Moon Mark Read Online Free

caught on the ties binding the hostages.
    “You are Human. Your people are peaceful. You have never faced a foe like the Dynasty.”
    I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t believe in war. Earth had been ruined by it, and the greed Humans had once had. We learned from our past, and our existence now was nonviolent. It was extremely surprising that an alien species as far evolved as the Kireg, much more evolved than Humans, hadn’t already learned that lesson.
    Corza hummed, her purple eyes capturing mine. “Circumstances make you do what you must. You’ll learn that in time. Perhaps, now, since you’re at the rebellion’s mercy.”
    I cleared my expression. She knew how to hand down a quiet warning. “You may be correct, Corza. I mean no offense. This is new for me, as it will be for my peers. If they have the same opinions as I do, I implore that you don’t—”
    She lifted her free hand, her arm still linked with mine. “The other Humans are merely frightened of their thoughts being read and interested in where they’ll be living—safely. They aren’t quite as curious and opinionated as you are.”
    My mouth snapped closed. “Oh.” I was frightened too.
    “But it isn’t overpowering your personality.”
    “What happened to being polite?” I smirked.
    “That was polite. I was reassuring you that you’re smarter than they are.”
    A snort of laughter escaped my lips. “You don’t need to say that, but thank you.”
    She pulled me closer to her side, and whispered, “If it makes you feel better about Geo ruling when he finishes this war, he is—somewhat—an heir to the throne.”
    My brows puckered in confusion. “Why would he be fighting his own kindred group? Or even, why would you? And if you want to strike at them, it would make more sense to fight from within, not battle from the outside in.”
    She nodded grandly, her smile reappearing. “See? You are smart. I knew it.”
    I lifted my blonde brows and waited for her answer.
    “My brother and I are born from a mother who is not the Queen, but our father is the King.”
    My attention fell to the floor, with a niggling memory. There was a term for that in the old literature on Joyal. We didn’t use words like that anymore since our genes were handpicked and in vitro fertilization was used on surrogates, but on Earth, it hadn’t always been that way. When breeding was still a bodily act of sex, there were natural families. Humans had been married…
    I snapped my gaze up. “You and your brother are bastards.”
    She stared in silence, her quirked lips falling into a straight line.
    I pulled my arm away from hers and took a step back. “Did I say something wrong?”
    A deep, masculine timber rumbled directly behind my person. “I hope you merely made a mistake in speech, Ms. Faire. Surely, you wouldn’t call us a vulgar name when you’ve just landed on our planet.”
    My feet turned slowly until I was looking up into purple eyes. But this gaze was colder than a preservation unit, chilling and brutal. This planet would be ruled by this man one day. My jaw bobbed, before I sputtered, “Shit.”
    A white, cocky brow lifted on his tan face. “You shit your spacesuit?”
    The air gasped out of my lungs. “No!”
    The other brow lifted, matching the other’s height. He was waiting for my response.
    I stuttered from the mere intimidation he exuded. “I-I didn’t call either of you a bad name. A ‘bastard’ was the term used on Earth when a person was born out of wedlock.”
    Corza cleared her throat softly, her lips twitching.
    He wasn’t appeased. “Are we on the Human’s old planet, Ms. Faire?”
    “No, we’re not.” But it was a Human word, and I was Human. I just wouldn’t say it to his face if he found it offensive. “My apologies.” I puckered my brows gradually, even while amusement bubbled up inside me. “And you may call be Madeline, not Ms. Faire. Only my boss on Joyal called me that. But I’m unsure of what to call you. Mr.