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Giselle agreed. “Their propaganda starts with their name. If you try to speak out against an organization ostensibly fighting for parity and equity, it makes you look like the bad guy.”
“They’d have a much harder time recruiting if they called themselves Anarchist Rioters, Angry Malcontents, Law and Order Disruptors, or Lying Sons of Bitches.” Millie laughed.
“Exactly.” Giselle chuckled, and then added soberly, “Their public messaging sounds good—until you match it against their actions. However, when something is repeated often enough, fervently enough, people start to believe it. They can’t help it. The mind is like a sponge. When someone hears over and over how the league isn’t trying to combat trafficking but is enabling it, the message sticks.
“And don’t forget the targeted indoctrination of recruits and captives. Those who don’t readily buy into their dogma and pledge allegiance to the GJW are subjected to targeted brainwashing. Those who can’t be brainwashed for whatever reason are eliminated. They purge all dissension.”
That Lomax had supposedly joined these criminals seemed very bad. But he wouldn’t have executed Nadir and Millie. He wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. They might have been able to brainwash him into spouting a little propaganda, but he would not have taken someone’s life. I don’t care what anybody says.
After they deprogrammed him, he’d remember everything, and they’d learn he hadn’t done anything wrong. He seemed normal now. He genuinely regretted whatever he’d done, even though he couldn’t remember it. He was cooperating with the investigation.
He refused to have sex to protect me. Would a dishonorable man do that?
“Kat, you need to be careful,” Millie said.
“Yeah, I’m not sure your dates are a good idea,” Jessie jumped in.
Giselle arched her brows.
Millie gestured at me. “She’s been rendezvousing with Prince Lomax.”
“Oh…” Giselle shook her head. “No, contact is not a good idea. He’s not safe to be around. If he’s been brainwashed, he could be a time bomb.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me. I know it. I feel it.” I pressed my hand to my heart. “Besides, Queen Citrine gave us the green light to see each other. Why would she do that if he posed a danger?”
“Because she’s his mother? Every mother—well, except for my mother—wants to believe the best of her child,” Millie said.
“Queen Citrine supported you and Nadir. And Holly and Aeon, too,” I pointed out.
“That still doesn’t change the accusations against Lomax,” Holly said quietly.
That’s all they were—accusations, guesses. Nothing had been proven. You could say anything about anybody. That didn’t make it true. Not even when it came from an authoritative source.
“All we’re saying is be careful,” she added. “Don’t go alone with him anywhere.”
I pushed away from the table, half my meal uneaten, my appetite gone. I’d assumed my friends would be more supportive. Maybe they were naturally distrustful. Every single one of them initially had thought the worst of their alien bond-mates. Holly had been wary of Aeon at first. Millie and Nadir had seemed to hate each other. Giselle had believed Joule was a slave trafficker. And all of them had been wrong. So, why shouldn’t I strive to see the best in Lomax?
I’d intended to ask for their advice on how to convince him to have sex with me, but I could see now that wouldn’t be a good idea. No doubt his refusal to deepen our relationship would be the one thing they approved of.
“I’m not hungry anymore. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my room.” I went over and hugged Giselle in case I never got to see her again. “I’m glad you came. It was good to see you.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I lied. I left the dining hall.
“Naïve,” I overheard someone say.
“I’ll keep an eye on her…” It sounded like Jessie’s voice.
I didn’t need anyone to keep an eye on me! I wasn’t a child.
Tears pricked at my eyes as I stomped down the long corridor. They’ll find out I’m right about him. He will be deprogrammed and cleared of all wrongdoing! They didn’t know him the way I did. He might look guilty, but the gentle, tender prince I’d met on the spaceship didn’t have an evil bone in his body.
And if trusting somebody until I had reason not to and seeing the best in people made me gullible, well, then I’d rather be naïve than a person who expected the worst all the time. I wasn’t stupid. Of course there were villainous people in the galaxy—the trafficking cartels, the GJW who’d forced Lomax into a compromising situation—but most people were good and kind. Like Lomax.
“Aiyee!” I let out a little scream and stumbled when a tycabee leaped at me from the wall mural. Resembling a panther with antlers, the animal disappeared into the foliage in the artwork. The artwork at the palace freaked me out. I didn’t understand how paint could be artificially intelligent, but it was, so pictures changed without warning.
The murals were like slow-motion vids—not suitable as landmarks to navigate the sprawling palace. Anything on the walls could change or vanish. Head down, lost in thought, I hadn’t paid attention to where I was going, and now I had no idea where I was. Had I turned down the wrong corridor?
