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Both aliens drew axes from their belts and came together in the center. I was on pins and needles watching their blades clash together. No blood was spilled. The fight was balanced. Both aliens were equally strong. They were skilled warriors. I feared for Zark and his safety. How had it come to this?

I turned to Zedron, the messenger. “Please stop it. Stop them from killing each other,” I urged him.

“I am sorry, Freya. They must settle this,” he replied. “This is the warrior’s way.”

After what seemed like many excruciating minutes, Zark pinned the Aurrakian on the ground and pushed his face into the dirt. He jerked the extra rope from his waist band to hogtie the alien as he writhed about on the ground.

In his native tongue, Zark declared, “I will gut you. I will mark you with your own shit and then hang you up beneath the sun to rot. Even the bloody crows will flee from your stench. Even the vilest beast will not feast on your flesh. When you are near death, I will tear your head from your body and bury it in a swamp of rotting Barb carcasses. And then, I will dump your body in a smoldering pit of lava.”

The Aurrakian spit the sand from his mouth and started pleaded in his foreign tongue. “I surrender. I have wronged you. Have pity. Please.”

By this time, the Aurrakian ambassador was called to the scene. He too apologized profusely to Zark.

“Tekvas was stupid in his actions. He will face punishment. I will send him away when the second ship arrives. We must not let this one act of cowardice and lack of respect stop the progress we’ve made,” the ambassador pleaded. “Hvit’zark?”

Zark loosened his grip on Tekvas, who got up and kneeled before Zark. “I have wronged you. Forgive me. I didn’t know she was your slave,” he panted.

“That was your first mistake. She is not a slave,” Zark growled, then grabbed Tekvas by the head again and slammed him face first back into the ground.

“Hvit’zark, don’t do this. Don’t kill him,” Zedron yelled. “You can trust Ambassador Rakan. Tekvas will be banished from here. These Aurrakians have not yet been acclimated. They do not know our ways.”

“And so, they will learn,” Zark growled, then bent Tekvas back with the rope and twisted the Aurrakian’s arm until it appeared to have popped from the socket.

The alien’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and slumped back to the ground. He must have passed out, either from the pain or the shock, because his chest still rose and fell as his lungs filled with breath.

“Get him off my property. If I see his face again, if he so much as looks at my mate, I will make sure he suffers a violent death,” Zark warned.

The Aurrakians rushed to Tekvas’s aid, picking up his detached arm and wrapping a piece of cloth tightly around to hold it in place. “He ripped it clean off,” I heard one of them say.

“Get him to the medic station at once.” Zedron pointed. “They may be able to save his arm.”

“But the bone is completely shattered,” another exclaimed.

“Well get him there now!” Zedron commanded.

I glanced up at Zark and we came together. He wrapped his arms around me. “You must forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. It was just a misunderstanding.” I said.

Ambassador Rakan appeared before us and said, “My dear, let me apologize for the way Tekvas treated you. That shouldn’t have happened.”

I frowned. “Thanks for apologizing, but I should hope that the builders you brought here aren’t going around assaulting other women. That’s vile and despicable behavior.”

Ambassador Rakan shook his head. “No. Of course not. My builders don’t come across many humans these days. We don’t even have any at our home base anymore. Not us anyway. My hordesmen build. We’re Dravard. We’re not like our cousins, the Tirizar, who fight to relieve tension. We, Dravard, don’t fight, and so, some of us, not all of us, relieve our tension in other ways.”

I shook my head and glanced between the two. I had no idea what Ambassador Rakan was talking about. I’d never learned of these species. It didn’t matter though. Tekvas had no right to do what he did.

“I was not made or brought here for tension relief for your builders,” I replied.

Ambassador Rakan gave a curt nod and shamefully looked down at the ground.

I held tightly to Zark as he exchanged words with the ambassador in the Aurrakian language. After rescheduling their meeting for another day, Zark wrapped his arm around my waist and led me toward the podhouse.

“I should’ve stayed close,” I said.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about things like that. They do not happen here. We do not force ourselves upon anyone—not like that,” he said. “Don’t worry. That bastard will be gone soon less an arm. My message was clear. They cannot come here and treat our women like slaves. I don’t care what their agreement with the King entailed. They cannot come here and assault our women—human or otherwise.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I can’t let anything happen to you. I promised to protect you,” he said.

“And you did.”

“That wasn’t a memory I wanted you to have. I didn’t want you to see that side of me.”

“You mean the side of you that’s honorable and will fight for what he believes in or the side with the big and generous heart?”

He grinned. “Is that what you saw?”

“Yes, and no other memory will compare to all of the happy ones you’ve created with me,” I added, and then pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Let’s go home, my sweet Freya,” he said. “The only voice I want to hear for the rest of the night is yours.”