Chapter 14
Rezor
Two cycles had passed since the storms ended, and I was losing her.
I could feel it every time Cleo smiled at me with that careful distance in her eyes, every time she made another excuse not to move into my chambers, every time she pulled away from conversations about the future.
The village treated the three sky people like honored guests—no, like royalty.
Everywhere they went, people bowed their heads in respect.
Children followed Mierva through the markets, asking her for more stories about life among the stars.
Baleck spent his mornings teaching our warriors new communication techniques, hand signals that could be used silently across distances.
And Cleo… Cleo divided her time between the tech chambers and avoiding me.
The council celebrated our bond publicly.
They’d made it clear they expected her to move into my private quarters, to formally accept her place as my mate.
But Cleo always had a reason why not yet.
The repairs weren’t finished. Baleck and Mierva needed her in the guest quarters.
She wanted to wait until the power systems were fully stabilized.
Excuses. All of them excuses.
I stood at the window of my chambers, watching the afternoon sun—still strange and wonderful after so many cycles of gray—paint everything gold. Our crops were already responding to the natural light and rain. The forest sectors showed new growth. Everything was thriving.
Everything except us.
A knock interrupted my brooding. “Enter.”
Zelana swept in, her expression grave. “Lord Rezor. The council is assembled, as you requested.”
I turned from the window. “Thank you. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Rezor.” She paused at the door. “Consider carefully what you ask of them. The prophecy—”
“I know what the prophecy says.” My voice came out harsher than I’d intended. “But I also know what keeping them here against their will would mean.”
She studied me for a long moment. “Sometimes the hardest choices are the right ones.”
After she left, I stood there gathering my thoughts. I’d called this council meeting to inform you that I am sending a party to contact Vikkat’s stronghold. To open communication, to let Cleo and her companions reach their people.
To let her leave, if that’s what she chose.
My marks pulsed with pain at the thought. Every instinct I had screamed against it. She was mine. My mate. The marks had claimed her, and she’d accepted me into her body again and again. But I could feel her slipping away, and holding her here by force would only push her further.
The council chamber was filled when I arrived. All twelve members sat in their traditional places, with Zelana at the head as high seer. I could already see resistance in their faces.
“I don’t understand,” Torak said without preamble. “Why bother with Vikkat? The three from the sky are clan now.”
“They had lives, families, duties, before becoming stranded here.” My jaw was so tight, I felt like I was speaking through my teeth. “They want to contact their people. To let them know they’re alive and safe.”
“And risk losing them?” another council member, Dira, challenged. “Risk losing the knowledge they bring? The prophecy clearly states—”
“I know what the prophecy states.” I forced my voice to remain level. “But they are not prisoners. They cannot be clan if they don’t choose to be.”
“They have chosen,” Zelana said quietly. “Cleo shares your bed. That is choice.”
“Sharing my bed is not the same as choosing to stay forever.”
All the faces before me looked aghast. “It is to our people. The mate bond is for life.”
“It is not to her people.” The words tasted bitter. “I want to send a tracking party to Vikkat’s territory. To open communication. To give them the option to reach their crew.”
The chamber erupted.
“Absolutely not!”
“We cannot risk losing them!”
“The prophecy—”
“Enough!” My command silenced them. “Cleo’s technical knowledge is invaluable, yes. She’s the only one who fully understands our systems. But she’s been teaching Venith and the other engineers. That knowledge won’t be lost.”
“And Mierva?” Torak asked. “Her teaching about the Destrans, about life beyond this world? That has value we cannot measure.”
“Mierva is a historian,” I agreed. “She’s been documenting our culture, our technology, our way of life. That work is important. But it cannot come at the cost of her freedom. She has a mate who undoubtedly worries for her safety.”
“And Baleck?” Dira pressed. “His communication methods have already improved our guard efficiency. His language skills—”
“Are exceptional,” I finished. “I know. All three of them bring gifts we lacked before. But if we keep them here against their will, we become no better than captors. We become the very thing we’ve always fought against.”
Zelana raised her hand for silence. “The prophecy speaks of renewal. Of three who fall from the sky, bringing salvation. The storms have ended because of them. Because they are here, on this planet with us. If they leave, the storms may return.”
“We don’t know that,” I snapped. “We’re assuming correlation, but—”
“The prophecy has never been wrong,” she said firmly. “Not in all the generations since it was first spoken. The sky people must stay. For the good of everyone.”
I looked around the chamber, seeing the same conviction in every face. They believed it absolutely. Stars. Maybe they were right. Maybe keeping the sky people here was what saved us all.
But I couldn’t shake the image of Cleo’s face when she’d begged me to let them contact their crew. The desperation in her voice when she’d said, “I deserve a choice.”
“I’m asking the council to consider—”
“No.” Torak stood. “With respect, Lord Rezor, we cannot risk it. The sky people stay. That is final.”
One by one, the others voiced their agreement. Even those who’d questioned my original decision not to exile the sky people, stood firm on this. The vote was unanimous.
I’d lost before I’d even begun.
“This meeting is concluded,” I said, my voice hollow.
As I left the chamber, Zelana caught my arm.
“You love her,” she said quietly. “I can see it in the way your marks blaze for her. I believe she loves you, too. It’s in her gaze whenever it falls on you.
She will learn that sometimes love means making the hard choice.
Give her time, Rezor. She will see that staying will keep her safe. It will keep all of us safe.”
“And if time does not ease her mind?” I asked. “If her love turns to hate?”
“That female cannot hate you.” Her expression was gentle but implacable. “She may be angry, but eventually she’ll understand.”
I was not so sure about that, and Zelana’s analysis sounded more self-serving than like sound advice.
I shook my head and walked away, through the village toward the guest quarters, dreading this conversation.
How did I tell them the council had refused?
How did I tell Cleo that her desperate hope to reach her crew had been denied?
How did I watch her light dim further?
I was halfway there when a guard ran up to me, his eyes flashing black. “Lord Rezor. Convoy approaching from the northern tunnel. Multiple vehicles. Vikkat’s warriors and…others.”
My blood went cold. “Others?”
“Strangers. We don’t know who they are.” He was breathing hard from his run. “The guards at the tunnel sent word. They’re requesting to enter the valley.”
For a moment, I couldn’t move. Vikkat was here. Now. Before I’d had a chance to tell Cleo about the council’s decision. Before I’d had time to think about what this meant.
“How many?” I asked, already moving toward the northern passage.
“At least two dozen. Maybe more.”
An invasion force. It had to be. Vikkat had never approached with more than a handful of guards for the occasional meeting. This was something else entirely.
“Deploy the warriors,” I ordered. “Full defensive positions. But no one attacks unless I give the command.”
I ran. Through the village, past surprised citizens, toward the mountain passage that separated our valley from the outside world. Two guards fell in beside me as I moved, forming a protective unit without needing orders.
It was not a short distance, but when we reached the tunnel’s exit, I could see them. The convoy had stopped just outside the boundary of our territory, close enough to be visible but far enough to avoid direct provocation.
The vehicles were Vikkat’s crawlers—armored transports designed to navigate and withstand the storms. But beside them stood a group I’d never seen before. Destrans—easy to identify by their build and coloring. And humans.
My heart stopped.
There, at the front of the group, stood a human female with hair the color of sunlight.
She was small compared to the Destran male beside her, but her posture radiated determination and barely contained fury.
The tall Destran beside her had to be her mate, based on the protective way his body angled toward her.
And behind them, the mix of everyone else.
My chest contracted. This was no invasion force. This was a rescue party. Cleo’s crew had come for her. Of course, they had.
My guards moved into defensive positions, weapons ready but not drawn. I moved forward, aware of every eye on me, and studied the group carefully.
The human female locked eyes with me, and I saw the same fierce protectiveness there that I felt for Cleo. This was someone who would fight to the death for the people she loved.
This was likely Zara, Cleo’s close friend.
“I am Rezor,” I said, my voice carrying across the distance.
“These lands are mine. The three who fell from the sky are under my protection.” My gaze moved from the human to the Destrans, and finally settled on Vikkat, who I recognized by the emblem burned into a medallion that hung from around his neck.
“I thank you for ending the weather corruption. My scouts report towers have gone silent across all territories.”