Chapter Fifteen

Strangulation Works Better

Favel got a blow torch out in the workshop and superheated the lock until it fell off. Carefully, he opened the lid. Inside, the chest was filled with the black crowns they were looking for. Jenna started counting them and got to thirty-six before she quit.

“That’s a lot,” she said in wonder.

“It is,” Favel agreed. “I wonder if Letty had all the crown stashes, but I’m not sure how many there were in the first place. Regardless, you’re a star diplomat, Jenna,” Favel bubbled in his excitement. “Is there anything else you need to do on Earth before we go?”

“No,” she said, thinking of all the loose ends she’d tied up. “Let’s go now. I’ll get in my pod.”

“Wait,” Favel called to her before she stepped outside. “I have to tell you some unfortunate news.”

Jenna leaned her elbow against the frame of the door. “I already know you didn’t give me any underwear when you dropped that bag in the tank. I bought several sets on the credit card number you gave me already. They’re in my pocket. I hope that’s okay,” she said easily because she didn’t care if it was okay or not.

“No. It’s um… about Armen and Lucy.”

“Are they okay?” Jenna asked, masking her actual emotions with a look of concern that showed on her face.

“Yeah, they’re okay. They landed on a planet that was more land than water, and they escaped their pod and found a place to hide until the Adamis military found them.”

“That’s great,” she said enthusiastically, appearing to hide her emotions effortlessly.

“Yeah… it is great, except I heard something troubling over the communications feed and I wasn’t sure if you wanted to hear it, but there are some concerns about their conduct.”

“Oh, did they accidentally kill a member of the militia?”

“No. Never mind. I need to talk to Armen about this when we return to Octavia Prime and get the real story from him.”

“That sounds like a wise idea,” Jenna said pleasantly. “Can I head over to my pod now?”

“Of course.”

She paused at the doorway. “You’re a great pilot, Favel. Thanks for coming to rescue me, bringing me here, and staying awake while we travel home.”

Favel did not have lips, but something under his eyes trembled with emotion. “You just called it home.”

“Of course, I did. It’s home. I’ll see you on Octavia Prime.” She swung out of the workshop and onto the grass.

As soon as she was out of earshot of Favel, she muttered, “That sack of lying, gutless, beggar, stupid, sack of dick crumbs.”

“Armen?” Sardius asked, obviously putting some effort into not sounding sexy.

“Yep. Who else? I guess we’ll get the full B.S. spin when we get back to my palace.”

“You like the sounds of those words, don’t you? Your palace?”

“Yep. I do, and I’m going to need to feel that way if I’m going to do this.” She smacked her hands on her pants as if to wash them off and bounded into the pod.

***

Back at her palace on Octavia Prime, Jenna had never seen an octopus attack a human before, but it was soon high on her list of guilty pleasures. Favel had stopped making sense, the words that snuck between his tentacles didn’t sound like words. He had hoisted himself up on Armen’s shoulders. Octopi didn’t fight like humans and he didn’t slap him around. Instead, he covered Armen’s mouth with one of his larger suction cups and seemed intent on smothering him. Armen had stopped making any sound with his mouth at all. Instead, he kicked with his legs and used his hands to try to pry Favel off his face.

Jenna was spellbound. She had never seen anything so excellent.

“What’s going on?” she muttered, only loud enough for Sardius to hear.

“Favel is furious.”

“I can see that.”

“No. He’s really furious. Faval does not get furious.” Sardius fought to stop himself from laughing.

“Could Armen die?”

“I don’t know. If Favel doesn’t let go, he will.”

Favel dropped off him and screamed some directions at Armen that didn’t sound like anything to Jenna. Armen dropped to his knees and seemed to be apologizing to the octopus in some archaic way that was too ancient for Jenna to understand precisely.

Favel pointed a tentacle at Jenna. Armen pointed himself toward Jenna before Favel lost his mind a second time and jumped on his back to strangle him.

Finally, Jenna decided it was time to interrupt. “I’m sure you don’t want to kill him, Favel.”

“I really do,” Favel said, clearing the foam from his mouth and falling off him. “I really do. But I won’t. I’m going to cool off. Sardius, make sure Armen explains himself thoroughly before you let Jenna dismiss him. She won’t want to listen to his excuses, but make sure she does.” Favel opened a gateway in the floor to the ocean behind him with a lever and dropped himself into the water, careful to close the door behind him.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

After Favel was gone, Jenna didn’t wait for Armen to finish coughing on the floor before she said, “So, you slept with Lucy. And you need to explain it to me. Why?”

“It’s worse than that,” Sardius whispered.

“I lied to you,” Armen said after he finished coughing, but before his face returned to a natural color. “I told you I hadn’t met her before the three of us met on Octavia Three. The truth was that I went to recruit her before I went to recruit you. I thought she would be an easier target and she was. She was on the boat when I took you out stargazing.”

Jenna was disgusted and it took her a moment to reply. “Fascinating. What does this have to do with me?”

“When I signed the contract to work for the Octavia/Adamis Alliance, I signed contracts that made me your third husband,” he admitted as though he was about to choke on his own tongue.

“My third husband? I didn’t know I had a first or a second husband.”

“Octavians allow themselves to have eight partners,” Sardius explained. “They don’t live like humans, always in the same place and they allow themselves to form bonds, move to a new place, and form new bonds. They love each other no matter what other bonds they’ve created. Because they have eight tentacles, they decided that should be the number of spouses they can have. Obviously, it doesn’t work well for humans, who tend to be unhappy if they even have a double-sided heart. Diplomats to Octavia start out with three spouses. The first one is their own race and it is a prominent, politically driven position. The second husband is an Octavian, showing how much they love Octavian culture. Neither of these relationships is intended to be sexual. They are political alliances that show love and ties to both nations.”

“And the third husband?”

“He’s for funsies. That relationship is intended to be very sexual. It’s a supportive role, with no political advantages. Your third husband is supposed to offer himself completely to you and no political group. He’s supposed to be a joyful servant. That was the role Armen agreed to when he signed on.”

Jenna looked at Armen, soaking wet and gasping. “So, you were sleeping with Lucy before you approached me?”

He nodded.

“That explains your little speech on the boat about how you couldn’t make a move on me before I made a move on you. You had already romanced Lucy, and made some lovey little promises between you… including that even though you were my husband you would not kiss me unless I kissed you. You kept your promise to her by telling me immediately how to sidestep it? That’s classy,” Jenna said with a sarcastic edge. “That also explains why Favel is furious and why you were in my bedroom after my ordeal with the hipposyphis ordering me around like you were in charge. It was never your job to order me around. You were supposed to be acting as my lover. Everyone outside my room thought that was what you were doing when actually, you were just being bossy and making me feel small. Can I get a divorce, Sardius?”

“It’s already been done. The request was processed fifteen minutes ago.”

“Lovely. Can I return Lucy to Earth now? I suppose we can drop Armen off with her if they’re so keen to be together.”

“No!” Armen yelped.

“I’m afraid he’s quite right,” Sardius continued. “Lucy is pregnant. We can’t let her go back to Earth until she’s delivered her baby and they’re sure her child won’t make a mess in Earth’s gene pool. They need a place to crash for the rest of her pregnancy.”

“Do I need to supply them with somewhere to live? Is that why he’s still here?”

“It would be very cool of you to offer,” Armen said with water dripping off his chin. “I gave up everything I had when I signed the papers that made me your third husband: my job, my house, and my ties on Fracios. You have that nice house on Octavia Five…”

“Which you suggested should be one of my gifts,” Jenna said coldly. “Is there anything else he needs to explain, Sardius?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Are you finished?” Jenna asked Armen.

“Can we use that house?” he persisted.

“Sure, as long as you’re not here,” she said, walking over to the ocean entrance Favel had used and flipping the switch to open the door in the floor.

“Are you going to throw me in the ocean?” Armen asked cautiously.

“Why the hell would I do that?” she asked coldly. “Get out of my sight. Get Lucy. Go to Octavia Five. Whatever. I never want to see either one of you again. You can tell Lucy that as long as I’m alive, she will never have a crown. Get out!”

Armen fumbled to his feet. He was saying things, but Jenna wasn’t listening to him as she stood over the rippling water peaking through the ocean entrance at her feet.

He wasn’t leaving the room fast enough. Instead, he was talking. He was explaining what he’d done.

Finally, she understood that he was pleading for her to not make that promise. Both he and Lucy still wanted to be diplomats. They thought they were going to be. Lucy was going to get the crown she’d always wanted and he was going to continue on as a diplomat, but with a much better job. He’d promised her they both would. That was their dream together.

Except Jenna was realizing how they intended to use her to accomplish their dream. Armen was supposed to be her husband, but he was never going to give her his whole heart. Just like he said on the boat. He was never going to touch her first. He was never going to kiss her first. Even though the paperwork he’d signed was his oath to love only her, he had broken it before he met her and gone to recruit her cousin before her because she was easier.

Jenna stared at him. She couldn’t believe he had the gall to tell her the things that were coming out of his mouth. As she listened to him, her eyebrows pulled together like storm clouds and her mouth became an ugly line.

“Jenna,” Sardius interrupted, his voice coming from her earpiece. “This house is equipped with rail guns as well as surveillance equipment. Would you like me to shoot at him?”

“Yes,” she said, her expression stiff.

Pew!

The shot was fired on the floor four feet in front of Armen, but he got the message and scuttled out, asking her in his last moments to think about what he’d told her.

When he was gone, Jenna dropped to the floor where she stood and let her legs hang in the water. “We need to do something to punish them as well as cut ties with them,” she said numbly.

“You need better gifts,” Sardius agreed.

“Will you help me negotiate for something better?”

“Of course. This has been a debacle from the beginning. What’s most confusing is that the Adamis boys couldn’t make the situation clear to you. Surely, they could have done something to let you know the severity of the issue without abducting you.” Sardius found something in that line hilarious in the last line he spoke, but Jenna wasn’t in the mood to untangle it.

“Did you see the scratch marks Charm left on Armen and Lucy? I should make them take care of her as a way for them to pay rent while they live in my house.”

“If you like,” Sardius said, his tongue clicking against his front teeth… if he had front teeth, but Jenna struggled to listen.

She was so angry, her brain wasn’t responding.

Trying to rewire herself, she untied the wrap dress she was wearing and tossed it on a nearby chair. She stood in her underwear, pulled a hair tie from her wrist, and tied her hair back. “I want to talk to Favel.”

“If you’re diving in that water, grab an air tank,” Sardius said urgently. “There’s a bunch ready to go on the wall to your right. Are you really just going to dive into the ocean in your underwear?”

“I have lived near the ocean all my life. I know how to scuba dive and who’s going to see me except a bunch of naked fish..” She grabbed the air tank and put it on perfectly.

Then she dropped herself into the water and swam through the darkness while Sardius chuckled.