“Babe, please open your eyes.” Ford’s soft voice cut through Emi’s pain. She struggled to do it. One eye didn’t want to obey, and she thought she should know why, but the reason escaped her momentarily. The other cracked open a little, allowing her to squint up at Ford, Aaron, and Caph, all bent over her.
“Is she all right?” That was Mauri’s concerned voice coming from somewhere close.
Emi forced her head to move a fraction, enough she could see the Moran leader also standing over her.
“I think she’s got a concussion,” Ford said. “I’ll need to get her back to our ship immediately for treatment.”
“Of course,” Mauri said. “I will assign a cadre of guards to escort you to the shuttle and back to your ship. But first, we must finish this.”
“Finish what?” Aaron demanded. “She won. You said so.”
He sounds really pissed off. Her mind struggled to figure out why. Then she gave up thinking as more pain in her ribs broke through her consciousness.
“Yes, but she has the right to witness sentencing. It is our law. It will only take a moment.”
Emi groaned as Aaron and Caph helped her sit up. She tasted blood in her mouth and spat in the dirt as she ran her tongue over her teeth. At least she still had all of them.
Mauri addressed the crowd, who went silent. Through her one squinty eye, Emi saw that Rawin and her two friends were now all restrained by guards. “Injuries of body, reputation, and honor have been perpetrated upon Captain Doctor Hypatia and her males. Therefore, as Imperial Ruler, I hereby decree the following—for acting dishonorably and selfishly and lying about innocents, for failing to respect other cultures, and for bringing disgrace to the ruling family as well as to our entire culture, I hereby sentence Mlaui Mil’rawin to five years of forced service to the feral maintenance division, including public and training use as necessary, and permanent revocation of all her rights of honor and ruling family.”
Rawin screamed, begging, tears coursing down her face. “No! Please, Mother, you cannot do this to me! She would not share!”
Ignoring her daughter’s screams, Mauri wasn’t finished. “For assisting in this treachery with expectation of gains, and for lying, I hereby sentence Tor’Galso and Ptau’Baegen to two years forced service to the feral maintenance division, including public and training use as necessary, and permanent revocation of their rights of honor.”
The other women didn’t protest. They just stood there and cried.
“Is this a fair judgment?” Mauri asked the crowd.
They all cheered.
“Any who dispute this ruling? Speak now and be heard, or it shall be so.”
Silence met her statement.
Mauri looked grim. She nodded. “So it is ordered and shall be recorded in the official dockets. Remove the prisoners immediately and remand them to the custody of the feral trainers,” Mauri ordered.
Rawin screamed and struggled as the guards forced her from the arena. The other women quietly went with the guards.
“I also declare,” Mauri continued, “that as diplomatic emissaries from the DSMC, and as the legal mates of this woman by the rules of their society, not to mention as invited guest to our planet, that Captain Doctor Hypatia’s men are, by official diplomatic decree, allowed the freedoms and protections of any honor-bound woman.”
“Including clothes?” Caph quipped.
Mauri smiled and nodded. “Including clothes.”
“Aww. That sucks,” Emi mumbled as she slumped against Aaron, darkness taking her again.
She awoke in the Tamora Bight’s sick bay, on a bunk, with Ford hovering over her. He was now dressed in a casual crew uniform.
“You didn’t waste any time getting un-nakey, did you?” she mumbled. Her lips felt huge, her head hurt like a son of a bitch, and she suspected maybe the other eye was swelling shut, too.
“Honey, you’ve been out four hours. I hung on for as long as I could, but I got a little chilly up here.”
Aaron spoke from somewhere else in the room. Emi hurt too badly to turn her head to look to see from where. “Hey, Caph, she’s awake.”
She felt the other two men cross the room and stand at her side. Aaron gently stroked her forehead. “You all right, Em?”
“Oh, sure. Feel great. Let’s go for a jog.”
He laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “There’s my girl. I’m so proud of you.”
She felt Caph’s enormous hands engulf hers. “Fuck, babe. I was so goddamned worried about you there at the end. I was afraid she was going to hurt you.”
“She did. She didn’t count on me playing dirty.”
“All right, you two,” Ford chastised. “Don’t make her talk.” She felt a slight sting on her upper lip as he injected medication to reduce the swelling, then again on her lower lip.
“Is she okay?” Aaron asked. “Do we need to get her to a base?”
“She’s no worse off than any of us have gotten in a bar fight. Although that rib will take a few days to quit hurting. I gave her a dose to make it knit, but until it does, she needs to be handled with kid gloves.”
She realized her other hand was still tightly clenched around the rubber spider. She opened her palm and held Bucky up to Caph. “Here,” she whispered. “Hold on to this for me until I feel better.”
He laughed. “Is that what you threw at her?”
Emi managed a nod.
“Okay,” Ford scolded. “Leave her alone. Now. You can sit and stare at her, but quit making her talk, goddammit. She needs her rest.”
As she drifted back into unconsciousness, she felt Caph start to massage her feet while Aaron laced his fingers through hers and rested his head on the bunk next to her.
She opened her eyes and realized both eyelids now obeyed commands from her brain. Ford had been trained as a medic, but with all the fights he and Caph had been in, he probably relied more on his practical memory than any training to get her body healed to this point. Still, she hurt like hell.
Ford’s concerned, blue-eyed gaze came into view. “How you feeling, sweetie?”
“Like I had the crap beat out of me.”
Caph, who’d apparently been sitting with his head resting on the end of the bunk, sat up. “Hey, babe.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I love you.”
She felt for and found his hand and squeezed. “Love you, too, big guy.”
“She’s not dying,” Aaron quipped from somewhere out of her range of vision. She sensed him walk over. Then he appeared, standing next to Ford.
He gave her a smile. “Feeling better?”
“A little. Help me sit up, please.”
All three leaned in, nearly bonking their heads together in the process. “I’ve got her,” Caph tersely said. The other two backed off and let Caph help her. He kept an arm around her, protectively tucking her close to his body.
Emi suspected he’d never leave her side if it wasn’t for the fact he had to take turns with the others doing watches.
She placed a hand on his chest as a wave of regret washed over her from him. “Caph,” she gently said, “you and Ford didn’t do anything wrong.”
His gentle face clouded. “I wanted to kill that bitch,” he said. “If I’d been able to get up off that bench, I would have. I felt so damned angry and scared for you. It’s our job to protect you and I couldn’t.”
She glanced at the other two men and saw their sad expressions. They felt the same, to a lesser degree than Caph. Their sadness was more for the large man than it was over their own feelings. She tipped her face up and kissed him. “I’m okay. How about you carry me back to our cabin and help me get a shower?”
Before Ford or Aaron could respond, she found herself in Caph’s arms and being carried out of sick bay.