Chapter 54 Your Choice, Eve
YOUR CHOICE, EVE
The word choice sits on my tongue like poison. Or salvation. Or both.
I stand naked in the defendant's sphere, and I make them all wait. The Chief Arbiter has given me two choices: hard labor in a mine or seven years as the Sovereigns' property.
I let the silence stretch. I want all these aliens to see that I’m not going to break down over this.
I don’t regret anything I did. They can try to humiliate me by shaving my head, hurting me, or taking away my clothing, but I still saved twelve humans and an unborn baby.
And I even did it for Briar, my childhood bully.
My eyes finds Rafe and Lorian in the gallery. They came. Flew across systems to watch my trial. The smart play would have been to distance themselves and to let me burn. But they didn’t.
"Madame Eve," the Chief Arbiter's compound eyes are filled with impatience. "Your decision?"
I shift in the sphere, the movement making me aware of every bruise and indignity I’ve suffered here. "I need clarification," I say. "The servitude option. What exactly would it entail?"
The Chief Arbiter's tentacles writhe with annoyance.
"Standard ownership protocols. Your owners would have complete authority over your person.
Housing, clothing, and activities—all at their discretion.
You would have no legal standing as an independent entity until your time is served.
Any credits or possessions would transfer to them.
Any children born during your servitude would be their property. "
"And basic sentient rights protections?"
"Minimal. Protection from permanent maiming or death. Required medical care. Adequate nutrition." The Chief Arbiter manipulates his interfaces. "Though enforcement depends entirely on your owners' compliance."
"I see." I let another long moment pass. In the gallery, trainers shift restlessly. Aefre looks ready to leap from his seat and strangle me himself. "And after seven years?"
"Full rights restoration. You would be free to pursue employment elsewhere, though references from your term of service would likely be required. And you would not be able to return to Earth under any circumstances."
Seven years. It might as well be seventy. But the alternative is hard labor.
Then I hear Lorian from the gallery, "Your Honor, might the interested parties address the defendant?"
And the Chief Arbiter allows it.
It doesn’t take long before Rafe and Lorian are standing in front of me. I’m so overwhelmed with emotion I can barely hear them. But I get the gist of it; they’re promising me they’ll be good masters.
But what happens when they bore of me?
I know their dark sides, and I never want to see myself on the other side of their love and attention.
"Life as your slave?" I ask.
"Seven years with us is survivable, but the mines are not," Lorian says, his silver eyes full of emotion.
"And after seven years?"
"Freedom," he promises. "True freedom, with resources, connections, and a future."
I look between my handsome alien Sovereigns and worry.
"How can I trust you when I know you planned this?
All of it." Jin Kol had visited me in my holding cell and told me everything about how they had set me up to frame Gael from the beginning.
But none of them had expected, including him, for me to outsmart them.
And I could tell from his tone that Jin Kol wasn't impressed by my actions and that he was taking it personally.
"Not all," Lorian admits. "We didn't plan to fall in love with you."
The admission echoes through the courtroom. And I close my eyes, listening to that last sentence again in my head, wondering if I imagined it because it’s what I want to hear so much, that despite everything we did to each other, we still love each other.
I open my eyes to make sure I really heard him correctly and that they’re really here as a tear runs down my cheek. "I'll need time to—“
"Your time is up, Madame Eve. Choose now, or the court will choose for you,” the Chief Arbiter says impatiently.
"I..." I begin, but then pause, wondering if choosing the Sovereigns really is the better choice. The options seem so uneven, and there’s so much I don’t know.
But then I remember Gael’s words about the Sovereigns: they are neither monsters nor saviors.
If they were monsters, he would have said so.
And he confirmed Denise was happy, and he, unlike everyone else, had no reason to lie as he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
"I have made a choice,” I say loudly. “I accept servitude to the Ascendant Alliance’s Sovereign Directors as my punishment. "
The gallery erupts, some calling it too lenient, others satisfied that the human terrorist will spend seven years as property.
In the supreme box, Jin Kol's satisfaction is evident. He got his show trial and a precedent-setting sentence. He had explained to me, with his fucked-up logic, that by putting me on trial as an equal, he’s setting the standard for free humans as not quite equal but not as dumb as pets either.
"So noted," the Chief Arbiter says."Eve Eden, you are hereby stripped of all personal rights and remanded to the custody of Sovereign Director Rafe and Shadow Sovereign Lorian for a period of seven standard years, during which time you will have supervised annual conjugal and physical punishment reviews.
You will be marked as property on your person.
You will no longer have an identity beyond what your owners see fit. Bailiff, process the transfer."
The sphere releases me so suddenly I nearly fall.
My legs, numb from the cold, buckle beneath me, but before I hit the floor, hands catch me, not the bailiff's, but Rafe's familiar loving hands.
We make eye contact, and I expect to find him so angry with me, but instead I only see concern, and it gives me strength.
"Processing requires removal of your translator, tattooing of ownership seals, and a pet's collar," the bailiff says, producing a standard detention band.
"She's not getting that one," Lorian says. "We'll use our own. She’s not just some stray asteroid pet out of Gala Station."
He pulls out an elegant black collar with subtle silver threading, but what it says is heart breaking, 'Property of the Sovereigns of the Ascendant Alliance.' It's beautiful, and it's horrible, and it's mine.
The bailiff takes it and gestures for me to kneel.
I try, but my legs won't cooperate. This is all too much for me, and I can’t move.
"I've got you," Rafe says, and helps me get to my knees. "Just bend. Don't dwell on the details of this.”
Lorian kneels alongside me, bringing himself to my level, and makes eye contact with me as the bailiff fastens the collar around my throat. The click of the lock engaging echoes through the courtroom, and I feel like it’s a sound I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
"There," Lorian says softly. "Now you're safe with us."
"Not so fast," the court Imperial doctor says, carrying a medical kit that looks like it's straight out of a sci-fi horror film.
"Her translator must be removed. And the ownership marks must be applied.
Human pets aren't allowed translators, and all criminal pets must be visibly marked by their owners as they can’t be resold. "
"Wait," Lorian says sharply, stepping between me and the approaching doctor. "We have the right to speak to our property before you remove her translator."
The Chief Arbiter's voice carries a warning. "She is not exactly your property yet, Sovereign Lorian."
"One moment," Rafe insists. "Please, Chief Arbiter."
The Chief Arbiter makes a sound of disgust but allows the request with the motion of one of his tentacles.
Lorian's hands frame my face, forcing me to look at him. "Listen carefully, in a few minutes, everything we say will become incomprehensible to you.” His grey thumb traces my lower lip. "It’s going to be frightening, but remember that you will be kept safe."
"And loved," Rafe adds fiercely, pressing his forehead to mine. "When the silence comes, when you can't make yourself understood, you must trust us."
My eyes fill with tears. Being seen. Being understood.
Being loved. It's all I've ever wanted. But not like this.
Not naked with a collar. But this is what fate has brought me.
And suddenly I think of Pythia on that bus that morning so many months ago.
And I want to cry. Was she right? Am I on the darker side of the fate I should have had?
Maybe had I not gotten off that bus, I would have come to work for them in five years time, and our lives would have been completely different.
But now, have I ruined things by pushing fate and coming too early?
Or, I hear Sister Agnes’ voice in my head. ‘Everything is as God intended it to be.’
I close my eyes and let her memory ground me.
I am strong.
I have always been strong and I will be strong now.
This is my fate and I will accept it like this without regret.
The Chief Arbiter's patience cracks. "Sovereigns Rafe and Lorian, you presume too much. Let the doctor do his job. Move away."
But Lorian pulls me against him, his mouth finding my ear and sending a familiar shiver down my body. "We'll communicate through touch."
"Step back," the Chief Arbiter commands. "Now! Or she will be sent to serve forced labor."
Lorian kisses me hard on the lips, desperate, pouring promises into it that need no translation. "Trust what makes you wet and wanting. That's our language now."
The bailiff yanks me away, forcing me to turn so I have my back to them. Then I watch with horror as the doctor approaches with his kit, setting it on a small table. It’s obvious that he enjoys his job. And the crowd leans forward, eager to witness the next humiliation.
"The ownership marks must be visible at all times," the doctor announces. "Where do the Sovereigns wish to place their seals on their human?"