Heart of a Warrior

3

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TEDRA WALKED OUTSIDE THE MILITARY COMPOUND where General Ferrill's office was located. Dalden was deeply distracted and not paying much attention to anything other than walking. Shanelle was waiting to hear what Tedra would decide.

As far as Shanelle was concerned, having been apprised of the situation, they couldn't do anything but help. And that had nothing to do with Sunder or her liking for the Sunderan Donilla Vand, nor even her strong dislike of the High King Jorran, who had wanted to make her his queen by underhanded means. No, her concern was that an entire planet of unsuspecting people could become the victims of Jorran's tyranny. But Tedra might not see it that way and being more familiar with the policies of the Centura League, otherwise known as the League of Confederated Planets which strived to keep peace among all known planets, might be wrestling with good reasons why they shouldn't get involved.

Martha was being unusually quiet, even though her link was still open. But then, Martha only interfered when she knew that something might adversely affect Tedra. Otherwise, she let Tedra make her own decisions. That it often seemed otherwise was only because Martha covered all possibilities when she dissected a problem, from the most obvious to the least likely, and every variable in between.

Tedra finally stopped walking, and the frown she was now wearing said she wasn't happy with her own decision, but had made it nonetheless. "We need to get back to the ship and be on our way."

"You aren't going to help?"

"I retired from 'saving planets' twenty-one years ago," Tedra said matter-of-factly. "And the sooner we get home, the sooner we can notify the proper authorities to deal with this problem."

"Even though that might be too late? Once war is begun, the League won't get involved."

"I doubt Jorran's intention is to make war," Tedra replied. "Is it, Martha?"

"Highly improbable." Martha was using her bored tone again, which, unfortunately, usually precluded a bomb, which she dropped now. "Subjugation and utter domination are what he'll be looking for."

Tedra made a face. Subjugation was a word she seriously disliked; it was what the Sha-Ka'ari had tried to do to her own people. The Sha-Ka'ari were originally from Sha-ka'an, but had been taken some three hundred years ago to a mining colony in the Centura star system to be used as slave labor. But they were still incredibly huge warriors, and it didn't take them long to take over that colony and subjugate those people and any others they happened to conquer. They had lost touch with most of their old beliefs, didn't even know where they originally came from, and had developed much differently than the Sha-Ka'ani on the mother planet.

They were still considered barbarians, though, were still swordwielding, slave-holding warriors, just a smaller variety, having interbred with their slaves for hundreds of years. But unlike Challen and his people, also considered barbarians, who pretty much snubbed their collective noses at the wonder that could be had from advanced planets, the Sha-Ka'ari weren't averse to using whatever was obtainable if they could put it to good use, nor averse to space travel.

Jorran's people from Century III were much like the Sha-ka'ari. They were still medieval in development themselves, yet having been discovered and dealing for many years with off-world visitors, they didn't deny themselves the benefits of modern technology. They had trade ambassadors on almost all of the known planets, and their kings enjoyed space travel as well, but not much was really known about them, since they weren't members of the Centura League.

The League of Confederated Planets wasn't just one solar system, but half a dozen neighboring star systems now comprising seventy-eight planets that abided by one set of rules and regulations to the benefit of all. The Niva star system, newly discovered, had yet to be brought into the fold, though no one doubted it would be one day. Century III was another system within traveling distance that, although it dealt well with the League, had yet to be invited to join.

And their own first dealings with the humanoids of Century III had been less than pleasant. The High King Jorran and his entourage had come to Sha-Ka'an the previous year, when the visitor restriction had been lifted for the competitions that Challen had opened to one and all in hopes of finding a lifemate for Shanelle among the winners. Shanelle hadn't known that was the purpose of the competitions, and the winner wasn't guaranteed to be chosen, but Jorran hadn't seen it that way.

He hadn't competed either, competition being much too undignified for his esteemed self. No, he had demanded to fight the winner who had gone through the process of elimination in the appropriate way, and Falon, being that winner, could have refused to fight him, should have refused, yet he didn't. No one suspected that Jorran's intention was to kill him, rather than just defeat him.

The competitions had been friendly matches of strength and skill, not the deadly fight Jorran tried to make of them. Falon didn't find that out until after he had accepted Jorran's challenge and Jorran used not a normal sword but a razor sword. This was a weapon so light and maneuverable that there was no way to avoid it by normal means, nor was Falon able to.

He would have died if a meditech unit hadn't been handy, he had been sliced up so badly. He would have lost the match as well if he hadn't given up using his own weapon and simply taken Jorran out with his fist instead, just before he passed out himself from loss of blood.

This was when Shanelle, fearful of having Falon for her lifemate, had run away. And Falon, determined to have her, overcame his own fears of space travel to follow her. Challen had already given her to him, and Falon wasn't going to let a mere thing like a universe keep him from her. Nor had the Sunderans been able to keep him away, despite their promises to the contrary.

"Shani, this is not our responsibility," Tedra said now. "Just because we know what those rods are capable of, and what a first-class jerk Jorran is, doesn't make this our problem. The League will be given all the information we have and will do what's appropriate with it. We are already late getting home, and I refuse to make Challen continue to worry."

"I will go after Jorran and see to the proper destruction of those rods. "

Both women turned toward Dalden, his silence until now having made them forget he was with them. Shanelle was merely surprised that her brother would want to involve himself personally when matters outside of Sha-Ka'an had no interest for him. Tedra's own surprise was brief, her response less than diplomatic.

"No," she said.