Page 117 of Trove’s Purpose

“Hyde,” Chee said gently.

“Let me have my fun,” they laughed. But when the silence just continued, they gave in. “Oh, very well. There were two different jobs here, and two different things being proven. The first was the retrieval of this artifact of my people, and thereby proof of the skills of your crew. Not just in being trustworthy enough to bring such a valuable item to me, even after you had been paid for it, but also in being able to get it from Rinnicks in the first place. She is an inherently greedy female, and I knew offering her the moon would not be enough. She would want to ask for more. She always does. And that painting she got from you was one she had been wanting for a long time but had no means to obtain. I just gave her access to your skills and let myself bear witness to what you would do.

“And true to my expectations, you did fantastically. Not only did you obtain my cup and bring it to me after being paid, not before, while knowing exactly how valuable it is, but you told not a single person what you were doing or why. Also, in obtaining that painting for Rinnicks, despite how easy it would have been, you did not kill anyone. Though I know Trove was tempted by that baemoth male, you held firm to your convictions, even knowing it would make things more difficult.”

Trove, stunned, reared back. “How did you…”

“How did I know?” The Imperium chuckled, like Trove was a child who had just said something adorably innocent. “You think there is anywhere in my cosmos that I cannot go or see?”

Trove felt a wave of ice rush over him. Because there was no way this person could know. Alred had disabled all the cameras at that point. Nothing was recorded. Nothing was seen. No one had spoken of that moment after it happened.

So how…?

“Regardless, your crew has done an amazing job. I am quite impressed. It is an audition that you passed with rainbows – as the humans say.”

“Flying colors,” Chee corrected, smiling softly.

“What?”

“The phrase is ‘passed with flying colors’. Not rainbows.”

“Is that not what a rainbow is? Flying colors?”

“No. I mean, yes, in a way, I guess, but that’s not…” Chee floundered as she tried to think of a way to explain the idiom but came up short.

“Eh, regardless, the point is that I am impressed with you and your crew, Tanin. You are of unequalled moral character. There are very few like you in existence, I hope you know.”

“You have not explained yourself,” Tanin said, voice tight, not at all pleased by the praise. “How did you know that Chee was Trove’s mate?”

The Imperium just laughed. Careless, unconcerned, amused. It was such a carefree sound. There was power in that. The Imperium was untouchable, unafraid, and unequaled. They weren’t at all scared of Tanin’s temper or the inherent threat just in having them there.

“The second thing to be proven through the second job was if I was right. The entire reason I brought Chee here from Earth, the only purpose in her being here, was to mate you, Trove. I needed to prove that my theories were correct, and this seemed like the perfect test. A male that had no interest in mating, who did not at all wish for a mate. A female who had no reason at all to ever want to leave her planet and would not have if it were not needed. A pair that, under normal circumstances, would never meet in the entirety of their lives. A mating that, by all circumstances, would not happen. Moreover, neither of you had submitted a scan to True Match. You were perfect for my experiment.”

“Experiment,” Trove repeated, his belly sinking and hardening with a combination of pain and anger that broiled furiously inside him.

They were an experiment.

“Hyde,” Chee said again, frowning at him.

“It is the truth,” they said carelessly. Absolutely ambivalent to Trove’s rising temper. “My people have certain… abilities, let us say. But I never thought to utilize them for something like this. Not until True Match came along. The science they perfected in scanning and matching the subspace wavelengths of a person to find mates is unparalleled. Unprecedented. I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it. But I knew I could use it for myself, if I could just prove that it was possible for me to do so.

“I have my own goals, you see. My own plans. But before I could start all that, I needed proof. And time. You see, it wasn’t easy for me to find your mate, Trove. There was a high chance I couldn’t. I didn’t know who it was. I had an entire cosmos to search. I could have searched forever but never found her. But my own personal… abilities, let’s call them, gave me an edge. And I was able to dedicate all of my time to the search for at least one of your mates.

“I have had my eye on you all since you escaped Rik-Vane. I have been watching you long before Captain Ikvar ever caught you in his sights. I’ve paved the way for you at a few points. I’ve led certain jobs to you. I’ve watched you make certain decisions. I’ve been measuring and weighing you for a while. And I have been searching for a mate for one of you almost that entire time.”

“You what?” Tanin hissed, his quills raising on his head.

“Do you really think you’re the first to escape Rik-Vane?” The Imperium’s voice was pleasant, but the implication was chilling,

Not that others had escaped, but what must have happened to them.

What could have happened to Trove and the others.

If it weren’t for the whims of this person.

“I usually have them killed,” the Imperium said so easily. Like it was nothing. “Those who choose a life on Rik-Vane are, typically, quite irredeemable. They don’t make the same decisions you did. They lack your moral code. They lack the control, Tanin, that you maintain over your crew. I do not lie when I tell you that you have impressed me. Take it for the compliment it is.”

It didn’t sound like a compliment. It sounded like the mercy of an executioner who had decided the criminal on the block should have a chance to redeem themselves. They were absolutely not innocent, but they were allowed to live.