Conduit - M J Marlow (best short books to read txt) 📗

The wall on my cubicle opened and he beckoned to me. I knew if I did not come, he would drag me out; and I had no desire to feel his touch again. I sank down on a boulder near the pool and took the goblet he handed to me. I took a sip and then another. It tasted quite pleasant and I was relieved to find that it was not drugged. He took the goblet from me and pulled me to him. I refused to let him have me. I would die before I would allow him to take from me what was meant only for my mates. He shoved me back into my cage and looked in at me. “You are still only a fledgling,” the Emperor hissed softly as I drifted off. He cupped my chin in his tentacle and looked into my eyes. “You are missing your people.” “I would be lying to you if I said no,” I told him honestly, my voice filled with pain. “It is not the way of this world to accept slavery as a lifestyle.” “Then I shall have to teach it to them, won’t I?” The Emperor said as he opened the wall and reached in to stroke my hair. I pulled away from him, shaking my head. “You make such an adorable pet. I would not have you sad, but I will not let you go.” His tentacle moved under my chin and he raised my eyes to his. “How can I make this happen?” “Stop your plans of conquest,” I told him bluntly, “and I will give myself to you completely and permanently.” “You would sacrifice your own happiness,” the Emperor asked, stunned; “to keep other races from my chains?” He touched the tip of his tentacle to my lips and I shuddered in horror. “You are a strange creature, my pet.” He seemed to think it over and he shook his head, a sad look on his face. “I am sorry, little bird, but I cannot be other than I am. I will always need to conquer and enslave. So I shall just have to be content with having you in a cage, controlling that part of yourself you cannot keep from me.” “I will fight you!” “We begin the conquest of this world,” the Emperor said over the intercom. He turned to look at me. “And of stubborn pets.” * Ashad was at the controls when the first wave of vessels moved in around the planet. He knew who they were. He had been expecting this move. He contacted Wainwright and the defenses went up. The Emperor’s face appeared on his screens and Ashad saw me standing among the Emperor’s harem. His fist clenched in anger but he calmed. He knew I was not mind-chained. He could feel my touch, hesitant and afraid; and he sent back love and understanding, joined by the young ones. He saw a smile on my face then and knew I understood. “Your world now falls under the jurisdiction of the Vyrashtu Alliance,” the Emperor said in his hateful voice. “You will call a conclave of your world leaders to discuss our rule.” The screen shimmered and Ashad knew he was receiving a private message. The Emperor pulled me forward, his tentacle stroking my cheek. “Your little one will warm my bed, Prince of the Sylenni. She pleases me and I have decided to add her to my wives.” His eyes narrowed. “Allow this, and I will not hunt you and your brothers and your young down. You will be free.” Ashad watched as I moaned and fell to my knees. “You can see she prefers it that way.” He pushed me back. “If you come, you will be the dish at our wedding feast.” “She is ours, Emperor of the Vyrashtu!” Ashad spat. “She will never belong to you as more than a drugged bed mate. What is truly Dulcinea belongs ever and always to us! We come for her!” “Then prepare yourselves to be served at our wedding, bird prince!” Ashad closed the channel and slammed his fist into the panel. The thought of me in that monster’s bed awoke a rage in him he had never experienced in his life. He had known he felt affection for me, but this was more. I was as much a part of him as his own heart. He would kill to free me from that monster. But he would not risk the young. He contacted his brothers and they agreed with him. The Emperor was on the Earth now and they were headed back that way. They would find a way to end him and free me. He felt my mind in his pleading for him to consider their young. I would sacrifice myself if it kept their children safe and well. He assured me he would never let the young come to harm, but he would not let me go; none of them would let me go. “That girl is very brave,” Wainwright said as he entered the control room. “Perhaps you should listen to her and give in.” “Would you if it was your choice?” “I would crawl into his throne room on my hands and knees as I bled to death and rip out his throat,” Wainwright replied. “Then you know how we feel,” Ashad replied tightly. “You are a good man, Wainwright. If I asked it of you, would you promise to keep our young safe and well?” “Isn’t that what she wants you to do?” “I cannot remain here knowing she is within reach, Wainwright,” Ashad told him bluntly. “It is ripping me apart knowing that monster is abusing a child who is supposed to be under my protection and I can do nothing to prevent it.” “Understood,” Wainwright nodded. “We have set up the cells as you instructed. They have been fully supplied with anti-venom and sedation darts. Once we know where this conclave is set, we will go there in force.” He laid his hand on Ashad’s arm. “Our first priority is to get Dulcie away from him.” “No,” Ashad shook his head. “Your first priority is to murder that monster. We will get Dulcie away from him only if he is no more.” He sighed. “As long as she believes he will not harm us, she will stay with him.” “You really need to talk to her about this habit of hers to sacrifice her own happiness for everyone else, Ashad,” Wainwright frowned. “We adore her for it, but I don’t think any of us would not more willingly die to see her free.” He looked over at the young, who ranged in size and appearance from seventeen year old children to young adults. “Your sons need her.” “They’ve told her so,” Ashad smiled as he felt his children comforting him. “Let us hope we can bring her to them soon.” * I woke up and slipped out of bed to go to the pool. I slipped into the heated water and sighed in pleasure. This was something that was my own here and I clung to it jealously. I came out of the water and heard him stir. He rose from his sleeping place at the bottom of the pool and rose so he could admire my body; I could feel the pleasure he took in the way the water made my skin glisten. If I were any other female, I would be lapping up his regard hungrily. He kept me as his favorite. I had still to be relegated to his harem quarters. I drew on the drying robe and moved to the view port to look down on my home world, my movements accompanied by the gentle music of the bells I wore on my wrists, ankles, and hips. I heard him rise and a moment later, he was standing behind me, his tentacles cupping my breasts. He pulled me back against his body and I closed my eyes as he caressed me. “It is a beautiful world,” the Emperor said as he enjoyed the sight of his newest conquest. “Will they accept my rule, little bird?” “Some will,” I told him honestly as my mind scanned the Earth for him. “But there are many who will fight you.” I did not plead with him to leave my planet alone. It would do no good. “There will be pain and blood; and it will be on both sides.” “My kind are used to struggle,” the Emperor shrugged. He lowered his lips to my shoulder and I moved away from him. “You won’t be able to fight me much longer, my pretty bird,” he said as he pressed me against the bulkhead. “Your mating urge will awaken soon and I will be the only male within reach.” “I will not let this happen!” I sobbed and tried to move away. He let me go and returned to the water. I looked out at the Earth spinning below us and an image flooded into my mind. “I am afraid for you, Emperor,” I told him plainly. “I fear you will find your death here.” I looked over at him and he was gone. “You could have been so much more.” I turned and looked down at the Earth spinning slowly below the space ship. I cried then, knowing my premonition was much more than just an uneasy feeling. I did not know what would happen to the Vyrashtu if the Emperor died. They would probably erupt into civil war without him and that would give the enslaved worlds their chance to win back their freedom. I could rejoice in that, but even the death of a tyrant was one death too many for my tender heart to bear. I returned to the cage and fell asleep to the sound of his pleased trills. When I woke up in the morning, I knew he was gone. I sat up and frowned as I heard the rattle of chain. I looked behind me and found that he had chained me to the ring behind the boulder. “The Emperor wishes you kept secured,” the Dyhazri guard at the door said as I found the chain long enough to reach and I questioned him. He ran his eyes along my body and I felt his lust. “I do not blame him.” I shut the door in his face and tried to break the collar. It would not budge. I tried to break the chain and it would not part. I sank down on the deck, frowning. How could he do this? I went to the view port and watched the fleet move in, leaving only the flagship I was on and two escort ships behind. I reached out to his mind and he would not listen. I could feel his hunger for yet another world to conquer and it was stronger than his bond to me. I sank down on my knees and pressed my cheek and hands against the view port, sobbing. “No, Emperor,” I whimpered. “You can’t!” I watched as his ships landed and he stepped up to a podium in a room full of the world leaders. He spoke for a few moments and many of the minds there welcomed his speech. But then red blossomed from his throat and his eye as two shots rang out. He fell with his mind still congratulating itself on its triumph. I screamed and beat on the plexi-steel. The guard came running and saw me wailing like an animal in pain. “The Emperor is dead!” he informed me. “You are to be meat at his funeral.” The guard freed me from the collar and drew his knife. He looked at me with regret but he had been given his orders. If the Emperor died, then the Sylenni fledgling was to be the meat for his funeral feast. He looked down into my grief and pain