow not to hurt her was true. This was the perfect opportunity to test it. “No.”
Vor strode over to her, his left eye twitching.
Lena jumped up and backed away.
Vor kept coming.
“You said you wouldn't hurt me!” Lena held up her hand to ward him off.
“And I won't. But that doesn't mean you can disobey me. You are mine, Lena. To protect, provide for, and keep until Source guides me further.” He scooped her into his arms as if she were a child, his mechanical arm pressed into her back.
Lena pushed at Vor, but he squeezed her tighter. “Put me down!”