Chapter 5
The little hoomon might have brain damage.
The slavers had beaten her badly, then trapped her in a small box to fester.
She had seemed to be trying to communicate, but her efforts were atrocious. I couldn't control my ears flicking back as she barked out a mangled version of my name. Not a single one of the sounds she made were anything close to a word - it was just a combination of animalistic growls.
Hopefully the other hoomon, the one that arrived physically undamaged, would have an easier time at least mimicking our language.
Being able to communicate eventually was essential.
The illegal slavers were selling this unknown species of intelligent aliens that they claimed had the ability, if not knowledge, to speak properly.
I had arranged for them to be acquired, under the authority of the conglomerate, by the largest zoo on the vast moon city Sebsitar Prime.
The sentient beings would be held captive in that zoo, and all the Prince had to do was notice, get the evidence, and bring their illegal imprisonment to the eyes of the public.
The uproar would help him weaken the authority of the regents.
But that wouldn't work if the hoomons couldn't prove their sentience.
The Izanburs had delivered the hoomons personally to Sebsitar Prime, and I was glad I had rushed to get there fast enough for their arrival.
It was essential I ensured the two hoomons were in satisfactory condition.
But when I realized the brave, ferocious little hoomon I'd seen on the video screen had been badly beaten and confined to a small box left to lie in her own shit and filth - my anger had gone beyond fury.
I had ordered them to treat her with care.
Instead, they came close to killing her.
I made sure they would never torture another creature like that again.
The hoomon stared up at me with those little eyes of hers, framed with thick brown lashes, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to take her home and care for her.
I pushed those confusing and unwanted feelings to the side.
There was no place for that.
She was a pawn in my plan, a strange alien imprisoned and at my mercy.
After she served her purpose, she could live at my palace where I would ensure she had everything she could desire.
If we were able to establish communication and her species had any knowledge of space-faring, I would find a way to return her to her home, if that was what she desired.
I stepped away from her.
I had let my emotions get the better of me.
Yet I burned at the very thought of letting her go.
She was mine.
Mine to take care of, mine to keep.
That thought clawed at my heart. I didn’t know why I was feeling this way. I was utterly consumed by this, by her. I wasn’t responsible for her enslavement, but if I refused her choice or agency I would be no better than the captors I’d slain for her.
The war between my heart and my sense of duty was dizzying, and I had to get out of that room before I did something I would regret.
I turned to pick up the box. Right now she belonged to the zoo and any overt interference on my part would unsettle the balance of my plan.
The Prince had to earn his throne or he wouldn't be able to keep it.
I could take my new pet home once he took advantage of the opportunity right in front of him. The conglomerate had already done as expected and assigned him to the dangerous predator section of the zoo where the hoomons’ habitat had been built.
They would likely try to arrange an accident at some point when my attention was turned elsewhere.
My spies had given me a full report on how the regents had been working to prevent the Prince from finding a mate.
It had already been noticed and murmured about in the social networks.
Public opinion was in support of the Prince, and the only real way for the regent conglomerate to stay in power was to eliminate him.
"You are done then?" the vet asked as I left the room, the box of Izanbur heads in my arms.
"Yes, you can see your patient," I said. "And you will treat her with great care."
This vet thought I was a middleman for the conglomerate, someone who had enough power to order her out of her own workplace, but not enough that she was afraid of me.
If she knew who I really was she would be terrified.
"I'm not going to hurt an animal under my care," she said, her tone tight. "You didn't have to threaten me."
This particular vet was exceptionally talented, and had a high success rate when working with creatures that didn’t have full medical documentation.
She was talented enough to be a doctor on one of the space stations working with aliens, but her employee file made it clear she had a strong aversion to social interactions.
She was capable, talented, and didn’t want to be around people.
As long as she thought of the hoomon as an animal, she would provide exceptional care - to the point where she didn’t want to leave her ward alone in a room with some middleman to the conglomerate.
I had listed out her home address when convincing her to leave the room, an act that was enough to make her uncomfortable and let her know that I knew more about her than some random employee who was doing an unimportant task.
“I apologize for frightening you,” I said. “Take good care of the hoomon.”
I nodded and walked out of the building.
Yreta and a small team were waiting for me outside. Even in disguise, I didn't travel without them. I valued my privacy and freedom, but I wasn’t foolish.
"The Prince has sent in a request for bodyguards from his estate," she said. "Do you want to put one of your men in with them?"
I grinned.
"Not exactly," I replied.