Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 16

  “Right,” I said. “Um, how is Galan doing?”

  “He is fine,” Krey said.

  “Will you tell him I said hi?”

  “No,” Krey said. “It is best if the two of you do not have any contact. You are a thief and will be sent to prison as soon as the war is over. Spending time with Galan, hoping he will fall in love with you so that he will convince the king to forgive your crimes, is not wise, human. If you attempt to manipulate Galan in this manner, I will make certain you regret it.”

  “I’m not trying to do that,” I said. Anger was taking over my fear. Who the hell did this Krey guy think he was? He didn’t know anything about me, and he was acting like I didn’t care about Galan at all, or that I didn’t know what Galan had done for me.

  I stepped forward and glared up at him. “Do me a favour and quit judging me. You don’t even fucking know me, you big green asshole. I’m not trying to manipulate Galan into anything. He’s my friend and I miss him, so I asked you to tell him I said hi. That’s it. Stop thinking you know anything about me because you fucking don’t.”

  The look of surprise on Krey’s face faded and was replaced with… shit, was that admiration?

  “You are feisty for a human,” he said. “I still do not understand Galan’s obsession with you, but I am beginning to think we could be friends.”

  “Doubtful,” I said. “You’re too much of an asshole.”

  He laughed before tapping me playfully on the forehead. “You are a cute little human.”

  “Make that condescending asshole,” I said as he headed toward the door.

  He laughed again and used his tail to open the door. “Goodbye, human.”

  “Bye, Krey.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Ellis

  “You are even smaller than I thought.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re pretty short for a Draax,” I said.

  I suppose short was a relative word. The Draax was over six feet but after being around Galan and Krey and Adrix who were all at least 6’5 or larger, he looked short.

  The short and grumpy Draax shot the young one a look when he snickered at my words. The young one turned a dark shade of green before clearing his throat. “Hello, human. My name is Uzel.”

  “Hi, Uzel, I’m Ellis.”

  “I am Melu,” the grumpy one said. “You will do what I say when I say it, and if you give me any trouble, I will immediately inform the king of your disobedience. Is that clear?”

  “You’re a narc, I get it,” I said.

  Melu scowled at me. “What does narc mean?”

  “It means you are a snitch,” Uzel said. “You tell others in positions of power about those who are engaging in illegal activity. Humans use it derogatively.”

  “Uzel,” I said, “don’t be a tattletale.”

  “Tattletale?” Melu said.

  “It means -”

  “Krono, I do not care,” Melu said with a roll of his eyes. “Will you obey my rules, human?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Good. The floor of the bay needs cleaning. You will find what you need to clean it in the utility room. Uzel, show her the room.”

  “I’m supposed to be repairing the ships and land vehicles,” I said.

  “No, you are supposed to be working for me in the docking bay,” Melu said. “The floor needs cleaning. If you do not wish to clean today, you can return to your quarters. It makes no difference to me.”

  “All right, all right, no need to be grumpy about it,” I said. “I’ll clean the floors.”

  I followed Uzel across the docking bay. Truthfully, I wasn’t that upset about being relegated to janitorial duties. At least I was out of my room and doing something.

  “Wow, this place is pretty big,” I said.

  Uzel nodded and stopped walking. “It is. This is the main section of the bay. The outside landing pad is there.” He pointed to the far end of the bay where a wide hangar door revealed an enormous circular stone area painted with bright red marks.

  I studied the landing pad. The sun was shining, and I could smell fresh grass wafting in even over the smells of the docking bay. I had a sudden urge to run outside and roll around in the grass I could see around the edges of the landing pad. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent so much time indoors, and while the garden was beautiful, I had a sudden longing for bright sunshine and a warm breeze that wasn’t ultimately surrounded by thick stone walls.

  “It looks like a nice day,” I said to Uzel. “Maybe you could show me the landing pad up close?”

  “No,” he said. “There is no need for you to leave the docking bay.”

  “I just wanted a bit of sun on my face,” I said.

  “It is not the sun here, it is keo,” Uzel said.

  “Sun, keo… tomato, tomahto,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be nice to get a bit of Vitamin D?”

  “You are not allowed to leave the docking bay,” he repeated. “If you try, Melu will send you back to your quarters.”

  “Right,” I said.

  “We use this main area to repair the vroha ships,” Uzel continued with his impromptu tour.

  “Vroha are your battle ships, right?” I already knew the answer. I’d been flying a simulated vroha ship for the last two days.

  “Yes. Both the King’s Guard and the Draax military use the vroha ships.”

  “Why are they called vroha?”

  “The ships are from an alien race called Vokine. They are named after the Vokine female who built the first one. We trade ships with the Vokine for gallberry plants.”

  “Plants not juice? But I thought the plant could only grow on your planet,” I said.

  “Vokine is the rare exception. But even then, it only grows under certain conditions and the healing potency of the plant is not as strong as those grown on our planet,” Uzel said.

  “The Vokines are one of your largest trading partners, right?”

  “Yes. How much do you know of the Draax life, human?”

  “It’s Ellis, and I know some.” I’d taken Draax studies in high school just like every other human, but considering I’d dropped out at sixteen and never graduated, I figured there was probably plenty I didn’t know.

  “The Vokine have provided us with much of our technology, including our battle ships and the kyoden ships.”

  “What are kyoden ships?” I said.

  Uzel pointed to a closed hangar door. “It is a larger luxury ship that Draax royalty and certain military ranks use. In the eastern province, King Eastolf has three kyoden ships, but King Quillan does not see the necessity for more than one. He says it is a waste of space and fuel.”

  “You use isotopes for fuel, right?” I said.

  “Yes. Through that hangar door,” he pointed to a second one, “is where we repair our havoc cruisers.”

  “Right, you have Earth havoc cruisers,” I said. “You trade us juice for them.”

  He nodded. “Yes. We used to use the malta ships from the Vokine, but we switched to havoc cruisers about a decade ago. Our planet has an abundance of the primitive fuel they run on, they are cheaper to repair, and they give human females a sense of home.”

  “Is that why you use our land vehicles as well?” I said.

  “Yes. Our land travel technology was similar to yours, maybe even a little better, but these land vehicles are more familiar to females.”

  “You know we use air vehicles now, right?” I said. “Land vehicles are only used by the lowers who can’t afford even a cheap air vehicle on Earth.”

  “We know,” Uzel said. “We have begun to replace land vehicles with the air ones as well.”

  He started walking again and I followed him. There was a vroha ship in the bay with a large section of its outer shell stripped away. A few Draax were standing in front of the exposed machinery and Uzel nodded to them as we passed by. They barely gave me a second look and I wasn’t the least bit surprised. None of them would be interested in seducing me in hopes that I’d quit my
job and pop out little purple or green babies for them.

  Galan doesn’t want babies, remember? And he wants to have sex with you.

  Eh, the jury was still out on that one. I’d chalk it up to a moment of madness on his part. He was horny and I happened to be there and making it more than obvious I wanted to bang him. It wasn’t surprising that he would look past my skinny ugly body in the moment. But the ease with which he’d disappeared from my life made it even more suspect that he’d ever found me attractive.

  “This is the utility room.” Uzel opened a door near the third hangar. “Make certain you do a good job of cleaning. Melu will be displeased if you do not.”

  “Dude, I’m gonna clean this floor so hard,” I said before holding out my fist.

  Uzel stared at it. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s an old school Earth thing,” I said. “Roden and I are bringing it back. You bump my knuckles with yours.”

  Uzel bumped my knuckles before glancing at his hand. “I do not understand the point of bumping knuckles, but I will indulge you, human.”

  “It’s Ellis, and thanks,” I said. “Now, show me where you keep that mop.”

  * * *

  Galan

  I sat down next to Melu on the bench. He grunted out a greeting but kept his gaze on the waterfall in front of us. The evening was a warm one. The garden was teeming with Draax walking along the pathway in front of the waterfall, but they merely nodded in greeting and continued. Melu was not known for his good humour or his socializing skills.

  “How is she doing, Melu?”

  A look of begrudging respect crossed his face. “Better than I thought. She works hard, does not complain.”

  A caterra bird landed on the branch of a tree close to Melu’s face. He studied its bright green feathers. “I did not allow her to do anything but clean the first few days. I figured she would whine about it, but she did not.”

  He reached a hand toward the bird and it flitted off, diving and dipping through the air with an open beak to catch small bugs.

  “Have you allowed her to repair ships yet?” I said.

  “I gave her a havoc cruiser to work on a couple of days ago,” he said. “She did well with it.”

  “Good.”

  Melu glanced at me. “I thought you would be at the docking bay every day to check up on her, considering it was your idea to have her work there.”

  I shrugged. “There is no need for me to check on her. You are more than capable of keeping track of your workers.”

  He snorted laughter. “I am. But if you think I do not see the look on your face when you ask about her, you are wrong, Galan. I may be old, but I have not forgotten what it was like to lust after a female.”

  “I do not lust after her,” I lied. “And what is this talk of being old? You are not even forty yet.”

  He shrugged. “Too old for the human females to consider me a partner. At least not when they have Draax like you around.”

  “When was the last time you went to Earth?” I said.

  “Moons ago,” he said. “But I could not tempt any of the females into sleeping with me. They all wanted juice in trade.”

  I sighed. “Too many of our kind are willing to give them juice in exchange for sex. They do not care if it is against the law.”

  “It is the eastern Draax,” Melu said. “Those rakart do not care about anything but themselves and Eastolf encourages their behaviour. He does not care how his men lure the females to his province, only that they are there.”

  Melu wasn’t wrong. The eastern Draax had always had a reputation of being hotheaded, and since King Cteri had died and his son, Eastolf began his rule, it had only gotten worse in the last decade or so.

  “If Quillan is not careful, Eastolf will attempt to conquer our province. Just like his father did before him,” Melu said.

  “And just like Quill’s father stopped Cteri, Quill will stop Eastolf. Eastolf desires power, but he would be a fool to think he can take Quill’s,” I said. “Our provincial military and King’s Guard are the strongest in Odias.”

  “The north then,” Melu said. “Eastolf will start a civil war with us or the north, mark my words.”

  The sound of soft and feminine laughter drifted over the rushing water. Both Melu and I stood when the three females rounded the corner. They walked down the path and I smiled and nodded to them when they stopped in front of us.

  “Good evening, little females.”

  “Hello. How are you, Galan?”

  I smiled at the pink-haired woman. “I am well, Candala. How are you?”

  “Good. Have you met Inara and Jane?”

  “Not formally,” I said. “It is nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Jane.” The blonde woman with pretty blue eyes and generous hips shook my hand.

  The redheaded woman smiled at me. “Sorry again about spilling the water on you.”

  “It was an accident, Inara,” I said. “Do not worry about it.”

  I turned to Melu. “This is Melu. He is the head of our docking bay.”

  “Hello, Melu.” Inara held out her hand and I watched in puzzlement as Melu’s face turned a dark shade of green and his tail flicked out and whacked against the bench behind us.

  “Melu,” I prompted.

  He gave Inara’s hand a brief shake before staring at the waterfall.

  Inara glanced at Jane and Candala, her cheeks pink and her face confused.

  Candala made the barest of shrugs and I cleared my throat. “Are you enjoying your walk in the garden?”

  “We are,” Candala said. “Actually, we just finished doing yoga.” She held up a flat pink mat that she carried in her left hand. “Do you know what yoga is?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Many of the King’s Guard practice the art of yoga.”

  “Really?” Jane said. “That’s weird. Although, I guess in your line of work being flexible is a good thing.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it’s all about the flexibility and not another way the Draax try and make us believe living on this planet is just like living back home,” Inara said with a teasing grin.

  I laughed. “Perhaps it is a little of both.”

  “We should get going. Nice to see you again, Galan,” Candala said. “Melu, it was nice to meet you.”

  Melu grunted out an unintelligible reply. He was still studying the waterfall like he’d never seen it before, but the moment the females’ backs were turned, his gaze swung to the one called Inara. He stared at her long red hair before studying her ass, his tail flicking rapidly and his meaty hands held in a tight fist behind his back.

  I recognized the look on his face. It was the same one on mine whenever I thought of Ellis. A combination of lust and longing and frustration.

  “Inara is a beautiful female,” I said when they had disappeared down the path. “Her red hair is apparently a rarity on Earth.”

  Melu didn’t reply and I said, “You should ask her out. The waiting period is over.”

  He jerked all over before glaring at me. “Have you gone mad, Galan? She is too young for me.”

  “You are not an old man, Melu, no matter how hard you try and persuade me you are. Ask the female out, there is no harm in it. Unless you are afraid of a helpless little female?” I said teasingly.

  If I were not the head of the King’s guard, I was certain Melu would have punched me. As it was, he gave me a look that could melt steel and said, “Mind your tongue, Galan. I do not care if you are best friends with the king, it will not stop me from teaching you a lesson in manners.”

  I held my hands up. “I am only teasing, Melu. What has gotten into you this evening?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Good night, Galan.”

  He walked away and I sat on the bench again, staring blankly at the flowers surrounding the waterfall. It’d been almost two weeks since I’d seen Ellis and I had hoped my obsession with her would have ended. Instead, it was worse. I was barely sleeping or eatin
g and my need to see her, to touch her, was a fire inside me that couldn’t be doused.

  I rubbed my hand through my hair. How many times had I almost gone to her in the night? Too many to count. Her apartment next to mine was an exercise in agony and self-control, but the idea of moving her to a different apartment further away made me unsettled and almost angry. I liked knowing she was right beside me, liked knowing that if she needed me, I was close. Even if I spent my nights staring at the wall separating us like a teenage Draax with his first crush. I’d even had a few fantasies where Ellis had broken into my apartment again and joined me in my bed.

  She cannot. You have her tools, remember?

  That was true. They were still sitting on my nightstand and as the head of the King’s Guard, I was ashamed to admit that more than once I’d been tempted to return them to her in hopes she would use them to enter my apartment again.

  My job was to protect Quill and Sabrina and Jovie and if anyone knew that I was considering giving Ellis back her tools of escape, they would think I’d gone mad.

  You know she will not hurt anyone.

  No, she wouldn’t. It made me a real froden to believe that – I hardly knew her – but it did not quell my belief that she would never hurt anyone at the castle. She might be a thief but that didn’t make her dangerous to us.

  I stood up and headed toward the entrance of the garden. I was glad that Ellis was doing well in the docking bay. Perhaps if she continued to prove herself useful, I could approach Melu about speaking on her behalf to Quill to allow her to join the work program permanently. The gallberry juice she had stolen was barely a drop in our supply and what did Earth care if they had one less human in their prisons?

  Cheered by the possibility that Ellis might stay permanently at the castle, I felt the first rumbling of hunger in days. A smile on my face, I headed back to my apartment.

  * * *

  Ellis

  The knock on my door had me bouncing up off the couch with an excited grin. For the last two weeks, Inara or Candy stopped by my apartment every evening for a visit. I suspected that it would be Inara tonight, and my smile widened when the door opened and Inara walked in.