4. CHAPTER 4

That damn sunlight blasted my eyes, but damn, was it beautiful. I loved days like this; the weather wasn't too hot or too cool, and the waves of the ocean crashed against the misshapen rocks spraying in my face.

With the skies as clear as they were at this moment, I could look up and see the moons of Ederis and Asar, a constant fixture, the brothers and sisters of our home world.

"Infinite in the mysterious Goddess is the gifts of our kind. May her hand guide your sword to find the heart…"

I wanted nor needed to hear more.

"Act forty-seven and section three of Heart Seeker," I replied, not understanding why he needed to quote that verse to me. Everyone in the military had to study Heart Seeker backward and forth; it was over three thousand pages of text on combat styles and some battle prayers to Feri, the Goddess of War.

The man who felt the need to disturb my peace was Zantos, my would-be rival, and my brother. I turned to him for the first time since I sensed his presence. He was always doing this, sneaking up on me, trying to take me by surprise. I kept my back to him for as long as I could, making him think he had gotten the drop on me, but lately, his vibe carried a more sinister weight, and I was in no mood for his games. He placed the tablet on the rocks and pulled a long sword from his hip. A fancy-looking smooth thing adorned with his favorite-colored jewels.

"What did I tell you about going into battle with hooping earrings?" I asked, looking at the large hoops he had attached from the lobe and traveling up the long shell-like appendage.

"I'm not your child. I'm capable of protecting myself no matter what I wear."

"We'll see about that," I said as he charged for me, sword in hand, and I dodged his first attack before delivering a swift kick to the back of his knee, then another to his neck, and taking one of his hooping earrings just before he hit the ground.

"ARGH!" He screamed, holding his bloody ear. "BASTARD!"

"Seems like you can't protect yourself while wearing anything you want."

He charged for me again, swinging his sword with a mighty swipe. He was angry and sloppy now, and it was almost sad to see, but he's an adult. It wasn't my problem to solve his problem, though a part of me could guess what his problem was.

He nicked my chest armor before swinging in with a hidden short blade, a trick I taught him years ago.

Our hulk of a brother, Xil, rushed in armor half-removed to stop our brawl. He must have been ploughing an Omega wench when he heard us going at it.

There are two things I can count on my brother for: ploughing Omegas to produce as many bastards as possible and wanting some harmony among his siblings, even if one was of a lesser branch.

"That's enough!" Xil yelled as he swung his jagged sword until it clashed with Zantos'. I had no weapon on me, and I sat my long pike to the side to enjoy the scenery. The one time I get a little peace from protecting the realm ends in this.

"Get the hell out of my way!" Zantos stood his ground before dropping his sword and tried to deliver a swift knee to his belly, which he blocked and grabbed, holding him in place, his long black and white striped hair swaying and covering his long features. Zantos was always the most beautiful man among our siblings and, hell, probably among our species. He wore a small set of sharp polished bones above his brows, giving him a more sinister appearance, and the black makeup on his lips and eyes contrasted well with his pale flesh. He knew how to amplify his beauty.

"Go on, let him go." I laughed. "Let him try to prove himself."

"You know damn well there is nothing for him to prove." Xil spat, still keeping him back.

"Xil, let me go!" Zantos shouted in his unrelenting effort to make me pay for whatever crime he felt I had committed.

"Calm yourself, Zantos!"

"Yes, calm yourself, Zantos; it's not my fault you're shooting blanks," I smirked, knowing this was a sensitive topic. I did not understand what had set him off to attack me, but I might as well give him a reason.

"Argh! Let me at him!"

"He's just trying to get a rise out of you." Xil turned to face me once he had settled down. "You should be ashamed of yourself; you know what a sensitive subject that is."

"I've taught him everything he knows, including maintaining a level head in the face of verbal attacks. If he has forgotten his lessons, he deserves every ounce of hurt he's feeling. Besides, he attacked me while I was minding my business."

"Are you okay, Zantos?" Of course, Xil would baby him.

I waved my hand dismissively. "Oh, stop coddling him. He picked a fight he couldn't handle, it happens to the best of us."

"We should save our energy for the rebels. Daruuk already patrols our borders."

"Tell that to your brother," I folded my arms. "Or are you such a beta that you can't stand to put him in his place?"

"Nobody puts me in my place, slaat worm!" He stopped pushing against Xil with any force; it was no use. The man was broader than both of us combined; he was just making a fool of himself at this point. "Did you hear, brother? Father is thinking of naming Lorvian one of his heirs."

"What?! When did you hear that news?"

"So, the old man is wise after all." I laughed. However, this turn of events intrigued me. I was one of forty children altogether, and I was from the lesser branch of the family tree, meaning my Damma was a low-ranking omega, some bed wench more so than a mate. And they hardly meant to select me as a possible heir. The only crown heirs were the four children born to his first and second mates. They meant the rest of us to be civil servants or military men and women. They expected nothing much of me as I was the lowest of the low, but I had found my purpose in military service.

"This is no laughing matter! You will go to him and turn him down!" Zantos said, spitting fire.

"And if I don't." I stepped to him, ready to take them both down if I had to. "What would you do?"

"Don't be irrational! No one will accept you as a King!" Xil sneered.

"Ho ho ho, so our levelheaded "let's all get along" brother, the "I accept you no matter what" brother has finally shown his true colors."

"Can it! This goes beyond us siblings getting along. This is just pure madness."

"Well first of all, I don't understand why Zantos is pissed, he should know a sireless man could never be chosen as a ruler, we have too much to lose, which makes this more of a problem between you and me. After all, your mother was his first wife, his queen which makes you and your first siblings more in the running than me." I could sense him seething underneath that calm and collected fa?ade. "So why would he choose the lowest of the low over all of you?"

"I doubt he chose you over all of us. You are merely in the running."

"Which means he is out of options with his first children."

"Get the hell out of our sight, brother." Xil spat the word brother with venom.

"With pleasure, the more I'm away from all of you, the more at peace I feel, anyway."

I headed to the station where my transport shuttle awaited with a smile, but I couldn't rid myself of it if I tried. Father had chosen me to be his heir, of course, it meant I had to compete with his four first children who were chosen at birth, but I was in the running and that was enough.

Swarti, my second in command, was smaller than the rest of us, who, among the fifty-one types of aliens sharing this sector, we were known for our height and our spotted flesh and long shell-like cartilage on our ears, which we sometimes decorated with gems and gold for festive occasions. However, there was a small movement of women and comely men who had taken to wearing these gems adorned to their weaponry and bodies during the battle, a habit that even my half-brother had taken up, which is why it brought me great pleasure to rip that thing from his ear taking a piece of his flesh with it.

"Sir." Swarti saluted. "Daruuk is leading his forces to the south."

"When will he ever learn?" I scoffed and took my place on my throne at the ship"s helm. Daruuk was a Travol, an alien species we discovered only one hundred years ago. Like us, they were long-lived and hearty folk who had yet to achieve space travel beyond sending their wildlife up in tubes as live test subjects. Like the others, we made them submit to the hegemony.

"I don't think he will ever learn, sir," Swarti replied in his usual monotone tone. "Daruuk isn't the type to submit; he used to be royalty and ruling over others rather than being ruled." He explained. "And also, you killed his brother last year."

"Oh yeah!" I had to think about that for a moment. "I killed his brother." A chuckle escaped my lips. I couldn't believe I had forgotten.

"Yes, you hanged him, if I recall."

"Ah, yes," I said, recalling the event. "He was the mouthy one. He wasn't so mouthy when he saw that noose, though." I slapped my knee.

"I believe you also still have his sister in your harem."

"Ah, now that part you have wrong. She was thrown into Xil's harem. But she now works for me. She was too damn bright to spend her life sucking my brother's cock."

We were approaching the large giant gas planet with swirling purple and blue gasses and massive pink rings swirling around the planet. One of its one hundred moons was not too far away, a small thing tucked away within the rings and barely visible until you were several miles from it.

We know the moon as Qzai, a breathable jungle moon teeming with life. Regis, one of my siblings, placed a small colony there, though I couldn't recall why he did it or for what reason. But if Daruuk were heading there, I would at least check it out.

"Why would he come here? It's just a small colony."

"It's a slave colony, sir," Swarti replied, surprised I didn't know.

"Slave colony? What for?" I asked, confused. "I thought we abolished slavery a few years back."

"You can't expect everyone to follow that rule." Swarti spat, though he tried to disguise the sudden change in tone.

"When it's a decree given by the King, then yes, I can expect everyone to follow it." I sighed, in no mood to argue. "Send a few of our pilots to engage and ready a small stealth shuttle. I want to check out this slave colony.