Page 54 of Cheating Fate

The peacekeeping forces such as the Sentinels were one such benefit to protect merchant ships against pirates. The Galactic Alliance also imposed embargos against planets such as Guldar, who openly and proudly derived a large portion of their GDP from the slave trade.

This last restriction had always been one of the main points of contention as far as the Alliance being welcomed in the Eastern Quadrant where I grew up. The two sectors significantly differed on many points. Where most planets of the Western Quadrant still observed some form of religion, mainly worshiping the Goddess, a majority of the worlds in the Eastern Quadrant were atheist. That in itself wasn’t much of an issue, but the slave culture was broadly accepted and dominant in the East.

However, it wasn’t like with the Guldan taking people against their will and forcing them into a life of servitude. The Eastern Quadrant imposed very strict rules defining ‘slavery’ as indentured servitude that one could enter into via a very detailed contract. All parties entered willingly into the agreement with set terms and duration. It was how my mother and father came together with her as his indentured servant for six months in exchange for repaying her debts.

This system worked well for many people, but not so much for others. Either way, it was a choice that people made for themselves. And most planets in the region had zero intention or desire to abolish this practice. The Galactic Alliance refused to soften its stance on slavery, even in a consensually entered contract as we practiced in my home Sector. Therefore, too few worlds chose to join them.

Zerien often criticized the Alliance, describing them as bullies and even implied that they were attempting a hostile takeover that would place the alliance as a tyrannical ruler over every planet from both quadrants. For the longest time, I rejected that opinion, thinking that he was just bitter over the poor treatment his people—the Sarenians—received due to their nasty reputation abroad. Except that nasty reputation had been mostly slander propagated by the Korletheans to hide their own horrible secret of harming so many unsuspecting worlds, including Sarenia. But over the last few years, I’d started seeing the merit of his claims.

It relentlessly pursued Morenor, knowing that it was a core trade hub for countless planets. Then, the Alliance forbade Morenor from continuing business with its former clients until they themselves became members and abided by its rules. This effectively forced those planets to either join or starve. Many of those former clients who refused to submit for various reasons started threatening to blockade all trade ships to and from Morenor until the old deals were restored and honored.

That prompted the Alliance to make its own threat of retaliation in order to ‘protect’ its members. But to everyone, this came across as a manufactured conflict to justify the Alliance attacking and subjugating all the worlds who declined its invitation. This would negatively affect several of my investments, not that I overly worried about it. Even if most of the markets crashed, I had enough money in safe investments and various assets that even if I didn’t work a day in my life, I would still be financially comfortable until I died, and even until my great-grandchildren died.

However, this would hurt many less wealthy planets, including Braxia. Under Ravik, the Braxians had agreed to many societal changes to qualify to join the alliance. With the planet on the verge of bankruptcy at the time, those concessions had been a matter of survival. As they had also been the morally right decisions to make, this had been a positive turnaround for our people. But with the growing control tactics exerted by the alliance, even Keran had started talking about pulling out of the Alliance.

That some attacks had already begun indicated that we were quickly reaching a tipping point. Starve a people, and they would call for blood. The Alliance was starving a lot of people with its pressure tactics. And the Eastern Quadrant was not to be trifled with.

This did not bode well…

Chapter 12

Zharina

Sweat ran down my back as I walked to the armory to put away my weapons, Lenora hot on my heels. I loved sparring with my cousin as she always kept me on my toes and held nothing back. With Aunt Lee as her mother, it wasn’t surprising that she had grown into such a badass fighter. After all, Lee was deemed the best fighter in all of Veredia.

“So?” Lenora asked in a conspiratorial tone, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I need deets!”

I scrunched my face and shrugged. “There’s nothing to say.”

“What do you mean?! He’s been at your house for a couple of days now in a private suite!” Lenora exclaimed, disbelieving.

“He’s injured,” I said in a grumpy tone.

“He’s not that injured anymore!” she countered with a dismissive gesture. “In fact, he’s not injured at all. You healed him. You said he just needs to rebuild his muscle mass.”

I glared at her, wishing she would just back off. But the look in her eyes made it clear she wouldn’t let go unless I brutally shut it down. As persistent as she could be, Lenora understood and respected boundaries. A part of me wanted to tell her to piss off, but the other really wanted someone to talk to. After all, I couldn’t see myself going to my mom to ask her how I should go about convincing my boyfriend that I was ready and willing to have sex with him.

I glanced around us to make sure no indiscreet ears were in the vicinity before heaving a sigh.

“Gavin doesn’t initiate,” I said in a discouraged tone.

The air of sympathy that descended over her beautiful features actually hurt. I didn’t want pity, just solutions.

“Why?” my cousin asked softly. “Did his injuries hurt his libido?”

I snorted and shook my head.

“Oh no, his libido works just fine,” I said, my mind flashing back to the freaking tree trunk between his thighs when he got turned on. “I think he just doesn’t want to come on too strong.”

“That’s a good thing!” Lenora exclaimed in a self-evident manner as we stopped near the bleachers, away from any potential eavesdropper.

“Yes and no,” I said with a pout. “I want him to initiate. We’re both adults, but he’s way too respectful. I mean, I get it. We waited this long, and we haven’t had that much time together in the same space. But we talked for the past fifteen years. We know each other, and we’re soulmates.”

“Then you do it!” Lenora said.

I scrunched my face. “What if he thinks I’m too forward?”

She snorted and gave me an unimpressed look.