Asteron

ASTERON

P hinade's knuckles are white against the tabletop as he leans against it. Outside the window of my flagship battle cruiser, the stars are bright.

Unlike my heart. The thing is simply a black hole. Empty, yawning, and dangerous in the extreme. I need my Ginny back or I can already feel it will stay this way.

I have never felt so empty, so driven, so desperate. Even after I lost my mother.

"Aren't you going to counsel me against going to war with the Habosu?" I say to Phinade.

"They took Ginny," he says, simply. "They deserve everything they get."

"Good." I grin at him, unclipping a pulsar weapon from my belt. "Then you'll be joining us in battle?"

I throw the thing to him. Phinade catches it, fumbling, ending up with the wrong end pointing towards him.

"Yes," he says with a determination I've not seen in him before. "Always, my king."

A silence descends, broken only by the hum of the engines as we track the path taken by the Habosu ships, the ones they tried to disguise, but Phinade was cleverer than them, easily finding a way of following their trail.

"You care for Ginny?" I break the silence.

"Because you do, ," Phinade says, using my name in a way he has never done before. "She lights you up. She makes you better in every way, as a ruler, as an employer, as a Xnosson bull. With her by your side, she will make the crown the force it needs to be on Xnos, take us away from the rule of your father." He sighs. "Who was only interested in having everyone fight everyone else because he thought it made the crown stronger in the midst of conflict."

I feel my chest swelling as I pull myself up to my full height, my horns scraping the ceiling of the ship.

"Then we will get her back, Phinade," I say.

"King ?" The comm on my belt barks to life.

"Yes, captain?"

"There is an incoming comm for you, ship to ship."

"The Habosu?"

"No, it is from another Xnosson vessel," the captain says.

I furrow my brow, looking over at Phinade, who shrugs.

"Put it through to my screen," I reply.

The screen on the wall flickers to life, and I see the not so welcome horns of Minoran.

"King ." He dips his head.

"What do you want, Minoran? I'm a little busy," I growl.

"I could say how careless it was for you to lose a mate," Minoran says as I snarl loudly. "But losing a mate is not something any Xnosson bull should have to go through."

My snarl cuts off with a snap.

"You lost a mate?"

"My Xlina." His eyes become soft. "The prettiest cow this side of Mazos." His voice hardens. "I blamed your father for a long time because I was away fighting another clan at his behest when I should have been by her side during her birthing. But I see I was the one to blame. I let him manipulate me, not only then, but in the way I have interacted with you, ."

"I'm very pleased for you," I reply. "But I have other matters to attend to. The Habosu have my queen and I am going to get her back."

"Then I would be honored if you'd accept the assistance of my clan and our battle cruisers," Minoran says.

I stare at him until Phinade nudges my arm.

"You want to assist me?"

"It's about time Xnos was seen as a force to be reckoned with, rather than a resource to exploit," Minoran says. "I wish I'd seen it sooner."

"Maybe because that's what my father saw," I reply. "But I see differently."

"Then Clan Roaan is with you, my king." Minoran gives me a bow. "As are the other clans."

"Sire." Phinade signals me. "We have gained another twenty ships to the fleet."

I look back at Minoran who is grinning wildly. "I look forward to battling with you, my king. Your queen is a credit to you and her species, and she will be avenged."

"To battle, and to glory for Xnos." I respond with the saying which has been part of my standard since the dawn of the planet. "And death to anything who has touched my wife."