“So it could. Yes, I see.” Tazaxx nodded. “Very well. I’ll be pleased to send you the ashes—for a nominal fee of course.”
“Of course.” Sarden’s deep voice was wooden.
“And do you wish to see any other females?” Tazaxx inquired, raising one mud-eyebrow.
“No, I…no.” Sarden coughed. “Just the one. The little Thonilan.”
“Yes, indeed. I tell you what—since I couldn’t satisfy your other offer, I’ll give her to you for a mere ninety-nine thousand.” Tazaxx nodded genially, as if he was being generous.
“Yes, all right. Ninety-nine is all right,” Sarden said in a low voice. “I…I really must be going now. If you could just have her delivered to my shuttle.”
“I’d be happy to. Come right this way.” Tazaxx tapped the wall beside the lighted room with Sellah’s body in it. To my surprise, it slid open smoothly, revealing another long, dark corridor. “It’s a shortcut,” Tazaxx explained when I looked at it in surprise. “An underground passageway from my display area back to the docking accommodations where your shuttle is parked. We can arrange for payment there since you’re in such a rush.”
“Of course. Thank you,” Sarden said mechanically. I was getting really worried about him—he seemed like he was barely holding it together. I squeezed his hand and looked up at him but he didn’t respond. Even with the smart-fabric mask on, I could tell his face was set like a stone.
He’s still numb, I thought as we followed Tazaxx through the short-cut corridor. It hasn’t really hit him yet, but it will. I intended to be there for him when it did. I felt so bad for him, seeing his sister like that! What a terrible, gruesome death. And she had died alone, isolated in that horrible cage with no one to help her bear the pain or hold her hand. Poor Sellah…
I squeezed Sarden’s hand harder and felt my eyes burning. My throat was tight and somehow I couldn’t seem to swallow the lump that had formed there.
“Here we are. I’ll just go get Floosh to see to the financial transaction and fetch your purchase,” Tazaxx remarked as we came out into the warehouse where Sarden’s small shuttle was parked. “I’ll return shortly.”
He left us alone, disappearing back through the door we had come from, and for a moment we just stood there.
“Sarden…” I said at last but he didn’t look at me. “Sarden.”
At last he turned his head.
“Yes?” he asked in a low, toneless voice. “What is it?”
“Sarden, please.” I stood on my tiptoes and put my arms around his neck, trying to bring him down to me, trying to ease his pain.
At first he didn’t seem to know what I was doing but then he bent down, letting me hug him even if he didn’t exactly hug me back.
“Sarden,” I said again, pressing my face to his neck. “Honey, I’m so sorry.”
He fell to his knees then, his arms wrapping around my midsection, his face pressed between my breasts. I put my arms around him tight—wishing I could take the pain for him. For a long moment, we stayed like that, with Sarden holding me silently. He didn’t cry but I could feel the ache of grief inside him—I swear I could.
“I failed her,” he said at last, his deep voice hoarse with agony. “She’s been gone a whole week. I should have come sooner. I should have found her before she got sick. I—”
“There was nothing you could have done,” I whispered. “You tried—you did everything you could.”
“No, I didn’t,” he said fiercely, pulling away. “I never should have left her in the first place—I should have fought for my place on the throne. But I told myself it wasn’t worth it—that the Eloim people wouldn’t want a half-breed ruling them. I left the responsibility and burden to Sellah and that idiot, Hurxx, who didn’t protect her. Who let her get taken…”
“I’m so sorry.” I felt tears running down my cheeks and couldn’t seem to stop them.
“Don’t be.” Sarden’s eyes glittered as he looked at me. He cupped my cheek in his palm. “I thank you for your tears, Zoe, because I cannot shed them myself.”
“Why not?” I asked, swiping at my eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“I can’t let myself grieve until I get vengeance.” He stood and looked down at me, his voice a low, menacing growl. “Vengeance on the pirates who took her in the first place…and on my fool of a cousin, Hurxx, who should have protected her and didn’t.”
“And Tazaxx?” I asked, knowing he was probably somewhere on that list.
Sarden nodded. “But not now—later when he’s least expecting it. After Grav has had time to take his ward to safety.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Grav rumbled. He hadn’t said a word this whole time but I could see the terrible compassion on his face. “There are no words for the pain you must feel,” he told Sarden. “I will help you take vengeance for Sellah’s death if you wish.”
“Thank you.” Sarden nodded formally. “I will take you up on that offer.”
“Here we are. I believe this is the female you purchased?” It was Floosh—or POC as I had been calling him in my head. He waddled in from the back door with Teeny in tow. Her eyes got wide when she saw Grav but she didn’t say a thing.
Sarden and Grav shot each other one last meaningful look but Sarden didn’t utter another word else except to thank POC for bringing the girl.
“If you would like to follow me to my Master’s back office, we can arrange for the payment,” POC said to him.
“Fine. I’ll come.” Sarden squared his shoulders. “My new acquisition will be safe with my Protector.”
“As you wish.” POC waddled towards the door on his tiny little feet and Sarden followed him.
“I’m coming too,” I said, hurrying to stay with him. As we left the vast, echoing room, I turned my head and saw Teeny rush into Grav’s arms.
“Grav! You came! You came for me!” she whispered breathlessly. He laughed and swung her around, looking happier and less scary than any time I could remember since I’d met him in the VIP lounge.
“Teeny! Didn’t I promise I would always come for you? Didn’t I swear it on my life?” He squeezed her very gently to his broad chest and she covered his rough face in kisses. She looked like a little girl greeting an adoring uncle—I couldn’t believe the big, tough Vorn (or Vorn half-breed? I still didn’t know what he was) had such a soft heart.
The sweet little reunion almost made me feel a little better. Then I looked at Sarden’s broad back and felt worse again. Poor guy! And he wasn’t even going to let himself grieve until he killed everyone responsible for Sellah’s death.
He could say that but I knew the truth—there’s no way to put off that kind of deep grief. When it comes knocking, you have to open the door because you can’t keep it out.
“Just a little further down,” POC was saying as he led us around another bend in the dark tunnel. “This is my master’s accounting area…”
We were heading for an open door at the end of the corridor and passing several others along the way which all appeared to be locked. They were dark and quiet and I wondered if they were back entrances to some of the “exhibits” we had seen. Then we passed one that was different—it had a window.
Sarden had his head down, looking at his feet as he walked. I could only imagine the effort it cost him to keep up this awful charade. I, however, was looking around and so the window caught my eye—and in it, the flash of a woman’s face. A golden eye…a flick of silky, black hair… Had I really seen that?
I couldn’t be sure. It was there and gone so quickly I thought I must have imagined it. I stopped for a moment and looked again but I didn’t see anything—just a lighted square in the metal door. Just my mind playing tricks on me.
“And here I am afraid you must come in alone,” POC said, breaking my concentration. He was gesturing to the open door and talking to Sarden. “Master Tazaxx does not allow anyone but his business partners into his inner accounting sanctum.”
Sarden frowned. “I won’t leave Zoe.”
“You must, I am afraid,” POC said. “I assure you she will be quite well. Or she can go back to your Protector to wait if you like—the way back is just down the corridor.”
“Yes, do that.” Sarden nodded at me. “Go back to Grav. Stay there until this is finished.”
“All right.” I nodded and watched as he and POC went into the lighted room and shut the door, leaving me in gloom.
I should have gone back down the hallway at once—I know I should have. But something made me go look in that window we had passed one more time and that was when I saw her.
Sellah was alive.
Part Four: Captured, Cloned, and Collared
Chapter Twenty-one
Zoe
I couldn’t believe it but there she was—the exact same girl I’d seen in Sarden’s crystal memory cube. Her smooth brown skin and large golden eyes, so like Sarden’s, were unmistakable. Those golden eyes widened when she saw me watching her and she made motions at me and said something I couldn’t hear.
“Hang on,” I told her in a low voice, which she probably couldn’t hear either. “I’m going to get you out of there.”
But how? I pulled on the door handle and it didn’t budge an inch—it was unmistakably locked.
I looked at the palm-pad just to the right of the door and wondered. Doubtless it was set to only open for Tazaxx. But then, the door on Gallana had been keyed only for someone with Majoran DNA and the Force-Locks I had opened before that were supposedly only useable by a Vorn.
Might as well give it a try.
Taking a deep breath, I pressed my hand to the pad and waited anxiously to see what would happen. At first my fingers were outlined in red and I was afraid it wasn’t going to work. Then, to my excitement, the red changed to green and I heard a soft but definite click from the locking mechanism inside the door.
Grabbing the handle before it could change its mind, I yanked it open and ran in to Sellah.
“Sellah!” I exclaimed, rushing to greet her. She was wearing manacles on her wrists and a cruel looking metal collar around her slender throat which was attached by a chain to the wall.
“Who are you?” she whispered, looking at me with wide eyes. “And what are you doing here? I thought…I thought I saw my big brother.”
“You did.” I couldn’t help myself, I put my arms around her and hugged her tight. I was just so glad to see she was alive!
Sellah hesitated for a moment, then hugged me back.
“Where is he?” she whispered in my ear. “You have to tell him to get out of here and you have to go too—you’re both in terrible danger.”
“We’re not going anywhere without you,” I told her, pulling back to look into her eyes. “You’re the reason we came in the first place. I’m Zoe, by the way.”
“Zo-ee?” She made my name sound exotic. “Are you my brother’s lover? Or his intended mate?”
“Oh, er…” Well this conversation was turning awkward fast. “Neither,” I said. “He abducted me to trade for you but then…well, it’s a long story. Let’s talk about you—we thought you were dead. Tazaxx showed us…” I shivered. “I don’t even want to say what he showed us.”
“He can take many shapes—different forms,” Sellah said in a low voice. “Please…” She looked at me urgently. “You have to go while you still can.”
“I told you—I’m not going without you,” I said firmly. “Now let’s have a look at this awful collar you’re wearing.”
I found the unlocking mechanism around the back of it.
“It’s no good,” Sellah said, sounding hopeless. “It’s keyed only to Tazaxx or the captain of his Gord guard. I don’t know what planet you hail from, but it’s clear you aren’t Gord.”
“I come from Earth,” I told her. “We’re a, uh, closed planet. Or we were, until recently.”
“You’re a Pure One?” Her eyes widened.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me, though Sister Mary Louise back at The Sisters of the Sacred Heart high school would probably disagree,” I said. “Okay…here.”
I had been trying to find a way to open the thick, metal collar around her neck. There seemed to be several buttons but none of them responded when I pressed them. Then, by accident, my fingertip slipped into the small, smooth place between the buttons and that was when the lock snapped open. I pulled the collar off Selah’s neck and helped her stand.
“How did you do that?” She looked at me wide-eyed.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Sarden, er, your brother says I’m a La-ti-zal, whatever that means.”
“It means that you’re very, very valuable indeed. Even more than I had at first imagined.”
The familiar voice came from behind me, startling me. I jerked and turned to see Tazaxx in his mud-man form standing just inside the doorway. Before I could move, the door clicked shut and I knew it was locked again.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my stomach doing a nervous twitch. “And why did you lie to us about Sellah being dead?”
“I might ask why you lied to me as well,” he drawled, raising an eyebrow. “The smart-fabric mask was a masterful touch—I will give you that. But it wasn’t enough to fool me, especially as I knew you’d be coming.”
“Someone warned you Sarden was coming?” I asked.
“Of course—Hurxx, who arranged for Sarden’s sister to be captured and sold in the first place.” He gave Sellah a cold smile. “He told me when he sent her to me that her older brother would never stop hunting for her until he knew she was dead.” He shrugged his muddy shoulders. “So I made certain that he knew it.”
“You bastard,” I snarled. “You have no idea the pain you’re putting him through.”
“Oh yes, I do—I simply do not care.” He grinned at me, showing muddy brown teeth—even in his mud face, the sight was weirdly disgusting.
“Let us go,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “You’ve had your fun—your revenge on Sarden. Now let him know his sister isn’t dead.”
“I don’t think so.” His smile widened. “In fact, not only will I deny him his sister, he’s also going to lose his favorite concubine.”
“You can’t,” I said, wishing my voice wouldn’t tremble so much. “He’ll hunt for me, too. You can’t just…”
But the words died on my lips as Tazaxx began to change.
The muddy outline of his man-shaped body changed, smoothing out, becoming smaller and more feminine. Then I was staring right at myself—or a sculpture of me made out of mud, anyway.
“That’s creepy but it won’t work,” I said, lifting my chin. “So what if you look like me? You still look like me made out of mud.”
“Because I’m not finished yet. This form is crude yet comfortable—but I can refine it if I wish to.”
As I watched, the mud-me became smoother and paler. The hair became red and the eyes, blue. Even the same clothing I was wearing appeared on the mud-me’s body. The Slave Leia outfit down to the last detail.
Until Tazaxx looked exactly like me.
“What…” I had to swallow before I could try again. “What do you think you’re going to do? Get on the shuttle and leave with Sarden? You’ll just be trapped with him and once he finds out you aren’t really me—” I shook my head. “You’re gonna be in for a world of hurt, buddy.”
Tazaxx shrugged. “I don’t mind what he does to my scion. I can make many, many of them, you see—can mold myself into whatever form I choose. And if I lose one here or there, it is no matter to me. It doesn’t hurt me anymore than clipping your fingernails would hurt you.”
“So…you can make infinite mud-men? Or women?” I could feel my heart sinking but I tried not to show it.
“More or less. Every time I molt, my mass grows and I can afford to lose more of it. Which is why I didn’t mind sacrificing some of it to assure your paramour, Sar
den, that his beloved sibling was dead.” He nodded at Sellah, who was white-lipped and wide-eyed with terror. “As I won’t mind sacrificing a bit more to make Sarden think he has you with him, my dear,” he told me.
“He’ll know,” I said desperately. “You can’t fool him that easily.”
“Oh, really? Are you positive of that?”
Tazaxx smiled at me and suddenly I saw Sarden pass by the door that kept Sellah and me prisoner. Another me—this one also perfect in every detail—walked by his side.
“Sarden!” I screamed as loud as I could. “Sarden, help! Help—we’re in here!”
He didn’t even look up. But the other-me did. She looked up and gave me a nasty, knowing smile.
If you’ve never been smiled at by your evil mud-doppelganger as she walks off with your boyfriend (or at least the guy you really, really like) well, I don’t recommend it. It sucks.
“Sarden!” I shouted again. “Please!”
My shouting frightened my nib-nibs and two of them, Rhaegar and Viserys came out of my hair and went chattering down my arm.
“No, you guys,” I hissed at them. “Bad timing—back! Go Back!”
But it was too late—Tazaxx had already seen them.
“Ah—I forgot about these little creatures. Your pets.” The mud-me that Tazaxx had become, held out a hand. “Give them to me now or suffer the consequences.”
“No.” I cupped them in my hands protectively. “You’ll hurt them.”
“I assure you, I will not. Unless you fail to hand them over. Then I will be certain they are torn limb from limb while you watch.”
I shivered, hearing the awful words come from what appeared to be my own mouth. Looking into those eyes so much like mine, I knew he would do it.
“Fine.” I held the nib-nibs up in the palm of my hand and looked at them. “You guys are going to go and leave me here,” I whispered, my voice slightly choked. "Don’t worry—just go with Sarden. He’ll protect you. Or at least he won’t eat you.”