Chapter 14
Serna
They didn't leave us in the cells for long.
I'd barely had time to assess my injuries—the gash across my shoulder, the bruised ribs, the throbbing ache in my skull—when the guards returned. They hauled me from the cell without a word, their grips bruising as they dragged me down the narrow corridor.
Down the bond, I felt Cullen's surge of alarm. His heartbeat spiked, matching the sudden acceleration of my own. They were taking him too.
The holding chamber was deep in the shuttle's belly, a place designed for one purpose: extracting information through pain.
The walls were bare metal, cold and unforgiving, lined with restraint systems and monitoring equipment.
Overhead lights cast harsh white illumination across every surface, leaving no shadows to hide in.
In the center of the room stood two chairs—heavy, reinforced, equipped with magnetic restraints at the wrists, ankles, and throat.
Medical monitors flanked each chair, their screens dark but ready.
Waiting.
They forced me into the left chair. The restraints activated with a hum, magnetic fields locking around my limbs. I couldn't move. Couldn't even shift my weight. The collar around my throat made breathing difficult, each inhale a conscious effort.
Across from me, they secured Cullen in the second chair.
His face was a mess—one eye swollen nearly shut, blood crusting his split lip, bruises blooming across his jaw. But his gaze found mine immediately, and I saw the same defiance there that I felt burning in my own chest.
We're not done yet.
The guards activated the medical monitors. Sensors attached to our skin, measuring heart rate, blood pressure, neural activity. The screens flickered to life, displaying our vital signs in cold, clinical detail.
And that's when I heard it.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Two heartbeats, perfectly synchronized, displayed on the monitors for anyone to see.
My blood turned to ice.
Riuondo entered the chamber with the casual confidence of a predator who knew his prey was trapped.
He'd changed from his combat gear into something more formal—a dark uniform that bore the insignia of a Romvesian general, though he had no right to wear it anymore.
His gaze swept over us, lingering on the monitors.
Then he smiled.
"Well, well," he said softly, moving closer to study the readouts. "This is... unexpected."
He tapped one of the screens, watching the twin pulses rise and fall in perfect unison. His smile widened.
"True mates." The words dripped with mockery and something darker—satisfaction. "The great Lady Prime has found her true mate. And it's a human." He laughed, the sound sharp and cruel. "A disgusting human lover. How... poetic."
I said nothing. Just stared at him defiantly.
"Do you know what this means?" Riuondo circled us slowly, his hands clasped behind his back. "It means I have leverage. Perfect, beautiful leverage." He stopped in front of Cullen, studying him like a specimen. "Tell me, human—do you understand what a true mate bond entails? The connection?"
Cullen's jaw tightened, but he didn't answer.
"No?" Riuondo's smile turned vicious. "Allow me to educate you."
He moved to a control panel on the wall and activated something. A device descended from the ceiling—sleek, mechanical, bristling with neural probes and energy emitters. It positioned itself behind Cullen's chair, humming with barely contained power.
My heart rate spiked. The monitors betrayed my fear, and Riuondo noticed.
"Ah, there it is." He turned to me, his expression almost gleeful. "You know what this is, don't you, Lady Prime? A neural stimulator. Designed to inflict maximum pain without causing permanent damage. Very useful for interrogations." He paused. "Or demonstrations."
"Don't." The word came out hoarse. "Whatever you want, I'll—"
"What I want," Riuondo interrupted, "is very simple. I want you to abdicate. Willingly. Publicly. You will announce to the Alliance Council that you are stepping down as Prime, and you will name me as your successor."
"The Council will never accept—"
"They will if you make it convincing." He leaned against the control panel, casual.
"You'll tell them you've found your true mate.
That you want to be with him, to live a life free from the burden of leadership.
It's a beautiful story, really. Romantic.
The kind of thing that will make even the hardest hearts sympathize. "
I forced a bitter laugh. "You're forgetting one small detail. The entire Alliance thinks you're dead. You've been dead for over a century."
"A minor complication." Riuondo waved his hand dismissively. "Easily resolved."
"Easily?" I stared at him. "You expect to just... appear? After a hundred years? They'll know something's wrong. They'll investigate—"
"Let them investigate." His smile widened.
"They'll find exactly what I want them to find.
Two days after your abdication, Asad intelligence will receive an anonymous tip about a slave operation in the Outer Reaches.
They'll mount a rescue mission—very heroic, very public—and discover me among the captives. "
The audacity of it took my breath away. "No one will believe that."
"Won't they?" He began to pace, clearly enjoying himself.
"I've already planted the evidence. Records of my capture.
Bills of sale passed through three different criminal syndicates.
Even genetic samples in a black market database.
" He paused, turning to face me. "I've spent decades building this cover story, Serna.
Every detail is perfect. Every piece of evidence will check out. "
"The Council will question—"
"The Council will be overjoyed." He cut me off. "One of their own, miraculously returned from the dead? A survivor of unimaginable horrors? They'll welcome me with open arms. Especially after you've so graciously stepped down, leaving a power vacuum that desperately needs filling."
I shook my head. "The timing is too convenient. Right after I abdicate—"
"Is precisely why it will work." Riuondo leaned forward, his eyes gleaming.
"You abdicate for love. I return from hell itself.
Two separate stories that happen to intersect at a moment when the Alliance needs stability.
The Council won't look too closely—they'll be too relieved to have a solution to their problems."
"Someone will see through it. Ako, or—"
"Ako is already compromised by his association with you and his human mate." His voice turned cold. "And anyone else who might question too closely... well, accidents happen. Especially in the chaos following a Prime's abdication."
I stared at him. "And if I refuse?"
His smile vanished. "Then I torture your mate to death while you watch."
The chamber fell silent except for the hum of machinery and the synchronized beating of our hearts on the monitors.
"You're insane," I said quietly.
"No." Riuondo straightened, his expression shifting to something almost offended. "I'm brilliant. But you never could see that, could you?"
"You killed them," I said, my voice low and deadly. "All of them. Kaell'inth. Threnara. Vextaral. Sollix. Melthis. You murdered every single Prime candidate who stood between you and succession."
I expected denial. Outrage. Some attempt at deflection.
Instead, Riuondo smiled.
"Finally," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Finally, someone sees it. Do you know how frustrating it's been? Decades of careful planning, meticulous execution, and no one—no one—recognized the artistry of it."
My blood ran cold. "You're proud of it."
"Of course I'm proud of it!" His voice rose with genuine enthusiasm.
"Do you have any idea how difficult it was?
How many years of planning each death required?
Kaell'inth's shuttle accident alone took years to arrange.
I had to study his flight patterns, his maintenance schedules, find the right mechanic to bribe.
" He began pacing, animated now, like a professor lecturing on his favorite subject.
"Threnara was easier—poison is remarkably simple when you have access to Romvesian royal laboratories.
But Vextaral? That required patience. Waiting for the perfect hunting trip, training the right predator, ensuring it would look natural. "
"You're a monster," I whispered.
"I'm a survivor." He stopped pacing and fixed me with a cold stare.
"When you beat me in those trials, when the Council chose you over me, I realized something.
The system was flawed. It didn't matter how qualified I was, how much stronger my vision for the Alliance.
They chose you because you could control your emotions better.
" He spat the words like a curse. "So I learned. I adapted. I became patient."
"The first death," I said, pieces falling into place. "Kaell'inth. That's when you realized—"
"That I could get away with it. Yes." Riuondo's smile widened.
"I wasn't thinking about killing him, but then we were on planet Keerinth at the same time and I couldn't take the change that he might have seen me.
When his shuttle went down, and everyone mourned the tragedy.
No investigation. No suspicion. Just... acceptance.
And I thought, 'What if they all died? What if, one by one, every candidate who stood between me and the Prime position simply... ceased to exist?'"
"So you spent decades—"
"Building my network. Yes." He moved back to the control panel, running his fingers along its surface almost lovingly.
"I cultivated relationships with royals who shared my vision.
Lord Savelth of the Crimson Valleys. Duke Moren.
Lady Vesprex—a weapons merchant with access to military-grade technology.
They all understood that the Alliance needed stronger leadership.
Real strength. Not the weakness of considering humanity as equals. "