My 1000-years love

Chapter 21

I didn’t wait for the official farewell ceremony. I darted into the corridor, shoving a disappointed Kalon with my shoulder as I went. I had no desire to return to “our” cabin. On the move, I asked T-GInArA to assign me a guest cabin, and she immediately and kindly agreed, opening a small door right in my path. I flew into the dark room and, gasping for breath, slid down the wall.

I’m such an i***t, an absolute i***t. Kalon told me, and now, because of my stupid curiosity, two people are dead. Dumb, uneducated space thugs who weren’t raised properly. Of course, if I had ended up on their ship, their behavior wouldn’t have seemed so harmless. They would have used me all at once without a second thought. But damn it... I just shouldn’t have gone there, period. At that moment, I swore to myself that I would now obey Kalon in everything, because this silent half-raath clearly understands interstellar nuances better than I do. How angry I was with myself, but even more so with him. That cold-blooded monster, who enjoyed the whole situation as if it were a comedy, an integral part of which was my humiliation in front of the entire ship and the horrific killing of two people.

In my fury, I stormed out of the cabin and, fortunately, met no one on the way to the training module. Unfortunately for Regev, she was there since she hadn’t been at the meeting with the “guests.” And unfortunately for her, she suggested I blow off some steam in a sparring match. For the first time, I defeated her without using my abilities, telekinesis, or any tricks. Pure rage alone. Regev left the hall with a look of respect in her eyes and a dislocated arm. It seems she wasn’t upset, but I would apologize again later. The anger didn’t pass, and I began taking it out on a 440-pound punching bag until Tragaon peeked into the hall. Then I attacked him without warning. Of course, I couldn’t defeat him, just wear him down a bit, as he wasn’t expecting such an onslaught and to have all his techniques tested on his own body. My anger began to give way to other feelings only when I found myself with my face pressed into the floor and my right arm, the same one I had recently dislocated on Regev, dangerously crackling under the weight of Tragaon’s bulk.

“Can you calm down now, Earth girl?”

The pain in my arm was increasing, and the anger was subsiding. I was more relieved than ever and suddenly burst into laughter, scaring Trin completely.

“Darling, let’s talk instead?” Tragaon suggested.

“Talk. But not with you,” said the legs of the Archon that suddenly appeared in front of my face. Tragaon quickly let me go, apologized, and retreated.

I stood up, ignoring the offered helping hand, and turned my back to the Archon and faced the bag. I was stopped and turned around, held firmly. I started to squirm, using the super-secret fighting techniques of the Quideks revealed by Tragaon, and I almost succeeded. But only almost. The ancient one finally took pity and decided to let me go himself. I jumped back. But he managed to get my attention.

“Don’t even think about moving to another cabin. I’ll be expecting you at ours tonight.”

“Not a chance! Go kill someone else, you cruel bastard.”

“You think I enjoy killing?” It was a statement.

“How else do you explain that ridiculous spectacle? You clearly enjoyed it! My humiliation, the killing of those simple-minded idiots. You could have stopped it right at the beginning. But no, you waited maliciously. While he dragged me around, and everyone watched, while they spoke those vulgarities, just to show your power over everyone here. You needed a reason to deal with them and scare everyone, and you found it by humiliating me!”

The Archon was deceptively calm, but a concern was visible in the depths of his eyes.

“Would you have preferred they go unpunished for all those vile things?”

“I didn’t care at all about what they were buzzing about. As long as the threat wasn’t real, it was no more than a ‘buzz’ sound somewhere at the back of my mind. You can’t kill living beings for that! Yes, they were stupid, uncouth bandits who would have done exactly that, but you would never have allowed it! I didn’t even see them as a real threat!”

“Even when he pierced the skin on your neck?” Sgannar tilted his head inquiringly.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Once again, for the deaf. I’m sure you wouldn’t have allowed anything more!”

“You have that much faith in me?” I looked at him as if he were insane.

“Of course! You didn’t drag me into this cosmic wasteland just to watch me get killed.”

“Then why did I let it go that far?” The cold-blooded man studied me.

“You taught a lesson, Archon. Well done! Punished me for disobedience, and them for insolence! Scared everyone, and amused yourself. Just brilliant! Now, may I leave?” Not waiting for an answer, I walked out into the corridor and headed to my new private cabin. That evening he never came for me. Once again, I glanced at the door, expecting it to explode into dust as usual, and for him to grab me and drag me to his bed like a caveman. But that didn’t happen.

But there was another person I was concerned about. Kalon. I had disobeyed him, which had started the chain of all these absurd and irreversible events. Though I could imagine the Archon would still have been a killer. He was a killer before me, is now, and will be after me. That wouldn’t change. I urgently needed to talk about this with someone, and I chose Kalon. I needed absolution. And he could give it to me.

Finding out from T-GInArA where my future confessor lived, I dragged myself to his doorstep. The door didn’t open right away. Kalon looked fierce, wet, and was shirtless.

“What?” he barked, not even having seen who was standing before him. But seeing me, he immediately calmed down.

“Sorry, no one ever knocks on my door. If needed, T-GInArA calls me through the comm.”

Damn, do they all get on this ship exclusively through a “Mr. Universe” contest? Literally. The short bristle of hair was still glistening from the shower. And those muscles... Damn, he was perfect. But that wasn’t why I was here. He wasn’t in a hurry to invite me in.

“Do you want the Archon to vaporize me if he finds you inside my cabin? Haven’t there been enough bodies today?”

So, I was at the right place. My guilt would find good support here.

“Then let’s go to the mess hall.”

Kalon looked at the door frame with annoyance, biting his full lips. Then, smiling slyly, he made an inviting gesture inside.

“Aren’t you afraid?” I asked.

“I am, but I’ll be a good boy, and you’ll be a good girl. I feel with my gut, no one else will die today.” And already behind the closed door, he continued. “If you think he enjoys it, he doesn’t. He hates killing.”

“You wouldn’t know it,” I retorted, turning to him. The cabin was very small, so I almost immediately bumped into his bare chest. Coming here might have been a very bad idea. Not because I felt anything for him beyond friendly feelings. But his recent confessions and amazing physique had stripped that friendship of its innocence.

“Could you... put on a shirt?”

He looked at me with exaggerated amusement, but reluctantly pulled on a white tank top that hugged all his muscles too tightly. It made things worse. Usually, I see him in a pilot’s jumpsuit. Whatever, to hell with them all. They have no other soldiers, no fat, short, and old ones. What can you do? I’ll get used to these. Let’s get back to the self-flagellation.

“Well, now, do you judge me?”

“Yes.” Just like that, simple and straightforward, but it made me feel better. Because now I could share my burden of guilt with him. Worse, if he had started saying I shouldn’t blame myself and they deserved it. Then I would have been left alone with my guilt. “But he would have killed them anyway.”

I came not only for self-flagellation but also for overcoming it.

“They were getting more and more out of hand. Andor doesn’t see the limits and doesn’t understand who he’s dealing with. I have no idea how he managed to become a smuggler. It mustn’t last long. In that sense, your appearance was very timely. Otherwise, he would have completely lost it, and Sgan would have had to take them all down. And that causes conflicts with larger political structures of the Garay Conglomerate.”

“Perhaps he will learn a lesson from today. As far as I understand, he supplies you with some goods?”

Kalon nodded slyly. And I suddenly realized that he didn’t judge me at all. He just scolded me a little. So I would think more next time. And he didn’t think about those poor fellows at all. They are all cut from the same cloth here.

An awkward silence ensued, during which Kalon’s gaze began to change, filling with familiar heat, and that was already a bad sign.

“Okay, tomorrow, the training sessions as usual?”

He just nodded silently and opened the door with a curt “Take her.” Who was he talking to? Ah, got it. The door didn’t just open. The door panel was removed by Kalon, and behind it, like a tall shadow, stood Sgan.

I almost saw the air around him swirling with anger. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his gaze was darker than the blackest night. Honestly, I began to wonder if it was worth leaving this cabin at all.

“Quarreling lovers, just teasing each other. Archon, you know I’m a good boy!” Kalon inappropriately quipped, raising his hands as if surrendering.

“Uh-huh,” the Archon grunted, fishing me out of the cabin. “Invite her in again, and I’ll personally castrate you.”

Still silent, he dragged me to the regenerator. With a snap of his fingers, he stripped off my clothes and rather unceremoniously shoved me inside, ignoring my protests.

“I don’t want to! It’s just a small cut on my neck! It’ll heal on its own!”

“Have you seen your face? Your lip is split, you’ve got a bunch of bruises, a dislocated shoulder, and sprained ligaments. You wouldn’t want my help,” he stated bitterly and, without listening to anything else, sharply shut the glass lid.

Disconnecting for about ten minutes, as usual, in this glass coffin, I was then gently extracted and wrapped in a sheet. The Archon’s expression shifted before my eyes, from displeased to excited. Pressing his forehead against mine, he searched my eyes for a response to his passion but found none. Not a chance!

“No, my love,” I said, loading the word with as much sarcasm as possible. “You humiliated me to the utmost today, even though you could have stopped it right away, on the upper tier of the forum, simply immobilizing him. But you, our farsighted leader, taught everyone a lesson! Now enjoy it! Alone!” And angrily fumbling with the sheet, I floated away to “our” cabin.

“Dear T-GInArA,” I addressed the ceiling, “since the Archon wants me to sleep in this room, could you limit his access here?”

Such impertinence, but it was worth a try.

“Actually, limiting him might not be possible. But we can annoy him a little, Ari Haag.”

“Oh, Ti, you’re the best!” I clasped my hands in a thankful gesture and happily smiled at the empty room.

Then I asked Ti for dinner in the cabin. With wine. Or rather, its local equivalent. And I began to wait for the continuation of the show.

That night, the Archon came and spent several minutes trying to get into his own home, arguing with Ti. I only heard her responses: “Lleiro asked not to be disturbed,” “Lleiro strongly prefers to remain alone,” and so on. It ended as usual—the door crumbled into dust, the Archon burst in through the complete darkness, stripped completely, and grabbed me in an embrace, burying his nose in my hair. Although I was fully conscious, I didn’t struggle. It was so familiar and warm that disrupting the idyll would have been sacrilege.