“She is mine!” he said, his voice a low, deep threat.
The words made Rowan shiver. She would be going from one beast to another. Was this truly to be her fate? All for rejecting the captain? For shaming him?
“Silas!” came Commander Norrin’s shout.
The guards entered and tried to pull the large man off but they looked like flies next to the sheer bulk of him in this tiny room. Rowan watched the captain’s face, saw the look of terror in his eyes. His pants had fallen to his ankles and his penis had shriveled to nothing. Rowan sat back on her heels, hoping Silas would snap the captain’s neck, wondering who was the greater evil out of these three men.
“Do not touch what belongs to me,” Silas said, pulling the captain’s head forward before slamming it hard against the wall. Captain Amro’s eyes looked strange for a moment and his body twitched in an unnatural way. Silas let him drop unconscious to the floor then and turned to the two guards who immediately stepped back from him.
“Silas,” Commander Norrin said in an attempt to regain control of the situation.
Rowan could see the momentary spark of fear in the commander’s eyes. Silas was bigger than all of them. Yes, they could use their guns to kill him but for some reason, they needed him. It was the only reason Rowan could think of that they hadn’t killed him or chained him up yet. They needed him.
“I will deal with Captain Amro later,” Commander Norrin said, glancing down at the motionless body on the floor.
“She belongs to me. No one touches her from here on out but me or the contract is null. You agreed to my terms. I require a virgin and until I have finished with her, no one touches her.”
Contract? Finished with her? What was to be her fate?
“I said I would deal with him,” Commander Norrin repeated, his voice tight.
It took him a moment, but Silas nodded and turned to look at Rowan. He was a mercenary, out for his own gain. All savages were. She knew that much.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, his voice just a hair different than when he’d spoken with the others.
She shook her head no, her eyes growing wider. She noticed in that moment that he looked directly at her, directly into her eyes. He wasn’t afraid of her as the citizens of the colony were.
Silas nodded.
“Ah,” came Commander Norrin’s voice. They all turned to find two slave girls standing outside the doors, each carrying a sack. He then turned to Rowan who remained as she was, staring, frightened. “On your feet, breeder.”
She struggled to do as she was told, her chains making balance difficult. Silas reached a hand to take her arm. His touch was warm, his hand warm and gentle even for the calluses she felt. But maybe that was her mind comparing his touch to that of the others, of the guards and of the captain, of the doctors. As large as his hand was, when he lifted her to stand, he didn’t hurt her.
“What a gentleman,” Commander Norrin said, his tone sarcastic.
Silas released her but she could see him fisting his hands at his sides. Commander Norrin’s glance told her he didn’t miss it either. He cleared his throat and looked straight at her.
“Breeder, as a part of the sentence for your horrendous crimes, you are being given to this man, Silas, to be used as he pleases and ultimately, to breed you.” A long silence followed where Rowan glanced at the large man at her side then back at Commander Norrin.
“I don’t understand,” she managed.
“You are being expelled from the colonies. Is that clearer?” he asked, his tone mocking.
This did not make sense. She was a breeder. Did they then not plan to breed her themselves? Why give her to a man outside of the colony?
“I am to bear children by this man?” she asked, her mind processing.
“You will belong to him until you bear two children, both breeders like yourself: one to take the place of the breeder you murdered and the other your contribution to the colony. Each breeder child will be taken from you eight weeks after birth and brought back to the colony to be raised properly. Once you have fulfilled your obligation, your penance will have been made and you will be allowed to rejoin the other breeders in the colony for further use.”
They would expel her then take her children from her. Children were always removed from the breeders’ care after a period of eight weeks, the essential time for nursing. If they themselves were born with the gene to breed, they were allowed to live within the walls of the breeders’ hold. They were the lucky breeders, those birth mothers, if there were any lucky ones in this.
After the eight weeks, their milk was unnecessary and the children were given to the childless women of the colonies or sent to the settlements to be cared for and raised while the breeders would have recovered sufficiently to be bred again. At least the other breeders could sometimes see their children. She would not even be allowed that.