Delivered by the Defender (Kindred Tales)

“I will tell you three things—that much only can I do,” the Goddess replied cryptically. “Listen well. First, one will soon come to your door—a person you would, in other times, turn aside. Let them in.”

“I will, Goddess.” Valen nodded quickly. “What else?”

“Second,” the Goddess said, “Look to your enemy’s past in order to save your female’s future.”

“What?” Valen asked. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“You will, when the time is right,” the Goddess told him.

“All right.” Valen nodded. “Thank you Goddess. And the third thing?”

“Third and last, I release you from your vow never to call a bride,” the Goddess said. “You took it at a time when you were in deepest pain and not thinking clearly—I will not accept the sacrifice of your chastity under such circumstances.”

“Really? Thank you, Goddess! I—” Valen began, but the warm, feminine presence was suddenly gone. He had a sense that she was still watching, though—maybe from the other side of the mortal veil that separated this world and the next. “I won’t fail you, Goddess,” he murmured. “I swear I won’t!”

Still shaken by the experience, he dropped into the chair behind his desk and ran his hands through his hair. Gods! To think he had been visited by the Goddess herself! But what had she meant about looking to his enemy’s past in order to save Selena’s future? And who was coming to his door?

Also, she had released him of his vow never to take a bride. But how much good that would do him, Valen didn’t know. Even if he found Selena perfectly well and unharmed, he doubted she would be willing to forgive him for allowing her to be kidnapped in the first place—not to mention the pain of his bite the night before, which had hurt her so badly she had blacked out…

There was a knock on his office door and Pashmeena stuck her head in.

“Master, there’s a call from the spaceport.”

“Yes, yes—put it through! Hurry!” Valen exclaimed.

“Yes, Master Valen.”

She disappeared and a moment later, his viewscreen came to life. On it, was the spaceport official who had argued with Valen earlier.

“Master Kindred,” he began, in a low, abject voice. “I have called to offer you my sincerest apologies. If you had only told me that the female who was taken was a favorite of the Emperor himself, I would surely have shared the video surveillance with you at once.”

Valen felt a wave of satisfaction and triumph. Finally, this little bastard was getting his comeuppance! He hoped the Emperor had called himself and put the fear of all the gods that ever were into him!

“I accept your apology,” he said smoothly. “And I only hope—”

He was interrupted by another tap on the door. It was Pashmeena again. She poked her head in and said,

“Forgive the intrusion, Master Valen, but Ambassador Tolern and his Dependent Female are here.”

Valen frowned—could Tolern and Jessica be the people he was supposed to expect at his door? But why would he turn them away? It didn’t seem to make sense but he nodded at Pashmeena anyway.

“Yes, yes—send them right in, please.”

“Yes, Master.” She disappeared and he turned back to the viewscreen and raised an eyebrow at the spaceport official.

“You were saying?”

“Only that I’m deeply sorry and I will send you the footage at once. But…” The male hesitated.

“But what?” Valen snapped.

“Well…it has no sound, I’m afraid. None of our holo-cams record anything but images.”

Valen wanted to swear but anything was better than nothing. At least this way he would be able to see who it was that had snatched Selena.

“Very well,” he said shortly. “Send it at once, please.”

“Yes, Master Valen.” The official bowed his head and the viewscreen went black for a moment before blinking into life again. This time, it showed a 3-D image of the spaceport gate the noon shuttle had departed from.

“Hello?” The door to Valen’s study opened and Tolern came in, followed by Jessica. “I hope we’re not intruding—I wanted to let you know that the Emperor himself got involved,” he said to Valen.

“Yes, that was made abundantly clear by the spaceport official who just called with an abject apology,” Valen said dryly. “Good work, Brother!”

“Oh, look—there she is! That’s Selena!” Jessica pointed at the viewscreen.

Valen followed her gesture and felt his heart squeeze like a fist.

There she was, indeed. The little Elite as he had last seen her, with her dark hair in a cloud around her head and a miserable look on her face. She was milling around the edges of the group of Kindred and their brides, waiting to return to the Mother Ship.

“She doesn’t look very happy,” Jessica observed. She shot Valen a look. “Was there some kind of…problem before you dropped her off?”

“Sweetheart, I don’t know if that’s an appropriate question,” Tolern objected.

“But I know Selena,” Jessica protested. “That’s her sad face! She looks like someone just broke her heart!”