Lundric, his head of security, appeared, his torso hovering over the round table, face grim and splattered with blood that appeared too red to be Zandian.

Another incoming message light blinked on their cuffs.

“What is it?” Seke asked sharply.

“I killed one of the humans.” Lundric’s face was flushed, with emotion dancing behind the expression, which was unusual for him. Guilt and anger simmered there, projected from the shimmering image.

“What happened?” Veck. He didn’t really need more human drama at the moment.

Lundric swiped a large hand across his cheek as if just now sensing the blood there. “He forced himself on C—one of the females. I ended it.”

Seke raised his eyebrows. “By killing him?”

Lundric’s nostrils flared. “Their necks break easily.”

Zander almost wanted to laugh. Everywhere he looked, human females had turned Zandian warriors into beasts, himself no exception.

“And the female?”

“Cambry. I want her.”

“Excuse me?”

Lundric cleared his throat, looking as if it took great effort to rein in the wild beast he’d become. “May I take a female slave, as you both have done?”

They both stared at him.

As if he’d just realized his lack of manners, he added, “Please, my lord?”

Seke lifted his chin to catch Zander’s eye, and Zander knew, after years of learning to rule as he went along, this meant Seke had something to advise him about the matter.

“You are not in a position to beg any favors of me, Lundric.” He made his voice flinty. “We need the strongest allegiance possible from these humans or they’ll never serve as an army for us. Right now, you’d better be thinking about how to control the damage you’ve done to Zandian-human relations on that pod.”

Shame crept over Lundric’s face. He bowed. “Yes, my lord.”

Zander moved to end the hologram transmission, but Lundric stubbornly persisted. “What about the female? What about Cambry?”

“I’ve granted you nothing. If you want the human female, cultivate a bond.”

Lundric paled, but the crazed emotion drained from his face, and his features hardened into determination. He nodded, once. “Thank you, my lord.”

The moment the hologram disappeared, Seke held out a staying hand. “Do not answer that next communication. It is from Rok.”

Zander waited.

Seke paced around the table. “You cannot promote Zandia as the promised land to the humans—and I know it was Lily and Rok who built that story, but what’s done is done.”

When they’d rescued Lamira’s sister, Lily, from an Ocretion death pod, she’d come as a package deal with two hundred other humans sentenced to death. She and Rok rallied them to join the fight to recover Zandia, promising them all freedom there.

Seke went on, “You cannot promise them freedom and at the same time keep slaves in this pod. Rok is already questioning the nature of your union with Lamira. If word got out on the death pod that your mate is your slave…”

Zander pursed his lips. He’d already considered the possibility of the humans on the death pod refusing to fight for Zandia. But they had no choice. Zander had rescued them from an Ocretion death sentence. They had no resources, nowhere to go. They were, in essence, at his mercy. If he wished to call them slaves, he could. But it was better to have them fight for Zandia willingly.

“Lily wants to visit her mother and sister. She may be shocked by what she finds here.”

An itchy feeling crept over him.

“Zandians have never kept slaves,” Seke said flatly.

Tags: Renee Rose Zandian Masters Science Fiction
Source: readsnovelonline.net