When Council Leader Vorik recovered from being pulled between two dwellings, his eyes widened as they fell on Aleigha.

He lifted his comm link to call for guards, but Aleigha stopped him. "Please hear me out first," she pleaded, then continued, not giving him a chance to respond. She knew she had to continue to give Vorik a reason to pause and listen to her. "I've been listening to conversations. Merrick wants me dead because he promised someone by the name of Termera. I heard him say it himself. He's sleeping with her. He has been for seven weeks. He's the one who went against the mate bond. He's the reason our bond is gone, not mine. Please," she pleaded. "Interrogate him with the truth serum. If he proves to be guilty, as his mate and father of my son, I want him arrested. I didn't do anything. He's doing it all. Rask knows. He wants me dead, too. I heard him say it. He said I have too much influence on my sister. Merrick, Rask, and a girl are sitting in the tavern talking about it. I think the girl is this Termera."

Council Leader Vorik turned and looked toward the Tavern. No one had left it the entire time she had been talking to him. He appeared to be thinking.

Council Leader Vorik turned and looked at her. "Find me again," he whispered. Then stepped out from between the dwellings. Lifting his comm link, he growled into the small device. "Guards, go to the tavern and arrest Merrick, and Rask, and if there is a woman inside with them named Termera, arrest her too."

"Yes, sir," the voice came back. He sounded like someone high-ranking.

Moments later, a group of guards rushed past them and into the tavern. Without looking at Aleigha, he spoke. "I will do a public interrogation. Everyone will see it. Once done, if he proves to be guilty, you will no longer be in danger. He will not be able to order your execution," he said cryptically.

"And my escape?" she whispered. "He would have had me killed if I hadn't escaped. He gave me no choice. It was that or let him have me killed for no reason of my own. It was his way of murdering me legally."

"If he proves guilty, you will not be charged. You escaped to prove your innocence and to avoid a wrongful death," he told her, then quickly walked away toward the tavern.

Aleigha switched the cloaking shield back on and watched, unseen by anyone around them.

The tavern's doors slid open; guards were pulling three individuals out of the tavern. It was Merrick, Rask, and the girl Termera. All three were bound. She was right; the girl was Termera.

Council Leader Vorik gestured to the guards to pull them into the council chamber and ordered the truth serum.

It was Medic Kaul who brought it.

Council Leader Vorik switched on Holo-feed. All monitors were immediately switched on. Everyone in all three of the domes and fleet ships saw what was going on inside the council chamber. The siren blaring all around the dome showed it was mandatory to observe the interrogation.

Aleigha stood back and watched the image. She didn't follow them inside the council chamber for fear of being trapped.

Council Leader Vorik looked around and then began to speak in a loud, clear voice so that all who were watching the monitors could clearly hear. "These three have been suspected of planning the murder of Aleigha, Merrick's mate. They will be interrogated and then charged per the outcome of the investigation. If they prove to be guilty, they will be sent to the cells where they will await execution."

The three prisoners suddenly struggled. Fear was clear in their black eyes. Before they even received the injections, they knew the outcome. The truth serum didn't lie.

Council Leader Vorik gestured to Medic Kaul to inject the serum into the three prisoners.

Immediately, their faces went slack, their eyes unfocused as they stared at nothing.

"Pilot Merrick," Council Leader Vorik started, facing his personal pilot. "Which of you broke the mate bond? Was it you or your mate Aleigha?"

Merrick's eyes stare blankly. His monotone voice spoke against his will. "I did."

"With whom?" Vork asked, firing the questions one after the other as quickly as possible.

"Termera," he stated. "My mistress."

Silent gasps went around the room.

"For how long?" Vorik continued, giving no pause between Merrick's answer and the next question.

"Seven weeks," Merrick answered in his monotone voice.

"Did you plan on having Aleigha executed for your mistress, Termera?" Vorik continued, firing the next question with no pause.

"I promised Termera I would blame the breaking of our mate bond on Aleigha," his monotone voice stated. "I promised to have Aleigha killed because of it."

"Who all knew and was helping?" Vorik continued firing out his questions rapidly.

"Rask, Keirn, and Termera," he answered against his will.

Finally turning to Rask, Council Leader Vorik continued his questions. "Co-pilot Rask. Why do you want your mate's sister dead?" he asked.

Rask's voice came loud and clear. His eyes were unfocused, his voice monotone. "She is too much of an influence on my mate. They are too alike."

"So you would plot to have her killed for something she didn't do?" Council Leader Vorik continued his questions to Rask just as rapidly as he did with Merrick.

"Yes," was all he said.

Council Leader Vorik turned to Termera. "Why did you want Aleigha killed?" he asked her.

Termera's was just as monotone and unfocused as the other. "I want her mate. She's human. Humans shouldn't be with our kind. They should all be dead."

"Are you pregnant?" Council Leader Vorik suddenly asked Termera.

"I don't know," Termera stated.

Council Leader Vorik gestured for Medic Kaul to scan her.

Medic Kaul walked up to her, scanning her from head to toe, his focus on her womb. Once finished, Medic Kaul turned to Vorik and shook his head. "No, she's not."

Vorik turned to a man in uniform. It was one with a commander's insignia. "Guard Commander Drevick," Council Leader Vorik stated. "You have listened to the confessions of these three detainees. What is the penalty for plotting to murder in this scenario?"

The Guard Commander bowed, giving the gesture of respect. "Immediate execution, sir, for all three of them."

Council Leader Vorik nodded in acknowledgment of the guard commander's words. Then, looked at the three about to die. Shaking his head in disappointment, then turned back to the guard commander and nodded.

The guard commander gestured to three teams of guards who immediately swarmed around the three prisoners, binding them before they took the three outside of the council chamber. A video feed showed all of it.

Aleigha turned and watched them exit the council chamber. A man with a strange weapon that resembled her bladed staff followed behind.

The guard commanded, pressing a button on his strange weapon; a glowing ripple of electrical current shot out, making it look like a large hacksaw; the blade was a vibrating electric beam.

Without a pause, the man swung, one by one. The prisoners' heads rolled from their shoulders and onto the grass. Their eyes stared blankly at nothing. The blade of the guard commander's weapon cauterized the flesh as it severed their heads, making no blood spill onto the grass.

The feed showed Council Leader Vorik again. He looked around at the crowd. "Merrick's mate Aleigha is exonerated of all charges. She knew she was innocent. She needed to prove otherwise. She will not be charged with escape. She shouldn't have been there in the first place. She was the victim, not the criminal." He looked over at the guard commander. "Guard Commander Drevick? Do you agree with my decision to exonerate Aleigha for the reasons I have stated?"

All eyes were on the Guard Commander as he began to speak.

Guard Commander Drevick nodded. "She will no longer be pursued by me or my men. She is free to show herself without the worry of incarceration or detainment." Then he paused, smiling. "Although, I would like to know how she escaped the cells in the first place."

Aleigha flipped off her shield and stepped out from behind a dwelling that she was hiding behind. She looked at Guard Commander Drevick. "I wouldn't want that to get out. Some criminals should stay in there where they belong," Aleigh stated, walking up to the guard commander. "It's harder than you might think to get out of there." She looked between Council Leader Vorik and Guard Command Drevick. "Am I free to go home and see my son? I haven't seen him in a long time," she asked them. Not sure who was able to tell her.

"There is no danger to you from me," Guard Commander Drevick stated. "As far as I am concerned, you are free to go home."

"You are free to go," Council Leader Vorik stated, smiling. "Go see your son and your sister. I know you haven't seen them either." He shrugged, "Their homes have been watched."

Aleigha gave him the gesture of respect and started to walk away. The Guard Commander followed her. Once out of earshot of others, he spoke. "I do need to know what precautions I need to take to prevent more escapes," he told her.

Aleigha took one of the cloaking shields off making sure to keep the second one hidden and handed it to the guard commander. "When a friend of mine tested one of these, I made a copy. It was during the Kreq attempt to invade. I thought I might need it. It's a personal cloaking shield," she told him nonchalantly.

"How many did you copy?" Guard Commander Drevick asked, twisting it in his hand and staring at the device.

"Just one. If you don't feel comfortable with me having it, you can keep it. It saved my life. I would be dead right now if it weren't for that." Aleigha told him, pointing to the small disk in his hand.

Guard Commander Drevick smiled and handed it back. "Make no more copies, and you can keep it. I don't want those things getting out. I have no idea how to find individuals that are cloaked."

Aleigha couldn't help but smile. "Deal," she said, putting the small disk in her pocket.

Guard Commander Drevick silently walked Aleigha all the way to Niki's home, eyeing their surroundings as they went.

Aleigha walked up the steps and pressed the call button.

"I will take my leave. You have nothing else to fear. You are no longer wanted by me and my men," he told her, then turned and strolled away, saying nothing more.

Aleigha couldn't help but watch him leave. Once he was out of sight, she turned and waited to face her sister, whose mate was killed because of the interrogation she had insisted Council Leader Vorik administer.

Aleigha stood at the door of her sister's dwelling, taking a few moments to press the call button again to let her know someone was at the door. It took several moments for the door to slide open.

When it did, her sister stood in the doorway, one hand firmly gripping her bladed staff as she looked outside to see who had come to visit. With a gaze like steel, her eyes fell on Aleigha.

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