Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 47529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“They suffer in filth, they are subject to violence. They are unable to govern themselves effectively and there has not been a day since they were conceived of that they have ever known peace. The humans of Earth live short, brutal lives of savagery.”
He turns around to gesture at my brother and me, and Jen.
“The house of Voros claims to love humanity, but they only ever save a few of them at best, picking a small number of humans to be pets, ensuring their profit margins remain obscenely high and controlling the market! Wrathelders wish to truly save humanity, and that means bringing as many here as possible, not to mention, making humans affordable for every Euphorian who wishes to own one, or perhaps two, or an entire breeding family!”
There is a cheer from those in the public gallery who are no doubt shareholders in Wrathelder’s companies and more specifically, in this new venture. This meeting is tactically stacked to try to sway the council. I can admit, if I knew nothing about Earth, I might very well be swayed by the passion of Phenix’s argument. It sounds reasonable if you know nothing about anything.
Suddenly, in the midst of his stirring conclusion, a voice comes from very near my elbow. It is loud and strident.
“Oh fuck off!”
Jen is on her feet. Jen is on her feet, on the table. She moved with a speed impressive for anybody, let alone a human. I reach to grab her, but she jumps forward over the table, forgetting the leash. It snaps hard around her neck, and mercifully breaks.
My pet is now loose in the council chambers. She rushes up to Phenix, and though she is just barely over half his height, somehow still manages to get in his face.
“We’re not savages, and we’re not suffering. He’s talking complete bullshit. I’ve been trying to get back to Earth since I came here. Why would I do that if it was an emergency there?”
Phenix turns to the council, and then to the audience with a smug smirk on his face.
“Typical. Arkan Voros brings his trained pet here to parrot lies to you all. Her words prove my point. Not his.”
An expression of outrage and horror crosses Jen’s pretty face. “Do I look trained to you, bitch?”
There is a collective gasp at her blunt and bold rudeness.
“Arkan Voros, control your human!” The chairman of the council, Kento Fosgrip, makes the demand. His green and gold hair flows about his head in offended waves as he shakes that same head in disapproval.
“I’M NOT HIS HUMAN. I’m MY human!” Jennifer practically explodes.
Phenix’s expression is smug and patronizing as he chooses to wind her up further, turning a scene into a spectacle. “You’re a trained little monkey, dancing to…”
He gets what he wants. We never get to hear the end of Phenix’s insult, because Jen jumps to give herself momentum and reach, and drives her small fist right into his nose, busting it open in a cascade of very unbecoming blood.
Phenix Wrathelder, patriarch of his name, staggers backwards, shocked. He’s never been hit in the face before. Not like this. Not in front of every respectable member of society. Not by a diminutive human woman who refuses to take his arrogance and has less than no respect for him.
“That’s for Zain,” she says, immediately making the entire situation exponentially worse by referencing our most murderous and criminal sibling.
I cannot let this continue. I vault the table and whip her up into my arms, tossing her over my shoulder where she continues to taunt Phenix, who has retreated to his wives with his nose bleeding all down the front of him. It is now Jen’s turn to taunt him.
“What’s wrong? Want to declare a state of emergency, you fucking pussy? You come to Earth, you’re going to get more of that.”
I slap her ass, but not as hard as I should, and I hand her over to Kahn.
“Take her out of here,” I tell him. “I’ll fix this.”
Kahn gives me a furious look, but he does as I ask. Jen shouts the whole time she is being carried out of the chamber, even as loud shot-like sounds emanate from where Kahn’s palm sharply meets her upturned ass.
Once they are gone and order is restored, all eyes are on me, expecting me to explain myself and apologize for Jennifer. I do neither. Instead, I take my opportunity.
“This is what you are asking for. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of these. Not the well-trained, cosseted pets you love, but the kind of human you just saw. Untrained, wild humans who decide their own fate, who not only do not respect our authority, but will wage full-scale war against it. Who breed at a nearly uncontrollable and absolutely exponential rate. Who may very well represent an invasion force. One small female assaulted a high-ranking member of a prominent family in full view of the council and was able to pass his guard. Can you imagine what a veritable horde of them could do? We make humans our pets through careful selection and training. What we do cannot be replicated en masse, and anybody who is arrogant enough to think so will soon end up with more than a bloody nose.”