Codename: Freedom - Book 5 - Chapter 11

Lex stormed across the room and jabbed his finger in Peter’s face. “You did this. She’s pregnant.”

Peter fell back into his seat and sighed. “Remove the fertilized egg without her knowledge and have it put in stasis.”

“Are you insane? This has gone far enough. The only reasonable action is to destroy the embryo. We’re already guilty of treason just allowing this to continue, and you want to secure evidence against us?”

“What do you think will happen if Victoria ultimately loses the boy and finds out their offspring was destroyed to protect them? In conspiring for your good, you’d condemn her to despair unto death. And even if she finds the will to live, nothing about her will ever be the same.”

Lex licked his teeth but held back his venom, calming himself just enough not to yell. “I know you love her like a daughter. I’ve already agreed to put my life on the line for this, but you’re asking too much. And if put in stasis, it will be generations before it will be safe to let any embryos mature. The way they are going, there will be embryos, plural. And they’re being safe. If it’s a century from now, or more, what’s the point?”

“You touched on the answer in your explanation. Many centuries from now, what possible benefit could a daughter of the Epithumia gain from having the children that belong to her and the only man she ever cared for? After centuries of giving herself and drowning in duty? It could give her life. Purpose. She’d have a piece of something she actually chose and was never required of her. I know the most likely outcome of this, brother.”

Lax spun away and began to pace while gripping the hair on the back of his head. “The boy is a dead man walking.”

“Yes. But he is still walking.”

Lax threw up his hands. “Fine. But what’s the limit? Tens of embryos. Hundreds? Why stop there? The girl can heal herself to disguise all this. If things go well, they could have years together. Let’s make it thousands. Twins aren’t uncommon in her bloodline. With a little help, we could easily make it triplets and quadruplets. How about tens of thousands? With the bloodshed that will likely follow if they’re found out, they might even be able to make up for all of the lives that will be lost.”

“Brother, that’s enough,” Oliver said from where he was seated across from Peter.

Lax lowered his head in a shallow bow.

“We will do as Petros suggests,” the usually quiet man added. “We don’t have to share his convictions. The Ekseliksi don’t do things halfway. We agreed to this so we will take it to its full conclusion. As unlikely as it is, I will not partake in the destruction of what might become the next Telios or Epithumia.”

“Of course.” Lax yielded, returning to his seat.

Their meeting continued until it was just two of them remaining. Peter addressed his friend. “You don’t believe Lucius can become Vasileia and win Victoria’s hand.”

“It’s impossible,” Oliver confirmed.

“Then I must thank you for helping me convince him.”

The man gave him a close-eyed shake of his head. “No matter how small the probability, what I said is true. The Telios is in a constant state of defying death to push the boundaries of the peak of self-evolution. Statistically, he’s also a dead man walking, but he’s defied death for decades. His existence should be impossible, but he’s still here and I don’t foresee that changing regardless of how much time passes. I don’t gamble with the enigma of improbability. That’s why I’m here.”

“Are you sure our friendship hasn’t dulled your reason?” Peter jested.

Completely contrary to the mask he wore in public, the dark-skinned Ekseliksi chuckled heartedly. “Is there any other cause that could make me act so foolish?”

“The right woman?”

“You mean the wrong one.”

They shared a snicker.

Oliver’s expression grew stern. “Answer me honestly, Petros. I know Victoria isn’t yours. I’ve seen her genetic breakdown myself, but the way you spoke of losing one’s offspring… It’s almost as if you’ve experienced it firsthand.”

Peter straightened himself in his seat. He should have denied it and was even prepared to, but after all they’d been through, he inclined his chin and said nothing.

The much more powerful Ekseliksi’s expression didn’t change. His voice carried a deadly edge, “I should find you as quickly as I’m able and execute you on the spot.”

Despite his friend’s threat, Peter grinned sadly. “Maybe its time for me to tell someone. Not a single soul knows besides… Well, her and I. Much of what you know of me isn’t accurate. Rumors rarely are. At least, not regarding Victoria’s mother.”

He didn’t wait to see if Oliver was listening or wanting to hear it. It had been so long since he’d just been honest about everything. He needed this even if it would change one of his only real friends’ opinion of him forever.

“She is true to her Epithumia station. She never betrayed the Telios, Oliver. She never loved him, but she always kept me at arm’s length. I wasn’t hanging around fawning over her, either. There was mutual attraction, and I broke the rules often by letting her know I cared for her, but I was a roguishly strange Ekseliksi convert in her eyes. An interesting puppy that said what everyone else was too afraid to say. The Epithumia is never without admirers.

“I was more fascinated than in love in the beginning. To see someone that so thoroughly sacrificed themselves for her people, and even for a husband she completely opposed… People like her don’t exist in this world, Peter. I’m exaggerating, of course, but my experience with women up until that point was the opposite of her. I was there as much to witness her fall from grace as to love her. I didn’t believe my eyes. I wouldn’t. Then the Gemini incident happened.”

For the first time, Oliver shifted in his seat. He muttered, “The Telios was pronounced dead.”

Peter nodded. “She mourned him to the point of tears, but there was never love. We had four months together in secret. Then as if resurrected from the dead, the Telios’s body was found and he was still alive. She begged me not to leave. She swore it was the happiest she’d ever been. But leaving was exactly what I planned on doing. How could I be around her when he returned, and she had every intention of honoring her station despite what had happened between us? She wanted me around but was incapable of dishonoring her people. So the thing that so fascinated me about her became the thing I hated the most.

“That’s not why I stayed. She was found to be pregnant. There was no choice. No way to hide it as we have now. After the pregnancy was terminated, she was never the same. I was never the same. My love for her was nothing in the face of the loss that I felt. Knowing that she wanted to keep her, our daughter, was the only thing that kept me from despising that woman in the months that followed.

“I’ve always had a thing for kids. I doted on Victoria for years before anything ever happened between me and her mother. So I stayed because my unborn daughter’s half sister was also dear to me. She’s the closest thing in this world to the daughter I never had. That happened more than fifteen years ago. I’ve learned to love Victoria’s mother again even if I haven’t touched her since, but Victoria hasn’t just taken the place of my daughter. She’s the sister and friend my daughter never had.

“Kill me if you feel like you must. Just wait until we’re finished here. I’d welcome it knowing you’re my executioner. I know you’ll keep Victoria safe.”

Oliver swore under his breath. “The fact the Telios hasn’t had you killed is evidence enough you haven’t touched her since, I suppose. I only lament not being able to call you eunuch when you do something especially foolish now that I know the truth.”

A touch of humor returned to Peter’s eyes. “I’ve made a living crafting my pathetic persona. Why stop now?”

“You’ve used it well.” Oliver surged forward, grabbing Peter by the wrist. Holding him there, he swore, “Centuries from now, after your spark of life has diminished, if I remain among the living, I will see to it that the embryos live. If at all possible, they will know their grandfather. The one linked to them by a time-forgotten aunt that the universe will never know.”

It happened too sudden. Threatening him with execution one moment to swearing the ultimate oath the next. Gratitude broke him. A wail rose up inside of him. It took everything not to let it out. He palmed his forehead, gripping his temples with painful pressure. Control returned. Taking a deep breath, Peter gave his friend a beholden nod, and said, “Thank you.”

“You haven’t just saved the Epithumia several times, Petros. You’ve saved my life, and that of my family. I’ll only execute you if I have no other choice.”

In the next instant, all tension disappeared. They laughed.