Changing of the Glads (19 page)

CHAPTER 19

All reason fled.  Nostrils flared and eyes narrowed, Max stared momentarily at the woman in the cage before a low growl formed in this throat.

Platy shrank back to the bars of the cage, which nestled against the side of the ship.

As if mere iron could stop him. Max’s fingers rolled into fists, and his face reddened. 

“You!”   He spat the word like blood brought into his mouth from a blow.

The memory of being in the forest, hiding behind a tree as Platy and her trackers dragged Zalphia away, seemed only moments ago.  He would have never put Zalphia’s life in jeopardy by taking Platy down at that time.  But she held no such bargaining chip now.  The helplessness he felt then fled.    If there weren’t bars separating them, Platy would already be dead.

A roar filled the cargo hold as Max charged.  He rammed a shoulder against the cage, tipping it on edge and throwing the helpless woman to her knees.  She scrambled for a foothold while mere inches separated his fingers from her.  He backed away, allowing the heavy box to bounce against the floor, throwing the occupant forward.  But she twisted and regained her footing.

He took two steps back, adjusted his position, and charged again.  The trainer braced herself, but the momentum threw her into the corner, and her head bounced against iron with a solid
thunk.

The sound was like music to Max’s ears.

In spite of the blow, Platy still managed to roll out of reach. 

If only the bars were a little further apart or his arms were thinner. 

Platy twisted and turned, evading capture.

“Damn you,” Max growled. 

He dropped the weight of the cage, throwing the woman forward.  His fingers skimmed across her arm, but she tugged free.  He had to give her credit for being quick and slippery. A moment later, he grabbed a piece of clothing, but it tore away in his hand.

“I will kill you!”  He threw the material to the ground and again tipped the cage on end.  Platy slipped and lost her footing, and her head slammed against the bars.  In one quick motion, Max dropped the cage and moved to the side, but she slid out of reach.

“You cannot get away.  Before this trip is over, I
will
choke the life from you with my bare hands.”

Max continued to rock and shake the cage.

“Please,” Platy begged as she slithered across the bars.  “I can help you.  I can get Zalphia out of the palace in one piece.”

“Why should I listen to you?  You are in just as much trouble as she, are you not?  I am sure the Emperor will punish you for cheating.  Besides, you must pay for taking Zalphia from me while we were in the wilderness. And as for Zalphia, I will save her!”

“No, listen to me.  I
can
help you.  I know someone inside the palace.  How do you think I found out about the chip technology?  He gave them to me.  He showed my physician how to implant them.  He has a stake in Zalphia and her career as a Glad.”

“Exactly! You all want her to continue to fight.  I will not have it.  Never again.  I will tear her from the Emperor’s grasp, and together we will destroy all those in power.”  He glared through the bars at the captive woman.  “And you, Platy, will be the first to feel my wrath.”

He lifted the cage from the bottom and tipped it on its side.  Platy crashed against the bars.  As quick as a flash, Max righted the cage and tilted it toward him.  The motion threw Platy right into his waiting hands.

With his fingers wrapped securely around her throat, he smiled as he slowly tightened his grip, giving her plenty of time to think about her lack of oxygen. 

Frantically she dug her fingernails into his hands. 

“I hate to tell you this, Platy.”  He lifted his brow.  “We do not need you to escape.  Zalphia and I can do whatever we want.  You should know that.”

Max loosened his grip enough to allow her to speak.  “Tell me what you told the Arena General.”

Platy coughed.  “I suspected...” she said in a raspy voice.  “You... are... the prophesied couple.”  She pulled at his hands. 

Maximillion’s eyes narrowed.  “So what does that have to do with the Emperor?”

“Promised...” Platy coughed some more.  “Reward.”

“I see.  And I suppose you’re hoping for that reward?”

She nodded.

Max’s fingers tightened again.

“Wait,” Platy managed.  “Zalphia... pregnant.  Child of prophecy.”

“How does the Emperor know about Zalphia’s child?” Max glared at her and loosed his grip enough for her to answer.

“Same way he knew she had mental powers.”

“And...?”

“I told him.”

Gasping, Max pulled his hands away.  Everything that had happened to Zalphia had been because of Platy.  He staggered back a couple of steps. 

“Yes.”  Platy fell to the floor of the cage.  “You see now why he won’t kill me.  But I could convince him to let you and Zalphia return home, to Selestia.”

“You know why we are here then?”

Platy nodded.  “Yes.  But the Emperor is only concerned about the child.  You two could leave.”

“Then you see exactly why you must die.  He cannot have the child.  I will kill you, and anyone else who stands between Zalphia and freedom.  Our child will be born if I have to destroy this planet to accomplish it.”

“Let me live.  I’ll help you.”  She eyed him.  “Vitus trusts me.  You don’t know who I am to him.” 

“What do you mean?  Who are you?”

“I’m his soon-to-be Empress.”

Max gasped.  “Then why are you in a cage.”

“Because.”  A wicked smile spread across Platy’s face.  “Only those in residence at the palace know who I am and my connection to the Emperor.”

“No, it cannot be.” Max fell back another step.  “You are lying.”

“I’m not.  Vitus trusts me.”

“He may trust you, but I do not.”  Max strode forward, reached through the bars, and grabbed Platy’s arm.  “If I could read your thoughts, I am sure I would find that you are trying to deceive me.”  He pulled her to the bars and again placed a hand around her throat.  “You deserve to die for all you have already done.”

Platy’s puny efforts couldn’t stop him as Max dug his fingers deeper into her skin. 

“No, please,” she begged. “He’s been bedding me for as long as Zalphia’s been fighting.”

Max pulled his hands away as if she had turned to a hot ember. 

“This cannot be.  Vitus has a family on Selestia.”

Platy fell to the floor coughing and sputtering.

“Tell me it is not true.”

She shook her head. 

“Can’t,” she whispered.  “It’s true.”

Vitus had taken her into his bed over and over.  He promised to make her his Empress.

“This can’t be.”

Platy shook her head, and Max saw the truth in her eyes.  Vitus had forsaken all. Selestia, his family, and his mission to save this planet.  And once he’d destroyed Zalphia and her child, no one could stand in his way.

Max stalked back and forth like a tiger in a cage, his eyes flitting to the trainer then back to the floor. How could he trust someone like Platy?  Someone who had tortured and almost killed the woman he loved?  Someone who seemed to know from the time they were small how they had been sent to change things. 

He whirled around to face her.  “How do you know so much about us?  About Vitus, Zalphia, and me?  How could you possibly have positioned yourself to gain the favor of someone from Selestia?”

Platy sat, fingers rubbing the welts around her throat.  She chuckled softly.  “It’s not like you are the only four who ever visited.  Your people used to come in hoards, grabbing a person here or there and doing God knows what to them, and then setting them back into their lives with big holes of time in their memories.  The stories go on and on.”

“How do you know about this?  I do not believe it.  Those on Selestia are not concerned with coming and taking a human for a ride or interfering in their affairs.”

“Aren’t they?  Really!  Strange you should say that because it seems to me you people from Selestia are always here interfering.  I have a case in point right in front of me.  Vitus and his brother came.  And now you and Zalphia are here.  Don’t you think they’ve sent others before you?”

Max leaned against the wall.  Ships regularly left their planet on fact-finding missions, but they had strict instructions to only observe, never contact humans, or let themselves be seen.  If
what Platy said were true, it just might be someone from Selestia who started the mess on this planet to begin with.  And they might still be working against those trying to save it. 

Max slammed his shoulder into the cage, throwing Platy into the opposite bars, causing a hollow thud as her skull connected with the steel.   He then marched as far away as the small ship would allow and sat atop a wooden crate.

When Platy sat back up and her breathing quieted, she turned to him.  “I’ll do whatever you want.  The Emperor won’t know you’ve followed Zalphia here.  No one will find out.  Together we can save her.”

Max’s hands trembled, and he fought the urge to again put them around her neck.  If he could just talk to Zalphia, he might be able to teach her how to shield her thoughts from Vitus.  However, the chips Platy implanted already blocked anyone from reading her mind.

The last thing he desired was to form an alliance with this vile woman, but he had no idea how to get Zalphia away from the palace without some sort of help.  And then there were the chips Platy controlled.  Too well-laid traps.  Too many people fighting against Selestia’s plan to save this world.  Now, it was painfully obvious what happened to their sons.  They had become the root of the problem on this wretched planet.

“Okay, tell me your plan.  It better be good, or I will finish the job I started.”  Max’s eyes narrowed as he waited for Platy’s reply.

“They’ll take Zalphia to the infirmary before she goes before the Emperor.  Karaticus will remove the chips I implanted when I got her back.”

Again, Max fought the urge to wrap his hands around her neck and watch her face turn purple.  He took one step toward her.

Platy held up her hands.  “Stop! I know. I shouldn’t have done it.  But she could only think of you and your time together.  How could I put her back in the arena without tempering her emotions?  You know what that would have done to her.  I had to replace that chip.”

“You did that for your own purposes, not for Zalphia’s welfare.”

“How can you say that?  You know what the punishment is for running from the Glad arena.  I saved her, came up with a story about her being electrocuted in her cage. You should thank me.  I saved her from the stones.”

Max rushed to where Platy rested against the bars and barely missed grabbing her as she slid away.

“Thank you?” he roared.  “I should rip you apart for all but killing her while we were in the woods.  You have only done what would help you.  Do not pretend any concern for Zalphia.”

Platy shook her head.  “You’re right.  I wanted my Glad back.  But how could she fight again if I hadn’t done it?”

“That is all you cared about, making money.  However, you suspected we would fulfill The Prophecy, and you saw a way to make even more money.  You knew I would follow Zalphia wherever she went.  You hoped to deliver the both of us to the Emperor.  Well, I will tell you what.  You will never remember this conversation or what you know about Zalphia.”

“No, wait.  I promise to get you and Zalphia out of the palace.  I know exactly how to get Vitus to let you go with the child.”

“And why would you want to do that?”

“I want to be the Empress, and I have pull with Vitus.  Leave me alone, and I promise to talk him into letting you go.  However, there is a catch.”

Max rushed the cage, causing Platy to scurry to the corner. 

“You do not have the right to ask for anything.  Your pay is your life, here and now.”

Platy ran a hand down her face.  “I know, but if you promise to leave this world and take the child with you, Vitus will no longer have to worry about being overthrown.  You see how that would work for everyone concerned?  You’ll get Zalphia and your child.  I’ll have Vitus and become Empress, and Vitus will keep this world for himself.  Win–win all the way around.”

Max’s eyes narrowed.  The Elders would never agree to Platy’s terms, but she could not know that.  “All right, but if you don’t live up to your end of the bargain, so help me... I will kill you.”

She held her hand over her heart.  “I swear an oath. I would never.”

Max nodded.  “Very well.”

***

The side of the ship slid down, creating an opening.  Zalphia paused, staring at where it had been.  “How does that work?” she asked Karaticus.

“I don’t know.  Vitus says it’s sort of a molecular change, but I don’t understand it exactly.  The ship we came to earth in had a mechanical door.  But here, on this planet, Vitus is able to do things he couldn’t back on Selestia.”