Cache sat in his father's chair, no matter how many times he had been told not to. He liked how the chair itself held power, it made a man sit taller. The large, red fabric back loomed over anyone who walked up to it, except a King. A true King took to the chair like water to rock. Cache knew this chair was meant to be his and not his elder brother, Nalholon. He gritted his teeth at the thought of his brother being crowned king.

His attention was pulled to the far end of the throne room. Nobleman Ivuni barged through the door, dragging a young girl behind him. He pulled on the chain that connected the neck cuff to her wrists, causing her to cry out. Ivuni threw the girl to the ground as the guards thrust their white stun batons into her back.

Cache smirked, watching Ivuni approach his father's throne. He ran a hand through his golden hair, wondering at what the nobleman would want. "I didn't expect you to bring a mistoa scum into the throne room. What is it, Ivuni, can't keep your slaves under control?"

Ivuni cleared his throat, already flustered by the Prince's presence. "I deeply apologize for bothering you, my young Lord. I have urgent business I need to discuss with the King."

"My Father is quite busy today." Cache sighed and he tapped his fingers on the armrest of the throne. "Definitely too busy to be dealing with trash. What is your business?" The King had meetings every day for several days now. Cache was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about.

He peered over at the young girl, recognizing her breeding at once. Tek'arcs were rare enough. Their deep, purple-blue skin was desirable among the alien races. They may be a plague on society, but human and alien males alike would die to get their hands on a Tek'arc female. It was said they were the best in bed.

This one was different though. The white freckles that lined her body made her resemble far-away galaxies that dance in space. Tek'arcs normally didn't have freckles. Despite her beauty, he knew she was a dirty mixed-blood. This made Cache's smirk drop to a frown. If the blood was mixed with anything alien, the person was revolting.

The girl lifted her head to peer back at him, once their eyes met, hers narrowed. Cache gawked at the revolting creature. He had never been glared at by the lower class, much less a slave.

This caught Ivuni's attention. He looked down at the girl. Ivuni's face turned red with anger. He nodded at the guards, jerking his head in the alien's direction. The stun batons all powered on at once before being shoved into the girl's back. She yelped, falling back onto the floor, her muscles spasming. She didn't stay down there for long, however.

The scum got back on her knees. Her glare found its way back to Cache. He sneered seeing what Nobleman Ivuni was talking about. The girl had plenty of audacity, Cache gave her that.

"You little bitch! How dare you disrespect the Prince!" Ivuni yelled.

"What is the meaning of all this?" King Ryn asked. He came from the side room where they held meetings. His golden hair was shoved back from his forehead, and the bags under his eyes were noticeable.

Despite his obvious fatigue, Cache's father was every bit a King. His large and impending presence commanded a room. His hand scratched at his chin as he took in the scene before him. The emerald ring on his pinky finger held the crest of the Wiscard crest and glammed in the bright light that surrounded the throne room.

Ivuni and the guards all bowed as the King waved Cache from the chair. Cache sighed but went to stand beside his father. Cache didn't dare disrespect his father in private, he wouldn't dream of doing it with an audience.

"My Lord," Ivuni addressed the King and continued, "I've been having problems lately with this slave. And now I finally caught her in the act of stealing! And medicine! Of all things, my Lord!"

Cache watched as his father rubbed his white beard and looked down at the slave girl on the floor. He was shocked that his father didn't sentence her to death right there. Medicine was coveted amongst the humans, ever since the alien's disease got out of hand. The slave's glare shifted to the King, despite the stun batons still being a threat.

"Did you ask her why?"

Ivuni's and Cache's mouths flopped like a fish at the strange question. "Well... yes. She gave a pathetic excuse about her brother being sick. It still gives her no excuse to be a thief!"

The King nodded. "You're right. And stealing medicine is a grave offense..." He smiled at the slave girl. "Varsa, am I correct?"

Cache glared at the thieving trash. She didn't answer, just glared with her black, heartless eyes. The guards powered on the stun batons again. The King waved them away.

"There is no need for that."

The King's kindness shocked Varsa, her eyes grew wide. "Yes, My Lord." Her words came out strong, echoing throughout the throne room. "My name is Varsa."

"You have quite a reputation in your community as a thief. I have heard a lot recently of your sticky fingers." His smile grew. Cache could tell his father was planning something. King Ryn always spoke with a slow and calculated tone when he had a plan turning in his mind. "Funny that this is what you got caught over... It must've been for something serious."

"My brother is dying!" She growled as her eyes flickered from Ivuni to the King. She pulled at the cuff around her throat as it cut into her skin. "If he doesn't get that medicine, he won't make it much longer! Please... Master Ivuni, he never uses it. He doesn't need it." Her voice shook with desperation. "He's only ten..."

Cache looked from the girl to his father in disbelief. The girl was clearly lying. She wanted the medicine to sell it for money, or food, or whatever it is the aliens would need. The King's smile, however, dropped. He had always been a sympathetic man. Cache's mother, Queen Cyka, hated him for it. Cache didn't blame her, it made him look weak, though no one would be brave enough to say it to his face.

"I see... Latvis, correct? He's a hard-working boy. Quite liked by his master too." He cleared his throat. "Ivuni, tell your guards to go back to their stations. They're no longer needed. Release her from her chains before you go."

"But-"

"And you can go back home, yourself." He cut Ivuni off with a commanding tone. "The girl will be dealt with accordingly."

The guards left immediately after they removed the chains from her neck and wrists. After a minute of hesitation, Ivuni did too. Varsa stood up from the floor, not once did she bow, not once did she avert her eyes. Cache realized that she wouldn't behave as most slaves would. This infuriated him. They were pure-bloods. Superior over her, she needed to be taught respect. Underneath his animosity to the mistoa, however, curiosity pulled at him.

The King waited until everyone else had left but Cache and Varsa. He took a deep breath

"I would like to offer you a deal."

"A deal? Why, this sounds mighty interesting." His mother's sing-song voice echoed through the throne room. Her voice sounded like music, but there was no love or light behind it. Cache hated how she could manipulate others with her charming voice.

Queen Cyka was beautiful on the outside with her long, wavy brown hair and striking blue eyes. She even had a painted on smirk that never left. On the inside, though, Cache knew she was nothing but cold, cunning and hollow. She was every bit a porcelain doll.

The King gestured to the girl. "I've told you about Varsa, haven't I, darling?"

"Ah, yes. The thieving slave girl. What about her?" His mother's blue eyes pierced the girl but Varsa paid her no mind as Cache thought she wouldn't.

"You said something about a deal?" Varsa's eyebrow arched up, her voice laced with anger. "I have high prices." She crossed her arms over her chest and set her jaw with a quick smirk.

The King laughed. "Oh, I bet you do. I've been watching you, little girl. Very sneaky, very bright. You're exactly the kind of person that could pull this job off. They would never expect a mixed-blood."

"What is the job?" Her face softened as she tilted her head.

"Ancrett has something that the other kingdoms have been dying to get their hands on. They never should've gotten it in the first place." The King's eyes drifted from everyone and out in space; deep in thought.

"What exactly am I stealing?" Varsa shifted foot to foot, she sensed the intensity in the room around her.

"Bellum Inferre." Two words that no one dared to say were out in the open. Even Queen Cyka turned her head from everyone, hugging her chest.

Cache squirmed. Bellum Inferre was used as a beacon thousands of years ago to call on a race of aliens in their time of need. The aliens betrayed the ancients and took Earth as their own. The rest is history.

"You've got to be joking..." Varsa shook her head. "That's a myth. No one has seen or heard of... that in, well, forever. It doesn't exist."

Cache's father nodded. "That's exactly what they want you to think. And the Ancrett family has kept their secret for a very, very long time. Until now. You know the stories, Varsa. The Bell-...the chip can only be used once every thousand years. Well, another thousand will pass in fifteen days-"

"Fifteen days?" Varsa took a deep breath, mulling over the offer. "My price has doubled... no, tripled."

"I apologize for the short notice. We had to be sure the rumors were true before we sent anyone." The King nodded. "Name your price, Varsa."

"Freedom." She stated, malice hung in the air around her. "I want freedom for my mother, brother, and me. I want us to be well taken care of for the rest of our lives. No more working, starving, or sickness. We want for nothing. That is my price." She paused as she thought. "And the medication that will save my brother, he won't last fifteen days." Varsa crossed her arms over her chest. "I will do it for no less."

"Consider it done the moment you step back through the palace doors. As for the medication, we will give you a vial of Iclusig from our stores."

"What?" The Queen squealed. "That cannot be done. No slave has ever earned their freedom! This would cause an uprising! We can't trust this scum. If we give her the medication, she is just going to run off!"

King Ryn peered at Cache's mother and back to the alien scum. "Can you guarantee any kind of liability that you'll actually go and bring back this computer piece? It cannot be put in the wrong hands again."

"If it guarantees my family's freedom, I will not fail you and I will bring it back. You have my word."

"You can not trust the word of a mistoa!" Queen Cyka hissed. Her ice blue eyes slid over to Cache like a snake honing in on a mouse. Her smirk grew on her face. "Cache could go with her, to make sure she comes back. There is no telling what she would do if she left unsupervised. She will need a human with her anyways. A slave traveling alone would look suspicious."

Cache's father narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Strange... I don't know if Cache would do well with such a journey. It won't be an easy one."

Cache scoffed. "I would be just fine. Even better than the impure bred slave." Cache's blood boiled at the thought of the alien doing something better than him. He knew he was superior in every right.

"Very well, if you insist son." King Ryn hummed. "We will make all the necessary arrangements for travel. I will see you both bright and early tomorrow morning."

Cache slid back into his Father's throne and glared at the trash that was in front of him. His father left in a hurry to attend business elsewhere. Cache hardly saw him these days, and when he did, the stress on Father's face made him uncomfortable.

"Is Father making the right decision, Mother...? To leave something so important in the hands of mistoa vermin? He knew he could trust me to do the job better."

His mother rolled her eyes. "While you are galaxies apart from this... thing, you have hardly set foot outside the palace walls. This gutter rat has probably been all over the place." She scoffed as she sat down on her throne, spreading her dress so it lay just so. "She is nothing more than a pathetic thief. Though her... skill, if you could call it that, is useful to us now." She placed her elbows on the armrests and leaned forward, her eyes bore holes into the alien. "We need to be sure that you will be there to keep her from calling her whole damn race to kill us all. Dishonest murderers, the lot of them. You will have to be careful, son. Her kind can't be trusted."

"I would never trust a thing like her." Cache responded.

"This is going to be fun..." Varsa muttered back.

Queen Cyka glared at the girl. "You will be assigned a guard to watch you and your filthy family to make sure you show up tomorrow for your assignment. I would suggest arriving early and not making the King wait. It could result in..." Her lip curled up. "-punishment."

"Guard!" Queen Cyka yelled. One of the white armored guards sprinted to stand next to Varsa.

"Yes, my Queen?"

"Keep an eye on this pest and make sure she shows up tomorrow as ordered."

The queen left as quickly as she entered, leaving Cache, Varsa, and the guard in the throne room. Varsa smirked at Cache, bowed, and left the palace with a guard hot on her trail. Cache's skin tingled, he knew that his words didn't hit the girl at all. He would have fun seeing what would make her break.