been married—and yes, we had a marriage license approved earlier today by the Sumlin District council. Marriage laws predate the laws concerning retribution rights. Layla is safe and legally protected. Furthermore, you know as well as I that it takes a majority vote from the High Council to charge me with treason or strip me of my position as General. No such vote has been called yet, or I would have been invited to the session to defend myself and answer questions.”
Vavvis went pink. “You married that human?” He slammed his sword in the dirt.
“I did,” Zamek replied with a smile, turning his battle-ax in his hand, his manner casual by outward appearances only. He was acutely conscious of the balance of the weapon and the distance between himself and Vavvis. One calculated toss and he could split Vavvis’s skull in two.
“Councilors Horth and Crozz intend to call for a vote soon!” Vavvis cried out, his tone that of a petulant child who wasn’t getting his way.
“As is their right,” Zamek said, “though I doubt it will do them much good. My friends in the High Council assure me that a majority will not be reached.”
Vavvis’s face paled another shade of pink. “You-you have friends in the High Council?”
As he continued spinning his battle-ax, ever so slowly yet carefully, Zamek nodded. “Many friends.” Many might be a stretch, but he had enough, and that was all that mattered now.
“Then I challenge you for your position as General!” Vavvis yelled.
“Ah, and there it is, the real reason you’re here. You thought I would be easily disposed of, didn’t you?”
The commander growled, and the two warriors with him started to back away. They were young and Vavvis had likely manipulated them into joining his doomed cause, no doubt with promises of a High Warrior medal.
“Where are you going?” Vavvis said, spinning on his companions. “We must fight!”
“You tricked us,” one of the warriors said. “You told us General Zamek had already lost his position as General. You told us the vote had already taken place and that he’d been officially charged with treason too.”
The two warriors sheathed their swords and returned to the airship.
Vavvis sputtered and once again slammed the tip of his sword into the dirt.
Zamek glanced at an amused looking Xazzok. “I don’t believe I’ll have any difficulty slaying this ummkka on my own. I hope you’re not upset that you won’t be needed in the fight, cousin, though I am deeply honored that you took up your sword on my behalf.”
Xazzok chuckled and stepped back. “This ummkka is all yours,” he said with an elaborate gesture at an increasingly pink-faced Vavvis.
“Better move back a bit farther, cousin, to avoid the blood splatter.”
“Good idea. This is why you’re the General.” Xazzok laughed again and Zamek found himself joining him. It would be an easy fight, too easy. But the commander wasn’t fit to breath Kall air, let alone continue to lead warriors. He’d conspired against Zamek and his family—for Layla was now his family—and for that the dishonorable male would die.
“Why are they just standing there talking? And why did those other warriors return to the ship?” Layla asked, her stomach tightening with worry as she peered out the second-floor window, where they had a much better view than in the downstairs sitting room.
“I sensed feelings of betrayal in them, but now they are too far away, and I can no longer detect their emotions. That probably means Commander Vavvis tricked them into coming here and they are refusing to fight, as they don’t view the fight as righteous.”
“Oh. Well, that has to be good,” Layla said. “But why won’t they turn on the commander and join Zamek and Xazzok?”
“Because it’s no longer their fight,” Fallonn said.
Layla supposed that made sense. Sort of. For all the years she’d spent studying Kall culture, the aliens still confounded her now and then. But they were a warrior race whose sense of honor ran deep, she reminded herself. The two males who’d retreated into the airship likely viewed Commander Vavvis as Zamek’s fair kill.
When Xazzok backed up and appeared to be chuckling about something with Zamek, Layla emitted an exasperated sigh. “I can’t believe they are joking around and having a laugh right now. This is serious.”
Fallonn patted Layla on the back. “I sense Zamek’s confidence. I am sure he will—ohhhhh! Look away!”
In the time it took Layla to blink, Commander Vavvis had withdrawn a knife from his boot and hurled it straight