Chapter 22
Pandraxians were hard to miss, tall, broad-shouldered, skin ranging from burnished bronze to deep umber, eyes like polished metal that never quite stopped assessing threat vectors. Efficient. Disciplined. Built for command and conquest. But I had never met him.
The moment we stepped onto the Imperial flagship, I felt it, the difference between soldiers who enforced authority and those who embodied it.
The guards who escorted us moved with ceremonial precision, their armor pristine, their weapons carried more as symbols than necessities.
This ship wasn't just a war vessel. It was a statement.
Every corridor gleamed with controlled power; every surface curved with purpose. No wasted space. No softness.
Dravok looked exactly as unimpressed as I'd expected. I, on the other hand, was cataloging everything. We were led deeper into the ship, past secured bulkheads and command hubs, until the guards halted before the Superior Commander's office. The doors parted silently.
A man who had to be Xandros stood first. He was taller than the guards, broader through the chest, his posture relaxed in the way of someone who never needed to prove dominance because it was already assumed.
His armor was darker than standard Imperial issue, trimmed in gold rather than silver, the insignia at his shoulder unmistakable even to me.
His face was sharper than most Pandraxians I'd seen, with a strong jaw, high cheekbones, and eyes the color of molten brass that flicked immediately to Dravok.
Not hostile. Calculating. Curious in a way that felt dangerous.
This was a man who enjoyed puzzles. Then I noticed Ashley.
She stood at his side, not tucked away, not ornamental, but positioned like an equal.
Her uniform matched his Imperial one but had been subtly adapted, clearly tailored for a human frame.
The insignia on her collar marked her as an officer, and the datapad in her hand bore the seal of interstellar liaison authority.
Ashley, human, Pandraxian officer, diplomatic bridge between Earth and the Empire.
Her expression shifted the moment her eyes landed on me. Relief. Recognition. A flicker of warmth she tried—and failed—to fully suppress.
"Oh," she exclaimed, stepping forward before protocol could stop her. "You're human."
"Yes," I smiled despite myself. "And I'm very happy to see you."
She laughed softly, the sound carried something like gratitude. "You have no idea how rare that still feels. You must be Nadine. Daryus mentioned you."
The casual use of the emperor's first name didn't escape me. These people—Daryus, Xandros, Heather, Ashley—were tightly knit. Not just politically aligned, but personally connected. That alone sent a ripple of surprise through me.
"And you're Ashley. I've heard… things."
She smiled knowingly. "I imagine you have."
Ashley was quite the legend herself on Earth.
As a Marine, she had been trained to move fast, make decisions under fire, and bring people home who statistically shouldn't survive.
She was taken during a Cryon attack while leading a rescue mission, boots on the ground when most forces were still arguing about jurisdiction and threat assessments.
She fought long enough for her team to evacuate several civilians.
She survived captivity the same way she'd survived combat: adapting, observing, refusing to break.
When Xandros boarded the Cryon vessel during a diplomatic mission, he never expected her.
Ashley didn't beg for rescue. She coordinated it.
She provided intelligence mid-extraction, weaponized her own captivity against her captors, and walked off that ship with blood on her uniform and a strategic debrief already forming.
That alone earned Xandros's respect. What followed wasn't instant romance or political convenience. It was recognition.
Ashley transitioned from rescued asset to active liaison, learning Pandraxian protocol, Imperial strategy, and interstellar diplomacy with the same precision she'd once applied to battlefield tactics. When Earth needed a voice the Empire would actually listen to, she became it.
Xandros shifted his focus from me to Dravok with renewed intensity. He studied him in silence, head tilting slightly, eyes narrowing not in hostility but disbelief. "So, you're real."
Dravok didn't react.
Xandros let out a short breath, almost a laugh. "The Emperor spoke of the Arkhevari as if they were… present concerns. I assumed it was stress. Or exaggeration." His eyes sharpened. "Apparently, I was wrong."
Ashley shot him a look. "You didn't believe him?"
"I believed he believed," Xandros replied, shrugging. "That is not the same thing."
I couldn't help myself. "To be fair, if someone told me gods were walking around causing diplomatic incidents, I'd have questions too."
That earned me a low, appreciative huff from Ashley, and a sharper, openly intrigued look from Xandros.
"You travel with dangerous beings," he observed calmly, gaze never leaving Dravok.
I glanced sideways at him. "Yeah," I said dryly. "He's… an acquired taste."
Ashley snorted. Xandros's mouth curved, just slightly.
"Have a seat," the Superior Commander said at last, turning toward the inner office. "I suspect we have much to discuss." His gaze returned to Dravok, steady now, no longer skeptical, only intent. "Especially you, Arkhevari, and your… unusual timing."
As the doors slid open, I had the distinct impression that Xandros wasn't just reassessing Dravok. He was reassessing the entire universe. For a man who commanded the most powerful empire's military, that realization carried real weight.
As the doors closed behind us, I felt it, the strange, unnerving reality of being a human in a room where power wasn't pretending to be anything else. Ashley met my eyes again, just for a moment. I was surprised to find something I hadn't expected to find aboard an Imperial warship. Solidarity.
Whatever this meeting was going to become, political standoff, alliance, or complication, at least I wouldn't be the only human woman navigating gods, generals, and the quiet terror of realizing the universe was much bigger than Earth had ever prepared us for.
The air in the Superior Commander's office shifted. Not physically—no alarms, no weapons drawn—but something subtle and unmistakable tightened between Xandros and Dravok. Two apex predators circling the same truth from different directions, neither willing to yield ground.
Xandros folded his arms, keeping his expression deceptively relaxed. "So," he said, "what exactly do you expect to find on Cronack?"
Dravok didn't move. "Answers."
Xandros's mouth curved faintly. "We stripped that planet down to bedrock. Every structure. Every lab. Every data core worth salvaging. If there was something there, it's gone."
"You didn't look closely enough," Dravok replied.
The words landed like a challenge.
Xandros's eyes sharpened. "Excuse me?"
"Ohrurs," Dravok stated calmly. "They are adept at concealment. Particularly when hiding within systems designed to ignore them."
Xandros straightened. "Impossible."
Dravok finally looked at him then, full attention settling like a weight. "Unlikely," he corrected. "Not impossible."
The silence that followed was dense. Calculating. Xandros broke it with a low chuckle that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're telling me that after a full Imperial purge, a species known for bartering is somehow hiding in plain sight on a dead world?"
"I am telling you that something remains." Dravok nodded.
"And what would that something be?" Xandros pressed.
For a fraction of a second, I felt Dravok hesitate. He didn't want to admit to Xandros that an Arkhevari had been taken prisoner. Then again, he had told the emperor, and he had to know the emperor would have told Xandros.
When Dravok said, "An anomaly," I didn't butt in, assuming he must have his reasons for being evasive. Or he could have just been being his usual mysterious Arkhevari self.
Xandros studied him. Then nodded once. "Very well." He turned slightly, already issuing commands. "I'll assign a search unit. Soldiers familiar with subterranean sweeps."
Dravok's response was immediate. "Unnecessary."
Xandros's brows lifted. "You're refusing Imperial assistance?"
"I'm declining inefficiency," Dravok countered. "I'll be much quicker alone."
That earned him a sharp smile. "I don't like unknowns operating unsupervised in my terrain."
"I don't like delays," Dravok replied.
For a moment, I was genuinely concerned they might start measuring dominance the old-fashioned way.
Then Dravok added, "However—" All three of us, Xandros, Ashley, and I, looked at him. "If you would keep Nadine here," he continued, voice steady, "I would appreciate it."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
Xandros glanced at me, then back at Dravok. "You want me to babysit your human."
"I want her safe," Dravok stated simply.
The bond flared, protective, firm, utterly unapologetic.
Xandros exhaled slowly, clearly amused now. "You don't lack confidence, Arkhevari."
"And you don't lack territory," Dravok replied.
Ashley let out a quiet huff beside me, shaking her head. "You two are exhausting."
"Truly," I muttered.
Xandros considered the request for a beat longer, then nodded. "Fine. She stays here. Under Imperial protection."
Dravok inclined his head. "Acceptable."
I crossed my arms. "You know I can hear you both, right?"
"Yes," Dravok said at the same time as Xandros said, "Vra."
Ashley and I exchanged a look—the universal men look—and shook our heads in unison. As Dravok turned to leave, Xandros called after him. "If you find something that contradicts Imperial reports—"
"I will," Dravok said, already halfway to the door.
"Hold on just a second." I jumped up. "Dravok, wait!" He wasn't going to get away this cleanly.