Delivered by the Defender (Kindred Tales)

“Hmm…yes, I do know Defender Valen.” The judge nodded grudgingly. “Very well, I order that you will be detained in the High Court holding cell for a single day and night. If you can get word to Defender Valen to come and defend you by this time tomorrow, I will hear what he has to say.”

Selena felt her heart lighten.

“So…I can call him?” she asked tentatively.

The judge glared at her.

“I never said that. This court is not responsible for helping you to communicate with anyone on the outside. I say again, if you can get word to Defender Valen, he may come and make a case for you—though I must say, I would be very surprised if he can say anything to change my mind. Now, if you cannot get word to him, you will be shipped off tomorrow along with the other detainees to Hammerdown Prison for a sentence of a hundred thousand lifetimes of hard labor. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, your Justness,” Selena whispered, tears stinging her eyes.

How was she supposed to contact Valen if they wouldn’t even give her a phone call? She was going to end her days in a Ma’shorkan hellhole prison and nobody would ever know what had become of her!

She was doomed.

57

Valen sighed and shifted in his chair. He had been in his home office, trying to bury himself in work for hours, but somehow Selena was still on his mind. The curvy little Elite had worked her way under his skin and he couldn’t stop thinking of her, no matter how hard he concentrated on the details of his next case.

A discrete tapping on his door made him look up from a page he had already read three times without gaining any knowledge from it.

“Yes, what is it?” he asked.

The door creaked open and Pashmeena stuck her head in.

“Please forgive the intrusion, Master Valen, but you have an incoming vid-call from the Kindred Mother Ship.”

Valen’s heart leapt in his chest. Was it Selena? It must be—her shuttle would have arrived back at the Mother Ship hours ago. He knew he should refuse to speak to her, but he couldn’t help wanting to see her lovely face just one more time.

“Put it through to my viewscreen,” he said, gesturing to the large, flat rectangular screen mounted on the wall opposite his desk.

“Yes, Master Valen.” Pashmeena ducked her head respectfully and closed the door behind her. In a moment the viewscreen flickered to life.

But instead of Selena, the face of another Blood Kindred filled the screen.

“Ambassador Tolern?” Valen frowned in surprise and disappointment. “Er…what can I do for you?”

“It’s what I can do for you—at least I hope, anyway, Brother,” Tolern said formally. “My mate, Jessica, and I have heard of your great kindness to her good friend, Selena Bates, and I wish to thank you.”

“Oh, er…” Valen wasn’t sure what to say. Being thanked for his “kindness” seemed utterly wrong, especially considering the way things had ended with the little Elite.

“The Emperor himself called to commend me for recommending her to play for his gala,” Tolern went on. “Apparently she was the highlight of the event. It was through him that Jessica and I learned how you have been sheltering and protecting Selena.”

“Yes, we’re so grateful!” An Earth woman about Selena’s age stepped into the viewscreen’s field of view, smiling widely. She had blonde hair and green eyes and was pleasantly curvy, though she was not quite an Elite. “I felt so bad about leaving Selena by herself on Ma’shorka Centra, knowing how dangerous it can be for a woman alone,” she went on. “But I couldn’t stay because my little sister had been in a car accident.”

“Yes, Selena said something about that,” Valen said. “How is your sister, if I may ask?”

“She’s going to be okay.” A look of relief passed over Jessica’s face. “They had to remove her spleen, but she should make a full recovery.”

“That’s very good news,” Valen said, though he had never met the sister and didn’t know anything about human spleen and had no idea of its purpose in the human body.

“Yes, it’s such a relief!” Jessica said. “In fact, I wanted to let Selena know about it right away—could you go get her, please?”

“Go get her?” Valen frowned. “But she should be with you—on the Mother Ship. Her shuttle left hours ago.”

“What?” Jessica looked confused and Tolern looked concerned.

“Was she on the noon shuttle then?” he asked.

“Yes—I saw her get on it myself,” Valen said. “Or, well—I saw her in line for it,” he corrected himself.

“Maybe she didn’t know we were back onboard the Mother Ship and she went to her guest quarters when she got off the shuttle,” Jessica said hopefully. “I’ll go check to see if she’s here.”

“And I’ll go check the shuttle station,” Tolern said.