Chapter 2

Leo ducked around another alleyway, attempting to stifle his haggard breathing as he ditched the ones pursuing him again. After being shot by one of his father’s most trusted advisers and falling several stories, he didn’t think it’d be an entire conspiracy unfolding. Everywhere he went resulted in treachery as he was fired upon and threatened with blades. He briefly wondered if it was some sort of farce since Traugott had to know his armor would protect him against the shells. Of course, the impact still hurt like crazy, but he was alive regardless. He’d crashed through three fabric awnings on his way to the cobblestone grounds before landing in a flowerbed with every bone surprisingly intact.

Shouting perked up his ears as he listened for the distance separating them. He’d been catching snippets of details with every attack he evaded. However, this time his heart wrenched in his throat when he found out his father’s entire staff assigned to him was killed. They’d been gunned down in the capitol building as they were rallying their soldiers together for a celebration. It was supposed to be one of his most successful missions, yet here he was being hunted like one of the inhabitants he was meant to suppress.

“Find the prince!”

“Find him and kill him!”

Leo cursed under his breath and glanced around, looking for an escape route when he found a door leading into the building. It was foolish to get himself cornered, but with any luck no one had seen him and wouldn’t think to check every single building in the city. He had to expose himself eventually, he just hoped it would be under vastly different circumstances, like stealing a ship.

Then again, they could always blow the planet up. The idea was unimaginative and messy, so it wouldn’t be their first proposal, but it was certainly a possibility.

He found himself in some sort of supply warehouse surrounded by tools and bottles of solution. Leo slipped an empty glasses frame over his nose and ears, then touched one of the arms which illuminated a holographic screen in front of his eyes. The technology immediately began picking up the alien script surrounding him and running it through the database to translate the lettering. He wandered around, stepping over broken containers and a few dead bodies, reading some of the labels. He found an assortment of accelerants, acids, bases, and if he wasn’t mistaken there were bags of fertilizer sitting outside.

Something clattered in the distance followed by a hiss and Leo immediately unstrapped his gun and held it at eye level, quickly turning from one side to another to try and find whoever it was.

“Show yourself!” He ordered, irritable and untrusting after being abandoned by his team on this forsaken planet. Silence followed his demand and he felt himself lighting up with rage. “Show yourself or I’ll blow you up along with this whole place!”

Well, that was the intention, nonetheless.

Another clattering off in the distance caught his attention, but as he turned to investigate it, he was distracted by a sense of movement behind himself. Leo sidestepped the would-be attacker with a look of annoyance, catching their arm and slamming them bodily into the ground. A shout of surprise came from the guerilla and when he finally saw the guy, it was just a kid.

His torso and appendages were thin like he could flex and accidentally snap every one. Four fingers and an opposable thumb adorned each hand, a ball and socket elbow joint divided his upper arms and forearms, his knees were knobby, he was also wearing shoes but if he had to guess, Leo figured he probably had a total of ten toes. His ears were rounded, his nose was wide, and he had two eyes with dark irises. Not only that, but this species did seem to have hair, if a small amount. It was cropped short on its skull with little curly bits for eyebrows and tiny little eyelashes.

Overall, the similarities were remarkable. In all the time he spent plotting the demise of this species, he never once got close enough to observe their physical characteristics.

Shrill shouting broke his concentration and Leo realized he still had his knee driven into the kid’s back with his arm twisted to keep him from moving. He touched the arm of his glasses once more and scrolled through the menu on the hologram screen with his eyes until he found the translate function. A chip had been implanted in his brain that worked remotely when his specs were able to pick up unknown languages.

“…off, get off me you jackass!”

Leo frowned crossly at the exclamation and reminded himself his bad mood had been established well before this kid tried getting the jump on him.

“Get off our sister!” Another shrill voice demanded from behind, right before a heavy can was lobbed at his head. Prince Leonidas snarled at the impact, gripping the spot as it throbbed painfully. He turned and found two others with remarkably similar features as the oldest he was kneeling over and briefly wondered how they escaped the mandatory roundup.

Then he remembered the dead bodies he’d stepped over and wondered if they’d tried to shield these kids from being taken on the transport ship. If so, they would’ve been subjected to an even crueler treatment since the next team to come in oversaw decimating infectious diseases and dangerous wild animals. The ones on those teams were known for capturing living things and using them for experiments.

Leo glanced between the three kids once again and realized something. On this planet surrounded by subjugated locals and the invasion team he came in with, he was all alone. These kids had to know he didn’t belong on this planet, but that didn’t mean they knew his importance or his identity. And if everyone on this planet was against him, that also meant he didn’t have a home to return to once he escaped.

Was his family still alive?

Leo let out a contemptuous sigh and scrolled through a few more pages on his glasses until he found the option to translate back in their language.

“I didn’t mean to startle you, but I think we can help each other.” His device translated in a vaguely robotic tone. The two standing back shared a look of astonishment before staring at their big sister again.

“And why should we trust you?” She challenged, glaring daggers at him. Leo returned the icy stare with one of his own.

“Because I’ve been labeled a defector by these people as well, and because the ships capable of warped space travel require at least one other crewmember.” His translator answered.

“You want us to abandon our home?? Our whole planet??” The middle child asked wildly, fixing him with incredulous eyes.

“No.” He responded, his expression darkening. “These people deserve more accountability than that.”