Fallen Star (38 page)

Impulsively Fallon stepped over to Sobehk and wrapped her arm around his waist. She pressed her head onto his shoulder. His robes smelled of exotic spices and of him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Sobehk’s arm went around her, and he held her close. “Actually, it was Khan’s idea.”

“Me?” Khan folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the opposite wall. “This trip through the Garden District was all
your
idea.”

Fallon knew darn well whose idea it was. She lunged for Khan and wrapped him in a hug anyway. “Thank you.” She kissed him on the cheek for good measure, too.

Khan sighed, then smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, the little side trip was my idea.” Sobehk smiled. “But the whole idea to have a garden suite with live plants and trees was yours.”

Fallon blinked up at Khan. “Really?”

Khan took a breath and released it. “Sobehk and I were talking about this station and the ... conditions on the one you came from.”

Sobehk snorted and curled his lip. “It was a garbage dump.”

Khan’s cheeks pinked and he shrugged. “And I thought one of the small garden suites I have on retainer would make a nice change for you.”

Khan had arranged to have a garden suite for ... her? Fallon stared at Khan, shocked. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done. Impulsively, she closed her arms tight around him and pressed her face into his shoulder. The leather of his robe was soft under her cheek. Unfortunately it didn’t absorb tears too well. She watched them run down his shoulder.

Khan jerked in her hold. “Isabeau, what is this? Tears?”

Fallon had to take a breath, and still her words came out tight. “That was so ... sweet of you.”

Sobehk choked out a laugh. “She’s right. It was awfully sweet. You must be mellowing.”

Khan growled. “Blood and Night! Give me a fucking break, will you?” He pulled Fallon away from him by the upper arms. “Isabeau, I just ...”

The doors opened. Two fully armored Skeldhi guards glared in, their weapons at the ready.

Fallon jerked away from Khan, wiping at her cheeks.

Khan glared at the guards. “What?”

“Nothing,
A’syr
nehkyx!
”

The guards stepped back and stood to either side, two paces back from the door. The one on the left raised a small device.

Sobehk stepped out into a darkened hallway and raised his left fist to shoulder height.

The guard touched the small device to the back of his hand then peered at it. He nodded. “Thank you,
A’syr
.”

Khan stepped out and raised his hand. He was scanned and nodded to.

Fallon followed and raised her hand. The hallway was narrow, with charcoal carpeting and pale gray walls softly lit with frosted glass sconces set high along the walls. The scanner was cool against the back of her hand. Her internal computational array registered that she was being scanned for bio-mechanics as well as blood type.

The guard frowned at his reading.

Sobehk lowered his chin and eased his hands to the side in a clearly aggressive pose. “I trust everything is in order,
A’syr?
”

The guard nodded. “Your
rehkyt
has some very sophisticated computational augmentations for an
upuaht
Prime,
A’syr
.”

Sobehk’s brows dipped. “Yes, she does.”

The guard on the right started. “Pardon my asking, but are you
A’syr
Sobehk?”

Sobehk turned to face him. “I am.”

The other guard’s mouth fell open. “This is the feral?” He choked. “I mean, the one up for auction?”

Sobehk’s frown deepened. “Yes.”

The guard on the right frowned. “I thought she’d be ... bigger.”

Fallon scowled.
I’ll show you bigger ...

Khan darted a stern look at Fallon.
Hold onto that temper of yours.

Sobehk looked from one to the other. “Is there something I need to know about?”

The guard on the left winced. “Well, there’s a ... wager riding on which councilor is going to end up with her,
A’syr
.”

Khan sucked in a hard breath. “Which
councilor?
There are
Ehnya’dhyt
here?
”

The guard on the left smiled at Khan, carefully hiding his long teeth. “Three arrived for this auction, and all three have come to bid on
A’syr
Sobehk’s Prime.”

Sobehk’s mouth fell open. “Three
Ehnya’dhyt, A’syr?
How did they get involved?”

The guard on the right shrugged. “They probably saw the ship vid from the attack on the news broadcast like everyone else.”

Khan stilled. “The ship vid was on a news broadcast?”

“According to report, the broadcast hit the news-net about twenty-four hours after the attack.” The guard on the left smiled at Sobehk. “Your feral is famous,
A’syr
Sobehk.”

Sobehk winced. “Great.”

“From what I saw ...” The guard on the left gave Fallon a long cool look. “Whoever acquires her is going to possess one bleeding fury of a bodyguard.”

“You saw the vid?” Khan’s anger shimmered across the link.

The guard on the left shrugged. “Everyone has. It’s all over the station.”

The guard on the right nodded solemnly at Sobehk. “You are going to be a very wealthy man,
A’syr
.”

Sobehk’s cheeks pinked. “Thank you. May we be excused?”

Both guards straightened.

“Yes,
A’syr!
”

“Of course,
A’syr!
”

Sobehk stepped past them. “Good day,
A’syrs
.”

“Good day,
A’syr!
”

Fallon’s hands tightened into fists as she followed Sobehk down the shadowed hallway.
Three
councilors? Here? Great Maker, what if the assassin wasn’t going to present himself? What if the one who was supposed to die by her hand simply bought her instead? She shook her head.
What a freaking mess!

Khan brushed her right elbow.
They still have to plant the second half of the code. We’ll just have to watch who tries to approach you before the auction.

The hallway ended at a pair of arched, frosted glass doors heavily etched with vines and flowers. Sobehk grasped the ornate silver handles. He looked over his shoulder at Khan and Fallon.
Ready?

Khan glanced at Fallon.
If anyone gets too close, do not be afraid to pull your sword.

Fallon flinched.
I’d rather not hurt anyone accidentally.

Sobehk snorted.
You won’t. They’ve been using a sword longer than you have. Most of them since childhood.

Fallon ground her teeth.
Great. That makes me feel a whole lot better.

Khan grinned.
It will add to your aggressive reputation.

Fallon glared at Khan.
You are not helping.

Relax. You’ll do just fine.
Sobehk chuckled and pulled the doors open.

Fallon stepped out onto a black marble floor veined with silver. The room was gigantic and perfectly round. To the left and right, ornate, jewel-bright carpets had been laid out with graceful divans and plush lounging chairs of black velvet. Broad smoked-glass tables at knee height perched atop black marble statuary. Skeldhi in long colorful silk robes occupied a few of the divans and chairs.

The distant walls held tall, smoked mirrors draped with swags of black velvet, and arched doorways with etched glass doors. The light was soft and came from frosted glass fixtures suspended from ornate hooks that arched from the walls between the mirrors and doors.

Fallon looked up and gasped. The entire ceiling was a glass dome that showed deep space.

Khan leaned close. “You can view the local nebula through the dome at station dawn.”

Fallon stilled. A nebula?

Khan smiled. “It’s quite ... colorful.”

Sobehk looked over his shoulder. “Khan, are you being nice again?”

Khan scowled. “I don’t
do
nice.”

Sobehk grinned. “Could have fooled me!”

The path they were on led to a circular open area in the center of the room. A small group of seven Skeldhi in ornate black armor stood to one side, talking quietly among themselves. Their floor-draping, silver-furred black cloaks fell from the left shoulder down to the right, leaving the right arm free.

Fallon’s attention was caught by a small burst of laughter on her immediate right. She turned to see a small, gold-skinned and completely nude figure scurrying across one of the ornate carpets on hands and knees. It was a female
rehkyt
with her bright red hair pulled back into a thick tail of curls. She stopped and picked something up with her mouth then turned and looked up at Fallon. Her eyes were a brilliant azure and she held a golden ball in her mouth.

Fallon’s gaze was drawn to glitter. A small fall of diamonds dangled from her pierced nipples.

The
rehkyt
turned away and scurried toward one of the tall wing-backed velvet chairs.

A Skeldhi man in bright blue robes reached down and took the ball from her lips. He patted her on the head, and rolled the ball across the floor.

The
rehkyt
chased after it on hands and knees, her curly tail bobbing with her motions.

The man laughed.

Looks like fun.
Khan’s thought was laced with amusement.

Fallon shot a quick glare at Khan.
No, it does not.

Sobehk chuckled then abruptly stopped.
Here they come. Get ready.

Fallon’s head came up.
Here
who
comes
 ...
?

Dead ahead the small knot of armored Skeldhi had noticed them. The seven men had spread out across their path and four of them had dropped their cloaks to the floor. They were all fully armed and tiny blades jutted all over their armor.

Fallon stiffened.
Are they going to attack?

Khan tilted his head one way and then the other.
Yes and no.

Fallon felt the pressure of a growl in her chest and lightning sparked at the back of her mind.
Is that so?

Sobehk darted a glare over his shoulder at Khan.
Isabeau, they’re going to attack you, not us. We’ll be fine.

Me?
Fallon’s red-tinted anger bled away in a sudden rush and she nearly tripped.
What in fury for? I don’t know any of them!

Sobehk sighed softly.
It’s more of a test to see how good you really are.

Seven of them ...?
Fallon’s jaw set.
This is the assessment, isn’t it?

Khan grinned.
Yes
.

Fallon rolled her eyes.
Great
.

Khan set his palm on her shoulder briefly.
Let no one touch you, but don’t go out of your way to kill any of them.

Sobehk nodded at the armored men. They parted to let him pass.

Fallon felt her temper surge.
Seven of them, armed to the teeth, and I only have one short sword ...
Her gaze dropped to the pommel of Khan’s blade jutting from the side of his robe at his hip.

Khan stepped up to the line of armored men.

Two men unsheathed their blades.

Fallon grabbed for Khan’s blade and spun, blade out and away from Khan, forcing the entire line to part in front of them.

Khan kept walking as though nothing had happened, but his amusement echoed through their link.

Fallon backed away, drawing her shorter blade from its sheath at her hip as six of the men closed ranks around her. She tossed both blades straight up and, spinning, caught them in opposite hands so that the shorter blade was in her left hand. It was a well-practiced knife move. If the swords hadn’t been so well balanced, she would not have been able to do it.

She spread her arms, blades out, and smiled. “’Can I help you, gentle
‘Syr
s
?
”

An older Skeldhi with a bright blood-red sash smiled grimly. “That is an unseemly amount of attitude,
rehkyt
.”

“Is it?” Fallon raise a brow. “I thought it was exactly the right amount.” Her smile broadened, baring her long teeth. “I can give you lots more, if you prefer?” She caught a hint of movement behind her and turned on her heel, catching a descending blade aimed for her shoulder at the neck.

The young man holding the blade grinned, his aqua green eyes blazing.

Fallen smiled right back, dropping her left hand and her shorter blade, slicing into the back of the knee joint in his armor. The idiot had forgotten that she was armed with two swords.

The young man’s eyes widened and he twisted sharply, moving away before she could do more than nick his skin.

Fallon scowled.
Damn it ...
She’d been aiming for a deeper cut.

He lunged at her, his sword point first.

Fallon spun under the blade, slashing out with her longer sword.

The young man dodged unbelievably fast, only to dart back in with a knife in his left hand.

Fallon was forced to drop and roll completely under him. He had too much reach on her to roll out of the way in time.
Faster. I need to go faster.
She needed to activate her dexterity augmentations. She slashed for the backs of his knees in passing.

He saw it coming and sidestepped.

She was just a touch faster than he was and scored a second nick to the back of his knee.

Blood spattered the floor.

The young man cursed and backed away.

Fallon frowned. Still not fast enough, but her dexterity was increasing. Her bio-mechanics had finally kicked in.

Two more came at her, one from behind and one from in front, both with knives in their off hands.

Fallon lunged onto her feet in a smooth spinning rise and was forced to exchange a small flurry of lightning-fast sword blows with both of them. She simply could not get out of their way. One shifted closer, ruining her ability to use her longer blade. She lashed out with her foot and kicked him hard in the knee to get him out of her personal space. There was a nasty wet popping sound.