Free Sons of Lyra: Slave Princess by Felicity Heaton Page B

do
that if I were you, Captain Lyra II.”

    He turned sharply to face
the newcomer. A Minervan mercenary. It was easy to recognise one.
The black and silver flight suit and malicious glint in the man’s
all-black eyes gave him away. His hand locked tight around his
pistol but he didn’t draw it. The Minervan man grinned at him,
exposing the sharpened points of his glistening white teeth. If it
weren’t for such a disgusting habit as that, the Minervans would
have been comparable to Lyrans in their beauty.

    He’d hoped that no one
would know him here. His heart thumped hard against his chest while
he waited to see what would happen. The Minervan mercenaries loved
nothing more than trying to kidnap him or his brothers. The ransom
his parents, the king and queen of Lyra, would pay for their safe
return would set them up as one of the foremost powers in the
galaxy. They knew this and they were intent on getting their hands
on the money one way or another. Not even the Minervan military
were above attempting to kidnap them at times.

    A few of his crew members
returned, their guns instantly locked on the Minervan.

    The Minervan smiled. “I’m
not here to fight. I am here to amuse myself. My ship is in no
state to battle yours.”

    “ Amuse yourself
how?” he said.

    “ With your
ignorance,” the Minervan said.

    The Sekarian trader
babbled something and his attention was back with him. The trader
cupped the woman’s crotch and she whimpered and tried to escape
him. He turned his gun on the trader, torn between protecting
himself and protecting her.

    “ I said I
wouldn’t do that... all that education must have gone to waste on
you.” There was a laugh in the Minervan’s tone.

    He’d learnt enough about
the universe on Lyra Prime to spend years practicing the Minervan
language so he’d never be in a situation with one where he didn’t
know what was going on.

    “ Why not?” he
said.

    The Minervan laughed and
turned away. “Because you own her. The little whore is yours now.
Another time, Captain Lyra II.”

    He stared at the woman. He
owned her? When he got back to the ship, he was going to write an
angry letter to the scientific institute on Lyra Prime. It was time
they made him a translator that didn’t break after barely a week’s
use.

    “ Captain, we
must leave.” The crewman nearest him gestured in the direction of
the ship.

    He continued to stare at
the girl. The Sekarian grabbed the chain attached to the collar
around her throat and held it around to him. He owned her? Had the
man offered her along with the supplies? Did he think he wanted a
pleasure slave?

    He didn’t.

    The woman lowered her head
so her matted long jet black hair covered her face. Her arms
wrapped around herself. She looked so incredibly small and hurt.
His eyes traced the numerous pale scars on her dirty flesh. He
couldn’t leave her here. The Sekarian would probably kill her if he
did.

    He took the chain, bowed
stiffly to the man, and then turned towards the docks. He kept the
chain tight at first, dragging her along with him at a swift pace,
and then slowed once he was out of sight of the Sekarian. The chain
slackened and he looked back at the woman. She was walking behind
him, her head bowed and air subservient. He hadn’t realised just
how little clothing she was wearing. Nothing more than thin scraps
of material covered her crotch and breasts. He wasn’t going to
enjoy walking onboard his ship with her. The scientific institute
were going to get a very angry letter.

    He ignored the jeers and
wolf whistles of his crew as he walked up the ramp of his ship and
through the corridors. A tinny echo followed him as he stormed
towards the rear of the ship, his boots heavy on the black metal
walkway. He opened a door at the end and went to enter.

    The chain tightened and he
turned to see the woman had braced her bare feet and hands against
the doorway. He walked back to her. She gave him a fearful look and
then her