“That what?! I was getting my back blown out?! I was screaming too loud?! Yes, I was, and it wasgreat! Again, untilyouruined it! And I will never get that moment back!”
“You got a tip?” Tanin asked, focusing on that as Garnet wiped angrily at her watering eyes. He hated that he couldn’t hold her at this moment.
“We did,” Ikvar agreed, looking between them, as if he was just seeing for the first time where Garnet had chosen to sit. Clearly not having been forced to do so. “We were told that you were taking advantage of the human females placed under your care. That you were exploiting them. And when I found out you had dragged her to the inn, it seemed to be confirmation.”
Garnet was growling – that cute, ineffective human growl. But Tanin remained on topic.
“And who exactly gave you that tip?”
“It was anonymous.”
“I see. And that didn’t strike you as odd?”
“Most of the tips we get are anonymous.” Ikvar crossed his arms. “And I waited until I saw proof of what I heard. You dragged her, physically, to that inn.”
“That was excitement from him, not reluctance from me!” Garnet snapped.
“What happened with King Gissrn?” Tanin asked. “The one who took the females in the first place?”
“You do not have the right to information in an open investigation.”
“I do when it is in regards to my female,” Tanin countered smoothly.
Ikvar huffed, like he was annoyed, but he didn’t argue further. “Unfortunately, the crate we got from you was not tracible back to him. I have only your word that he was the one paying for the females.”
“They were in a crate hepaidme to bring him.”
“And it could be argued that he didn’t know about it and that it was the fault of the crew who got them in the first place.”
“You can just scan their memories to find the truth,” Tanin snapped, finally getting angry. All this time, he thought the keepers were handling Gissrn. Yet they had done nothing?
“The females have no memory of what happened, by their own admission. I cannot scan anything from them. And I cannot just demand a king submit to such an invasive and expensive scan without some kind of evidence,” Ikvar snarled, getting angry at him in return. “I cannotforcehim to do it without that evidence, and only a fool would willingly let me when they know they’re guilty.”
“That still doesn’t excuse this!” Garnet snarled at him through clenched teeth. “You’ve just beenwaitingfor Tanin to mess up somehow so you can go after him! All this time! Instead of focusing on the real bad guy here, you’ve been suspecting Tanin! When he never did anything wrong! He’s innocent!”
Ikvar scoffed at her. “Innocent? You think he’s innocent? Do you know what they called him on Rik-Vane? They called him the Bleeding Shadow. Because you don’t see him until he’s covered in your blood. I might not have proof to put charges against him, but that doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”
Tanin tightened at hearing the old name. On that station, you didn’t give your name out often. Those who gained notoriety often got nicknames from others to whisper about in fear. And once you did, people rarely used your real name. Like it might summon you from the darkness.
Ikvar stood straight, glaring down his nose at him as he recited slowly, clearly, “Tanin A’Faar the Bleeding Shadow. Eefwan the Pacifist. J’tll y Ntlm the Brute,” Ikvar continued listing them off as Garnet frowned in confusion. “Frit and Tirf the Night Stalkers. Uvmont Rutwell the Broken Slave. Kirvan the Unclean. Any of them sound familiar?” Ikvar smirked as Garnet only continued to frown. “Those are the very males you have been traveling with on that lie of a ship. The Humility? Ha! A pathetic joke. Those are the most infamous names on all of Rik-Vane. The most disturbed and haunting killers on that void damned station. A crew of mindless animals that are led by the most feared and disturbed of them all. I might not have the proof to put charges against his name, but if half the things whispered about him on Rik-Vane are true, you’ve mated a psycho so demented, even the denizens of that hovel consider him cruel.”
“So?” Garnet countered. Ending his rant with that simple, almost petulant word. She leaned against Tanin, curling into him. “Tanin has only ever been good to me. To my sister. He’s taken care of us. He’s never once hurt us. He protects us. And clearly, they don’t want to be those people anymore, because I don’t know any of them by those names. The people they were made to be on that station are not the same people that they’ve chosen to become. And that’s all I care about.”
“He will lead you to death and ruin.”
“And I shall go with a smile on my face because he’s the one walking beside me!”
Ikvar snarled, running an annoyed hand down his face. “Female-”
“Ichoseto mate him. No one was taken advantage of. No one was forced. You need me to fuck him in front of you to prove it?! No?! Then, let us go! You’ve got no reason to keep him here!”
“Garnet-” Ikvar started.
“No!” She cut him off, turning on Tanin’s lap again, she slammed her open palm down on the table. She didn’t leave a dent like the captain did, but the sharp slap cut through the air even more effectively. “It is so easy for you to sit on your high horse and condemn him for what he did!”
“My highwhat?”
“But you weren’t in his situation! You didn’t have to survive in that place! When you have no choice, when your survival is the only thing you can fight for, how can someone who’s never had to face that situation ever condemn you? Rik-Vane made him the way he was. But he rose above it. Hechoseto leave that place! He chose to change who he became. They all did! You and everyone else have abandoned Rik-Vane and let it become a lawless place, but there are children born there! Tanin wasbornthere! He never had a chance! And now that he’s out, now that they’re all out, you want to ruin them again?! You’re not saving the universe from killers; you’re only making them kill more! Because they will! Because they will do whatever they have to in order to survive! And right now, that means following the law and keeping their heads down, but if you put them in a corner, you’re going to drive them right back into being those people they’ve chosen not to be! Have they hurt anyone since they’ve been out?! Have they killed anyone?! Or have those names all died? Have those notorious killers ever raised their heads, or have Sorbet and Tebros and Sway and everyone else been living as normal, hardworking, delivery boys? Huh!?”
