Warren had made several bad decisions in his life—most recently, waiting too long to come home to see his dad—but giving Zarya asylum had the potential to turn out to be the worst yet. Not that the alien woman called it asylum; she referred to it as becoming his vassal.

  But even though he knew taking in a potentially hostile alien could bite him in the ass, he needed information. Since the invasion of Sayers Mills had started, he’d been fighting blind. And if Zarya could explain just a few key things to him, it would be worth taking the risk.

  However, Kassandra clearly didn’t feel the same way. After voicing her objections, she’d stalked off into the woods and hadn’t spoken to him since. He knew she was worried about something happening to him, but he trusted her to keep him safe.

  Plus, a little notification on the side of his vision made him feel better about the arrangement. It read:

  Accept the vassalship of House Vex’Thal? (Yes/No?)

  Until he understood more about what vassalship entailed, he wasn’t willing to accept it yet. But at least it showed that Zarya meant what she said. She really did want to serve him.

  Warren held out his hand to help the horned woman up a steep incline. He’d blindfolded her in the hopes she wouldn’t be able to reveal his location if she escaped. Hopefully, she didn’t possess a map in her mind like he did, otherwise this would all be for nothing.

  Her fingers tightened around his hand, her grip surprisingly strong. She had a body like an Olympic athlete, with a narrow waist, wide hips and toned legs. While muscles detracted from some women’s looks, hers only served to accentuate her feminine curves. Meanwhile, her high cheekbones and refined features made her look like nobility. If her people weren’t hell bent on taking over his planet, he might have even considered her attractive. Assuming he could get past the purple skin and horns.

  Once they had crested the hill, he looked out across the valley. A verdant forest canopy blanketed the land, and he noted a flock of vultures circling in the distance. Hopefully, the scavengers had spotted a dying alien—too many humans had already lost their lives.

  His gaze lingered on the rubble strewn plateau of what had once been a mountain. According to his father, after he left, the coal companies had begun removing the peaks to reach the coal underneath.

  I wonder if we’ll have to go back to burning coal and wood.

  Thankfully, the harsh mountain winter was months away. But with civilization collapsing, it wasn’t like they could rely on propane or renewable energy when the snow arrived. Now that he thought about it, he should probably start gathering some firewood to dry it before the first snow.

  Zarya stopped and cocked her head to the side. “I see you have not accepted my offer of vassalship. I understand my house may not be the most powerful or wealthy in the Daskian Empire. However, we will serve you dutifully.”

  “Like you served Alatu?” he shot back. She’d filled him in a little on her faction since the battle, including the Daskian squire’s name. But how could he trust someone who had already betrayed their leader?

  “He was not worthy of the title,” she spat. “His family has no honor.”

  “I seem to recall you saying I had no honor after my minion defeated your friend.”

  “That is… different,” she said, crossing her arms. “Alatu threatened a fate worse than death if I failed to subdue you.”

  “What exactly does that entail among your people?”

  “I would prefer not to say.”

  “If you want me to trust you, then I need to know.” Normally, he wouldn’t push a woman to talk about what was obviously a sensitive subject. But he needed to know why she’d so easily betrayed the Daskian squire.

  Zarya shuffled her feet before replying. “He… said he would turn me into his pleasure slave. In the past, he’d made it clear he wished to mate with me. However, I rebuffed his advances. I…believe he planned to use my failure to make me submit to him.” Her hands curled into fists at her sides. “Had the fool tried to force himself upon me, I would have unmanned him.”

  Warren’s brow rose slightly at her words. Now he understood better why she’d offered to become his vassal. No woman wanted to serve under a man like that.

  Back during his residency at the hospital, he’d heard whispers of an attending doctor who had liked to take advantage of young female residents. He’d never witnessed anything himself, but every woman in the hospital had avoided the man like the plague.

  While things had been bad for the women in his class, he couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be under a leader with absolute power. The worst the attending physician could do was torpedo a woman’s career who rejected his advances. But apparently, a Daskian squire was permitted to enslave his female underlings.

  No wonder she betrayed him.

  “What exactly does a vassalship entail?” he asked, changing the subject. “And I want the entire truth. Don’t try to hide anything from me or you’ll regret it.”

  “I would never dream of doing such a thing.” Zarya held up a hand to her chest like she’d been wounded by his words. “My service under Alatu was not as a vassal. I was sent by my family….” She trailed off. “Never mind. Such details are unimportant.”

  “Not to me they’re not,” he said. “I need to know if I can trust you.”

  Zarya took a deep breath. “My family is deeply indebted. If I cannot find a way to come up with the funds before year's end, my entire household faces debt slavery.”

  “Your people still practice slavery?”

  She nodded.

  “Is that what you have planned for all the humans in town?”

  Her brow pinched in confusion.

  “The Terrans,” he explained. “We call ourselves humans.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Oh, I see,” she replied. “Yes, many of them will be sold on the slave market. However, some will remain here to be used for forced labour to construct defenses for the second phase.”

  Warren stopped walking and frowned. “The second phase? Are you telling me this is just the beginning?”

  “The integration of planets has many phases,” she continued. “The first is where the alien factions strive to take control of a knight’s fee. The Holy System will grant numerous events until one winner emerges. The second phase is to test the new knights' worthiness. This will involve wave attacks upon the settlement, along with personal challenges.”

  “Are you telling me I’m going to have to face wave attacks soon?” He’d barely been holding his own against the aliens. If they added wave attacks to the mix, his dad’s old workshop would be overrun in mere minutes. He didn’t have the resources or the manpower of the other alien factions—even if he managed to free all the human prisoners in town.

  “Yes,” she said, her voice filled with excitement. “During the wave attacks, there is a chance that a warrior will become a squire under the newly appointed knight. I had hoped to become one myself after Alatu took control of the area.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I hope to become one under you after you drive off the invaders with fury and thunder.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble,” he replied. “But I’m not so sure that I’m going to win. I’ve run into some really high-level squires already.”

  “Surely, you must understand how incredible your rate of advancement has been,” she insisted. “Only a few Terran days have passed and you are already level 2.”

  “Actually, I’m level 4,” he grinned. “And don’t call me Shirley.”

  “I do not understand…”

  “It’s just an old Terran joke.” He grabbed onto the tree branch and then pulled Zarya up. This would be a lot easier if he took off her blindfold. But he refused to give up the location of his dad’s cabin. He knew they couldn’t stay there forever, but he wanted to hold on to a piece of his old life for as long as possible.

  “Ah, a joke.” Zarya stumbled on a rock before continuing. “I am sure among your culture it was quite humorous.”

  “Not when you say it like that,” he muttered.

  “As I was saying, your rate of leveling is unheard of. Clearly, the Holy System has smiled upon you.”

  “I’ve been working my rear end off,” he said. “The system didn’t give me anything.”

  “Tell me this—how many cards do you possess?”

  He considered whether he should tell her. What if she had only pretended to defect in order to pump him for information? After mulling it over for a minute, he decided to share his number of cards. The information she could provide him was worth far more than what she could get from him.

  “I have five cards.”

  “Five?” she exclaimed. “Alatu has been a squire for nearly a decade and only possesses ten. This is why new worlds are so sought after. A squire can level far faster than on an established planet.”

  “Is that why you invaded us?”

  She stopped walking and made a symbol of a square with her hands. “We did not invade you.”

  “Then what would you call it?”

  “The Holy System expanded to a new planet, and you were given the gift of proving yourself to the emperor.”

  “I think that’s called invading,” he said sourly. “When you land your spaceships on Main Street and start hosing it down with beam weapons, you’re invading the place.”

  “All worlds must go through this to earn their place in the Holy Godaurian Empire.”

  “Did this happen to your world as well?”

  She nodded. “I have heard tales from the bards about the day our planet joined the Empire. Our race fought many mighty battles to establish ourselves. Now, we must expand to keep our position in the Endless Crusade.”

  “What is the Endless Crusade?”

  “The battle against the Children of the Black Hunger.”

  “Who are they?” he asked, growing frustrated with lack of answers. “You’re not telling me what I need to know.”

  “I-I only know the basics, unfortunately,” she said. “However, they seek to devour the galaxy.”

  “What can you tell me about the emperor?”

  “None on my planet has ever stood in his glorious presence,” she said, a note of awe in her voice. “Someday, I hope to glimpse our magnificent leader.”

  “So, you fight in an Endless Crusade you know little about,” he said. “For a leader no one has ever seen?”

  “Our work is important.” She straightened up. “A barbarian on a newly integrated planet could never understand.”

  Warren was silent as he processed the new information. How could she serve an emperor no one on her planet had ever seen? Was lack of knowledge common throughout the races invading Earth? Or were the Daskians from some small backwater planet not worthy of the emperor’s notice?

  His gaze once again returned to the vassalship notification. “So, back to the vassalship. What does it entail?”

  “The Holy System will enforce my house's loyalty to you,” she said. “In exchange, my family will provide you with 10% of our income and a retinue for when you invade new lands.”

  “Where is the income coming from?”

  “Why, from the lands you provide us, of course.”

  Warren laughed at her words. “Right now, I don’t have much land to offer.”

  “Surely, you will soon conquer further domains.” Zarya made another sign with her hands. “It is truly extraordinary at how quickly you have leveled. I only ask for a knight’s fee for my family. However, I do request you to allow my family to expand our holdings as you conquer this land mass.”

  “I have no plans to conquer anything beyond Sayers Mills.”

  “There can only be one ruler per continent,” she said flatly. “If you do not expand, then another will seize your lands.”

  He stumbled to a stop at her words. “Are you telling me this will continue until only one ruler in North America remains?”

  “Perhaps,” she said. “The land masses on this planet are unusually large. There was much discussion prior to the invasion of whether the Holy System would allow multiple kingdoms per continent. As it stands now, I would assume that you would have to conquer all the lands.”

  “I have no plans to conquer this continent,” he exclaimed. “We already have a government in place. I’m not going to be some sort of tyrant.”

  “Then you will die.”

  Warren swore softly under his breath. He’d hoped this would end if he liberated Sayers Mills from the aliens. But now he realized this was going to be a long, drawn-out war. Not only would he have to weather wave attacks, but he’d have to fight other knights as they rose to power. Would he have to fight other humans as well?

  He’d have to assume that he would. While his motives were mostly altruistic, he had no illusions of what others from his race were capable of.

  “What’s the fastest way to level?” The Sword of Damocles hanging over his head had just become a little more dangerous. There were far worse threats waiting for him beyond the aliens. His goal had shifted from saving the people of his town to becoming an eventual king. He needed to get leveling fast.

  “The dungeon is the best option—”

  “Great,” he said, cutting her off. “I want you to accompany me back there later today. Maybe you can give me some information about it.”

  “However,” she continued without missing a beat, “after news reaches Alatu of you defeating his men, he will almost certainly send a much more powerful force to await your return.”

  “What will the others tell him about me?” Warren was starting to wonder if he’d made a mistake sparing the aliens. But he wasn’t about to start killing unarmed prisoners.

  “They will say nothing,” Zarya said. “Because my retinue and Kratala slaughtered all those who remained loyal to Alatu. Now, they are in hiding until you wish to call upon them.”

  “Wait.” Warren stalked over to Zarya and pulled up her blindfold so he could look her in the eyes. “Are you telling me most of the aliens I spared are dead? And the rest are waiting to join us?”

  “As I said,” she replied, her purple eyes regarding him cooly. “We are in your service.”

  Warren rubbed a hand down his face. For now, he’d have to trust that Zarya was telling the truth. And he would need allies in his quest to free his planet. He brought up the request again and selected ‘Yes’ to making Zarya of house Vex’Thal his vassal.

  The Eternal Emperor sends his praise for obtaining your first vassal. The house of Vex’Thal shall arrive on the planet shortly and will provide you with 10% of their income. Furthermore, they shall provide a retinue of five warriors for your conquests. This number shall increase based on their rank in your fledgling knight’s fee.

  Vassals Slots Used 1/3

  “Wait!” Warren exclaimed. “Your family is coming here?”

  “They shall depart immediately. Otherwise, they may face repercussions from our liege. Once they arrive, they shall settle down in your fortress.”

  Still stunned by the news, he couldn’t help but wonder how disappointed they would be when they arrived at his dad’s cabin. Hopefully, there was no way to back out of vassalship. Otherwise, he might have some trouble on his hands.