Chapter 30

Ellax

" C ome, come, Ellax, no need to resort to threats."

Jorta, the peacemaker of the group, held up both hands in a soothing gesture. "I am certain Sirena referred to your human wife's lack of knowledge on Asterion affairs."

I made no reply. I did not need to. My stare held Sirena's. I would not look away first. She knew I meant what I'd said. My wife, human or not, married in a bout of drunken foolishness or not, was my wife. I would not suffer insults towards her. Especially not from the youngest member of Council. Sirena was bright and ambitious—I would give her that. Two factors that could work in her favor, should she learn to wield them wisely. Insulting my wife was far from a wise use of her position.

She must have realized her mistake, for she finally dropped her eyes and her head, mumbling, "My apologies. I meant no offense."

I did not consider her repentant at all, but this was not the time for warfare. Larger issues were at stake.

Since I had cowed her, I allowed my gaze to turn from her to the remainder of Council. I was not utterly surprised by what I'd heard. Grignus and Sirena had been whispering for months of an all-out raid against the wild humans. Rebuilding on Earth, specifically in Asterion's colony, advanced too slowly for their taste. I knew they had been in communication with other councils and ruling bodies in the Coalition. I was well aware neither of them possessed the temperament for the long, slow game of rebuilding a decimated planet and making it useful. Nevertheless, they had not been to Earth as I had. They'd not seen how barren and inhospitable the planet was, compared to our own Asterion. I supposed I couldn't fault them for seeking a faster solution. I simply wondered how they'd managed to finagle my fellow Council members into agreeing with them behind my back.

Returning to the topic at hand, I glanced around the circle of my peers, meeting each member's eyes. I left my hand boldly on my wife's thigh, a silent reminder that none of this was about her. She was mine, and here to stay. No, we would discuss this matter about my role as a Lead Advisor without placing her in the equation.

"You are all in agreement, then," I said. "None of the information we have been presented in the past concerning the adverse working conditions on Earth has dissuaded you. You truly see wiping out the wild humans as the best solution?"

"We do," Grignus nodded slowly. Almost reluctantly. "We know the other factors on Earth. Our consensus is, given all of those adverse factors, why not remove one difficulty and exterminate the outliers? That is one less problem to contend with."

The idea of removing the wild humans was not as unpalatable to me as it was to my wife. They were not my species, and I could see the wisdom in what my fellow members were saying. I was not certain that I agreed—but I understood their point of view.

"How do my wife and I figure into this?" I questioned carefully, wanting to know every facet of their scheme before I agreed.

Grignus allowed a smile, thinking that he had won me over. He hadn't. Not yet.

"Your union will stand as a testament to the compliant members of the species," he explained. "To not only Asterion's colony, but across the entire Earth. After all, she is wed to an Asterion Council member and a Lead Advisor of the mighty Interstellar Coalition. If she can do that—" He pointed directly at Lorelai as if she'd won a tremendous prize. "—Imagine what other humans are capable of doing. Imagine to what heights they might rise when they comply with their Overlords."

"And the matter will be sealed tightly if you produce a child together," Jorta reminded us gently, her smile genuine. "How brilliantly your star will shine."

Lorelai had risen to her station due to a night of unsated lust and too much lyven. I did not say this aloud. I could understand the brilliance of this scheme. I could understand why my peers hadn't wished Lorelai and I to dissolve our union. There was little truth in the symbol they wished us to erect. The Overlords had no interest in permitting humans to rise to power. However, the humans did not know that. Lorelai could stand as a beacon of hope. False hope, certainly, but hope. Sometimes, that is all any species needed.

"So, you think our marriage is somehow supposed to soften the blow that you're going to deal out by slaughtering the non- compliant humans?" Lorelai demanded fiercely. "Us having a baby together is supposed to make them feel better, knowing if they don't choose to comply, they could be butchered next? You believe our half-human, half-Asterion baby will make the human females back home feel better about being forced into the breeder's program?"

Lorelai's tone was less than happy, less than compliant.

"It is a twofold approach," Ursis explained carefully. "On the one hand, we deal out swift punishment to the rebels. On the other, we hold out the most glorious hope to the compliant."

"And that's how you tyrannize a planet," my wife muttered under her breath.

I shot her a look. Not necessarily of warning. I did not care if she spoke her mind. What could the other Council members do about it? Nothing. Nevertheless, I needed to think, to mull this over. It was a great deal of information to absorb. Quarreling was not in the best interests of anyone, including myself.

"There would have been no need to tyrannize humans, if humans had not been so determined to tyrannize each other and their own planet that they brought destruction upon themselves," Sirena spat. Her tone was vicious. Lorelai did not know Sirena's past, or her abject hatred of the human species.

"Then we deserve to be murdered because of the mistakes in our past? That's a great answer," Lorelai responded coldly.

"Is it murder to slaughter cattle or dorksha or to cut up and cook a fish for food?" Grignus laughed.

Lorelai's gaze swung his way. Fire flashed in her blue eyes. She had been a diplomat's wife once, but I doubt she had ever heard her species demeaned in this manner. I had. In the past, I'd even indulged in such talk, believing humans were far beneath us. And then, I'd visited my son and witnessed his love for his very human wife. I had taken a human wife, albeit drunkenly. And, for the first time in my years, I heard the way we were speaking of Earth and humans, and it sounded…cruel. Harsh. Evil, even.

Shame stole into my senses, an emotion I was unfamiliar with.

I had much to consider, as did Lorelai. Also, we both needed rest. There had been enough changes in our lives during the past few days to make anyone's head spin.

Rising, I caught my wife's hand and drew her to her feet.

"I will consider your proposal," I said. "For now, my wife and I wish to retire. The journey has been…adventurous, to say the least." Let them make of that what they would. "After rest and time to consider, I will give you my answer."

"There is one answer to be given," Grignus chuckled, rising as well. "The Council is in agreement."

"True. But I am the Lead Advisor," I reminded him sternly, pinning him with a look. A look that said, Remember your place. Do not challenge me.

It was enough. No further words were spoken except quiet farewells as I escorted my new wife from the meeting hall and into one of the transports that awaited without, kept there for the Council members' use. My head was nearly reeling with the schemes and their implications. If I felt so undone, how must Lorelai feel?

Nor were the day's activities over yet, despite what I had inferred to the Council. There still remained the matter of sealing our pact. Despite what my peers were attempting to force on us, I had given Lorelai my word. I did not intend to go back on it. If she gave me the child I sought, I would one day set her free. She had a right to know I would keep my promises to her.